Uncategorized – Page 96

Psychological impact of the Tribulation: people will literally be scared to death

Posted on September 19, 2016September 19, 2016 by elizabethprata

OVERVIEW OF END TIME PROPHECY

In my essay yesterday about Why We Should Value Prophecy, I laid out some reasons why prophecy is just an important kind of biblical literature as other types of biblical literature, such as Law, History, Poetry, Wisdom, or Gospel. I also laid out some thoughts as to the purpose of prophecy.

By now (in 2016) most of the past prophecies have been fulfilled. There is one prophecy that has not been completely fulfilled however, and that is the bundle of prophecies relating to the time of the end of the end. We are in the end time. We have been in the end time since Jesus ascended, and will be until He returns in glory and judges all things, completes his 1000 year reign on earth, and then dissolves the Universe in a fervent heat and makes all things new. The prophecies remaining to be fulfilled describe all things through the end of Revelation 22, which include the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Millennial Kingdom, Satan Released for the Last Battle, and the New Heavens and New Earth.

I’d said a moment ago that the prophecies relating to the end time have not been completely fulfilled. Many of the prophecies are in a state of being fulfilled, while others are definitely not happening yet. Prophecies relating to the end time describe the symptoms of this long stretch of time between the two comings of Jesus. So while the prophecy of Paul in 2 Timothy 3 are describing general conditions during this wide swathe of time, the specific prophecies of certain events have not occurred. That’s the interesting thing about prophecy. One prophecy can have a dual fulfillment, a far fulfillment, a discrete, one-time fulfillment, or a continual fulfillment.

Since it has been a long while since the last fulfilled prophecy, Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection, people may become lulled into a sense of security and mock the end time prophecies and judgments. Even this is prophesied! Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:3-4,

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THE END TIMES

The nature of sin and the end time are inextricably intertwined. The reason for the prophecies of the end of time are because of sin. Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden and man lost his position of pure fellowship with God, as humans and as a world, we have been in a continual state of devolvement and uncreation. Since the moment Eve bit the fruit and gave some to her husband, who was with her, (Genesis 3:6) all events have been working toward the end of God’s plan. It began with one sin and it will end with all sin.

Sin is the reason for the end time. Because the end time events are about judgment for sin.

We downplay sin. We have respectable sins. We sin and do not repent. As a church we do not regard the spiritual battles with enough fervor. Where is the David tearing his clothes and crying out to God? Where is the city like Nineveh crying out for mercy in sackcloth and ashes from the king down to the lowliest slave? Where are the pray-ers and fast-ers interceding in the battle? Where is the concern for holiness in the church? Not that there aren’t any, but the general trajectory of sin is that it tries with unceasing vigilance to corrupt our hearts and our churches. We already know what unresolved sin does to the human mind of the unsaved person- he is a total slave to it. Their minds are corrupt.

So that is the time of the end. More and more people will be totally corrupted by total sin, and not care.

This will make for an insane society. (Romans 1:28-32, Genesis 6:5, Matthew 24:37). We already see the effects of so much sin on human civilization. It can’t be refuted that civilization of these days has hurtled down the road of libertinism, depravity, murder, and more. Marriage, the first God-given institution, is being dismissed and redefined. Gender itself, a biological absolute from God, is also being corrupted by the doctors’ scalpel and the personal wills of depraved individuals. Life is not valued, ethical restrains are by the wayside, and the age-old cherished values of courage, personal duty, and honor are now old fashioned words, mocked by post-modernists.

And yet today’s depravity and sin-loving condition (Romans 1:32) is nothing, nothing to what is to come.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. (Matthew 15:19).

If all those things are in the heart and come out as we see now, what till the Tribulation be like when there is no restraint at all on mans’ proclivity to seek satan and his evil?! (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

I have tried and failed in past essays to bring to bear the totally depraved and horrific time the Tribulation will be. Because we often cannot or do not understand the nature of sin, we downplay the Tribulation’s evil, ghastly and grotesque condition. However it will be a time when men will simply go mad from what they see.

I’d read somewhere, I’m sorry I forget where, the verse from Deuteronomy 28:34, a section called The Curses of Disobedience, a number of judgments to come upon the People. The the verse states,

so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.

