elizabethprata

Happy New Year 2024! And about resolutions…

Posted on January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

As I arise this morning, January 1, 2024, I reflect on the Lord’s faithfulness to me, and to all His children, His church, and to His word. For eons it has been so. He is the LORD and He does what He says. His promises are pure, holy, and eternal. 2023 was no different. I am grateful for his past faithfulness and promises of future faithfulness.

For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean, And I will welcome you. 18 And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1

I was blessed in 2023 with being able to continue in the wonderful job He gave me which was working with children. I continued in my church, another blessing He has given me. I continued in my warm, clean, beautiful home, what a blessing. I had health, means, peace, punctuated by occasional happy surprises.

Aging issues are real. I noticed in 2023 that my mental faculties are dimmer, a bit blurry around the edges. I am not as alert after work as long into the evening as I used to be. I also cannot count on energy being present. Sometimes I have it after work, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have it on the weekends, sometimes I don’t. Because of this, after school I tended to slide into less productivity for the Lord. Not reading my Bible as long, not researching as deeply, and sadly also, not reading as many books either secular or theological.

I have never been that successful with “New Year’s Resolutions”. Self-help usually fails. But when it’s a resolve to pursue holiness, to walk more closely with the Lord, to work toward glorifying Him through my earthly decisions, well now, that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, isn’t it! I deeply desire to serve Jesus and please Him.

The Author of Hebrews 12:14, wrote, Pursue peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Be a slave to God Romans 6:22, because ‘the fruit you reap leads to holiness,’

This time of year people usually turn to Jonathan Edwards’ famous Resolutions, as well they should. Beginning in 1722 at age 19, Jonathan Edwards wrote 70 resolutions designed to help him live a holy life.

You can get them at Chapel Library online or sent to you for free, Here, John Piper, a student of Edwards, wrote about them in an article titled The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. He reorganized the resolutions into groups of similar theme, if that helps.

Edwards was intent on pursuing God’s glory, spiritual good for himself, and the good of fellow man. He was only 19, but several of the resolutions spoke of the end of his life and his eventual death. For me, this one from Edwards kind of sums up the whole resolutions thing: #17,

Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

Here at Ligonier in an article titled The Resolution Solution, Gene Edward Veith shows the difference between Edwards’ resolutions and the ones made by Benjamin Franklin who’d taken a cue from Edwards shortly after Edwards issued his. Franklin called his experiment of pursuing 13 virtues in 1726 “A bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection”. Gulp. We know where this is going to end, don’t we? Edwards looked to God. Franklin looked to self.

Edwards’ resolves “were focused on God’s glory, Scripture, heaven and hell, and Jesus Christ; Franklin’s were secular, pragmatic, and this-worldly, focused on becoming a good citizen and a successful businessman.”

How did it turn out for Franklin? Did he achieve ‘moral perfection’?

“Franklin kept a chart upon which he made check marks indicating his progress. When he found that he had problems keeping them all at once, he tried concentrating on one virtue at a time. When he found that he was still not making all that much progress, he eventually gave up the whole plan.“

Sound familiar? Yet Apostle Paul struggled, like we all do. He wrote,

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me.

21 I find then the principle that in me evil is present—in me who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:19-25).

Ruth in the Bible had made a resolution. Let’s look at her resolve:

But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. (Ruth 1:16).

**Pieter Lastman** ca. 1583 – 1633. Ruth Declares her Loyalty to Naomi

Jonathan Edwards was impressed with Ruth’s resolve, writing in his essay “Ruth’s Resolution“,

I would particularly observe that wherein the Virtuousness of this her Resolution consists, viz. That it was for the Sake of the God of Israel, and that she might be one of his People that she was thus resolved to cleave to Naomi. … It was for God’s sake that she did thus, and therefore her so doing is afterwards spoken of as a virtuous behavior in her, Ruth 2:11,12, …She left her father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to come and trust under the shadow of God’s wings,

Our resolutions can be as specific and lengthy as Edwards’ or a simple as Ruth’s. But whatever you resolve, they should not be rested upon self, as Ben Franklin’s was. We should resolve things. We are told to walk, run, pursue God’s standards in obedience. We must ‘work out our salvation with fear and trembling.’ (Philippians 2:12). These are all active verbs. For us to be active we must decide, resolve, commit.

