Category: bible

Posted in bible, dreams, prophets, visions

"And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams"

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a lot of attention being paid these days to a verse from Joel 2:28 and repeated by Peter in Acts 2:17. It says,

The Day of the LORD
“It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.”

Many people take this to mean that we should accept the dreams and prophecies of everyone these days because these are the latter days and, well, the verse says what it says. But let’s take a close look at several interpretations for better decision-making.

Another interpretation is that it was fulfilled at Pentecost. It was Peter who repeated the prophecy from Joel, and the time was Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus had died and the moment the Holy Spirit came down. But if it was fulfilled at Pentecost, it was fulfilled at Pentecost. However, the verse’s context is the Day of the Lord (judgment), not Pentecost. The full verse is:

It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.

29“Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

31“The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

32“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Will be delivered;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As the LORD has said,
Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

At Pentecost, were there wonders in the sky and on the earth? Blood, fire and columns of smoke? Was the sun turned into darkness? And the moon into blood? No.

Now if we take the context, and the verses above the dreams verse and after the dreams verse point to the Day of the Lord, then let’s look at the Day of the Lord.

Got Questions describes it this way– “The phrase “day of the Lord” usually identifies events that take place at the end of history (Isaiah 7:18-25) and is often closely associated with the phrase “that day.” One key to understanding these phrases is to note that they always identify a span of time during which God personally intervenes in history, directly or indirectly, to accomplish some specific aspect His plan.”

It is not just one Day but a span of time, and we are told that span of judgment time will be either 7 or three and a half years (depending again on your interpretation of the Tribulation period). (Dan 9:27). The Joel verse begins by saying “After this”. After what? The day of the Lord. So the dreaming and prophesying is not during the Tribulation but after: the Millennium period. Further, the prophecy speaks of survivors.

Finally, some people say that the dreaming and prophesying began at Pentecost and continues through the Tribulation, that it encompasses the entire Church Age period. I discount that interpretation because the entire Church Age period has not been the Day of the Lord. Also, it leaves the canon open for all manner of personal experience to be placed alongside the bible. We do have a kind of Charismatic Chaos going on now as a result of so many people deciding that is what the Joel verse means. People say they are prophets and others say that are having dreams and their experience is placed not only alongside but higher than the bible itself. Phil Johnson recounts the chaos that results when this happens: “They speak of Scripture as the “dead letter,” compared to their modern prophecies, which they believe are “fresh and living words” from God. So they have effectively subjugated Scripture to questionable phenomena.”

No, I believe the context of the verse shows us that the dreaming and prophesying will occur after the Tribulation, after the time when the sun was darkened and the pillars of fire came. After the survivors whom the LORD calls. After The Day. Not now.

Besides, why rely on dreams and prophesies of some person as proof of Jesus’s work in the world, when their source cannot be 100% guaranteed? And when the bible as source, CAN?
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Posted in bible, end of days. prophecy, end time, new jerusalem, temple

Pouring yourself out as a drink offering on the Chief Cornerstone

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote about the foundation stones of the city of New Jerusalem being inscribed with the names of the 12 Apostles, and Jesus being the chief cornerstone (Rev 21:14). I remarked on the verse from Ephesians 2:19-21:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”

Jesus is the chief cornerstone, the apostles are the foundation, the 12 tribes are the gates, and you and I are each a stone that fits together building the city walls surrounding the glory of the LORD Who dwells there. We are not only His church, His bride, but we are His temple.

Today I want to turn to the cornerstone and talk about the drink offering.

I was thinking about Paul’s wonderful final words: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” (2 Timothy 4:6-7). Paul said four wonderful things here. In the second verse, the trio of things Paul says He did for the Lord are a model for us: fight the good fight, finish the course, and keep the faith. Good principles for all of us today. But curiously in the first part of the verse, Paul declares he has “poured himself out as a drink offering.” Hmmm. What is a drink offering, anyway?

The first time a drink offering is mentioned in the bible is in Genesis 35:14. It is only one of two offerings to be given before the Law was delivered, the other being the burnt offering. We hear a lot about the sacrificial offerings and the sin offerings and the trespass offerings, but not a lot about the drink offering.

In the Genesis verse, God descends and speaks to Jacob. It is in this verse that God changes Jacob’s name to Israel and promises certain blessings over him and his descendants. (Gen 35: 9-14). Then God ascends.

In verse 15, Jacob/Israel then sets up a pillar. The Hebrew word for pillar is “something stationary, i.e. A monumental stone.”

“Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, ‘Bethel’.”

Bethel means “house of God”. So not only the geographical location was named House of God, but Jacob laid the cornerstone of the house of God that is referred to in Revelation, which shows us the completed house, the City of God- New Jerusalem. The first stone was laid at this moment, actually and metaphorically, and so the cornerstone is our Savior.

Jacob next poured out wine as a drink offering. As mentioned, the drink offering was one sacrifice given prior to the Law. And except for this one time, the drink offering was not meant to be given alone, it always accompanied other offerings.

“In contrast to the Levitical offerings, which all speak of the work of Christ each in a different aspect, the drink offering speaks of the joy in the complement of that work. This explains why the drink offering is not mentioned in the opening up of the book of Leviticus which speaks of man’s approach to God. This approach can only be on the basis of the death of Christ, and so there we have detailed all the offerings except the drink offering, which speaks not of the work or the death of Christ, but the joy of God in the completed work.”

