discernment – Page 39

Jesus is not our boyfriend

Posted on April 11, 2016October 10, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Not all girls universally desire a romantic groom to come sweeping in on a white horse to rescue them. Not every woman is a romantic.

Ladies, don’t buy into the current attitude that because all women want a romantic groom, that we can envision Jesus as that romantic groom. The romantic Jesus-boyfriend complex is an unfortunate trend that in fact diminishes the august majesty of our King. He is also Savior, Redeemer, Priest, Father, Friend, Healer, Provider, and a host of other facets to His personality that are the complete God-man whom we worship. He is not our boyfriend.

Jesus is not a Prince Charming jousting for a lady fair’s attention. Jesus is not Prince Charming trying to win a fair maiden’s attention. He is GOD! He doesn’t woo. He doesn’t plead. He doesn’t leave small favors on our doorstep so we would finally fall, smitten, at His feet. He is GOD! He decides whose name will go in His lamb’s Book of Life. He decided that before we were even formed. Then he makes it happen.

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, (Hebrews 8:1)

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:3-4)

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Does that sound like a man who is supposed to woo his woman and fall head over heels, weaving a daisy chain together to bestow with a kiss? No.

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, (Psalm 104:1)

And yet we women are subjected to titles like this, depicting our majestic God as as a foppish suitor. This terrible book was actually written, actually published and is actually on sale:

The Wild Romancer: Uncovering the Romance Jesus Longs to Lavish on You, by Brenda Cobb Murphy.

Jesus longs for something? This would indicate an impotence that does not exist. It evokes a weak man who wishes, hopes, tries, but does not accomplish. But Jesus accomplished it all. He defeated death by the power of His sinless will! Yet these kind of titles are all too common. This theme is all too frequent in “women’s studies”. One ‘teacher’ urges women to “make Jesus the supreme romance of your life“, if we would “only let Him.” Ann Voskamp says that we “make love to God.” Sarah Young carries this erotic-romantic theme forward in her book, Jesus Calling Grads. That’s idolatry, projecting our own emotions onto Jesus and worshiping the image we have created.

He did not come to woo us gently to His heart. He came to shed His blood so as to exhaust God’s wrath for His elect’s sin. Even the concept of wooing toward salvation is foreign to the Bible. No one seeks for God, no not one. (Romans 3:10-11). We women are not wandering romantics looking for our Prince Charming, who whispers sweet nothings into our ear and satisfies the need for glamour and mystique in our love lives as we finally, sweetly succumb. He is the avenging Savior ransoming us from sin’s bondage in His inestimable timing. Sometimes salvation is hard, messy, and initially unwanted.

It is the romanticizing of Jesus that is one of the ways we remake God into our own image. This is idolatry. We have a human desire or need, and we make God into an image that fills that need.

Isaiah 44:15 & 17 say of idolatry,

Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.

From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

The romantic whispery Jesus is the false God some women have made, and this is concerning because these women have a platform for publishing books or speaking to thousands of women. This is the false Jesus they urge women to fall down before.

Jesus is not our prom date. He is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of worlds. (Genesis 1:26, Colossians 1:17, 2 Peter 3;10). He decided to create man for a relationship with Him, so that man may know Him and glorify Him. (Psalm 86).

Jesus is not our boyfriend.

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Further Resources

Critique: Why Jesus isn’t your boyfriend

Jesus did not accomplish redemption to marry us individually. He died for the church corporate, of which we are a part. His death accomplished something much greater than simply meeting our deep-seated desires for a significant other.

charismatic, discernment, strange fire

Strange Fire Q & A: How do we distinguish between the Spirit prompting us, and our own thoughts?

Posted on April 3, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

One hundred years ago, the modern Pentecostal movement was born. By October 2013 the Pentecostal movement has morphed into the Charismatic movement with its particular brand of false doctrine and had infected much of western Christianity and polluted quite a bit of Christianity abroad. The excesses of the movement include faith healing, reports of raising the dead, babbling tongues, alleged prophecies and direct revelation, disorderly church services and worse. The movement assaulted the sufficiency of scripture, the inerrancy of scripture, besmirched the name of Jesus Christ and damaged the faith of many.

John MacArthur and his team at Grace To You took a stand against this movement and sought to bring clarity to why its doctrines needed comparison to the Bible correction. To that end, they organized the Strange Fire Conference, held in the fall of 2013. One of the main purposes of the conference was to initiate a substantive discussion about these issues. It achieved its purpose. Every sermon preached at the conference rebuked the movement simply by preaching the truth, and brought correct biblical doctrine to the fore. Given the outcry, it seems that the effect was immediate.

There were many good questions asked at the various seminars and Q & A sessions held during the conference period, but not all of them could be immediately answered. After the conference concluded, ministers and theologians at Grace Community Church and The Master’s Seminary wrote out answers to these unanswered questions, compiled them, and put them on one web page.

The page is a treasure trove of good, solid rebuttals to and practical helps about what to do if encountering Charismatic doctrines in your church, in your family, or in yourself.