Men’s behavior will be so depraved that just looking at what is happening will cause a person to go insane. We don’t even know the half of what sin can do. We haven’t even scratched the surface yet. While the Deuteronomy verse describes an event that has already occurred and passed into history, it mirrors the conditions of the Tribulation. Calvin says of the Deuteronomy verse that,

He adds that there shall be no end to their affliction, until the magnitude of their calamities shall stupefy them.

Matthew Henry says of the verse,

To complete their misery, it is threatened that they should be put quite out of the possession of their minds by all these troubles

Walvoord says of the verse,

The afflictions mentioned here result from defeat in battle. The military exemptions mentioned in 20:5–7 would be reversed without God’s protection (28:30). Livestock and children would be lost forever (vv. 31–32). Foreign armies would reap the benefit of the farmers’ hard work (v. 33). These devastating losses would produce insanity (v. 34) and painful boils (v. 35; cf. v. 27).

If men’s minds were not able to apprehend the effects of defeat in battle, what of their mental state when actual hell is loosed on earth? When sin reigns? Jesus foretold the following as regards the Tribulation:

Men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; (Luke 21:26)
And upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; (Luke 21:25, KJV)
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slaved and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

The Tribulation period will be a time of extermination. God will exterminate sinners from the world as cockroaches in disgust and fury. Here is one pastor’s description:

Verse 26, “Men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world.”

So we are in the end of the time of the Tribulation when the universe as we know it is being dramatically altered. And first is chaos before there is reconstruction. There’s only one way to deal with all of the things that happen which we went through last time, dismay among nations. The word in the Greek is sunoche and it’s only used one other time in the New Testament, it’s a rare word. It means anguish. It describes a kind of human emotion which is overwhelming and overpowering. It even could be translated severe anxiety. There is…there is a sense of terror and a sense of anxiousness that knows no bounds and no relief. It is compounded by perplexity. The word aporia only here in the New Testament. It’s as if the Holy Spirit uses words that define a time the likes of which has never existed and picks words that are very, very rare for such a rare time. Aporia, perplexity, it simply means confusion in its most severe form.

Shock is so great that we are told that men are fainting from fear. And fainting is a rather benign way to translate another rare word used no where else in the New Testament, aposuche (?). What that word means is to breathe out or to expire. That’s another word for to die. People will be scared to death. People will be scared to death. People all over the world will die of terror because of what is happening and because what is happening they know will lead to further horrors. (Source)

Even with that, there is no way to describe it. No one would really want to, anyway. We often dwell on the depths of God’s love, knowing that we can’t truly comprehend such eternal, perfect, infinite love. Just so, we cannot really understand sin. It also is boundless, eternal, and utterly incomprehensible to its depths. We think we understand sin. We don’t. The Tribulation pagans and the saved will, because they will see it almost fully. Even then, they will not see what the nature of sin can do to its ends, because Jesus said that if He would not cut short the time, no flesh would be saved at all! (Matthew 24:22-23). Sin destroys utterly.

Prophecy isn’t a sphere of study for the prurient intellectual dabbler. It is a serious sphere given to us by the grace of God so we may answer the question Peter asked. He explained the coming end of time judgments and fulfillment of prophetic promises, and asked his flock the following:

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! (2 Peter 3:11-12)

Peter made the connection between prophecy and holy living. Prophecy isn’t a distant realm of study for future generations to study. It’s present and it informs us in this day and ever day toward our holy pursuits. Knowing what is coming because we have the blessed advantage of peeking into to the future from God’s word, what sort of people are we to be?

My call is to urge us now, me included, to live in purity. Pursue holiness. Repent often, and in sincerity. Witness of Jesus and His truths. We do not want our best friend left behind. We do not want our worst enemy left behind. We praise Jesus for His soon return in glory and wrath, to render justice for sin. We know that is necessary. But we don’t have to ignore the prophecies, we don’t have to diminish the prophecies, we don’t have to be casual about the prophecies.

Keep this in mind: the truth of the last of the last days will be such that men’s brains will figuratively explode with incomprehensibility because of what they see.

