I have been blessed to have been an educator for many decades. Not continually the whole time, but I’ve spent years teaching children how to read better and to love reading. I am currently a Literacy Interventionist in a public elementary school. I am blessed to teach in this school system, which is well-run, reasonable, and has excellent leaders and teachers.
Since my beginning years in teaching, which was in 1982, the secular culture in America has changed staggeringly. I lived through the cultural revolutions of the 1960s- Second Wave Feminism, Civil Rights, Homosexual Rights, and Politics/War. Phew. It was a lot.
Eventually, the public education spheres begin to absorb these countercultural philosophies and attitudes of the secular world, and generations entering school who were raised after the 1960s increasingly adopted these new norms as normal.
The cultural revolution of the 1960s was sin, of course. Sin entering and rising in a massive wave that leveled up the sin already present in the world.
The 1960s’ cultural revolution was visible. Hippies emerged. Music changed. Clothing was different. Protests took place. You could see it and hear it all over the country.
It feels to me like another revolution is taking place, one that is as massive as the 1960s’, but invisible. I can’t see it visibly happening but I see the results of it.
It’s the War on Children.
As an educator I see children coming to us as young as age 5 and 6 with serious sin issues. It used to be in the old days, one or two 5th or 6th graders might pull some attitude, once in a while. Very few stood firm, not quaking at authority and seemingly unaffected by consequences. They’d crumble and cry pretty quickly. A call to parent(s) yielded response or support.
I’m shocked that nowadays we have so many kindergarteners who merely glance disdainfully at authority, lie, cheat, steal, talk back, and seem not to care about punishment. Parents are absent in fact or in spirit. These youngsters watch horror movies rated R and laugh when someone is killed. They think it’s funny. They have no work ethic. Physical violence is the answer to any issue they have, and increasingly, they have issues with even the most minor of bumps in the road.
EPrata photo
Not ALL students of course, but a demoralizing number of children come to us already ruined. Conscience-less. I know, I know, children are sinners. Sinners gonna sin. But what I’m talking about is a shocking absence of any care at all for rules, adults, or authority. And a shocking lack of concern for their own lack of conscience.
The war on children is not a new phenomenon, but it has lately escalated to catastrophic levels.” John MacArthur, The War on Children
I’ve had some struggles adjusting to this new reality. The leveling up of sin and its effect on children has caught me in a gap. My mind totally knows that this will happen. The Bible tells us that in the last days sin will rise, children will be disobedient, times will be brutal, and so on. (2 Timothy 3:1-3). I believe it because God said it.
Today we are not merely contending with the normal, accumulated evil of past generations. We’re also living in a culture that has specifically targeted children for destruction. MacArthur, The War on Children
But when you SEE it played out before your eyes, it takes a while for the heart to catch up to the brain. Knowing is one thing, grieving over it is another. My heart is sad and hasn’t calibrated yet to this new, awful reality.
That’s the gap; the head knows, but the heart can’t take it. It will take a little while for the Word of God to console me and fill that gap.
So, seeking a theological framework to help me process this new reality of ruined children, I got the new book by John MacArthur called The War on Children. I read it over Spring Break.
It was good but heavily aimed at parents. I had a hard time adapting it to my childless/single status. It was also heavy on culture’s wrongs and only a half page epilogue at the end for the hope, which was really what I was looking for. MacArthur gave good and current information on what the media, entertainment, schools etc are doing to children, but strangely absent was discussing video games’ part in the war on children.
For example, Kindergarteners were discussing this game, Five Nights at Freddy’s–
The Five Nights at Freddy’s series consists of horror-themed video games in which the player is usually a night-time employee at a location connected with Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a fictional children’s restaurant…the homicidal evil animatronics wander the restaurant at night, and the guard (who is the player) is instructed to watch over them. The homicidal animatronics mistake humans for animatronic endoskeletons, whom they will force inside character suits, killing them in the process. In the later game editions it is retroactively established that the animatronics are actually possessed by spirits of children murdered by restaurant cofounder…where a hidden news article explains that the restaurant’s reputation was damaged when blood, mucus, and foul odors began to leak from the animatronics’ eyes and mouths. With help from Michael, Henry sets fire to the restaurant, destroying every animatronic inside and freeing all the children’s souls. Inventor and founder William, meanwhile, is trapped and repeatedly tormented in eternal damnation by the spirit of Cassidy, one of the children he murdered. Excerpted from Wikipedia.
Explicit murders, trapped souls of children, torment and eternal damnation… this game is rated for ages 12+ which is still too young, but 6 years olds know all about it and even “play” it.
Of course any MacArthur book is worthwhile, ultimately. It did teach me of how important children are in God’s economy and how they are one of the foundations to the building blocks of this world. Children are KEY!
This culture is weaponized to destroy children. J. MacArthur
My Takeaways from the Book:
-Just HOW MUCH children are at risk. -Children are extremely important to God. Of course we know this, but reading the book the way MacArthur lays it out, drove the point home in a new way. -Prompted me to be ever more patient, kind, and loving with the children in my care at school.
The War on Children is available on Amazon and also Grace Books, among other book sale outlets.
