elizabethprata

Are there too many conferences?

Posted on September 20, 2024May 20, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote this 6 years ago. My concerns have not diminished since that time. In fact, I added one more at the end.

Christians today have many opportunities to attend any conference of one’s choosing. Might I say a plethora of choices?

There’s conferences for men.
T4G. Sing! MLK50. TGC West Coast. G3. Cutting It Straight. ShepCon. LigCon. Right Now.

There’s conferences for youth.
Passion. Urbana18. RiseUp. GraceLife Youth conference. Salt & Light. Momentum. Ignite. KingdomYouth.

There’s conferences for women (mostly false).
Living Proof Conference. Unwrap the Bible. IF:Gathering. The Word Alive. Women of Joy. Love Life by Joyce Meyer Ministries. Women of the Word. Women of Purpose. Extraordinary Women.

There’s conferences for (mostly) false teachers and (mostly) false Christians.
Bethel Conference. Catalyst Conference. Amplify. Charisma.

Of course there are many more. And many more on other continents. Conferences (and their simulcasts) are a thriving cottage industry in the global church. And of course each conference has its own claims of how good and necessary it is for you, the pastor/man/woman/youth/church planter/missionary/any demographic to attend. Some high falutin’ promises here-

The Outreach Summit is unlike any other church leader conference. Only at The Summit will you meet and hear from the pastors of the most innovative and fastest growing churches in America.
The Gateway Conference desires to share practical wisdom for cultivating real growth by …
MinCon quickly gained the reputation as a conference of excellence, offering an incredible hands-on experience at an affordable price for teams and churches all across the Pacific NW.
Catalyst West is a 2-day conference to help leaders like you build great churches, grow strong teams, and be a catalyst for change”
We’ve gathered some of the nation’s best leaders to share their wisdom with you. (Small Town Pastor’s Conference has a list of leaders different from the other conference sharing wisdom with you…)
We’ve gathered some of the nation’s best leaders to share their wisdom with you. (Right Now Conference has different speakers than the other conference sharing wisdom with you…)
We hope that during your time with us, you will be able to relax, build new relationships, and leave more excited about this calling than ever before.
When you discover how to leverage your talents as an entrepreneur, leader, or pastor, you cultivate a more meaningful impact in your business or leadership endeavors. (This was a PASTOR’s conference…not a Google or Amazon business practice gathering, believe it or not)

Some of the ones I read sound like a business model more fitting for Google or AT&T than a church.

Is it too much of a good thing? Is it possible that there are too many conferences that, mixed with the good ones, the bad ones draw away congregants and introduce false notions? Can even the good ones be potentially problematic? I believe so. Though there are many good conferences, I believe the time has come to be more discriminating and skeptical of what today’s Christian conference is offering and the dangers of the ‘conference circuit’ for speakers. Please bear with me as I share some thoughts on why many conferences can be dangerous to one’s spiritual health.

1. False confessions

A few years ago as I followed David Platt taking the reins of the International Mission Board as President in August 2014. Known for his dedication to missions, Platt was to speak at the annual Student Missions Conference at Urbana in St. Louis MO in December 2015 (as he usually does each year.) The conference is aimed at college students. Curious, I tuned in. The conference’s own language describes it as a “catalytic event” in a “sacred space”. A catalytic event means they want to use the speeches, emotional reactions from music, and teenage momentum to get attendees to DO something in missions. The conference is the catalyst for that. It’s their aim.

Though the conference is not aimed at non-Christians because it’s a mission oriented event and not an evangelistic conference, the organizers acknowledge that non-believers do attend. Therefore at the conclusion of the main event, speakers put out a Gospel call to make a decision for Christ. At Urbana 15, Mr Platt asked attendees who had “decided for Christ” to raise their glowsticks and wave them. It was later stated that 681 students did.

Is this how people come to the cross and enter the kingdom? By responding to a one-hour lecture and deciding, and waving a glowstick? Perhaps the Spirit did use the event to regenerate some, but in high-emotional and religious-pressured environments, at events where youths are separated from parents and other adults, is a concoction rife with potential for false conversions. I had a hard time believing that 681 people were converted at once, though @UrbanaMissions claimed 681 were by calling them new Christians. The same thing happens at the youth-aimed Passion conference. Photos, and more explanation about Urbana 15’s decisional regeneration and pronouncement of new believers, here.

