theology

How can it be?

Posted on February 24, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

As time in your walk with Jesus goes on, after months and years and perhaps decades, don’t let the wonder diminish. The awe-inspiring, breathtaking generosity of a God who hates sin but redeems sinners. Don’t let yourself forget the depravity in which you lived, before salvation. The horror of sin and its ruin on earth. The abhorrence of it to God. The wages of it- death.

But God. But God loves His people and chose to save some. He not only justifies. He not only sanctifies. He not only adopts. He not only feels compassion for us while we were yet sinners. He brings us to His HOME to live in, cleaned, loved, fed, and made righteous. He opens His door to us without hesitation, without reservation, if we repent and fall on His Son Jesus.

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theology

Of hell and the Gospel

Posted on February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve been wrestling with whether to give the Gospel “one more time” to a person who resists and in fact, had blasphemed the other times I’ve shared. I looked up the verse from Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

Though everyone needs the Gospel, when someone has repeatedly rejected it, I think it’s important to choose not to give them further opportunity to blaspheme, nor entrench themselves in further sin at my cause. It’s a hard decision to make in these days of ‘love love love’ and ‘let go and let God’ but God is holy too, and His word warns us to be discriminating about sharing holy things with dogs and swine.

Here is the commentary that helped me clarify what to do, and when-

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theology

British Columbia’s severe COVID restrictions causing ‘pandemic exhaustion’- Meanwhile, BC doubles down against 3 pastors and their churches

Posted on February 20, 2021February 20, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Imagine being detained for something you intend to do. Not that you actually did, but only intended. And that intention was to go to church. In British Columbia you could be detained by the police for this intention. Thought police comes to mind. But first-

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theology

James Coates: A political prisoner of conscience, resisting medical tyranny

Posted on February 20, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Here is an update on Pastor James Coates of GraceLife church in Edmonton, Alberta. The church and the attorney representing Coates are not speaking to legacy media right now, but Attorney for Coates James Kitchen, accepted an interview request from Rebel Media reporter Sheila Gunn Reid. It’s at Rumble (a Youtube alternative) and it’s also on Rebel News website.

(Rebel News) – “Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church remains behind bars today. GraceLife, near Edmonton, Alberta, has been the site of Christian resistance to the medical tyranny of public health orders restricting public gatherings including religious services. In Alberta, religious services are limited to 15 per cent of a building’s fire code capacity. The restrictions on attendance are meant to mitigate COVID case counts, even though the numbers have plummeted and hospitalizations are down to less than half of what they were a month ago.”

The Province of Alberta has released many offenders due to a perceived threat from COVID-19, yet holds a Christian pastor whose church has not beent he source of one single COVID case and where cases inhte province are plummeting daily.

Pastor James Coates is being held at Edmonton Remand Centre, which holds the worst offenders. It’s maximum security. These are offenders who have been denied bail, they are murders, rapists, child molesters, gangsters, wife beaters- etc. “I suppose the people amongst us who need Jesus the most. Maybe he can help them,” said reporter Reid. Pray that if it’s not the Lord’s will to release Coates to preach to lost souls on the outside and to minister to members of his church, that that his jail ministry yields converted souls- and all for the glory of God.

theology

Jailed Canadian Pastor James Coates’s Lawyer interviewed: “Speak up, it’s not going to end”

Posted on February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

James Coates preaching at GraceLife Church, Edmonton, Alberta Canada

A few days ago, Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton Canada, a province of Alberta, was jailed for refusal to comply with COVID-19 health orders because, in Coates’ view, it would have severely restricted his church from functioning in the way the Bible sets forth. This went against his conscience. He preached his sermon last Sunday, and the Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) asked Coates to turn himself in after the service was concluded. On Tuesday, Pastor Coates did. Here is a short summary of the situation with his church that began in earnest in December-

“Alberta Health Services [AHS] inspector Janine Hanrahan issued an order against GraceLife in December, ordering members of the church and staff wear masks on the property, maintain six feet distance and operate at 15% or less capacity. On January 21, the health department filed court documents to enforce the order through the court system. It specified AHS had the power to jail the minister if he did not comply. At the end of January, AHS issued another order demanding he close the church until it was brought into compliance. Royal Canadian Mounted Police visited Coates following church services twice in February, and told him he would be arrested.” (source). And then he was.

