discernment – Page 45

Gentle speech, curses and rebukes

Posted on August 10, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

EPrata photo

The Christian life is one of constant awareness. We are constantly aware that we are bought with a price, and that we we all to Him. Jesus has standards for His ransomed people in which He wants us to live. And because He is our Beloved King, we strive to follow His standards.

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do when. We pray for everyone unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17)…until we are told not to pray for such a one anymore. (1 John 5:16).

We must share the Gospel with all people (Matthew 28:19) … until we are to shake the dust off our feet (Mark 6:11)…and not give pearls to swine (Matthew 7:6).

I’m not saying the Christian life has contradictions, but I am saying that God knows best in situations what to do and we must stay repented up, prayed up, and studied up in order to discern what His will is when encountering situations that we find ourselves in.

Another situation that demands discernment is our speech. The Bible says a lot about our speech. It is supposed to be patient, gentle, and filled with love. And yet sometimes we read in the Bible that the Apostles were sharp, insulting, and berating.

Here are two essays which speak to the two different ways we’re called upon to speak His wisdom and truths.

Love is how we speak truth, not how we avoid it.

Anyone who spends any time at all in the Bible will soon realize there is a continuous emphasis placed on actively loving one another (i.e.: Leviticus 19:18, John 15:12, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8, 1 John 4:21), even those who qualify as enemies (Matthew 5:44). First Corinthians 16:14 tells us to “do everything in love.” But many people struggle with this all-encompassing directive especially when they find themselves facing the difficult task of confronting sin in a family member or co-worker. Inevitable questions arise like, “Is it even possible to lovingly rebuke someone?” and if it is, “Does lovingly rebuking sin in someone else mean that we cannot be direct and forthright with the person we are confronting?” As Christians, do we have to sugarcoat what we say to others in order to fulfill God’s command to love them?

And yet there seems to be times when it is necessary to use sharp, cutting language.

Surprised by Scripture: Love and Spirit-inspired insults

Our expectation of the Spirit-filled person is that they would sincerely love people; that they would be manifestly gentle; that they would speak with kindness and patience in all circumstances. And those are good, biblical expectations. But the book of Acts shows us the Spirit-filled life is full of surprises. … Here’s where our expectations about the Spirit-filled life get upended:

But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” (Acts 13:9–10)

…This doesn’t sound like what we would call kind or civil or gentle. These are biting words, pointed words, sharp words directed at a particular person. In this case, the fruit of the Spirit is name-calling, insults, and harsh words. In this case, Spirit-prompted boldness means not mincing words about the wickedness of this magician. When Spirit-Inspired Insults Are Necessary:

Read both essays to see the bookends of speech we are expected to think about when we are confronting a person in sin. These things are not contradictory, and they are not for all Christians all the time. Some people, usually leaders, can and do make Spirit-inspired insults…and yet sometimes the pointed confrontation is necessary to employ against the sinning one, even to the extent they are ushered from the church under discipline and handed over to satan. (1 Corinthians 5:5).

The idea is that we are always striving to walk in the center line of His ways, constantly seeking Him to determine the proper course of action in any given situation, so that His name is glorified.

church life, discernment, doctrine, false, false teacher, sister

"My Sister in the faith is reading a heretical book/studying heretical material. How do I tell her?"

Posted on August 4, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A sister in the faith asked me that question in the title the other day. I responded in the comments but now I’m making a stand-alone piece. These are my experiences and advice, but are based on my understanding of scripture. I it helps any sister. If you have had experience in helping a sister in the faith turn away from using poor, unedifying materials, please chime in. This essay isn’t the be-all and end-all, just a starting point.

I know that when I go to church and see a sister in the faith carrying a book by Ann Voskamp, or attending a Beth Moore study, my stomach clenches and my heart drops. Then, I worry. I know that heretical materials have just enough truth to seem good but so much heresy it will soon pollute my sister’s thinking. False teaching is meant to destroy, and my sister is in its cross-hairs. This is not something we can ignore.

But how to tell her? It’s uncomfortable and difficult to do. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings yet it must be done because false teaching is a blight on the name of Jesus. In addition, we will have to answer for our failure to act in love. James 4:17 says,

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

We also know that in these dark days where the truth is not exalted, that we will more than likely be labeled as a troublemaker. I have had this experience myself. Of course we seek to be diplomatic in these kind of conversations, so take care that we are speaking the truth gently and not roughly. But no matter how gentle and diplomatic you are, there is a good chance the person will take offense. Since there are so many false converts these days, there’s also a good chance they will subsequently label you as critical, intolerant, and trouble with a capital T.

In addition, we have the problem of deception by investment. (Term coined by Glenn Chatfield). This means that people who follow false teachers are invested in them. They have spent money on their books or devotionals, they have perhaps attended a meeting or conference. Thus, they are invested financially, emotionally, and time-wise. They’ve been seen and heard letting their chips fall in the side of what you’re telling them is a false teacher. Puncturing that will pierce pride because you’re piercing their very selves. They will want to be defensive. No one likes a conversation like that.

So with these things in mind, here is a teaching called The Gentle Art of Correction based on 2 Timothy 2:23-26. It is aimed at pastors and leaders but its principles are good for ladies too. 🙂

So, how? I take two examples from the bible. In the first example, Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside to instruct him (Acts 18:24-28). Apollos was a believer, hadn’t sinned, but needed to have the full counsel of God given to him before he went too much further in preaching like he’d been doing. The duo did not embarrass him by correcting him in public, but took him aside and to Apollos’ credit, he sat at their feet and learned.

Secondly, in Matthew 18:15-20 it describes what to do when someone in church sins against you. And isn’t following a false teacher a sin? There is flesh involved. So in the case of Mt 18:15, even though the verse says ‘if a brother sins against you’ and technically they have not sinned against you personally but against Jesus as the Head of the Church, the restoration began in private.

I think that the spirit of the Acts and Matthew verses tell us that the first step is to go to the sister you want to talk with quietly in private. So that is what I do.

What I’ve done is something like this: “I see you are carrying a new Joyce Meyer book. I have learned some things about her that I think are important for you know. Are you open to me putting my thoughts down on paper and sharing it with you later?” That way they do not feel sandbagged or cornered. If they say “No, thanks, I really like Joyce Meyer,” then pray for them. The Spirit might help them change their mind, and they might return to you later and ask for that information. Sometimes a nudge takes a while.

In another case the opportunity just seemed right and presented itself when it came up in a conversation. I gently and with tears, pleaded for the woman to turn from her false doctrine. She was a good listener and at the end asked me to offer her some biblical advice on it. I did so the next time we were together, I gave her a paper. I believe the 2nd situation came about because I had been praying over the issue and asked the Lord to make a way for me to bring it up. Prayer is always an important component of these conversations, before, during and after.

Since emotions run high in these situations I’ve found it helpful to have written the bible verses and issues down on paper so they can look at it later. It also guards against being misquoted. Third, it helps me maintain my focus. In these kinds of talks with sisters, since women are emotional, we tend to stray to the emotional side of the conversation. Having the verses written down helps keep the focus on Jesus. It is the Word that changes minds, not our tears, and not our persuasion.

Other pastors I listen to said they have asked to person to coffee at a later time some they could discuss it. This works too.

If you are considering approaching a sister who has strayed into false territory in lockstep with a false teacher, I encourage you to read the Bible.org link above, and to pray. Ultimately the battle is the Lord’s and the battle is spiritual. The dear sister we wish to approach is not the enemy but the spirit behind her favored book or curriculum is the enemy.

As you pray, the Lord will open your mind as to what He wants you to do in any given situation. And don’t be startled if the person gets huffy or angry. The more genuine a sister is, the more they may get embarrassed thinking that they have been spotted doing something wrong by carrying this book or touting that teacher, because they truly love the Lord. If they do indeed truly love the Lord, they will calm down and thank you for it later.

If they don’t, then you have a clean conscience before Jesus because you tried. Continuing to pray for them will help soften any disharmony in your own heart you may feel after the encounter. 🙂

——————————–

When unity is not preferred

Posted on August 1, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Are there factions in your church? EPrata photo

Factions in church are a deed of the flesh.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, (Galatians 5:20)

Here, the progression is given. Enmities result in strife, then morphs into jealousy, which are inward attitudes. Eventually the inward attitude becomes outward behavior in the form of fits of anger, then progresses to disputes, entrenched into dissensions (which literally means here ‘standing apart’), and then these harden into factions.