The Chief Cornerstone being laid is the beginning of that work, the Apostles who continued that work are the foundation stones, and each believer is a temple stone fitted together building up His New Jerusalem. When the full number of believers has been reached, (Romans 11:25) the City will be finished and we will be raptured to it.

There is much more to the drink offering of course, I am only scratching the surface. Paul’s reference to pouring himself out is a good reminder to us, that we need to pour ourselves out. Pouring indicates a steady stream. Not meted out in discrete chunks at a slow pace, with gaps. But a steady stream of continual offering of our life’s blood to Jesus. At your life’s end, or at the rapture, will you be able to say you are emptied, having fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith? Have you flung yourself on the Chief Cornerstone? Are you pouring yourself out to the Lord daily in a steady stream?

We kiss the Blarney Stone, we touch the Temple stone, we step on Plymouth Rock, kings are crowned on the Stone of Scone, Muslims pray before the Black Stone of the Kaaba, but they are all pretender stones. In each of those stones only a part of the body and soul is given. The Chief Cornerstone is Jesus and the only way to approach Him is by pouring your entire self upon it. It is the least we can do, because He first poured Himself out for us.

Posted in bible, last trump, pre-tribulation rapture

The ‘Last Trump’ of Corinthians and the 7th trumpet of Revelation are not the same

Posted on by elizabethprata

Many people mistake the rapture as occurring during the Tribulation because of two different verses which they misinterpret the meaning of. Here they are:

“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52)

“The Seventh Trumpet—Christ’s Reign Foreseen: “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,…” (Rev 11:15)

On the face of it, the two don’t look like they have much to do with each other, do they? And they don’t. But some people insist that they do, merely by virtue of the fact that in the 1 Cor, verse, there is mentioned a ‘last ump’ and in the Rev 11 verse there is mentioned a 7th trumpet of judgment being blown, which is the last trumpet of judgment in that series.

But of course the 7th Trumpet is NOT the Last trump. The only thing they have in common is that they are trumpets. You might as well tie Aaron’s trumpet into it, if you’re going to pick and choose trumpets. There are lots of trumpets in the bible. They:

  • Regulate the journeys of the children of Israel.
  • Call assemblies.
  • Blow over the sacrifices on the feast day.
  • Blow at all religious processions and ceremonies.
  • Assemble the people to war.
  • Sound for a memorial when the people went into battle.
  • Proclaim kings.
  • Give alarm in cases of danger.
  • Announce miracles being performed

The trumpet of Revelation and the trumpet Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians have nothing to do with each other. Here’s one reason why. The Trumpet judgments are spread over Rev 8-9-10-11. Rev 8:6 begins them- “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Then Rev 10:7 tells us that when the last trumpet sounds, the wrath is DONE. Rev 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” And Rev 11:15 declares that finish the woes with the 7th trumpet sounding: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.'”

So first of all, the trumpets conclude the wrath, to which we are not appointed.(1 Thessalonians 5:9). It is not a mystery when the wrath begins, either. It begins with the opening of the seal judgments and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are released, at Rev 6:1. As the seals are opened we are told that so begins the wrath, ‘the wrath has come.’ (Rev 6:17). Again, because we are not appointed to wrath, we will not be here for it. And that includes since Rev 6:1 so obviously we won’t be here for the 7th Trumpet judgment which occurs much later.

There is a second reason the 7th trumpet judgment and the ‘Last Trump” of 1 Corinthians 15:52 are not the same. You notice in the above verses, Angels blow the trumpets. The angels all line up. They all have a trumpet. Them they all blow one in turn. “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets” (Rev 8:2). In the parallel rapture verse of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 it is the trump of God that is blown.

“15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,d that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

The last trump in 1 Thess 4:16 is the Trump of GOD.

“There are trumpets all over the bible. They were used for a variety of purposes. But there is one trumpet that is special. in Exodus 19 verses 16 to 19 a trumpet called the people out of the camp to meet God. It was a trumpet of assembly and it called them out of the camp to meet God. I believe this is a trumpet of assembly. In Zephaniah 1:16 and Zechariah 9:14 a trumpet was used as a signal of the Lord’s coming to rescue His people from wicked oppression. It was a deliverance trumpet. And I believe the trumpet on that day is an assembly trumpet and a deliverance trumpet. I believe when the trumpet blows it is to assemble the saints who have been called out of the graves to life with the living saints and it is also to call them out, to rescue them out from among those who oppress them, men and demons. There are many other trumpets associated with the end times, they tend to be trumpets of judgment, primarily as in Revelation 8 through 11.” (source gty.org)

I hope you can see that the verses are clear that the wrath begins in Rev 6, and we will not be here for it. That the 7th trumpet is stated to conclude the wrath, and again, we will be long gone. And finally, just because it says a trumpet in both verses, does not mean they are the same event. The angels raise trumpets for judgments to begin and God shouts the trumpet for us to assemble.

Take a look at the 40 second clip. I love how the rapture is depicted.


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Posted in beth moore, bible, bible jesus, end time

Discernment lesson: The Shack and Beth Moore’s treatment of Paul. Part 2

Posted on by elizabethprata

I have extensively written against Mrs Moore as a false teacher in a 7-part series titled Troubled by Beth Moore Teachings. I wrote a second series of my reactions to a two-day Beth Moore conference, here. All those essays, however, were based on video and auditory presentations. I watched her online. I listened to her online. I sat through a DVD teaching. I heard her in person. How about when she writes? Is her doctrine improved when she has time to choose her words carefully over time, edit, and reflect?

The answer is NO.