2. False Doctrine

At far too many conferences lay the potential to propagate false doctrine. Churches are supposed to be tightly closed. There are membership standards, behavioral expectations, stringent qualifications for leaders, and biblical discipline. In the best of worlds, that is how it’s supposed to work. Because it used to be hard for satan to get into the pulpit, satan develops ways to get around that. The Sunday School curriculum, the Children’s Ministry leader, the book clubs for woman, the church library, parachurches. And now in modern times, with travel so easy – conferences. I don’t think I need to use many specifics here, you know what I’m talking about.

The ridiculous conferences are easy enough to spot, and even the solid ones have a hard time maintaining the gate these days, as the issue with Grace To You/Grace Community Church & TGC West Coast recently showed us. Executive Director of GTY, Phil Johnson, said of the of GCC Elders’ decision to bow out of hosting TGC West Coast’s “Enduring Faithfulness” conference was ultimately that,

Some of the seminars featured points of view or speakers that stand in stark opposition to what we teach at Grace Church and Grace to You. Other seminars seemed merely to miss the point of “enduring faithfulness” entirely, and some were also arguably tangential to any core gospel truths. We felt the seminars collectively failed to convey what is most necessary for cultivating true, steadfast faith.

3. Too Many Speakers to Vet

In the past, conferences used to feature just a few well-known speakers. By “well-known” I don’t mean celebrity pastors, but faithful pastors who have endured long and have a proven track record as to their doctrine. Nowadays, some conferences feature up to 200 speakers. While you could look up the keynote speakers to check, though that in itself is time consuming as the roster of keynote speakers grows, it is impossible to “vet” all the speakers of breakout sessions. So when one of the members of your church attends a breakout session, it could be led by someone who is teaching an unbiblical doctrine, or one that your church does not hold. As a matter of fact, given the times we live in and the methods satan uses, this is likely. In fact, this was one of the reasons that Grace Community Church elders decided to bow out of hosting The Gospel Coalition West Coast Conference. Though they had trust in the keynote speakers, a number of other speakers were added afterwards. As Phil Johnson explains, this was problematic.

Some of the seminars featured points of view or speakers that stand in stark opposition to what we teach at Grace Church and Grace to You.

Below on the left, a screenshot of the recent MLK50 conference speaker lineup, on the right, The Gospel Coalition West Coast Conference this coming October 2018. How is a parent/husband/discerning person supposed to vet all of them? Can’t.

4. Many Conferences Feature Stretched Complementarian Boundaries

One of the most hotly contested areas of doctrine in church culture (and secular culture) today is the role of women. The correct biblical stance is that women are not to be teachers of men, leaders over men, or pastors in the local church. They are not to have authority over men. (1 Timothy 2:12). However, women can teach children, or other women, or in a home setting as Priscilla did with Aquila. This tiny bit of leeway has given satan an inch, and he has taken it by a mile. I’ve noticed over the recent years how many women are now speakers at mixed-gender conferences. Young women at that.

5. We are being made merchandise of

2 Peter 2:3 says that the false teachers will exploit the believers and make merchandise of us. Barnes’ Notes says,

Make merchandise of you – Treat you not as rational beings but as a bale of goods, or any other article of traffic. That is, they would endeavor to make money out of them, and regard them only as fitted to promote that object.

There are conferences that have a goal to teach well, and to serve hard. Shepherds’ Conference is one that I know of. But too often the case is the opposite. There is a reason many conferences’ blurbs sound like an entrepreneurial business advertisement- because they are a business. The larger the conference gets the more the organizers have to recoup money from renting the venue, paying accommodations and travel expenses, or the like. The false teachers flock there to flog their book, sell their latest book. Tee shirts, trinkets and more is all for sale.

I attended one conference where the food vendors inside the arena were selling food at fantastical prices. Simple game day type food like pizza and hot dogs were for sale at high prices. Perhaps the organizer had nothing to do with this and could not prevent it, but the atmosphere left one feeling, well, exploited. We had just arrived after a long drive, had no time to go anywhere else for food, and the conference was about to start. We were trapped and had no alternative but to pay the demanded prices.

Just as the money changers at the Temple began as a good idea, soon filthy lucre made its way into the courtyard and what started as a service soon became exploitation. It is no different now.

I think conferences can be great. Pastors can gather with other pastors and be refreshed. The ebullience of youth can accomplish much when properly directed. Woman believers, many of whom are stay-at-home moms, can collect with other women and be edified.