The word factions in Greek as it’s used here in the Galatians verse means ‘personal choice due to strong opinion’. As an example to show rivalries gravitating to factions, some Jews chose to be Sadducees as opposed to Pharisees. Pharisees believed in an afterlife containing rewards for the righteous and and punishments for the wicked, and had added many traditions to the faith. Sadducees believed only the Torah and therefore no afterlife. Little discussed in the Bible but existing at the same time as the Pharisees and Sadducees were two other factions within Judaism, the Zealots and the Essenes. These four factions had splintered the religion as given by God to Moses and the Prophets. The dividing lines were hard and fast until it came to Jesus and then the adage ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ came to life and they set aside their jealousies and rivalries to kill their Messiah.

One wonders if the Sadducees and Pharisees had not spent hundreds of years in jealousies and rivalries they might have been thinking straight regarding who Jesus is when He came. But anyway…that’s a speculation. The lesson here is that Paul warns that these attitudes become entrenched, and then make an outward progression into undesirable behavior.

Is your church splitting due to rivalries or dissensions?
EPrata photo

Factionism is often mentioned in the New Testament. Because humans populate the church, the sinful tendency to divide along theological, moral, or just plain silly lines is always present. Paul chastised the Corinthians for ‘following’ preferred teachers, Peter, Apollos, himself, or none at all and only Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:12). He reminded them that Christ has not been divided, then he reminded them in Whose name they had been baptized.

In another case of mentioned factionalism, in Apostolic authority Paul pleaded with Euodia and Syntyche to set aside their differences and come together. (Philippians 4:2). As Pulpit Commentary says, “Their dissensions disturbed the peace of the Church.” Paul called them sisters and so they were believers risking a church unity that is desirable and should be sought after by all members, not pursuing disharmony and upset by entrenching into their own supposed correct positions on whatever it was they were arguing about.

Ephesians speaks to the importance of unity in the church. Paul says we should be-

eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)

In 1 Corinthians 1:10 Paul says for there to be no divisions among us-

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

We do this through love, which is the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:14), forbearing and forgiving one another, (Colossians 3:13). And so on and so on. Unity is important.

The Christian life is marked with a thin line, on which we stay only through the grace of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit, and our diligence in searching the Word. Because … the opposite of the above is also true. There are times we are NOT supposed to unite. At times, we are supposed to mark those who cause divisions and avoid them. (Romans 16:17). We’re called to shake the dust off and go away from those who won’t listen (Mark 6:11). Paul and Peter didn’t hold back when warning the members of those who put stumbling-blocks in their way, they variously called them dogs in vomit, blots, and blemishes. Even gangrene and cursed ones. Those are warnings not to unite, or even tolerate (Revelation 2:20).

But those are unbelievers mentioned in those verses. What about believers? Should we pursue unity at all costs with believers? No. In 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Paul urged,

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

The 2 Thessalonians verse is about believers and it is a command! In Matthew 18, the last part of the multi-step process for dealing with sin in a believer is to treat them as a pagan or a tax-collector if the sinner refuses to heed. (Matthew 18:17).

In another Thessalonians verse, Paul reiterates how to treat believers, in this case idlers who were using the church as a welfare state.

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3:14 )

So when do we do what? How do we know when to pursue unity and when to allow separation? It is especially hard when we are being told by the shallow end of the church culture that any disunity whatsoever is to be avoided.

It’s obvious that there are different kinds of unity. We unite in Christ into one body in theological unity in the Gospel, forbearing and overlooking the theological points of disagreement where possible and are “non-essential.” We do not overlook sin but we display some patience with people in the process of helping them overcome it, especially the babes in Christ. In this, the moral imperative is strict; help, point out, warn, all the while forbearing in love as they are given a chance to rectify. However, we never overlook persistent or flagrant or rebellious sin. Ever.

Who are the peacemakers among you?

So be careful when using the word unity. Just like there is with any human involvement with anything, there are gradations and nuances. During the hopefully short period when situations are being addressed and resolved there will be some disharmony. Depending on the maturity of the church, in some places this disharmony will be more evident than others. Of course overall given human penchant for selfishness, there will be seasons of unity and seasons of disharmony in any church for whatever reason. Even these take time to settle.

While unity is to be pursued and factionalism is to be avoided, sometimes the Lord uses it to the good. There IS a good that comes with factions in churches. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:18-19,

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

In verse 18 Paul strongly chastises the divisive Corinthians by saying when they get together for the Lord’s supper it is for the WORSE! How would you like to hear your pastor say that? “Y’all make Christianity worse when you’re together, you big ole bunch of squabbling firecrackers.”

Matthew Henry says, “The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord’s supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse.”

Yet in the next breath Paul says something very interesting:

“There MUST be factions”

Here, the word factions is heresies. It indicates a worse state than in verse 18, which was divisions. In verse 19 divisions have become heresies. Now the problem mirrors the Sadducees and Pharisees, with the hard and fast and permanent division in the faith. One faith then becomes two, or nearly so. Schism, because of heresy.

Yet why would Paul say ‘there MUST be heresies’ (factions)? I thought we were to avoid disharmony and pursue unity? This may sound abrupt or unbelievable to innocent ears, but God actually intended for there to be factions. Because, how are we to know who the peacemakers are if there is never any disruption to the peace? How are we to know to whom ministries should be given if there is never an opportunity for one to display wisdom or patience? Divisions and disharmony is the way Jesus uses circumstances to reveal genuine believers.

If you pardon the long excerpt, after reading widely and wrestling with writing an explanation myself, I have found no better explanation than Pastor John MacArthur’s. Here is his commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:19, ‘there must be factions’:

The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper part 1

Now, he goes further in verse 19. And this is really an interesting statement. He says, “I believe it for this reason, I believe it because there must be also heresies among you that they who are approved may be made manifest among you.” Boy, that is a strange statement, folks. Did you hear what he said? He says the reason I believe you’ve got division is because there must be division among you so that the ones who are approved might be made manifest.

You say, “Is he saying that the church has to have heresy?” Yes. What does the word “heresy” mean? I’m glad you asked because that’s very important. The word “heresy” doesn’t mean totally what we’ve made it mean today. The word “heresy” basically means, it comes from a root that stresses the idea of a choice, choosing. It simply means a choice of a group who hold a given opinion. I’ll tell you how you’ll understand it. It’s translated again and again in the gospels by the word “sect.” It’s a group of people who hold an opinion. It doesn’t have to be bad. It doesn’t mean that it’s good. It’s used in a neutral sense in, say, Acts 24. It talks about the sect of the Nazarenes.

It isn’t necessarily bad. It’s used in a bad sense in Galatians 5:20 where it refers to one of the works of the flesh, is hairesis, or heresies, or what it means is differences of opinion. And there it has to do with the selfish contention, has to do with a self-centered factious clique kind of thing, and that’s its use here.

There has to be contention, if you will. Or there has to be factions in the church. There has to be problems in the church. There has to be differences of opinions in the church. You say, “Well, why? I mean, you just said in 1 Corinthians1:10 get rid of them all, now you’re saying they’ve got to be there. … Well, what’s he saying here?” No, he’s saying it has to be that they who are approved might be manifest among you.

Now, wait a minute. Paul says I believe there are those groups because they’re necessary. Now, notice the statement, “there must be.” That’s dei. D-E-I in the Greek. It is a word that means it is necessary. “It is necessary”, and then you should translate the word factions, that’s how it should be. It is necessary that there be factions among you. That little word “it is necessary” is used again and again and again in the new Testament. A very common particle; very, very, very useful. And in many of its uses, it singles out something that is necessary because of the will of God. It is used of something that is necessary because of the will of God. For example, it is necessary that Jesus suffer and, right, and die and rise again. It is necessary that I go to Jerusalem. You find that little particle again and again and again connected with something that Jesus must do because that is God’s will.

And here we have the same thing. It is necessary. Why? Because God is doing something that needs it. What’s He doing? He is approving certain people and making them manifest to you. How? Because when problems arrive and when factions arrive you will soon find out who the good folks are, the dokimoi: the approved, the tested, the gold who come out of the fire purified. Evil is necessary to manifest good.