Even so, come Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20).

prophecy, Uncategorized

Why we should value prophecy

Posted on September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 by elizabethprata

With all the prophesying ‘prophets’ these days, and ‘words from the Lord’, and alleged divine revelations, it is easy to dismiss real biblical prophecies. Don’t be tempted to lump in the false revelations with the real ones. We should highly value the prophecy of the Bible. (And only the prophecy of the Bible).

The Bible is not one “book,” it is a “library” of sixty-six books that were written over a period of more than a 1,500 years by many different authors. These authors were “inspired” in their thinking and writing by the Holy Spirit. Thus the Bible is the inspired Word of God without error. It also has the human “touch” from its authors. Paul is different than David, who is different than James or Moses. So their “style and personality comes out to us. … The Bible is Literature, as is any book filled with language. It has: Law, History, Wisdom, Poetry, Gospel, Epistles, Prophecy, and Apocalyptic. Literature. (Source) Continue reading “Why we should value prophecy” →

discernment, Uncategorized

“Fire fall down” – a good thing, or a very, very bad thing?

Posted on September 17, 2016September 17, 2016 by elizabethprata

Have you ever sung that song about fire fall down? You know, the one from Hillsong United? You might want to re-think that.

In the excerpt below from the Strange Fire Panel Q&A session, Todd Friel, John MacArthur, and Justin Peters discuss the theological implications of pleading with God to send fire down on us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clip #20: (Singing) Fire fall down, fire fall down on us, we pray… As we seek you, Fire fall down, Fire fall down on us, we pray…

TODD: About 16 thousand kids are in the auditorium right now.

Clip #20: (Singing) Fire fall down, fire fall down on us, we…

TODD: All right. Now that song, by the way, goes on for 17 minutes. The word “fire” calling down fire from heaven is a persistent theme that we hear. Theologically do we want fire to come from heaven? In the context, and Justin can point this out, too, a lot of the conversation is about feeling, a burning, being set on fire, thereby calling the fire down from heaven. Theologically how do we respond to this prayer to call down fire from heaven.

JUSTIN: I can only assume that they’re referencing Acts 2, taking an image that is tied to a larger context. The fire there is defined as, even we were talking about this morning, clear and discernible ways that essentially, ultimately it was representative of the Spirit’s coming and the Spirit’s expression was in the gift of tongues for a specific purpose, to confirm the Apostles, to confirm what He was doing, as R.C. said yesterday, and now bringing out a people for himself, confirming the Jews were, in fact, going to be a part of the church. So it has a context. But instead it’s removed from that context and made to mean something just strictly experiential.

JOHN: Yeah, and again that’s a non-repeatable event, Pentecost, as we heard from R.C. Pentecost and then the subsequent exact same reality occurs I those different people groups to somehow turn Pentecost into this kind of mockery, as if you could literally call down fire from heaven is not only unbiblical, it’s just folly. But it’s more than that, it’s manipulation. It’s all about mind control. Rodney Howard Brown is a mind manipulator.

From a human viewpoint, even more frightening is this is demonic from a supernatural viewpoint. Fire came down from heaven, of course, in Leviticus 10 and consumed the worshipers…consumed the ones who offered the sacrifice. That’s the whole point of this conference. John talked about fire baptism, John the Baptist, and that was judgment. I really don’t…these people are so a-biblical, they’re so acquainted with words, Bible words without Bible sentences, Bible words without Bible context, Bible words without Bible doctrine. They throw the words around and they become means by which they manipulate people’s minds. Fire is obviously an incendiary word. It has all kinds of implications of heat and power and energy and…I mean, that’s a perfect word for them to use to manipulate people. The next time fire comes from heaven, it’s going to engulf the world in judgment. God will not drown the world in water again, but He will end the world in fire. The elements will end with a fervent heat. It’s going to be an atomic implosion, the uncreation when the elements melt with fervent heat, that is fire from heaven.

And I don’t think anybody in his right mind would be calling down fire from heaven, because that’s…that’s…going forward, that is a judgment metaphor after Pentecost. You will be baptized by the Holy Spirit and with fire. That’s another baptism, and that’s a judgment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moral of the story? Lyrics matter.

poetry, Uncategorized

Kay Cude poetry: Broken

Posted on September 16, 2016 by elizabethprata

Kay Cude poetry, Used with permission.

