Category: discernment

Posted in discernment, theology

Even Salon.com says “Joel Osteen Worships Himself” (re-post)

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I was working on an essay about the Drag Queen programs in public libraries but I simply could not continue. Here is a repost of an essay I wrote in June 2012. Joel Osteen is a false teacher, you guys.

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Joel Osteen worships himself
At a D.C. rally, it’s clear that the megachurch pastor’s childlike faith is really about the power of narcissism

 The article is from Salon.com, a fairly liberal media outlet. I found it interesting that Mr Osteen’s obvious narcissism is apparent even to someone who may be liberal and may be an outsider to the faith.

Pastor Mike Abendroth at No Compromise Radio and Bethlehem Bible Church says that when people realize Abendroth is a pastor, they try and make an attempt at spiritual connection with him by saying, “I listen to Joel Osteen.” He said as an example to one lady who’d shared that, he had replied,

“Joel Osteen doesn’t like to talk about sin because he says we all know about it and we all get enough about that so let’s talk about other positive things. Paul talked about sin first. Peter talked about sin first. John the Baptist talked about sin first. All the prophets talked about sin first. And Jesus even talked about sin first. If you don’t know you’re a sinner, you don’t need to know about your savior. If you know how great your sin is, you don’t need a greater Savior than all your sin.”

The Salon.com author Mr Chris Lehmann stated in the article that it’s obvious Osteen “subtly downgrades” the magnificent and transcendent God “into a glorified lifestyle concierge”…into a “genial cruise director,” “through talismanic faith in positive utterance.”

He wrote, “The believer’s chief task is to ratify the preexisting divine script of success in his or her individual life — and then to bear testimony to that joyous transformation in a community of like-minded success believers.’

He’s right, that is what Mr Osteen preaches, and it is a far cry from true worship of the Living God.

So what IS worship of the True and Living God? Exodus 15:2 gives one example: “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Psalm 66:4: “All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.”

Rather, in the article, Lehmann states, Osteen has the “outlook of someone possessed of grandiose fantasies about the imperial reach of the self.”

It is not about us. I don’t recall David preaching or writing one Psalm that says we can have our best life now. I don’t recall Jeremiah the weeping prophet pronouncing that ‘It’s your time’. Mr Lehmann ends devastatingly with this thought on Mr Osteen’s approach, which is a:

theology-free success gospel, pitched exclusively to tales of individual triumph. Osteen’s sermons all begin with a self-empowering chant from believers. “This is my Bible,” it goes in part; “I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have.” But there are legions of dead — now confined by definition, it’s true, in the hated past — who come bearing the testimony that the Bible is not actually about you.

It is about the Holy One of Israel, the Word made flesh!!

Woodcut, 1695, Title, “Word” by artist Johann Christoph Weigel. Source

Fear God! Keep your vows! “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1).

 

Posted in discernment, theology

Learning when to stay in and when to separate out

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Proverbs is one of the Bible’s Wisdom books. The others are Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs.

We Christians love all people, because we know that all people are image bearers of God. We also love them because we are to live our lives as a witness to the power of Jesus to change lives of sinners to people of love.

There are different kinds of love though. God loves the world, beneficently, but He loves His people covenantly. So do we.

We aren’t doormats, mindlessly loving all people no matter what. There are times and circumstances where we are told to separate from a person, or if you’re a pastor, to excommunicate a person. (1 Corinthians 5:5). We don’t partner with the unsaved or the professing false in spiritual endeavors, nor marry unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 6:14).

Paul was horrified the Corinthian church was tolerating the incest of a man and his mother-in-law’s sexual union. (1 Corinthians 5:1). We are told not to associate with sexually immoral people who claim Christ but live unrepentant, unholy, sexually immoral lives. (1 Corinthians 5:9).

And we all know this one, if you’ve given the Gospel to someone and they revile it and trample it, move on. You can continue to love them by praying for that Gospel seed to take root.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

Paul wasn’t speaking of standing apart and refusing to talk with or be with the unsaved. They can’t help what they do, and they need the verbal witness of the Gospel spoken to them and the tacit witness of a life lived for Christ. We’re still in the world, after all.

The issue is with professing Christians. It’s more significant when it involves professing Christians, because of the blot on Jesus’ name. There is a time to love and engage with those who profess Christ, and there is a time to shun them who say they love Jesus but say or do things consistently that belie that profession.

