God – Page 4

How big is the universe? How small is the smallest known object?

Posted on January 30, 2016May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A friend sent me a link to a video where the scale of the universe is compared. We start with human size and drill down to the smallest known length/size, which is a string of String Theory.

NOVA – Official Website | A Sense of Scale: String Theory says of a string,

The strings of string theory are unimaginably small. Your average string, if it exists, is about 10-33 centimeters long. That’s a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter. If an atom were magnified to the size of the solar system, a string would be the size of a tree.

Then the scale increases to compare larger objects, and ends with both the known universe’s size and the estimated universe’s size.

It is estimated that the diameter of the observable universe is about 28.5 gigaparsecs (93 billion light-years, 8.8×1026 metres or 5.5×1023 miles), putting the edge of the observable universe at about 46.5 billion light-years away. (Source)

God is bigger than all that.

The reason the video is fascinating is because of the comparison. It makes more sense to compare objects to determine relative size. If I’d have written “The observable universe is 28.5 gigaparsecs” you’d have gone, “hunh?!” But seeing the sizes of known things and pondering their sizes is easier and more productive when you have a known to latch an unknown onto.

Now, when I was a non-saved person, I’d have eagerly learned these facts about the scale of the universe. It is mystifying and wondrous to see the sizes of these things, a string to a neutrino to a DNA strand to a molecule to… and so on. But just knowing the facts for the sake of knowing them is self-glorifying.

The key for the saved person is making the comparison. God is not only bigger than all that, He MADE all that. In six days. There’s the difference.

When we compare everything to Christ things begin to assume a supernatural element which awes and fascinates.

When Paul preached to the Gentiles, he always began with creation. Gentiles didn’t know or care about the Hebrew scriptures, but every Gentile who walked the earth knew that an earth existed. Who made it? In Acts 14:14-15, the Gentiles thought Paul and Barnabas were gods. Paul told them in Lystra:

Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

In Athens, Paul said,

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:23-25)

It is so sweet to meditate on creation balanced against the immensity of the fact that our God made it. And His attributes are just as immense, infinite, actually. His love and mercy and omniscience and power and grace…

creator, earth, encouragement, God

He hung the earth: Our Artistic Creator God

Posted on January 12, 2016 by elizabethprata

NASA Releases a Spectacular Earthrise Image Captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Reminds me of Job 26:7, “He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.”

We live on a beautiful planet. We’re a generation that has been blessed to see actual photos of other planets from the space Voyager missions and the Hubble telescope. Though other planets such as Mars have a stark beauty, none have the lush, eye-pleasing beauty that Earth does.

Have you ever considered the creation verse in Genesis 2?

And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. (Genesis 2:9)

Beauty was mentioned before utility. It was beautiful, and by the way, it was also food. God could have made this and all the planets black and white. But He didn’t. God as Creator is an engineer, creating animals and humans with deft precision. He is also an artist, creating things that are not only functional, but beautiful.

After the Flood, when there were only 8 people remaining who remembered what Earth looked like before. He could have remade things as utilitarian only. But once again, the earth sprung up with beautiful sights to behold. And fast, too. Consider this verse from Genesis 8:9-11,

But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.

Waters had been on the earth for 278 days. For at least 128 days, the earth and all its life had been entirely submerged. According to the verse though, between the time the dove found no place to put her foot and when she returned with a fresh leaf, was only 7 days.

The LORD made a full grown tree with a full grown leaf in that time! He is amazing. I bet the leaf was pretty, too.

God’s artistry is evident in viewing photos of galaxies, flowers, shells, landforms such as the Grand Canyon. Though the earth’s ground has been cursed and it is polluted with sin, which is the root cause of all natural disasters, cataclysms, and destruction, it is still beautiful. So just imagine the beauty of the dazzling New Jerusalem! And His abode, heaven. Paul said it is inexpressible, and John groped for words. I can’t wait to see God’s full artistry on display through glorified eyes. And we shall behold Him, the most beautiful of all, Jesus Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

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The Remarkable Exclusivity of the Babe

Posted on December 22, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

As a student who was blessed with a classic education, I studied the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. The entire genealogy of gods and goddesses in the Greek and Roman mythology are hard to keep track of. However, one thing that is not hard to discern is their character. As The British Museum puts it:

The ancient Greeks believed there were a great number of gods and goddesses. These gods had control over many different aspects of life on earth. In many ways they were very human. They could be kind or mean, angry or pleasant, cruel or loving. They fell in love with each other, argued with each other and even stole from each other.