However there are dangers to be considered. When believers are away from their home church, especially youths and women, satan can enter in more easily. Remember what happens to the limping gazelle in all the wildlife programs. Separated out from the herd, they are vulnerable. (1 Peter 5:8).

An additional danger is that the speakers who ‘go on the circuit’ are also vulnerable, maybe even more so than the layman. Constant time apart from church home, family, too many temptations on the road and less accountability from people who know him or her can lead to devastating consequences for the Speaker. And wouldn’t satan just gloat when that happens?

False doctrine spread by false teachers or unknown or unvetted teachers can be propagated in their lectures or their books. These seeds of evil can be brought home and planted in the home church. Boundaries can be stretched, poor models of lifestyle presented, discontent sown. Please consider carefully when desiring to attend a large conference. Many are good. But of late, they can more often be an entrepreneurial business opportunity for the organizers, and you their potential merchandise … or spiritual target.

theology

Steven J. Lawson removed as lead pastor due to inappropriate relationship with a woman

Posted on September 19, 2024September 19, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

It is publicly announced today on Trinity Bible Church of Dallas’ website that Steven Lawson confessed to his elders of an inappropriate relationship that he has had with a woman. The elders then removed Lawson from all ministries. He had been their lead preacher.

Their statement is below and also at the link.

Dr. Lawson has been a Teaching Fellow with Ligonier Ministries, Professor of Preaching and Dean of the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary, and Executive Editor for Expositor magazine. He is also on the board of The Master’s University and Seminary, Ligonier Ministries, and Reformation Bible College. In addition to Trinity Bible Church, Dr. Lawson has served as a pastor for over 40 years in Arkansas and Alabama. He is the author of 28 books. He and his wife Anne have four children. Lawson is 73 years old.

A minister is supposed to be above reproach, (1 Timothy 3:2) and maintain a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:7).

When he falls below reproach with some kind of disqualifying sin, it is devastating to all those around him, and to the global church. Not to mention bringing reproach onto Jesus.

Some went to Twitter to express their disappointment-

And I agree, it is entirely discouraging to hear of a solid pastor falling into disqualifying sin.

Other reactions,

Others displayed less grace when speaking of this sad situation,

The problem when a pastor falls into sin is that there are consequences for him, or course. Lawson has been removed rom his job as lead pastor. The link to his Teaching Fellow page at Ligonier Ministries no longer works. He will likely be removed from the roster at Shepherds Conference to occur in 2025. And so on.

But also, his church falls under a cloud. His fellow congregants are impacted. They may wonder if their conversion under his preaching is genuine, or perhaps regret lifting him up as an example to others.

But also his doctrines come into disrepute. The anti-Calvinists are having a field day over this sad news, and gloating about how ‘Calvinism’ is unwieldy and false. His eschatology is also coming under fire. So is ‘Lordship salvation’.

Any way satan can continue the mud slinging, he will do it. The rings of impact go out further and further, impacting many people, ministries, doctrines, and churches as the rings widen.

This is because we are ambassadors, ALL of us. We all are replicating Jesus message of Good News. We all are part of one body. When one falls, we all feel it. When one sins, we all bear that burden.

Remember to pray for your pastors and elders. Pray for each other. Pray for yourself so you do not fall into a snare of the devil. Pray for Lawson and his wife and children, who must be sorting through heaps of emotions right now, the least of which is betrayal.

Trinity Bible Church wrote at the end of their announcement,

We would ask for your prayers for the elders, for our Body, and for Steve and his family. Let us always be mindful of the words of 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

theology

Bread- physical food AND spiritual nourishment

Posted on September 19, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m Italian-Irish/English. But we spent more time with the Italian side of the family. My father was thoroughly Italian. That meant he liked bread. He could not conceive of a meal without bread being served. If we went to a Chinese restaurant (where the preferred starch was rice) he brought bread with him.

I grew up in the 1960s (“the nineteen-hundreds” as I tell my students and their eyes widen). A popular slang term back then was “bread” which stood for “money”. Someone might say, ‘I can’t go out tonight, I got no bread, man.’

Bread could mean actual bread you make a sandwich with, or it could mean money.

In the Bible, bread is a staple food for both the Old Testament Hebrews and the New Testament Christians. Bread was made from wheat (preferred) or barley (lesser quality but more affordable). The book of Revelation mentions wheat and barley.