Artist’s statement:
This was the very first Christian piece I ever composed. I began it as a poem of heartbreak about my son, but as I wrote and edited, it moved away from my sorrow about him to my sorrow about my spiritual immaturity and subsequent failures. Then it continued on to the approaching darkness of this age and my inadequacies and weakness relative to my witness for Christ. I still am panged when I read this piece, but determined to continue on and strive against my “self” and honor Christ.

Click to enlarge

encouragement, Uncategorized

Do you feel like you’re just plodding in the faith?

Posted on September 15, 2016September 15, 2016 by elizabethprata

So many people, especially women, are hopscotching the globe founding important ministries, establishing orphanages, ’empowering’ native women, or teaching to packed arenas, that it makes the rest of us humdrum ladies feel, ahem, left behind. Should we be doing the big things? Can we do the bigger things? Are we doing enough?

All I do every single day, is go to work. I come home and I study my Bible &pray, I write, and if I have enough energy after that, I read a bit. Then I go to sleep and do it all over again. On the weekends all I do is grocery shopping, laundry, cooking the week’s lunches ahead, and study a lot more and write a lot more. I go to church on Sunday late afternoon. Bed time. Repeat.

I’m not skipping off to host conferences or giving interviews or unashamedly on tour or in Rwanda on a storytelling trip. I wash dishes in obscurity in Comer GA and my job is to help kindergarteners tie their shoes and learn their ABC’s. It’s not glamorous. It doesn’t seem like it’s very much at all of a contribution to the kingdom. I mean, Beth Moore is a nearly 60 year old grandma busy helping her daughter through her unbiblical divorce and interacting with her grandchildren yet keeps a a packed schedule. Younger women also seem to be doing the big things, the glamorous things, like Jennie Allen and Raechel Myers and Kari Jobe. As for me, I’m just plodding.

Well, let’s hear it for the plodders.

First, if you are a mother, you are in a highly esteemed Biblical position. You are doing such wonderful work for the kingdom in being a foundation block in society, in raising pure young women and strong young men for the next generation. I thank Mrs Paton and Mrs Spurgeon and Mrs MacArthur and Mrs Johnson and all the other Missus’ who raised men and women who in turn, impact the kingdom.

Secondly if you think of the life of Paul most often we think of the highlights. His speeches before thousands, his dramatic miracles, his appearances before kings and leaders.

However, Paul also walked. Thousands upon thousands of miles, he plodded. He trudged. He hiked. From one town to another, in all weathers. In addition, Paul sewed tents. (Acts 18:3). He did the mundane. He wrote letter upon letter to friends. He fundraised. The in-between miracle times in his three missionary journeys were rife with the mundane and the insignificant, except nothing about a Christian’s life is insignificant. Not Paul’s and not mine and not yours. The Lord cares for all our concerns. He clothes us and feeds us and He even knows the number of hairs on our heads. To Him, it’s all significant.

As for the women of the New Testament, Dorcas was beloved not because she was on storytelling tours of Rwanda empowering women for great things, but because she sewed. She made clothes for the poor and she “was always doing good”. (Acts 9:36). She lovingly helped, humbly and quietly, within her own sphere.

Mary, mother of God? Do we hear of her going on her book tour, telling about the angel that came to her one day, and the miracle of the three wise men or hyping up audiences with her harrowing tale of narrowly escaping the massacre of the innocents? No. Whether she was in Egypt or in Israel, Mary simply raised her Son. She brought Him up in the faith and managed her household and she raised Jesus’ siblings too. A few times a year she made the pilgimage to the Temple and the rest of the time, she did what women then and onward have done, she lived in her home and she was faithful to the Lord through His word.

Here are two articles about the plodding kind of faith that endures. That kind of faith is cement. It’s bedrock.

The first is by Kevin DeYoung, titled, Stop the Revolution. Join the Plodders.