I’ve been a Christian for only 20 years, but I’ve been alive for 63. Even as a youngster, I asked the eternal question to myself, “Why is the world like this?”
Young people, the unsaved, adults, no matter your age, location, or spiritual status, anyone, can see that the world is broken. People are crazy. Just watch the news, if you dare.
The world has always been filled with sinners seeking to fulfill their own desires. A sinner’s desires are completely corrupt and unholy. (Genesis 6:5). They will seek to fulfill these desires by any means they can find, and will eventually resort to graft or deception or bullying or anger, etc.
But it seems lately that the percolating anger in sinners is closer to the surface than ever. Sin makes people insane and they do insane things. That is what having a reprobate mind means. (Romans 1:28-32). I means that people are so darkened that they can’t think straight. For moral and spiritual purposes, they’re effectively insane.
It used to be that people seemed to be held in check from expressing their baser desires by cultural pressure. Even though we in America have never really been a Christian nation, people acted Christian. The veneer of morality prevented things from being said, acts from being done. Over time though, the social-moral fabric has frayed. Badly.
But… Jesus is alive and in control. He sees this foolishness and He will come back to take care of it.
The Great Day of the LORD “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,” (Zephaniah 1:4)
This was a prophecy against Judah. Do you see that? EVERY TRACE of Baal will be gone!
“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal.” (Zephaniah 3:8).
And He rose from the dead so that He could conquer death and atone for our sins and to fulfill all the promises since Genesis! He is risen! He lives! He loves! He is with us in our time of trouble and He will come for His beloved! He will rectify the wrongs and rid the world of polluted governments and wretched religions, the Baals and the Molechs and the Mammons will be banished from the earth forever!
“and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)
But He IS risen, and we are with Him, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12).
No more sin, ever!
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14)
Mighty is our God who raises from the dead, justifies our sins through Jesus, and Who sets all prophecies down so we may see what must come to pass. Prophecy shows that no matter how crazy the culture gets, Jesus is always in control.
A woman named Lori Alexander who goes by the nickname The Transformed Wife, handle of @godlywomanhood, who claims to be a Christian, has an enormous platform across a plethora of social media accounts. When a man or woman is solid in their doctrine AND in his or her lifestyle, this is a good thing. I love that social media has been invented and provides us a way to get the word of God out into the world…To connect with like-minded brethren…To honor and glorify God.
But when the person has a lifestyle that is a horror to God or teaches error, wrong doctrines, or twisted Bible verses, it’s a grief to God. It is also a danger to those who aren’t discerning enough to see beyond the form of a teacher’s godliness. Then followers are drawn into a dark path. In June 2023 I critiqued Lori Alexander’s online work.
In my discernment essay critiquing Lori’s doctrines and teachings, I used sources such as her own words in screenshots, quotes from her own blog etc. and compared her theology to the Bible’s. My essay seemed to have angered her and upset her greatly and that anger has not simmered down in the last 6 months…
How do I know?
Recently a lengthy article was published examining Lori’s online output (I won’t call it a ministry) from a psychological perspective. The author was Daniel Schricker, Ph.D, who is not only known for his music, (@ComposerDan90) but also for his academic work in identifying cults. He should know, he grew up in one. Since then he has dedicated his academic career in speaking and writing about the psychological use of fear in cults- especially against children.
In his article on Lori, Daniel Schricker said that according to Hassan’s ‘BITE’ Model, there are four “sets of criteria by which to define the modus operandi of harmful organisations, Behavior control, Information control, Thought control, and Emotional control.” Dr. Schricker goes through each of these criteria with matching examples from Lori’s online advice. He makes a compelling case.
Most disturbing are Lori’s teachings on behavior, with Dr. Schricker concluding, “All of these represent forms of behaviour control that are based entirely on Lori’s feelings, nothing else,” he said.
We know that Christians must base our learning and teaching on the Bible, nothing else. Red flag # 1 that Lori Alexander is a false teacher.
In her teaching and her behavior, Lori does exhibit the other three sets of criteria that harmful organizations exhibit as well- Thought control, Information control, and Emotional control. As to the latter, Dr. Schricker said:
“Emotional control is central to Lori’s thinking about her faith and is something she cites as a key to making a marriage last. Rather than recognising emotions as a healthy part of the human experience, she seems to believe that they are responsible for many of the problems women face. In the cult of Lori, women must silence and ignore their emotions entirely.”
Dr. Schricker’s article has agonized Lori. She is spending much time on several of her platforms railing against it, as well as dredging up my article from June 2023, which means it still obviously distresses her.
While it is never my intention to purposely antagonize anyone, even false teachers such as Lori, the truth will wound. It will either wound unto a godly sorrow leading to conviction and repentance, or it will lead to a distress that hardens one further into their errant position. Sadly I think the latter is Lori’s case. Her anguish at being called out is hardening her into her errant positions. This is sad to see.
The Lord uses both conviction and time to bring someone to Himself. Of the false teacher in Revelation 2 called Jezebel, Jesus gave her time to repent (Revelation 2:21). But she did not wish to repent. See also Romans 2:4, ‘the kindness of God leads to repentance’. But if the person has a stubborn and unrepentant heart, they are storing up wrath for themselves on the day of Judgment. (Romans 2:5).