And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:6).

A quart is a quarter of a gallon. So for the same price in that future time, you’d pay a day’s wage for a quarter gallon of wheat but get 3 quarts of barley for the same price.

Bread could mean a food made from grain, or it could be used metaphorically to indicate spiritual food/nourishment.

Israel’s most common form of their staple food was bread made from wheat or barley, which are mentioned over 30 times each in the Old Testament, according to The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Common phrases used bread, such as ‘breaking bread with’ meaning, to partake of a meal with someone.

In the New Testament the Greek word for bread, (artos), usually refers specifically to baked bread, but could describe food in general (Matt 4:4; 6:11; Luke 11:3). Wheat bread was still more expensive, the poor made bread called barley cakes.

As the Lexham Bible Dictionary further explains, “The Gospel writers use the term ἄρτος (artos) metaphorically, to express theological statements. In John, Jesus refers to Himself as the “bread of life” (John 6:35, 48) and “the living bread” (John 6:51). After feeding a large crowd with five loaves of barley bread and two fish, Jesus uses the literal bread as a metaphor for His own ability to provide the world with sustenance and new life (John 6:1–13, 22–58).”

“In Matthew and Mark, Jesus metaphorically refers to His miracles as bread for the Jews, yet He allows a Canaanite woman to partake of the “crumbs” (Matt 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30). Similarly, God’s blessings to the rich are implicitly likened to bread in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, when the rich man blessed by God with wealth is unwilling to share even his breadcrumbs with poor and needy Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31).” The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty“. (John 6:35).

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.” (John 6:51).

Imagine this. In the future, when the Bride is safely home, we will break bread with the Savior! See this scene in Luke 24:30-31,

And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them. 31And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.

The 2 men from Emmaus, one of whom is named Cleopas, broke bread with the risen Savior, who taught them the scriptures! We will too, in heaven, in our new abode Jesus is preparing for us. What a day that will be!

theology

Are you brave enough to x-ray your heart?

Posted on September 17, 2024September 17, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

David Powlison was a well-regarded Biblical Counselor who passed into glory in 2019. In his book Seeing with New Eyes, in chapter 7 Powlison addressed idolatry by setting before the reader some questions. He called then “X-ray questions.” They are designed to allow the Christian to ask him or herself some insightful questions to get at the ‘heart’ of one’s heart.

Of course we know the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, but in honestly addressing ourselves with some purposeful questions we can chip away at the darkness around our heart and bring light to any sin or idolatry that may be forming there.

X-ray is a good title for his questions. X-rays see beyond the flesh down to the bone.

My dentist told me that after 3 days particles on one’s teeth become tartar. I know you are hearing the dentist’s scraper now! He or she uses a scraper (called a curette or a scaler) to forcibly remove hardened particles known as tartar from teeth. If tartar is left too long, it darkens the teeth and damages the teeth and gums.

That’s like sin. Unaddressed it hardens and clings. Eventually becomes like mini-barnacles. It takes more work to remove the long-unaddressed sin from our heart and sometimes, not without damage.

But the best way to remove hardening from our heart is sincere repentance and asking forgiveness from God. He can easily remove it! (But sometimes there is still damage or consequence).

Remember, idolatry can happen any time, anywhere and even through ‘good’ things like marriage, children, or worship , etc.

What are these questions Powlison had written for us to ask ourselves? Here they are. I’d suggest taking one or two questions a day and pondering them. Pray and ask the Spirit to illuminate the answers to you. Because God is transcendent and because He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, He will deliver direction to you on these issues. It glorifies Him for the blood-bought Christian to earnestly and vigorously partner with Him in pursuit of holiness.

Just the Questions*

The questions with explanations

Marci Ferrell The Thankful Homemaker, Getting to the Heart of Our Idolatry with X-ray Questions

Idolatry defined, Ligonier devotional

*These questions are taken from David Powlison, “X-ray Questions,” chapter 7 in Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition through the Lens of Scripture (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2003), 129–43 (these questions appear on pp. 132–40)

theology

Transcendence and Praise!

Posted on September 16, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

God on His throne knows the thoughts and intentions of everyone- that is 8 BILLION People! And He knows this at every moment of every day.