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theology

Phil Johnson factually debunks recent negative assertions against John MacArthur. Interview with Justin Peters

Posted on February 18, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Two of my favorite people in the faith, Justin Peters and Phil Johnson, speak about the recent criticisms against another of my favorite man of the faith, John MacArthur. These criticisms have been asserted by self-professed reporter Julie Roys and others, (some anonymously) who persistently try to damage the reputation of the church of which MacArthur is leading and the people who work and minister there. In a particular case with one detractor, he crafts his vague accusations in the worst way possible and intimates darkly there may be more, without offering evidence. This is the downside of the internet. A craven underbelly of which we should all beware of/

For the people who have questioned this situation and wondered of the character of John MacArthur is really all that it seems, please refer to this interview which sheds light on and offers facts from a person knowledgeable of the situation. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

I am grateful for these three men, standing for the faith with such grace and patience and for such a long time.

The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him. (Proverbs 18:17)

John MacArthur’s Lavish Lifestyle? An Interview With Phil Johnson,

theology

Tyranny: Follow up on James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton Canada

Posted on February 17, 2021February 17, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A week ago, I wrote a piece on This is How a Church Resists Tyranny. I’d written, “GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta Canada is a normal, every day church. They have a couple of pastors, a medium sized congregation, earnestly teach and preach the word, and do this Sunday by Sunday, like any church. However, since December, they were told to limit attendance and comply with COVID health measures or face legal consequences.” The church issued a public statement outlining their stance, the whys and wherefores according to the Bible.

Those consequences came today. Their pastor, James Coates, was arrested and jailed. For what? The ‘crime’ of preaching. Mike Hovlund ( @MikeHovlund) was co-pastor with James Coates until Mike planted a church himself. He is up-to-date on the latest news (if you care to follow @MikeHovlund on Twitter) and said of the events of today:

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theology

Back to Basics: What is prayer?

Posted on February 16, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Prayer is a privilege and a responsibility for every Christian. Why? It is the way Jesus taught us to communicate with Him.

Rather than the wrathful gods of the Aztec era of human sacrifice, or the ancient Middle East where child sacrifice was required, or the Muslim god who is demanding but mercurial and untrustworthy, the One True God creates us to have a love relationship with Him. He wants to redeem us from our sinful state to dwell with Him in heaven. His Holy Word tells us who He is and how to love Him back, and His promises never fold.

In His Bible, He explains how to communicate with Him. Unlike the gods of old, all other gods as a matter of fact, (who are no gods at all) we can speak with Him at any time. He has told us He listens. From Genesis to Isaiah to Philippians, we’re told to pray to God.

“And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 12:8)

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” (Isaiah 55:6)

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)

So what IS prayer, exactly? Why do we pray? How do we pray?

As Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry (CARM) explains, “Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian. Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through the Son of God, Jesus our Lord.”

Why pray? “For one thing, prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is exemplified for us by Christ and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also. If He needed to pray to remain in the Father’s will, how much more do we need to pray?”

He has made Himself known in three Persons, God, Jesus the son, and Holy Spirit. We can pray to all three or to one or to two. He is all the same. Any or all are appropriate to pray to. However, the Triune God is the ONLY appropriate person to pray to. The first Commandment says that He is the one true God and we shall have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:2-3). We do not pray to angels. (Revelation 22:8-9). We do not pray to saints such as the Catholic Church worships. (1 Timothy 2:5) We do not pray to Mary the mother of Jesus. (Luke 11:27-28). We do not pray to the dead, whose final condition is fixed. (Luke 16:19-31; Hebrews 9:27). We pray to God only.

How, then, shall we pray? Jesus answered this exact question in Matthew 6:9-13.