So whatever kind of resolve you have made looking into the New Year, if they are centered on God’s will, His glory, and His kingdom, He will be sure to bless you and sustain you. We don’t resolve to seek moral perfection, we know that cannot happen anyway until the glorification comes. But we pursue Jesus and work to become more like Him every day, day over day. We realize we can’t do it ourselves, even Paul couldn’t. If we look to Jesus always, and rely on the Spirit through prayer, growing in knowledge of His word, and surmounting sin, our victories whether large or small will increase.

Make your resolutions, then put one foot in front of the other, steeple your hands in prayer, keep the eyes focused upward, and walk on into 2024. That’s what I plan to do. Resolved.

encouragement

"Dear Sisters" : encouragement

Posted on December 31, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

To all my sisters who have lost a loved one and are facing the first New Year alone…

To all my sisters who have spoken up for the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ in Bible study and have been kicked out because of it…

To all my sisters who have approached their pastor with concerns of false teaching and have been spiritually abused instead of comforted…or even heard…

To all my sisters who are struggling to be a good Christian wife with a non-believing husband…or an apathetic husband…

To all my sisters who have a spouse deployed overseas this year…

To my lonely and hurting and grief-stricken and saddened sisters. You’re not alone.

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

theology

David Platt discernment bundle: “The Real David Platt” new film, Platt’s wokeness, Isa dreams, Radical, and more

Posted on December 30, 2023December 30, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

What is discernment?

Discernment is a gift and a skill. It is a gift when it is given to certain people, as listed in 1 Corinthians 12:10,

To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: (KJV. underline mine)

and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. (NASB).

It’s a skill ALL Christians have and should train constantly, as in Hebrews 5:14,

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

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (ESV).

How I approach utilizing discernment

I have a “three-item” standard. In discernment work, we do not jump at the least little thing a public teacher or local pastor says. We use common sense, review the bulk of a ministry for context, and wait, watching alertly but remaining self-controlled and measured. We overlook something he or she said that’s the equivalent of a typo.

But if we see or hear of something bigger, something that can be tested against scripture, we raise our discernment alarm. One item can be a mistake. Two times could be a coincidence. But three things, now that’s a pattern. Here is my standard:

1st piece of information: Discernment unease
2nd piece of information: Discernment alert
3rd piece of information: Discernment alarm, go public

And so it was with my assessment of David Platt through the years.

Who is David Platt?

Platt “was senior pastor at the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, from 2006 to 2014. At the time he was the youngest megachurch pastor in the United States. From 2014 to 2017, Platt was president of the International Mission Board. He became pastor-teacher at McLean Bible Church in 2017. He is the author of the 2010 New York Times Best Seller Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.” (Wikipedia)

#1- Discernment unease: Radical (2010-2012)

Radical was published in 2010. It hit conservative churches like a bomb. It was a push-back against the lives Platt saw of conservative faithful settling into a consumerism complacency instead of daring to be uncomfortable and taking the faith to the lost in dangerous places. Book blurb:

It’s easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily…

Kevin DeYoung at the time (2010) wrote a fair review of Radical. “Getting to the Root of Radical“. One of DeYoung’s concerns tracked with my main concern: “It is easy to stir people to action by relating how little everyone else has and how much we have in America, but we are not meant to have constant low-level guilt because we could be doing more.”

Low-level guilt was a thread throughout the book I assessed as emotional manipulation. I’ve also seen it coined as Platt’s “poverty gospel”.

Anyway, I was asked to teach through the 6-lesson Radical Small Group Study that came out in 2012. I was uncomfortable with Platt after having read his book Radical, but he’d quoted and used a lot of John MacArthur in the curriculum, so I stuck to the MacArthur side of things, thereby doing diligence to the trust the pastors had placed in me but also not upsetting my conscience. Going through the lessons raised my discernment radar on Platt. I thought the book was emotional, unbalanced, and in the end, dangerous.

#2- Discernment alert- Urbana15 (2015)

It was at InterVarsity’s 24th student missions conference in 2015 I could not believe what I was seeing. Urbana is “One of the largest student missions conferences in the world, …and combines gospel proclamation, dynamic worship, and missionary connection to launch students into a life of reaching people with the good news.”

Platt spoke there as he often does.