You don’t know who the peacemakers are in your church unless you need somebody to make the peace, right? You don’t know who the people are who show the love in the church unless you know how they’ve been related to the people who don’t show it. You see, it’s adversity and struggle and contention that causes the true leadership, the true godly people, the true walking in the Spirit folks to rise to the top and be visible to everybody. Trouble has a way of manifesting personality and it has a way also of manifesting spirituality. The dokimoi are the ones that hang in there and give evidence of walking in the Spirit in the midst of a difficult situation

Perhaps your church has had a change of leadership or a change of heart and now wants to root out female leadership that had infiltrated. This will cause disharmony. Unity will be shattered. There will inevitably be some who don’t appreciate the change of direction nor the removal of women. As is the way of rivalries some will go around gossiping and complaining and mounting up for sides to be taken. The Lord uses this time of factioning and disruption to manifest true believers. Whatever the Godly reason that unity has been interrupted, and there are oh, so many possibilities, Jesus will use it to show to one and all who the genuine ones are.

Pursue unity when possible,
but not at the expense of truth

Now the opposite could be happening. Maybe a disharmony is occurring not for a Godly reason but because the leadership wants to initiate or perpetuate a false doctrine. Maybe the genuine ones have warned, pleaded, prayed, and offered proofs. Yet despite the true believers’ attempts to sway them from their willful path, they insist. During this time also, there will be disunity. Sides will be taken. The patient yet firm stand of the genuine ones will be noticed and remembered either now or later. And if not on this side of the veil, then certainly at the Bema seat.

Now for one last, important thought. The crux of this essay. After all this, if you are still with me, dear reader, please take this thought with you as I close. If God says there must be heresies in order to manifest true believers, isn’t it to satan’s advantage to whitewash all divisions so that true believers will NOT be made manifest? Couldn’t it be that this culture’s current insistence in unity at all costs be a satanic ploy to intimidate the genuine ones so they are not made manifest?

I understand that when Jesus wants something to happen, He will make it happen. I am not saying satan has power to controvert Jesus. But think on it. If Jesus as the Head uses divisions and heresies to advance His church by manifesting true believers, it is in satan’s evil interest not to let that happen.

So keep that in mind when you hear “unity at all costs!” As I said at the outset, unity is preferred, but not at the expense of tolerating false doctrine. Unite is not preferred when it’s a ploy to silence the ones who Jesus intends to stand apart as genuine.

When Brothers Dwell in Unity
A Song of Ascents. Of David.

133 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity![a]
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore. Psalm 133

And yet you know that when rivalries come and the Lord uses you to be seen as genuine, the period of testing is sometimes painful. But Peter has encouragement–

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:15-16).

discernment, lysa terkeurst, Michelle Lesley, proverbs 31 ministry, the best yes

Re-Blog: Leaving Lysa: Why You Shouldn’t Be Following Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries

Posted on July 31, 2015August 22, 2025 by elizabethprata

Michelle Lesley writes at Michelle Lesley Books. Last week she wrote a wonderful article to which I’d linked, called “Nine Reasons Discerning Women Are Leaving Your Church“.

In the ‘Nine Reasons’ article’s comments section a reader had asked Ms Lesley to offer some biblical discernment regarding a new and popular author Lysa TerKeurst. Ms Lesley replied, and then expanded that reply into a stand-alone article. The article is re-blogged below.

Parallel to that, I’ve noticed a new popularity in a certain young author/teacher/social justice champion: Lysa TerKeurst. Her book “The Best Yes” was featured heavily by the “She Reads Truth/IF:Gathering” ladies, a group/ministry of which I’d researched and rated negatively. These women are not edifying to you nor are they helping the cause of Jesus Christ. Though associations are important, I don’t believe guilt by association should be the only factor to warn about this or that person or ministry, but it is an indicator. This put Ms TerKeurst on my radar, but I waited. Since then, I have not had time to review Ms TerKeurst further.

Now Ms Lesley has done so, and has graciously allowed me to re-blog her work here. Yesterday I wrote extensively on the phrase that Paul begins his warning to the Colossians about mysticism and ascetic practices. He said in Colossians 2:18 “Let no one disqualify you for the prize…”. One of the problems with false teachers and false teachings is that they hinder the Christian in his or her walk, color our perceptions so that we cannot think clearly about Jesus, and defraud us of our rewards. If we should see a sister falling under the sway of a false teacher we should help them by letting them know they are at risk of being defrauded. We do this because we love them and want the best in Christ’s name for our sisters.

Here is Ms Lesley:

Leaving Lysa: Why You Shouldn’t Be Following Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries

According to her web site, “Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of The Best Yes, Unglued, Made to Crave, and 16 other books.” She also blogs prolifically and speaks at numerous Christian women’s conferences.

Lysa is charming, friendly, and down to earth- the type of person I would probably want to be friends with if I knew her personally. We have several things in common: a big family (she has 5 kids, I have 6), women’s ministry, we’re even just a couple of months apart in age (which shocked me, since she looks so much younger!).

I first became familiar with Lysa a year or so ago when her name, articles, and memes of her quotes (and those of Proverbs 31 Ministries) began appearing in my news feed on Facebook. What I was seeing sounded good, and I hoped against hope that she was a doctrinally sound teacher of God’s word that I could recommend to my friends and readers. In fact, I resisted vetting her for a while because I was afraid of being disappointed by another popular Christian women’s author and teacher who seemed biblical on the surface but turned out not to be.

Sadly (and I genuinely mean that- I was sad), that is exactly what I found when I began to research Lysa TerKeurst at the request of several of my friends and readers. It’s my prayer that Lysa will repent of the areas in which she is acting against Scripture, learn biblical hermeneutics so she can rightly handle God’s word, and have a tremendous – doctrinally sound – impact on the thousands of women who love her so much. I would love nothing more than to give her a virtual “high five” and highly recommend her to others if she would do so.

Until such time, I regret that I must recommend that women not follow Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries (including the other women who write for and are leaders in this ministry) for the following reasons:

1. Lysa unrepentantly preaches to and instructs men in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12-14 (as well as the many other passages of Scripture that do not allow this). Without exception, every female Bible teacher I know of who unrepentantly instructs men also teaches other doctrinal error (usually Word of Faith or seeker driven false doctrine).

If a woman is supposedly knowledgeable enough about the Bible to be in the position of teaching and authoring, yet doesn’t understand or obey such a basic biblical truth, what does that say about the rest of her knowledge of the Bible? How can you trust that anything else she teaches you about the Bible is accurate and true?

2. Lysa is a member of Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church (where she has preached the Sunday morning service on multiple occasions), and has written articles and made videos supporting his false and eisegetical teaching. She has also preached the Sunday morning service at Perry Noble’s New Spring Church.

If you are not familiar with either of these men, you should know that they both egregiously and narcissistically mishandle God’s word (click links above). Both of them support and agree with prosperity preachers such as T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Christine Caine, etc., and many of these have preached at their churches. Perry Noble is perhaps most famous for having AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” played during his Easter Sunday service a few years ago.

This is the type of false teaching Lysa supports and is being fed each time she attends her home church. The old adage, “You are what you eat,” is true in both the physical and the spiritual realm.

3. Lysa partners with and calls Christine Caine a “dear friend”. Christine Caine also unrepentantly preaches to men and is a proponent of the false Word of Faith (prosperity gospel) doctrine, as a leader at Word of Faith “church,” Hillsong. Because this is “another gospel,” (Galatians 1:6-9), partnering with Caine is a violation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

For these reasons, plus her habitual mishandling of Scripture (as outlined in the resources below), I unfortunately must recommend that women not follow, support, or receive teaching from Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries (including any writers or speakers affiliated with Proverbs 31 Ministries).

colossians, discernment, false teachers, lloyd-jones, spurgeon

Don’t let anyone disqualify you from the prize!

Posted on July 30, 2015July 14, 2022 by elizabethprata

Puffed up in visions they have seen

Colossians is a tremendous book. Of this verse in Colossians, let’s first focus on the first five words, Paul’s warning, underline mine-

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (Colossians 2:18 ESV)

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18, NASB)

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” (Colossians 2:18 KJV).

The word disqualify/defraud/beguile here in context refers to an umpire. Strong’s defines it,

“to deprive” refers to discouraging (misleading) believers, diverting them from their full potential for receiving their unique glorification.

Paul uses the same metaphor with the result being the prize in Philippians 3:7-14. In the MacArthur commentary the prize is explained. Now, be assured that no one can deprive you of the ultimate prize, salvation. Of that, Jesus said “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29).

Spurgeon said in his excellent sermon on the verse titled “A Warning to Believers“,

THERE is an allusion here to the prize which was offered to the runners in the Olympic games, and at the outset it is well for us to remark how very frequently the Apostle Paul conducts us by his metaphors to the racecourse. Over and over again he is telling us so to run that we may obtain, bidding us to strive, and at other times to agonize, and speaking of wrestling and contending. Ought not this to make us feel what an intense thing the Christian life is—not a thing of sleepiness or haphazard, not a thing to be left now and then to a little superficial consideration?