They were always angry at something or other. For example, there was Eris, goddess of discord.

ERIS was the goddess or spirit (daimona) of strife, discord, contention and rivalry. She was often represented specifically as the daimon of the strife of war, who haunted the battlefield and delighted in human bloodshed. Because of Eris’ disagreeable nature she was the only goddess not to be invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles). When she turned up anyway, she was refused admittance and, in a rage, threw a golden apple amongst the goddesses inscribed “To the fairest.” Three goddesses laid claim it, and in their rivalry brought about the events which led to the Trojan War. (source)

Hm, ‘the golden apple of discord’. Sounds familiar. Anyway, one would have thought that a goddess possessing great powers and knowledge would have had a bit more self-control. I guess not.

Then there’s the story of poor Arachne. Ovid wrote-

Arachne was a shepherd’s daughter who began weaving at an early age. She became a great weaver, boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena, and refused to acknowledge that her skill came, in part at least, from the goddess. Athena took offense and set up a contest between them. Presenting herself as an old lady, she approached the boasting girl and warned: “You can never compare to any of the gods. Plead for forgiveness and Athena might spare your soul.”

“Ha, I only speak the truth and if Athena thinks otherwise then let her come down and challenge me herself,” Arachne replied. Athena removed her disguise and appeared in shimmering glory, clad in a sparkling white chiton. The two began weaving straight away. Athena’s weaving represented four separate contests between mortals and the gods in which the gods punished mortals for setting themselves as equals of the gods. Arachne’s weaving depicted ways that the gods had misled and abused mortals, particularly Zeus, tricking and seducing many women. When Athena saw that Arachne had not only insulted the gods, but done so with a work far more beautiful than Athena’s own, she was enraged. She ripped Arachne’s work into shreds, and sprinkled her with Hecate’s potion, turning her into a spider and cursing her and her descendants to weave for all time. This showed how goddesses punished those human for wanting to be equals. (source)

It’s where we get the word for the class of spiders, arachnids. The gods were always either seducing someone or their wives the goddesses were always changing someone into something for being seduced. The Titans were the first set of gods, and like all others that followed, were subject to succumbing to human sins and passions. Though the premier gods, the Titans couldn’t even hold onto their power, and were usurped by their children, the twelve Olympians. I guess they weren’t so Titanic after all.

I used to wonder, what made them gods? Why did they seem like such humans? It is the same with Hindu gods, Native American gods, Chinese gods…decidedly not…god-like.

Of course we know that this is because these gods are made-up. Because their origin came from the mind of man, they are like man. These gods either were distant and removed from the petty squabbles of mankind, or were directly involved but not usually to humankind’s good.

Preceding all these was Yahweh. After Cain wandered away from God and the faith, departing in blood after killing his brother, he founded cities and these cities held people who also were not believers in God. So they made up their own. Lots of them. Some of these false gods were mentioned in the Bible- ancient gods like Amon, Asherah, Baal, desert gods like Dagon, Roman gods like Zeus and Hermes, Artemis, Castor and Pollux. Of course, since none of these gods were real, they were all a #fail and were constantly disappointing the people who foolishly believed in them.

Since these fake gods were like man, when man looked at these gods, they felt comfortable. Looking into a mirror of mercurial, petty gods was like looking at themselves, and all was well. I can understand a god like me, goes the thinking, I can handle a god with problems.

God has always been a God of perfection, holiness, goodness, justice. If He says it, it shall be done. (Ezekiel 12:28, Psalm 33:4, & etc.) In Him there is no shadow of turning at all. He is not changeable, mercurial, petulant, angry without reason (like changing people into spiders). Man could not conceive of a God as perfect and just as our God. Man cannot look upon His holiness and live. He is decidedly a God that mans sinful man uncomfortable.

Who is like God?

Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? (Psalm 89:6)

Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, (Psalm 113:5)

And then came the Incarnation. Our God, seeing the lost state of humanity and our need to be redeemed from sin’s bondage, sent His Son to be birthed into this terrible, dark world. He is King, who emptied Himself and became a baby, then an obedient boy, then a servant of men, then a sacrifice unto death. Who is like our God! Who is like Jesus, the firstborn of all creation!

Many babies grew to be kings. No king has ever become a baby. Yet God promised a Redeeeer from the beginning, and so it came to be. He is a God of promises kept.

The supremacy of our Jesus is unparalleled. His time on earth as God-man is an event which split history, reverberated through earth, heaven, and eternity, and broke sin’s bondage. Who is like our God!