There’s another verse that speaks to to this issue, from Proverbs-

A man of great anger will bear the penalty,
For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.
(Proverbs 19:19)

I knew a man like that. He wasn’t in Christ. His anger was always bubbling, ready to erupt. He lodged a lot of lawsuits, he did a lot of yelling, grumbling, hating. The commentaries on the Proverb say,

Repeated acts of kindness are wasted on ill-natured people. John MacArthur Study Bible Note 

The sense of this proverb seems to be that the connection between unseemly anger and punishment is so invariable that any effort to save such a man from the disastrous consequences, which he brings upon himself by his anger, would do little good; because it wouldn’t be long till he would again need deliverance.” Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible 

for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again; if he is got out of one broil, he will get into another quickly; if he clear of one lawsuit, another will be commenced against him in a short time; if he is discharged and freed from a penalty he is justly subject to, it must be done again and again; he will fall into the same evil, and there is no end of appearing, for him and serving him; a wrathful man brings himself into great trouble, Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

MacArthur preached,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” … At first reading, it sounds like Jesus wants to make us all into sanctimonious doormats.

“The fact that your heart is prone to retaliation, to get even, is evidence enough that no system of human religion can deal with the heart of the human problem. You need a Savior, a righteousness beyond our own.” That’s what He’s saying, and that’s the heart of the matter here.

In other words, don’t start a feud, or a vengeance thing. Don’t get some revenge going, that’s all He’s saying. He’s not talking about categorical evil and letting it overrun your life

Read the word, learn from commentaries, pray, and be aware that loving one’s neighbor sometimes means there are cases where it is better not to have anything to do with him than to be tempted to seek revenge, or continue to help out an angry man, or to partner with someone who is sexually immoral, etc. We’re always to be kind and reasonable, but we’re not doormats either.

separate

Further Resources

The Purpose of Wisdom Literature

How can a Christian avoid being a doormat for other people?

 

 

Posted in discernment, theology

An Open Letter To Beth Moore

Posted on by elizabethprata

Dear Mrs. Moore,

Hello – we hope this finds you doing well.

We as female Bible teachers ourselves write this letter to you in hopes of receiving clarification of your views on an important issue: homosexuality.

In the last few years, particularly since 2016, you have been very vocal in your opposition to misogyny and racism. Anytime a story with so much of a whiff of these issues comes to the forefront you are very quick to speak out. The actions of the Covington kids, for example, you said “is so utterly antichrist it reeks of the vomit of hell” in a January 19, 2019 tweet; a tweet you deleted, without apology to the kids, once the full video was shown that portrayed a very different reality than what initial reporting suggested.

It is this Johnny-on-the-spot readiness to engage issues related to misogyny and racism that makes your virtual silence on the issue of homosexuality so puzzling.

To your credit, in your book To Live is Christ: The Life and Ministry of Paul, you wrote, “I met a young man who had experienced freedom from the bondage of homosexuality” (pg. 119). This book was first published in 1997 and then republished in 2008 but it seems since then you have said very little if anything publicly about this issue.

Another factor prompting our open letter to you is the very public mutual affection and admiration between you, Jen Hatmaker and Jonathan Merritt.

Jen Hatmaker and you regularly exchange affirming posts of one another on social media. In just one recent example, Hatmaker on September 17, 2018 wrote “Beth Moore will enjoy my respect and devotion forever. She is worthy of being a mentor to an entire generation. And friends, I wish you knew how deeply and profoundly she has loved me these last two years” (Source). In an interview two years before this post, October of 2016, Jen Hatmaker said she was a “left-leaning moderate,” came out as fully supportive of homosexual marriage (saying it can be “holy”) and said practicing homosexuals can be part of the regenerate body of Christ (Source). It was then that LifeWay decided to pull all of her books from its shelves.

More recently, on April 9, 2019, Jonathan Merritt tweeted, “I no longer believe @BethMooreLPM is a human. I think she is an angelic being having a human experience.” (Source). Jonathan Merritt has admitted to having at least one homosexual encounter about a decade ago (Source). Today, by his own admission he rejects biblical inerrancy, says a “liberal Protestant” would be an accurate description of him, and says his sexual orientation he no longer views as “broken” (Source).

In a crass response to Dr. Owen Strachan tweeting, rightly so, that there should never be an occasion in which men “cuddle” with one another, Merritt on May 1, 2019 tweeted in response, “C’mon, Owen. You can be my little spoon” (Source). Merritt also openly affirms that “queer” and LGBTQ people are included in God’s Kingdom and it is a “carrot of false promises” that the Gospel can make such people straight (Source, Source). He supports “Drag Queen Story Time” in which drag queens read stories to young children in public libraries (Source 27:40 mark– NOTE, the video has already been deleted. Try this one.). He even appears to doubt the exclusivity of Christ (Source).

Both Jen Hatmaker and Jonathan Merritt are known for their belief that practicing homosexuals can be Christians. Given that this is such a deeply held conviction that both share and this conviction (wrong though it is) has cost them both in their standing amongst theologically conservative evangelicals, and that they both praise you so highly, it raises the natural question as to where you stand on this issue.