Platt preached of the unnamed woman in Matthew 26 who poured out her expensive perfume, and compared that to pouring out our heart to the Lord. He did mention sin in his sermon, but never uttered the word “repent”. He emotionally pleaded to the thousands assembled there to “decide for Christ”, and said ushers would come by and give them a glowstick which the attendees should break “if they had decided to follow Jesus for the first time”, knowing “that Jesus is worthy of their heart and life”.

Screenshot: Platt explaining how to use the glowstick to indicate one’s decision to follow Jesus

He said to the impressionable youths to hold up the glowstick as a picture of their heart now poured out to Christ. There was a room they could go to where they’d be provided resources, and someone would pray with them to “celebrate God’s grace in you.”

Screenshot: A volunteer at Urbana 15 passing out glowsticks to those standing who’d indicated they ‘decided to follow Jesus’

No. No. No. One never declares a person saved on the spot. This leads to false conversions. Certainly not from a podium to a darkened room full of young people who’d just heard an emotional plea to follow Christ for the first time – but said plea was absent a plea for repentance of sins.

Urbana’s video of Platt at Urbana 15. Above, Youtube’s video of the same event. Youtube is convenient because it has the transcript.

Platt said for the kids to hold up their glowsticks in order to “express affection, adoration, longing, and love for Christ.” Emotional terms. But what about the plea for repentance, holy fear, submission, confession? All these terms were absent from Platt’s decisional altar call.

Devastating. My radar on Platt went to Discernment alert.

#3- Discernment Alarm: Isa Dreams (2018)

In 2018, then-International Mission Board President David Platt delivered a 6-minute report to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting affirming Isa as Messiah and conversion through Muslim dreams. He told of some Muslims in a closed country having dreams of Isa and reporting that “This formerly Muslim couple is now a follower of Isa the Messiah.“

Isa is not the Messiah.

Interestingly, the SBC always fully published their leaders’ reports after the Annual Meeting, but in this particular case, the subsequent transcription published on the IMB website OMITS that Platt had stated that the couple is now following “Isa the Messiah”. Instead they transcribed that Platt said the couple is following “the Messiah”. Also interestingly, unlike in past years where the full report is published on Youtube or the IMB site, that year only a recap video was available. I transcribed his speech from the live video as it was being recorded by someone who was physically present, that’s how I know of the omission when I compared the two.

The following link of mine has the transcript. Blasphemy: Jesus is not Isa, Isa is not Jesus

Anyone who calls Isa a messiah of the faithful Christians is NOT to be followed. He is not credible. Done. Finito. It’s like calling Yahweh Molech or Dagon. This was the third nail in the discernment coffin for me as to who David Platt is. Why?

Isa is a made-up satanic entity in the Muslim tradition who is not deity, was never actually crucified, never died, where a substitute was placed on the cross to fool the Jews, (Suran al-Ma’idah 4:157), was raised to heaven alive (Surah al-Imran (3:55) and who will return to earth to worship the ‘one god’ [not Trinitarian] Allah and kill Christians, break the cross, remove jizyah (A Muslim tax) and rule (forcibly converted) Muslims “with justice.” (Surah al-Imran (3:55).

Critical Mass: Platt’s worst revealed, in new Documentary

Screenshot: https://therealdavidplatt.com/

A new documentary is coming out in 2024 in which a sneak peek of 10 minutes was published at Christmastime 2023.

The link includes describing Platt’s alleged leadership and financial malfeasance of McLean Bible church, allegations by former members and leaders. The film is called The Real David Platt.

It reportedly interviews many of McLean’s church members, elders, and leaders who have departed the church or who they say were forcibly excommunicated after having asked questions of finances and other issues. The interviewees describe their negative experiences there and outline their concerns and fear, often with tears for McLean church, its leaders, and fellow members.

It should be noted that the extended trailer does not include anyone representing from ‘the other side,’ that I saw, although I hope and pray in journalistic ethics the producers give McLean elders and Platt opportunity to speak in the full documentary. We do not know who is behind the documentary, although Jon Harris of Conversations That Matter (linked below) said he worked on intake of the interviewees for the film. He discusses the documentary below.

Conclusion

2010-2012- I’ve seen him off since the book Radical was published. I had concerns when asked to teach thru his Radical book curriculum in 2012 I saw more; and I disliked Platt’s guilt-tripping “poverty gospel”.