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Epidemic in the Charismatic movement is the acceptance of personal revelations. Everybody and their brother it seemed is hearing from Jesus and were eager to share “a word from the Lord”. Such practices assault the sufficiency of scripture, of course, and must be corrected. However, one book is doing its level best to continue to attack the sufficiency of God’s word- Jesus Calling. Jesus Calling was published in 2004, 16 years ago now, but is still on the bestseller lists. Friends, Jesus is not calling. he has spoken and His word is contained in the closed canon of scripture. The book has spawned a cottage industry of studies, devotionals, children’s books, and other material that has never stopped polluting the faith. Indeed, it seems to be increasing in its staying power and corrupt work.

Here is just one of the Questions and Answers in the Strange Fire Q&A page.

Q. How do we distinguish between the legitimate prompting of the Holy Spirit and our own thoughts or will?
A. While God can prompt us to think or do something, He has not given a clear and objective mechanism to identify when He is doing that. Since no one can identify with absolute certainty the source of the impressions he experiences, he must not ascribe authority to them or rely upon them as direction from God. John MacArthur gives good advice on that point in this downloadable audio. Mistaking a personal impression for divine guidance can lead us far astray from God’s will and may cause serious problems in our lives.

How should a Christian respond to what he thinks might be a leading of the Holy Spirit? By comparing the impression with the objective, authoritative revelation God gave us—the Scripture. So, does the thought you are having agree with biblical theology? Is the action condemned or condoned in God’s Word? Will that choice ultimately bring glory to God? As you answer these questions in light of biblical teaching, you can know whether you are walking in the will of God.

I would also encourage you to listen to John’s two messages on the topic of understanding God’s will for your life. You can listen to the messages here.

discernment, parable, tares, weeds

Parable of the weeds (hint, it’s not about the church)

Posted on March 28, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Parable of the Weeds

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)

Donald Grey Barnhouse, in his sermon “What is God Doing Today?” explained,

Now, the Lord Jesus Christ taught clearly that we are in this age to sow the seed – that is, to spread the Gospel. But we are to expect that only part of the seed will fall on good ground, that is, believing hearts. And that the rest will not produce good fruit. The fault is not with the seed, but with the hearts. Christ taught that satan would plant counterfeit believers in the midst of true believers so that it would be difficult to tell the real from the false. The true and the false, the real and the counterfeit grow together until the harvest which is the end of the age in which we live. These truths He taught in the Parable of the Sower and the Wheat and Tares. And he gave the explicit interpretation Himself, not leaving it to man’s imagination. The good and the bad are to grow together. Neither will destroy the other. God will take care of the separation.

Matthew Henry:

So prone is fallen man to sin, that if the enemy sow the tares, he may go his way, they will spring up, and do hurt; whereas, when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced.

EPrata photo

What is a weed? It is useful to study the properties of the object of the agricultural metaphor which the Lord in His wisdom used to explain the parable to us. As we read these properties of weeds, let’s keep in mind how these properties mirror the properties of the unbeliever. At the Penn State Extension website, we read Introduction to Weeds,

–a plant growing where it is not wanted
–a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. (R.W.Emerson). [Ed note: i.e. a virtueless plant]
–plants that are competitive, persistent, pernicious, and interfere negatively with human activity (Ross, et. al.)
–No matter what definition is used, weeds are plants whose undesirable qualities outweigh their good points, according to man.

These qualities of weeds certainly mirror the unbeliever’s qualities. Unbelievers in the world interfere with our activity, in pernicious, persistent, and competitive ways. This is because they are sown by satan. To continue looking at weeds:

Certain characteristics are associated with and allow the survival of weeds. Weeds posses one or more of the following:

a) abundant seed production;
b) rapid population establishment;
c) seed dormancy;
d) long-term survival of buried seed;
e) adaptation for spread;
f) presence of vegetative reproductive structures; and
g) ability to occupy sites disturbed by human activities.

I was particularly struck by the notion that weeds engage in “rapid population establishment”. Satan does not rest. One weed soon leads to others.

Weeds are troublesome in many ways. Primarily, they reduce crop yield by competing for water, light, soil nutrients, and space.

The parable is fairly simple, as parables go. The field is not the church. The Lord said the field is the world. (Mt 13:38). If we interpret the field as the church, then we would have a conflict with Matthew 18:15-17, which says to put unrepentant sinners out of the church, i.e. uproot them. So the field is the world, and the unbelievers are sown by satan.

In this tolerant, all-inclusive age, some people chafe when we say that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who are children of the Kingdom and those who are children of satan. We hate to think that there is no middle ground, or love to think that there must be ‘some good’ in people, they’re kinda, almost, mostly good. But no. If a person is not under the control and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, they are under the control and sovereignty of satan. Wheat or tares. There are no hybrids.

The parable is telling us that we believers are sown into the world by Jesus. Let’s stop there. How wonderful! To be specifically planted by Jesus in the time and in the place He desires us to be grown is a very comforting thought. Matthew Henry wrote the comment to the verse by saying, “when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced,” and how wonderful it is to know we are being grown, nurtured and tended by Christ Himself.