“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

It is not to say that unconscious repetition of this exact phraseology is the way to pray. Jesus pray ‘in this way‘. He began with a statement to whom He was addressing. He led with a praise. It is always proper to praise the Lord at any time but especially in prayer because it sets our heart condition rightly and reminds us of our position as submissive supplicants. This reminder helps us when the prayers are answered in a way we do not expect or in a timing we are uncomfortable with.

Give us this day our daily bread is a statement from Jesus telling us it is all right to ask for things to sustain us while we are living on earth. (Matthew 6:32-33). But you notice the prayer doesn’t say pray in a way where you ask for surplus, He is asking for daily bread. Not weekly bread. The manna that was given to the Hebrews in the desert was given daily. Asking for daily bread helps us not become greedy hoarders, too self-reliant, and it also is a way for the Lord to bless us daily!

Asking the Lord to forgive our sins is a way to remind us that before any prayer can be answered we need to ensure we are on the right side of God and not accumulating sins, and also that if we forgive others we are also on the right side of God. (Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25). Why should He bless a bitter heart? He will not. (1 John 2:9).

“Lead us not into temptation” must be understood correctly. Barnes Notes: “God tempts no man. See James 1:13. This phrase, then, must be used in the sense of “permitting.” Do not “suffer” us, or “permit” us, to be tempted to sin. In this it is implied that God has such control over the tempter as to save us from his power if we call upon him.“

So don’t mindlessly repeat Jesus’ prayer exactly but let the power behind the concepts conform your heart to your own words. Know to Whom you are praying. Praise Him. Understand you position before Him as penitent, His kingdom within you and also your external destination someday. Ask for what earthly provision you need in humility, trusting Him to answer in faith. Ask for unearthly provision such as release from temptation or protection from temptation.

Is there a proper bodily position in which we pray? Some prefer head bowed, others prefer to look up. Some pray with eyes closed, others keep them open. Still others pray silently, some prefer aloud. Standing, sitting, kneeling, walking,…all these postures are in the Bible. Here is a very short answer to the question of whether there is a commanded posture for prayer, at Grace to You.

The most important thing about prayer is that in order to communicate this way with God, you must be saved he does not listen to nor answer the prayers of the unsaved. (John 9:31; 1 Peter 3:12). The entire Christian faith is based on the fact that Adam’s sin separated us from our holy and righteous God. That separation includes communication and intimacy, including prayer. The most important utterance you will ever emit is the confession to Jesus, plea, or prayer for forgiveness of your sins God WILL hear that one.

that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

If you are new to prayer, don’t worry about fancy words or proper phrases. That is the utter beauty of our God. He hears the heart cry, understands the motivation behind what we are asking. He listens to all words fancy or not, as long as they are sincere. Don’t worry, just pray! It is a way to talk with Him. He doesn’t change by your prayer, but you are changed by praying. So don’t put it off another minute!

Further Resources

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney

The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions by Arthur Bennett (Editor)

Spurgeon Quotes on Prayer, selected quotes from his sermons

theology

Steve Kozar on Beth Moore: The moment she laid her Charismatic cards on the table…

Posted on February 15, 2021September 3, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

There are many resources online to help the Christian believer strengthen her faith. We live in times where we’re blessed with being able to access some of today’s best preaching and teaching, and also can become familiar with the Divines from the past. We have podcasts, sermons, blogs, videos. What a bounty!

I always try to connect you to the most solid ministries that I can. I came across Steve Kozar’s youtube podcast the other day. His channel covers many different topics in different ways, and I stumbled onto his “Hit the Bar” portion of the channel. He and his lovely wife present a video, allow the viewer to watch for a bit, then the ‘hit the space bar’ and pause it while dissecting it off the cuff.

I was familiar with Steve Kozar’s name from having read the Pirate Christian (Chris Rosebrough) for many years. The two do a lot of apologetics and discernment work together. But I never really delved into Kozar’s own website “The Messed Up Church” until I listened to his Hit the Bar youtube/podcast and he mentioned the website with all its resources.

