We should think of the Savior, all the year, every day. (Philippians 4:8). But the Christmas season is a special time when we think more pointedly about His incarnation, life, death, burial, ascension, and return. Who is this Jesus? He was born, lived, died, rose again, and promised to return, to bring eternal life to those who believe and eternal death to those who reject. He tore the veil of human history, and changed everything.
I use my photographs of God’s beautiful creation and overlay a verse on them to publish every day. For Advent, the theme is Thirty Days of Jesus. Thirty verses, thirty photos of God’s creation that reflect His life and ministry.
Of course, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one after the other, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written,” says John 21:25. So I broke the series up into mini-themes, in order to present highlights.
I chose three mini-themes for this month’s scripture Advent photos that I believe will create a satisfactory narrative of Jesus’ life.
PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE, 15 verses.
In this section I chose verses that reflect the prophecies that predict His coming the first time.
Then the beautiful verses that announce His arrival on the blessed morn.
Then a section are verses that mention Jesus as a child and boy, before He began His ministry.
PREEMINENCE OF THE SON, HIS WORKS & MINISTRY, 15 verses
The Son 5 verses over 5 days
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, are verses that focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. His sonship is integral to His earthly ministry as the subordinate Person to God the Father. These verses reflect that reality.
Works & Ministry, 10 verses
This section, published over ten days, will present verses that detail His attributes while He was on earth; Jesus as servant, teacher, shepherd, healer, and so on. Of course, not completely. He has so many attributes. He has ALL the attributes, but in total holiness!
RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, & RETURN
This last section Christ is unique in that He is the firstfruit of resurrection. He is unique in that He descended from heaven and ascended to heaven. Of the John 3:13 verse, says that only He is qualified to speak of heaven, being the only One who has been intimately involved with all its doings, and only he has seen the Father and come down from there and returned.
Jesus was raised to life and brought back to heaven, and several verses in this section will illustrate what He is doing while we wait the long centuries for the fulfillment of the end of all things, His glorious final return. The last verses will present Jesus in His glory, as He is in heaven now.
The flow mirrors the Revelation 1:8 verse, where it is declared,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Let’s enjoy the season. I pray that it does not become a hectic, shopping slog, frantic with focus on gifts and cleaning houses and to-do lists, though given family obligations and work colleague expectations, some of that is always inevitable. But don’t let it encroach more than it has to. Jesus is the reason for this season. If you’re a believer, this season is a gateway to a new year filled with many reasons each day to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. (Psalm 86:9)
Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21).
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
or you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20).
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).
If you do not know about the marvelous ministry of Mt. Zion Bible Church, you’re in for a treat. If you do know, then you know how wonderful it is.
Chapel Library is a ministry of Mount Zion Bible Church, a Christ-centered church in Pensacola, Florida. You can read their history here. Volunteers from the church handle global requests for hard copy printed matter to be mailed, audio tapes and MP3’s, manage a correspondence school, send free material to train chaplains in prison ministries, are entrusted with SpurgeonGems.org, a complete collection of Charles Spurgeon’s (1834-1892) sermons and other resources, and more.
Their material is from ‘the old, dead guys’, (my term) such as John Bunyan, John Owen, Lloyd-Jones, etc, and a few solid theologians still alive (Beeke, MacArthur, Voddie). The material available in their library can be sent to you via USPS for free, downloaded digitally, or read online.
They also print and distribute a periodical booklet called Free Grace Broadcaster. This month’s edition- Winter 2024 #270- is titled The Wonderful Love of Jesus. Inside are essays and excerpts of essays from these theologians of the past on the topic. I was deeply moved by the essays in this edition, so much so, it got me ready for Advent in a powerful way. Your mileage may vary, but these essays surely spoke to my heart and mind.
The 2 particular essays that got me right in the heart were Christ’s Love as Mediator by John Owen (1616-1683); and To Know the Love of Christ by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952).
Owen muses on the hypostatic union in Christ- the dual natures. Jesus was divine and also human. Here, Owen discusses Jesus’ human love:
But He was to have another nature in which He was to undergo the difficulties of this work of salvation. He was required to pity us until He had none to pity Him when He most needed it. He was to tread the way of salvation until His soul was heavy and sorrowful unto death. He was to save us from the wrath and justice of a righteous God by suffering that wrath and justice Himself. But far from deterring Him, these proposals only heightened His love for us and increased His delight in the work of our salvation. Indeed, His love, like a mighty river, swept over those ominous proposals, for He says, “Lo, I come…to do thy will, O God” (Heb 10:5-7; see also Isa 50:5-7).
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body or human nature, which He made His own, He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love.