Mrs Moore wrote “To Live is Christ: Joining Paul’s Journey of Faith” in 2001. This book is touted as “A spiritual odyssey through one of Christianity’s most fervent journeymen and one of Christ’s most passionate followers, Apostle Paul.” One would have hoped Mrs Moore would have taken the attendant time to present the man clearly and biblically, but she did not.

Some of the book is good and some is entertaining, but much of it is based on the original problem I have with Mrs Moore: she approaches her lessons through a personal lens. She admits she is insecure, and then from that humanly flawed perspective sees everyone else that way too. Worse, Mrs Moore then attempts to show that people’s subsequent actions are caused by their insecurity, including reactions and actions of biblical people. I wish she would approach her video, live, or written lessons from a biblical perspective but she prefers to look at the bible as a self-help book populated by people with flaws similar to her own. This is reason enough to reject her teachings. But I’ll be specific.

I am not saying that the people who read the bible are not flawed nor am I saying that the people IN the bible are not flawed (except for Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit). I am saying that there is a difference in noticing a biblical character’s humanness and it is quite another to see them through your own lens and expect that they have behaved a certain way because of that flaw.

Here is one example. It is actually from Mrs Moore’s book “So Long, Insecurity“, but this passage provides a basis for her approach to Paul. Who, of course, is insecure. Here, she is addressing 2 Cor 11:5-6,

“I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.” “Tell me that’s not insecurity. If you’re not convinced, take a look at what blurted from his pen only a chapter later: “I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the ‘super-apostles,’ even though I am nothing.” [2 Corinthians 12:11]. Do you think just maybe he protests too much? In all probability, he fought the awful feeling that he wasn’t as good as the others who hadn’t done nearly so much wrong. I totally grasp that. At the same time, Paul also battled a big, fat ego. He was a complex mound of clay just like the rest of us, belittling and boasting of himself in a dizzying psychological zigzag.” (source p. 56-57).

Now let’s look at how bible teacher John MacArthur explains the same verse (2 Cor 12:11). In his sermon “Signs of an Apostle“, he wrote,

“Now starting at the beginning of chapter 10 and up until now, Paul has been directly confronting the false apostles. He started that in chapter 10 and he’ll conclude it in our text. Starting particularly in chapter 11 verse 22, he has given his own credentials as a superior apostle. And as I said, in this two verses he sums that up. And basically there were three things that indicated his true apostleship. The first one he mentions here was the supernatural. He did the signs of a true apostle. The second was his perseverance during suffering, he mentions that in verse 12 when he says, “With all perseverance.” And the third was his utter unselfishness. In verse 13 he says that he did nothing to become a burden to them. When he wants to affirm the character of his true apostleship, he has them look on the supernatural power of God coming through him. He has them look at his perseverance in suffering. And he has them look at his utter unselfishness, because those are in contrast to the false apostles who are void of the power of God, who don’t want to suffer anything but get rich at the expense of the people that they deceive, and who, thirdly, are self-centered and self-focused, seeking only personal gain.”

“In distinction to them, Paul does show the power of God, willingly suffers and perseveres and is utterly unselfish, never being a burden to them in any sense at all. But as far as compared to them, I am not inferior to them in any category. But when he refers to the most eminent apostles, he’s a little sarcastic. That is the extra-super apostles, that’s what they had labeled themselves, these false apostles. They are also called that back in chapter 11 verse 5 where he says, “I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles.” It’s sarcasm. They called themselves the extra-super apostles and they demeaned Paul as a nobody. But he says you know in no category do I come behind them, though myself I am nothing. You have forced me now to this comparison. You have forced me to it because you wouldn’t come to my defense. You have forced me to this folly.” “

My, oh my, how two bible teachers can come to such wildly divergent conclusions over the same passage. MacArthur’s is biblical and Moore’s is emotional. Moore’s, therefore, is wrong.

In Mrs Moore’s book “To live is Christ” which is also about Paul, she uses the words ‘probably’ and ‘I believe’ a lot, but the dots are far from each other. However, that does not stop her from connecting them. In the chapter Idols of Athens, Moore said, “Admittedly I am speculating based on hints in the accounts.” Well kudos to her for alerting her readers that the next part of the paragraph is based on speculation. She continues,

“I suspect that Paul’s visit to Athens was affecting him far more than we realize…”
“Paul was overwhelmed by the polytheistic beliefs of the residents.” (no bible verse given to support this statement)
“During those long hours, I believe he convinced himself that every effort in Athens had failed.”
“I suspect he became so focused on the negative that he lost focus of the positive.”
Then Mrs Moore goes on to explain how aloneness affects us and our state of mind. “Solitude exaggerates our negative feelings,” and concludes,
“I believe the more Paul thought about his experiences in Athens, the worse he felt.
“You can imagine the beating his ego took in Athens.”
“I think Paul felt like a failure.”

She finishes by saying “Obviously, Paul’s experience had a great impact on his next opportunity.”

No, not obviously. An author can spend a page and a half gleaning suspicions from the bible as Mrs Moore does here on page 132-133 but to conclude that her beliefs add up to an obvious impact on his next Godly task is more than a stretch. It is wrong.

She asks, “Does seeing Paul’s experience in this light help you to relate to him as a fellow struggler on the road to serve Christ?” Frankly, no. The struggle she presented was based on her admitted speculations.

Blogger Kim at The Upward Call wrote of Mrs Moore’s approach, addressing Moore’s speculative approach in her lessons on The Patriarchs,

“Speculation doesn’t introduce me to God. It may get my imagination going, and it may engage my emotions, but it does not help me understand God. The appeal to emotions and imagination is popular in “women’s” bible studies, and it is understandable: women like that kind of thing. Emotions and imagination can be set apart for God, but to use them as bible study tools just does not sit well with me. My emotions and my imagination are frequently mistaken.”