He was doing Hit the Bar about Beth Moore. It was the more famous clip of her 2014 speech where she talked about receiving personal revelation about a coming ‘downpour’ and ‘awakening’, that people would scoff at, where she called any disbelievers in her pronouncement ‘bullies’, and used no scripture.

Though this was an older clip of Moore, the discussion between Kozar and his wife was new. I had never listened to Kozar or his wife. In my opinion, if you really want to get a sense of a person, watch a podcast of a husband – wife team discuss something together.

Kozar and his wife were sweet together. I loved their calm and sweet interplay. It was kind. Steve’s insights on Moore were terrific. He raised many points I had never considered, even though I’m quite familiar with that clip and Moore in general.

He said in this speech Beth Moore was laying her Charismatic cards on the table. It was 2014 and she really came out of the Charismatic closet so to speak, with being bold in speaking FOR Jesus. Kozar said, “She has no fear of speaking prophetically,” and this is a problem. He hit the bar at the points where she shuts critical thinking down, and explains how. Kozar said she was a very good actress, the entire speech felt memorized and staged, and showed that. He demonstrated how she uses false dichotomies to divide rather than unify, and how that is the beginning of a cult. Moore uses vague terms so that people can individually interpret for themselves rather than unify around a clarifying scripture or doctrine she is presenting. He noted the points at which she basked in adoration of the audience, instead of pointing to Jesus. [As a side note, Steve also has an issue with her wild eyes, as I myself noted recently.]

The Hit The Bar discussion about Beth Moore is here.

All in all, it was wonderfully insightful. I recommend Steve Kozar’s website and his youtube channel with the various types of videos and discussions.

Kozar noted that at The Messed Up Church website, a plethora of resources await the reader. In “Cornucopias“, there are links to a myriad of resources about many different false teachers. There are definitions and explanations of what apologetics is, what discernment is, and more.

The Messed Up Church: About

Our Purpose
–Confronting & Exposing Apostasy.
–Explaining Biblical Orthodoxy.
–Rebuilding Shattered Faith by the Light of the Gospel from God’s Word.
–Returning to the Reformation principle of:
–Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura (Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone)

Please check out The Messed Up Church website and/or the Youtube channel. It’s helpful.

theology

My Last Word on Ravi Zacharias, and a discernment reminder

Posted on February 13, 2021February 13, 2021 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

In 2016 I wrote a discernment essay raising troubling concerns about Ravi Zacharias. I noted his slide downward, his praising of Catholic mystics, some untruths regarding his credentials, and his refusal to take a position on whether the Catholic Church is false (saying the two churches have merely ‘doctrinal differences!), creationism vs evolution, the Doctrines of Grace, or most of eschatology.

A Christian Apologists’ job is to take a stance on the doctrines of the Bible and proclaim and defend them, so the refusal to be clear on 40% of the Bible seemed a nonstarter to me. I’d also noted that I had attended a live speech event, and had listened to many of Ravi’s other speeches online. I said that he seemed to me more of a spellbinding anecdotal storyteller and secular philosopher than a Christian Apologist or evangelist. Lots of mentions of Jesus, not a lot of talk about sin, wrath, and repentance.

I wrote later that year that Ravi had spoken at false teacher Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and called Warren’s church “one of the greatest”. I’d noted that he had also appeared on false teacher Joyce Meyer’s television program, and said Joyce puts out “great Bible teaching.” His partnering with false teachers spoke volumes both about his lack of discernment and his lack of courage.

Two months ago, in December 2020, I updated the situation when the Ravi Zacharias International Ministry (RZIM) itself had investigated their founder (who had recently passed away). They announced confirmation of newly revealed sins Mr Zacharias had performed. RZIM made this preliminary report public. The RZIM organization promised to be forthcoming with the conclusions of their hired investigation ended. I attached the RZIM updated facts to a discernment lesson, here.

RZIM’s hired investigators submitted their final report this past week and what they found was disheartening in the extreme.

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