The last part of the parable reminds us that Christ will do the separating at the end of the age. Again, this does not mean pastors aren’t to pursue biblical correction or even excommunication for unrepentant church members. It means that the world’s harvest will be accomplished by Jesus, since he has the power and discernment to see men’s hearts.(John 2:24).

The tares’ fate is to be thrown into the fire, and a woeful moment that will be for them, but for believers it will be an honor to watch Jesus right everything and avenge His name. (Revelation 6:10, 19:2).

Angels if you notice are God’s ministers of judgment. They often carry out the judgments God pronounces. They did at Sodom, also, it was an angel of the Lord that struck Herod down, and throughout Revelation angels execute the dread judgments, to name a few examples. And at the end of the age, they are the harvesters. Revelation 14:16 says,

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

The five worst words in the Bible in my opinion. “…and the earth was reaped”. It demonstrates the power and might of the Lord to easily punish men. It also shows the meager and measly efforts of man to thwart Him. It is not possible. It is a terrifying verse because at some point all things will not go on as they have been. There is an end day. It will end for the tares. But it will continue in glory for the wheat!

charismatic, discernment, doctrine, strange fire

Strange Fire Q&A: How does God use false teachers and their heresies?

Posted on March 26, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

John MacArthur and his team at Grace To You took a stand against this movement and sought to bring clarity to why its doctrines needed comparison to the Bible correction. To that end, they organized the Strange Fire Conference, held in the fall of 2013. One of the main purposes of the conference was to initiate a substantive discussion about these issues. It achieved its purpose. Every sermon preached at the conference rebuked the movement simply by preaching the truth, and brought correct biblical doctrine to the fore. Given the outcry, it seems that the effect was immediate.

There were many good questions asked at the various seminars and Q & A sessions held during the conference period, but not all of them could be immediately answered. After the conference concluded, ministers and theologians at Grace Community Church and The Master’s Seminary wrote out answers to these unanswered questions, compiled them, and put them on one web page.

The page is a treasure trove of good, solid rebuttals to and practical helps about what to do if encountering Charismatic doctrines in your church, in your family, or in yourself. Here is just one of the Questions and Answers in the Strange Fire Q&A page.

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Does God allow false teaching to continue so believers can distinguish between true and false doctrine?

Paul told the Corinthian church, “There must be heresies among you so that those who are approved might be made manifest’ (1 Corinthians 11:19). Would you please comment on this verse in light of the charismatic movement? Does God allow these false movements, in part, so the distinction is made clear to His people? Thanks.

The Greek word translated as “heresies” in the King James Version is hairesis. While that word can refer to false teaching or heresy in certain contexts, Paul’s intended meaning when using the word in 1 Corinthians 11:19 is clearly the other possible meaning of “division, faction, separate group.” In this paragraph Paul is confronting the Corinthian believers’ selfishness and sectarianism (see vv. 18, 21–22, 33). The text of the New King James Version clarifies the meaning by updating the translation from “heresies” (KJV) to “factions” (NKJV). Paul says that when those inevitable divisions happen, they serve the good purpose of distinguishing between the sinful and the righteous people in the church.

Having said that, the situation Paul describes regarding disunity in the Corinthian church is similar to the result of the error being taught within the charismatic movement today. The doctrines they tolerate and often perpetuate distort, pervert, and contradict sound, biblical teaching. The truly saved who revere and carefully study God’s Word can see the difference between false charismatic teaching and sound theology. While we would never condone false doctrine and practices, we do rest in our confidence that God uses even the wickedness of man for His good purposes (cf. Genesis 50:20; Acts 2:23; Romans 8:28)

charismatic, discernment, jesus calling

Strange Fire Q & A: Jesus Calling

Posted on March 24, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

One hundred years ago, the modern Pentecostal movement was born. By October 2013 the Pentecostal movement had morphed into the Charismatic movement with its particular brand of false doctrine and had infected much of western Christianity and polluted quite a bit of Christianity at home and abroad. The excesses of the movement include faith healing, reports of raising the dead, babbling tongues, alleged prophecies and direct revelation, disorderly church services and worse. The movement assaulted the sufficiency of scripture, the inerrancy of scripture, besmirched the name of Jesus Christ and damaged the faith of many.

John MacArthur and his team at Grace To You took a stand against this movement and sought to bring clarity to why its doctrines needed comparison to the Bible and thus correction. To that end, they organized the Strange Fire Conference, held in the fall of 2013. One of the main purposes of the conference was to initiate a substantive discussion about these issues. It achieved its purpose. Every sermon preached at the conference rebuked the movement simply by preaching the truth, and brought correct biblical doctrine regarding the sign gifts of the Spirit to the fore. Given the outcry, it seems that the effect was immediate.

The page is a treasure trove of good, solid rebuttals to and practical helps about what to do if encountering Charismatic doctrines in your church, in your family, or in yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epidemic in the Charismatic movement is the acceptance of personal revelations. Everybody and their brother it seemed was hearing from Jesus and were eager to share “a word from the Lord”. Such practices assault the sufficiency of scripture, of course, and must be corrected. However, one book is doing its level best to continually to attack the sufficiency of God’s word- and that book is “Jesus Calling”. Jesus Calling was published in 2004, 16 years ago now, but is still on the bestseller lists. The book has spawned a cottage industry of studies, devotionals, children’s books, and other material that has never stopped polluting the faith. Indeed, it seems to be increasing in its staying power and corrupt work.