Given his beliefs, Merritt publicly saying that he believes you to be “an angelic being having a human experience” strongly suggests that his high praise of you is, at least partially, rooted in your views on this issue that you have shared with him privately. It seems most unlikely that he would be praising you so highly if you had told him that as a homosexual man he will perish for all of eternity unless he repents. It likewise seems unlikely that Hatmaker (a married, straight woman) would praise you so highly if you told her that her affirmation of homosexuality and homosexual marriage is sinful and that she must repent.

When all of this is coupled with your total silence on homosexuality (in stark contrast to your very vocal stance on gender/racial/abuse issues) it naturally raises the question as to what your beliefs on it truly are.

With these factors in mind, and knowing that millions of people follow your teachings, we would like to ask you:

  • Do you believe homosexuality is inherently sinful?
  • Do you believe that the practice of the homosexual lifestyle is compatible with holy Christian living?
  • Do you believe a person who dies as a practicing homosexual but professes to be a Christian will inherit eternal life?
  • Do you believe same sex attraction is, in and of itself, an inherently sinful, unnatural, and disordered desire that must be mortified?
  • Why have you been so silent on this subject in light of your desire to “teach the word of God?”

We ask these questions to you out of genuine concern. As Bible teachers, all of us are held to a very high standard and will give an account for how we handle God’s word.

As you know, homosexuality is widely discussed and debated amongst evangelicals and society at large.

Many families are affected by this issue. The most loving thing obedient Christians can do for them is to clearly communicate God’s truth. We look forward to your clarification on these pressing issues.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Susan Heck
http://www.withthemaster.com/

Debbie Lynne Kespert
http://www.headstickdeb.com/

Michelle Lesley
http://www.michellelesley.com/

Martha Peace
http://marthapeacetew.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth Prata
http://www.the-end-time.org/

Amy Spreeman
https://bereanresearch.org/
https://naomistable.com/

Added:

Kristy Kapp
https://www.narrowmindedwoman.com

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Posted in discernment, theology

On having ears to hear

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

You can hear the difference, can’t you? When a sermon is full of truth or if it isn’t. When a person is sincere and when they aren’t. Discernment is a gift given to some on the Body (1 Corinthians 12:10), discernment is also a skill demanded of all (Hebrews 5:14).

The illustration below is an example of how you can hear discernment.

There was an old pastor, so old that he had been forced to retire. His voice cracked from years of preaching. He was a humble old gentleman. He was invited to a high society kind of luncheon by a friend. He really was out of his league, frankly, but he went. And there was a famous actor there, and the one who was heading up the luncheon said to that actor in the midst of all of the folderol,

“Oh, would you stand up and recite something for us?” And he said, “Of course, I have an endless repertoire. What would you like?” The old pastor thought this is his moment. He said, “How about the 23rd Psalm” And the actor said, “Well, that’s an unusual request, but I happen to know that, and I’ll do it on one condition: that you’ll do it after I do it.”

Well, the old pastor hadn’t bargained for that, but for the sake of the Lord he said, “All right.”  The actor got up, and he recited the 23rd Psalm with great intonation, beautiful, lyrical voice, tremendous interpretation. And he finished, and everyone applauded. The old pastor stood up and cracking voice and just went through the 23rd Psalm in his humble way. And when he was done, there was not a dry eye in the room.

And sensing the emotion of the moment, the actor stood and said, “I think I understand the difference in your response to me and to him. You clapped for me; you wept for him. The difference is: I know the Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.” ~John MacArthur, The Calling of the Church

And that IS the difference when you hear it. Some recite from the mind, others know from the heart. A worthless shepherd who doesn’t know the Shepherd will be empty, though he deliver his words confidently, or with flair, or eloquently. Lord, give us ears to hear. See Revelation 2:7, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches;”

He that hath an ear—This clause precedes the promise in the first three addresses, succeeds it in the last four. Thus the promises are enclosed on both sides with the precept urging the deepest attention as to the most momentous truths. Every man “hath an ear” naturally, but he alone will be able to hear spiritually to whom God has given “the hearing ear”; whose “ear God hath wakened” and “opened.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

Discernment is something we can ask for more of (Psalm 119:66). It is something you can pray for others to be given it (Philippians 1:9). What a privilege to be able to ask the Wise one for more wisdom and discernment.

discernment1

Posted in discernment, theology

Discernment lesson: Thinking through some platitudes and pithy Twitter comments

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

wild wild west

When I post something online, (seems like when I post anything online) there is always someone or more than someone who immediately refutes it. Even the basics of our faith go challenged these days.

One of the most common arguments I receive is that theology doesn’t matter. “Just love Jesus”, they say. “It’s all about love” they say. Well, love is a doctrine. There are commands about it.

But when you mention commands, you’re called a Pharisee.

Here are three rebuttals I received recently that surprised even me. I’d like to explain why they are a concern and then offer some good, solid resources so that you can be a Berean and check them too.