Though you can’t be disqualified for the ultimate prize, an umpire can sideline you. Or, he can make calls that affect the other players in the game around you, diminishing your effectiveness. MacArthur said of the umpire metaphor,

The false teachers claimed a mystical union with God. Paul exhorts the Colossians not to allow those false teachers to keep defrauding them of their prize. It was as if the heretics assumed the role of spiritual referees and disqualified the Colossians for not abiding by their rules. ~MacArthur Commentary on Colossians & Philemon

False doctrine is not only a corruption in the church, it does damage to you individually. One way false teaching and false teachers harm you is that following them even temporarily and certainly for a long period disqualifies you for the prize. That much is clear.

What is inferred is our responsibility to our brethren who are following a false teacher. How will it be when they are judged, when told to give an account of themselves (Romans 14:12, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Service to Jesus and our works for him while in the flesh is examined, as well as conscience, words spoken, and how well we overcame the flesh, in addition to other things. We will cringe and cry when we hear Jesus say that a friend has lost some prizes because they followed a false teacher and thus were disobeying Jesus, while we knew all along and never said anything.

Christ’s soldiers are striving for the prize

And will that be counted as sin against us? A sin of omission is just as bad as a sin of comission. James 4:17 says,

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

Pursuing evil is sinful (sin of commission) and avoidance of doing good is also bad. (sin of omission) What, then, as we see a sister sliding into the influence of a false teacher and we fail to warn, even as Paul warned the Colossians? We are supposed to build each other up. (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Romans 14:19). What will Jesus say to us regarding a sister we let down?

As for the rest of the verse, I listened to 4 sermons and read 4 different commentaries, just on Colossians 2:18. It’s a powerful verse and has within it portents, warnings, and explanations. It’s dense and difficult. But here is the master of logic, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who made it so clear. I enjoyed his sermon on the verse best. (Although Spurgeon’s was a close second).

In this portion of his sermon, “The Danger of Error“, Lloyd-Jones is talking about the ones who were upsetting the Colossians, the Gnostics. He said they were people who are false, and in that falsity have a striking characteristic which gives them away. It’s not the only characteristic, but it is one you’ll see often. As you read this transcribed part of the sermon, see if this doesn’t bring anyone to mind. Of course, listening to the sermon is preferred because his accent, inflections, and word emphases bring the piece to life.

[Of the cults and false religions]…don’t they always give you an impression they are much more zealous and enthusiastic than you are? Always talking about it, always advocating it, always urging you to go to their meetings. They’re tremendous in enthusiasm, and zeal, and activity. Now the scriptures teach us that it’s always a characteristic of such people. It is one of the great errors of course, that the devil always makes, he always overdoes what he’s trying to do. He produces therefore this carnal excitable zeal. The Apostle doesn’t hesitate to use the term like “delusion.” He says let no man beguile you with enticing words. Yes! It is a beguiling. It is a form of delusion. And the result of such a delusion always is that you get this…excess. This overplus, somehow always overdone.

Let’s be clear about these things. Oftentimes this very enthusiasm is the thing that that attracts innocent Christian people. “Look at their zeal, they can’t be wrong! Look at what they’re prepared to sacrifice, look at the time they give to it! They must be right’, says the innocent Christian. The NT has much to say about this. They have itching ears to start with, then they’re carried away by this false zeal.”

Here is Spurgeon on that excitable zeal the false mystics put forth to beguile you:

A notion is abroad that if you are but earnest and sincere, you will be all right. Permit me to remind you that if you travel never so earnestly to the north, you will never reach the south, and if you earnestly take prussic acid you will die, and if you earnestly cut off a limb you will be wounded. You must not only be earnest, but you must be right in it. Hence is it necessary to say, “Let no man beguile you of your reward.” “I bear them witness,” said the Apostle, “that they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, but went about to establish their own righteousness,

Don’t let their mystical visions beguile you!

Keep thinking about who teaches falsely with zeal and enthusiasm, so much so that many others are confounded by their energy, as Lloyd-Jones says, believing that so much zeal must stem from a Godly source.

Lloyd-Jones concluded by offering some practical tests to see if someone is false, these mystical ascetics, puffed up with visions-

Here are the tests:

1. Keep Christ and your relationship to him central
2. A way to test any teaching is this: does it make you think better of Christ? Does it magnify Him? Does it exalt Him? You’ll find with these other things, my friends, that they don’t do that. You’ll be praising their teaching.

Keep thinking about those false teachers who inspire impassioned defenders, saying that he or she is great, rather than how he or she pointed them to the Great One.

Keep thinking about them that go on and on about their messages from God, their visions, dreams, personal revelations delivered to them in the bathroom or a cabin in Wyoming or half-asleep in bed, and check your mind and heart to see if you don’t think they are a little bit more mystical and theologically higher up than you are because of it. Or worse, if the false teacher himself or herself thinks they are higher up than you poor saps who don’t get the regular direct deliveries … but they’ll humbly share them with you anyway.

Let’s end where we started. Don’t let anyone defraud you of the prize. The ultimate prize is Jesus, His faith, His comfort. Spurgeon said,

Let no man deprive you of the present comfort which your faith should bring to you. … Let me just for a few minutes have your attention while I speak upon this. Dear brethren, you and I, if we are believers in Christ, are this day completely pardoned. There is no sin in God’s book against us. We are wholly and completely justified. The righteousness of Jesus Christ covers us from head to foot, and we stand before God as if we had never sinned. Now let no man rob you of this reward. Do not be tempted by anything that is said to doubt the completeness of a believer in Christ. Hold this, and, as you hold it, enjoy it. Let no man beguile you of the reward of feeling that you are complete in Christ.

Lars Justinen, Robe of Righteousness

bible teacher, direct revelation, discernment, jack kelley

Discernment Lesson: Jack Kelley

Posted on July 29, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

EPrata photo

It’s not easy to determine if someone is a false teacher or is fairly solid but teaching false things temporarily. At what point does one decide not to follow a certain teacher anymore? I’ve written about this in the past. For each person the tipping point might be different.

One reason people have different tipping points could be because people have certain non-negotiables which are deal-breakers for them. For example, some who have been false converts for many years and were graciously awakened to their lost state have a low tolerance for easy believism. Some who were in a Charismatic church and have been graciously delivered have a low tolerance for healing crusades and charlatans. Others simply recognize they do not yet possess as much discernment as they need in order to continue following a certain teacher, so they go away from him or her to be on the safe side.

Nor should it be easy to cast someone’s name into the fire of falsity. Making such a determination requires humility, discernment, patience, and wisdom. Making a hasty judgment would mean we’ve impugned a brother or sister, and God takes a dim view of that. (Romans 14:19).

However the alternate should also stand. If we should manifest discerning patience in watching a bible teacher or preacher’s trajectory, when that tipping point is reached and enough biblical evidence is accumulated, we should not be hesitant to declare for Jesus and point this person out as a destroying enemy. (Romans 16:17).

For me, Rick Warren praying to the false god Isa, promoting corporate growth strategies for church, man-centered theology, consistently failing to give the Gospel to audiences he was invited to speak to, not to mention ecumenism with Islam and Catholicism, is enough for me to say “false.”

Beth Moore’s bible twisting, her shallow and emotional storytelling narcissistic approach, pop psychology, automatic/occult writing, and puffed up visions showed me that I can say “false” with confidence and biblical integrity.

Billy Graham’s lifelong compromises with Catholicism and his universalism make it clear to me that he, sadly, is also false.

And Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, and Mark Driscoll’s many sins against Jesus are the equivalent of training wheels on the discernment bike for baby Christians to spot as false. Or should be.

At some point in time, all of the above began to show their aberrant doctrines. And at some point one discerning person saw them while others less discerning didn’t see them yet. Especially when it’s early, we should not jump to conclusions, but watch.

Be serious students of the word, as the Bereans were

I’d like to raise a huge red flag regarding Jack Kelley of GraceThruFaith.com. There are enough things taught at his website that cause me to fear for the less discerning. He promotes:

Easy Believism

Gap Theory

Old Earth is OK

And a while back, he heartily refuted anything and everything about Calvinism (AKA Doctrines of Grace). I have not been able to re-discover those essays on the newly designed website in order to link to them.

