Category: potpourri

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Prata Potpourri: Secret Nazi Base, Gay man dislikes Church Discipline action, Star Trek Uniforms, Luther & Reformation Day- more

Posted on by elizabethprata

Our school closes for a few days at the end of October for a mini-Fall Break. We all look forward to this, both the staff and the students. Lots of people take trips. The mountains aren’t far and Fall is a great time of year in Georgia to go tuck away in a cabin somewhere. Others go to Disney because it isn’t so hot, or the beach, for the same reason. I love Fall in Georgia, it’s my favorite time of year. It lasts longer than Fall lasts up north. Its gradual slope into winter leads us to toward holiday season in a gentle way. We can finally turn off the loud air conditioner and start using the oven to bake wonderful things without making the house too hot.

The progression of the seasons is orderly and beautiful. Each season with its distinct colors and meaning is due to the creative mind and power of Christ.

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17)

Here are a few items I believe may be of interest. Enjoy the day, the season, the Savior 🙂

This is interesting. Man starts social media campaign over his church dismissal for unrepentant homosexuality. The next big thing I see coming are lawsuits emerging from church discipline. As a side note, please notice in the article where it says the man had repented and lapsed several times prior to his final repudiation of God’s standards. Remember, repentance should be viewed as something that happens over time. Fruit takes time to grow. Be patient, either way, to see if what is growing in the heart is an apple or a thorn.

Oh the agonizing pull to check notifications or respond to texts…the overarching need for new stimulation even after a few minutes…Samuel D. James has more in his essay The Phone and His Boy.


A Secret Nazi Base in the Arctic has been discovered? And it’s not a wartime myth or clickbait? No, it turns out to be true. Russian researches stumbled onto it and found within over 500 relics, including well-preserved papers. /shudder/ Nazis are still extending their shadowy reach into even this millennium. We will only be removed from the presence and memory of that terrible history when we are resurrected into glory. The UK Independent also has the article and photos.

Death has always troubled the pagan man. Cemeteries have always troubled the aggressive realtor. Decaying biomass has always troubled the zealous environmentalist. Now, these concerns are combined in an unusual proposal for where or how to bury the dead. Is this the future of death?

With Halloween coming, with the inevitable Star Trek costumes abounding, which is as it should be, here is how to read the secret language of the Star Trek uniforms of that most unabating TV show. Which is 50 years old this year by the way. Oy, I suddenly feel old…

The Narrow Minded Woman has a great essay on Luther and Reformation Day.

Ignore the one reference to Rick Warren and enjoy the author’s case for quantifying discernment/judgment of each other. The 10 Percent Grace Rule: Judging Without Being Judgmental

I really like this man’s writing. He muses on You Get What You Pay For, an essay on shepherding financial resources wisely, Philippians 4:8, the election, and Netflix which is cohesive and concise. Really, the guy has mad writing skills.

Julia at Steak & a Bible said, “Hillsong Music: Popular Yes, but Is it Biblical?”

Hillsong is an enormous church network and through its music, the church reaches far outside of that network. Many churches use Hillsong songs on Sunday mornings. But I wonder how many of them ever stopped to examine the songs for doctrine. That’s precisely what Chris Rosebrough, Steve Kozar and Amy Spreeman did on a recent episode of Fighting for the Faith. Given the popularity of the music I highly recommend listening to it.

I recommend it too!

Dr. Michael J. Kruger, President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, RTS Charlotte answers the question of does the Bible have mistakes? Length, 2:40.

Chris Powers has illustrated another Bible verse with his usual skill, insight, and sensitivity. Take a look,and please take a look at his overall ministry at Full of Eyes. Everything he makes he gives for free for the edification of the body and evangelization of the lost.

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Prata Potpourri: Relief, Contentment, Evil Suspicions, Slogans, Hillbillies, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

At our school cafeteria the kids (or adults, lol) can purchase ice cream. Cones, Fudgsicles, Pop-Ups, and more, for 75 cents. One of the little kids excitedly told me that “Mom is going to let me get an ice cream every day on Friday!” I said, “Every day on Friday?” “YUP!” He said, his eyes agleam with thoughts of sugar high and forehead freeze.

It got me thinking about time. The child’s sense of time of course is hugely distorted. One hour seems like a day, one day seems like a year, one year seems like a lifetime. As we grow, that refines. We develop a sense of time which is more accurate. But accurate to what? Time is a tool man uses, invented by God, only finalized into the thing we know today during the industrial revolution when they needed the trains to run on time and not crash into each other. The General Time Convention was set up in 1853. Before that, people used sundials, mostly.