It started with this statement from Beth Moore:

Leaving the obviously violated scriptures aside, Moore’s statement about poking the Calvinists in a sort of ‘us vs. them’ division, left one to wonder if she was identifying as Arminian. Which is what an observer tweeted to Moore, asking that very question. Moore replied that she didn’t know what she was, she’d been taught by so many different people. That led me to note that teachers of the word should know the word. Short version.

The rebuttals that a Bible teacher should know the word and its basic doctrines was refuted heartily by this teacher’s supporters. Here are the three I’ll focus on.

This statement was made by a pastor. He might have been talking about the layman who doesn’t need to know all the ins and outs of the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism, but it doesn’t matter, I refute it utterly. Seminarians definitely do know the difference in those two theologies. They are opposites of each other. They are fairly basic. I learned them in my first two years as a complete newbie to all religion. And we’re not talking about laymen here, but seasoned Bible teachers, and in his comment, seminarians. They of all people should know soteriology.

“It’s not necessary to be able to understand soteriology in order to preach the Gospel” is an internally contradictory statement.

Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation. So essentially the Pastor was saying you don’t need to understand salvation to preach salvation. Of course you do. You might not know the word soteriology, but you definitely need to understand the basics of salvation in order to preach it.

I’ve listed the standard topic words in systematic theology and their definitions below.

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In this next one, you might have noticed the elevated position certain followers put their idols in. Rachel Held Evans was called a saint and a prophetess upon her death. Moore was pronounced an angelic being by Jonathan Merritt. Below, in responding why a celebrity teacher would not answer a direct theological question, the tweeter invoked a comparison to Jesus. This is never wise. Jesus is sovereign God, sinless and holy. He has His plans and purposes for doing things. We are safer to simply follow in obedience the commands for teachers in the Bible, namely, being ready to give an answer to those who ask, (1 Peter 3:15), something this teacher we’re discussing seems to have excised from her Bible.

The lesson here is that no matter how much you love a certain preacher or teacher, they are a forgiven sinner just like us. God shows no partiality. We should esteem and honor our own elders, (1 Timothy 5:17) but to use language that elevate celebrity teachers to positions they do not hold only invites pride and conceit.

In sum, to answer a person who asserts that another person’s behavior is OK because Jesus did it, especially when it contradicts commands for us, is this:

1. Beth Moore isn’t Jesus. (Isaiah 45:22).
2. Teachers should know theology. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
3. Teachers are to give an answer when asked. (1 Peter 3:15, Colossians 4:6.)

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I erased the person’s comment until his last line, which is what I want to focus on. The problem with the line, which sounds punchy and kinda correct, is that it’s flatly wrong. We can’t examine fruit unless we have something to compare it to.

Say I’m in the Amazon. I’m walking on a path. I stumble across some ripe fruits that have fallen to the ground. What tree did it come from? Will I pick up the fruit and eat it, not knowing from whence it came? The scripture below warns us that some fruit is disguised and bad, because the false prophet it came from is disguised and bad.

I’d pick up the fruit and look for the tree it came from. If it came from a good tree, I’ll eat it. If it came from a bad tree, I won’t.

Bethel School of Prophets produces what people say is “fruit.” They graduate hundreds of mini-prophets per year. Is that fruit? No.

If you had a problem with your good fruit tree in your yard, and hired an arborist to come look at it, would you want him to look at the fruit and suggest a course of action if he had not been to arborist school? Was really just some guy wandering around looking at fruit apart from any tree knowledge? Of course not.

You can’t just declare something you believe is fruit without comparing it to the tree that grew it. The commenter is trying to unhitch fruit from the tree it came from (the tree being Jesus) and you can’t do that. Understand that the two, theology and fruit, are connected. “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). Meaning in this lesson, fruit grown apart from Jesus is empty of goodness and diseased.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-19).

One of the bad fruits a false prophet makes, is more false prophets and many evil disciples. (Matthew 23:15, Revelation 2:22-23).

How can you know if the tree the fruit came from is diseased? By comparing the fruit to the Bible. You have to know “theology” to do that. Theology simply means the study of God.

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Twitter and Facebook, and other venues for online discourse offer up wonderful opportunities to learn and to engage with one another. These venues also offer up lots of opportunities for satan to promote his lies, through the keyboards of nice sounding platitudes. It’s important to think through these. Its one of the reasons we’re warned to be slow to speak (James 1:19).

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Further Resources:

CARM.org, What did Jesus mean by “you will know them by their fruit?”

CARM.org, Calvinism/Arminianism Comparison Grid

Alisa Childers: Studying Theology “The Bible Says, “Knowledge Puffs Up.” Does This Mean We Shouldn’t Study Too Much?

GotQuestions: What is Theology Proper? 

Theology Proper – the study of God the Father.