From this, it is clear that Christ’s glorious love was not only divine but also human. The love of the Father, revealed in His eternal purpose to communicate grace and glory to all the elect, was a divine love only. But Christ’s love was also human. And in none of those eternal acts of love could the human nature of Christ have any claim or concern. Yet it is the love of the man Christ Jesus that Scripture celebrates. … It was because of that inexpressible love that the Son of God assumed our nature (Heb 2:14-17).
Wow. Did you ever ponder the love of Jesus outflowing from His human nature? When I think of how frail and sinful my love is and how pure His was as a human, it boggles my mind.
AW Pink’s essay was so good, too.
Consider Jehovah’s condescending to take upon Him a nature that was inferior to the angelic, so that when the Word became flesh His divine glory was almost completely eclipsed. Contemplate the unspeakable humiliation into which the Son of God descended, a humiliation which can only be gauged as we measure the distance between the throne of heaven and the manger of Bethlehem.
Yes…that immeasurable distance between the throne of heaven and the lowly manger in the straw. I highly recommend the material at Chapel Library. Their earnest desire to exalt Jesus and connect Christians with material that elevates our sight of Jesus to glorious heights. Browse and see what you can find. This edition of the Free Grace Broadcaster is here.
Now, to housekeeping. Tomorrow, December 1, I begin my annual “Thirty Days of Jesus” advent series. I created this a few years ago to help me gain an appreciation for all the aspects of His coming. It’s a visual series, with a photo representing an aspect of the flow of His coming- from prophecies announcing its future occurrence, to the nativity, growth as a boy, adult ministry through healing, teaching, etc, His death, ascendance, and future return. I match the photo or illustration with verses I’ve chosen that in my view represent that aspect of Jesus’ Advent, life, death, and resurrection, and ascension.
Since it is mainly a visual series I won’t be podcasting it. But I will take the time to record other essays I published during the pause in the podcast I took since last May.
It’s the end of the year already? The months and years fly by. I can’t believe I’ll be saying ‘happy 2025’ soon. The mania around the 1999 change of century seems like yesterday. But we are already into a quarter of this new century!
Merry Christmas, friends, and enjoy your advent season.
Do you decorate your home for Christmas? If you have children, it’s one of the best memory-makers. My mother was a master decorator. She had an eye. She could go into the backyard (or more likely, send us teenagers out there) to pick some twigs, branches, leaves, anything, and she’d fashion it into something gorgeous.
We enjoyed seeing the same Christmas tree decorations year after year, and talk about events related to them.
In my thirties, my husband and I traveled to warmer climates for the winter, usually bugging out by December 1, so it didn’t make sense to decorate.
By then we had a cat, and she was a psycho cat to boot, so it provided another reason not to decorate. After that when I lived on my own, I still had a cat or two, so decorating was out of the question. One year, I tried putting up one of those block cubes with lights in them wrapped in a ribbon with a pinecone and some ornaments on top. My cat ate the pinecone and the ornaments. After that he didn’t seem too interested in the ribbon and avoided the glass so I kept using that for my decoration. Notice, the singular aspect of that word.
Then I moved to this place where I’ve been for a couple of years. No cats. New place and it was larger than my old place. I had fun scouring vintage stores for decorations. Hunting for them was fun. Like this one which is one of absolute favorites. It’s a 1950s-style elongated ornament. It’s heavy ceramic, and hand painted. Each of the 9 I got has a bird on it, and one has a birdhouse. I have never been able to find the origin, I believe they are vintage but I haven’t found the artist or anything similar to this piece.
This is how I displayed them, on a wrought iron thingie.
But there comes a time when perhaps the drive to decorate for Christmas wanes. There could be a lot of reasons. Maybe you travel. Maybe you’re living in a smaller space, or a space that doesn’t allow a lot of decorations. Maybe you live alone and just don’t want to. Or don’t have the energy or strength to drag the bins and boxes down from the closet or up from the basement. Maybe you’re grieving. Or a spouse is in the hospital and you’re spending all your time there. Could be a lot of reasons you don’t decorate for Christmas.
AND THAT IS OK.
I eventually decided this year not to go the full monty like I have the last 2 years. I put out a nativity and a white twig wreath outside on the stoop. Inside, I pulled out my other nativity sets and some candles. That’s it.
I love my nativity sets.
The glass figure nativity, I just put out the three main people- Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. The wooden one in the middle is made with popsicle sticks! Its simplicity and roughness appealed to me. The lit one is a favorite I got last year. The crystals are Swarovski and the lighting is just perfect. The alabaster white one I put outside because it’s hardy and can withstand wind and rain. The three wise men ornament swings to become three-dimensional.
I know the Wise Men didn’t arrive on the blessed day of Jesus’ birth, but I like that scene depicting them far away and arriving later. But they were still an important part of the early years of Jesus because of their monumental effort to look for Him, travel a great distance to Him, and to worship Him abundantly.
I kept out my battery operated candlesticks and I’ll put those in the window. So some nativities and a few candles will do it for me this year. The kids at school begged for some decorations so I’ll bring a small tree and some twinkle lights I got for cheap.