No other petulant god, no other angry idol, no other petty deity exists. Only the perfection encapsulated in a baby born on earth, to the glory of God and to the praises of angels and shepherds.

Christ is born. And there is no other.

encouragement, God

God, use me in a mighty way

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

Do you ever pray that God would use you mightily? I do. I want to be used by Him and magnify His name. We often think of women in the bible who were used in a mighty way because they did mighty things. Deborah, military victor. Rahab, courageous with the spies of Israel; Mary humbly bearing the Savior. When we think of “mighty” we think of events large in scope.

But to be used of the Lord mightily can also be small in scope – but mighty just the same. The LORD will prosper His name and cast Glory onto Himself through His works. There is a small moment in the Bible worth looking at where a mighty work was done, glory shone on the LORD, but the one who did them is not even named! Yet her faith and her ‘one, small act’ was indeed mighty in scope and nature. Best of all, the Lord was glorified through them.

Naaman’s wife’s maid.

Rhoda was a maid, but named in the Bible. This girl was not even named. But no matter. Her act lives on!

Naaman was a Syrian General, humiliated because he contracted leprosy. Meanwhile, back at his home, his wife had been given a little slave girl to attend to her. This maid was an Israelite, captured and brought to a strange land. The Israelite slave girl was strong in faith and knowing of the works God through His spokesman at the time, Prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 5:1-19)

When Naaman and his household bemoaned Naaman’s leprous state, this little girl piped up. Her time away from her culture, the temple, the assembly, her God-loving home did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm for Yahweh. She extolled His virtues to Naaman’s wife, burbling over the many miracles of Elisha and the works God did through Him. This girl was small, but she knew her God was big.

I can’t imagine such strong faith. She bore no resentment toward her captors! If it was me, I’d probably mutter something like, “Good, he deserves leprosy. I hope he rots.” But then again, we know that what we deserve is death and hell. Only the largess of the grace bestowed upon us by God saves us from “what we deserve.” So this girl unashamedly and enthusiastically shared the knowledge of the Holy God who is able to do miracles. She did not hold back and lived a life of proclamation in word and deed. When the moment arose, she did not hesitate to share God as the solution to Naaman’s uncleanliness. Though Naaman’s leprosy was very real, in the Bible leprosy is always a metaphor also for unrighteousness. A leper was never pronounced cured. He was always pronounced “clean.”

We know the rest of the story. Elisha’s servant met the General, the General in his pride was angry. The prophet told the general to dip in the Jordan river seven times, Naaman’s pride again led him away from God’s solution. But entreaties from Naaman’s servants enticed Naaman to the river, and he finally did as he was instructed. he came up the 7th time, clean.

Naaman became a believer! (2 Kings 5:15a). The little girl was a messenger of the Good News, that cleansing was available from a Holy God. One might wonder why the second in command of an entirely strong nation would listen to the urgencies of a little slave maid. Her life was not contained in one plea to her mistress, but her life must have had a persistent genuineness and a spiritual credibility so that Naaman’s wife listened, and Naaman in turn listened too.

This nameless sprout of a slave from Israel living in captivity in Syria and to which only 20 verses recount the story, did a mighty work for God. When he returned to Syria who knows how much Naaman’s worship had an effect. A MIGHTY effect.

And then there is the lad with the loaves…(John 6) whom Andrew said were nothing against so many. Never let yourself feel that your words, your act, your gift, is too small and insignificant. The unnamed slave girl’s proclamation of God led to the mightiest work of all, a cleansed heart. The lad’s loaves in God’s hands multiplied and fed thousands. You don’t know, maybe your act or your few words, small as you think they may be, will be multiplied in ways incalculable for the Kingdom and in a manner which brings glories you cannot see to the Lord. Have faith and keep heart. You are not insignificant, but mightily significant!

eternity, God, heaven, prophecy, ten thousand year clock

Clock of the Long Now

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

A man is building a clock in the West Texas Mountains that will keep time for 10,000 years. It is a 10,000 year clock, and the foundation supporting this enterprise is called The Long Now.

It is written about the clock–

Designed by Danny Hillis, the Clock is designed to run for ten millennia with minimal maintenance and interruption. The Clock is powered by mechanical energy harvested from sunlight as well as the people that visit it. The primary materials used in the Clock are marine grade 316 stainless steel, titanium and dry running ceramic ball bearings. The entire mechanism will be installed in an underground facility in west Texas.