Christology – the study of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Pneumatology – the study of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Bibliology – the study of the Bible.

Christian Anthropology – the study of the nature of humanity.

Hamartiology – the study of the nature and effects of sin.

Angelology – the study of angels.

Christian Demonology – the study of demons.

Ecclesiology – the study of the nature and mission of the church.

Eschatology – the study of the end times / last days.

Posted in discernment, theology

The past week(s) have been tough but the future looks bright

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

These past couple of weeks have been rough in our corner of the church. Rachel Held Evans’ passing caused so much grief for her followers and her detractors alike. The display of hatred and bitterness of her followers came after, toward anyone daring to speak a word against their prophetess (their words). It was hard to watch.

Then there was Beth Moore’s craven yet politically manipulative comment that she is preaching on Sunday at a church for Mother’s day and followers of THAT false prophetess came out of the woodwork to proclaim their glee in doing the same, even at Southern Baptist Convention churches, whose statement of faith had traditionally rejected this kind of activity.

Then there was Owen Strachan’s piece biblically outlining why a woman preaching the sermon in church is forbidden by God, and Moore’s self-serving rebuttal to it, her rising anger displayed wantonly for all to see, along of course, with her many followers yapping at Stachan’s heels for his daring to speak against their prophetess.

I’ve only mentioned two women but their combined following just on Twitter alone topped one million people. And their blogs, events, book sales have much greater reach than that, sadly. A huge segment of the western Christian world have been impacted in some way by just those two teachers.

So, it’s been turbulent on social media this week. It reminded me of the Riot at Ephesus where the idol Artemis was enshrined in one of the ancient world’s largest temples, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in fact. Paul’s Gospel preaching started to have an impact, and the merchandise sales began to decline. A silversmith named Demetrius made silver shrines of Artemis and brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He claimed that Paul was “leading the people astray”.

The Riot in Ephesus Acts 19:23-27
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Notice that Demetrius twice mentioned his business and twice mentioned the goddess Artemis. But notice the order. He first was concerned about his business, both times. Then he mentioned the goddess and worship.

In any case, the people were gullible and became, as the verse says, “furious.” The Greek word for this fury is ‘thumos’. Strong’s concordance explains:

2372 thymós (from thyō, “rush along, getting heated up, breathing violently,” – properly, passion-driven behavior, i.e. actions emerging out of strong impulses (intense emotion). When thymós (“expressed passion”) is used of people it indicates rage, personal venting of anger.

That rage, that passionate personal wrath, is what we saw from RHE followers, from Beth Moore followers, and Beth Moore herself.

At Ephesus, the people filled the arena and shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

That is stunning. The theater there could hold up to 25,000 spectators. You know how loud it gets when just the school gymnasium at school is filled for a pep rally with a few hundred students, and everyone is stomping on the bleachers. Imagine thousands upon thousands of people creating a ruckus and shouting in unholy fury. It’s also stunning that they did it for two hours. That kind of shouting and rage is difficult to maintain at those intense levels. It seems that satanically inspired fury can be maintained for that length of time with no problem.

I liken the ruckus of social media over Rachel Held Evans’ death and Beth Moore’s tweet as similar to the riot at Ephesus; intense, rage filled, sustained, with the followers of those false teachers claiming that those trying to bring the truth were leading them astray. But at the root of it is money. It always is.

The lesson here in looking to that passage of scripture in Acts is that we should never doubt the intense love people have for their idols and the lengths to which they will go to protect and defend them. Never underestimate the power that greed has over those who teach falsely, for their motivation is money. (2 Peter 2:3). Don’t miscalculate the wrath that those in the cottage industries surrounding the idol and financially benefiting from the idol will go to preserve their income. Always remember that those who follow false teachers, false gods, and idols will say that anyone bringing the truth is actually lying and leading the people astray.

It’s been an upsetting week, many people doing and saying unpalatable things. I don’t know the Lord’s reason for ordaining RHE’s number of days to end at 13,505 or why He is allowing Beth Moore to continue polluting the church and blaspheming His name into her 60th year. His will be done. The good news is that we have glory to look forward to. We will sing and worship in truth and unity, with not one blot, not one jot, not one tittle of falsity anywhere. No false teachers will skulk in any corner, no false prophetess will lead anyone astray, and no merchandising of the people will ever happen. Glory will be sparkling pure, clean, and wholesome.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:1-7)

glory

Posted in discernment, theology

Beth Moore has a Lot to Answer for in Normalizing Women Preaching/Teaching to Men, again

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The holiness of God cannot be plumbed to its heights. We have no real conception of how Holy God is. Only Isaiah and Ezekiel (Old Testament prophets) and Paul and John (New Testament Apostles) really have a notion. They saw heaven or were given a vision of it. When Isaiah saw God on His throne, and understood his own sin in comparison, he said he was “undone” and fell to the ground.

