theology

Trauma Bonding with false teachers

Posted on March 19, 2024March 19, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Yesterday I wrote about the ministry of Jenny Weaver Worships, founded by Jenny Weaver and her husband Stephen. Weaver was a runaway, homeless, witchcraft-practicing drug-addicted teen, then a troubled young woman eventually at age 26 jailed for meth use and discovered in jail she was pregnant. She says she got clean in jail, got out, married the father of her baby (Stephen), began singing the scriptures, and got famous. Her ministry has turned into deliverance ministry events and mentorship courses (like a college similar to Bethel) focusing on demons, charismania, and exposing the supernatural realm.

I’d concluded with a warning to avoid her ministry.
Jenny Weaver: Discerning her ‘ministry’

Trauma Bonding

In researching Jenny Weaver, I came across The Honest Youth Pastor (HYP). He gave a ‘sermon review’ of one of Jenny Weaver’s events. He is Michael Moore (no relation to false teacher Beth or former ERLC guy Russell). In his review he shared a perspective I thought was highly interesting and new to me.

He called it “trauma bonding”.

In these current days many people claim to have trauma. It’s a popular buzzword. Everyone seems to be a victim of something.

I don’t deny trauma occurs. Most definitely. What I take issue with is the watering down of the definition of trauma, from something heavy and life-impacting, to merely getting the wrong order at the McDs drive thru.

Screenshot of a Weaver event “Festival of Fire.” Her events are not lacking a willing audience

Jenny Weaver is a singer, entrepreneur, mother, and prophetess. I discussed her theology and lifestyle yesterday. The HYP Michael Moore’s take on Jenny was interesting to me. As I had looked at her theology and lifestyle (1 Timothy 4:16), Moore also looked at the psychology. To be sure, he is not a psychologist, but in general terms, we can see a person’s catalyst for launching into ministry and some things they say and do can be plainly understood.

I do not discount the rough start in life Jenny had. Hers surely was a traumatic life. I feel for her. That she survived as long as she did was amazing. Good for her that she seems to be thriving today. I just wish she wasn’t thriving on making merchandise of her followers by capitalizing on their perceived trauma, and trading on hers.

Here is the perspective I thought was so interesting. The Honest Youth Pastor said of Jenny’s output:

HYP: “Within our day and age there’s a lot of people that have been traumatized through various things in their life. So what she’s [Jenny] really calling on not just with the story that she tells but the illustration she’s giving here, is there’s this broken little child inside of you and you need freed from whatever demon entered at that particular time. She’s going to play on that trauma that occurred in a lot of these ladies’ lives as an entry point to say, ‘hey there’s a scared little child Jesus is protecting and he wants to free you from whatever thing happened’.”

(Editor Note: If this reminds you of how Beth Moore approaches her ministry, you’d be correct.)

Honest Youth Pastor: “There’s a lot of psychological truth behind that in regards to people being traumatized and your brain kind of changing during those moments. Because your brain by God’s grace is designed to try to protect itself. So even in a fallen world your brain operates in a way that God has gloriously designed it to try to and shield you from that.”

It’s true that trauma causes brain changes. From the article Traumatic stress: effects on the brain by J. Douglas Bremner, MD in the National Library of Medicine, we read-

Dr. Bremner looked at how “To understand how traumatic stress occurring at different stages of the life cycle interacts with the developing brain… Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas.

The Honest Youth Pastor states at the outset of his reviews that he looks for 3 things in a the person’s speech he is reviewing:
1. Did the person read scripture from the Bible?
2. Did they exegete the scriptures correctly and in context?
3. Did they preach the Gospel?

HYP: “So we were left with a very strange mixture of Deliverance Ministry demonology, and not really not really self-help, but the bringing up of trauma and overcoming that trauma. She did talk about Jesus for sure but she didn’t mention the gospel.”

In the review that the HYP shared on his Youtube channel, no, Jenny Weaver did not read the scriptures, she did not exegete the scripture, and she didn’t preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jenny did talk about Jesus a lot, but the explicit Gospel was absent. The implicit assumption was that everyone there already believed in Jesus and we just need to get these demons out of the way.

HYP: “By the time they left did feel like something had happened, because when you work through trauma, when you talk about trauma, when you actually bring that about there’s a lot of emotions that come up in there. There’s a lot of things that surface. There’s a lot of endorphins that are released.”

HYP: “Sometimes those things are good. Talking about trauma is great. Overcoming trauma is wonderful. What’s more helpful however, and what assists in that process the best is, if you understand that the God that created heaven and earth came in the form of a baby, lived a perfect life that you could not live, died the death you should have died because we’re all Sinners apart from God. Because of Jesus’s life, death and Resurrection we are reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son.”

And that is what was absent from jenny’s speech. Jesus was spoken of, but trauma via demons was the main idea.

These false ones connect with you over trauma. They share an emotional story of their own trauma, however they define it, assisted by language designed to pull at the heart, and some sensitive music thrown in. They don’t bond with you over our universal issue of sin and the need to repent. Their connection point is emotionalism through shared trauma.

