discernment – Page 36

Sage advice from devils

Posted on August 5, 2016 by elizabethprata

This was first published in January 2009 at The End Time. This version is edited.

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Ceremony purges White House of evil spirits

On Monday, January 19th at 6:00 pm, hundreds gathered at Dupont Circle in Washington DC for a ceremony performed by a “shaman.” The ceremony was intended to ‘clean the White House of ‘evil spirits.’ Organizer Kate Clinton used the method called by pagans and witches, “saging” or “smudging.” Two thousand participants stood outside the nations’ First Home and waved lit bundles of sage around and hugged and chanted. Participants said they were “into the moment” and the crowd was “radiating the love.”

Saging is a process. The adherent bundles sage, ignites them and leaves them to smolder. The resulting thick blue smoke supposedly has a cleansing effect and removes ‘unwanted energy’ from the area.

Many people do not notice how pervasive occultism in our society is. We are so used to charms, amulets, spells, rituals, ceremonies, wiccans, wizards (Harry Potter) that we forget the bible says No! No! No! to it all. The Bible speaks to the practice of the occult, which includes astrology, sorcery, magic, paganism…God condemns the whole practice of the occult. Repeatedly.

In the book by CS Lewis called “The Screwtape Letters,” Wormwood the demon is instructing his nephew, an acolyte demon. The issue is their target’s Christianity. The target isn’t that receptive tot he ‘unwanted energy’or influence of the demons. Screwtape says, “For a long time it will be impossible to remove spirituality from his life. Very well then, we must corrupt it.”

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4:1)

I think we’re there.

discernment, Uncategorized

The problem with tolerating false teachers is…

Posted on August 4, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend and I were talking about the younger church generation. A kind of “Kids these days” conversation, lol. She said, “They’ve been swimming in Beth Moore stuff for so long they don’t know if they are even in troubled water.” She and I, and others I’ve spoken with, notice the younger generation of 16-25 year olds simply do not have a solid theological grounding. They do not approach Bible study credibly. They infuse it with feelings, mysticism, romanticism, and subjective experience. They think this is the norm.

This is wrong.

And it is our fault.

This problem is what I dub the ‘Symbolic Jezebel problem’. It’s a generation thing. You see, in Revelation 2 metaphorical Jezebel who was a false prophetess of Thyatira. She was tolerated (one would assume, by the elders of the local church) for so long, unfortunately another generation of spiritual daughters had sprung up under her influence with her false teaching as a model. The ones coming up didn’t know any better, because they had false prophetess ‘Jezebel’ as their example. They must have figured this is the right way to practice the faith, because after all, the elders were not saying anything. It was tolerated. The issues were her false teaching, her false prophesying and the fact that she was teaching in a position of authority in the church. There’s a lot wrong right there. Jesus said to this church-

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead. (Revelation 2:20-23).

The other day I was talking with a 25-year-old. He was frustrated his peers could not see the truth that certain teachers are false or they could not understand why they approaches to study and communing with God were false (liver shivers, manifestations, circle praying, contemplative prayer…etc). I’d replied that his generation was the first one to have grown up completely under the false emergent, purpose driven, emotional, romantic, mystical model. An entire generation has been exposed to false teachings of one sort or another that have been tolerated by elders.

Beth Moore has been teaching locally since 1984 and went public with incorporating Living Proof Ministries in 1994. She’s nearly 60 now, Christine Caine is turning 50 next month. Lysa TerKeurst is 47. “Experiencing God” the terrible mystical curriculum that took the SBC by storm was published in 1976 and grew to monstrously popular proportions in the 1980s. All this is 25-30 years ago and we are reaping the terrible penalty for it now with our soft youth who are growing up as the the next generation of leaders. The problem is seen in this 2015 headline from Christianity Today, which unwittingly puts its finger dead center on the problem-

What Happens When We See Women Teach the Bible; A figure like Beth Moore shows evangelical women what’s possible.

No. It’s about what happens when we see not what’s possible, but what’s tolerated.

These young kids coming up who are 16 or 20 or 25 have been exposed to these things from their birth, even in homes that are solid (because it creeps in anyway). These teachers have been at it for a long time. Forty years is the length of a generation.

We tolerate a Moore, we accept a Experiencing God, we teach subjective methods of Bible study, and incrementally it all adds up. Inch by inch and then foot by foot and then mile by mile, we are on a downward slide that accelerates from a snowball to a tsunami. The generation of kids who use this stuff become the next generation of leaders, and promote it all over again to a new generation coming up. That is what is happening now.