2015 when he touted 681 non-Christians made a decision of faith to follow Jesus, signified by glowsticks? at Urbana15

2018- Again in 2018 when Platt affirmed Isa dreams. I was done with Platt 6 years ago in 2018.

But for others, these indicators were not enough to call David Platt, evangelical darling, NYT bestselling author megachurch pastor, a wolf. However, by now at the end of 2023 there is plenty to show that Platt is not to be followed. There’s the Critical Race Theory/social justice/woke stances he spoke at public pulpits over the years, the lawsuit, and allegations of financial greed and authority misuse (internal documents supporting these allegations are promised to be shown in the full movie).

Sadly, we must strenuously urge people to stay away from his material, to repudiate his works, and if having promoted or followed him, to repent. Below are many other resources outlining issues with Platt, and this list is NOT comprehensive.

Further resources

The End Time: Blasphemy: Isa is not Jesus and Jesus is not Isa

Think on These Things: “An Evaluation Of Muslim Dreams & Visions Of Isa (Jesus)” “...one can rejoice in Muslim conversions while still expressing concerns about the messenger, especially since the Isa of Muslim dreams isn’t simply calling Muslims to believe in the Jesus of the Bible; he is calling them to believe in him (Isa).

Jon Harris at Conversations that Matter, discusses this new documentary The Real David Platt?

Here we have The Dissenter with a compilation of statements posted Aug 11, 2021 from Platt titled “David Platt’s Worst Woke Statements Ever“. They wrote: ” David Platt’s McLean Bible Church is currently in the midst of a crisis of division and disunity that was clearly caused by his unbiblical embrace of social justice, particularly, a worldly form of “racial justice,” as an outworking of the gospel. This montage is for the purpose of demonstrating that David Platt has clearly embraced all of this movement.”

Capstone Report: A chronological roundup of Platt’s woke trajectory. David Platt is Harming McLean Bible Church With Social Justice Theology

Evangelical Dark Web: David Platt’s Million-dollar Lawsuit

theology

Deconstructing a negative comment

Posted on December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I receive many encouraging comments after I post something or put up a podcast. One of the type of posts I write are discernment posts. I receive comments on those, some encouraging and some not so encouraging.

I don’t mind that, IF the comment is one where the commenter is trying to reason with me through the scriptures. That doesn’t happen much. Sadly.

People lack discernment to a greater and greater degree, I notice. If they follow a certain false teacher whom I have written about, they do all sorts of gymnastics to defend that false teacher instead of being more interested in defending Jesus and asking why I believe these things are so. (Acts 17:11).

They also seem to have a template of Bible phrases they throw into the discussion, out of context or used in a twisted way, of course.

One such comment came to me a short while ago. In it, I see almost ALL of the tropes and clichés the undiscerning use to rebut a thoughtful essay containing scriptures. This one came in after I re-published my Bullet Points on Why Joyce Meyer is a False Teacher.

I want to go through it and show why it was not a reasonable comment, in fact, quite ignorant, biblically speaking. My purpose is so you, too, can rebut, or at least see why this kind of comment is not appropriate for a Christian. The Commenter is in red. My answer is underneath.

Some people think they are doing “good” by trying to “warn people” by calling out preachers and pastors

The quotes around the words good and warn people are called “scare quotes”. It’s a journalistic technique to disparage what someone has said, or to show disdain. The word ‘trying’ is also a snide put-down. Christians discuss things charitably. They should not be haughty.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 1 Peter 1:15 KJV.

Of course a biblically aware Christian knows that the New Testament urges believers to be vigilant against false teachers, which are warned about to us in every NT book except Philemon. We are not only told to beware, but to warn others. This isn’t optional. They are commands. So yes, it IS doing good by warning others. Why would someone think it’s bad to warn a believer they are about to be devoured?

but they fail to take the plank out of their own eye.

This is part of a verse, taken out of context. The full passage is in Matthew 7:1-5. It is about the WAY we judge, and not to do it hypocritically, but righteously.

It is also an uncharitable assumption. Charity and grace in conversation is important. A charitable assumption would be to assume that the author has already prayed and worked to take the plank out, so as not to be hypocritical.

If the commenter is concerned about me the author writing hypocritically, she should private message me, to ask what steps I’d taken to avoid hypocrisy. Or even better, assume in charity that I’ve already taken those steps.