BOTH show the glory of God in the end. Both His kindness and His just wrath glorifies Him. While we always pray for repentance for the false teacher, we ultimately pray God will be glorified in whatever the outcome.
I’d like to take a moment to parse Lori’s outrage and defenses. The lesson here is that one can be SO entrenched on one’s position, they literally can’t see. Cannot. So entrenched in sin their thinking becomes futile, doesn’t the Bible say this? (Romans 1:21).
Lori went on to say in that same post: (underlines are mine)
Many female Bible teachers don’t like me simply because I don’t believe women should teach theology. They should stick to teaching the doctrines of biblical womanhood as God commands in Titus 2:3-5.
1.It’s not about personally liking or disliking someone. I dislike Beth Moore’s theology intensely but I believe her to be a very likable person.
2.Theology and doctrine are the same thing. Theology is learning about God. Doctrine is, ahem, learning about God’s ways and teachings.
3.Since Lori restricts herself to Titus 2:3-5 only, I wonder if she knows that King Solomon has advised the following:
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, And do not ignore your mother’s teaching; Proverbs 1:8
Or Proverbs 6:20? My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Lori: “I have never aligned myself with false teachers nor have I ever preached in a church”
There is more to being false than simply those two things. It’s comforting to look at one’s self and say ‘I am not false because I never did X or Y’. Yes but what about when you did A or B? See: “Rich Young Ruler”. He thought he was saved because he ‘kept all the commandments since a youth’ but didn’t see that he had a huge hole in his theology, namely, his sin.
Lori said: “All of the commentaries of old agree with me and so do some other great pastors like Voddie Baucham.”
Cherry picking the sources that agree with one’s [unbiblical] stance is called confirmation bias. Psychologist Peter Wason has said this is the “tendency of people to favor information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed.”
While it’s great to consult other sources like commentaries and credible pastors and teachers, ultimately, the Bible is the only reliable source. And the Bible disagrees with Lori’s stance that women cannot teach theology to other women or children. Another red flag. Also: see Lois, Eunice, Priscilla.
She said: “I also believe women teaching the Bible and preaching in Women’s Bible studies is what has led to the plethora of female preachers in most churches today!”
Lori likes to blame women for much of what is wrong in Christendom. Yet she never mentions the man’s or the husband’s or the pastor’s part in allowing the woman to preach or fall into error. We didn’t “all fall in Eve.” We all fell in Adam. (Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:22).
See, that is another example of how her skewed theology skews her mental worldview – thus what comes out of her mouth is error.
I’ve written on the dangers of skewed theology before, and the importance of balance. Yes, I agree Lori is right on some of what she teaches. The problem is the error of omission. Adrian Rogers in his ministry Love Worth Finding speaks of James 4:17 and the sin of omission:
What is a sin of omission? The sin of omission is failure to do what you ought to be doing. James said, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). It is a greater sin to fail to do what you ought to do than to do what you ought not to do.
Lori should be learning and teaching the whole counsel of God. It’s like this as an example: In the Bible the Proverbs 31 woman is counted as worthy and one to emulate. In Proverbs 31:16 the woman ‘considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.’
So let’s say a woman with a platform started teaching that women everywhere should buy a field and plant a vineyard. It’s in the Bible, right? This women was lauded for her activity, enscripturated in God’s word forever as a worthy women. Therefore ALL women should buy a field and plant an orchard. Then they will be happy and God will be happy.
And let’s say that is the only thing the woman teaches in her whole platforming career online. Is she right? Yes, the Bible does say that. But is that ALL it says for women? No. Lori makes the error of omission, failing to teach the whole counsel of God. See link below in “Further Reading” for an excellent article about what the whole counsel of God means.
One must be inside the strong fortress, its foundation the entire counsel of God. Every brick being every word of God. Clinging to two verses in the Bible as Lori does, Titus 2:4-5, will not sustain a person in the end. It’s like clinging to a sapling in a tornado. I’d rather be inside the strong fortress!
Why am I writing this? Truth requires a response. Dr. Schricker’s article presented psychological truth. My previous article presented truth of God’s word. To hear truth and to dismiss it or ignore it dishonors the truth giver and dishonors the Lord. It also puts people on a path of destruction.
My hope for Lori is this: that someday she will cease kicking against the goads, repent, and close all her platforms to honor the Lord. She spends much time on her many platforms, and repenting and closing her online work would mean she would have more time to tend to her home, husband, children, and grandchildren. I pray she will cease leading women down a dark path.
Great article by Randy Alcorn on The Whole Counsel of God: He opens the article with an example of what happens when we cherry pick verses to support our position. “If we want to better understand any doctrine or teaching, we must consider not bits and pieces of the Bible but “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, ESV). The Bible features a staggering breadth and depth of truth that selective proof-texting can never reflect.“
TableTalk Magazine: Discernment without Judgmentalism by Eric Bancroft: Today’s marketplace of ideas is tragically filled with lies, distortions, and even heresies. Christians are called to be discerning as they engage with these ideas and the people who present them to us (Heb. 5:13–14). Such maturity of thought and ability to help others is to be modeled by elders of local churches, who are called on to “give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9).