What can you do about it? The Apostles of the first century church and their leader successors spent a great deal of time stamping out error, falsity and heresy where it sprang up. They didn’t let it go, They didn’t tolerate it, except in the case of the Thyatiran church, where Jesus personally dictated a letter telling them they were in danger of being smited by His hand! Jesus takes error seriously, the Apostles took error seriously and we should too. Error kills. (Galatians 5:9, John 10:10).

What should we do?

Repent of your personal sin so that your heart and mind can stay clear.

Don’t overlook the small errors that pop up when they occur in your sphere. Satan’s tentacles will gradually creep in (2 Timothy 3:6). Notice them and address them. Would you ignore a spark on a haystack just because it’s small and pretty? No the spark has the power to ignite a conflagration and destroy the entire thing. What happens in your garden if you let a few weeds go, and you don’t pull them up? Pick your battles (because you’re not a lone ranger, others in your church have the gift of discernment and exhortation, too 😉 and speak up. I know it’s tiring. I know it’s a message that is increasingly unwanted. But do it.

Also, stay in the Word. Keep reading and delving into who Jesus is and His character and nature. It is the way we stay sharp and grounded and on the Rock.

I do not have a new message here. I always say to repent, pray, and stay in the word. That’s because this is what Jess says to do. The messages in the Bible are true and right, and if we follow them, and continue to do our duty by Him, we will be all right.

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22).

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MemeHeresy: Don’t Be a Pineapple

Posted on August 3, 2016August 3, 2016 by elizabethprata

Meme Heresies are those frequently re-posted or re-tweeted quotable quotes or Bible verses, usually with a picture. Sometimes the scripture picture or quote will contain the Bible address associated with it, usually not. Sometimes the quote will have the person’s name as to who originally said it, but usually not. If there is a Bible address, it’s sometimes wrong. The same thing happens with the repeated memes with quotes on them, the quote is sometimes misattributed.

There’s a satirical meme that speaks to this,

Which is funny of course, because Abraham Lincoln lived and died well before the internet was invented. They are called memeheresies because many of these memes promote things that are at odds with the Bible, hence, “heresies”

The meme on the left is one that I saw this week, and I addressed it by creating my own counter-point on the right.

The meme isn’t explicitly Christian but it’s being promoted as if it is. It’s one of those nebulous, inspirational sayings that people go “awww’ when they read it and then think they’ve absorbed something from the Lord. But it’s not. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about being a pineapple.

Be a Pineapple

There is nothing expressly wrong with being compared to something. Jesus compares his children as sheep and the unsaved ones to goats. Saved vs. unsaved are compared as wheat and chaff. We can go to the ant, we’re to be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. And so on. There is nothing wrong with humans being compared to something. But there are no qualities of a pineapple stated here that are especially helpful to the body of Christ or to the lost people.

Stand Tall

The Bible tells us to stand firm. (Philippians 4:1-2). It says that a lot. We are also to stand our ground. We’re also to stand. (Ephesians 6:13). But stand tall?. The righteous grow as tall as the cedars of Lebanon. (Psalm 92:12).

1 Corinthians 10:12 does warn us not to put too much stock into our standing, lest we fall.

So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.

Those who stand tall receive a warning.

Christians can and do stand tall – in our soul because the Good in us is Christ. We do not need to prance around standing tall. We know who we are, craven sinners forgiven by the grace of Jesus Christ. He is tall. We are not.

Wear a Crown

The only people who wear crowns are kings and queens, and even then, just for ceremonial purposes. Taken literally, it’s ridiculous. Biblically, we read in Isaiah,

The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. (Isaiah 24:4).

I’d rather wait to wear my crown, and at that, we will probably hand it back to Jesus just as the elders did. (Revelation 4:10–11).

If it’s meant metaphorically, walking around as if we were kings and queens just makes for haughtiness. We know that Jesus hates haughty eyes. (Proverbs 6:17). As a matter of fact, we are to ‘Take up your cross and follow Me’ which means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. Wear a crown? How about deny self.

Be Sweet on the inside

It’s always nice to try and be nice to people. We are called to be gentle, sweet, kind, thoughtful… As a matter of fact, if we are pressing on toward the prize, the Spirit is growing us in sanctification and we are bearing fruit of the Spirit consistent with those qualities I just mentioned. However, the heresy comes in where people believe there is anything sweet inside of us to begin with, or apart from the Spirit. On our own, there is nothing sweet in us. There is sin, pollution, iniquity, rebelliousness and depravity inside us. Nothing sweet at all.