Here is just one of the Questions and Answers in the Strange Fire Q&A page.

Last year a friend gave me the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. How do I approach my many friends who love this and similar books?

Scripture has true spiritual power to save and sanctify those who listen and obey it, but human writings masquerading as divine prophecy—such as Jesus Calling—have no such power. Nevertheless, many people today are enticed by the idea that God is speaking supernaturally through these frauds.

In order to help your friends, you should gently point out the superior authority of Scripture and refer them to passages such as 2 Peter 1:16–21, 2 Timothy 3:16, Jude 3, and Psalm 19:7–11. Another good resource is John MacArthur’s two-part series, The Sufficiency of Scripture.

bible study, commentaries, discernment

Commentary author recommendation: Roy Gingrich

Posted on March 19, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Dr Roy Gingrich, source Faithlife

We study the Bible because we love Jesus and want to know more about Him. The only place where we can reliably learn more about our Savior is in His word, which is THE authoritative word. We ladies like to learn theology, so we read God’s word.

I cut my teeth on the Old Testament, loving it from the beginning even as a babe in Christ. I spent the first years of my salvation reading all the Old Testament Prophets. They’re hard, though, complicated at times and filled with symbolism, idioms, and long history which requires understanding for context. The Holy Spirit is the main help to us, because scripture teaches scripture. He illuminates the word to us as we study and pray. Psalm 119:18 says,

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Ephesians 1:17-18 says

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you …

However, for information regarding the histories or interpretations of other difficult passages, we also use commentaries. God has raised up men before us who wrote down explanations and comments regarding the books of the Bible. In researching the book of Jeremiah, for example, I found few sermons, and fewer commentaries (which were available to me or reasonably priced enough to access).

Some people look down their noses at using commentaries, saying “I just use scripture.” Really? you don’t also listen to your pastor who stands there week after week explaining the scriptures to you? In his essay 20 Tips on How to Use Bible Commentaries, Professor and Pastor David Murray quotes Spurgeon,

It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others. My chat this afternoon is not for these great originals, but for you who are content to learn of holy men, taught of God, and mighty in the Scriptures. It has been the fashion of late years to speak against the use of commentaries…A respectable acquaintance with the opinions of the giants of the past, might have saved many an erratic thinker from wild interpretations and outrageous inferences” (C H Spurgeon).

The essay linked above with HOW to use commentaries, because there is a right way and a wrong way. Just as you study alone, you learn from your pastor, and listen to online sermons, definitely read commentaries also. Do use them.

On my Logos 6 software, I learned of a theologian called Roy Gingrich. I had not heard of him before and yet I was intrigued. He has commented on all the Bible and some Bible topics besides. He lived relatively recently and most of his writing was finished in the latter part of his life, in the 1970s to the ’90s and even into the 2000s.

The bio at the Faithlife (Logos) wiki states,

Roy Gingrich was an American pastor and author best known for his comprehensive commentary series. He was born to Arthur and Arista Gingrich on February 3, 1920 in Ozark, Illinois, the youngest of four children. Roy received God’s call to enter the Christian ministry in 1941. After intensive preparation and pastoral stints in Illinois and Indiana, he became pastor of Faith Bible Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained for over 40 years.

In 1963, Gingrich graduated cum laude from Victory University (formally Mid-South Bible College) and soon thereafter joined the teaching staff. Gingrich began writing conservative Bible commentaries in 1964. Roy Gingrich’s Commentaries in Outline Form (100 vols.) includes 60 different commentaries on the books of the Bible, and 40 additional commentaries on major Bible themes.

In 2001, Dr. Gingrich retired from a long and fruitful ministry, but continued to revise his commentaries and lecture at colleges and churches in the US. In 2003, he was inducted into the Crichton College Hall of Fame.

Here is one revoew of one of the commentaries. Of Dr Gingrich’s Commentary on Isaiah, fellow Professor of Theology Paul M. Davidson at Mid-South Bible College wrote in 1977 in the preface to Gingrich’s Commentary on Isaiah,

The book of Isaiah is named for its author, the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah means “Jehovah is salvation” or “Salvation is of Jehovah.” He is rightly called “the Evangelical Prophet of the Old Testament.” By common consent, he ranks among the great literary geniuses of all time and his book is recognized as a part of the world’s great literature.

According to tradition, Isaiah was martyred, sawn asunder, Hebrews 11:37. Just so, in the hands of destructive modern critics his book has suffered, being cut up into many parts. Consequently, liberal Biblical scholars today deny the unity as well as the Isaiah an authorship of this great work. They affirm that it is the product of various authors, writing at different times, long after Isaiah’s death. Then an unknown redactor combined the various elements into the book that we know today as Isaiah.