I caught the opening to a Bible Study recently published on the site recently and I’d like to use it as a discernment lesson. Though Mr Kelley does use the Bible and seems to treat it with proper respect, the above and this below is a flag. Personal revelation is one of my deal-breakers. Let’s unpack this opening statement to a recent Bible study and think it through.

Please note the black underline. The title is “Bible” study. Good enough. I like those.

The first sentence declares that the message he is about to teach was given to the author directly by the Lord. Ergo, it was not derived by the “Bible” through study. There’s an immediate contradiction and an immediate problem.

This is a red flag. No messages are ever given personally by the Lord. Understanding of His word, His will, His plan for us are given in the Bible. This is the Doctrine of Illumination and it’s one of the Spirit’s ministries. (Ephesians 1:17-18).

We turn to the red underline. Excited, the half-asleep author hastily scribbled down the thoughts and went back to sleep. I’ve done this. Every writer of secular material does. However, note the method by which he claimed to have tested whether the Spirit had just knit together an understanding of scripture. It made sense to him, so he decided. Yet Acts 17:11 called the Bereans noble because they tested what they were being taught against scripture (note, being taught in real life, not personally receiving a message while half-asleep).

Let’s look at the Acts 17:11 verse closely. We want to be called noble.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

–they received the word with eagerness. Their eagerness bespeaks a diligence. They sought it out. (Strong’s on the word eagerness, prothumias, “who is already being willing, i.e. an eager disposition which is pre-inclined, already “ready and willing”). In other words, they were not lying in bed half asleep startled that the Lord personally plopped wisdom and understanding of the verses to their mind.

–they examined the scriptures. What they heard, they tested against what was written. They allowed scripture to be the benchmark of whether it passed the test. They did not say ‘Oh! It makes sense to me, it must be true.’

–they did so daily. This bespeaks a constancy in their attempts to both study and grow. It also bespeaks a maturity in that they didn’t relax their guard on a favored teacher nor did they relax their diligence on their own selves in the fleshly mind. Pride wants to say “Oh, yah, I’ve been doing this for years, I can tell when something makes sense”, laziness wants to say “Aw, you know it is probably true, no need to test.” Yet Humility and Obedience says “I will always use the Bible to test what I hear because the Lord is worth it and the devil is prowling.”

After receiving the word, the Bereans checked.

Now sometimes we say things in shorthand. I hear people say “The Lord told me” when I know they actually mean “I’ve studied this for a week and the Spirit illuminated its eternal wisdom to my mind.” ‘Lord told me’ is shorter. So maybe in this example case that is what happened. However…

In writing though we want to be clear. There is room on a web page for a few more words stating the method by which we arrived at an interpretation. Failing to do so and instead putting out a notion that it was gained half-asleep by revelatory means is misleading and dangerous. At the least, it perpetuates slang we should strive heartily to rid ourselves of. If a person is mature enough in the faith to have derived an interpretation studiously by the Spirit, they are mature enough to say the lesson is founded on normal means of interpretation.

And really, does it inspire confidence in your teacher when he reveals the lesson is founded on scribbled notes gained while half-asleep? Does such a statement do justice to the stricken and risen Lord?

No matter how solid the ensuing Bible study seems to a person, its opening is immediately corrupted by stories of half-asleep revelatory interpretations and testings that make sense apart from having tested against the only standard there is: the Bible. After all, this IS a Bible study. If there is a problem at the outset with the method arrived at or the foundation on which it rests, no matter how good the rest of the lesson seems to be, it’s an interpretation standing on sifting sand. And we all know what happens when the tide comes in.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be
like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Mt 7:26. (EPrata photo)

The upshot of this discernment lesson is two fold:

Let’s dispense with Christianese shorthand like “The Lord told me”. This confuses the less discerning into thinking that unique interpretations delivered by revelatory means are standard, when they aren’t.

Let’s watch the language and methods of the teachers under whom we choose to sit, in real life or online. What they say is often a first indicator of a growing problem. There are buzz words satan likes to use and be alert for those.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matthew 15:19)

Evil thoughts here is the Greek word dialogismos, and it means

“reasoning that is self-based and therefore confused – especially as it contributes to reinforcing others in discussion to remain in their initial prejudice”.

So watch out for those buzz words and any teaching that includes even a bit of “The Lord gave me a message and I’m going to teach it to you now.” Once you attune your mind to be alert for it, you’ll be surprised at how dismayingly often you hear it. Instead, stick to the pure word and people who interpret it purely (as possible)

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)

Burnout, Church Mothers, Discerning Women, discernment, encouragement, Michelle Lesley, prophecy, tower of babel, trevin wax

Gibberish, Discerning Women, Burnout, Church Mothers, Eschatological Discipleship

Posted on July 25, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Around the interwebs, edifying and thought-provoking essays for your enjoyment.

What I been sayin,’ words mean things. Words matter. They really do.

I’d written back along,

Well, the second problem that ties back into the first (ecclesiastical feminism) is that words mean things. They mean things. Any liberal in any realm in the battle for hearts and minds will first seek to change meanings of commonly understood words in order to co-opt the meaning and then to redefine them to their advantage. Example: sodomite—->homosexual—->gay. In the church world, we no longer sin. We make mistakes. We’re no longer Christian. We’re Christ followers.

GIBBERISH

Tower of Babel, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

So. Words matter. Until they don’t. The ever-brilliant Carl Trueman writes about The Coming of Age of Today’s Gibberish whereupon an “Editor’s Note” attempted to say what certain words mean without being too specific about what they really mean. Like the word “woman” and menstruate”.

Editor’s note: This blog post refers to individuals who menstruate as women because the author wanted to highlight gender inequality in health care. We acknowledge that not all individuals who menstruate identify as women and that not all individuals who identify as women menstruate, but feel this generalization is appropriate considering the gendered nature of most health care policies.

One might translate what the editor is really saying as ‘the concept of being a woman is now utterly meaningless but we have decided to preserve the fiction at those points where it is politically convenient for us to do so.’ Notice the editor’s use of the vague term feel and the slippery adjective appropriate. As ever, in our aesthetic age, it is impossible to argue against a feeling.

DISCERNING WOMEN

Here, Michele Lesley lists Nine Reasons Discerning Women Are Leaving Your Church and every single one is 100% a ‘hear, hear’.

The absence of discerning women in churches gives rise to many other problems. Godly mothers raise godly children, and absent discerning moms, the next generation of church life suffers. Elder discerning women have much to bring to the table (reason #7) in being the Titus 2:4 women teaching the younger. As discerning women leave churches the less discerning take over and soon you have the blind leading the blind. Third, the contributions to the faith of discerning women are without measure. Within our biblically prescribed roles, we see New Testament women advancing the Gospel and expanding the kingdom in myriad ways.

Priscilla and Aquila were discerning enough to see the potential in Apollos and taught him separately. Lydia’s home became a hotspot for prayer, teaching, and hospitality-fellowship. Dorcas gently led many women in a worthwhile sewing circle, teaching biblical principles by example.

On the other hand, you have a young and skittish and Rhoda who was so startled to see rescued Peter standing at the gate she shut it and left him there, believing the false but then-widely-popular notion that humans have a doppelganger angel, and that was who came to visit.

Soon, if not already, you will have churches that are absent your wise Priscillas, and Dorcas’ and Lydias and instead filled with foolish Rhodas.

Even though it is a bad thing that discerning women are leaving the churches, it is encouraging in a sense if you are one of the discerning women. At least you know you’re not alone in your concerns. Read Ms Lesley’s piece, it’s good.

While Scripture is pretty clear that we can expect women (and men) who are false converts to eventually fall away from the gathering of believers, why are godly, genuinely regenerated women who love Christ, His word, and His church, leaving their local churches?

BURNOUT

Other men and women are leaving due to burnout. Yikes, burnout is an epidemic, just at the time when we need good men and women ministering to the flock. Please, please avoid burnout. Please, please pray for your pastors and leaders.

Question: “What does the Bible say about burnout?”
Anyone who has experienced burnout knows it is not something he ever wants to experience again. Burnout is commonly described as an exhausted state in which a person loses interest in a particular activity and even in life in general. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, social, and spiritual exhaustion. It can lead to diminished health, social withdrawal, depression, and a spiritual malaise. Many times, burnout is the result of an extended period of exertion at a particular task (generally with no obvious payoff or end in sight) or the carrying of too many burdens (such as borne by those in the helping professions or those in positions of authority, among others).