It’s sexy among young people—my generation—to talk about ditching institutional religion and starting a revolution of real Christ-followers living in real community without the confines of church. Besides being unbiblical, such notions of churchless Christianity are unrealistic. It’s immaturity actually, like the newly engaged couple who think romance preserves the marriage, when the couple celebrating their golden anniversary know it’s the institution of marriage that preserves the romance. Without the God-given habit of corporate worship and the God-given mandate of corporate accountability, we will not prove faithful over the long haul.

This one is one of my favorites. It’s by John MacArthur, titled An Unremarkable Faith

Meet Larry, a thirty-six year old Science teacher. Larry married Cathy 12 years ago. They love each other and enjoy raising their two sons. Larry’s life wouldn’t hold out much interest to the average citizen. His Facebook account doesn’t draw many friends and nobody ever leaves a comment on his blog. In fact, most people would summarize Larry’s life with one word—boring. But not Larry. Teaching osmosis to junior high students, playing Uno with his kids, and working in the yard with Cathy is paradise to him. But the real love of his life is Jesus. Larry’s a Christian. He’s been walking with the Lord for more than 20 years.

Not that founding orphanages isn’t worthwhile or something women or men can’t or shouldn’t do. Not that going on a missionary trip to Africa isn’t something Jesus wants us to do. But the big doers are fewer than we think, despite the hype. Most of the church is populated with plodders. As Kevin DeYoung concluded his article,

Put away the Che Guevara t-shirts, stop the revolution, and join the rest of the plodders. Fifty years from now you’ll be glad you did.

discernment, Uncategorized

God magnified His word above all else, who is Andy Stanley to subvert it?

Posted on September 14, 2016 by elizabethprata

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Psalm 138:2)

It’s currently fashionable to dismiss the holy Word of God, AKA the Bible. It supposedly proves one’s relevance to say that one desires a closer relationship with Jesus as opposed to studying holy writ. When the heretical novel called The Shack was published in 2008 it swept the Christian world, remaining at a number one bestselling spot for several years. In it, the author never pointed to God’s word as sufficient and infallible. It rather undermined those concepts by insisting on personal revelation and denigrated the Bible as ‘that old dusty King James” thing. The author scoffed at the idea that God has spoken authoritatively and sufficiently through the Bible. He points away from Scripture he points towards subjective promptings and leadings. (source).

The subtle mocking and scoffing of the Word of God, so delicately put in a thinly disguised new age treatise in 2008, is by now in 2016 a full-blown attack by a leading and influential Southern Baptist Minister. The salvos have just kept coming, prompting pastor, author, and podcaster Justin Peters and Pastor Jim Osman to take note. Peters said on his podcast Friday on World View Weekend, that

A friend of mine sent me a video interview of Andy Stanley by Russell Moore. Moore asked Stanley what he would do if he were the “Evangelical Pope.” Stanley had some rather surprising remedies for what ails the Christian church. I’m joined in studio (my office) by my friend and pastor Jim Osman and we play the clip and discuss.

In the clip, Stanley said that he would ask pastors of all kinds (senior, youth, seminarians, etc) to “get the spotlight off the Bible and back on the resurrection. Let’s get people’s attention back on Jesus as soon as possible. To leverage the authority we have in the resurrection, as opposed to scripture.”

Matthew Henry said, of the Psalm 138:2 verse, that the LORD’S name and His Word is above all things-

For thou hast magnified thy word (thy promise, which is truth) above all thy name. God has made himself known to us in many ways in creation and providence, but most clearly by his word. The judgments of his mouth are magnified even above those of his hand, and greater things are done by them. The wonders of grace exceed the wonders of nature; and what is discovered of God by revelation is much greater than what is discovered by reason.

As a practical matter for us today in living our Christian lives, do not compromise on your life and always remember the Lord God Himself magnified His word and His Name above all else. Here is John MacArthur on the fact that our God is an uncompromising God who expects of His disciples, An Uncompromising Life

It might be well to remind ourselves at the very beginning that God is the uncompromising God. God never compromises an absolute. God never compromises a principle. God never sets aside a truth for expediency purposes. God always lives according to His word. In fact, He said, “I have exalted My word above all My name.” In other words, He says, “I Myself, as to My nature, make Myself submissive to My word.”