In view of the above errors, it is refreshing to read Mr. Gingrich’s thoroughly orthodox, expanded, analytical outline of Isaiah. His exposition comes from a balanced and responsible conservatism which gives the work an abiding value. Like his other books, this one begins with a full general introduction, treating such topics as authorship, unity, historical background, importance, etc. This is followed by a succinct exegesis and explanation of the text. Both the layman and the busy preacher can use this commentary and quickly come to the heart of a passage and receive much help. For the greatest profit, this outline should be both read and studied with an open Bible. It is designed for both personal and group use.

For many years, Mr. Roy Gingrich has been pastor of Faith Bible Church, Memphis, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Mid-South Bible College, where he is presently a much loved and respected professor. He is truly a humble man of God and a diligent, tireless student of the Word. The reader of these pages has before him the fruit of many hours of prayerful research and the insights of six or seven of the most outstanding and scholarly commentaries on Isaiah.

Heartily and without reservation, I encourage pastors, teachers, and lay persons desiring a thorough grasp of Isaiah to study carefully this analytical outline, this outline being an interesting and effective aid to an understanding of this portion of the Scriptures.

The really interesting thing about Dr Gingrich’s approach to writing commentaries, is that they are all outlines. I love me some Matthew Henry but in accessing his Whole Commentary on the Bible through Logos, sometimes it takes me a long time of reading before I get to the single nugget I want. Mr Gingrich wrote all his commentaries, including the Prophets, as an outline, with a one or two clear, concise sentences for each verse. It’s very helpful. Here is an example of a page from his commentary on Zechariah.

I have not read all of his commentaries, obviously. Just last night I completed downloading the final commentary on the major and minor prophets, to that end, my set is now complete. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far of Dr Gingrich’s work and I especially love he outline form. They are great for small group, too. If you are looking for an alternative to long, complicated commentaries which seem to be orthodox and best of all, affordable, please consider Dr Gingrich’s outlines. They have proved invaluable.

Most of his outlines are available as a download through Logos 6 or Kindle or other method. There are paperback copies available through Amazon also.

Available from RoyGingrich.com

Available at Amazon

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Beth Moore’s hair pride

Posted on March 18, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend on Facebook put up a screen shot of a Beth Moore tweet, which is truly outlandish.

HT Bud Ahlheim

I had written a comment, “Troubling is the narcissism, but more troubling to me is purporting to KNOW and positively state that she has knowledge of why God does things at any particular moment. She is mistress of the theological humblebrag.”

Someone asked a very reasonable question:

Come on, guys. I know there are plenty of Beth Moore issues, but do you seriously think this wasn’t a joke?

Is it a joke? Should we all just lighten up? I thought about it for a while then wrote back,

If this was the only tweet, essay, book blurb, or audio statement she ever made of this nature, then yes, joke. Sadly, in context of the body of all her work over many decades, such shallow narcissism, self-.involvement, and comfy cozy God-talk is all too usual for Moore. So I conclude it is not a joke, or only a half-hearted joke.

The points here are both good. Don’t take one thing a teacher or leader said once and blow that up especially if it’s obviously meant as a joke. Common sense should prevail. However if a certain unbiblical behavior is constant, for example, anger or sarcasm or boasting, then by all means take the totality of the person’s work or speech and compare it to scripture.

In one other thought, I replied again,

And let’s say in devil’s advocate fashion, that it was a joke, a lighthearted comment meant for fluff. Remember, Moore says she teaches God’s word, speaks for God in her lessons and influences millions of women over several generations. Is this the kind of speech a mature Bible teacher should be constantly and ‘light-heartedly’ tweeting? (Tweets of this nature are constant).

Would a mature teacher with gravitas, say a John MacArthur, ever tweet, “I had tie pride so God made me spill soup on it right before I went to the pulpit so I’d have to take it off.”? No, Titus 2:7b-8 applies.

Some teachers take their relationship with God seriously and other teachers don’t.

There are several things to unpack here. As for the totality of her casual rapport with God, such Twitter comments are all too sadly common from Mrs Moore. She says God calls her honey, baby, babe, kiddo, and other terms of intimate endearment. Setting aside the allegations of direct revelation, can one believe that God calls Moore these things? Did God call John His pal? Did He refer to John the Baptist as kiddo? Did He announce the birth of Christ by shouting from heaven, “Hey, Mary baby!” No. Not that there aren’t tender and intimate moments (Jesus comforting Hagar in the desert, an angel baking bread for a tired Elijah, etc,) but the casualness of such speech diminishes God’s august stature and our own witness.

When Beth Moore goes on a Sabbath play date with God at the zoo and says she and God had a blast, compare that casual kind of language to the Bible by inserting one of the Patriarchs, Prophets, or Apostles’ names. In the Bible lesson where Moore claimed she and God went on a date, contained in her book The Beloved Disciple, she had said God took over her steering wheel and as if on autopilot He steered her into the zoo where she and God watched a baby koala sleep while she sipped a Starbucks fancy drink. Nothing was reported as to what God had sipped. As her date with God to learn how to Sabbath rest concluded, Moore declared she and God had a blast.