So you can see that on the surface if you read the meme quickly it seems nice and probably true. If you compare it to scripture, you find the opposite. The point of exploring memes for heresies is to get you to think before you share on social media. Be thoughtful about what you present as inspiring or as Christian.

The younger generation needs solid food and we do not need to be confusing them or anyone with what Jesus’ real message was and is. We should not confuse, but enlighten. We should not settle for shallow, but dig deep. We should not promote heresy. We are not to mislead, but are to be salt and light. What you put out on social media should clarify and edify. Every time.

discernment, Uncategorized

“What recommendations do you have for Women’s Studies?”

Posted on August 2, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend asked me to recommend some women’s studies for a new church plant. Though there are many fine Bible studies aimed at women or by women on the market, I don’t prefer them. First, these times if apostasy means women are especially vulnerable to it, and there are tons of false teachers out there of the female persuasion. Even solid teachers who have for decades developed good curricula of late have made a turn for the worse. (I’m thinking of Kay Arthur, among others). What is recommended today might be apostasy-ridden tomorrow when the woman creates her next curriculum. Though men are not immune from the same, it is a fact that satan attacks women with impunity. (Eve, symbolic Jezebel of Revelation 2, 2 Tim 3:6, etc)

J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt do express the need for women’s ministry in the local church in their excellent book, Women’s Ministry in the Local Church. I would say if one is going to start a women’s ministry in a new church or resurrect a suspended ministry in an old church, to know why you are doing it and what the Bible has to say about it. Don’t have a women’s ministry just to have one. That’s where the Duncan book comes in. An excerpt from the Dallas Theological Seminary’s review of it states,

The book builds on five foundational themes taken from Paul’s pastoral letters: the Gospel, truth, sound doctrine, discipleship, and covenant. From these themes Duncan and Hunt identify five key passages, each emphasizing a different element that they feel is necessary for developing a healthy women’s ministry: 1 Timothy 2:9–15 (submission), 1 Timothy 3:11 (compassion), 1 Timothy 5 (community), Titus 2 (discipleship), and 2 Timothy 3:1–17 (Scripture). Each section offers a solid interpretation of the text, gives biblical examples of women who exemplify the meaning, and lists practical ways to carry out each element in a women’s ministry. Each chapter ends with testimonies from men and women who have implemented that principle in their own ministry experience.

The authors give five reasons why women’s ministry is important in every healthy evangelical church, and they warn of the adverse effects to marriages, families, and churches if women fail to have opportunities to meet and serve together.

I’m not opposed to all women’s ministries of course, but I’m advising care and thought into the creation of it and a watchful eye from the elders to ensure its solidity over time.

What I’d shared with my friend is the second reason I’m not all that excited about women’s ministries led by women is that all too often the ministry delves into topics aimed at women only, meaning, dating, courtship, marriage, and children. While they are important and worthy topics, first, it marginalizes single women by definition. Second, many times these topics are dealt with emotionally and not as theologically as one would prefer. I prefer theology for all ministries, men’s, women’s, and youth. Even children.

As for women, my specific target audience, if satan targets women then it behooves the church elders to formulate a plan for combating that attack. Grounding women in solid theology seems the best method. And yet women are often the last to be offered solidly theological studies in which to delve.

Even at that, the women who nod most vigorously during a solid theological sermon are often the first to gush about the latest Beth Moore study/Lysa TerKeurst book/Sarah Young devotional. That’s why I appreciated the chapter on Scripture in Duncan & Hunt’s book about women’s ministries.

There are three issues with the church ministries’ approach I’ve noticed over time, I’d mentioned in the conversation, and I’ll flesh out further here. (Twitter limits are so exasperating sometimes!) Women as well as men-

1) deny the beginning,

2) mock the end,

and

3) are biblically illiterate with most everything in between.

To ground women in the beginning, Genesis 1-11 studies help. I believe the following studies from Genesis would make a wonderful addition to the rotation of any women’s or men’s ministry. We must know what we believe and why. Genesis provides that foundation. If more youths, especially girls, were taught the basics that are contained in Genesis, perhaps when they reach age 20 they would not be Already Gone.