How is your decorating going this year?
Below are pics of last year’s Christmas decorating:
Justin is a traveling evangelist known for his discernment seminar called Clouds Without Water, a biblical critique of the Word-Faith/New Apostolic Reformation/Prosperity gospel. He also preaches, “communicating biblical truth through expository preaching and teaching resources designed to deepen the believer’s knowledge of God and, in turn, his love for God” as his About statement reads. He and his wife are members of a church outside of Billings, Montana.
Mr Peters sends out a monthly newsletter bringing his followers up to date on his ministry activity. This month, November 2024, I read the following:
As of this writing, I’ve had two international trips, Brazil and the Philippines. Each was special in its own way, but something quite memorable happened in the latter. At my first preaching venue, there were about 1,100 in attendance. One of my presentations, delivered on a Friday, was on the history of the charismatic movement during which I made a brief point on the biblical truth that only men can serve as pastors and quoted 1 Timothy 3 as support. It was not a major part of this message, and I did not think much about it – until a few days later.
One of the Filipino brothers who organized the conference came up to me and said, “Justin, remember what you said on Friday about how women cannot serve as pastors?” “Yes,” I replied. “Well, you did not know this but towards the back of the room there was a group of female pastors who attended the conference. One of them was convicted by what you said and resigned as pastor of her church the next day.”
“Really?!” I replied. I was floored. But isn’t that amazing? She was a pastor on Friday, was convicted by the truth of God’s Word, resigned as pastor on Saturday and did not even preach in her own home church on Sunday! Praise the Lord! It’s not often that we get to see such a dramatic and immediate change in people – especially one that comes at a great personal cost. God’s Word indeed will not return to Him void without it accomplishing what pleases Him (Isaiah 55:11).
It might seem strange to post an excerpt of a ministry newsletter update on Thanksgiving, but isn’t that what a Christian’s Thanksgiving is all about? Praising the Lord for His work in hearts? The blessing of the Holy Spirit’s piercing of bone and marrow to bring conviction, then light, to minds?
Happy Thanksgiving to my friends. The Lord God above, for whom we are all thankful, is working today on this holiday and every day.
But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” (John 5:17). As we gather today on a day of not working, but a day to praise and thank, we are grateful for the Lord’s work in us humble and frail humans. As Mr Peters’ Philosophy of Ministry quotes Charles Spurgeon,
We are nothings and nobodies, but that we do not think so is very evident, for as soon as we are put on the shelf we begin anxiously to enquire, ‘How will the work go on without me?’ As well might the fly on the coach wheel enquire, ‘How will the mails be carried without me?’
And yet the Lord chooses to use us for His glory. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.Romans 11:36
I love books! I love everything about them. I like inventorying them when I bring one home. I like looking at the ones on my shelves. I like my library room full of books. I like thinking about the ones I have read and the ones I want to read. I like the covers (I DO judge a book by its cover). I like the thrill of maybe finding a first edition (I have a 1st ed C.S. Lewis and a 1st Book Club edition of Dune). I like book bindings. I like antiquated books. I like the thrill of the hunt for books.
EPrata photo
Like this find delivered to the Metropolitan Museum. Maybe someday I’ll find a book like that!
I also like reading. I’ve always been a reader. I was weaned on 1960s Dick and Jane. I grew into Nancy Drew in 2nd grade, enjoyed Harriet the Spy as a 5th grader, got wrapped up in King Arthur as a High Schooler (The Once and Future King, The Crystal Cave, Le Morte d’Arthur), and the Classics. I loved the classics, like Huck Finn and Following the Equator from Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I did go on a tear in my early 20s on South American literature’s Magic Realism from Marquez, Esquival, Allende, Neruda etc.
In my thirties I was living on the sailboat and also traveling a lot and the internet hadn’t come to the little people yet so I always had a book in hand. I liked at that time the traveling/adventure narratives such as A Year in Provence, Into Thin Air, Tim Cahill books, seafaring books and explorer books like The Lost City of Z.
In my 40s I was establishing my business of a local newspaper and read journalism books and books about civic society. In this era the book Bowling Alone stood out.
Reading is my identity as a person. It’s also my professional identity. My two education degrees revolve around literacy, so my professional days are to urge people to become better readers, to enjoy stories, to find the value of reading.
EPrata photo
In my 50s I still read but not as much. I went back to work in education, this time not a teacher but as a teacher’s aide. It is a demanding job and with my aging I found I was tired when I got home. But the frequent breaks from school still provided ample time to read, and I revisited the classics and some modern literature. I had also been saved by the grace of Jesus and I started reading theological books such as the Puritan Paperbacks and other religious topics.