Ponder His grace today. His grace that preserved you until salvation. His grace IN salvation. His grace to prosper you. His grace to bring you to his heavenly home in the end.
I had a conversation with a young person about the man Job and his suffering. He thought everything happened all at once to Job. I said that at first satan asked to harass Job’s stuff and God said satan could, but don’t touch his body. Since Job didn’t renounce God, satan went back to God and complained that he needed to do more, and God said OK you can touch his body but spare his life.
I was sure I was right, but afterward I went back and checked anyway. Yes, that is Job 1 and Job 2, a two-stage attack from satan against Job. I got to reading it over again a few times, marveling at this amazing scene. So much to unpack. Isn’t it thrilling that every time you read the same passage over the years, something different ‘leaps out at you’?
This time, I began thinking about the suddenness of it all. I wondered, “How old was Job when this happened to him?” He was an adult and had been married a while. He had 10 adult children, many flocks, and servants. He had routines (making atonement sacrifices for his adult children), and they had routines (visiting each other). Job did his routines “continually”. (Job 1:5).
So as Sophia used to say on the TV show The Golden Girls, “Picture it, the land of Uz, 4000 years ago…” Job is living his life. Nothing remarkable happened. Oh, probably the usual servant issues, animals dying, an occasional tribal raid. But his life was stable and proceeding apace as the years went on. Like all of us, we think how it is now is how it’s going to stay. This attitude is even captured in the Bible where people are mocking, saying “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:4b).
But it doesn’t stay like that. Apart from the certainty of God, the only permanent thing we can count on in this life is change. For Job, suddenly, BLAM! Life changed in an instant. We know why. He didn’t.
For us here and now, we sink into having the same attitude toward life. This marriage will last forever. This job will last forever. I bought my forever home. My health is good and will stay that way.
But then, BLAM! A drunk driver…a sudden onset disease…a boss closes the business…spouse hatefully departs or sadly passes away…
We all learn through reading Job about the sovereignty of God. The power of God. Man’s humble state before God. Not how about this also: the Book of Job teaches the fragility and the impermanence of life. How it is ALL in God’s hand.
Our lives here seem like they will go on the same. Until they don’t. One moment Job had ten thriving adult children and he was looking forward to next generations. Then not. He was rich, the next moment- poor. One moment a father, the next moment- no children or hope of grandchildren.
Now, we know the LORD graciously restored Job double what he had lost. (Job 42:10). He lived for 140 more years and saw his seed continue for 4 more generations. God did not have to do that. I’m glad for Job and Mrs. Job’s sakes that He did.
We read in the Bible verses like in James 4:14, ‘Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.‘
Psalm 39:5, Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing before You; Surely every man, even standing firm, is altogether vanity. Selah.
Psalm 78:39, So He remembered that they were only flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.
We skim them and say ‘Sure, yah, I believe that. Life’s short.” But do we REALLY believe it? The truth of it doesn’t impress itself on us as much as this verse,
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to might, eighty years, (Psalm 90:10a)
and we think that is how long our life is going to be. We tend to think that our life will be long and “full of days”. It will follow a trajectory of growth to adulthood, a satisfying job, marriage, family, a long period of raising the family, then a comfy retirement and an easy death.
But God…may have other ideas about our life.
Life is short. Life in this flesh is impermanent. Life is fragile. Trust God, the permanent, unchanging One.
During a Christmas season you might sing the old hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The hymn is thought to have originated in the 1100s! The 1861 translation of this ancient hymn from the Latin contains the verse about a Dayspring.
O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high, And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel
That we ought not to rest in the world and its enjoyments, but should desire heaven. We should “seek first the kingdom of God.” (Mat. 6:33) We ought above all things to desire a heavenly happiness; to be with God and dwell with Jesus Christ. Though surrounded with outward enjoyments, and settled in families with desirable friends and relations; though we have companions whose society is delightful, and children in whom we see many promising qualifications; though we live by good neighbors, and are generally beloved where known; we ought not to take our rest in these things as our portion. We should be so far from resting in them, that we should desire to leave them all, in God’s due time. We ought to possess, enjoy and use them, with no other view but readily to quit them, whenever we are called to it, and to change them willingly and cheerfully for heaven.
For a while in Christian publishing we had a spate of books that were classified as “Heaven tourism.” That is, books whose authors had recounted an alleged trip to heaven. Their books were filled with gushing, breathless descriptions of what heaven looks like, what people were doing there, even the smells and sounds. And of course, many times, it was Jesus guiding the person around. Thus, ‘Heaven tourism’.
I understand the curiosity about heaven but we cannot look to man’s alleged visits there to satisfy our need for knowledge about the place that’s really our home. Only the Bible has that information. These heaven visits are ‘extra-biblical’, and cannot be trusted. Only a few people in the Bible were given a glimpse into heaven while they were alive and told about it: Stephen as he was dying, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micaiah, and Paul. Paul said it wasn’t permitted to tell what he heard. And he didn’t.
heaven tourism books popular for a while
There were several views of activity in the second heaven, or the sphere above ours, such as Elisha and his servant seeing the chariots all around, and Jacob seeing the ladder from heaven to earth with angels ascending and descending.