——————————-

Why the therapeutic gospel is another gospel

Posted on September 13, 2016 by elizabethprata

In the purchasable resource called Drive By Discernment, the apocryphal or heretical gospels are mentioned. Some of these you may have seen some of these false gospels on secular Library bookshelves, books such as –

Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Nicodemus
Early Life of Christ
Gospel of Judas

There are other kinds of false gospels. In a blog essay of the past, I’d written about the therapeutic gospel, a point made by Trevin Wax. He’d said that the true Gospel is Christ centered. The Therapeutic Gospel ultimately fails to satisfy because it switches out the great reward of knowing God for the lesser reward of receiving something from God.

In the previous, longer essay, Pastor Wax compares the subtle shift in a counterfeit Gospel from being Christ-centered to man-centered, by comparing the parable of the sheep as they are presented in Luke and in the false Gospel of Thomas. Here is the Gospel of Luke:

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Gospel of (Luke 15:4-7)

The other is from the non-canonical, false Gospel of Thomas.

Jesus said, “The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine sheep and looked for that one until he found it. When he had gone to such trouble, he said to the sheep, ‘I care for you more than the ninety-nine.‘ (FALSE, NON-CANONICAL “Gospel of Thomas”)

What has happened here, said Mr Wax, is that in the counterfeit Gnostic gospel the writer has shifted the emphasis. The point of the parable in the counterfeit gospel is about the worth of the sheep, instead of the work of the Shepherd. Any teaching that does this, is another gospel.

Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8 some very strong words about ‘another gospel’. He said

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

Matthew Henry wrote of this verse,

Some would set up the works of the law in the place of Christ’s righteousness, and thus they corrupted Christianity. The apostle solemnly denounces, as accursed, every one who attempts to lay so false a foundation. All other gospels than that of the grace of Christ, whether more flattering to self-righteous pride, or more favourable to worldly lusts, are devices of Satan. And while we declare that to reject the moral law as a rule of life, tends to dishonour Christ, and destroy true religion, we must also declare, that all dependence for justification on good works, whether real or supposed, is as fatal to those who persist in it. While we are zealous for good works, let us be careful not to put them in the place of Christ’s righteousness, and not to advance any thing which may betray others into so dreadful a delusion.

As Henry wrote, any ‘gospel flattering to self-righteous pride’ (or any other emotion, like self-esteem), or ‘more favorable to worldly lusts’, (like prosperity gospel) are devices of satan. Anyone who persists in them is dooming himself.

The therapeutic gospel appeals to your self-esteem, and it presented in a way that aims to make you “feel better” about yourself. Many women ‘Bible’ teachers promote a therapeutic gospel. They focus the lessons on the worth of the sheep rather than the work of the Shepherd.

The truth is, none of us suffers from low self-esteem. We already love ourselves with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, and all our soul. Jesus said to get the attention off ourselves and love the Lord your God as we love ourselves. (Luke 10:27). If we loved God with as much steam as we already love ourselves, we’d really be cooking.

However the device of satan is to prevent that shift in attention. The therapeutic Gospel is one of those devices. If you listen to any teacher who focuses on the worth of the sheep rather than the work of the Shepherd, you are listening to another gospel. Rather than focusing on ourselves, In Matthew 16:24 re read that we are to deny ourselves

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

I’ll close with an echo of Paul’s words. If anyone teaches another gospel, let him be accursed. We are much too friendly with those who bring fatal gospels. Gill’s Exposition says of the Galatians 1:8 verse,

let him be accursed, or “anathema”; see 1 Corinthians 16:22 which may respect his excommunication out of the church, and his sentence of condemnation by Christ at the last day; and the sense be this, let him be ejected from the ministry of the word, degraded from his office, and cast out of the church; let him be no more a minister, nor a member of it; and let him be abhorred of men, and accursed of Christ; let him hear the awful sentence, “go ye accursed”, &c.

Finally, Barnes said of the Galatians 1:8 verse,

…that we are not to patronise or countenance such preachers. No matter what their zeal or their apparent sincerity, or their apparent sanctity, or their apparent success, or their real boldness in rebuking vice, we are to withdraw from them.