Honest Youth Pastor review of Jenny Weaver event: https://youtu.be/WfsfP6FjyYE?si=1vBFYaLs_wyZV6pz

It makes sense, because we all have trauma of some kind, and in this day and age, all sorts of definitions of trauma are accepted. It’s a “my truth vs. your truth” sort of idea except it’s “my trauma vs. your trauma.”

That’s a problem, when the call to repent of sin and to worship Jesus is replaced with a call to bust the demon that’s harassing or possessing you by the power of Jesus. In the latter case, Jesus is a vehicle for fleshly temporary relief, not a Savior unto eternal salvation.

Adherents to this type of ‘ministry’ base their belief on the signs, miracles, and healings, not on the One who performed them. Jesus acknowledged this when He said,

Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” (John 4:48)

The post-event resilience that occurs for most of these demon-focused or signs-focused people in Charismatic ministries isn’t the perfect peace of Jesus, it is the psychological feeling that someone finally listened and helped. Of course, this feeling doesn’t last, because no emotion lasts. So the feeling of relief or connection or empathy dissipates, and they need another dose of demon deliverance to make it stick. And on it goes.

My point for the dear reader today is, watch and discern upon which connection point the Bible teacher or pastor uses to connect with his or her audience. See if it is the same connection point he or she uses on a regular basis. If it’s regularly anything other than the person of Jesus, Him for Himself, then begin discerning more deeply and pray it through. Most importantly, avoid these kind of ministries.

theology

Jenny Weaver: Discerning her ‘ministry’

Posted on March 18, 2024March 19, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Today I’m talking about Jenny Weaver of ‘Jenny Weaver Worships’. She came to my attention when I was asked about her ministry. I looked into it and answered the reader’s query. Then I dug in even further. This is what I discovered.

Cut to the Chase:

Avoid Jenny weaver. She’s false.

About Jenny

To begin with, who is Jenny Weaver? Weaver has 212,000 followers on Instagram, 167,000 on Facebook, 149,000 subscribers on Youtube. Her events sell out to masses. She became known as Jenny Weaver Worships because she is at root, a musician. She sings the scriptures.

She is said to have spiked a “massive Jesus movement.” But is this movement of Jesus? Let’s look into this ‘massive movement’ (that I never heard of till now).

Origins

Jenny, daughter Cameron, and husband Stephen in 2020 thanking God that their ministry is also a business that kept them afloat during the C0vid time. Source Weaver FB Page

Jenny Grew up on the Gulf coast of Florida in a family of 8 with a mother and father who Jenny said were excessively strict and punished at the slightest provocation. They also both used heroin, including when the mother was pregnant with Jenny. Jenny was born addicted. At age 13 her father abandoned the family and the remaining family became severely impoverished.

Subsequently, Jenny was entranced by witchcraft, reading up on Wicca and practicing the witchcraft arts. She says she became so good she could perform telekinesis (ability to move objects by mental power), saying she could extend her hand to a bureau drawer and it would open. Or lights would burst above her and shower down glass when she was talking about the demonic realm.

At age 17 Jenny ran away from home. She began heavy drug use. She couch surfed with a family whose daughter was into the demonic realm via witchcraft, and Jenny circled further down into it. She says she could feel demons all around. Instead of the practice being fun she now began to feel tormented with no escape.

Sometime later she finally quit the witchcraft but continued to be demonically tormented for years, Jenny says. Her drug use continued. When she was 26 she was living with her boyfriend Stephen and addicted to meth. Reaching her lowest point, she screamed for Jesus to help her. She said after that she felt peace.

The help, she says, came 2 days later in the form of arrest and jail. In jail she discovered she was pregnant. She got clean, got prenatal care, got out, married Stephen Weaver, and got saved.

Yet…about that salvation…in her book “The Sound of Freedom: How to Bring the God of the Breakthrough into Your Toughest Struggles“, she says at age 6 she was at a Pentecostal revival and the pastor there singled her out, called her to the front, laid hands on her and she was suddenly slain in the spirit and fell backwards. Getting up off the floor she says she spoke in tongues. Saved then?

And, that at age 7 she was given a vision of Jesus in heaven on his throne. From her book, her own words,

I finally reached the place where Jesus was sitting and He put me up on His lap. Just like a loving Father, He began to talk with me, and He put His hand over my heart. I don’t recall exactly what He said to me, but I do remember feeling safe. I remember feeling loved, and it felt like I was home. I was so ecstatic about the dream. To me it wasn’t just a dream, it was Jesus actually meeting me and encountering me. From that moment I began to see into the supernatural realm.”

Des Jesus talk with us now? The scriptures say they are enough, even Peter who had a transfiguring experience with Jesus, said the word is more sure.

And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19).

Saved then? Saved in jail at 26? I understand some people do not know the moment of salvation, but her lifelong experiences with the supernatural realm is likely the reason why she attributes potential demon possession to Christians.

Issue #1: Demons Everywhere

Nowadays, Jenny’s entire ‘ministry’ is founded on and focuses on trauma and demons. She calls everything a demon. Lonely? It’s a demon of loneliness. Rejected? That’s the demon of rejection. So, issue #1 with Jenny Weaver, her focus on the demonic realm. More on that tomorrow in another essay. Stay tuned, there are some really good perspectives I discovered from The Honest Youth Pastor.