If everyone said everything perfectly and did everything perfectly there would have been no need for Jesus.

This is a common way for people to diminish the importance of discernment. It’s a trope, the “Nobody’s perfect” cliché.

We are not talking about ‘perfection’ when we remark about false doctrine. We are talking about false doctrine, which kills. We are talking about false teachers who bring false doctrine, who are goats. Goats have an agenda, and that agenda is to destroy you and me. Their goal is to cause divisions, create obstacles, and to deceive. (Romans 16:17-18). Their goal is to make you captive. (Colossians 2:8). That’s more than an ‘Oopsie, I misspoke.”

We are not sinners anymore Joyce [Meyer] is right about that. We are saints who will still commit sins and that’s the difference. To God we are reborn and not considered sinners to God who belong to him.

The commenter is splitting a hair here. She is right, BUT, and it’s a big BUT, Joyce Meyer has previously taught that once saved, Christians do NOT sin any more. They they are sinLESS. She has said she herself does not sin. Here is her quote:

Joyce Meyer said she is not a sinner: “I am not poor. I am not miserable, and I am not a sinner. That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I were, and if I still was, then Jesus died in vain. I’m going to tell you something, folks. I didn’t stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head. I wasn’t a sinner anymore. And the religious world thinks that’s heresy, and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I am righteous and I can’t be righteous and be a sinner at the same time.” https://carm.org/preachers-and-teachers/joyce-meyer/

1 John 1:8 and Romans 7:19-20, 24 tell us we are saved from our past sin and declared righteous. But we still retain our sin nature and we still sin. That’s why James 5:16 says we need to confess our sins to each other.

More on this here: Are we Sinners or Saints?

Joyce Meyer palling around with fellow false teacher Beth Moore

So this good willed article to call out this woman only leads people astray and discouraged. And the others who can’t wait to be part of the problem to talk about others in this attack mode.

Key words here most undiscerning people use; lead astray, discourage, and mainly, ‘attack’. They call any discerning article an attack.

What the attack actually is, is the false teacher’s assault against Christ. Undiscerning people look horizontally, not upward vertically.

Not helpful. Really playing with fire here to call someone out like this to come to find out you were wrong and actually drive people further away from Christ.

Leaving the church because of discernment blogs?

They always say that discernment drives people away from Jesus. It doesn’t. Acts 5:14 is one example. After Ananias and Sapphira were KILLED by God, for their hypocrisy and lies, “more than ever” believers entered the church. Really? Didn’t the killing by God of two prominent believers “drive people away”? “And more than ever believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women,”

Why? Barnes’ Notes explains:

Were the more added – The effect of all these things was to increase the number of converts. Their persecutions, their preaching, and the judgment of God, “all” tended to impress the minds of the people, and to lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ. … Though the judgment of God had the effect of deterring hypocrites from entering the church – though it produced awe and caution, yet still the number of true converts was increased.

The commenter is just plain wrong.

Joyce is not God. She’s capable of human error and sin like anyone else. And I believe she has admitted errors where she has recognized them.

1.No one has said Joyce Meyer is God. Straw man fallacy alert.
2.No, Joyce hasn’t admitted errors. Because Joyce Meyer preaches to men, and that is an activity and an office denied to women. She actively and constantly rebels against scripture. This is her error.

Straw Man Fallacy: A straw man fallacy occurs when someone distorts or exaggerates another person’s argument, and then attacks the distorted version of the argument instead of genuinely engaging. (Source)

So those pharasee out there need to take it easy.

It would probably help her credibility if she spelled Pharisee correctly. But more than that, did you notice a glaring omission from the entire comment? Not one scripture. That is the main key. They do not reason over scriptures. Instead they throw shade, disdain, and attack the person who is promoting discernment. They have to. They don’t have a leg to stand on.

Consider if the person commenting to me or if you have received comments like this, if they are adhering to the following scriptures themselves. If not, aren’t THEY the hypocrite?

Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. (Psalm 34:13).

Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Colossians 4:6).

Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:49).

And you know there are many more verses which guide us in how we should speak to one another. Most importantly, if you choose to engage with the person, don’t be drawn into a devolving conversation in which your witness will be blotted because of anger or ungracious speech.