Why is this man building a clock that will keep time for 10,000 years? Well, why does any man do anything? Why did they climb Everest? Why do they go down to the sea in ships? Why do they tramp the Arctic?

But this man, why is he building a long now clock?

I wanted a symbol of the future, in the same way that the pyramids are a symbol of the past. I wanted to build something that gave us that sense of connection.

I’m Danny Hillis and I’m building a clock that will last for 10,000 years. ..One of the ways we keep the clock accurate is that we synchronize it to the sun… Exactly at solar noon the chimes begin to play. … They worked out a way of ringing ten bells in a different sequence each day, for ten thousand years. … We’re invested in generational thinking, and answering the question, ‘were we good ancestors?’

There’s a problem of people not believing in the future, a long-term clock challenges those short-term civilizational stories. I’m very optimistic about the future. I’m not optimistic because I think our problems are small. I’m optimistic because I think our capacities are great.

Oh. I see. Like the Tower of Babel.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/146022717

To see the Clock you need to start at dawn, like any pilgrimage. Once you arrive at its hidden entrance in an opening in the rock face, you will find a jade door rimmed in stainless steel, and then a second steel door beyond it. These act as a kind of crude airlock, keeping out dust and wild animals. You rotate its round handles to let yourself in, and then seal the doors behind you. It is totally black. You head into the darkness of a tunnel a few hundred feet long. At the end there’s the mildest hint of light on the floor. You look up. There is a tiny dot of light far away, at the top of top of a 500 foot long vertical tunnel about 12 feet in diameter. There is stuff hanging in the shaft.

And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 9:3-4)

The first part of the Clock you encounter on the ascent up the spiral staircase is the counterweights of the Clock’s drive system. This is a huge stack of stone disks, about the size of a small car, and weighing 10,000 pounds. Depending on when the clock was last wound, you may have to climb 75 feet before you reach the weights.

You keep climbing. For the next 70-80 feet of ascent you pass 20 huge horizontal gears (called Geneva wheels), 8 feet in diameter, each weighing 1,000 pounds. This is the mechanical computer that calculates the over 3.5 million different melodies that the chimes will ring inside the mountain over the centuries.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 9:5-7)

This is what happens when man worships created things instead of the Creator. Man has an inherent notion of time. Man knows he is in a great slip-stream current of time, connected to those who have passed before us and linked to those yet to come. That is because God has put eternity into man’s heart. (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Man seeks the great questions, desires to know the end of things, wants to achieve greatness under the sun- or on the plains of Shinar.

The 10,000 year clock’s design and these beginning moments of its construction are truly remarkable. That men could design such a thing does seem to indicate a nearly bottomless well of capacity for accomplishment. Yet man’s capacity is only as deep or as long as the Holy God allows it, as we know the end of the story of the Tower of Babel. What the 10,000 year clock really is, is a monument to man. What a shame to use all that money, time, skill, and labor for something that is really an ode to man.

What blessings he has given us to enter His courts and see the angelic beings with wheels within wheels, TRUE machinery that lasts ten thousand upon tens of thousands of years, eternities. What greatness He has bestowed on us to hear the trumpet and harps and worship songs that are the chimes of heaven.

In Jesus we have the eternal questions answered. We know that we know we are in His slip-stream of time and in the current that is endless and infinite. We know we are good ancestors because He is our father, the root ancestor, having in us His greatness. Apart from Him we can do nothing, but in Him we can do whatever His will allows and sustains in us to do. From man’s perspective, the clock in the mountain in West Texas is a remarkable thing. It really is. Personally, I’m in awe of it and wonderstruck at the men who are creating it. From God’s perspective it is a mote on a gnat on a flea. My true awe is of the God who invented time. What a blessing He gave His children the eternal answers. We do not have the restlessness of clockmakers, but possess an eternal peace. In Him, in heaven, there is no time, and no need for clocks.

encouragement, endless, God, infinity

Infinity

Posted on November 28, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

We’re familiar with infinity, even if we can’t really comprehend it. We know the Realtor selling point “there’s an infinity pool!” or the Toy Story motto “To Infinity and beyond!” which is pretty funny actually.

In the second grade classroom in which I am stationed as teacher aide, there is a number line above the Smart board. (AKA chalkboard for us old timers). To the left of zero are a host of negative numbers and to the right of zero is a host of increasing whole numbers. The teacher occasionally mentions to the kids that the numbers go on and on, to infinity.