Then I turned 60. I was still working, and the job had deepened into being a teacher’s aide PLUS doing interventions with struggling readers and keeping up with the data. Educators make as many decisions all day as an air traffic controller. Decision fatigue is real. The irony of aging is that as one gains seniority or more experience, she is given more responsibility. This is natural. However more responsibility comes at a time when the person is tiring mentally and physically. This is natural too.
I realized that I just don’t actually read much any more. My brain is tired when I get home from work. On weekends my eyes are weary, dry, and sometimes aching or throbbing. It’s tempting to just watch a screen when there are so many options for entertainment.
I berated myself for a long time for being weak-willed, for being lazy, for starting to become aliterate (unwilling to read, although able to do so).
But I DO want to read! It’s a habit I cherish. I’ve read so many good books. I’ve used books as escapism, I’ve learned so much, expanded my vocabulary, and sparked my imagination. Many of my travels had a goal to visit bookish places, such as the great bookstores of the world, or the homes of famous authors, or locations where famous book events happened.
Why, WHY don’t I read (as much) anymore?
Smith Family Photography source
I set about to find out and to solve my problem.
I came across a video where the host proposed Why Adults Don’t read…And How to Start Again from The Book Guy. I don’t know anything about the Book Guy but his video was articulate and well researched.
Here are his reasons. But don’t just read them and go ‘Oh yah’, there’s more to them than first appears.
For example, in No. 1, he gives information about 4 levels of literacy. As an educator, I found level 1 and 2 to be interesting when thinking of my students and the lack of literacy at home. It helped me be more informed and more sensitive.
No. 3, not having enough energy is definitely a major reason. Between old eyes, decision fatigue, mental weariness, it had become much easier to watch TV mindlessly than read a book engagingly. And reading is a habit, letting it go even for a while like I have, dulls the skill. It’s harder to pick up later.
No. 4 is more complex than one would think from the statement. It’s not just a bad experience, which does tend to turn some people off. It’s the pressure from others or pressure put on one’s self to read certain books.
EPrata photo
After I was saved in my early 40s I happily read lots of theology. As my 40s were left behind and then the 50s as well, I then realized I had put pressure on myself to read what I thought I SHOULD read rather than what I wanted to read. I had incrementally viewed fiction as ‘dessert’, only to be enjoyed after dutifully absorbing ‘better’ books or more worthy books. Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the Puritan Paperbacks, Commentaries, Christian living books I’ve read. Many have impacted me deeply and added greatly to my life.
[From Death to Life: How Salvation Works, Blood Work: How the Blood of Christ Accomplishes Our Salvation, Valley of Vision, Pilgrim’s Progress are just a few!).
I felt also that if I had time and inclination I should be reading the Bible. Was I letting Jesus down by not spending MORE time in the word if I had the chance?
But reading fiction is instructive in its own way. It’s not dessert. I’m amazed that as a younger adult all I read was fiction and now all I read is non-fiction. Did I become a snob? Perhaps.
I decided to get a fiction book from the Library that had been recommended to me. I pushed my computer away and got up to snuggle in my chair under a quilt, and read it. It was so relaxing. I sort of gave myself permission to indulge, and I even had a sink full of dishes, too.
Buying more books. EPrata photo
There are a few lessons for me here. First is just because I’ve been a reader all my life, I took the SKILL of reading for granted. As I transition to a slower season of life, I can’t take anything for granted- not energy, not skills, not time.
Second, read what you want. I will continue to read solidly theological books, but I will intentionally fold in fiction to the pile, and not feel guilty.
Third, just do it, as the saying goes. If I want to read, and I do, then just do it. Resist the temptation to first do the dishes, fold the laundry, and dust before, only to be too tired after. If it is important to me, then make the time.
So that’s my confession, my search for answers, and my resolve. Now if you will excuse me, I have a book to finish.
I was researching for an essay recently and came across, I don’t know how or where, a phrase calling Irish preacher Rev. William Patteson Nicholson “The tornado of the pulpit“. This is surely a vivid expression and nickname of a then-well-known traveling evangelist preacher in Ireland in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Another nickname I have come across is one given to 1700s British Methodist Mary Bosanquet Fletcher. She was known as “Mother in Israel“, a throwback to prophetess Deborah. She was given this nickname not only because of her charity work and running an orphanage, but because of her preaching. Fletcher is seen as the first woman to advocate in the Methodist denomination for women to preach in public. She was an early lay preacher ‘credited’ through a letter writing campaign to convince John Wesley that some women should be allowed to preach, a stance he eventually caved into. Fletcher said that some women are not called to preach just as some men are not, but ones who do have “an extraordinary call” should be allowed. In 1781, Bosanquet married John Fletcher, John Wesley’s successor, and they worked in partnership as co-clergy team. He died only four years after their marriage but Mary continued her preaching ministry for almost 30 more years.
How many preaching women today do we hear of excusing their rebellion by claiming that it is God ‘calling’ them to preach.