So just as God’s holiness is infinite and unreachable in its limits, so is sin. I think we really have no idea of the extent of sin, its ugliness, and its infinite abyss. Just when you think sin can’t possibly get any worse, it does. It goes lower, gets worse, and continues on through its bottomless depths.

I’ve written several times about Beth Moore’s desire to preach at a pulpit, to men, with authority. See just two examples with links below. Over time, this desire has defaulted into a de facto reality. She tweeted this week in response to a woman boasting that she was preaching 3 Sunday services in a SBC church, Moore in reply said she herself was “doing” the Sunday service on Mother’s Day in Tomball TX, her hometown.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited. (Titus 2:3-5)

 

Sadly, Beth Moore’s failure to rebuke and train the young woman but instead applaud her for her decision to preach, and in fact celebrate her own sin, fails the Titus verse completely. Moore is teaching women to usurp, not be self-controlled, pure, and godly women at home, as commanded.

When Dr. Owen Strachan, (pronounced Stran, rhymes with man) Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Director of the Center for Public Theology, and Senior Fellow of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, wrote a biblical and clarifying essay on Moore preaching. Moore, who “took a doctrine class,” berated him publicly.

Her tweet contained nothing of a teachable spirit. It was haughty and displayed none of the humility and meekness Jesus demands from His people. Then as she stewed some more, she admitted she was “going off like a bottle rocket.” This behavior fails the command for teachers to be “self-controlled.”

But that is what happens when a person rebels against scripture. They descend further into a depraved mind and then gather others to do the same, then applaud them for it. In fact, the entire situation is one that the Bible warns will happen with ungodly people. Romans 1:28-32,

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Why the Lord is allowing Beth Moore to engage in behavior that stores up wrath for herself is His will alone. But woe to Beth Moore on the day she stands before a holy God and is called to account.

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Please read the following essays I wrote for more information on the devastating results that occur when we buck God’s word, especially when it comes to His Divine Order.

Beth Moore has a Lot to Answer for in Normalizing Women Preaching/Teaching to Men

Beth Moore: A Type of False Prophetess like the Jezebel of Thyatira?

Examples of Beth Moore preaching to and with men. Notice in her tweet she had said she only has preached at “SBC churches, like, 15 times”. But there are also plenty of other churches she has preached in…to men…against the will of God … as set in His word…

 

Below, Moore getting angrier and angrier at the rebuke she has received. She tweeted the following, which sounds more like a pre-teen arguing with her parents than a 40 year teacher of the Bible who has learned the required conditions of gentleness, humility, and self-control. Also, her Legalism is showing. Godliness is not a ratio of good outweighing the bad.

Posted in discernment, theology

JD Greear, President of the SBC, charged money to attend his Good Friday worship service

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

coins

Pastor JD Greear is currently serving as 62nd President of the Southern Baptist Convention. His church is called Summit Church. It is a multi-site church with 9 campuses in and around Durham, NC.

Greear had been college pastor for 18 months before he was called to be the senior pastor. The church under Pastor J.D.’s leadership has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of over 10,000, making it one of Outreach magazine’s “top 25 fastest-growing churches in America” for many years running, according to the About page at Summit.

On Friday, April 19, 2019, Pastor Greear tweeted that he was “pumped” for the Good Friday service. See his tweet below.

summit1

Ticket? For crowd control purposes? For a head count? Intrigued, I looked it up according to the link provided.

Here is what I saw:

summit2

The church charges money for their Good Friday services. $5 plus $1.05 in fees for a total of $6.05.

Let that sink in.

Someone who attends Summit Church noticed the reactions of grief and horror of the discerning public to this state of affairs, and responded thus,

summit

I replied with this:

“We see the value”. The “value” of the Gospel is only $6.05? How can you put a price on it? How can you declare a finite amount for something of inestimable value? How can you allow money to change hands over Jesus’ dead body? How can you put a price on Jesus’s agony?

But you did.

It is extremely sad that the President of the largest Christian congregation in the world and who pastors one of the largest churches in America would place a fee on the entrance of souls to hear the news about Good Friday. Not even heretical prosperity gospel church Joel Osteen’s Lakewood charges parking or admission or requires tickets for any of its gatherings. Not even Lakewood.

Paul said,

What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:18).

If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. (1 Corinthians 9:12)

Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? (2 Corinthians 11:7)

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10).

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:34).

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

There are so many verses in our Bible advising about money. It is a tempting idol and one of the biggest. But suffice to say that the mixing of filthy lucre, sordid gain, shameful gain as the different translations put it, and the presentation of the pure, holy Gospel is craven to the core. This should horrify you. It should be a significant marker of how far the American church has drifted from the Ambassadorial message that in 33AD we were charged to bring.