For the record, I don’t deny there are demons out and about, the Bible tells us there are. I also don’t deny some unsaved people in today’s times can be demon possessed. It still happens. However, Jenny claims Christians can also have a demon. She is sometimes vague on this, going back and forth in nebulous language on whether a Christian can have a demon inside ‘guiding’ them or if it’s external oppression. But in two videos I watched she did assert that a Christian can be internally inhabited by a demon, and this is simply not true.

Issue #2: Lifestyle

As an adult, Jenny Weaver claims to be “a wife and homeschool mother, she believes in building families and communities in the Kingdom of God.” That quote was from her website. It’s obvious that Jenny also believes in building her brand and being a busy entrepreneur.

In 2018 Jenny Weaver started an online mentoring group of about 50 people. She calls it CORE. By 2022, she writes, it exploded in popularity as ‘God’ broke out revival. The curriculum of this now vast training college of 14,000 adherents includes live lessons which are ‘Holy Spirit-led’ and on Mondays students learn “deliverance & spiritual warfare training”. She also started a kids’ program and now trains thousands of kids and teens in the core group.

Below are the businesses and activities Jenny runs and maintains according to her Instagram linktree. And she also homeschools and mothers her daughter? Not sure about this claim. There isn’t enough time in a day to do all that and focus on being the mother Jesus wants a woman with children to be…

So, of her claim to be a “homeschooling mom,” in addition to mothering, she travels for concerts, runs a Business Coaching program that helps with “social media strategies, scaling a business, recreating a cohesive look and “feel” to your brand or business and I even teach how to use systems for organizing and schedule blocking“, develops and sells merchandise, AND runs an CORE academy with 14,000 students, and more. Homeschooling mom? Doubtful.

Issue #3: Direct Revelation

Jenny says she ‘leads in “Prophetic worship”‘ Nope. When she prophesies it’s false prophecy. These screen shots are from her January 2 prophetic word on Facebook Live. She is praying the Lord’s use of her will be accurate and edifying, and “thus saith the Lord”.

“Thus saith the Lord” is biblical language used in the Old Testament which confirmed the Prophet was of God. Above, Jenny is taking the Lord’s name in vain, blaspheming according to Exodus 20:7, because the Lord is not speaking to her. She is putting words in His mouth He didn’t say. Doing so, kindles His wrath.

Above, Jenny’s January 2 ‘prophetic word’ includes specificity on exactly HOW ‘Jesus’ told her to express His words to the listening audience on her Facebook livestream. Putting words in the Lord’s mouth that He didn’t say is dangerous. False prophets like Jenny will be severely punished.

This is what the LORD of armies says:
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They tell a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16)

I did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.
Jeremiah 23:21

“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds. (Jeremiah 14:14).

False prophets happened then, it happens now. Prophecy is not occurring in this day and age because the canon is complete. (Revelation 22:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:16). Anyone in these days who claims to have heard directly from the Lord, is is delusional, false, or lying.

Jenny Weaver is a false teacher and a false prophet. All that is left for her (unless she truly repents) is plagues and wrath and punishment, according to the word of God. Avoid Jenny Weaver.

Can a Christian be Demon-possessed?

Charismatic Conference with singer Jenny Weaver encourages children to be slain in the spirit, speak in tongues

Testing Jenny Weaver’s Teachings (18-min video from Learn to Discern). In this video Weaver also says that Christians can be possessed by mind-controlling ‘octopus spirits’.

poetry, theology

Kay Cude Poetry: Invisible Made Visible

Posted on March 17, 2024 by elizabethprata

Kay Cude is a Texas Poet. Used with permission. right-click to open larger in new tab, or, read text below

INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD THE SON ARE DISPLAYED
“For SINCE THE CREATION of the world
HIS INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES, HIS
ETERNAL POWER and DIVINE NATURE,
have been clearly seen, BEING UNDERSTOOD
through what HAS BEEN MADE, so that they [mankind] are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

“HE [Christ] IS THE IMAGE of THE INVISIBLE GOD, THE FIRSTBORN of ALL CREATION. For by HIM ALL things were CREATED,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – ALL things have been CREATED through HIM and for HIM. HE is BEFORE ALL things, and IN HIM ALL things hold together. HE is also HEAD OF THE BODY, The Church; and HE IS THE BEGINNING, THE FIRSTBORN from THE DEAD, so that HE HIMSELF WILL COME
TO HAVE FIRST PLACE IN EVERYTHING.” Colossians 1:15-18

BY KAY CUDE:
“But now INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE Through broken sunlight gazed I still, through shadows dusky to the west; down paths I wandered towards the mill, to sit ‘neath bowers moss bedressed.

Pure diamonds glisten flowed the stream that feeds the wooden waterwheel; as gently tumble aerie dreams, so Waking Truth Christ’s call made real. Lush grows the grass on emerald vale, where spotted fawn and doe oft’ play; strolled I said bank and meadowed trail, and there for me God’s Love displayed.