A good resource is Genesis 1 to 11- Before Abraham, Creation, Sin, and the Nature of God (MacArthur Bible Studies)

Another good resource for Revelation: This book promises blessing yet too many people fear it, especially women. Here is a booklet that will help, “Jet Tour Through Revelation” ($2 for the booklet or click here to read it free of charge)

Biblical illiteracy: For a new church, I recommend Justin Peters’ seminar “Clouds Without Water“, which discusses what discernment is and why it is important, as well as critiquing the word-faith movement;

This free booklet (free for a limited time as of July 2016) “Discernment: Spiritual Survival for a Church in Crisis“.

9Marks: Anything from 9Marks, an organization designed to help church plants and older churches become and stay healthy.

So that’s it. I might be somewhat if an anomaly, single and childless yet in my mid 50’s. I’m a Titus 2 elder woman who has nothing to say about marriage or child rearing except what the Bible says, not from experience. Perhaps that is why I focus on theology so much. Of maybe it is the Holy Spirit impressing on me that women, man, youth or child, you’re never too young or too old to study God, which is simply what theology is.

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The Duty and Delights of Discernment

Posted on July 30, 2016 by elizabethprata

I watched Pastor Justin Peters last night at Grace Community Church’s live stream of the introduction to his conference Clouds Without Water: A Biblical Critique of the Word-Faith Movement. That introductory hour of the two day conference was helpful in laying the ground work for the remainder of his lessons, because he explained what discernment is, and why it is important to practice, even for Christians who do not possess the gift of distinguishing of of spirits. (1 Corinthians 12:10).

Though Peters adds new video clips and updates the details over time, the overarching topics remain the same. Therefore if you are ever in a position to attend or watch it online as a video-conference, please do. I haven’t found a better series of lessons in which discernment is explained and then the audience is shown how to apply it to today’s Christian landscape. This link brings you to the conference outline and the topics specifically covered.

Providentially, as I read my Bible this morning, my reading brought me to John 7:17.

If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

The context of that verse is Jesus is teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles. The audience is amazed that He teaches with such insight and authority. They wondered where Jesus obtained this insight and knowledge and the above verse is part of His answer. Now…what does it mean? Matthew Henry explains the first part of the verse:

That the most competent judges of the truth and divine authority of Christ’s doctrine are those that with a sincere and upright heart desire and endeavour to do the will of God (v. 17): If any man be willing to do the will of God, have his will melted into the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.

Observe here, First, What the question is, concerning the doctrine of Christ, whether it be of God or no; whether the gospel be a divine revelation or an imposture. Christ himself was willing to have his doctrine enquired into, whether it were of God or no, much more should his ministers; and we are concerned to examine what grounds we go upon, for, if we be deceived, we are miserably deceived. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume

Walvoord continues with an explanation for the rest of the verse-

The religious authorities figured that either a person studied in a traditional school or else he was self-taught. But Jesus’ reply pointed to a third alternative. His teaching was from God who had commissioned Him (cf. 12:49–50; 14:11, 24). Jesus was God-taught, and to know Jesus properly one must be God-taught (6:45). In order to evaluate Jesus’ claim, one must desire to do God’s will. Since Jesus is God’s will for man, people must believe in Him (6:29). Faith is the prerequisite for understanding. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). If Jesus were only self-taught (speaking on His own) or a genius, then His ministry would be self-exalting. But He did not seek honor for Himself. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, Walvoord, Blum

John MacArthur finishes us off. Remember, the verse is that if anyone’s will is to do God’s will then he will know if the teaching is from God. The first cause is that the person desires to do God’s will. THEN he will be able to discern the teaching.

There’s a beautiful analogy to this in Proverbs Chapter 1 where wisdom is personified and is an analogy to Christ. Chapter 1, verse 20, “Wisdom shouts in the street, even as Jesus did; lifts her voice in the square; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: ‘How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing? And fools hate knowledge? Turn from your folly, from your simple mindedness, from your scoffing, and I will pour out my spirit on you and will make my words known to you.'”

Do you see? You turn, and then it becomes known to you. Repentance comes first. God does not grant light on his truth unless a man is anxious to walk according to that light. He doesn’t grant an understanding of truth until a man is willing to obey that truth. John MacArthur, Embracing the Claims of Christ

Are you willing to walk in His light? Are you desirous of understanding truth, discerning right from wrong and truth from error? Jesus was the only man on earth ever to perfectly represent the Father. Though we cannot represent Him perfectly, our our task is to strive for a better representation of Him each day, and we do this by obeying His will, delving into His truth, and discerning truth from error. Discernment is part of the mix in striving to represent the Father. He grants it all to us, the desire of His will, repentance, and discernment, so let’s praise Him that He drew us out of darkness and depravity so we could represent Him at all! He gave us the wonderful gift, He poured out His spirit on us and has made His words known to us.