When I was a schoolchild I learned about the number googol. I used to think that a googol was the largest number. It isn’t. But here is a Wikipedia definition of a googol:

A googol is the large number 10 to the 100. In decimal notation, it is written as the digit 1 followed by one hundred 0s. The term was coined in 1920 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta (1911–1981), nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. A googol has no special significance in mathematics. However, it is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of hypothetical possibilities in a chess game. Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity, and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics.

The ancients had a difficult time expressing just large numbers. For centuries, the standard way to describe any number over 10,000 was “myriad.” A really, REALLY big number would be ‘myriad myriads’. Here in Deuteronomy 32:30 ISV the rhetorical question is asked how could one of the the thinly populated Jews have put ten thousand soldiers to flight, or two of the Jews put “a myriad to flight”. Other translations say ten thousand.

How can one person chase a thousand of them and two put a myriad to flight, unless their Rock delivers them and the LORD gives them up?

Of course a verse that comes immediately to mind is Revelation 5:11-

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

One day, the famous mathematician Archimedes (287BC-212BC) wanted to sort of count the number of grains of sand, Or rather, he wondered how many grains of sand would be the upper limit of grains of sand that could fit into the universe. Archimedes definitely had big thoughts.Yet he knew that ‘myriad upon myriad’ was not going to suffice as a reckoning for this large number experiment he desired to perform. Wikipedia says,

In order to do this, he had to estimate the size of the universe according to the contemporary model, and invent a way to talk about extremely large numbers. … Archimedes had to invent a system of naming large numbers. The number system in use at that time could express numbers up to a myriad (μυριάς — 10,000), and by utilizing the word “myriad” itself, one can immediately extend this to naming all numbers up to a myriad myriads (10 to the 8th power.)

And Archimedes went from there.

Anyway, the ancients had a hard time naming large numbers, and infinity is just beyond us all. It means endless, and comprehending endless numbers, or endless anything, is impossible.

Here’s another brain buster. The only reason we can even have numbers to infinity is because of God. God is infinite. He is beyond everything that there is.

This photo is of a book called God Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics, evidence, and the impossibility of the contrary. A Twitter friend posted this page from the book as he was studying. I read the excerpt he posted below, and became entranced with the idea of an infinite God and infinite numbers. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Even though in our own crude, puny human way, we can only express the majestic God as myriad upon myriad big, the fact that we have an infinite relationship with Him is enough. Our time with Him is endless, boundless, impossible to calculate. We will worship Him in infinite glory endlessly.

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Bible Art Journaling: No, No, No

Posted on November 13, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Second Commandment says that any graven images of the Holy God are forbidden.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4)

The next sentence says nor shall you bow down to them, so this commandment is talking about worshiping idols. Matthew Henry Commentary explains,

It is forbidden to make any image or picture of the Deity, in any form, or for any purpose; or to worship any creature, image, or picture.

And then Henry goes on to explain the deeper meanings of the command..

So, I’ve been thinking about pictures lately, spiritual pictures. I became aware last week of Presidential candidate Dr Ben Carson’s portrait with Jesus. Carson claims to be a believer, but as a Seventh Day Adventist there are too many aberrant beliefs within that cult in order for me to take his claim at face value. (FMI on Seventh Day Adventism, please go here, here or here)

Yes Dr Carson’s portrait is real.

Carson has said it is representative of his faith and displays his gratitude that Jesus gave him ‘gifted hands’ as a surgeon. I personally believe the portrait is blasphemy. The Second Commandment said not to portray in pictures any image of the Deity, and yet there is a big old picture of the Second Person of the Deity. Worse, Carson is seated while Jesus is standing. At the least one would think Carson would be bowing.

I like this picture of the Robe of Righteousness by Lars Justinen. In Justinen’s painting, Jesus’ face is not shown. The focus is on His act of clothing us with His righteousness and the reaction of the sinner. I’m still not sure if the Justinen painting breaks the Second Commandment if Jesus’ face and His body is not shown. But it might.

A friend made a comment on Twitter last night. She posted a photo of a Bible that had been altered by the owner having added paintings all around the edges of the margins. Apparently it’s called Bible Art Journaling. Apparently Bible Art Journaling is a “movement”.

Many visually oriented folks know that prayer journals and art journals are a great way to record thoughts and reactions to scripture. I mentioned in last night’s essay that I made art journals and individual little books during my process of coming to salvation and just afterwards. As a new babe in Christ I had difficulty grappling with new doctrines and I’d often try to visualize them since words failed me. I also used my art journal to make collages in praise to the Lord. I was so excited! The depth of my gratitude overflowed and words failed me then, too, so I’d use pictures to express what I felt. I did them in my blank sketchbook, though, NOT in my Bible.