Lloyd-Jones
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones is known as The Doctor because, well, he had been a medical doctor before he submitted to the call of Jesus to preach. He earned a medical doctorate (MD) from London University and became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians. LLoyd-Jones was one of the most well known and revered preachers of the last century. His sermons are recorded and just as timely today as they were in the mid-1950s. He at first sought to cure bodies but God’s call positioned him to offer a cure for souls.
Charles Spurgeon was called “The Prince of Preachers“. AI explains, “Charles Spurgeon earned the nickname “the Prince of Preachers” due to his immense popularity as a preacher during his time, particularly in Victorian England, where he was known for his powerful and impactful sermons that drew large crowds, his strong theological convictions, and his ability to effectively communicate the Gospel message to people from all walks of life; essentially, he was considered the most prominent and influential preacher of his era, leading to this title.”
Itinerant evangelist Billy Graham was called “Pastor to Presidents or “America’s Pastor.” That’s because Graham had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama – 12 consecutive presidents. Of all of them, Truman saw through Graham’s façade, naming Graham a “counterfeit” and publicity seeker.
Billy Graham
Emperor Aurelian was known as Restitutor orbis, a Latin phrase that translates to “Restorer of the World“. Wikipedia says, “Aurelian was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disintegrated under the pressure of barbarian invasions and internal revolts.“
We know who the REAL Restorer of the world is. Jesus. We know which city is the REAL Eternal City. Not Rome, New Jerusalem.
Some nicknames may give us a prideful push toward self-involvement. Spurgeon’s nickname, for example. Banner of Truth’s article “Lessons from the Prince of Preachers“, says of Spurgeon,
Spurgeon was convinced that the dangerous sin of pride could find him anywhere, even in the pulpit. Perhaps today’s ministers are even more vulnerable to hubris than in Spurgeon’s day. With the advent of social media in which ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ are the baseline for success, it is all too easy for a pastor to lose sight of the life of sacrifice to which he has been called.
I started thinking about the millions of people who are Jesus’ trophies of grace we will meet in heaven. I hope you have an eternal perspective, and think often of heaven, which is our country and our eventual destination.
Revelation 7:17, “…the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Art by Chris Powers at fullofeyes.com, free to use
There will be throngs on Jesus’ right hand, named as His sheep, and will be welcomed with love and joy. There will be millions we have not heard of. We are familiar with some of the missionaries of old, like William Carey and John G. Paton, Elisabeth Elliot or Corrie ten Boom. But those fine people are just a drop in a large bucket of folks whom Jesus has graciously saved to labor for Him on that side of the veil. Some of them have fine nicknames, others don’t. But we will have an eternity to meet them and learn of how they became Jesus’ trophy.
The most important thing is whether you have a nickname or not, is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?
Meanwhile, here is a snippet of a rabbit trail I embarked on when researching nicknames of famous Christian or historical figures. I love how smart and funny people are. This is from Reddit:
–Which historic person had the coolest nickname? I submit Isabela, ”the she-wolf of France”. –Basically any famous Vikings have anyone else beat. My personal favorite is Thorir the Troll-burster. –Ivar the boneless. –Don’t forget his brothers, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and Bjorn Ironside. Not to mention his father, Ragnar Hairy-Breeches. –Bjorn Ironside; tried to raid Rome & accidentally raided random town. –Some people just hate to ask for directions.
Jennie Allen is the founder of the global conference for women called IF:Gathering. She founded it in 2013 based on a “voice from the sky” to use Allen’s words, telling her to equip and disciple this generation. IF:Gathering was born, “Inspired by the question “If God is real… then what?”
No. Romans 1 tells us that every single soul knows God is real, they just suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
I admire people who are committed to prison ministry. It’s important to heed the Lord’s commission to try and reach every tribe, tongue, and nation no matter where they are, in the 10/40 window of the hard and closed countries or behind bars where they cannot come to us in church so we must go to them.
But like everywhere, we need to be careful who we allow ‘in’ to our mind and soul. Women in prison are a captive audience, so it’s even more important to properly vet the speakers coming to teach. It is sad that the organization God Behind Bars chose Allen to minister to women.
Why?
Allen as mentioned above, she believes that disembodied voices from the sky are God. So, she believes in extra-biblical revelation. She also finds no worries in preaching to men, employs spiritual formation practices such as Enneagram, seeks unity at the expense of truth, and partners with terrible false teachers.
Below is a clip of Allen’s appearance at a max security women’s prison near Las Vegas. Allen wrote on her Instagram, “160 women attended in a maximum security prison in Las Vegas. 130 stood up to pray to receive Christ and we baptized 110.”