If Mrs Moore wants to show Paul as a struggler then she should show his actual struggles from the bible. He had plenty.

Back to choosing certain words. Do you believe that Paul engaged in a ‘dizzying psychological zigzag’ because of his struggle with insecurity and a damaged ego? Presenting him this way does him, and the bible, a disservice. When we get to heaven, we can ask him directly. Meanwhile, gleaning speculations from the bible based on her personal struggle with insecurity is just another in the long line of ways Mrs Moore disrespects her pupils, readers, and the bible itself.

The most egregious effect of the words chosen in So long, Insecurity are these, “If you’re not convinced, take a look at what blurted from his pen only a chapter later: ” She then quotes 2 Corinthians 12:11, interpretations from Moore and MacArthur I shared with you above. It is egregious because what Mrs Moore is saying is that because of Paul’s struggle with a battered ego and deep insecurity, he took out his emotions toward the Corinthians through the pen. ‘Blurted’ evokes a mindless, knee-jerk emotional reaction to a situation. Thus Moore claims that the inspired and carefully constructed words of the bible in that verse were in actuality written hastily, with Paul practically crying over his candle, tears blotting the page as he tore through papyrus to get the words down before his emotions overwhelmed him. Her interpretation is awful. But how many readers will overlook or not even notice her carefully chosen words which skew the bible’s integrity in this way? Many.

Synonyms for blurted are babble, blab, burst out with, jabber, let slip, run off at the mouth, …

Let’s substitute Mrs Moore’s word blurted with a few of those synonyms and remember, we are talking of the holy scripture, every word of which was inspired and is good for reproof, doctrine, and education (2 Timothy 3:16).

‘If you’re not convinced, take a look at [2 Corinthians 12:11] that babbled from his pen only a chapter later:’
‘If you’re not convinced, take a look at [2 Corinthians 12:11] that jabbered from his pen only a chapter later:’

Do you believe that Paul was so upset that he was babbling from a fountain of hurt ego, and that Paul’s blurted holy scripture is now good for our education? Do you believe the Holy Spirit allowed a babbling and emotional Paul to write the words that have come down to us? I do not. I also do not accept that Paul was on a ‘dizzying psychological zig zag’.

Mrs Moore chose these words to include in her book. I reject her assumptions, her lessons, and her approach based on the fact that she does not take a biblical enough approach and that her conclusions in “So Long, Insecurity” and “To Live Is Christ” are admittedly based on her speculation, personal beliefs, and suspicions. I choose not to learn speculations about the bible but rather choose to accept teachings like MacArthur’s which are based on solid biblical understanding of context, history, and scripture.

How about you?
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Posted in beth moore, bible, bible jesus, discernment, heresy, the shack

Discernment lesson: The Shack and Beth Moore’s treatment of Paul. Part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

Writers live with words. We are immersed in them, basking in their variety and understanding their power. I have been a journalist, so I know this intimately. A reporter chooses words consciously because we are limited to short article lengths. We must be precise, knowing that each word must convey a certain meaning in a short amount of space. I’ve been a grant writer, and have been even more restricted to limiting the number of words we are allowed to use. I know that each word counts and is consciously placed on the technical document to convey a certain thought. I’ve been an academic researcher, overlaying words to express what the numbers are saying. When I read a book I know that the author has chosen each word, and in some cases likely has fought with an editor over them.

Therefore when I read a book like William P. Young’s “The Shack” or Beth Moore’s “To Live Is Christ: a Study of Paul’s Life and Ministry,” I know that each word is on the page consciously and for an author-chosen reason. I also know that most readers absorb information unconsciously. The most dangerous heresies come from books, in my opinion, because a speaker could possibly be forgiven for misspeaking (once or twice). An author cannot. Writing takes time, and as noted above, each word is chosen purposely.

Most people read books without thinking of the words, but they are absorbed into the mind and certain emotions the author wanted to evoke will be created in the reader’s heart. So please take note carefully when I say that discerning either Christian novels such as The Shack, or biblical non-fiction theological books as the ones Beth Moore writes have an intent. They are sharing a point of view in which the author desires to present a point and often that point is made without you even noticing it. Let’s take a look at exactly what I mean when I say words count and they shade meaning.

I wrote a few years ago in a blog entry on The Quiet Life that “The Shack is a devilish Deception. I’d said about The Shack,  “A concern is also in the sly ways the book chips away at solid biblical principles with craftily written statements such as, “the dusty old King James Bible” or church attendance is “religious conditioning” or that the term “Christian” is “outdated”, as uttered by in the book by the character “Jesus”, saying,  “Who said anything about being a Christian? I am not a Christian.” People may not even be consciously aware of having read negative intent against the bible or Jesus but they are influenced by them anyway.”

Pastor Walter Henegar at the blog byFaith wrote of the sly craftiness of Young’s choice of words in The Shack, and their cumulative effect: “[D]isdain is conveyed early on: “God’s voice had been reduced to paper. … Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?” (p. 65-67). … More significant, when Mack [the main character] mentions biblical events or concepts (often in gross caricature), “God” promptly brushes them off and glibly explains how it really is. Unlike the biblical Jesus, who constantly quoted the Old Testament and spent many post-resurrection hours “opening their minds to understand the scriptures,” The Shack’s Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu turn Mack’s attention away from Scripture, coaxing him to trust instead their simplistic lessons set in idyllic, Thomas Kinkade-like scenes and delivered in the familiar therapeutic language of our age. … The result? To the extent that you trust The Shack, you will distrust your Bible—including huge chunks of the Old Testament and at least half of the red letters. Few errors are more corrosive to vigorous Christian faith. Some will plead that there is enough meat for careful readers to spit out the bones, but sadly, this yeast leavens the whole loaf.”