Let’s compare that scene to the moment when the real God actually taught Moses about the Sabbath. Sadly for Moses, God did not take over Moses’ legs and put him on autopilot as Moses trudged up Mount Sinai. He did that on his own. When Moses got to the top, did he and God watch a sleeping mountain lion while Moses sipped brewed tea and God wrote the Ten Commandments? Was it a picnic atmosphere when Moses met with God up there? Did Moses then feel restful and walk back down the mountain and face all Israel and declare, “God and I had a blast! We played!” I think not.

As for the casualness of declaring what God is doing and saying at any given moment, we have lost the gravitas due our Savior, thanks in no small part to Moore and her silly statements. Remember John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. He was a priest and labored in the Temple on rotation, it was his rotation when Gabriel appeared and announced to Zechariah that he would be blessed with the forerunner prophet to Messiah despite he and his wife Elizabeth being advanced in years. (Luke 1:8-23). Zechariah was then struck mute when he asked an impertinent question. God is serious! That Moore’s impertinence has been overlooked for this long is a measure of how much common grace He bestows upon unbelieving sinners like her.

As for the silly self-involvement of Moore’s statement, that God made it rain specifically so that her hair would be flattened, it’s just too over the top to comment on. The pride in which someone would actually say that and believe it is just sad. God didn’t make it rain in order to bring sustenance to farmers so people could eat? (Leviticus 26:4, James 5:18). God didn’t make it rain so He would prove He is still ordering the progression of the seasons in His capacity as Creator and sustainer of all things? (Genesis 8:22). No, He made it rain so Beth Moore’s hair would be squashed down, never mind the thousands of other people nearby who do not have hair pride and who would also suffer the woe of flat hair for the rest of their journey.

My points are several:

1. Do not follow Beth Moore
2. Give Jesus His due and respect Him on social media
3. If you’re not sure if something a teacher has said or a Bible anecdote really applies, insert a Bible character’s name into it and if you can’t picture him or her saying it then there’s your answer. Examples:

Moses said, “God and I had a blast up on Sinai!”
Paul and Silas were singing in jail and God appeared and said “Baby, you have not even begun to believe Me. You haven’t even begun!’”
Mary said, “Elizabeth, guess what! God hollered from heaven and said “Baby, you’re gonna have a baby!”

Comment to the naysayers:

No. I have not contacted Moore. She already has been contacted, multiple times, and she refuses to repent. Also, contacting her is not necessary. See here and here.

No, I am not against lighthearted tweets. This from Moore was appropriately fun and lighthearted:

Goofing around with her daughter after her grandkids were sleeping is a mom-daughter fun thing to do. Fine. Not fine is when you start tweeting you know what God is doing and including His name in your silliness. It’s offensive to me as a Christian and as a woman.

The Second Commandment says not to take the Lord’s name in vain. At Desiring God, that is defined:

How do you define the sin of taking the Lord’s name in vain?

Well that’s a quote from the Ten Commandments: “Don’t take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” The idea of vanity (and I think the Hebrew carries this connotation) is “don’t empty the name.”

So it doesn’t just refer to a certain tone of voice or a certain use of the word. It’s dealing with God and speaking of God in a way that empties him of his significance. This includes both throw-away words—like “God!” or “Jesus!”—as well as speaking about him in trifling and flippant ways. Not just swear ways but cheap ways, low and insignificant ways that just treat him like a commodity. And when you hear them you sense that there is no weight to that sentence, no corresponding emotion to that statement. It seems to have just been gutted.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3-5).

Self-control. Does the Body of Christ good.
——————————————–
Further Reading:

Breaking up with Beth Moore, by Pam Terrell

The Apotheosis of Beth Moore, by the husband of the woman above, Robert Terrell. Very good essay.

Strange Fire Q&A,

How do I respond to people who refuse to admit that those who supposedly receive divine revelation are dangerous even though they don’t teach outright heresy?

Can you talk about the dangers of popular teachers who are not heretical but say that God talks to them? I am thinking specifically of Beth Moore. What are we to do with people who refuse to see the danger and insist such teachers are OK?

Believers must always listen carefully when any teacher or preacher speaks about the Bible and theology. They must share the nobility of the Berean saints whom Luke commended for double checking Paul’s teaching according to Scripture (cf. Acts 17:1–11). While Beth Moore teaches with accuracy on some points, she also holds positions and teaches doctrines that are both incorrect and dangerous.

Beth Moore promotes contemplative prayer, a mystical practice not found in Scripture which includes elements of eastern mysticism. She chooses not to draw firm doctrinal lines on her website while implying the Roman Catholic Church is a Christian denomination alongside the Methodist, Baptist, and other denominations. Beth also claims that she has received visions from God and sometimes receives revelation from Him in her heart. From these examples we must conclude that the lack of biblical and theological depth in Beth Moore’s teaching renders her a dubious and dangerous source of Bible teaching. You may read a critique of Beth Moore’s teaching here.

a matter of faith, discernment, encouragement, movie review

Movie Review: "A Matter of Faith"; plus, ‘PureFlix’

Posted on March 18, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend recommended the movie A Matter of Faith and I watched the movie. Released in 2014, the film is directed by Rich Christiano and stars Harry Anderson, Jordan Trovillion, Jay Pickett, and Clarence Gilyard. Christiano is an American filmmaker, who has directed, produced and written many Christian films, such as The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry and Time Changer. I’ve watched the former two and they are good.