Mass conversion events like these always make me skeptical. These type of events are often musically manipulated, emotional events. Mass conversions are rare. Even Jonathan Edwards after the success of his piercing sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God which sparked the Great Awakening, was skeptical of the genuineness of the people rushing to claim they were converted. As John MacArthur has said,
So you must enter, you must enter this gate, you must enter alone, you must enter with a certain amount of violence (difficulty), and you must enter naked, in a sense—with nothing in your hands. You can’t go through the narrow gate with your baggage; it’s a turnstile.
On the other hand, you could choose the wide gate, easily found, easily marked with all kinds of false teachers pointing you in that direction. Lots of crowds, no difficulty, no self-denial. Bring your baggage, bring your sin, bring your self-will. No repentance, no surrender, no submission to Christ. It’s the gate of self-indulgence. It’s for those who want a little religion, but religion that doesn’t ask them to give up everything.
To be fair, it’s just a clip, so I don’t know if she preached a good sermon or not.
But to be realistic, she has never taught rightly so…likely when Allen says “Colleges to prisons! What do they have in common? They are all DESPERATE for God” I must ask myself, ‘Yes, Jennie, but WHICH God are they hungry for? Because your God is not the God of the Bible.”
When she speaks in interviews about submission to elders in one’s church, for example, it’s only if they are not controlling. And only if it doesn’t impinge on her ambition to preach.
I do mourn the false theology Allen probably gave in that prison. I HOPE it was a message solidly exegeted from the Bible to women’s souls in holiness and rightly dividing the word. I HOPE so. But I fear it was not.
I wonder how many of those women’s repentance was real or not, how many will continue to walk toward holiness as the emotionalism of the event wears off. It’s a grief to know that these false teachers spread their brand of faux-Christianity to unsuspecting women.
Satan is active everywhere, roaming the earth to see whom he may devour. We need to be just as active. I know it seems that the numbers are skewed in the direction of satan, i.e. that there are many more of them than there are of us. But God in His power will save whom He wants to save and He has no difficulty doing it. Yes, it is disheartening to see satan’s activity but it is more than heartening when one genuine believer is converted, adding to the trophies of grace in Jesus’ kingdom for His glory.
While I genuinely doubt all 130 women in the event were truly saved, I know that the Lord would probably have saved one or two, or a few. And they will be a light and a witness to His grace in that prison while they live, and then forevermore.
Growing up in my town in the 1960s, there was a train track running along the shoreline. Behind the tracks there was a busy wharf with fishermen, moorings for recreational boaters, and shoreside homes and their children running about. There were a lot of train crossings, and many of them weren’t guarded by automatic gates and warning signals.
Sadly, we frequently read back then in our local paper of crossing fatalities, both vehicular and pedestrian. To my impressionable ears it seems like almost a weekly occurrence. It wasn’t that frequent but I do remember my father, who was on the town Zoning Committee for a time, talking about the Town Council’s plans to automate and/or close some of the crossings to reduce potential for fatalities.
Kay Cude is a Texas poet. Used with permission. Right click to open larger on new tab, or read text below
Prelude
What is that overcasting darkness of the approaching Tribulation, but the prelude to the resounding Trumpet of God announcing The Lord Christ Jesus’ catching away of His Beloved Redeemed Church, His Bride!
What is that resplendent brilliance piercing eastwards through that dark evil, but the prelude to the Lord Himself descending from Heaven and our beholding Him Face-to-face in All of His Glory!
What is that mighty sound predetermined from eternity past to resonate within the ears of His True Church, but the shout of the archangel as we are caught up midair together with those asleep in Christ, to be always with our Sovereign King!
Watch, Therefore.
all who love the Appearing of His Coming, for He will be visible only to You
His Bride, The Eternally Redeemed of God the Father through Him, God the Son. Within this glorious realm of salvation we live and breath, and we exist: we are HIS beloved redeemed — sealed into eternal covenant with God by His Holy Spirit. Reference: Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Ephesians 1:13-14
Postlude
kay cude, February 2016
Comfort to the Many Who Will Repent Unto Salvation During the Tribulation
“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. THEN THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:25-28
Text by author Kay Cude purposed solely for non-profit, non-commerical sharing.
I was recently made aware of a youth conference happening this coming January called the CrossCon. Speakers at this conference aimed at 18-25 year olds include David Platt and Kevin DeYoung.
Kevin DeYoung has been a solid pastor, preaching truth for a long time. David Platt has been on a downward trajectory ever since his seminal book Radical was published, since he affirmed dreams of Isa as a legitimate evangelization method, and is currently outed as a wolf in the recent documentary The Real David Platt:The Hijacking of McLean Bible Church.
What is DeYoung doing partnering with Platt at this conference?
If you ever watch any cooking competitions and a chef contestant mixes cheese and seafood, you know it never goes well. Those two ingredients simply do not mix. They taste terrible. Or like our friends the Brits say, “chalk and cheese”, meaning, two things that are completely different from each other.