Mr Henegar makes a good point about the leaven. A leavening agent is used in recipes where the desired outcome lightens and softens the entire batch. Yeast is a common leavening agent. The dough rises upon foaming bubbles as carbon dioxide is released, making air pockets. However, since leaven is an ingredient, it is mixed thoroughly in the batch, and no part of the batch is left untouched by it. If the leaven is bad, the whole loaf will be spoiled.

That is a good metaphor for bad doctrine. No part of the church will be left untouched by heresy coming from the pulpit. No part of the mind will be left untouched by a false doctrine when reading it in a book. Such use of sly language is highly corrosive. Avoid The Shack. And when reading any book that alleges affiliation with Christianity, be mindful of the words the author chooses. Young says the bible is dusty, old, and outdated. I say the bible is fresh, living, and inspired. The difference in the words we choose reveals a point of view. Don’t absorb Young’s.

To those who dismiss any criticism of The Shack because it is ‘just’ a novel, Mr Henegar explains, “Of course, not every detail is worth dissecting; a novel is not systematic theology. Yet it’s clearly more than just fiction. Mack’s conversations with Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu make up the bulk of the book, with his questions serving as little more than prompts for their extended divine speeches. Though never citing Scripture directly, the characters make enough allusions to biblical content to imply fidelity to orthodox Christianity.”

Of course if Young has written, “Don’t believe the bible because it is old and outdated” you would spot the heresy easily. The craftiest heresy doesn’t announce itself. It lays lurking in the negative words authors use to describe holy things.

I feel so strongly that The Shack contains crafty heresy, that not only did I write about it on my secular blog, but also on this blog, The End Time. Four times in all.

Burning Down The Shack

Why Christians Should Not Read The Shack

The Shack is a Doctrine of Demons

In the next blog entry coming up momentarily, let’s take a look at a book that is not a Christian novel but a biblical exploration of the life of Paul from Christian speaker Beth Moore. We’ll look at how Mrs Moore uses words to shape your perspective of Paul away from the biblical presentation of his character and toward her own skewed and emotional point of view of the man.
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Posted in bible, demons, fallen angels, tribulation, UFO

HuffPo: UFO sightings increase 67% in three years

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mainstream news outlet Huffington Post reports today that UFO sightings are way up.

“Unemployment, gas prices, and fear over global warming aren’t the only things skyrocketing — so are mysterious objects rocketing through the sky. The Mutual UFO Network — the largest privately funded UFO research organization in the world — tells The Huffington Post that more people than ever are reporting unidentified flying objects, mostly in the United States and Canada. “Over the past year, we’ve been averaging 500 sighting reports a month, compared to about 300 three years ago [67 percent],” MUFON international director Clifford Clift said. “And I get one or two production companies contacting me every week, wanting to do stories on UFOs.” So far this week, mysterious aerial lights in Laredo, Texas, and Kansas City, MO., lived up to, at least initially, the strict definition of UFOs, namely “Unidentified” Flying Objects. That, of course, doesn’t mean that little green men are watching us. It’s generally accepted that 95 percent of all sightings are easily dismissed. Some turn out to be conventional aircraft, others are satellites or weather balloons — and then there are the hoaxers with Photoshopped concoctions. In the case of the Kansas City sighting, the UFOs turned out to be the Army Golden Knights parachuting team, performing a nighttime jump. But the explanation for the blinking light over Laredo is still up for grabs. However, the remaining 5 percent of all UFO reports aren’t as easily explained. And many of them are reported by commercial and military pilots…”

I think the point of the article is that 95% of previous UFO sightings used to be easily dismissed. I do not think it is so any more. I have been reporting on this phenomenon for about the same length of time, noting in particular, as HuffPo did, that many of the sightings are reported by officials. There have been the military men, air traffic controllers, firemen and other aerial workers trained in official capacities reporting things in the air that are unidentifiable. And even though Photoshop hoaxing is also on the rise, as HuffPo correctly noted, video is less easily concocted. I’ve reported this year successively on January 30, January 3 and Feb 2 on the Jerusalem UFO that was taped by three different groups of people from three different perspectives, and I’ve also reported on the Moscow craft that was taped hovering for an hour over rush hour traffic, and the China sightings that twice closed a major airport.

Do I believe that alien beings are driving craft from different planets to the earth? Yes and no. No because I do not believe alien life exists in the way most secular people think of it. There are no little green men. There is no robotic, psychotic overlord waiting to use us as pet food. There are no Vulcans or Romulans. But there IS a class of beings that live off-planet and visit earth. They are powerful, bright, interact with humans and some have benign intent while others have evil intent. They are angels.

Colossians 1:16 tells us they were created by God, and Hebrews 1:14 states that angels are ministering spirits to us. In Luke 2:10-12 they visited the shepherds in great number to announce the birth of Christ, and Daniel received visits from Gabriel several times.

Psalms 91:11-12 states, “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.”