I have had a lifelong aversion to writing, drawing, or even underlining any book whatsoever. Not novels, not textbooks, nothing. I never even wrote my name in one. I don’t write in my bible nor do I underline anything in it. Since that book is God’s Holy Word I feel even more strongly that a Bible should be handled with gravitas and respect. I’ve never underlined or written anything in any of my Bibles. “Prettying up” a Bible with my own art is not necessary and mixes my paltry words and pictures with God’s. Besides, the Bible isn’t an art project! We don’t need tutorials explaining why gesso is not a good idea to use on the thin pages of God’s word, but stencils are!

Google Image search results page for search term “Bible art journaling”

Now, if the Bibles being decorated don’t violate the Second Commandment by depicting an image from heaven nor does the owner bow down to it, then why am I writing about it? Where is the concern? Isn’t it just a matter of preference?

I have three answers for that.

1. Yes, it is a matter of preference. There is no commandment that a Christian can’t find solace in creative work on the pages of one’s Bible. But not everything allowed is profitable. (1 Corinthians 10:23). See #2.

2. I don’t want to disrespect this young woman, but I do have concerns with this approach to “encountering Jesus.” This page is a tutorial page on how to “journal your Bible.” It’s called Bible Art Journaling Challenge, and the woman promises to “Help you encounter Jesus through creativity” through “52 weeks of life-changing creative fun!” She’s not the only one. Bible Art Journaling is being promoted this way in many places.

Now here’s the issue. There is nothing wrong with art. There is nothing wrong with creativity. There is nothing wrong with collages, illustrating a prayer, painting a verse. Visuals combined with words often helps us meditate on the Word. Here is a collage I did when I was a babe, regarding 2 Corinthians 4:4 and satan’s blinding of men to the truth. All the while people play games with their life, never heeding the seriousness of it and the squandered worship they could be performing.

Here is another one I did as a babe in Christ, musing on Philippians 4:7 and the peace that passes all understanding. No matter if there is violence, war, explosions, the gal sipping tea is peaceful and unperturbed because she has Christ.

Another creative outlet I employ is spending a lot of time matching a verse with one of my photographs, all the while thinking of what the verse means. I shared these with you to show I’m not a wordsmith purist nor an old fuddy-duddy, lol. Creativity is good. Visuals are good. It’s just not a substitute for engaging your mind totally on the unadulterated word of God. Reading God’s Word is the encounter with God. Painting swirls on a Bible page is not an encounter with God.

The difference is, God’s word should stand alone and not become an “fun activity.”

We read that satan is the most subtle creature in the Garden. (Genesis 3:1.) If he can do anything to divert a Christian’s attention from the pure, unadulterated word of God, he will do it. This Bible art journaling is just such an activity. The Bible is not an art project. Coloring on its pages does not bring you closer to Jesus. Painting on its pages does not spark an encounter with Him. Reading His word, meditating on it, and obeying it is what illuminates the mind of God to us. Satan is an incremental foe. I have no idea abut the theology of this blogger but this one paragraph struck me as the best description of satan’s ploy in incrementally changing our stance on doctrine.

Incrementalism is the single best arrow in Satan’s quiver…It is a subtle approach to change masked as genuinely positive, and since it always comes in slow, bite size chunks over time, you do not even feel that you have been deceived until too late.

See what this blogger said about her jump into the journaling Bible movement. Again, I don’t disrespect her, but her opening statement seems to perfectly capture the incremental nature of satan’s ploy as explained above,

Truth be told, I had resisted this whole “art journaling in your Bible” movement at first since I already do a lot of Bible studying and I didn’t want to take time away from that in order to “play”. BUT, the seed was planted. Just about every time I cracked open my Bible I could see how I could incorporate this into my life by keeping it simple and recording what I was already learning. (source)

So once the seed was planted when she opened her bible she didn’t see Jesus anymore but all she saw was how to use the space for her art. See? It’s a problem. We have blank sketch books for art. We have altered book tutorials. Not Bible art. As a matter of fact, bible art journaling IS a form of altered book art.

Altered books: An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance and/or meaning. An altered book artist takes a book (old, new, recycled or multiple) and cuts, tears, glues, burns, folds, paints, adds to, collages, rebinds, gold-leafs, creates pop-ups, rubber-stamps, drills, bolts, and/or be-ribbons it. The artist may add pockets and niches to hold tags, rocks, ephemera, or other three-dimensional objects.