In a school your day is segmented almost every hour by bells or schedules, and the clock. It’s rigid. I’ve written before about the Tyranny of the Clock and our release from it, and yet thinking about living in no time, in eternity, is incomprehensible. What will that be like? I don’t know. It might just be like every day on Friday. Continue reading “Prata Potpourri: Relief, Contentment, Evil Suspicions, Slogans, Hillbillies, more” →

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Prata Potpourri: Sin of the verbose, the problem of beauty, hermit crab insights, Sinkhole Syndrome, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

meliI’m sensitive to too much noise, especially talking. Which is funny since I make my living talking, being an ex-teacher and now a teacher’s aide teaching students in small groups. But speaking for my work is different than talking too much. I remember one of the first vocabulary words I looked up in a book I was reading in high school, The Great Gatsby. The word was was garrulous. I loved the word and I still do, though not so much the people who embody it. Garrulous means-

excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.

This essay discusses the sin of talking too much. It is a sin to chatter incessantly. I’d already focused on the sin of gossip last week. Now we learn why just talking too much is also a sin. That old tongue, an enemy of holiness. A fool can be be recognized by his many words (Ecclesiastes 5:3). This essay delves into the sin of the verbose.

The Sin of Talking Too Much

The hard road is the application of wisdom in the restraint of the most powerful muscle in our body. That got me thinking about the dangers of talking too much. There are many and include the following

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Stephen J. Melniszyn muses on the appointment of death for all of us in his essay It Is Appointed.

Two gates. Two roads. One is described as being narrow and the way hard. The other way is wide and easy, and those that enter by it are many. There are no other roads that lead to God, it is through Jesus Christ and Him alone (John 14:6). Man will do all in his sinful nature to avoid such a truth but in the end, it can not be ignored.

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The problem of beauty is one that set me on the narrow road, to salvation. I traveling widely throughout my thirties, I saw the world in its most beautiful. From Everglades spoonbills roosting along the shoreline to Bahamian coral waving in azure sea to moonrise over the desert to towering mountains bouncing the sun of their glittering rough edges to wild waves of the north Atlantic, all slate grey foam and whirling ice…the obvious comes to mind. This didn’t all just happen. It isn’t all just an accident. No ‘Bang’ threw this into existence.

Here, Prof. Stuart Burgess muses on the witness of nature in its design, particularly, beauty. Evolution might be explained to the irrational mind through function. But it didn’t have to be beautiful, too.

Beauty—The Undeniable Witness

How did all this come to be? Understanding creation isn’t just about explaining matter or the complex moving parts of living things, but “added beauty.” Experience tells us that beauty doesn’t come by accident—it offers no obvious survival benefit, and many existing natural laws promote deterioration and decay. So what created and sustains the earth’s beauty?

And here is an example of that beauty, function, delicacy, and mystery. In this exciting 2-minute excerpt from the third season of Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, Jonathan films a hermit crab changing shells and then also transferring its anemones from one shell to the other. This is extremely rare footage of a seldom-seen behavior! It is also fascinating and thrilling to see such handiwork from God!

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Melissa Kruger writes A Back To School Prayer, from a mom, for her kids, … “I pray that their teachers would be wise and gentle.”

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Here from Ligonier, we learn the danger of the mature Christian’s erosion of spiritual disciplines, and the sinkhole that awaits him. A cautionary tale well worth reading. Spiritual Disciplines and the Sinkhole Syndrome

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I love fire and brimstone preaching. I do some fire and brimstone writing here at The End Time. Here is the story of a congregation that called for a fire-and-brimstone preacher again, and again, and again. The first two didn’t work out, like, immediately. The third lasted thirty years. Why? What made the difference?

Without skipping a beat the man said, “You are right in saying that all three were fire and brimstone preachers, but the third was the only one who actually sounded like he didn’t want us to go there.”

Find out more in the story of The Fire and Brimstone Preacher Who Succeeded

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With Labor Day behind us and a shorter week ahead of us, and (hopefully) cooler temperatures on the way, it’s a refreshing time of year. Autumn leaves, school buses on their routes, pumpkins. The Lord is in control of the seasons, and the progression of them is a mark of His hand upholding all. The march of seasons, the migration of the geese, the constellations changing position. He created it for His good pleasure. And it is beautiful.