But the Lord did give us several ‘permissible’ glimpses of the “third heaven” or God’s abode. He obviously wanted us to know about these because they are in God’s word. Ezekiel’s vision, Isaiah’s vision, John’s book of Revelation are biblical places to see true information about heaven.
Of these glimpses into heaven we see that heaven is an active, busy, and loud place.
There are seraphim surrounding the throne of God proclaiming “holy holy holy is the Lord God almighty” so loud the pillars shake and the place fills with smoke. (Isaiah 6:3-4).
There are people singing and worshiping. There are harps and trumpets. Angels are busy proclaiming. There are living beings with 4 faces rushing left and right. “And the living beings ran back and forth like bolts of lightning.” (Ezekiel 1:14).
And I also heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of a crowd like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stopped, they let down their wings. And a voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings. (Ezekiel 1:24-25).
In Revelation 5 there is much activity. There are proclamations in a loud voice, myriads of angels:
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:” (Revelation 5:11-12)
In Job 1 and in 1 Kings 22:19-21 we see the myriads of angels assembling, reporting, discussing. Angels are constantly coming and going from heaven to earth.
Heaven is busy and it’s loud. Not bad-loud, but loud. Activity, whirring, proclaiming singing, bustling, flashing, shaking…Which makes the next verse all the more significant.
As the seventh seal is about to be opened,
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Revelation 8:1)
EVERYTHING STOPS
The grim significance of the moment has stunned all into silence. There are no words. God is about to speak in wrath, and the fury unleashed upon the world in the previous seal judgments will be as nothing compared to the coming fury of his righteous anger.
When we think of heaven we may think of bucolic pastures and green lushness and peace and quietude. Perhaps talking quietly with Abraham or Paul on a bench by the Tree of Life. And I’m sure that beauty and peace will be present, certainly.
But God’s current administration of His universe is busy and active. It’s stunning that all the sounds stop when the 7th seal is about to be opened.
Saints, judgment is a fearsome thing. We should be in awe of it, and eager to tell the GOOD NEWS that will release a lost soul from its coming certainty to one of peace with God and a blissful eternity in heaven.
Our citizenship there should also give us comfort and gratitude. We will be “up there”, “over yonder” when that seal is unsealed, stunned into silence ourselves, not down here about to endure the worst time on earth there shall ever be. No, the Lord graciously had mercy on our souls and transferred us from the domain of darkness and judgment to the domain of glory and bliss.
Thoughts of heaven can’t some at the expense of gratitude that we escaped judgment, either on earth during the Tribulation or in hell for all time. And as Edwards said of any pleasures or comforts of earth, we should be “readily to quit them, whenever we are called to it, and to change them willingly and cheerfully for heaven.“
Our cheerfulness resides in the fact that we know heaven is where Jesus is. Someday we shall see His face. If you are in Him, it will be a smiling face, saying, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’” (Matthew 25:23)
A few days ago I’d written an essay about how to tell if you are growing, listing some markers of sanctification. (Here). I kept thinking about it. Meanwhile I kept listening to praise songs and hymns.
Songs carry theology, both good and bad. Be careful what you listen to, the ideas and concepts sung in a song go into our mind just as much as a sermon. Here are three songs I realized I respond to differently than I did years ago. I consider these waypoints of growth.
Amazing Grace
I loved that song even before I was saved at age 43. I didn’t ever go to church much, maybe someone’s wedding, or the occasional Christmas service. But I heard the song and liked it. EXCEPT the lyric “a wretch like me”. I firmly clamped my mouth shut when that came around and refused to speak it. I was offended at the thought that I was a wretch. I certainly was not. The rest of the song was nice though.
LOL now on the other side of salvation these years later, if course I’m a wretch. Peeling the veil apart and now seeing behind it I am aware of my sin and Jesus’ holiness, and it’s an apt description of our sinful state.
In the Garden
This one got on my nerves in stages. Here are some of the lyrics-
I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses And the voice I hear, falling on my ear The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me And He talks with me And He tells me I am His own And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known
I used to enjoy thinking about God ‘walking and talking with me’ assuring me personally. It’s a nice scene. But it’s wrong.
OK, first, God doesn’t speak to me. I cannot hear His voice, unless I am reading the Bible out loud (thanks Justin Peters for that great quote).
God doesn’t walk with me in the garden like He did with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. His Spirit IS in me, and Jesus said He would be with us till the end of the age,, but thinking of him personally relating sweet nothings in our ear is not the picture I want in my head.
Finally, after a while this grew large in my mind: “And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known”.
No. Other people, all other brethren in the faith have known the joy of knowing the Lord. But mainly, the joy that Jesus knows with His Father God and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity’s communion with each other, surpasses all joy we could ever conceive.
Far Side Banks of Jordan
But I’ll be waiting on the farside banks of Jordan I’ll be sitting drawing pictures in the sand And when I see you coming I will rise up with a shout! And come running through the shallow waters reaching for your hand
Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash sing this (among other musicians). Initially I felt it was poignant because of the sweetness of the Cash’s love story. Aw, they love each other so much, and would be pining up in heaven till the other gets there!