Here is an example of altered book art:

Source

Here is an example of MY altered book art:

EPrata art

Here is an example of altered Bible art:

Source

Bible art journaling obscures God’s word. It competes with it. To be fair, the Bible art journaling blogger does not advocate abandoning devotional time nor substituting creative time for actual bible study. But that is the subtle genius of satan. He is an incremental foe. A sly insertion of an activity with the Bible instead of reading the Bible itself is the goal. A familiar proverb or saying goes,

“If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow.”

#3. I’d said that satan is subtle. Usually there is not anything particularly wrong with an activity or practice. You can’t point a finger and show the smoking gun. However the incremental nature of satan, taking an inch here, a half an inch there, over time chisels away at the foundation and all of a sudden you look around and wonder, “how did I get here?”

Just as Catholic labyrinths were re-branded as Protestant prayer walking, just as occult channeling was re-branded as “hearing from God”, just as mystical “contemplative prayer” was re-branded as “Protestant contemplative prayer”, just as Hindu Yoga was re-branded as ‘Christian Yoga’, just as Wiccan pentagrams were re-branded as “circle making”…”. Remember enneagrams? Those have Sufi roots. Bible art journaling is already melding with Hindu Mandala coloring. “Color your way closer to God?” No, no, no.

This Mandala Coloring Book For Grown Ups Is The Creative’s Way To Mindful Relaxation

For the unfamiliar, a mandala is a sacred symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, made from a nest of squares and circles, that represents the cosmos. As the Asian Art Museum put it: “mandalas are not just images to view, but worlds to enter — after recreating the image in their mind’s eye, meditators imaginatively enter its realm.”

Oh! You mean, an encounter with the divine through creativity! Like this Christian description!

Bible art journaling is part of the growing, Illustrated Faith and Bible doodling movement where many are creating on the pages of their Bible. The idea is to engage more freely with the Word of God in new ways and to record personally inspiring scriptures in creative and artistic ways, which serve to remind us of moments in our personal journey with God. (source)

Or like this book available at Amazon, coloring Hindu mandalas to match Christian hymns.

Abide: An Adult Coloring Book Featuring 30 Great Hymns of the Faith: Where Art-Therapy and Soul-Therapy Meet

With original mandala artwork and hymn excerpts to color, Abide is certain to stimulate spirit and heart. Turn on some background music to play along as you color. Each coloring sheet is one-sided, with hymn texts printed on the back of each design.
Carefully selected hymns to appeal to young and old. Original mandala artwork. Artistic script designs. Simple, but beautiful mandala designs.

Source

People, Mandalas are HINDU. They are not, nor will they ever be CHRISTIAN. They represent something sacred to the unsaved. Something sacred to the unsaved is an IDOL. We are back to the Second Commandment I opened this essay with. Don’t believe me? See mandalas defined-

Definition of mandala:Mandala (Sanskrit Maṇḍala, ‘circle’) is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Indian religions, representing the universe. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. In Hinduism, a mandala (yantra) is a two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in sadhanas, puja or meditative rituals. It is considered to represent the abode of the deity. Each yantra is unique and calls the deity into the presence of the practitioner through the elaborate symbolic geometric designs. According to one scholar, “Yantras function as revelatory symbols of cosmic truths and as instructional charts of the spiritual aspect of human experience”. (source)

Do you really think it’s innocent to color a mandala just because some money-grubbing, undiscerning author re-packaged a pagan activity by pasting a line from a beloved hymn over the top of it and adding “Christian” to the title?

That is where Bible art journaling leads. It’s a diversion.

The Puritans had a high view of the Bible. Puritan Richard Baxter wrote in the mid 1600s,

The reading of the word of God, and the explication and application of it in good books, is a means to possess the mind with sound, orderly, and working apprehensions of God, and of his holy truths: so that in such reading our understandings are oft illuminated with a heavenly light, and our hearts are touched with a special delightful relish of that truth; and they are secretly attracted and engaged unto God and all the powers of our souls are excited and animated to a holy obedient life.

Therefore I do not believe that painting butterflies on my Bible’s pages is an encounter with Jesus. Doing so incrementally adulterates it, alters it, and then slowly degrades the high view we should have of it. The Bible is not an art project.