He is also sustaining the universe, managing millions of angels, knitting new humans in the womb, receiving worship, answering prayer, justifying new saints…

Every moment of every day from eternity past to this very second.

Our God is transcendent. Transcendence is the concept of “the aspect of God’s nature that is wholly independent of and beyond the physical universe, emphasizing divine otherness.”

GotQuestions says, The “LORD God Almighty (in Hebrew, El Shaddai) created all things on the earth, beneath the earth and in the heavens above, yet He exists above and independent from them. All things are upheld by His mighty power (Hebrews 1:3), yet He is upheld by Himself alone. The whole universe exists in Him and for Him that He may receive glory, honor and praise.

One way satan likes to chip away at the Transcendence of God is to drag Jesus down to levels equal with humans. He makes people think Jesus is our Butler, answering named and claimed fleshly things. Or by making Him a romantic partner as in a boyfriend, delivering satisfying emotions women seek in a partner. Or simply by making Him seem just like us.

But Yahweh is not a partner. He is transcendent! Jesus said,

And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)

“He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31)

It is worthwhile, I think, to ponder God’s transcendence, one of his incommunicable qualities. He is very ‘other’. And that is a good thing! We love and resect Him for his other-worldiness. Would we admire Him as much if we could ‘figure Him out?’ No. Isaiah 55:9 says

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Love our God, and love Him for who He is, not who we want Him to be. Praise Him for all His goodness and transcendence!

bear, end time, friends, lion, prophecy, tiger

New heaven and a new earth

Posted on September 15, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Bible tells us that earth will pass away and then be remade. Did you even wonder what it will be like in the New Heaven and the New Earth? I do. But first, the verses:

“A New Heaven and Earth“
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”” 2 Peter 3:12

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” Rev 21:1

(Source for photos, actually is a video from Discovery “Proof of cosmic smashup“)

So I often wonder about whether we as resurrected saints will be allowed to watch God in His Glory renew the earth, what the new earth will be like in form, and looks, and smells, and sights, and of course about the new heaven.

“And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.” – (Is 11:6-9)

Won’t that be wonderful??

gethsemane, mighty, sword

The Mighty Jesus, Our Savior

Posted on September 13, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Weariness, concern, anxiety, frustration…all feelings we may be feeling in these difficult times. Financial hardship to emotional stress, to outright persecution, there is no doubt that many are stumbling, suffering, or staggering.

Look to Jesus.

The scene in Gethsemane usually focused on is the sweet scene where Jesus is praying, alone. It touches the heart to see the beginning of the emotional and physical travail our Savior endured for our sakes. But John’s Gospel alone has the scene where Judas arrives with the soldiers and the soldiers approach Jesus. Jesus asks the soldiers whom they seek:

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. (John 18:4-6)

This is a picture of what will happen in Armageddon. Both the Old and the New Testaments are replete with passages that at once depict live events, events that are partial fulfillments of the near future, and are complete fulfillments of things that will happen in the far future. One example comes to mind, the destruction of Sodom for sin, and how Peter advised us that what happened at Sodom is an example of what will happen to the ungodly in the future.

As Jesus spoke, his very words (almost) slew the soldiers, and they fell onto their backs. This is a picture of Rev 19:15, 21,

The Coming of Christ
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

And to confirm, Isaiah 11:4;

But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

THIS is the mighty God we serve! He speaks, and the wicked fall. He speaks and worlds are made. He speaks, and angels fly. He speaks, and billions are redeemed. He is mighty and wonderful! No matter what comes upon us in this world, He will see us through it, and then soon, so we shall be with Him always!

encouragement

The Weary Christian Must Rest Upon Christ

Posted on September 12, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

You might be feeling a bit weary, as I am feeling. Weary of our own sin, weary of the world’s sin. Weary of the election cycle. Weary of tragedies and disasters. Weary of being shocked. Weary of girding against shock.

Jesus acknowledged weariness. He knows of the weariness of the unbeliever burdened by his conscience and his heavy battle against God in his enmity; to the Jew burdened by ceremonial Laws, to the believer who struggles with awareness of His sin and labors daily to mortify it.

Jesus is the salve for weariness.

Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

JC Philpot wrote in his essay “The Laborer’s Rest“

“The Lord’s purpose in laying burdens upon us is to weary us out. We cannot learn our religion in any other way. We cannot learn it from the Bible, nor from the experience of others. It must be a personal work, wrought in the heart of each; and we must be brought, all of us, if ever we are to find rest in Christ, to be absolutely wearied out of sin and self, and to have no righteousness, goodness, or holiness of our own.”