Ladies, if or when you discuss a false teacher online, you most probably will receive comments like the one I shared. Or if you meet with elders to discuss a false activity in the church, you may well receive pushback. Hopefully not. But listen for those clichés. Have scripture ready. Keep reasoning over scripture, even if the person online or in real life accuses you with emotional or slanderous challenges. It isn’t YOU they are challenging, it’s Jesus IN you. (Matthew 5:10-12). They aren’t against you, so much, as they are FOR themselves.

theology

Year-end wrap up: The Podcast

Posted on December 28, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote yesterday about the blog for my year end wrap up. Today it’s the podcast.

Why “The End Time?”

It’s called “The End Time” because we are IN the end time. It’s the time between Jesus’ incarnation (or ascension), and the time of His return. It’s to remind us that time is short. Death could come for us any day, or the Age of Grace could end suddenly and there would be no more opportunity to be about our Father’s business. We must be busy, joyfully ministering in all we do, all the time.

Ministry Goals

My goal with this ministry comprised of my blog and other social media, are three fold. To 1) encourage women, 2) to discern and teach others how to discern, and 3) to offer links and material from credible ministries from today and the past. There is so much false and fluff out there, I try to do my part in warning women about the bad and passing along the good.

Why a podcast?

That said, when podcasts became so available and so ubiquitous, I decided it would be a good thing to add it to my cadre of social media that I use to reach my ministry goals. I aim for female readers of all ages. However, today’s world is busy, especially for moms. So if women don’t have the time to sit and read but can listen while folding laundry, driving the kids, or putting on makeup, it’s a good thing for them, and adheres to my goal of offering quality content to women.

So I started The End Time Blog podcast.

It doesn’t have interviews. It doesn’t have a co-host. It doesn’t have guests. It’s just me, reading what I wrote on the blog. The sessions are usually between 7-10 minutes. A few are 20-25 minutes, a very few. Spotify has a 30-minute limit, anyway.

There’s no brash intro music. No hype or ringmaster announcer-y voice. No giggling. No ads or sponsors. Many people over the years have remarked on my voice, that it’s soothing, quiet, calming, etc. I try to read the blog into the microphone like I’m reading a story to my younger students.

I’m not good at “curating my content”. I don’t relentlessly re-post and tout and advertise. Maybe I should, it’s part of the goal of getting good content in front of women. I often don’t know the dividing line between healthy promotion and self-promotion, so I err on the side of caution.

That can get me a remark such as I received recently, “There’s a podcast?!” lol. Yes, there is. It is on Spotify as mentioned but also iTunes, Amazon music, and several other podcast subscription outlets.

Year end round up

Here is the year-end round up for how the podcast did. Spotify does it for its podcasters automatically. It’s still very small potatoes, but I know the Holy Spirit is getting it to all the ears He decides should be hearing it. Here you go:

Top episode:

When people say that this false teacher or that maybe false teacher should be left alone, why are you doing this, it’s because of the statistic below. Because people care deeply about doctrine, about whether the person they are following is false or not, or whether the person they had to quit following is repenting and can now be re-followed. People care about their own souls and the souls of even the false teachers.

It makes sense the US was top country from which my listeners came. It’s an English speaking podcast and it’s comparatively small in reach. Why should people in Laos or Ghana know about it?

Philippines? Um, OK. Like I said, the Holy Spirit sends the ministry where He wants it to go!

Word of mouth is gold. When I ran my newspaper I learned that what you are asking people to do is alter their routine. Buy from THIS store, not that one. Read MY newspaper not the other one anymore. It’s hard. People are ingrained. Word of mouth from friends counts for a lot in getting people to try something new or to adopt a new routine into their lives.

One women on my The End Time blog Facebook Page was passing my stuff to a friend with this comment-

“Do you listen to Elizabeth? Probably the only woman I have consistently read or followed. She’s low key, studious, consistent, BIBLICAL.”

It was one of the best compliments I ever received. I cherish those qualities she said I possess. All four of them. It’s comments like that I use as a benchmark for staying within the center line of doctrine and to detect if I’m straying or not. How terrible it would be to read something like “I used to listen to her but she is getting liberal…” Or, “I listened for a while but she is getting too strident and brash…” or something like that. I’d be crushed and go to my elders and ask them to help me rectify this. (And yes, I have 4 elders who encourage me and keep abreast of what I do here).