CHURCH MOTHERS

Photo by Alysia Burton Steele

An interesting peek at a part of Christian culture of which I have no experience and very little knowledge

Chronicling Mississippi’s ‘Church Mothers,’ and Getting to Know a Grandmother

Ms. Bearden and Ms. Floyd were part of a larger assemblage of 50 African-American women whom Ms. Steele had chosen to chronicle in text and image for a book-in-progress she has titled “Jewels in the Delta.” Whether by formal investiture or informal acclamation, nearly all the women in the book held the title of “church mother,” a term of respect and homage in black Christianity.

ESCHATOLOGICAL DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus giving the Farewell Discourse (John 14-17)
to his disciples, after the Last Supper,
from the Maesta by Duccio, 1308-1311

Trevin Wax is an Editor at LifeWay and is working on his doctoral dissertation. He wrote recently that his dissertation is on the topic of Eschatological Discipleship.” This is a topic near and dear to my heart, because it is exactly the focus of this blog. How are we to live, biblically, knowing of Jesus return? I’d observed that too many people, as Trevin wrote below, focusing on Jesus’ past work and avoiding the future promise of His return. Yet the Bible is replete with admonitions for living, encouraging, and a praying for the future deliverance via the promises of prophecy. This is what Trevin is writing about. Here is the excerpt from his longer essay which is mainly on other topics. He wrote that he is taking a break from blog writing to focus on his dissertation writing, whichis the topic of:

Eschatological Discipleship

The topic of my dissertation is “eschatological discipleship.” Following Jesus means understanding our times in light of the biblical vision of history and having the wisdom to make the right choices when the path ahead seems unclear.

Many gospel-centered folks are right to point out that the New Testament’s moral imperatives are often grounded in Christ’s finished work for us in the past. What we sometimes overlook, however, is how many of those moral imperatives also look forward to Christ’s return in the future. We are called to be “children of the day” in a world that knows only darkness.

The question that propels me forward is this:

What kind of discipleship is necessary to fortify the faith of believers so that we understand what time it is, we rightly interpret our cultural moment, and see through the false and damaging views of history and the future that are in our world?

That is the question I posed in my workshop at TGC this year: Discipleship in the Age of Richard Dawkins, Lady Gaga, and Amazon.com: Grounding Believers in the Scriptural Storyline that Counters Rival Eschatologies. (The audio from the talk is available here.)
To be alert to our times is a gospel requirement, says Oliver O’Donovan:

To see the marks of our time as the products of our past; to notice the danger civilisation poses to itself, not only the danger of barbarian reaction; to attend especially not to those features which strike our contemporaries as controversial, but to those which would have astonished an onlooker from the past but which seem to us too obvious to question. There is another reason, strictly theological. To be alert to the signs of the times is a Gospel requirement, laid upon us as upon Jesus’ first hearers.

I agree.

Enjoy the day today friends, look forward to the future and keep looking up!

discernment, revelation, romanticism, sissified needy jesus, vidal sasoon jesus, voddie baucham

Women, do not worship a sissified Jesus. He is WOE, not woo.

Posted on July 23, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Are you a romantic? I am. I enjoy reading books of fables, fairy tales, and romances where the man who was “the one” for the woman would ride back into town, sweep the woman off her feet, and love her unconditionally and perfectly all her days. Every woman swoons at that thought. Even feminists. They don’t admit it, but that’s why they read romance novels. The Princess Bride is a stupendous movie mostly for this reason.

The divorce rate shows the undeniable truth that there is no perfect prince astride a white horse coming to sweep us off our feet. After the heady moments of early courtship and in the very early days of marriage, that bubble of ephemeral romance dissipates in the face of morning sickness, toilet wars, laundry, and sleepless nights due to children, busybody in-laws or work pressures. Marriage is hard work and no one loves perfectly.

Yet women, including Christian women, still long for the picture of perfect domestic bliss with a strong and capable husband who actually finishes the tasks he sets out to do. And puts the tools away after. As the picture of the Prince and the Princess Happily Ever After becomes more pervasive in society, discontent rises among women. Once they have the husband they now want to dominate the husband. Marriage wars begin. (Genesis 3:16). Including Christian marriages, and worst of all among marriages where one or both partners believe they are Christian but are not. These marriages struggle the most because one or both of the partners are not saved but think they are, and since they are absent the help of the Holy Spirit begin to wonder why their marital partner is so sinful. Women who think they are saved but are not, won’t submit, either, as Ephesians says we must do. (Eph 5:22).

Enter the “Christian” romantics. Bob DeWaay defines Romanticism as

Romanticism—the idea that truth could be found in feelings, art, and the intuitive rather than through empirical investigation and the rational—arose in the early 19th Century as a reaction against the Enlightenment and rationalism. I believe the Emergent movement is a new Romanticism…

In other words, when a woman says or writes, ‘Because I feel such a powerfully blissful longing for Jesus He must be a very good God.’ Ann Voskamp in particular is a writer along these lines, reducing the Omnipotent King Jesus to a puddle of swoon. She wrote in One Thousand Gifts,

Has His love lured me out here to really save me? I sit up in the wheat stubble, drawn. That He would care to save. Moon face glows. We are head to head. I am bare; He is bare. All Eye sees me (Voskamp: 115)

And:

I long to merge with Beauty, breathe it into lungs, feel it heavy on skin. To beat on the door of the universe, pound the chest of God . . . No matter how manifested, beauty is what sparks the romance and we are the Bride pursued, the Lover pursuing, and known or unbeknownst, He woos us in the romance of all time, beyond time. I ache for oneness (Voskamp: 119).

Voskamp is an easy target because her writing is so drenched with girlish giddiness when describing the Alpha and Omega. There are other examples of Romanticism in popular writing, such as these from Sarah Young of Jesus Calling. Jesus Calling is entering its tenth year of being on the bestseller lists, and not just Christian booksellers, any bestseller list. This is the book that just won’t go away.

“Your deepest, most constant need is for My Peace. I have planted Peace in the garden of your heart,” ― Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence

Our heart is a garden of peace? I thought it was deceitful and sick and no one could know it. (Jeremiah 17:9).

Another Sarah Young quote:

MEET ME IN MORNING STILLNESS, while the earth is fresh with the dew of My Presence. Worship Me in the beauty of holiness. Sing love songs to My holy Name. As you give yourself to Me, My Spirit swells within you till you are flooded with divine Presence. Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence

Really. That’s just embarrassing.

Rebekah Lyons one of the ladies of the IF:Gathering, and #freefalltofly. In her book of the same title she stated,

So you’re stuck in a freefall because you never figured out what makes you fly.

That quote says nothing and yet it speaks volumes.

David Murrow wrote the essay, Stop Telling Me To Fall In Love With Jesus, and said,

Romantic imagery is unhelpful. When we describe our faith in romantic terms, we set believers up for immaturity and failure. The term “fall in love” describes the opening chapter of a relationship. It’s the emotional, wispy, unpredictable stage. Do we really want disciples to pattern their faith on this volatile model?

When I think of my faith, I do not imagine it as a love affair. I don’t envision myself sitting across a table in a candlelit restaurant, staring into Jesus’ eyes, casually flirting with him. I don’t picture myself walking hand-in-hand on a beach, opening a love note from Jesus, or climbing into bed next to him. Instead, I see myself walking beside him – asking him questions, gaining his wisdom. I see us fighting injustice, redeeming captives and setting things right. My “relationship” with Jesus takes place on the battlefield – not in the bedroom

Though the article was written by a man about men, his stance of battlefield vs. bedroom should be adopted by women also. We are all warriors in the army of our Commander in Chief. We are not His lover, we are His soldier. Jesus is not weak and needy, wooing us to His breast in a pre-dawn dewy garden, He is a blood-soaked King who elects those whom He chooses to salvation and brings all humans to justice- some to condemnation and wrath and eternal punishment. He is the bloody, pierced sacrificial substitute who died a horrific death in order to bring His elect to heaven to dwell with him so He will be magnified. He is not a whispery, clingy hippie seeking swooning women.

A sissified, needy Jesus is not the Jesus who will vanquish His enemies at Armageddon. A sissified, needy Jesus is not the Jesus who sustains the entire universe with the power of His word. A sissified, needy Jesus is not the Jesus who will fulfill the many promises He has made to bring some to heaven and punish others in wrath forever. A sissified Jesus doesn’t woo. He saves. With a sword.

Be careful of the Jesus you create with your mind and emotions.