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Beth Moore’s “Bus Stop vision” was not from God, here’s why

Posted on July 26, 2016 by elizabethprata

A new video clip of Beth Moore speaking to a group of people, filmed by Trinity Broadcasting, is making the rounds. It is a 5-minute clip excised from her 30-minute broadcast on that TBN schedule. it shows Moore relating a story of a vision she received when she had been in prayer. Since it seems the clip cannot be embedded, I am going to synopsize the anecdote for you and then explain why this vision she has allegedly received from “God” is untrue and a demonic deception.

Beth Moore : Jesus Knows Your Need

She said that as she prayed “as plain as day” God put a picture “in her mind” of a Houston Bus Stop. It was a particular stop that was about 30 minutes from her home. It was definitely not a stop that was close to her home, as she saw it clearly “in her heart”. She explained that she “jotted down what she felt like God was saying. He didn’t speak to me out loud, I felt it “in my spirit.”

What she said she “jotted down” as her “note” was,

“Take money with you, I will show you who to give it to.” ~God

Moore can aver all she wants that she isn’t hearing “God” audibly, but she wrote down exactly what “God” said, didn’t she. The statement from the entity she says is God is in the first person, isn’t it. If it’s first person command from God, it is authoritative, and it is scripture. God can’t be any less authoritative with Moore than He was with Habakkuk when He said to write it down, can He? So Moore “jotted down” a “note” in response to the God of the Universe commanding her in first person. Such a casual response, isn’t it.

Back to the vision.

She then went to the ATM to get money for this jaunt, and she said

“I believe I know in my heart how much it was supposed to be. Then I go to the mall and run my errands. It’s my husband’s birthday in a few days.”

Let’s stop here. We are one minute and five seconds into the description of the vision. There are many contradictions already.

Ever since Moore has been criticized for her alleged visions, she has changed her story to now say that she does not hear God audibly. In just the first 45 seconds she said she received her summons from God-

In her mind.
In her heart.
In her spirit.
In a picture.
Intuition. (regarding the $$)

It’s never this unclear when God spoke to the Prophets or Apostles, especially within the same vision. We read that “The Lord said…” He speaks clearly to the prophet, the prophet records the words, or he performs the task. It’s not rocket science. Enough with the inaudible, intuitive, mind-spirit-heart pictures already.

Now to my main point. What we also notice in the Bible is that when the Lord says “Arise and go” or “Follow me” they arise and go. Immediately. At once.

When Jesus said “Come, follow Me“, to the fishermen disciples … “And at once they left their nets and followed Him“. (Mt 4:20). At once.

When Jesus said ‘follow me’ to Matthew, didn’t he jump up from his tax booth and follow Jesus right then? (Mark 2:14).

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

And, didn’t Jesus say to the man who had errands to do first, “Let the dead bury the dead” and to the other man who wanted to say goodbye to his family, “Anyone who puts the hand to the plow and looks back isn’t worthy“… (Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:62). When the God of the universe says go do something, you do it at once, or you’re not worthy to follow Him.

Yet, let me understand this. According to Beth Moore, “God” said to Beth Moore, ‘GO TO THE BUS STOP!’ but Beth Moore went shopping first!? You notice she squeezed God into her schedule and went to the mall first since it was on her way. She actually said that. Since this particular mall was out near the Bus Stop she had been divinely commanded to appear at, she would do her errands there before obeying God.

I can just see her notes she said she “jotted down.”

1. Keith’s b-day.
2. Bus stop for God.
3. Get gas.
4. Pick up milk.

If she was truly hearing from God she would have obeyed immediately. Hearing from God elicits a response in the soul that is convicting, immediate, because the command comes from the ultimate authoritative source. The response of the Prophets and Apostles and Disciples who actually heard from God responded immediately. We see that in just the few examples I shared from the Bible, and there are many other examples. Moreover, He said anyone who does errands first is not worthy to follow Him. What He was saying there is that He is the priority at any given moment.