I’m glad for the growth. Toward the second half of the year I was not as consistent in recording my podcast. I’ll try to do better in 2024. Consistent publishing helps with reach and growth.

I wrote about my stance on women speakers and podcasters, here, in “Dudette, where’s your gravitas?” I had said,

Something one notices immediately upon listening to Elisabeth Elliot is her demeanor. She speaks slowly, carefully, soberly. (Titus 2:3,5). I think of someone like Beth Moore, where her speech patterns are so frenetic that when Chris Rosebrough introduces a segment about her he plays “Flight of the Bumblebee”. Or Christine Caine, who, at Passion 2019, yelled a lot and never stopped striding around the stage (in a track suit). A Bible teacher’s demeanor like Elisabeth’s will cause one to stop, listen, and take what is said more seriously because of the gravitas inherent in the woman. She spoke of heavenly things with respect for heaven.

Dudette, where’s your gravitas?

I would encourage you to read or listen to the above link and apply the biblical terms that outline behavior for women to the podcasters you listen to. Behavior counts just as much as doctrine.

So that is the roundup! Thank you for listening, I appreciate all my readers and listeners.

theology

Year end wrap up: The Blog

Posted on December 27, 2023December 28, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Why ‘The End Time’?

It’s called “The End Time” because we are IN the end time. It’s the time between Jesus incarnation (or ascension), and the time of His return. It’s to remind us that time is short. Death could come for us any day, or the Age of Grace could end suddenly and there would be no more opportunity to be about our father’s business. We must be busy, joyfully ministering in all we do, all the time.

The End Time blog history

By God’s grace, I’ve been blogging every day since January 2009. That’s 15 years (next month). That’s more than 6000 blog essays. I started on Blogspot, then moved to WordPress in 2016. Not all the Blogspot blogs exported, since there was a size limit for the exportation. It’s just as well, not all of my earliest blogs are that good.

Here on WordPress I’ve got 6,360 blogs. A few are repeats, but not many. My topics have been discernment, encouragement and theology. I also enjoy writing natural history essays because I like to extol the imagination and power of God in His creation.

It gives me great joy when women say they have been helped in discernment, comforted and encouraged, or enjoyed a theological point from one of my essays.

Uncomfortable with Celebrity & Influence

I don’t seek a huge ministry. I don’t seek to be a celebrity or famous. I don’t want to speak at conferences or retreats or churches. I liked what John MacArthur said years ago about his Grace To You ministry, he concentrates on the depth of the ministry and lets the Holy Spirit take care of the breadth. I truly don’t desire to ‘see my name in lights’ or anything. I believe it’s good advice. I believe it’s important to just do what I do based on my interpretation of His leading, and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.

Where you can find my work

I put up a scripture-picture every day that uses one of my photographs, a devotional, and a new blog. I also record a podcast almost every day. I use 4 social media platforms. My social media pages are Twitter under elizabethprata, Facebook page The End Time Blog, Instagram under eprata7777, and Spotify under the name The End Time Blog Podcast. For the first time since 2009, I may or may not blog every single day this year. I want to release some pressure on myself. We’ll see. I might just be so ingrained by now that I can’t let up, lol.

Ministry Goals

2023 End-of-Year roundup

Which blog essays were most popular? Discernment essays have been the most popular since earliest days of this blog. And that is a good thing. I like to think it is because people care about their walk with Christ and want to be more pure rather than less pure in their doctrine.

When I write that this teacher or that teacher is false, it often causes a stir, but again that is good. Satan defends his territory. Of those who come here with negative comments, though, I can try and win them. And even if I don’t win those folks, lots of others lurk and read, absorbing the concepts put forth in the pitched discussion.

For the last three years, the same essay always comes out as most viewed:

Bullet points on why Joyce Meyer is a false teacher

Mrs. Meyer has an enormous following, and interest in her constantly runs high.

Second in popularity for 2023 is a new discernment essay: Discerning Lori Alexander, “The Transformed Wife” of @Godlywomanhood. This surprised me since I posted it only a few months ago. Lori Alexander is another false teacher with a huge following, and I mean huge. She also relentlessly posts her superficially-seemingly good but deeply false concepts across an astounding variety of social media platforms. For a (hyper-patriarchal) woman whose main claim is that women should strictly tend to her husband and her home, her children and her grandchildren solely, she does an awful lot of work on TikTok, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blog, MeWe, Parler, Gab…ugh. Satan is a roaming lion seeking who he may devour and he uses every means at his disposal to do so. Lori is one of satan’s. Avoid Lori Alexander, she’s toxic.