Harry Anderson (Cheers, Night Court) was the standout actor amid some good-ish but slightly amateur actors, which is usually the case with under-budgeted Christian films. However that was not a deterrent since the film’s premise was so well unfolded.

A Matter of Faith

The movie begins with a family delivering a young college girl to her dorm and encouraging her as they leave her to begin her first year of college. She was raised a Christian and claims to be a Christian, but the girl finds her faith challenged by her biology professor (Anderson) who is an atheist and totally committed to evolution.

A Christian friend supports her but other friends she meets in the dorm and around campus draw her away from her Christian stance, and soon she does not know what to believe. She is freewheeling in limbo, a position that becomes more untenable as the dad’s concern over his daughter increases and he travels to the college to meet with the biology professor. The dad is trapped into agreeing to debate the Prof in public over evolution v creation, which embarrasses his daughter to no end and causes a split between them.

A sub-story that emerges is that years ago, the Biology professor had gotten his creationist colleague fired. Bitter and unhelpful, the ex-professor refuses to help the dad when the dad appeals to him for help in researching material for the debate with the atheist evolutionist.

The dad fears he is not up to the task of debating a superlative speaker such as the biology professor and wonders how to mend the rift with his daughter, and the plot builds to the climactic moment when the debate opens.

I thought the writer did a god job of presenting the myriad issues in a subtle but realistic manner. Any young girl or guy attending college away from home for the first time will be tested, and the world is experienced at drawing away the unwary.

One of my favorite lines is when the girl’s Christian friend at college explains to her that the reason the biology professor is so popular is that he gives a grade of C just for showing up. The girl agrees. Yet the boy says that underlying this unusual grading scheme is a satanic ploy to get as many people as possible into his classes, for the express purpose of delivering atheistic philosophy so as to confuse the weak in faith. “The world is not our friend. The professor has an agenda.” Connecting the grading scheme to the Professor’s intent to delude seemed to surprise the girl. “But he’s so nice! And popular!”

Though we who are more mature readily see these things, youth who are out from under a parent’s wing for the first time may not immediately see the connection.

The girl’s spiritual disciplines waned as other, worldly temptations came her way. She delays finding a church, she has drifted away from reading her Bible, she has not made any Christian friends, nor has she sought out any Christian activities or clubs. And this leaves a vacuum for the ideas of the plausible biology professor to enter in.

The film was clean, with no modesty issues or profanity. It showed the issues facing youth when they leave home for the first time, whether it is to a job, college, or military. The dad was shown as grounded in his church, submitted to his pastor, and leading his family as a shepherd. The usual worldly temptations were shown yet without the usual explicitness. Recommended.

The film brought to mind the testimony of Michael Kruger. Below at the link to The Gospel Coalition, Kruger describes his first year at college in a 6-minute video. Kruger gives students, parents and guardians some solid advice. The essay with accompanying video is titled How to Survive World Religions 101 but could just as easily be titled How to Survive Biology 101.

How to Survive World Religions 101

Michael Kruger on Facing the Challenges of a Secular University Environment
August 27, 2015

Michael Kruger entered his freshman year at the University of North Carolina as a committed Christian. He thought he was ready for the intellectual challenges college would mount against his faith—that is, until he found himself sitting in a New Testament introduction class with Bart Ehrman as his professor. It left him shell-shocked.

Many students can relate. Churches often have a hard time preparing their youth for a secular university environment. They equip them on a moral level, which is good and important, yet fail to prepare them intellectually and doctrinally. So how can churches better brace young people for the day their faith will be challenged, attacked, and deemed intellectually indefensible by professors and peers?

In this new video, Kruger, president and professor of New Testament and early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, shares some of the lessons he learned in college. He encourages students to check their expectations, prepare for opposition, dig for answers, and more. Above all, he urges them to anchor themselves in the local church.

I know that many of you are looking for good, clean movies for yourselves or for your children or family. They are hard to come by, we all know this. A friend sent me a link to a movie streaming site called PureFlix. It is based on Netflix, the original streaming movie site, and claims to show only pure films, good for the family of faith. However as the friend says also, one would suppose one would need as much discernment on PureFlix as would be needed at any “Christian bookstore” since so much heresy and doctrines from other faiths is mixed in with the gold. Here is the synopsis of PureFlix,

Pure Flix Entertainment is a Christian film production company, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company produces, distributes, acquires and markets Christian and family-friendly films

Just an FYI for you guys. I do not subscribe to PureFlix so I can’t review it. However I see on the home page I see that at least, blessedly, one can scroll through the offerings safely without having to shield young eyes as you have to do on Hulu or even Netflix. The movie covers shown are clean.

discernment, journaling, scriptures

Bible Journaling: Biblical or Occultish?

Posted on March 16, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

My friend Craig Fulford sent me a few links regarding the trend for Bible journaling. The essays are covering a topic distinct from the fad where women decorate their journals by using crayons or paints to actually obscure the Word with doodles and picture. The essays’ topic is also distinct from coloring in coloring books or in Hindu-style mandalas.