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Prata Potpourri: The Oculus, free theology lectures, hilarious lunch duty, advice for pastor’s wives, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

Though school has started and it’s tiring herding kittens teaching kindergarteners all day, I am getting a steady infusion of sweetness, cuteness, knock knock jokes, and random offbeat kid comments to keep me in laughter all day long.

Gerry Brooks is a Principal of an elementary school in Lexington KY and he is hilarious. He is famous for putting up short clips remarking on the ins and outs of school life. He is always funny, but this short video had me literally doubled over and tears coming out of my eyes. Even if you have no clue what Kindergarten Lunch Duty entails, you will laugh along with the rest of us who agree, the first week of duty with the little ones presents certain, ahem, challenges.

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There seems to be a cottage industry these days promoting a how-to series of lessons on how to hear God’s voice. How to be SURE you’re hearing God’s voice. How to ignite/prompt/activate God’s voice. And so on. A google search on “how to hear God’s voice” yields the following-

It can be confusing to try and learn how to hear God’s voice. This is because you can’t. Therefore the ‘teachings’ on it contradict each other. Of course, these ‘methods’ also contradict the Bible. Here are two essays explaining the issues with trying to hear God’s voice.

Spirit of Error asks, What could be wrong with learning to “hear God’s voice?”

Tim Challies asks How Does God Speak to Me Today?

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The economic crash of 2007-08 crushed the dreams of many parents, who in live, hope, and work for their children to exceed their own achievements. That and a host of other reasons, has birthed a generation that unfortunately has come to depend on mom and dad to survive. Here is some advice on how to close that bank, compassionately.

How to Close the Bank of Mom and Dad

The phone rings and you cringe. You feel guilty, but you almost don’t want to answer the call from your own kid. He or she probably isn’t calling just to say hello. Your adult child needs money again. Does your child even realize how much these constant requests upset you emotionally and financially?

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I’m a sucker for anything about the sovereignty of God…

Summary and Outline of J. I. Packer’s “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God”

Packer’s popular paperback is a succinct, non-technical explanation of how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility affect evangelism. It is not a blueprint for modern evangelistic action (7). The aim is to dispel the suspicion that belief in the absolute sovereignty of God hinders evangelism and to show that it actually strengthens evangelism (8, 10). The book divides logically into four chapters. (See the outline of the book below.)

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Study the Gospel of John with Dallas Theological Seminary – for free.

It’s a ten week non-credit course, but you do earn a certificate at the end. I was put off by the introductory video touting ‘famous’ “theologians” who have graduated from the Institution, including David Jeremiah, Tony Evans, Priscilla Shirer and Jennie Allen. The DTS can’t help what students do or say after they graduate, but they can’t help touting them when they are obviously in error. The Seminary should have more discernment than that. I took the first unit, it was solid. But my antennae are up.

If you’re hankerin’ for some learnin’, there’s always the free theology lectures on Youtube from The Master’s Seminary.

I know I’m biased but my own pastor teaches incredibly insightful and theologically packed sermons. He is like Spurgeon on steroids. Every week. We are going through Genesis chapter by chapter, and the sermons are on podcast. Pastor Mark just finished a Men’s Conference today with three lectures on Jesus in the Old Testament, and they are all fantastic too. Find them here-

(1) Jesus In The Old Testament: Genesis
Here we are introduced to the idea that Jesus read the Old Testament and saw it as primarily being about Himself (John 5:39-40). What is it like to read the Old Testament with Jesus at the center? Here we get a sense of the whole story of the Bible starting with Genesis.

(2) Jesus In The Old Testament: Exodus & Leviticus
Here we discover how Jesus fulfills the roles of Moses, the Passover Lamb, Israel and the priesthood. Even Leviticus is about Jesus!

(3) Jesus In The Old Testament: The Prophets to Revelation
Here we look at the nation of Israel, Kings David and Solomon, along with the failures of the Old Testament people of God. The Old Testament ends as a cliff hanger. How does the story of Israel reach its climax in the person of Jesus? How does the whole Bible hold together?

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To pastor’s wives… you have special combat duty. It’s often silent, unforgiving, constant, demanding, and here as Mrs Spurgeon explains, hugely important.