Third: most popular blog essay for 2023 is an essay I’d posted 7 years ago! This one regularly lands in the top three every year as well: Two divorce cases: Summer White and Melissa Moore. In that essay I’d posted two prominent ministry women who happened to get divorced the same year, Summer White Pinch (now Jaeger) and Beth Moore’s daughter Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick. There is a right way to get divorced (if you have to) and a wrong way. Maybe you can guess which woman exemplified the right way and which was the wrong one…

Fourth: This one also lands in the top five every year. It is an 8-year-old essay which still garners lots of views: Dr David Jeremiah’s shocking apostasy, Updated.

In discernment, it’s a continuum. You don’t want to declare someone false too soon, that is a blot against Jesus and uncharitable to fellow man. But then again you don’t want to endlessly gather every bit of everlasting evidence, waiting too long before warning people of the teacher’s danger. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t need lots to tell me someone is false. There were three items which told me David Platt was false, (essay coming this week on him), and three that for me put Jeremiah into the false column. I have some no-go boundaries. For Dr. Jeremiah, his merchandising at the pulpit was a shock and it tipped the balance for me when combined with other evidence. You can read the other items that indicate he’s false at the link.

Here are the top 14 essays for 2023:

Discernment

I am eternally grateful the Holy Spirit has apparently given me the gift of “distinguishing of spirits” 1 Corinthians 12:10. Sometimes it’s stressful, but it’s always interesting and edifying in the end. I am grateful for this gift, and do my best to hone it, cherish it, and curate it through the training up in the word (Hebrews 5:14). I am also glad when I can encourage women through the Word of God, pointing to Jesus always.

I use the blog also to sort of ‘process out loud’. I process deep concepts through writing, and initially I just wrote because I was trying to figure out stuff. That anyone would enjoy what I write always surprises me. But I’m so glad!

Other Social Media

My Facebook page The End Time has a good amount of reach where my content seems to fulfill the goals I have to encourage or help ladies discern. And Instagram too.

I will do a separate blog essay containing a roundup for my podcast. I’m very happy to serve the Lord in this way.

Thank you, my readers and listeners! Here’s to 2024. Amazing that we’ve gone almost a quarter of the way into the new century!

prophecy, Uncategorized

Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 30, He sat down

Posted on December 26, 2023December 26, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We are at the end of our look at the life of Jesus through scripture. The first section of His life was seen through verses focused on prophecy, arrival, and early life.

The next section of verses looked at Him as the Son, second person of the Trinity.

Continue reading →

prophecy, Uncategorized

Advent: Thirty Days of Jesus- Day 29, Ascension

Posted on December 25, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We are coming toward the end of our look at the life of Jesus through scripture. The first section of His life was seen through verses focused on prophecy, arrival, and early life.

The next section of verses looked at Him as the Son, second person of the Trinity.

We proceeded into looking at Jesus as the Son’s preeminence, His works, and His ministry. Under ministry & works, I chose verses showing His attributes and aspects of being servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and compassionate healer; and His attributes of omniscience, having all authority and power, and sinlessness.

Continue reading →

nativity, theology

Nativity & Advent: Nazareth the Podunk Town

Posted on December 24, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Fourth in a series.
Nativity & Advent: Zacharias, there is no such thing as luck even when casting lots Nativity & Advent: Anna, the Lord’s Precious Widow
Nativity & Advent: Sacrifice of Pigeons

Israel’s borders are small, and space is at a premium. Nazareth today, in the district of Galilee, is a bustling city of 77,000. Nazareth is known nowadays as the Arab capital of Israel, populated mainly by Muslims, who comprise 70% of the religious demographic there, Christians being 30%. Continue reading “Nativity & Advent: Nazareth the Podunk Town” →

prophecy, Uncategorized

Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 28, Resurrection of central importance

Posted on December 24, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Christmas advent. We are coming toward the end of our look at the life of Jesus through scripture. The first section of His life was seen through verses focused on prophecy, arrival, and early life.

The next section of verses looked at Him as the Son, second person of the Trinity.

Continue reading →