Clarke’s commentary on the Psalms 91:11-12 verse says “He shall give his angels charge over thee – Evil spirits may attempt to injure thee; but they shall not be able. The angels of God shall have an especial charge to accompany, defend, and preserve thee; and against their power, the influence of evil spirits cannot prevail. These will, when necessary, turn thy steps out of the wag of danger; ward it off when it comes in thy ordinary path; suggest to thy mind prudent counsels, profitable designs, and pious purposes; and thus minister to thee as a child of God, and an heir of salvation.”

So technically, angels ARE aliens, living in a different dimension, visiting earth, having a different biology, and possessing greater power than we do. We know also from the bible that not all angels have benign intent. A third of them follow satan. (Rev 12:4). They wish to do us harm. That is their entire point of reference, to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10).

To the point of today’s blog entry: we know that in the time of the end, the angels will irrupt onto the earth Irrupt is a bursting in, the opposite of erupt, which is a bursting out As the LORD lifts His protecting hand and the Holy Spirit Restrainer leaves the earth (2 Thess 2:6), the days will be like the Days of Noah. (Matthew 24:37). The Days of Noah were days immediately prior to the flood when the thoughts of man were of only evil continually (Gen 6:5, Gen 6:11-12). It was also a time when the Nephilim were on earth in those days, when angels took women, all that they chose, and produced a hybrid race. (Gen 6:1-3; 4).

Fallen angels were on earth in those days, causing havoc. The bible tells of another time when fallen angels will burst in, the demons who have been kept locked up since that awful time prior to the flood (2 Peter 2:4).

In the fifth trumpet judgment, they are let out. (Rev 9:1-11). There are so many demons let out of the pit onto earth that the smoke of them blotted out the sun. It is literally hell on earth. We know that some fallen angels have been allowed to move in heaven and stalk the earth because the bible tells us that there was war in heaven that Archangel Michael fought in. (Rev 12:7). And we know from the verse in Rev 9 that some of the fallen angels (demons) are imprisoned in the deepest hell (Tartarus) and will be released in the fifth trumpet judgment in Rev 9.

So if fallen angels are allowed to visit earth and afflict the unsaved do you think it will be any hard thing for them to shine their light in the air and pretend to be a UFO? No. The world will be completely deceived by satan and his cohorts in the Tribulation by all manner of lying signs and wonders. That the deceptions from other dimensions by fallen angels and satan are ramping up now (by 67% no less) is an indicator of how eager they must be to have their day. They know that their time will be but a little time, (Rev 12:10-12) but they are eager for it nonetheless.  I picture them as a horde of racehorces at the gate, knowing that the gate will be opened shortly. At that time, they will rush pell mell onto the racetrack, circling and running and racing to cause as much destruction as possible during the time they are allowed to have. It is that time that is called the Tribulation, and you do not have to be here for it.

Is the gate about to be lifted and the fallen angels about to burst in? photo source.

If you are a child of God you will not have to worry about news media reports pondering the percentages of UFO sightings. You will not be troubled by any demon. You will not be here on earth to faint from terror at the things coming upon it. (Luke 21:26). You will be clothed in garments of righteousness, freed from all pain and suffering, given a glorified body, and meeting Jesus face to face as a friend and not an enemy. How can you obtain all this? It is already yours. Jesus died on the cross to save you from the punishments of your sins, if you confess them to Him – the Highest Judge – and repent from them. He will pardon you and you will be saved.

Otherwise, someday soon the “UFO’s” will touch down, and you will lament your lost chance to have repented during the Church Age.
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Posted in bible, bible jesus, drought, prophecy

Drought picture essay

Posted on by elizabethprata

Picture essay.

source

Above, in an article published by The Economist, ‘Drought in the South [USA]: Bone-dry – Drought has blanketed nearly a third of the lower 48‘ the weekly said: “There are wildfires in the south-west and water restrictions in the south-east. Fields are scrubby and fallow, and in some counties the ground is riddled with deep cracks. Farmers are struggling to produce crops, and ranchers are worried about watering their cattle. As their losses mount, crop prices have risen.”

source

Above, The drought hit hardest in the Sahelian regions of Kanem, Bahr-El-Gazal, Hajer Lamis, Bastha and Guéra, Chad.

source

“Above, A dead cow lies on the ground as a bus travels past near the giant Dadaab refugee settlement on July 21, 2011 in Dadaab, Kenya. Famine brought on by the drought has killed tens of thousands in the Horn of Africa.” (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

source

Above, “The remains of a cow lay near a watering point in a pasture July 28, 2011 near Tulia, Texas. A severe drought in the region has caused shortages of grass, hay and water, forcing ranchers to thin their herds or risk losing their cattle to the drought. The past nine months have been the driest in Texas since record keeping began in 1895, with 75% of the state classified as exceptional drought, the worst level.” Photograph by: Scott Olson, Getty Images.

source

Above, USAID’s photo of drought conditions in Ethiopia, amidst the 2011 Horn of Africa famine.

source

The Cimmaron Grassland Director explains drought conditions in Kansas USA.

I believe it would be a fair statement that the USA is no longer being blessed.
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Posted in berean, bible, end of days. prophecy

Paul: What does it mean to be a Berean?

Posted on by elizabethprata

“In Berea”

“As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:10-12).

I think this is an extraordinary verse. LOL, regular readers will chuckle because I always think the verse I’m reading now is extraordinary. But I feel an affinity to Paul, and I think this verse deserves exploration. I will explore it again in a near future essay from a different angle.