“The effect, then, of all spiritual labor is to bring us to this point: to be weary of the world, for we feel it, for the most part, to be a valley of tears; to be weary of self, for it is our greatest plague; weary of professors, for we cannot see in them the grace of God, which alone we prize and value; weary of the profane, for their ungodly conversation only hurts our minds; weary of our bodies, for they are often full of sickness and pain, and always clogs to our soul; and weary of life, for we see the emptiness of those things which to most people make life so agreeable.”

“By this painful experience we come to this point: to be worn out and wearied; and there we must come, before we can rest entirely on Christ”.

“As long as we can rest in the world, we shall rest in it. As long as the things of time and sense can gratify us, we shall be gratified in them. As long as we can find anything pleasing in self, we shall be pleased with it. As long as anything visible and tangible can satisfy us, we shall be satisfied with them.”

“But when we get weary of all things visible, tangible, and sensible–weary of ourselves, and of all things here below–then we want to rest upon Christ, and Christ alone.”

— J.C. Philpot, “The Laborer’s Rest”

If you are weary, be weary in joy that Jesus gives us rest.

theology

Till there was no remedy

Posted on September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Some verses just strike fear into the heart. They make you shudder. Or even cry. Several verses do that to me, including the well known “Depart from me you evil doer. I never knew you!” (Matthew 7:23). Also the one in Revelation that simply says the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth “and the earth was reaped.” (Revelation 14:16).

There is this which struck me at church on Sunday:

but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:16).

Until there was no remedy. Ponder that. In this day and age, people have dragged Jesus down from His heights of transcendent glory, to make Him a buddy, a boyfriend, a butler in their minds. They render Him toothless, weak, and a simpering milquetoast, pleading for souls but unable to bring them into the kingdom if they choose to reject. They have errantly thought that His longsuffering is endless, that His patience is boundless.

But no.

There will come a day. That day will come for individuals, when he gives them over to their sin, forever locked in a deadly embrace with it, to gnash but also pet their sin even in hell. There will come a day for nations, when there are not even 10 righteous, and like Sodom, will be smote under His wrath. One day, in one moment, it will be too late. God’s limit allowing sin has been reached, and He will punish their sin.

Matthew Henry says,

“They mocked the messengers of God (which was a high affront to him that sent them), despised his word in their mouths, and not only so, but misused the prophets, treating them as their enemies. The ill usage they gave Jeremiah who lived at this time, and which we read much of in the book of his prophecy, is an instance of this. This was an evidence of an implacable enmity to God, and an invincible resolution to go on in their sins. This brought wrath upon them without remedy, for it was sinning against the remedy.” (Source Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 614). Hendrickson.)

If you are playing church, if you are doubtful you are actually saved, if you are pretending to be Christian, you may be coming up to the line of no remedy. For it isn’t only mocking and deriding God that provokes His anger, but our sin itself is enmity against Him. Rejection of God’s word is not mere disagreement, it is actually despising it. As my friend said Sunday in his sermon devotional, “Rejection of God leads to rejection by God.”

He promised that and He DID do that with his own People that He chose, the Israelites. He will do the same with His very own people who may dwell in nations that reject Him.

Today is the day of salvation! Find Him while He may be found.

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

theology

Beth Moore’s latest study: critique and review

Posted on September 9, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Beth Moore is a self-identifying Bible teacher, who writes and publishes material based on the Bible. She also is President of her corporation Living Proof Ministries, in which Moore goes from city to city teaching material she says is related to the Bible. In addition, she has a TV show on TBN, Youtube, and other outlets. She has written a novel and recently published her autobiography.

She is 67 years old and has been teaching woman AND men – and eventually preaching – since about 1983.

She has always been false. She did not start well and go off the rails. Nor did she recently turn soft or errant. She has been false since the beginning. There are sheep and there are goats, one marked for blessing and eternal life and one marked for condemnation. Moore is the latter. I discussed that fact here:

Has Beth Moore only recently drifted, or has she always been false?

and here-

Beth Moore’s spiritual biography

I’ve been tracking Moore since 2011 when I was taken to a Live Living Proof event, and later a simulcast retreat weekend. I’ve written many critiques about both Moore’s doctrine, her teaching style, and her lifestyle. Last week, I checked in to see how Beth Moore’s teaching is going, with viewing her latest Bible series, “When is He Present?”, a study looking at what it means to truly seek the Lord’s presence. Key Scriptures: 1 Samuel 2:12-18, Jeremiah 7:12-15, Jeremiah 2:1-8, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Proverbs 3:5-6.