Shame on Pastor JD Greear. Now that he has mixed money and Gospel, we read his tweet in a different light. He is “pumped” for Good Friday services. Pumped because he is excited to bring souls to the throne? Or excited for the money it will bring him?

 

Posted in discernment, theology

Snake Cults – put this one in the “This is Weird” files

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Fratelli Alinari are the Alinari Brothers of Italy, who founded the world’s oldest photography studio. They have been documenting important works of art, sculpture, costume, and life in towns and cities since 1852. Their archive holds over 5,500,000 pictures.

Recently the company posted the following photo with the title: La festa dei Serpari – San Domenico – a Cocullo (L’Aquila). (C) Armando Bruni / Bruni Archive / Archives Management Alinari, Florence

I wanted to learn more, so I researched the Feast of the Serpent.

alinari.jpg

Cocullo is a town in the province of L’Aquila in the region of Abruzzo. It’s a sleepy medieval town of about 50 souls, but on the first Thursday of every May, the town is jammed with people who watch or celebrate the local festival in honor of the town’s patron saint, Saint Domenico di Sora. (b. 951 – died 1031). He was an Italian Benedictine Abbott who founded abbeys and hermitages throughout Italy. He was known for his miraculous ability to heal poisonous snakebites. The area was rife with many species of poisonous snakes. Many people died from the bites.

Each year the people of the town of Cocullo drape their statue of Domenic with snakes, (nonvenomous, thank goodness) caught by serpari, or young boy snake charmers. The Alinari photo depicts some of the serpari boys.

In the past, the snakes used to be sacrificed, nowadays the snakes are released at the end of the festival.

The day begins with a Catholic Mass, and continues with people performing old traditions such as pulling a bell with their teeth to ward off toothaches, or taking a pinch of earth from a cave behind the Saint’s niche for superstitious use.

The people head into the town square and are encouraged to touch the snakes, so as to develop a unification or understanding of a relationship between the human world and the animal one.

The Saint statue is brought out and the serpari cover it with all the snakes. Priests lead a procession with the saint close behind and women dressed in traditional costume, carrying circular bread. This is supposed to represent the snake biting its own tail.

In former days before Domenico adn Catholicism came along, the goddess locally worshiped was Angitia. The peoples of central Italy venerated her. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. As the Catholic religion overtook the region, the old pagan traditions were absorbed into it, and worship of snakes transferred from Angitia the goddess to Domenico the monk.

Of course satan loves to be worshiped. That is his main goal in life, after all. (Isaiah 14:13-14). Having inhabited a snake in the beginning to dupe Eve, he is forever identified as the serpent, the dragon of old. People have been worshiping the snake for eons, as this essay I wrote about the cult of Asclepius shows.

Isn’t it a shame that people will exchange the glory of God for creeping things of earth. Even the Israelites ground slowly down and ended up worshiping Moses’ brazen snake and called it Neshutan, rather than the God who delivered them from the Egyptians…and the desert…and the enemies…and the snakes…

As for cult worshipers,

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:21-23).

In this essay I am attempting to show you that Catholicism is a pagan religion no different than worshiping Zeus or a tree.

One day, Jesus will crush that old serpent under his heel. All false worship will come to an end, and the only one left standing will be Jesus, in all his glory. Praise Him who conquered.

 

Posted in discernment, theology

A few thoughts about the abortion movie…

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

movieposterUnplanned the movie was recently released. It is from the Christian film-makers PureFlix, produced and directed by Cary Solomon, Chuck Konzelman, Daryl C. Lefever, Joe Knopp, and Chris Jones.

The movie blurb goes: “Abby Johnson becomes the youngest clinic director in the history of Planned Parenthood, then a life-changing experience turns her into an anti-abortion activist.”

The ‘life-changing event’ Abby experienced was actually watching an abortion on sonogram. The movie is based on the true life story of the real person Abby Johnson.

It is rated R for graphic violence. It shows the procedure of a chemically-induced abortion in realistic terms and also an abortion procedure via sonogram (The sonogram abortion, though not real and done with special effects, accurately depicts a true abortion and it’s pretty graphic). The film is also getting good reviews and is showing at more screens the second week than the first. It came in at #4 in the top ten box office last week, its first week showing.

I have not seen it, nor do I plan to. I’m listing a few reviews for you to ponder. I am glad, as many people are, that the issue of abortion is gaining such scrutiny and debate. I am also glad that hopefully many women will be more mindfully considering other options instead of seeking abortion as a viable alternative to an unplanned pregnancy.

However, please be aware of a few things. The movie is not evangelism. The movie does not contain the Gospel. So what? You say it isn’t a Gospel movie, anyway? Well, the people who made the movie intended it to contain the Gospel and to be an evangelism piece. The Production company it was made under is a Christian company. One would expect the Gospel to be present in movies that a Christian movie-making company makes.