What makes us feel better, ultimately, is resting in Christ and looking at Him full in the face. Reflecting on His attributes is an endless delight.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! (Psalm 105:4)

beauty, Uncategorized

Art and beauty have a place in church

Posted on September 12, 2016September 12, 2016 by elizabethprata

I love church. I love the music, hymns & songs connecting me to my ancestors in the faith, all the way back. I love the sermons, God’s word expositionally preached is thrilling and fascinating every moment the preacher speaks truth to his flock. I love the people, singing praises to the Lord and singing His attributes to each other. Communion is an especially sweet time with the Lord. Just the thought that I can pray to Him asking for forgiveness of sins, and He will forgive them, is humbling. Dipping the bread into the wine is an act that Jesus performed as His last supper, when He instituted the ritual. My arm picking up the bread and dipping it feels like a long line holding me to time past, and in between, and the now with a oneness with all the other believers who have done the same thing. Continue reading “Art and beauty have a place in church” →

encouragement, Uncategorized

“Terrorism took down the Towers, but faith rebuilds our hearts”

Posted on September 11, 2016September 11, 2016 by elizabethprata

On September 11, 2001, Muslim terrorists attacked the United States by flying 4 planes into certain targets*, killing all on board and many bystanders too.

They hit the World Trade Center’s two towers in NYC, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and *one plane never did reach its intended target due to the heroics of the passengers. They instead drove the plane, suspected of targeting the Nation’s Capitol building, into the ground in Pennsylvania instead.

The attacks killed 2,996 people and injured over 6,000 others and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage and $3 trillion in total costs. … It was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officersin the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. (Wiki)

That day was 15 years ago but I remember its searing pain and bewilderment like it was yesterday. It occurred two years and two months before I was saved and I remember in the aftermath wondering a lot about death, eternity, and religion. It is still a painful day to remember.

As the rubble was starting to be cleared two days later, a volunteer who was looking for bodies came across a large piece of steel beam that had fused into what looked like a cross.

The Washington Post also has a story about the 9-11 cross at the Twin Towers site. The article states,

“A grief-exhausted excavator named Frank Silecchia found it on Sept. 13, 2001, two days after the terrorist attacks.” In the clip from The History Channel, Frank said, “Terrorism took down the Towers, but faith rebuilds our hearts”. The article recounts the discovery of the cross. In parts, a Catholic point of view shows through. However, it is still an interesting story of a grief-stricken soul trying to find meaning in the chaos.

The History Channel shows a clip of the story of the cross.

A few years ago I wrote a piece about the cross at the Colosseum in Rome. It is a simple sturdy cross, located at the place where the Christian martyrs were held below ground and pushed up to the floor of the amphitheater, where hungry lions were waiting to devour them.

The photo below is the one I had taken when I visited there in the late 1990s, before I was saved. I never saw the cross when I was visiting and snapping the photo. The lost truly are blind, unable to see the things of Christ. Yet after I was saved and I was sorting through photos, I spotted the cross immediately.

Recently Challies posted an essay titled The High Calling of Bringing Order out of Chaos. I liked reading about the original chaos into which God brought order, the creation of the earth. The article went on to describe the order that comes from labor, you know, work. Laboring to subdue the earth, and tending the Garden. Order is created by man’s work in obedience to God’s will. True order is created in man’s soul-submission to God’s spiritual will, which is belief in the Son.

An unsaved man’s soul is in chaos, formless, and void. It assigns no meaning to events that happen, such as 9-11. It does not know goodness, holiness, or God. The beauty of horrific events is that through them, some are saved. Their souls are knit into likeness of Jesus, increasingly conformed in holiness and purity to His.

Order is created with every regenerated heart. Every time a person comes to the cross, the soul which is without form, and void, is filled with grace and peace and is made a new creation in God’s image. Order ensues for the previously stony heart, made soft and pliable, conforming to His likeness.