In this first essay, the author warns about the dangers of journaling, which are present and more intense if one is inattentive to them. Sometimes during the journaling process we begin depending on an ephemeral inner life to emerge to give us scriptural meaning or even expectations begin to creep in thinking the process will sanctify us, this is the same activity with the same intentions that occultists use when attempting to contact the other side.

Journaling
Biblical or Occultic?

“Journal-keeping” is becoming popular among Christians as a new genre of books emphasizes the “inner life” and presents various methodologies for “hearing from God.” This is not to say that meditating on the Word of God and seeking closer communication with Him and deeper insights into His will ought not to be an important part of every Christian’s life, and even writing down for future reference insights or guidance that one believes to be derived from this would be very helpful. However, this same technique is used by occultists to make contact with the spirit world, and by psychologists to contact deep levels of the psyche, and thereby, tap into the “ancient wisdom” allegedly contained in the “collective unconscious.”

“Christian” books on journaling, however, seldom warn of the dangers of mistaking one’s imagination for communication with God, and of spending more time upon one’s own inward thoughts than upon God’s Word. Whether through a “proper” use of journaling or journal-keeping, or other forms of meditation, one’s focus must always be upon the Scriptures and must never deviate from that Guide.

Go to the link for more

In this article the question is asked What value is there in Christian journaling?. This essay gives a balanced view of how, if used correctly, Bible journaling can be a help in our process of meditating on scripture.

As with everything, test it, be wise and use discernment. Even “good” Christian activities can become an idol or be used by satan to his advantage, and not to Jesus’ glory.

On the other hand, if one is wise and with Jesus in proper focus, some activities can be used safely and for the good of the person, or the church, or to bring glory to Jesus.

What value is there in Christian journaling?

“Journaling” can mean different things to different people. For some, journaling is written prayer. For others, journaling is keeping a record of prayer requests and answers. Some keep a journal of especially poignant spiritual truths, perhaps insights from a sermon or quotes from spiritual books or a collection of Scripture. Some may write accounts of particularly meaningful encounters with God. For some a journal is a form of diary, a place to record the events of their day and a few thoughts or insights about it; these entries may be as brief as one or two phrases or a long narrative. Some might keep a “gratitude” or “joy” journal that lists one or more things each day—small or large—for which they are thankful. Still others journal in the sense that they write out their thoughts or respond to a particular prompt; it is not so much a prayer or specifically God-directed as it is a written exploration on a topic. Journals can come in a variety of forms—written in a notebook, typed on the computer, in an online forum, shared with friends or private, including art work or pictures or solely visual art without words, etc. The Bible does not mention journaling, so is there value in any of these activities?

Go to the link for more.

I wrote the following in 2013.

Is Christian Journaling Good or Bad?

Journaling has always been popular, for many different reasons, as we see above. Over the last few years, journaling for Christian reasons has made a comeback. Christians are told to keep track of thoughts in a journal. This activity is now variously called spiritual discipline, spiritual formation, or Christian journaling.

Is journaling good? Is journaling bad? Must I do journaling to “partner” with God in order to advance my sanctification? Does journaling aid the Holy Spirit? Let’s take a look at the pluses and minuses of Christian journaling.

I hope these ideas contained in the essays offered here clarify or aid you in you walk in some way.

Are you a weak woman, or are you a weak woman?

Posted on March 4, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Bible says some women are weak, and it is meant in a bad way. The Bible also says Christians are to be weak, but it’s meant in a good way. Let’s look at the two ways.

Weak in a bad way

Silly, weak woman!

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions (2 Timothy 3:6)

The Greek word for weak here is gunaikarion, a contemptuous term meaning a silly, foolish, little woman.

Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown Commentary says,

laden with sins—(Is 1:4); applying to the “silly women” whose consciences are burdened with sins, and so are a ready prey to the false teachers who promise ease of conscience if they will follow them. A bad conscience leads easily to shipwreck of faith (1 Ti 1:19).

Matthew Henry’s Whole Commentary on the Bible says of these women:

A foolish head and a filthy heart make persons, especially women, an easy prey to seducers.

John MacArthur Commentary says,

Weak in virtue and knowledge of the truth. and weighed down with spiritual and emotional guilt over their sins, these women were easy prey for the deceitful false teachers.

Weak in a good way

Weak woman is strong. She prays and relies on Jesus.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Gill’s Explains it this way:

for when I am weak, then am I strong; when he was attended with all the above mentioned infirmities, when laden with reproaches, surrounded with necessities, followed with persecutions, and brought into the utmost straits and difficulties, and was most sensible of his weakness in himself to bear and go through all these things; then was he upheld by the divine arm, and strengthened by the power of Christ; so that he was not only able to sustain the conflict, but became more than a conqueror, and even to triumph in the midst of these adversities;

The difference is that silly weak women are loaded down with unrepented-of sin, which clouds their mind and they fall prey to untruth. Weak women who rely on the glorious Divine Arm to lift them are wise, strong, and in His power. They know the truth and see Him clearly. They possess virtue and radiate calm wisdom.

So. Are you a weak woman or are you a weak woman?