See? I like butterflies. Really.

creation, God, valley of vision

Hovering over chaos, order came to birth: Valley of Vision

Posted on October 31, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

My morning devotional includes reading one prayer from the phenomenal book “Valley of Vision.” These are Puritan prayers, collected and compiled by grand subject. Today’s was “The Spirit’s Work”. For me, these prayers are utterly moving, piercing, and beautiful with a lyricism of writing and a stirring of the soul that is unmatched, except by the Bible. Here is today’s, and I comment at the end:

The Spirit’s Work (from The Valley of Vision)

O God the Holy Spirit,
Thou who dost proceed from the Father and the Son,
have mercy on me.

When thou didst first hover over chaos,
order came to birth,
beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.
Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart;
Take away the infirmities of unruly desires
and hateful lusts;

Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief;
Brighten my soul with the pure light of truth;
Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise,
rich with every goodly fruit,
beautiful with heavenly grace,
radiant with rays of divine light.

Fulfil in me the glory of thy divine offices;
Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier;
Take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul;
Through thee may I daily learn more of his love,
grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty;
Lead me to the cross and show me his wounds,
the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan;

May I there see my sins as
the nails that transfixed him,
the cords that bound him,
the thorns that tore him,
the sword that pierced him.

Help me to find in his death the reality
and immensity of his love.
Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth
in his, ‘It is finished’.

Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of
atonement achieved, expiation completed,
satisfaction made, guilt done away,
my debt paid, my sins forgiven,
my person redeemed, my soul saved,
hell vanquished, heaven opened,
eternity made mine.

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.
Write them upon my heart, that my walk be
sin-loathing, sin-fleeing, Christ-loving;
And suffer no devil’s device to beguile
or deceive me.

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

As I read the line that says,

When thou didst first hover over chaos, order came to birth, beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.

It brought to mind a metaphor. When all three Persons of the Triune God were intimately involved with the earth’s creation, it made me think of a metaphor of how the Triune God is intimately involved in similar work to hover over us, order coming to birth, beauty robing our soul, and fruitfulness springing forth. He creates out of the formless void of our disordered heart peace, calm, rest, fruitfulness. All three Persons of the Triune God are involved in creating in us an interior world of light.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:2-3)

May the perfect and loving God who created earth and soul, bring you truth and comfort today. Let the Light of His love and Word illuminate your soul.

creation, encouragement, fall, God, seasons

First day of fall: God’s glory in creation continues to awe

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

The next three months are among my favorites of the year. The hot-hot-hot summer is done. The sticky humidity is over. The skies have cleared of that summer haze, and the stars are again bright at night. There is a new vigor and freshness of the days and a crispness to the evening where it feels just so good to draw up your blanket and cuddle.

The Lord ordained the seasons in their progressions since the very beginnings. The cycle is one that is both useful and beautiful. He could have made everything gray and rectangular. But He didn’t. The diversity of foods, lands, stars, trees, and seasonal changes is gloriously gorgeous. The display of leaves during fall, the harvest bounty, the stars glittering above in the clear night sky…all useful,yes, for signs and growing and timing … but beautiful too.

Our God is creative and His works are to be praised.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, (Genesis 1:14)

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. (Psalm 104:19)

Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. (Exodus 34:21)

He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. (Psalm 147:16)

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

bible, God, god's word

Where is wisdom?

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

EPrata photo

Some look for wisdom in philosophy. But God’s word says philosophy is empty.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Some look for wisdom in psychology. But God’s word says psychology is empty. Solomon said the wise dies just like the fool! (Ecclesiastes 2:16b). Man’s wisdom is vanity. God’s word is sufficient.

Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Some look for wisdom in the heart. But the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Some look for wisdom in the world. But God says the world is in the hand of the evil one.
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

It is only God’s word where we can find the knowledge we need for living in a way that pleases Him. David was declared by God to be a man after His own heart. One reason is that David relied on His word, reveled in His word, and walked in His word. See all the ways David describes God’s word:

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me! (Psalm 119:1-8)

The Hebrew meaning of each of these different ways David described his delight in God’s word:

way: road, distance, journey, (bespeaks a journey from justification to glorification, not just one instance of obedience)
testimonies: spoken word (bespeaks the legal aspect of the LORD’s commands for His people)
precepts: A mandate of God; collectively when plural, for the Law, commandment (bespeaks His authority and our obedience)
statutes: something prescribed or owed, a statute, limit or boundary (bespeaks do not go beyond but stay within)
commandments: obligation, terms. (commandments are not suggestions)
rules: ordinance promulgated by, law of Kings (bespeaks the origin of the Law)

Do you read your Bible every day? Are you a woman after God’s heart? A man after God’s heart?

Where is wisdom? In God and His word.