The Bible calls it discernment.
It’s the same with conferences. Uniting with speakers or musicians of questionable spiritual doctrine dirties the more solid speaker and reduces their religious credibility. It also disobeys God. Such partnering presents a confusion to the less discerning or new in the faith. Last, such ‘unity’ presents a false unity.
We live in the age of “tolerance”. It’s not the tolerance you and I might have grown up with. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines tolerance as
sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own, or : the allowable deviation from a standard
Christians can have sympathy for people who believe in different gods, but we can never indulge them in their wrong beliefs. And any deviation from the standards set by God’s word is not tolerable either.
There is a throng of false teachers whose fetish in teaching is grace only, usually focusing on “love” to an extreme, and never mentioning sin/repentance/wrath. After a decade or more of love-love-love, people have just as twisted understanding of what love is as they do the new version of tolerance. For women, the ‘love’ teaching even drills further down into weird teaching that Jesus is my romantic boyfriend, a type of eros love the Bible never describes.
That, in combination with a lack of ability or willingness to study and understand scripture, has brought forth a horde of folks ready to squash anyone whose understanding on these matters is biblically based on scripture.
This effect of the false teachers’ teaching was brought home to me as I was having conversations on social media about the need to separate from some professing believers at prescribed times is a matter of command and prescription. When you look at the myriad scriptures, there are actually quite a few situations when brethren are supposed to divide from other brethren.
This fact was met with incredulity, horror, and anger as one after another of these women, and some men, pushed back against this notion. Sharing the scriptures does not resolve anything. It often actually makes them angrier. Many simply ignore the shared scriptures and resort to calling names.
So I thought I’d do a study on what the Bible says about our associations with other people and when to leave a brother alone. This is hopefully to show that as with many other circumstances in our earthly life as humans, the Holy Spirit has given us wisdom and understanding about our associations, friendships, and fellowship.
While it seems “unloving” or dare I say “intolerant” to separate from a brother, there are sometimes good reasons for it, as we’ll see.
Unity at all costs? No.
In many cases, when discerning brethren warn about this or that false teacher, the person will say, “Did you go to him?” meaning, did you have a private conversation with that public teacher before you said anything negative about his or her public teaching? This refers back to Matthew 18. Going to a false teacher prior to critiquing his or her lessons is not necessary, because they are public teachers. They are outside your own church. The Matthew 18 process is church discipline for sinning Christians inside your church. FYI, the Matthew 18 process for sinning church members does end with separation, with an excommunication if the church member is unrepentant and uncorrectable.
It’s baffling to think that naysayers will cling to Matthew 18:15-17 in the first place (‘Did you go to him?’) but avoid the end result of that same process just 3 verses later, which is separation (You’re so mean and intolerant!’).
The individual person’s involvement in this Matthew 18 scenario is in step 1 and 2. When it gets to steps 3 and 4, it is the pastor’s duty to make this judgment call, and the individual sister’s responsibility to submit to the assessment of her leaders in church. The reason for this called-for separation; to prevent sin from spreading.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. (Galatians 5:9).
Separating from the sinning professing believer is sometimes necessary
In another case of called-for separation, we see in 1 Corinthians 5:9, 11 of Paul that,
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people;But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
Paul expected the Corinthians to disassociate with all who said they were brothers but had a consistent pattern of sin, particularly sexual sin. In the culture of the day eating with someone was a sign of acceptance. Therefore if breaking bread with a homosexual, an adulterer, incestuous person, fornicator etc it was a sign that their behavior was accepted by Christians, who otherwise called for holy living.
Paul said that sexual sin was a sin that brethren were not to tolerate, even to the point of breaking fellowship, because as he explains the verses in 1 Corinthians 6:15-19,
The believer’s body is not only for the Lord here and now (v. 14), but is of the Lord, a part of His body, the church (Eph 1:22,23). The Christian’s body is a spiritual temple in which the Spirit of Christ lives, therefore when a believer commits a sexual sin, it involves Christ with a harlot. All sexual sin is harlotry. (John MacArthur Study Bible note.)
So, that’s pretty obvious why we are to separate.
Here is another example regarding the limits of Christian fellowship.
So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:4-5).
This is the famous case of a man sleeping with his father’s wife. The Corinthians were tolerating it. In today’s parlance, were they trying to “be loving”? Would they think it “mean-spirited” to ostracize this man from their fellowship? Paul pulled no punches with what they were to do.
And of course, we know not to associate with false teachers, as Apostle John instructed in 2 John 1:10 where even participating with the unrepentant sinner for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds as verse 11 states
Turning a believer over to satan puts him back into the cold world to be on his own, apart from the care and support of Christian fellowship inside the warmth of the church, as John MacArthur explains in his commentary.