Also, the people involved in the movie, from producers, directors, and actresses, claim that the Gospel IS in the movie. They also use salvific terms like redemption, finding joy, receiving forgiveness and reconciliation, and speak of how much of a ‘God story’ it is.

In an interview, I heard the director say that if Peter and Paul were around today, they would definitely use movies to evangelize. The director intended the movie to used as a method of evangelism.

We see from these three examples, that the movie people consider the film to be an evangelistic tract. But be aware the Gospel is not in it.

Also be aware that the movie’s main character (Abby Johnson) is a practicing Catholic. She was when she worked at Planned Parenthood and she is now. So is her husband. If a  person believes the dogmas of Rome, they are not saved. That person does not know the will of God, does not have the Holy Spirit, their prayers go nowhere, and they are destined for the Lake of Fire. A person who is not saved has nothing to tell us about the faith.

Also be aware that Kris Vallotton of Bethel Church is a cast member of the movie, as “pastor.” Bethel Church is one of the, if not THE, most prominent churches in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Vallotton is a heretic and his church is heretical, a no-church. It’s a synagogue of satan. (cf Revelation 2:9).

I’m not speaking against the movie, per se. I hear it has good production values, good acting, and is powerful. I am simply presenting information for you to be aware of when making decisions whether to see the movie or not, and to be aware of as you watch the movie. I was particularly intrigued by the Spirit of Error’s warnings about the insidious influence of the New Apostolic Reformation. Bethel’s presence in the movie is not something to be dismissed. Link below.

As a matter of fact, the producer/directors boasted to the interviewer that the Holy Spirit was very involved in the movie. They described “miracle after miracle”. They described an incident where a man who was flying over set in his jet was praying and Jesus answered and “told” him to give the movie people a million dollars. He prayed 4X and Jesus said yes 4X (even Gideon didn’t dare but ask for confirmation twice).

They said and that there was a permanent on-set prayer team consisting of Catholic priests, atheists, evangelicals, rabbis, and pastors leading prayer two specific times during the day and then wandering around the set all day and night praying as requests or needs came. The producers called them folks “from every denomination.” These people do not know the faith if they believe atheists, rabbies, and preists know Jesus in a salvific sense. In addition, the Lord is under no obligation to listen to the prayer of an unbeliever, and in fact, he does not listen to the prayers of the wicked. (*John 9:31).

With incidents like these being touted as proof that God was involved at a specific and intimate level, one wonders how well they know the scriptures in the first place. They sounded more like the Bethel/NAR folks than God-honoring evangelicals. So beware of the NAR/charismatic influence in this movie.

Now on to some links to consider.

I enjoyed this balanced review by a pastor who went to see the film.

A Pastor’s Review of Unplanned: Uncertain of its Own Message 

As far as the story goes, I rather liked the movie, but it was a hard watch. The violence of abortion is portrayed with chilling effect.

Lots of people commented to the pastor that he was wrong in various ways about his stance on the movie. He made a 25-minute video explaining and fleshing out those criticisms, here. He is extremely articulate and in listening you begin to really understand about the Gospel and the importance of its absence in the movie.

This is the Pro Life Convention video put on by the Family Research Council, at which the producers/writers/directors and the main actress were interviewed. Begin at 26:30. In addition to the previous things I’d mentioned them saying, I also thought it was interesting the lengths Hollywood will go to blacklist and suppress or otherwise thward this movie’s production.

Jon Speed, Pastor at Christ is King Baptist Church in Syracuse, NY wrote a very interesting piece on the evil of abortion in the context of Roman Catholic mythology (doctrine).

From the National Catholic Register, Abby Johnson explains how she went from From Abortion Worker to Catholic Apostle. Read her own words.

Holly Pivec explains how she was Blindsided by Bethel‘s presence in the movie, and bullet lists the NAR’s fingerprints that are deeply embedded in the movie. There’s much more beyond just a quick appearance by Vallotton.

Again, I’m thrilled that a well-done movie about the evil of abortion is getting the attention of the nation. However, remember also not long ago the activists that secretly filmed conversations and interviews with Planned Parenthood workers to buy baby parts, and how they casually described what parts they would sell and how much money they’d cost and how they’d even be able to buy a Ferrari if they sell enough? It shocked and sickened the nation. For about a week.

Don’t let your conversations and strength in the faith be compromised or even influenced simply because a cause we care about is front and center in the news adn the box office. Who brings the issue and how it is presented, also matters.

If you want to see Unplanned, more power to you. See it like you would any other new release this week. View it as a politically activist film out to persuade you on one issue, abortion, and don’t let Christianity tie in to it to the extent that the movie wants it to be. 🙂

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*However, while the Lord never obligates himself to the prayer of the unbeliever. He will do what suits his purpose, and that might intersect with the prayer and desires of the unbeliever. (source)