Moore squeezing God into her schedule to make it more convenient for her day is not Christian obedience. She is actually teaching her listeners to diminish God’s authority by demonstrating her casual and disdainful response to His command. She is showing her audience how to satisfy the flesh before you obey God. And she is teaching them to deny the sufficiency of scripture by claiming to have heard from “God,” and further diminish scripture, because had written down in first person what he “said.” Or actually had “jotted down” the “note”.

As my friend said on Facebook as per our conversation about this ‘vision’, giving the Apostle John in Revelation 1:10 the same kind of response Moore gave,

I was in the Spirit on Patmos when the Lord came to me. I said, “Hold on a minute, I’m making some fish for my wife’s birthday dinner.

Sadly, aside from the thousands to tens of thousands or millions who tuned in to her show on TBN and saw it originally, a quarter of a million people have additionally viewed this clip that was posted later. We are truly living in a time of deep biblical illiteracy. You can combat that by reading your Bible and praying for the wisdom from the Spirit to illuminate it to your mind.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

The clip is also on GodTube here.

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Further Reading

Essay: What does it mean that the Bible is inspired?

Essay: Is God a Bad Communicator?

Sermon: Spiritual Shipwreck of the Word Faith movement

Video clip WWUTT: Visions and Voices from God (Beth Moore, 1:30 min)

How can we know if what they are hearing or seeing is truly from the Lord? There is a very simple test you can apply. Does their personal revelation agree with the Bible? If the answer is no, they are either making stuff up or the voice they are hearing isn’t from God. If the answer is yes, then you don’t need their word or vision, it’s in the Bible.

Audio clip: When We Understand the Text (WWUTT).

Taking a couple questions from listeners, one is a criticism and another looking for clarification on the WWUTT video featuring Beth Moore. (20 minutes).

discernment, Uncategorized

Discerning of Spirits: What it is and why it’s important to your local church body, and the church-at-large

Posted on July 24, 2016July 24, 2016 by elizabethprata

The level of doctrinal Christian error and demonic activity in this present world is staggering. The spiritual war is cosmic and invisible. (Ephesians 6:12). But recently someone followed my blog on WordPress. In doing my diligence I perused her blog to see what they were about. What I found absolutely horrified me before the Lord, as much as it worried me for the woman’s soul.

The tagline to her blog is –

The writing of the Holy Bible continues, published by G.ROY. God dictated unto me the words coming out of His mouth through the use of his prophets and I wrote them out in this blog (web log of God) for the instruction of us whom ends of the world are come. Sometimes some highlights are thrown in to help people understand the context by which the prophecy was worded out. I am not deciding what is to be written and called a prophecy. God speaks, I write word for word what was said!

Immediately one praises the Lord for His patience in not doing to this writer as He did to Ananias & Sapphira, (Acts 5:1-11) or Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:7) for profaning His holiness. The unmitigated pride and deep demonic delusion evident in that blog’s About section is stunning. And yet there’s more.

The above is a screen shot of that particular blog’s archives. The earliest writings that are dated before blogs were invented were speeches taped on analog recordings and later transcribed to the blog when blogs came along. This lady has been actively working for satan for a long time. Continue reading “Discerning of Spirits: What it is and why it’s important to your local church body, and the church-at-large” →

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Stalking Horse Religion

Posted on July 22, 2016July 22, 2016 by elizabethprata

For if it be unlawful to follow Christ for loaves, (as it is in the sixth of John), how much more abominable is it to make of him and religion a stalking-horse to get and enjoy the world! Nor do we find any other than heathens, hypocrites, devils, and witches, that are of this opinion.

The above quote is from Pilgrim’s Progress. The main character named Christian is discussing the motives behind following Christ. We do not follow Him for loaves, as Christian says. Put another way, we don’t follow Christ for what we can get out of Him to satisfy our fleshly desires.

Christian goes on to give three examples of those who DID pretend to follow Christ but really were in it to get what they could. Continue reading “Stalking Horse Religion” →

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Discernment Video Bites: Heaven Tourism, Revelation v. Illumination, Jesus Calling, more

Posted on July 22, 2016 by elizabethprata

There are three videos recently released, in which Pastor Justin Peters speaks on various discernment topics. Known for his lessons on discerning the Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement, through leading conferences and producing DVDs, such as a recent one titled “Clouds Without Water,” in these short but in-depth video bites Mr Peters discusses-

Heaven Tourism,
The inherent dangers of Jesus Calling,
The difference between Revelation and Illumination,
The responsibility of the Christian Bookstore (yet to be released).