Three pieces of advice from Charles Spurgeon’s Mother-in-Law

Charles Spurgeon abandoned his fiancée on a Sunday afternoon. After lunch, a carriage took the betrothed couple from Susannah’s house in St. Ann’s Terrace to Kennington where Charles would preach. Susannah recounted the event… Susannah left the service and fumed all the way home. Her mother gently “tried to soothe [her] ruffled spirit” and offered some motherly advice about marriage:

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I love travel and all places odd and out of the way. Atlas Obscura is a website that offers lots of odd, quirky, and fun articles about our blue earth. Here are a few of their recent stories

Found: A 300-Year Old Shoe Meant To Ward Off Evil Spirits
It was a men’s size 6, and they put it right back where they found it.

Found: Football-Sized Goldfish in an Australian River
Please stop putting pets in the river.

Nobuo Fujita’s Sword
As a show of peace, a Japanese naval pilot gifted his 400-year-old Samurai sword to the Oregon town he bombed.

The New York Public Library is Moving 1.5 Million Books to an Underground Lair
The books will live highly organized lives underneath Bryant Park.

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Don’t forget the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood! An oldie but a goodie. Here are a couple of articles to get you started-

Fatherhood and the worlds it creates

The New Household in Christ: How Wives and Husbands are to “Put on the New Self” in Colossians 3:18-19

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And for fun, the always amusing Bad Real Estate Photos

For interest, Inside the Beautiful New Oculus at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub
It is beautiful. But it reminds me of the Contemporary Resort at Disney’s EPCOT. Everything old is new again!

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Prata’s Potpourri: The Queen of England, Risen, ShepCon, Narcigesis, more

Posted on by elizabethprata

Risen, a movie centered around the resurrection of Jesus, is just out. The plot synopsis says,

In 33 AD, a Roman Tribune in Judea is tasked to find the missing body of an executed Jew rumored to have risen from the dead.

I won’t see “Risen.” I’m not a demographic, I’m not a market, I’m not merchandise. I won’t trade money on my faith, because it’s not entertainment. I won’t participate in the merchandising of my faith. (2 Peter 2:3).

That’s not to say that I never buy any Christian merchandise. I do. I buy Bibles. I buy theological books. I buy Christian fiction. I pay for movies that have Christian themes. So what’s the difference between that merchandising and the merchandising I mention in Risen? Risen purports to show a foundational doctrine of our faith, with an actor playing “Jesus.” It purports to show His resurrection, THE main ingredient of the Christian faith. (1 Corinthians 15:14). And as some reviewers admit, there are added elements in the film and other elements which occurred are omitted. Why go see a movie that from the outset you know has twisted the Doctrine of the Resurrection and included errors and omissions?

There is another kind of merchandising I’ve mentioned frequently on this blog. Whenever a ‘Christian’ movie is released, churches are inundated with merchandise sales pitches. Study guides, devotionals, bracelets, workbooks, bookmarks…trinkets. That’s another kind of merchandising. Both kinds diminish the glory and uniqueness of our faith and makes our Jesus small. Didn’t he cleanse the Temple? I’d rather save my money to buy a solid book to give away to a friend than spend the money to see a flawed movie for myself.

However, I hold no judgment against anyone who chooses to see that or any other Christian movie. It’s an area of liberty. I personally know that if I see Risen with its added and omitted elements that those will remain in my head and I won’t be able to get them out. My mind is weak that way. So my choice is to refrain. If you’re considering seeing the movie, here is the author of Gentle Reformation with three reasons to consider not to. And he really is gentle.

Risen: Movies, Faith, and the Bible

Here is AW Tozer  (1897-1963) on The Menace of the Religious Movie

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It’s time for the annual Shepherd’s Conference! It is one conference I look forward to every year. It is a conference ministering to Pastors held at Grace Community Church, annually in March. It makes it sweeter this year because a friend of mine started at The Master’s College (a college associated with the Church) this past January. He will be helping there. What a blessing this conference has turned out to be. The dates are March 9-13. Speakers are John MacArthur, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler, Paul Washer, Tom Pennington, Phil Johnson, Steven Lawson, and Nathan Busenitz. And time flies, it’s the 36th annual conference.

The first Shepherds’ Conference was held on March 19, 1980, on the campus of Grace Community Church. That year, 159 men gathered under the leadership of our pastor to focus on the theme of pastoral ministry. … [in 2015] nearly 1,200 volunteers served in a variety of different capacities—and from our high school students to our experienced senior saints, everyone’s effort made a difference. As a result, more than 60,000 printed resources were distributed, 40,000 cups of coffee were served, and more than 13,000 volunteer hours were invested.