But wait…as I grew in understanding of what heaven is, I realized the lyrics were completely wrong. No one in heaven will be lax, doing nothing or doodling idly while one’s back is turned to the throne. We won’t be looking back. We won’t be pining, grieving, or waiting. Heaven is busy. (Revelation 4:8). Angels coming and going, the dead in Christ singing, assembling, thronging the throne. (Revelation 5:11). The machinery of God spinning and flashing (Ezekiel 1:14, 17).
We will be fellowshipping with the saints, not mourning a lost marital relationship, one which Jesus told us expires on earth anyway. (Matthew 22:30). Relationships will be different up there, even long term, loving marriages. (Matthew 12:47-49).
I grew to love the hymn Amazing Grace even more after salvation, while other songs I grew to love less. The sentiments in the song Far Side Banks of Jordan In The Garden don’t align with the Bible. You might enjoy these songs, It’s OK. There might be songs I enjoy that you don’t and vice versa.
The point is, allow our conscience to speak to us. As our sanctification grows, we might grow into or grow out of certain songs, or activities, or clothing, or reading material…and that is as it should be. The sanctification process is always ongoing and our tastes change as sanctification grows.
One day our sanctification will be complete. But we will still be growing. In Jonathan Edwards’ essay “Heaven is a World of Love” he wrote that he believed heaven is a state where we continue to progress in love and advance in knowledge, holiness, and happiness. It’s not static, in other words. Heaven itself is busy and our own internal emotional state grows. He said in THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM; OR THE TRUE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE A JOURNEY TOWARDS HEAVEN,
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature; and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.—To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops; but God is the ocean.
I think it is wise every once in a while to scan our heart and mind to see if we’re growing. To take a fresh look at the bookshelves, podcast bookmarks, song playlist, clothing, etc to see if we have outgrown them or if we have grown more fond of the holy things we have in our lives.
This way we can praise the Holy Spirit for advancing us in our walk. It glorifies God when we praise Him:
He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; (Psalm 50:23a)
Note: Podcast episode cuts off mid sentence, I forgot to check the 30 min time limit.. But it’s close enough to the end I let it stay.
Me: I wasn’t going to write about it but now I can’t seem NOT to write about it.
Observer: How could you have negative thoughts on an event that brought thousands youth in one place to hear about Jesus, pray, confess, and be baptized?! Are you crazy? Or just a Pharisee?
Me: Neither, but let’s unroll this and see what you think afterward.
On April 3, an event called UniteUS was held in the city of Athens GA at Stegeman Coliseum. It attracted college kids, thousands of them, to hear preaching and music from the Passion music group (Passion as in the Passion Conferences). False teacher Jennie Allen had been invited to preach. There was also preaching from JP Pokluda. Afterwards hundreds of kids were invited down the aisle to decide for Jesus, and many others sought baptism, which was accommodated by bringing the kids to a parking lot stationed with pickup trucks filled with water.
Jennie Allen baptizing youths in a truck.
Observer: Why do you say Jennie is false? She founded IF:Gathering for heaven’s sake, a globally successful parachurch ministry!
Me: Jennie is false because her catalyst for founding her parachurch IF:Gathering was based on a direct revelation. In her words, “a voice from the sky” ordered her to “gather and equip this generation”. (Too bad for past and coming generations, I guess?) Sadly, Jennie’s IF movement preaches a twisted hermeneutic, models an unbiblical lifestyle, and is saturated with a Gospel of doubt: their tagline says ‘IF God exists, then what?’
Me: I agree Allen’s speech about social media is a good topic. But it’s not a sermon and it’s not the Gospel. And, yes He can do anything with anyone. He did with Saul/Paul the murdering Pharisee. But why did the demon possessed slave girl who was speaking something true, aggravate Paul so much? (Acts 16:17-18). Why didn’t he let her continue following and hollering? Because God doesn’t need truth to come from lying lips and rebels.
To continue- The UniteUS event organizers’ About page state they have 3 goals for their events,
SALVATION For non-believers to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel in a welcoming environment. Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9
FREEDOM For believers to know and experience true freedom from sin and burdens on their hearts. Galatians 5:1
COMMUNITY For students to find community and discipleship through connection to local ministries and the local church. Ephesians 4:1-6.
Me: Beth Moore started as a motivational speaker. And look how that turned out. I’d love to know what the organizers mean by saying the Gospel will be given in an environment that’s “welcoming”. Past history shows that usually means the potency of sin is overlooked or diminished and the dire necessity of confession and repentance is whitewashed.
The Founder of UniteUS is Tonya Prewitt, wife of Auburn University Basketball Coach Chad Prewitt. “After hearing students stories about battles with anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and addiction, Prewitt said she felt like she needed something to help.” (Source)
Indeed, University of Georgia students have had a difficult time this spring semester, with a suicide of a popular boy, and the killing of girl near the campus. Crime in general is up in the city. The world’s social and emotional pressures are tremendous upon youths more than ever before.