God is not only love. Continually having a picture of a romantic, sissified Jesus in our minds will most definitely shift our gaze from the certainty of the coming wrath. As Pastor John MacArthur said last Sunday in his sermon We Will Not Bow,

The Bible is very clear on judgment. You say, “Well that’s the Old Testament. What about Jesus?” I wrote a book called, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore. Some of you remember it. It is the Jesus that seems to be the one who is ignored. Jesus was a judgment preacher. He said far more about hell that he did about heaven. Started with John the Baptist. John the Baptist announced to the leaders of Israel that judgement was going to come with an unquenchable fire and consume them all.

Jesus told a story in Luke, chapter 20, about divine judgement that would take the unfaithful and shatter them into pieces. Jesus announced in John, chapter 5, that He would come in the end, and that there would be a resurrection unto damnation. The apostle Paul said, if you don’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll be damned, 1 Corinthians 16:22.

When Jesus described His own part in the judgement day, He said, “Depart from Me into eternal fire.” Into eternal fire. He said, “Woe to you, Chorazin.” “Woe to you, Bethsaida.” “Woe to you, Pharisees.” “Woe to you, lawyers.” “Woe to the one who has betrayed Me.” He preached judgment all through His ministry. That’s loving. That’s compassionate. That’s necessary.

A true picture of the actual Jesus is one of WOE, not woo.

There is a clip from a Voddie Baucham sermon which in my opinion brings a clearer focus of who Jesus is to the fore. Do not worry that speaking of the avenging Jesus means we don’t understand He is love, also. As this blogger said,

No doubt, Voddie fully understands that God’s love was also the biggest part of His Sons crucifixion. However, he certainly refuted those false Gospel claims that Jesus is a sissy, and that God is only about love.

I’d said at the beginning “the divorce rate shows the undeniable truth that there is no perfect prince astride a white horse coming to sweep us off our feet.” That is only half-true. There is no earthly perfect price. There is a Prince who will come with a white horse and His armies to rescue us and bring us as His bride adorned in white to dwell in a mansion of heavenly New Jerusalem forever. He loves us unconditionally, permanently, and He is the most beautiful person in the universe. He is wealthy, shares His wealth with His bride, sups with her and cares for her intimately because He knows her heart. He created her heart, He cleansed her heart!

This is our Groom, the powerful judge of all the living and the dead, and He chose us through no merit of our own to be part of His family. He wiped us clean of our sin, clothed us, sustains us, houses us, loves us. Isn’t THIS Jesus good enough for the Sarah Youngs and the Rebekah Lyons and the Ann Voskamps of the world?

Isn’t THIS Jesus good enough for you to adore as He is? What about US loving HIM unconditionally for who HE is? He is the I AM.

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Revelation 1:8).

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Going on about visions

Posted on July 23, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (Colossians 2:18)

“The Mystical Wave of Knowledge”

The book of Colossians was written by Apostle Paul, mostly to specifically combat a false teaching that had polluted his flock.

The false teaching was Mysticism.

We don’t know what the Colossians wrote to Paul to prompt his reply, which is the Book of Colossians, but we can see Paul’s fervency in his writing when he replied.

When combating false teaching it’s important to remain focused on Christ. Paul’s emphasis on Christ in Colossians resulted on a stupendous treatise on Christology. The first part of the short book focuses on who Jesus is and what He has done. The latter half focuses on how we are to live in light of this knowledge.

Mysticism is obviously an old problem, since Paul was dealing with it in Colossians. It is a scheme that is alive and well today, even in the most conservative denominations of the faith, which I’ll show in a moment.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines Mysticism as

The term ‘mysticism,’ comes from the Greek word meaning “to conceal.” In the Hellenistic world, ‘mystical’ referred to “secret” religious rituals.

Mysticism says “I have had a certain supernatural experience.” This inexplicable experience can be a dream, out of body travel, visions, automatic writing, or audible speakings from beyond the veil. Eventually “Mystical Theology” came to the fore, and these experiences were codified into a “direct experience of the divine” for the express purpose of “a larger undertaking aimed at human transformation.”

If you have ever heard someone say you can “achieve different levels” or attain “a higher plane of existence”, they are a Mystic.

Mysticism and its sister false teaching, Gnosticism, are sometimes entwined. CARM.org says,

The word “gnosticism” comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “knowledge.” There were many groups that were Gnostic and it isn’t possible to easily describe the nuances of each variant of Gnostic doctrines. However, generally speaking, Gnosticism taught that salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis).

Some of the heretics who claimed to have had Mystical experiences would base teachings on them and circulate among Christians saying they have gained secret insights through having had these experiences and now wish to teach them. The implication is that Christians were missing out in their “higher level” or “secret wisdom” if they didn’t partake. Mysticism/Gnosticism is actually a form of spiritual intimidation. MacArthur,

Now the heretics were claiming this. They were saying, “we have a higher and a broader and a deeper and a greater, and a mystical union with God. We’ve obtained a humility and a piety that is unlike anything you have experienced. We have connected ourselves with the eons and the demigods and the subgods, and we’ve climbed the ladder to the presence of the one true deity.” You hear some of that palaver don’t you now and then, from people, even today.

We do hear this palaver today, more and more. I’ll give you some examples of people claiming to have had a supernatural experience, through which, they plan to “teach” a deeper biblical truth. Of course there is no truth apart from the Bible, which is where we go to seek it. But they are saying it anyway. You notice I am not posting the more flagrant heretics which one would expect to purvey their “experience” into money, the usual cadre of snake oil salesmen like Jesse DuPlantis, Benny Hinn, Heide Baker, etc. These are Southern Baptist Convention-approved Mystics.

Don Piper, who “went to heaven”:

You notice the photo-advertisement for his speaking engagement promises that Mr Piper possesses “unique insight” into heaven. Unique means “existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics: 2. having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable”. There it claims that in all of Christendom, Piper alone has this insight, but he is going to share it with you.

Beth Moore. These are transcriptions from two different video clips of her “teachings” which have since been scrubbed from the Internet. Source for the transcription is here.

And tonight I am gonna do my absolute best to illustrate to you something that God showed me sitting out on the back porch. He put a picture I’ve explained to you before I’m a very visual person. So he speaks to me very often in putting a picture in my head and it was as if I was raised up, looking down on a community as I saw the church in that particular dimension. Certainly not all dimensions, not even many, but in what we will discuss tonight the church as Jesus sees it in a particular dimension.”

What God began to say to me about five years ago and I’m telling you it is in me on such a trek with him that my head is still whirling over it. He began to say to me, ‘I’m gonna say something right now, Beth. And boy you write this one down. And you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it. My bride is paralyzed by unbelief. My bride is paralyzed by unbelief.’ And he said, ‘Starting with you.’ Amen.

You see that Moore claims Jesus told her something and gave her a command to turn around and teach it “as often as I give you utterance to say it.” Like Don Piper, Moore is claiming to have had a vision and an audible personalized command directly from Jesus outside of the Bible, and is going to teach this new truth because you do not have this truth and there is no way to obtain this truth unless Moore or Piper teaches it.

Sarah Young, author of Jesus Calling. This woman had said that she had heard of two mystics (who turned out to be Catholic) in the 1930s who had received personal revelation from God and wrote these revelations down in a book titled God Calling. Young then said,

The following year, I began to wonder if I, too, could receive messages during my times of communing with God. I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication: I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day. I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believe He was saying. I felt awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message. (Source Challies)

This is automatic writing, an ancient occult practice whereupon a seeker makes his mind and body available to any entity from beyond the veil and allows the entity to take over their body and mind and the person automatically writes what “it” wants to express. The thoughts are not the person’s, but the supernatural entity’s. Beth Moore claims to have had this experience when an entity, or a force as she called it, wrote the book “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things” for her.

You notice Young said she had heard of these other women who had gained special insights directly from God, and wondered “If I too could receive messages”. This is part of the process, someone claims to have been given a special revelation which you do not possess. You begin to feel excluded, unspecial, marginalized, disqualified. “Why did they receive this and I did not?” you wonder. “Can I, too, have this special relationship?” It is what Gnostics prey on.

There are many more examples of today’s Christian claiming to have heard a voice, a whisper, a dream, a vision. I do not need to list them all. Paul said in Colossians 2:18,

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,

Gill’s Exposition says,

vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind; judging of things not according to the word of God, and with a spiritual judgment, and according to a spiritual sense and experience, but according to his own carnal reason, and the vanity of his mind; being puffed and swelled with an high opinion of himself, of his great parts and abilities, of his knowledge of things above others, and of his capacity to penetrate into, and find out things which were not seen and known by others: this shows that his humility was forced, and only in outward appearance, and was not true and genuine,

These heretics might seem humble, but they actually have a puffed up (conceited) fleshly mind. This is a fact. It means Beth Moore is conceited, Don Piper is puffed up, and Sarah Young had an unreasoning mind.