His Love, first seen through golden wisps, then glorious bursts those Hallowed Beams; and o’er His Head a Dove persists, and by His Grace, my life redeemed… /end Kay Cude poem

ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the HAND OF THE LORD has done this, in WHOSE HAND is the LIFE of every living thing, and the BREATH of ALL mankind?” Job 12:7-10

Text by author Kay Cude purposed solely for non-profit sharing/download.
kay cude, revised July 2016 ⓒ

theology

On having “privilege”

Posted on March 15, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote recently about a trad wife who presents a display of homemaking to the world that most women cannot achieve because they are not as wealthy as it turned out the trad wife indeed is. This results in a hypocritical presentation, because hers is just aesthetic and not real. My point was the hypocrisy of presenting an unreal lifestyle as achievable to the common woman. Yet some comments appeared under my post and centered on the wealth of the trad wife, complaining about her ‘privilege.’

We have turned into a bunch of complainers, whiners, and victims. Shake it off, ladies. Grow up.

It is a biblical fact that some people are indeed privileged to have been born into a wealthy family, and/or have had the benefit of money or education or tutoring or good schools… There is nothing wrong with that. Having wealth is OK. Having privilege is ok. 1 Samuel 2:7 says

“The Lord makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts“

When someone complains against another for having what they themselves do not have, there are two issues- first, have you worked for it or just expected it to land in y our lap? And second, the Lord decides who is rich and who is poor, who gets advantages and who doesn’t.

I’m glad for that trad wife that she had the advantages of money and continues to benefit from that advantage.

The problem isn’t wealth or privilege. The problem is hypocrisy. It’s pretending one does not have the advantages they do, it’s pretending they’ve done it all by themselves, and it’s failing to acknowledge the LORD for His work in one’s life.

The other problem with the privilege complainers is that the so-called “social justice” movement has conflated privilege with oppression. The movement & the culture has linked those together. As in, if you’re privileged, you MUST have oppressed someone else to get it.

Not always so.

Did Abraham oppress others? Did King Solomon, the richest man on the planet? Had Joseph of Arimathea who possessed wealth enough to cover the Lord’s body in spices costing years worth of salary? Job’s wealth drew the attention of satan who tried to get at Job relentlessly. God protected Job, until He didn’t. Joseph had the advantage of working for Potipher, until Mrs Potipher caused Joseph’s fall. Privilege comes with risks.

Many people in the Bible are wealthy. Many have benefited from advantage of knowing someone to get a leg up. Moses did- Pharaoh gave him advantages he would not otherwise have had. Eventually Moses declined it so as to identify with his people- who were legitimately oppressed. The Rich Young Ruler would not make that trade, to his eternal regret I’m sure.

Privilege comes with snares and it comes with responsibility. Do not think for a moment that wealth solves all one’s problems. It doesn’t. I am sure the trad wife who is actually a millionairess, has issues in her life we know nothing of. A few of the snares wealth brings are-

an increasing desire for wealth, (1 Timothy 6:10),
excessive worry about money (Matthew 6:25-34),
the temptation to trust in wealth rather than God (Luke 12:16-21),
and turning one’s wealth into an idol (Matthew 6:24).

Wealth brought responsibility to Abraham, he was responsible for many people, including his wayward nephew Lot.

It is God who gives wealth, it is God who brings poverty. He gives advantageous privilege and He makes low. Privilege isn’t what you think it is and wealth has its snares.

But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (Psalm 75:7)

The GREATEST privilege of all is to have been chosen by God for no reason or merit in us, to become one of His children. Salvation is the greatest privilege. His grace is privilege beyond compare in the entire universe.

Before complaining about privilege next time, remember if you are a believer, we all stand at the same blood-soaked ground before the cross, as humble orphan lost children needing a Fatherly Shepherd.

In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to put you to the test, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you are to remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth… (1 Samuel 2:16-18a).

theology

Sad Pastor vs. Joyful Pastor

Posted on March 14, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I can understand why doctors and counselors are saying more than ever, teens and youths are depressed. If they are on social media often, and they are, spending hours each day, then they are absorbing the tenor of that social media, which is negative.

Christians are doing the same in many cases, sad to say. Everything is bad, politics arguments, false teachers, apostasy, fights, quibbles, misunderstanding, brouhahas, then the inevitable calls to stop fighting…repeat.

Now while it is true that the world is sinking at lightning speed into darkness, violence, and evident sin, and while it is true the church in the US (and elsewhere probably) is the same, what we believers do NOT need to do is comment on it every minute.

We have the joy of the Lord despite outward circumstances. I write this because a pastor posted this on Facebook about being a pastor:

THE PRICE OF BEING A PASTOR

Being a Pastor is listed among the four most difficult professions in the United States because, a Pastor must be:

•Preacher
•Example
•Father
•Husband
•Counselor
•Conference caller
•Planner
•Minister
•Visionary
•Director
•Mentor
•Friend
•Reconciler
•Marriage counselor
•Youth Counselor
•Leader’s trainer
•Bible teacher
•Intercessor etc etc

Besides being:

•Keeper of the Temple
•Cleaning staff
Every Pastor constantly confronts

Reviews like:

The Pastor doesn’t visit me
Sermon don’t fill me up
The Services are to long
Temp is either to cold or to hot
Pastor’s children are not an example according to others.