They do need our support and guidance. But not en masse preaching from a female rebel and an emotional approach to resolving life’s difficulties. Jesus is not a patch ‘to help’ people overcome emotional depression.
I’ve written before about the Passion Conference (and also here) which bans adults from attending and manipulates kids with emotional music;
and the
Urbana Conferences, where hundreds heard David Platt speak and at the end he had them repeat a prayer, and the youths signaled their profession of newfound faith (which speakers affirmed) with a glow stick.
In an interview about the Florida State University event held this past February, the local UniteUs organizer concluded, “They came forward in droves tonight to trust Jesus.”
The problem at these youth-aimed conferences is with decisional regeneration.It seems that UniteUS is in the same vein. “Choosing to follow” or “deciding for Christ” or “inviting Jesus in” have become synonymous with the supernatural act of Godly justification. They’re not the same thing.
And now here’s another ‘movement’ or ‘revival’ as Prewitt calls it (remember the Asbury Revival on another college campus?). Prewitt’s ultimate goal with this movement is “to unite the nation.”
Observer: What beef do you have with women in ministry? Are you a misogynist or something?
Me: The Bible calls women to keep her sphere to the family if possible, to the local church, and to resist stepping out in leadership. Why is it that women who are moms and wives are not content to persist in ministering to their family or locals, but must be founders of massive movements with lofty goals like ‘unite the nation’, or ‘disciple this generation‘ or be ‘a woman who leads and believes you were made to lead‘? Whatever happened to ‘Be a mom’?
Prewitt has said, “When your faith is strong and you trust God to do big things. Big things are going to happen and we’ve just seen that” [at Auburn’s UniteUS event]”
Why is it that these non-Titus ladies desire “big things” like large platforms but not the REAL big things like, a child’s justification…a strong, beautiful marriage modeling mutual submission, a prayerful devotional at home…honoring elderly parents… why do the “big things” always seem to mean to these non-Titus ladies, high profile and filled arenas?
Let’s take a look at UniteUS founder Tonya Prewitt:
“My husband was probably as far from God as you could be and it’s like when we met I knew he was supposed to be my husband…”
God has said not to yoke with unbelievers. What was she doing with dating a person who she admits was so far from God? If he was unsaved he was not “supposed to be” a husband to a believer. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Later, Prewitt said Chad would not go to church but he would go to a concert, so she took him to a Christian Concert where they did an altar call at the end. Chad went forward and decided for Christ. “It changed his life and he went in full on with God.” So THAT’S where she gets the idea that mass decisional regeneration events are acceptable ways to convert.
Oh, I should have waited a second, because she says exactly that in the next video frame:
“Even what happened at Auburn is almost a correlation of what we saw with him [Chad], in that you you can take somebody as far going as him, but an event like that can sometimes be an encounter that changes someone’s lives for eternity.”
In an interview, Tonya Prewitt named herself as “a mom and a spiritual mom” when describing her former ministry to young girls on campus. Initially counseling 5 young women though discipling and prayer, something the Bible applauds and expects of older women, within one year she founded a multi-state organization and now adds to her named jobs of mom and spiritual mom, “Incorporator and Director of a non-profit business entity in the State of Alabama.”
UNITEUS is an Alabama Domestic Non-Profit Corporation filed on November 16, 2023. The company’s filing status is listed as Exists and its File Number is 001-108-449. Source Alabama Secretary of State.
Yet the Bible says we are told to live quietly, “encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” (Titus 2:4b-5).
Did you know that ‘God’ gave Tonya a vision for revival and for thousands of youths filling arenas?
In another interview, she said “God gave me a vision ahead of time of what was to come and I’ll tell you this; I have a vision for what’s coming even greater than what we witnessed on September 12th. Nationally… globally… something so big that is coming it’s going to hit our college campuses.” (Source)
“I saw the students gathered, I saw the worship, but I didn’t see the baptisms that were coming. It was really cool because God didn’t show me the full vision. I could have messed that up and gotten in the way of it” (source).
Yes, because puny humans who are given direct revelation from God are powerful enough to thwart His plans. Oy.
Apparently Tonya is not only a biblical visionary but a prophetess too:
“About a year before Unite took place, we were sitting in small group one night and I just stood up and I looked at the girls and I said ‘Something so big is coming a year from now and you’re going to be part of it.’ What’s coming? and my co-leader said ‘What’s coming?’ and I said ‘I don’t know all I can tell you is something so big is coming. I feel it.” (Source).
“God could and only the spirit of God could draw all of these students into this Arena.” (Source)
Observer: See?! And it came true. Ha.
Me: No, Satan draws them too. Not “only” God. Just because the event worked out like she wanted it to does not mean necessarily it is of God. In fact, the numbers are usually small when it comes to a real move of God. Noah’s 7. Lot and 2 daughters. The crowds left Jesus and would not follow any more. (John 6:66). Only 5 were at the cross with Jesus when He died.
Prewitt said she emphasizes getting plugged into a local church, so “we had every campus ministry, every local church represented at our event so students could go to the back into the Concourse and get plugged in to a church.” (Source)
Hm, including the Auburn Catholic Campus Ministry, the college ministry of St. Michael the Archangel Parish? And the Adventist Christian Fellowship Auburn Chapter of the 7th Day Adventist Church? And the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on College Avenue? Those campus ministries and local churches also had a table on the Concourse kids could sign onto?