If the above was a review for previous readers of this blog or a quick overview to newcomers, there is a second part to the verse that is important to note. Besides simply explaining what Colossian Mysticism and Gnosticism was, how it is rampant today, and who is practicing it; we must talk about disqualification.

Paul began is admonition to the Colossians by saying “Let no one disqualify you…” What does this mean?

What is he saying? Don’t let anybody tell you, you are disqualified from obtaining the prize of spirituality, because you haven’t reached the level of self abasement. You haven’t understood the worship of angels; you haven’t had the right visions. All they are is inflated by their own fleshly minds. And the one thing they are not doing is holding fast to the head, and who is the head? Christ. You see, they’ve said, it’s Christ, plus my visions, plus my experiences with the angels, plus my deeper experience, my higher experience. The first one is Christ plus rules; the second one is Christ plus mystical experience.

Don’t let them intimidate you by what you haven’t experienced and make you think that you don’t really know God at all, because you have never had any of those experiences. (source)

In other words, do not be intimidated. I’ll finish with a verse from Colossians 1:12b. Don’t let anyone disqualify you through intimidation, that you haven’t had these supernatural experiences and thus are lesser. Why? Because of this eternal truth:

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

You are already having a supernatural experiences that surpass understanding. You have the Holy Spirit in you. You pray to God and He hears. You are being grown in sanctification. You experience His common grace and His sanctifying grace every day. You are the beneficiary of His providence. Do you “yearn for more” as Sarah Young complained? You already have the best, the top, the highest kind, number, and quality of supernatural experiences. Anything other than the experiences given to you described by scripture are lesser, fleshly, and leads to puffed up conceit. Don’t let anyone disqualify you, because you have been qualified by the God of the Universe, Yahweh Himself.

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Further Reading:

S. Lewis Johnson sermon/transcript “A Defense of Christian Liberty“

discernment, false teachers, lucre, prosperity, root of all evil, treasure

The lure of the lucre: false religion is big business

Posted on July 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Money brings with it the lure of the world and what it has to offer. We are from heaven, sent into the world (John 17:16) but we are not to be conformed to the pattern of it while we are here. (Rom 12:2).

Kudzu enveloping and choking a tree

But we need to live, eat, work, raise families. And for that, we need money. We need to be part of the world’s economic system in some degree.

Being part of an evil world system through employment, or pension, or financial investment, means we have to make decisions at all times to refrain from being drawn in and compromising our biblical principles. Lydia of Acts 16:14 seems to be one of the people who was involved in a business which brought much money (seller of purple, quite expensive) yet retained her fervent love of the Lord. We know she was successful at this because she had a large enough home to host gatherings and hosted a home church. It seems from the few gleanings we can read in scripture, that once Lydia found Jesus, she used her means to further the kingdom instead of having a divided heart or worse, succumbing to the world like Demas did. (2 Timothy 4:10). She was in the world, but not of the world.

The boat is supposed to be in the water, but the water isn’t supposed to be in the boat. ~Alistair Begg

Ananias and Sapphira became entangled in the world system of the love of money, briefly but eternally. In their real estate transaction, they succumbed to the lure of the lucre and kept back some for themselves, even though they had promised God to give it all to Him. God doesn’t require all, but their broken promise meant that they were like Mrs Lot, looking back and not putting Him first. They were hypocrites. (1 Tim 6:10).

The love of money and Christianity do not mix. The love of money and false religion are a perfect match. For the non-Christian, false religion can bring in big bucks, incredible bucks. False religion is a blockbusting money-maker. Let’s look at a few instances of this from the bible.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

19But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” Acts 16:16-20).

First, the most literal and obvious part of the verse is that the slave owners were raking in the money by farming out this girl in fortune telling. Just as fortune-telling is lucrative now, it was then. Why does fortune telling make so much money? It plays into the emptiness of the world system and of the individual heart. People have eternity in their hearts, (Ecc 3:11) know God exists, (Romans 1:19), have a conscience (Romans 2:15) and yet suppress all that and go seek temporal to fill the vacuum things anyway. False religion is only too happy to oblige.

“Anyone that has a deep longing for true happiness is unsatisfied with any material thing, things which cannot quiet the heart.” John MacArthur

Secondly, the false religionists do not care about you. I repeat, they do not care about you. They don’t care about your well-being, your spiritual growth, your emotions, your self-esteem, or your happiness. At all. The slave owner knew their girl was possessed. How horrible to be possessed! Yet do the false religionists care about her as a person? No. They wee only angry their money-making enterprise was destroyed.

Third, false religionists are liars. They said among themselves that they were angry their hope of gain was gone. But do they say that when they go to court? No. They lie and they present a false front of caring for “the city” and its laws.

Let’s look at another instance which shows the incredible money-making potential of the false religions.

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:18-19)

This occurred in Ephesus.

Acts 19:19, Ephesian Book Burning. Artist unknown

The total of the books burned from just this one segment of the population of the city, not even the whole of the city, toted up to 50,000 pieces of silver! This is a staggering amount of money. Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. According to Thucydides, a drachma or silver piece was approximately a day’s pay for a skilled laborer. So 30 pieces of silver would be comparable to 120 day’s wages. The people in Ephesus spent roughly 200,000 day’s wages on false religion materials!

Fifty thousand pieces of silver is a monumental amount of money to be investing in false religion materials! People are financially supported by false religion to a degree that not only is seen then, but is seen now. The false religionists deeply care about their money, very deeply. Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil.

One more. Also from Acts 19 verses 24-25,

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. (Acts 19:24-25)

Once again, we see that their first concern is that they have obtained wealth. In the Greek it’s “Our prosperity depends upon this business.” Their first thought is always money.

Second, notice that the verse mentions with the workmen in similar trades. In Greek it’s ‘of similar kind.’ There are the idol makers like Demetrius, shrine makers, amulet makers, magic arts bookbinders and scribes, potion purveyors…the list goes on. If you walked into any Christian bookstore looking for a bible, think of all the OTHER stuff that goes along with it. Bible covers, bookmarks, highlighters, CDs, etc. In any religion there is always the main stuff to buy and then all the extra stuff to buy. False religion was a huge business in Ephesus.

Third, if you read in the next few verses, Demetrius said that these men from The Way are putting a dent in our pocketbooks, and plus, oh yeah, they are besmirching the name of Artemis. Since their first thought is always gain, the caring about Artemis is secondary and a cover. We know it’s a cover because of the example above. The aggrieved slave girl owners first stated they lost a lot of money but when they went to the court, they put on a show of mourning over the upset city inhabitants and the civil law. The Artemis lovers cared first about their money and secondarily about the goddess- only then as a means to an end. The end being their pocketbook.

Fourth, after Demetrius did his damage, the city was riled up. The rabble eventually made their way to the amphitheater, but get this,

Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. (Acts 19:32).

They didn’t know why they were mad or against who! They didn’t even know why they were there! They were truly a rabid dog, mindless crowd, not caring one bit about Artemis until they were told to. (Acts 19:33-34).

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

One note before I close. There is nothing wrong with being rich. Sometimes God blesses us with means so that we can further His kingdom like He did with Abraham, Job, Solomon, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia.

However, the love of wealth is:

tempting (1 Tim 6:9)
a snare (1 Tim 6:10)
deceitful (Matthew 13:22)
ruinous to households (Proverbs 15:27)
disqualifying men for leadership (1 Timothy 3:3)
unrighteous (Luke 16:22)
A false god (Matthew 6:24- Mammon!)

If money is the root of all kinds of evil, then money and false religion are made for each other because false religion is a high evil and money will be the root of it.

The lesson is, never underestimate the tentacles of money in false religion’s purveyors and how committed to money they are to it, how sneaky they are to maintain it, and the depths they will descend to in order to keep it.

Make your decisions wisely, don’t get caught in a money trap. Heed the many admonitions in the Bible. Loving money too much will cause you to make unrighteous decisions, as it did for Ananias and Sapphira. As for those who purvey a false version of Christianity, they do not love you. They do not care for you. They put on a false front, a big ole Texas smile, sisterly jokes about big hair, intimate confessions of past trauma, but at the root of it, all they want is money.

Smaug the dragon protecting his treasure in The Hobbit movie. LOTR wiki.

But for us,

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; (Matthew 6:19-20)

And where the most precious treasure of all abides: Jesus