How many times have we heard some celebrity caught in a traffic stop or in an indiscretion and when called to account on it, says “Don’t you know who I am?” They balk and they yell and they squirm and try to escape accountability due to their position. Quite often, their ego is inflated to a large enough degree that they never expect they’ll be asked to support their views or explain their mistake. Even more often, the person calling them to account are seen as the ones with the problem. “Don’t you know who that is?” they are told. “Don’t ask him to explain himself!” as if there ever comes a point when someone is above the law.

If any person on the planet had cause to balk and say to those who questioned him, “Don’t you know who I am??” it was Apostle Paul. Paul was a cold legalist who persecuted Christians, but was instantly transformed into a hot believer on the road to Damascus. After Damascus, Paul went to Arabia for three years, and there the record is fairly silent on what he was doing. He usually met with those in the synagogues to preach so he could have preached while in Arabia. He may have begun his missionary journey in Arabia but nothing is recorded in the bible on that so we don’t know for sure. What we do know is that he learned the Gospel. Paul said he had received it from Jesus Himself.

“But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12).

Paul did not learn the Gospel from any fellow apostle:

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.” (Galatians 1:15-17).

2 Corinthians 12:2 is another indicator of who Paul may have been meeting with!
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.”

It wasn’t until three years after the Road to Damascus conversion that Paul even met with another apostle and his two-week stay at that time wasn’t long enough for him to learn it from them:

“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ” (Galatians 1:18-23).

“The point is that Paul stated he learned the gospel directly from Jesus Christ. He proved this by pointing out that he never was with the other apostles long enough to have been taught by them. This is a part of Paul’s claim to being an apostle — he was a direct witness to Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ teachings.” (source)

When Paul and Silas taught the Bereans, they searched the scriptures to see if the things they were being taught were true. Though they were being taught by a couple of famous luminaries in the blossoming Christian faith, the Bereans did not take what was bring taught on their authority alone but checked the ultimate authority to see if it was so. Though the Jews he taught knew had been a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and therefore knew the scriptures backward and forward, and though his conversion was dramatic and instant, and though his rhetoric skills were well-known, the Bereans were not swayed by any of it. They searched the scriptures, period.

On Paul’s side, Paul’s response was not an ego-inflated, insecure, blurting, flesh ridden response of  “Don’t you know who I am? I was taught by Jesus himself!” but instead, he commended them!

The lesson tonight is two-fold. If you are receiving a teaching from anyone from a big-time Christian luminary, to a small-time layman, don’t just accept what they teach you. Search the scriptures to see if the things they are telling you are true.

You see the rest of the story in the remaining part of the verse I opened with: “Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” The Word, either taught, or received and verified by checking, is powerful. I urge us in these waning days where deception abounds and false or casual teachers of the bible permeate the faith from top to bottom, to have a noble character and an open mind, check the teaching, and then prepare to be moved and transformed by the Word!
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Posted in bible, drought, end of days. prophecy, famine, rapture

US drought: "Desperation the only thing growing"

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is Cimmarron National Grassland, Kansas. Not much grass. The Grassland director explains that it is already drier than the driest of the Dust Bowl years.

Video here, explaining what is going on. The Cimmaron Grassland Director there is saying that there has been only 2.99 inches of moisture in the last 10 months, when the normal amount is 19 inches. The topsoil has blown away, and the grasses that remain have exposed roots. When the tender roots are exposed to constant blasting of wind and sand, they die. Compounding the issue has been fire. On Mother’s day there was a fire in the Grasslands that incinerated 15,000 acres, and could not be controlled due to 50 mph winds.

This report says that the Dust Bowl may be returning.

“Desperation is the only thing growing“
Since last September — 10 months ago — Morton County near Elkhart has received 2.99 inches of moisture. The normal average rainfall for that corner of Kansas is about 19 inches. There was no dryland wheat harvested in the county this year; more than three-quarters of the county’s acres are dryland. Farmers are selling cow-calf operations in record numbers because there is not enough feed. Newborn calves, less than a day old, are on the auction block.
Roads have been closed due to drifting sand, blocking access to gas and oil wells and causing some companies to shut the wells down temporarily. “I’d describe this drought as very bleak,” said Morton County agricultural extension agent Tim Jones. “You can’t do anything. It is hot, dry and windy. We are at a complete standstill.”

“Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a drought disaster declaration for 49 Kansas counties, nearly half the state.”

Blogger BayouRenaissanceMan has these two photos of the Kansas grasslands showing before and after:

He ended his blog entry with a plea for those who are so inclined, to pray for rain. I second that.

USDA Drought monitor for July 26, 2011:

We reel from one disaster to another, the flooding in the nation’s midsection was and still is monstrous, while just a few hundred miles to the west there is no water. Heat sears the east, while the west shivers in record cold. Crops are dying in many drought-ridden states and the deepening of the tragedy is now having impacts on next year’s cycle. The Dust Bowl cycle is also returning. Naysayers claim that there has always been a cycle of drought and lushness, and that is true, but the Dust Bowl was man made due to mismanagement of the land, and after a certain tipping point there was no recovery. The issue today may or may not be man’s mismanagement but surely the things the Lord has said will come to pass. Those things include famine and drought. During the Tribulation, the Two Witnesses sent by God will prophesy for three and a half years and will be given power:

“These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.” (Rev 11:6). So the naysayers who claim this is just part of a cycle and that we will return to normal soon are wrong. It will only get worse.