Observer: They have the right approach, for sure.
Students at UniteUS at Florida State U, Feb 15, 2024
Me: Well…not so fast. First, I wonder HOW the organization links thousands of bouncing, burbling, emotionally high students with local churches on the spot before they wander off. Secondly, this approach has not been too successful in the past. Some Parachurches like Walk to Emmaus/Chrysalis compete with local churches to deliberately draw away congregants, or like IF:Gathering, they become a sort of substitute church all on their own.
Also, remember Billy Graham Crusades? You might be too young. But Graham was a global itinerant preacher who gathered hundreds of thousands to huge arenas and preached. He called people forward at the end of his sermons where endless choruses of the song Just As I am played, to make a decision for Christ (language never in the Bible). Counselors were stationed at the bottom to counsel seekers who flooded down by the hundreds. Except, Graham had Jewish rabbis and Catholic priests there to counsel folks back to their own ‘church’ where they’d be returned in the same state of non-belief they were in before.
It should be noted that Cecil Andrews said in his video called, “The Man and His Message” about Billy Graham’s Crusades, “I know of a number of men who do door-to-door work in Northern Ireland. They constantly come across people whose view is ‘Oh I made a decision at a Billy Graham Crusade, but I don’t go to church now. I haven’t gone for years.’ But yet somehow or other they’re relying on this emotional response they made 30 or 40 years ago. Yet they would have gone down as one of the people who went forward as an ‘Inquirer’ and they would be viewed rightly or wrongly by others as fruit.”
Sadly, it’s reported at a recent UniteUS crusade, that:
“We ended up having hundreds of students walk forward to receive salvation,” Denning said. “And then almost 300 students got baptized in our Westcott Fountain, in the front of our campus.” (Source).
So it’s the same all over again. The way is NARROW. It’s a turnstile, not a mass event.
This turnstile only takes one at a time. It is exclusive from the start. It is intensely personal. You can’t be born into it. You can’t join the church and sort of be swept in with the crowd. It is intensely personal. It is intensely individual. It is you and you alone. All our life prior to coming through that gate we ran with the crowd, but when we came through the gate we came alone. Many others have come, but they came alone. Salvation is an individual miracle. You don’t go through a turnstile in groups. You go through by yourself.” John MacArthur, on the Narrow Gate sermon “The Way to Heaven.”
I’m suspicious of conferences aimed at youth. I feel protective of children and youth, and college students are children. These mass conferences tend to be filled with false teachers, false gospels, emotionalism, and affirming declarations of faith in an instant rather than careful scrutiny and waiting to see if actual fruit develops. I’ve written about this before-
Tonya Prewitt, who claims visions from God and utters prophecies in the midst of a gathering, who states she served formerly as a Youth Pastor and as a Deacon, discontent with ministering to 5 and now wants 5000, who hires Jennie Allen to preach; lacks discernment and should NOT be organizing events for thousands of emotionally worn, spiritually floundering youth.
While I admire Tonya Prewitt’s desire for youth to have comfort in their life difficulties, putting forward a goal of “uniting the US” is not what the Bible calls women to do.
Observer: You’re just a Negative Nellie Debbie Downer, aren’t you? You have a critical spirit!
Me: I always bring things back to the Bible. Women are to be tending the home, at home, raising the children if the Lord gave any to her, ministering to the husband as helpmeet, and doing good in the community. (Proverbs 31, Titus 2, Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 29:15, 1 Timothy 5:14). She should have a reputation for local good works and again, be primarily oriented for the home.
Nothing in the Bible shows women gallivanting off to found revival movements to unite the entire world. Not even the unique time of the first century church. Lydia hosted gatherings in her home. Dorcas didn’t run off from region to region gathering women into the Areopagus or Solomon’s portico to “change their lives.” She sewed garments for the poor. Do we hear of Mary Magdalene (allegedly the first evangelist?) after the moment at the tomb? (John 20:18). No. Not one mention after that. No Billy Graham-like Crusades for her.
Observer: You gave me a lot to think about. I’ll read some of the links you posted. I still think you don’t have to throw cold water on everything. Maybe some of those kids were actually saved.
Me: Maybe some were. And maybe a lot more weren’t but THINK they were, which is worse. The name of Jesus is the most important name in the universe and salvation is the most important event ever. We must be careful and see if these things are so. Always look at the founder’s testimony and lifestyle, and also see what she says, not just what she does. Compare to the Bible. If she claims direct revelation, utters extra-biblical prophecies, or lives a lifestyle the Bible doesn’t allow for her point in life, avoid her and her ministry.
The Good News is available in any church, THE welcoming place Jesus established for people to confess, repent, and be saved. THE place to discuss a growing conviction of sin and sort out what it all means, in the quietude of a conversation with a knowledgeable, wise believer or pastor. What an eternal shame it would be for these college kids to grow up, relying on their emotional response they made 30 or 40 years ago when they face the Lord Jesus on Judgment day, only to discover Matthew 7:21 applied to them
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