One of the most difficult things in the life of a Pastor is to know that at some point the people they love will abandon or even betray them.

The Pastor is often the loneliest person in the congregation.

You may see a Pastor be surrounded by people, but very rarely people who are interested in their problems, needs or even in their lives. And let’s not mention the demands that congregations place on Pastors’ children.

For this I would like to give you advice: if you have a Pastor or have as friends Pastors’ children take care of them, pray for them, connect with vision that God gave them, support them, but above all love them. Remember they are human and in the same way they go through the same needs as you.

Even if you don’t believe it, many Pastors and their Families have sacrificed comforts, rest, personal plans and so many things including some of their own family’s needs to attend God’s call.

Value the time a Pastor puts into work, the prayers he makes for everyone, the burden he voluntarily carries for ministry. You don’t know how much he’d appreciate knowing you do.

Jeremiah 3:15, And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

… For all pastors

–end of sad pastor’s comment

OK, all that is true. One thing he didn’t put on the list is that a pastor must sometimes face persecution and death, at least the ones often do who minister outside the US.

All this is scriptural and expected. I know he didn’t post it as a complaint but simply as a reminder to be fair, nice, and encouraging to one’s pastor or elder. All well and good. But where is the joy?

Well my friend Pastor James Bell posted a response. Now, the Shepherd’s Conference just concluded last week where 5000+ men from all over the world gathered to be ministered to, encouraged, and to worship together. This is a conference founded by Dr. John MacArthur at Grace Community Church in CA. He is almost 85 years old. He is this and the last century’s Spurgeon. His output continues to be like no other living man on earth. His 55 years of ministry in this one church is astounding in the days of church hopping, fame-seeking pastors who like to create brands, author books to ‘rise higher’. JMac is famous in a good way. (and I love him!)

But guess what? For every more well-known MacArthur faithfully and steadily expositing the scriptures, persevering amid trials, betrayals, splits, and pressures from government, and dire health issues, there are 50 more who are not known. Who anonymously preach, love, discipline, repeat- week after week.

One of these I happen to know is James Bell. He is in TN. He is very soon to be 80 years old. He ascended his pulpit just 6 years after MacArthur did and has remained for 49 years. Get that. Forty-nine years. He has preached longer than that but his length of time at one pulpit being faithful to the Lord is something to be noted and praised for the Spirit leading him there and sustaining him all these decades.

Well anyway, on to the response Pastor Bell posted to the sad pastor listed above:

Pastor James Bell of Southside Baptist Church, Gallatin TN, source Bell’s FB profile

Having been a full-time pastor for 55 years, (one congregation for 6 years, the next for almost 49) … yes, I’ve had a ‘few’ experiences AND tough times … Amazingly, I have survived several church wars … etc… etc… HOWEVER, although there is SOME truth in the long list under ‘The Price of being a Pastor’ and some truth in similar POSTS placed on FB from time to time– I, for one, DO NOT LIKE such presentations.

WHY? Such lists do not have a proper BALANCE; they have the wrong FOCUS; they easily degenerate into feeding a PITY PARTY.

1. Every Christian in a local congregation faces many TOUGH, difficult situations… there will be differences in each one’s list; BUT ALL FACE DIFFICULTY…

2. The Bible gives clear instructions as to how we are to treat one another… and some special ones, as to relating to Elders/pastors.

3. As a pastor/elder, MY FOCUS is not to seek sympathy from the congregation– BUT TO MODEL AMAZING GRACE in the midst of whatever trial I may be facing; to be focused on THE HIGH CALLING… the privilege to have the opportunity to function as the LORD’S servant.

4. My real tests, trials, troubles, etc… ARE MY OPPORTUNITY to MODEL CHRIST in the midst of the congregation and before a watching world. LET US NOT CALL ATTENTION TO OURSELVES… nor to seek pity… but let us REJOICE and be FOUND FAITHFUL in our high calling.

5. IN A WORLD OF growing self focus among pastors– let us forget ourselves and deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily, and be those in whom and through whom others will SEE CHRIST!

Now. THAT is wisdom! THAT is joy! That is a clear view of the pastorate, the congregation, the church life, and a good scriptural perspective.

For me, the key word in Pastor Bell’s post was “balance”. I write discernment essays and cry out against false teachers. That’s a ‘negative’ work if you want to look at it that way. But there are also posts about grace, joy, song, praise, spring’s renewal, triumphs, and more. Each and every ministry should have balance. Each and every Christian should have balance and display that balance to the world.

Social media is increasingly used by our Adversary for ill, and part of that ill is an ever quickening slide into darkness, negativity, anger, gossip, screed, and so on. Social media reflects the world. We Christians are not of the world. We are in the world, but we have a peace and joy that surpasses understanding. Sometimes, you’d never know it if all you do is view us on social media, (as pagans and teenagers do).