Last year, about 4,000 men attended. What a blessing this conference has come to be for the attendees, volunteers, and virtual pastors and participants all across the globe. Definitely tune in when you can. The sound of 4000 men all singing traditional hymns to the glory of God is an experience you won’t soon forget.

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 Narcigesis is a newly coined word. The word exegesis means “critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture.” Since our world is so narcissistic today, the word narcigesis is a take-off on that, meaning to make the interpretation of the text be about one’s self (instead of about Jesus, John 5:39, Luke 24:27).

Though this clip is new, it’s made the rounds quite a bit. That’s because it is a classic example of narcigesis. As Beth Moore opens the scripture to explain it, she says,

“We’re about to put ourselves in the storyline, because that’s what Jesus is after today.”

Um, okaaay. So somewhere in the Bible Jesus changed His mind about all scripture pointing to Him, and now says, scripture points to you.” I think not. I also think not that Beth knows what Jesus is after and is teaching from this “knowledge”.

Jeff Maples explains more at Psalm 12 Outreach.

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I like Queen Elizabeth II. My grandmother was from England and one of my early memories is Gramma’s dish with the portrait of the Queen on it displayed on the wall of her apartment. The Queen seems nice, from what a commoner can know about a monarch who rules another nation and lives a private life in a castle with carefully scripted and choreographed interview sessions. I’ve often wondered if the Queen worships Jesus. This article discusses it a bit more.

Queen Elizabeth Calls Jesus Christ ‘The King She Serves’ in 90th Birthday Book

Did you know QEII watches Downton Abbey? In this article it’s reported that the Queen caught a historical error on the show.

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A Pair of Adorably Useful Earplugs Shaped Like Each End of a Tiny Dachshund

That is all.

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I’m a cat lover but in attempts to be an equal opportunity pet promoter here is another thingie about dogs. (Well not really equal, I’m just throwing you a bone. See what I did there?)

Here is Boo the Pomeranian getting groom, eyes closing in delight as someone plays with his hair. Who hasn’t been there? Come on, you know you have.

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Prata’s Potpourri: Master’s Seminary church finder, why so many bad Christian books? Mocking Christianity, Housewife theologian, etc.

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Sunday my interim church (First Baptist Watkinsville) began a 40-day journey through the devotional book The Blessing Life. Look what our devotional has for us on this Tuesday morning,

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

It occurred to me- And WHO is at God’s right hand? Jesus. Acts 7:55, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 1:3…and so on.

At God’s right hand is Jesus who IS our pleasure forevermore. There are no pleasures which do not stem from Him. Jesus IS the pleasure. We are blessed to experience Him forevermore.

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Source: Westminster Shorter Catechism

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Meanwhile, here are some links to articles you might enjoy.

Ken Ham has some thoughts about a new CBS television show that mocks Christianity

Bud Ahlheim offers some advice on the problem of so many bad “Christian” books:

If you liked my recent post regarding music as music and nor worship, you’ll like this post about a wonderful hymn-
I Woke, The Dungeon Flamed With Light

Joel C. Rosenberg explains The Caliphate vs. The Kingdom. What is “the gospel of the kingdom” of Christ and why is it our hope in such dark times?

Aimee Byrd the Housewife Theologian has some good thoughts on the new fad of art journaling in your Bible. She says much the same thing I did a while back, but in shorter form, lol. I’ve got to work on that…

The Master’s Seminary Church Finder

I receive emails or Facebook messages from people who are thirsty for a good church and ask me to either advise or help them find one. A resource I always turn to is the master’s Seminary Church Finder resource. You plug in your location and it finds churches either planted by or led by TMS graduates. We all know that any graduate who has gone through TMS will emerge with a solid grounding, a love for expository preaching, and right doctrines.

Here is an article with a 2minute:45second interview from TMS Alumni Relations Director explaining the origin and use of the Church Finder page. He said in the interview that it is the number one used page on The Master’s Seminary website. The Church Finder receives 5000-7000 hits per month. I know at least 4 of them were mine.

And here is the Church Finder page.

Erin has some thoughts on self-promotion and selfie-righteousness in general on Social Media. Good words. I enjoy social media for the purpose of making Jesus known. However since I’m a sinner who love my own flesh, I have to constantly monitor my own Facebook Wall to ensure I’m not “using” Jesus as a way to display my own righteousness. That would be ridiculous of course, because I have no righteousness. It’s all from Jesus. Good advice from Erin.

Selfie Righteousness