Worse, that is, for unbelievers who choose to deny Jesus and thus ultimately choose to remain on earth when the worst of the worst will hit. This is nothing now. During the Tribulation people will be longing for these days when at least sometimes it rained. Believers will be raptured from the earth to be with the Living Water, who is Jesus. We will be refreshed with life everlasting! Why will we receive these blessings? Because Jesus willingly came to earth to die in propitiation for our sins. He accepted the wrath of God as judgment for sinful man, replacing us whose punishment is deserved, with Himself, who deserved none. Since your sins have been punished already all you need to do is accept that His work on the cross was your punishment for your sins, and ask Him to forgive them. The punishment has been rendered but so has the forgiveness! You have to claim it though.

I bet if someone gave you a lottery ticket you’d put it in your wallet. You may forget about it. But perhaps your friend comes up to you to share the good news, saying, ‘Hey, I was watching the TV and the lottery number they gave was the one on your ticket! You won!” I am sure you would take the ticket out out, check it, and hurry right down to the lottery office to claim your reward. You might even get a speeding ticket, you rush so fast to get that money! But instead, in rejecting Jesus, it is like you say, ‘oh, yeah, I won a billion dollars’ and you go, ‘maybe I’ll claim it later. Or not. Ho hum.’ Yet the treasure that He offers, the treasure that He IS, is so much more than a billion dollars. Money rots away, it decreases in value, but the treasure of everlasting life with Jesus never rots away. It is priceless because it is infinite. Why don’t people claim THAT Good News?

Stay parched and thirsty if you want, but I sipped the living water and not only am I refreshed right now, in these dark days, but I am looking forward to everlasting refreshment with Him, in New Jerusalem! You can as well.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in the drought states, they are suffering. Thankfully, that suffering will end when the rapture comes. But for those who remain behind, it will be a very thirsty time indeed.

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Is 55:6)

““Behold, the days come, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst…” (Amos 8:11-13 KJV).”
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Posted in bible, God, worship

The Kind of Worship God desires

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve posted recently about the shallow state of the Christian worship these days, and did a lot of posting about Beth Moore. That means that in the last week I’ve immersed in watching, listening, reading and attending events that are shallow in their worship (at best) and are blasphemous because of their casual approach to worship and the Holiness of a God we should fear (at worst). I needed a spiritual shower. So I listened this morning to John MacArthur’s third part of the series called “The Kind of Worship God Desires.” You can go here for a transcript or to download it. The first minute and a half is introduction and the last 4 minutes is an interview. The preaching itself is about 22 minutes. I urge you to take the time to listen/watch. You will be blessed. Then take a peek below as to the kind of  worship some engage in today. The contrast is startling. And that is the point.

After an April snowstorm, one Christian author wrote of intimacy with God through play. “I heard the voice of God speak to my heart: “Come and play.” I love that He said “Come.” Not “Go.” “Come.” That meant He was already there. I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of His silent voice whispering to my spirit that He was smiling. You know, you can tell that kind of thing in the voices of those you really know.”

He had a silent voice, but it whispered. Neat trick. More than that, the writer could detect the tone of voice from the silence: smiling. Even neater trick. Best of all, the writer was on such familiar terms with God that His tone of voice could be detected. If you know Him well enough, you can tell that kind of thing, la di da.

The story continued, “I built a snowman. I used grapes for eyes, and a half-moon shaped sesame snack for the mouth. I didn’t make a nose. I have enough for the both of us. He’s wearing my hat and scarf, and I rather hope he doesn’t get them wet. I let him borrow them because I was coming back inside. I laughed with God. He laughed with me.”

Wow, cool! God is really just an avuncular cheerleader who builds snowmen. He isn’t really the HOLY God whose courts shake with praise and smoke billows out, He is just a guy who hangs out on a sunny day finding sesame snacks to use for snowmen mouth with women who need a break from work.

I love my God because He is Holy. I love Jesus, even thinking of the moment on the Mount of Transfiguration where He revealed His glory and the three apostles with Him fell down terrified. (Mt 17:1-9). I love to think of Him first and foremost this way because it is a continual reminder of our position. Sinner. Yes, mercifully we’re forgiven. Yes, mercifully the sins are forgotten. But mercy was needed because of His holiness. See, we’re back to the most important attribute of God. It was stated three times in the Isaiah 6:3 scene in heaven, and “The Hebrews usually expressed the superlative degree by the repetition of a word.” This means it is a supreme attribute.

This is the Jesus we worship today:
“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (Revelation 1:12-18)

Hallelujah! I prefer this Jesus to the snowman making one. Don’t you? The snowman making God who laughs and plays seems too much like us and not enough like who He really is.

The pastor at Window to the Word wrote in the piece Coming Face to Face with God,

“I had a pastor who is a pastor of a pretty far-out kind of charismatic church. We were having lunch one day and he said, ‘I want to tell you something, I don’t know how you’ll deal with this,’ he said, ‘but sometimes when I’m shaving in the morning Jesus comes in the bathroom, puts His arm around me and talks to me.’ I said, ‘You mean Jesus, the real Jesus appears in a way you can see Him actual…’ ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Do you believe that?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t believe that. But what distresses me is I believe you believe that. I just have one question, do you keep shaving because if you keep shaving, my friend, it wasn’t Jesus.’”

“What happens when a person comes face-to-face with God? Does he casually “keep shaving” and say something like, “So, what’s going, on Big Guy? Hey, high five!” Is that what happens when we come face-to-face with God? Or is what happens in Luke 5:8 more accurate? When Peter recognizes who Jesus is he says, “”Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Blessed are those who are forgiven, who will be able to hear His voice without exploding! Who will be able to see Him as He is without falling dead! He is a holy and a merciful God, and it is Him to whom I cling.
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