My encouragement to you (and me also) is to recollect your recent conversations, review your recent posts, check your recent texts. Are they skewed to one side, the dark, angry, or negative? Joy is a fruit of the Spirit says Galatians 5:22. Let’s bear fruit for the Name of Jesus.

A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

theology

In the gloaming

Posted on March 12, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Words are interesting. I like the word ‘gloaming’. It’s a more romantic and atmospheric word than just ‘dusk’ or even ‘twilight’.

Merriam Webster says of gloaming: “Originally used in Scottish dialects of English, the word traces back to the Old English glōm, meaning “twilight,” which shares an ancestor with the Old English glōwan, meaning “to glow.” In the early 1800s, English speakers looked to Scotland again and borrowed the now-archaic verb gloam, meaning “to become dusk” or “to grow dark.” Source Merriam Webster.

A less academic and more poetic treatment of the word, which is a weather word after all, comes from weather.com:

Gloaming stems from the Old English glōmung, which itself is a derivative of glōm, which means “twilight or darkness.” Dictionary.com notes that gloaming comes from the same root as glōwan, a verb that means “to glow like a coal or fire.” So, while twilight literally means “second light” or “half light,” and emphasizes the light itself, when you use gloaming, it stresses the way the landscape is glowing, the way it looks strangely alive, rather than the light itself.

I went outside at sunset because I heard ducks. Aa bunch of them were waddling toward the pond across the street. What I saw when I looked up to the sky was amazing. A storm front was moving through with boiling clouds scudding from west to east. But they looked like mountains. The scene was of mountains marching to the sea, a stately, purposeful a march with the light behind them changing by the second. The gloaming light tinged the edges of the clouds with gold and silver. They glowed. I was mesmerized.

The light changed from orange to pink to red to yellow moment by moment. The mountainous clouds slid by as if on skates, gliding in a regal progression too majestic to notice mere tiny humans. The photos don’t nearly capture it.

Did you ever wonder why God chose to reveal Himself in words? He could have done so in pictures or in other ways our limited human brains can’t even fathom. But He chose words.

He created worlds, the stars, and us. He set the sun in its course to rise and set, and have it paint the sky while it was rising and setting. He chose color in the world.

My own words aren’t poetic enough to reach the heights of elegance that the clouds and sun and sky reached as I viewed their magnificent display. But God’s mind is such that He chose to give us words. One of them is gloaming. And He chose to give us beauty in the world. God gave me a demonstration of beauty in the gloaming I would not soon forget.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
4What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
(Psalm 8:3-4)

theology

Netflix- My Life With the Walter Boys: A Review

Posted on March 11, 2024March 11, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Watch or skip?

SKIP

My Life with the Walter Boys is a Netflix television series based on Ali Novak’s 2014 novel of the same name. The premise is that high school sophomore Jackie Howard, who attends an expensive NYC prep school and is on the track to Princeton, is informed of a tragedy that killed her parents and older sister. According to an old will that had not been updated, Jackie is to go live with her mom’s best friend and her husband on a remote ranch in rural Colorado. The will was drafted when mom’s friend had 3 boys, but they now have 9 boys and a girl. Several of the boys are Jackie’s age.

As I watched episode 1, I noticed that the acting is good, and the production values were also good. The scenery is gorgeous. I could overlook the implausibility that Jackie’s wealthy and famous parents had failed to do something something as important as keep up their will regarding their children. The show needs a premise, OK fine.

As episode 2 went on, several things began to trouble me. The plot was setting up a love triangle between 2 of the oldest boys and Jackie. This is problematic. Firstly, the girl is grieving the loss of her entire family and her only known way of life. Even her desired future is at risk because her Colorado High School does not offer the necessary Advanced Placement courses she needs to keep up her GPA for an Ivy League school such as Princeton. Her grief needs to be dealt with.

However the guardian dad is too busy dealing with imminent bankruptcy of his ranch, the parasite invasion ruining his orchard, and the veterinarian mom is always busy also. They are depicted as caring, but not deeply involved and thus, unaware.

Full disclosure: I abandoned this series halfway through episode 3. There are ten episodes. So maybe the parents clue in later. I don’t know. I don’t care.

Secondly, setting up a premise of the character’s tension/problem being a love triangle is nauseating. The guardian parents and the elder brothers constantly reassure Jackie she’s “part of the family now.” Thus, any love triangle among them all living under the same roof has an incestuous tinge to it.

Oh but that’s not all that bothered me.

The actual ethnic make-up of Colorado is as follows, according to the US Census:

White alone, percent	86.2%
Black or African American alone, percent(a)	4.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent(a)	1.7%
Asian alone, percent(a)	3.8%

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CO/PST045223

However, the tv show forced a diversity into every scene with numerous characters of Hispanic, Indian, and Asian origin. The population looked more like New York City than rural Colorado. I am not against other ethnicities. Not at all. I am all for a melting pot. But if you’re going to set the story in a rural, mostly white area, but then force an ethic diversity that doesn’t exist in real life, it’s jarring. It’s woke. And it’s not believable.

If you desire to purposely show many ethnicities, set the show in San Antonio, or the state of Washington or outside Vancouver. There are options. (The show is actually filmed in Calgary, Canada).