Continue reading “Discernment Video Bites: Heaven Tourism, Revelation v. Illumination, Jesus Calling, more” →

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Jesus Calling and The Battle for Sola Scriptura

Posted on July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Protestant Reformation began almost 500 years ago (in 1517) after Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses,” which proposed two central beliefs—that the Bible is the central religious authority – (not the Catholic Church) – and that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their works. By the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had been teaching that one could attain salvation by one’s own meritorious works that they alone were the authority, and darkness had settled over the land. Luther’s act sparked the Reformation. To this day the Catholic Church maintains that sola scriptura is a “blueprint for anarchy“.

Those two central tenets posted by Martin Luther were later expanded to become known as the Five Solas, as Theopedia explains here,

The Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged from the Protestant Reformation intended to summarize the Reformers’ basic theological principles in contrast to certain teachings of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. “Sola” is Latin meaning “alone” or “only” and the corresponding phrases are:
Sola Fide, by faith alone.
Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone.
Solus Christus, through Christ alone.
Sola Gratia, by grace alone.
Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.

Sola Scriptura is the tenet I’m looking at today. Theopedia explains sola scriptura further-

The inerrant Scripture (the Bible) is the sole source of written divine revelation, which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured. It is denied that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian’s conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.

And here we have the point. Currently, Scripture alone is the sole point of intersection of God’s personal revelation of Himself to man. (Hebrews 1:1-2). ‘Personal experience can never be a vehicle of revelation.’ Never ever.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, (2 Peter 1:19).

Satan battles the above five points at every turn. The battle for sola scriptura has been extremely pitched in our era. Book after book published from Christian publishers purport to show how to commune with God by doing certain things that will enhance one’s antenna for receiving His personal revelation. People claim visits from Jesus and visits to Jesus in heaven. They claim to have heard Him speak to them and have received personally tailored career advice or new theological commands or projects to engage in (Joanna Gaines of the HGTV show “Fixer Upper” and Beth Moore, are two examples). Book after book emerge from someone claiming to have had a heavenly visit and personal tour of heaven (or hell). Claiming a personal divine word is the new mantra.

Last year’s Shepherd’s Conference at Grace Community Church was titled the “Inerrancy Summit” and worked to teach attendee pastors the importance of defending truth against all those who seek to undermine the authority of scripture. John MacArthur opened the Summit by listing four reasons why such a summit is needed, one of which is that Scripture is authoritative and pastors and teachers are called to declare it. In his speech, MacArthur gave a quick overview of the progress of the undermining of scripture in our era-

In the 1960s and ‘70s, experientialism began to infiltrate the mainline denominations. This movement tempted the church to define truth on the basis of emotional experience. Biblical interpretation was no longer based on the clear teaching of the text; but rather upon feelings and subjective, unverifiable experiences, such as supposed revelations, visions, prophecies, and intuition.

The Third Wave movement of the 1980s continued the growth of mysticism within the church, convincing people to look for signs and wonders and to listen for paranormal words from God rather than seeking out truth in the written Word of God.

The New Apostolic Reformation [NAR] is the latest in these kinds of movements.

FMI on NAR, go here or here

One attack on Sola Scriptura that has persisted for 12 years and is now its own cottage industry, is the book Jesus Calling. Jesus Calling is a book written by Sarah Young. Ms Young was restless with the Bible and wanted more. She actively sought out hearing from God and these supposed divine utterings were captured by her pen and made into a book. In the book, Ms Young puts the utterings from a “Jesus” into first person.

Being dissatisfied with the complete revelation of God to man in His word is attack #1 on sola scriptura. And there are soldiers who continue to stand on this important point, such as Justin Peters. Here is a short video speaking about the importance of sola scriptura and warning to avoid the Jesus Calling book.

Jesus Calling: The Battle for Sola Scriptura

“Where the battle is really being fought today is over whether or not God’s word is sufficient, and evangelicals are losing that battle.” ~Justin Peters

If you read, listen to, or follow any teacher who professes Jesus and yet also claims to have personally heard from God or uses personal revelations of teachings they say they’ve received from God, avoid them. What they are doing is undermining the sufficiency of scripture. The Bible says,

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

The Bible does not say, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, plus what I told Beth Moore last week and including what I mentioned to Sarah Young and…

For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

It is through the scriptures that we gain our instruction and have hope. Scripture alone.

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