Conclusion: Beth is still false.

Let’s take a look at why. This isn’t just about marking a teacher, it’s about leading the reader through WHY Beth Moore is false, so the reader can develop her own discernment and be on the alert for true and false teachers. That act alone glorifies the Lord. Rightly dividing the truth glorifies Him. Submitting to and learning about the actual God as revealed in scripture glorifies Him. Alternately, following a false teacher or believing wrong doctrine does not glorify God. This is why we critique teachers- to glorify God and to aid sisters in developing discernment.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Moore began part 1 of her new series with a focus on 1 Samuel. We read at Grace To You the predominant themes of 1 & 2 Samuel:

-The first is the Davidic Covenant,
-A second theme is the sovereignty of God,
-Third, the work of the Holy Spirit in empowering men for divinely appointed tasks is evident,
-Fourth, the books of Samuel demonstrate the personal and national effects of sin.

Ligonier’s overview of 1 Samuel teaches three truths, that God always intended for Israel to have a king; God selected David to be king and promised him an eternal dynasty, God selected Jerusalem to be the place where He would provide a substitute for His people.

Knowing now the devastation of Israel’s national and personal sin, and how they were at a low and weak point because of persistent sin, how does Beth Moore introduce the theme and background of 1 Samuel? Let’s take a look.

Moore opens the lesson thus:

A paradox of being completely self-absorbed is that the more we fold into ourselves the more we try to just give ourselves to every craving every yearning anything we want regardless of what it does to anybody else that the more we do that the more and more Barren we become. ~Moore

Moore uses the word barren 9X in this lesson but the word sin only once. It seems that Moore is inserting her gynocentric focus here, in making these chapters be about women, barrenness, and birth. She opens with a focus on women- not sin, not kings, not Israel. Women and their child-birthing capabilities, or lack thereof. Moore knows her audience likely knows about barren Hannah, so Moore seems to have latched onto the birthing issue and barrenness and extrapolated it into the theme.

First, she uses the word barren when saying that when we give in to cravings, (carefully avoiding the word sin) it makes us “barren”. If that was all she said, one might surmise from the scant context, that Moore meant spiritually dry. But then she confuses things in the next moment by using the word barren to mean Hannah’s physical inability to have children.

Moore conflated the word barren and then goes on in the ‘lesson’ to overuse the word without clarifying. Moore matches the spiritual dryness of disobedience to one woman’s inability to have children.

This lack of clarity and the cobbling together of cherry-picked words is the usual MO of how Moore has publicly said she crafts her lessons. She prays and waits to hear a literal word from the Spirit, then she goes through books of the Bible and picks out that word and makes a lesson out of it. Here, she seems to have ‘heard’ the Spirit say “barren”. You notice above how many books of the Bible and how many verses she intends to teach through. She is always all over the place.

I’m just a few minutes into Moore’s lesson and it is incorrect and confusing already.

In fact, the next statement Moore gives is that Moore claims the entire theme of the book of 1 Samuel is about barrenness. She said,

So the book unfolds 1^st Samuel chapter 1 and goes into to chapter 2 and then we see it in chapter 3 the book unfolds with a whole theme of barrenness. It’s showing us the idea of barrenness in the woman by the name of Hannah…

This is incorrect. The theme of 1 Samuel is the installation of a King over the people, the beginning of the monarchy. Not barrenness.

She goes on to say,

it puts us on the page of Hannah’s barrenness but that is not where it stops. Because what it immediately shows us is that this particular people of God has become Barren. That spiritually they are completely Barren.

So are the people unable to have children? Or are they barren spiritually? Because Moore has used the word in both senses in rapid order by now. And what exactly IS spiritual barrenness? How can an entire people be ‘barren’? The men too? She never defines it.

This is a tactic politicians use, when they use words that are commonly understood but that each person can attach their own individual interpretation to what it exactly means. Words like peace, liberty, freedom. Politicians do this so they can appeal to the widest possible audience (voters).