Below, the High School counselor meets a new substitute, who apparently is of Pakistani/Nepalese/Indian ethnicity. Sure. In Colorado.

And that’s another problem, the counselor appears in every scene in which I saw her, wearing low cut dresses or blouses like she is below. In a High School? No. Boys of that age lust after dryer lint. Flaunting deep cleavage like that in a supposedly clean show is again, unnecessary. It’s also not believable that a High School staff member would dress that way.

And next up we have the homosexuality issue.

One of the Walter boys is secretly gay. I knew it the minute I saw the below scene, where he comes across a guest in their house washing paint off his shirt. The actor was so good in conveying his rush of lust in seeing the fit teen shirtless in the bathroom that I instantly knew. I looked up “Walter boys gay” and there it was, confirmed. Later in the series, the two share a kiss.

If that’s not enough, there is just one other issue I’ll raise. In the series, the second oldest boy, the oldest one living under the roof, and the one Jackie is in the triangle with, is a sexual exploiter. He plays the field, sleeping with girls who throw themselves at him because he supposedly has tons of magnetism the girls call “The Cole Effect.” Cole is in a dating relationship with one particular girl but he sleeps with whoever. So there’s fornication and ‘adultery’.

In one scene, Jackie leaves her room early in the morning to go for a run and bumps into a half dressed girl from school leaving Cole’s bedroom. And the girl is not his girlfriend. Cole is the boy Jackie ultimately chooses… the casual player, the known fornicator who cheats? Where’s the ’empowered grrl self-respect’?

Said the fornicating underage adulteress to the ingenue…

It seems that the focus on wokeness and diversity, and its hyper sexuality especially seen in the world’s desperation for everyone to be gay, eventually finds a home in media like TV. In most new shows, even the ones touted as “family friendly” issues like immodesty, sexual dalliance, and homosexuality will be present. I do not recommend it.

Netflix is notorious for presenting shows then canceling after one season. However, this particular show has already been renewed for season 2. Of course.

Updated later in the day:

I should put in a recommendation for Free Rein on Netflix. It has a similar plot- teen and younger sister visiting grandparents on a rural island off the coast of England, struggle to settle in, make friends, and deal with her parents’ separation from each other. The scenery is gorgeous, the acting is good and the struggles of the teen are realistic without being scary or overdramatic. The series is rated G. I saw the first season so I cannot vouch for succeeding seasons, but to my memory, the show is clean and actually family friendly.

theology

Kay Cude Poetry: The Pearl

Posted on March 10, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Kay Cude

Used with permission. Kay Cude is a Texas poet. Right click to open larger in new tab. Or see below

WHEN WE PICTURE THE TRINITY TO BE A SINGLE PEARL

I set before you the One Deity and Power, found in the Three-in-Unity, embracing the Three one-by-one, equal in essence and nature…

“Picture the Trinity to be a single pearl, alike on all sides, equally glistening. If any part of the pearl is damaged, the whole loveliness of the precious stone is gone. So when you dishonour the Son in order to honour the Father, the Father doesn’t accept your honour. How can the Father glory in the Son’s dishonour? Likewise, if you dishonour the Holy Spirit, the Son doesn’t accept your honour. For though the Spirit doesn’t come from the Father in the same way as the Son, yet He comes from the same Father. Either honour the whole or dishonour the whole, and so have a consistent mind! I can’t accept your half-godliness. I would have you altogether godly.”

Source: Oration 37, Gregory of Nazianzus, (AD 330-390) “Shapers of Christianity,” Nick Needham Banner of Truth Magazine, No. 706-July 2022

discernment, theology

A new thought on spiritual armor

Posted on March 7, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I used to study King Arthur, chivalry, armor, and heraldry. I think the Age of Chivalry was fascinating.

Getty Art website explains, “Chivalry first developed as a code of honor that emphasized bravery, loyalty, and generosity for knights at war in the 11th and 12th centuries. By the later Middle Ages illuminated manuscripts had helped establish chivalry as a system of values that permeated almost every aspect of aristocratic culture.“

During this age, chain mail was common until plate armor became more popular. Popular because it protected the knight or soldier better. Chain mail was then often worn underneath the plate armor.

Armor requited constant upkeep. It needed polishing (usually the squire’s job). Its attachments needed mending. The knight could not gain weight, the metal didn’t stretch or grow with him! And it was expensive, so acquiring another suit of armor at the drop of a hat (in just the right size) for purchase was unlikely, and obtaining one as booty even more unlikely.

You know the paragraph at the end of Ephesians, right?

The Spiritual Armor section from chapter 6. Here it is in case you’re not familiar-

The Whole Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

**The Spiritual Armor section has usually been taught that we, the believer, possess various pieces of armor which we put on (as verse 11 says). Each piece corresponds to a different aspect of the believer’s life. It is not solely defensive. Spiritual warfare is actually offensive, too.

Continue reading →

theology

Why do I feel dry? How do I get the joy back?