That person has forfeited the right to participation in the church of Jesus Christ, which He intends to keep pure at all costs. MacArthur, Commentary
As always, the goal is reconciliation. Making this shocking move would let the believing sinner know the limits of tolerance. It bears repeating, there are LIMITS to our tolerance for false teaching and for sin in professing believers
We have another example of separation in 2 John 1:8-11.
Here in this epistle John is giving limits to Christian hospitality. We are to separate from people who go beyond the teaching of Jesus. Do not even greet those who teach beyond what is written. Back then hospitality was important because there were no hotels, so traveling teachers lodged with believers.
John isn’t prohibiting people from sharing the Gospel with unbelievers, or even those in cults and false religions. We always want to evangelize. But do remain apart from and do not even welcome those false teachers, because welcoming them to your home affirms their teaching and gives them credibility. Housing and welcoming false teachers who labor in the faith (to deceive followers) would confuse people and offer a massive stumbling block.
In-person housing of itinerant o traveling pastors happens today, as we learned about Robert Morris who stayed over at his friend’s house when traveling, or Steve Lawson who lodged with hospitable friends also. But both are now outed rebels who we sadly learned were behaving in monstrous ways.
But most of us do not host traveling teachers any more like in the Bible days. ‘Do not welcome them into your house’ more often means do not simulcast their speeches into your home, or buy their books and bring them to a women’s study, and so forth.
Beth Moore reading the epistle at her church last week. False teachers love to be front and center, don’t they? But separation must occur even if it means declining a speaking invitation to a conference or church
This separation edict applies also to standing on a stage with obvious false teachers, as John Piper did with Beth Moore and Francis Chan at Passion conference 12 years ago. Or as Piper did with Mark Driscoll 2 years later. Despite hundreds of emails and internet concern that Piper was publicly platforming and supporting Driscoll, Piper unabashedly went ahead. Piper later even said he had no regret. Is there anyone that Piper will separate from? Apparently not. Piper said in his ‘no regret’ interview that he only wished he had been a better friend to Driscoll.
Biblically, a good friend is one who will obey God and separate to display the seriousness of the person’s sin and that there are biblical limits to tolerating it, in hoes that grace will come and re-infuse that person’s life with truth.
And now here is Piper scheduled to speak with Platt at CrossCon, where Platt has affirmed Isa dreams as an evangelizing method, and has been outed in a documentary as being a conniving, thieving, CRT loving liberal who excommunicates people who question Platt’s actions which were contrary to their church’s constitution. (More here).
It might seem “unloving” to say that there comes a point where we don’t offer the Gospel to a lost person but there are even limits to associating with the unsaved.
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6)
Jesus’ point is that certain truths and blessings of our faith are not to be shared with people who are totally antagonistic to the things of God. … Jesus did not give all of his teaching to everyone who happened to be listening. (Matthew 11:25, 11:11-13). … There will be times when the Gospel we present is absolutely rejected and ridiculed and we make the judgment to turn away and speak no more. MacArthur Commentary
We are given the same admonition in Matthew 10:14 where we are told to shake the dust off our feet and move on.
Even Jesus closed His public ministry at a certain point, after He had given sign after sign and miracle after miracle and taught all the days long, and many were still questioning, demanding, and rejecting. So He closed it down and privately taught only the believers and eventual apostles. After His resurrection He only appeared to believers.
One commenter gives a word of caution though,
But while the indiscriminately zealous have need of this caution, let us be on our guard against too readily setting our neighbors down as dogs and swine, and excusing ourselves from endeavoring to do them good on this poor plea. Jamieson Faussett Brown Bible Commentary
We have seen that with love and discernment, there are times to make a judgment call and separate from people who profess Christ but persist in unrepentant sin, and to separate from even the lost who consistently reject. Against the backdrop of the ‘lovey tolerance’ of today, doing so seems harsh and cruel to those who seemingly have no limit to sin. But do we today care more about the feelings of the unrepentant professing believing rebel than the Savior who died to give us power by the Spirit to slay those sins?
Look at Acts 5:13,
But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem.
The watching pagans respected the followers of Jesus, but feared to join them. Why? Were they scary? No, they were respected, not feared. The fear came because it was obvious that the followers were serious about sin and hypocrisy in the church. Ananias and Sapphira had just been killed dead in front of everyone in the church. The followers were obviously part of something that was holy and pure. Bystanders respected their witness and were counting the cost of joining. Only serious sin-slayers need apply.
Nowadays people are encouraged to follow Jesus and bring their sin with them.
We love our neighbor in the next pew, yes, but loving that believer doesn’t mean overlooking their sin. Sadly there are times and cases when separation from the believers we associate with is called for. With everything, do so cautiously, in love, and after study and prayer. Some of these situations are pretty clear and others are more gray. Err on the side of love, but remain strong in respecting biblical limits of associations and fellowship. We strive to be strong in both doctrine and life.
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