In faith-based organizations like Living Proof that twist the word, the speakers first rip out the context, then they use words that make sense on the surface but are in fact nebulous, so they can appeal to the widest audience possible (consumers).

Barrenness makes sense, but what IS it, really? The people at this juncture were SINNING. They were DISOBEDIENT. Moore doesn’t use the more specific and appropriate words of sin and disobedience. Only ‘barrenness’.

there’s nothing like barrenness to make God want to birth something… ~Moore

What?! Sometimes barrenness, if we interpret it as disobedience, causes God to punish, not birth something. See: Sodom, The Disapora, Intertestamental 400 years of silence…

Moore goes on to reference Sarah who was barren and in the NT Elizabeth who was past child bearing years. Moore again cobbling together a false doctrine out of her cherry picked word. Now it is true that God used barren women for His plan. In fact, He was the One who MADE the women barren in the first place. He didn’t look down on these poor women who could not give birth and decide out of compassion to give them a child. It is the Lord who opens and closes wombs and decides whether or not he gives a woman a child. He uses them as part of His plan.

Next, Moore says,

Elizabeth a woman past the years of childbearing there’s just nothing like a time of barrenness …

What does that mean??

Anna wasn’t mentioned as having children, and her life was rich a teaching ministry in the Temple. Lydia is not mentioned as having children yet her ministry of hospitality was thriving. What does that mean, “there’s nothing like a time of barrenness”?

so I want to say to you if you come here this weekend in your life your soul your heart just feels Barren you may be in exactly the right place because it may be that God is just about to birth something brand new in you.

Or it might mean you’ve been disobedient and need to repent.

The above sounds like Joel Osteen doesn’t it? Moore uses nebulous words in order to emotionally connect with her audience, rather than teach the plain meaning of scripture and allow the Spirit to connect in transforming their mind.

Beth, just stoppppp with the ping-ponging back and forth between the spiritual barrenness and gestational barrenness!

Moore refers to Hannah’s promise to dedicate the child to the LORD when he is old enough, and for laughs, Moore says she’d renege on that promise to YAHWEH:

I’m going to tell you something, if it were me, He just never would get old enough, isn’t that the truth…[laughter]

I’ve often remarked that Beth Moore lacks gravitas. Not that we moon about and wear a long face, but her frequent quips and pause for laughter moments chip away at the foundation of the seriousness of the topic on which she is speaking, and eats away at the due seriousness of the Bible itself. Should we joke about abandoning a promise to God?

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT [ab]MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ (Matthew 5:33)

Moore admits a bit further on that she changes translations frequently and when she does she reads the verse a bit differently and it “captures my fresh attention.“

This is rather a sad confession, but one that to my mind confirms once again that Moore is an unsaved person and looking for ways to liven her Bible reading (which is always dry as dust to a pagan). The Holy Spirit livens the reading of God’s word to us as He uses it as the mechanism to transform our mind and melt our heart and grow our soul. But not for a heathen. Heathens need tricks to make the Bible interesting and keep one’s attention. So Moore changes translations often.

Moore continues with reading a passage from Jeremiah where God is speaking to the people about their lack of awareness and failure even to ask “where is the Lord?” never noticing that He is not present among them. Moore extrapolates that to a lamentation for our day, that,

we should really be seeing the Lord move in our midst and moving some obstacles and making some ways in the wilderness and this is a God that does wonders for his people and where where is the Lord?

Is she saying that we should be expecting visible proof that the Lord is moving? Miracles and wonders? Seems so. If the Lord feels far from you, what are you called to do? REPENT. That word does not appear at all in the transcript of Moore’s 30-minute teaching. We seek the Lord’s presence through seeking His forgiveness for our sin through our repentance. This is not a mention in the transcript nor is it the theme in this lesson.

Moore went on like that for a while. Her teaching was not 100% devoid of truth. False teachers always include some truth which they mix with a heaping cup of confusion and a dollop of emotion. But her teaching was human centered, not God-centered.

What descriptions are used for false teachers? Spies, masquerade, creep in, secretly… If you could immediately detect their falsity then we would not need so many warnings in the Bible about training in discernment so we cold detect them.

Moore’s error in identifying the theme of 1 Samuel, her incorrect use of barrenness, and her ripping out of context the story of Sarah and other childless women are clues that her teaching that is not healthy.

Further Resources

Beware of False Teachers

Hannah’s perseverance

Why we still warn against Beth Moore