Posted on March 6, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I am so encouraged by women who ask how to regain the joy of their earlier walk. And those who who care that they feel they are not walking as closely with the Lord as they might! So much better than apathy! They inspire ME to walk more closely with Him, or to be making sure to.

I am sorry if you, dear sister and reader, are having a dry season. During these time when you don’t feel the impact of the Lord’s word as much, it’s the time for faith to to into high gear- because you just have to trust that the Spirit IS impressing it in you. That is His ministry. As long as you are absorbing it, trying with fullest attention as you can, He WILL illuminate it.

Remember, our feelings are deceptive. Emotions are fleeting. Who can know our own heart? We cannot, it is desperately sick. We might feel dry, we might feel distant from the Lord, but HE is the fountain, HE is always with us till the end of the age. HE hasn’t moved.

Yet, the dry season might be real. It might be like this, from 1 Peter 1:6 KJV,
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations…

Do you feel a heaviness instead of lightness in joy?

You’ve repented, asked of the Lord, and that is a good thing. Keep inquiring of the Lord. Remember the Persistent Widow. She sought justice, and we seek release from your spiritual drought, but the point is, Jesus praised that she kept asking. So did Hannah, in her time of sorrow and confusion.

John 4:12-14 NASB – Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

You have a fountain in you! It might feel frozen, but it’s there because the Spirit is in you if you are a believer. The rivers of living water are promised in John 7:38 and given to every believer.

Remember, your dryness is just a feeling. Feeling dry doesn’t mean God was neither present nor at work. John 5:17, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.“

Spurgeon preached on the 1 Peter text in a sermon called The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing–

“I was lying upon my couch during this last week, and my spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for—but a very slight thing will move me to tears just now—and a kind friend was telling me of some poor old soul living near, who was suffering very great pain, and yet she was full of joy and rejoicing. I was so distressed by the hearing of that story, and felt so ashamed of myself, that I did not know what to do; wondering why I should be in such a state as this; while this poor woman, who had a terrible cancer, and was in the most frightful agony, could nevertheless “rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”

“And in a moment this text flashed upon my mind, with its real meaning. I am sure it is its real meaning. Read it over and over again, and you will see I am not wrong. “Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness.” It does not say, “Though now for a season ye are suffering pain, though now for a season you are poor; but you are ‘in heaviness;'” your spirits are taken away from you; you are made to weep; you cannot bear your pain; you are brought to the very dust of death, and wish that you might die. Your faith itself seems as if it would fail you. That is the thing for which there is a needs be. That is what my text declares, that there is an absolute needs be that sometimes the Christian should not endure his sufferings with a gallant and a joyous heart; there is a needs be that sometimes his spirits should sink within him, and that he should become even as a little child smitten beneath the hand of God.”

Spurgeon surmised a reason for this sinking joylessness:

“Yet again; if the Christian did not sometimes suffer heaviness he would begin to grow too proud, and think too much of himself, and become too great in his own esteem. Those of us who are of elastic spirit, and who in our health are full of everything that can make life happy, are too apt to forget the Most High God. Lest we should be satisfied from ourselves, and forget that all our own springs must be in him, the Lord sometimes seems to sap the springs of life, to drain the heart of all its spirits, and to leave us without soul or strength for mirth, so that the noise of tabret and of viol would be unto us as but the funeral dirge, without joy or gladness. Then it is that we discover what we are made of, and out of the depths we cry unto God, humbled by our adversities.”

He assures his listeners,

“I think I have said enough about this heaviness, except that I must add it is but for a season. A little time, a few hours, a few days, a few months at most, it shall all have passed away; and then comes the “eternal weight of glory, wherein ye greatly rejoice.”

He goes on to the joy after that!

Apostle Paul felt joy in hard circumstances but he wasn’t joyful every second. We know he was frustrated, perplexed, and angry at times. In Psalm 42, David felt spiritually dry.

Adrian Rogers advised on how to get the joy back: (How to Experience God’s Joy Every Day)

“One of the keys to experiencing joy is to cultivate the habit of thankfulness. To regularly remember and reflect upon all the blessings that God has given us and then to pour out praise and thanksgiving to God. Psalm 9:1 says, “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.”

Rogers continues, “If we want to experience the joy of the Lord, we must recount all the wonderful deeds that He has performed on our behalf (all the ways He has blessed us), and then pour out thanksgiving to God. The more we do this, the more we’ll experience deep, abundant, overflowing joy.”

So instead of confessing, switch to praising.

If your season of dryness goes on for an uncomfortably long while, first check to ensure you are actually IN the faith. This resource may help

Is It Real? 11 Tests of Genuine Faith

Then, once assured that you are in the faith, if you want to endure in ministry, in your walk, persevering to the end, there are three words. “Remember Jesus Christ.” I recommend this sermon highly.

Abner Chou | TMS Chapel | The Secret To Endurance

Stay in the Word, praise the Savior more than eve, even praising Him for your spiritual dryness, keep to the spiritual disciplines, and eventually they will begin to move again. Look to those in the Bible who endured the same: Moses 40 years after killing the Overseer, Hannah plagued by Penninah, David dry and crying out to the Lord.

Psalm 30:5-
For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.