The spiritual chaos brought by the terrorists’ act is one that can’t be described in any sensible manner. Shock, disbelief, anger, hunger for any and every scrap of information, then exhaustion, and finally raging grief eventually subsiding to a dull ache that arises whenever one thinks about the day fromt he distance of time. Millions of people asked the same questions that day. “Why does man continually do this to one another? Why is there war? Why did God let this happen?” Without Jesus, one can only answer in platitudes. With Jesus, every answer becomes clear.

Spiritually, emotionally, and nationally, chaos occurred. However, eventually order ensued. It was the same with the martyrs at the Colosseum. The chaos of the ghoulishly gleeful crowds, the spiritually blind howling for death of the Christians, the roars of the lions, the swirl of sand and dust and blood as the martyrs fell one by one. The world without Christ is one of spiritual chaos. With Jesus, the cross brings meaning and order to the troubled, turbulent soul.

Chaos

Life and order in creation must be sustained by God. (Psalm 104:29; Colossians 1:16-17. God uses chaos as a judgment- Isaiah 34:11 See also Isaiah 24:1,3-4,10-12,17-21; Isaiah 27:10; Isaiah 32:14; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Revelation 6:15-17. (source)

Orderliness
In his creating, sustaining and saving work, God reveals himself as a God of order. Likewise, the life of his people and of society as a whole should be orderly.

Orderliness in creation
Isaiah 45:12 See also Genesis 1:31; Job 26:7-10; Job 38:4-11; Psalm 8:3; Psalm 19:1; Psalm 104:5-9; Isaiah 40:26; Ac 17:26

Orderliness in providence
Genesis 8:22. See also Psalm 65:9; Psalm 104:14-27; Psalm 145:15; Acts 14:17. (source)

The attacks happened on a Tuesday. On Sunday, churches all across America were filled. People asking, seeking, trying to find order in the chaos. Pastors grappled with answering the graphically visible questions of life, death, religion. As one article I read said, the attacks delivered an unfathomable religious jolt.

When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. (Psalm 104:29).

As John MacArthur said after 9-11,

The difficult question, of course, is do most people even know this God they’re reaching out to in this time of need? And is He listening? Are there any absolute authoritative answers to the serious looming spiritual questions being raised as this worldwide crisis trickles down to an intimate individual’s spiritual issue between the creature and the Creator? How can people deal personally once and for all with the problems at the level of their own souls?

The chaos if life without the cross, and the orderliness of peace of life with the cross. It’s all about the cross, which means it’s all about Jesus. Whether times are good and flowing with milk and honey, or dramatically terroristic and chaotic, standing firm under the cross makes the difference.

encouragement, Uncategorized

Brown University, depraved minds, & biological impossibilities

Posted on September 10, 2016September 10, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m from Rhode Island. I was born in Providence, I lived there a while, and it’s where my grandparents lived their entire lives. I’m very familiar with Providence.

Brown University is an Ivy League school located on what is locally known as the “East Side”.The Boston Globe describes this area as,

communities unto themselves, such as Providence’s East Side. The area is college-centric, with Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design figuring prominently in life here. But even if you largely avoid the two college campuses, visitors still find the East Side rich in history, unique architecture, culture, and culinary flavor.

With Ivy League and Art college ‘culture’ usually comes liberalism. And so we see this headline below,

It’s enough to make me simultaneously sigh, say ‘gross’, and laugh at the absurdity of a man trying to use a tampon because he think’s he’s a woman who gets a period. SMH at biological impossibilities. Headlines like this also sadden me at the state of affairs in the world.

However I also smile in joy because Jesus never leaves us without a witness. Therefore, meanwhile…on the other side of the city, at the same time…

…at Grace Community Baptist Church, we have this-

I’m so grateful for the Lord who is the Head of His church. He is always working, raising up teachers like Dr Lawson, who teach men to preach well, who raise up solid congregations, who in turn identify more men for seminary or local leadership, who nurture youth as they grow, the next generation…

Yes these men will have their work cut out for them. Providence is a liberal city. But then again, Rome, Ephesus, and Corinth were liberal cities at the beginning. They were pagan through and through, without one believer…until the Apostles showed up. Until the women raised their boys in the Lord. Until the churches nurtured believers.

And so it goes. The Lord always leaves a witness. Elijah said to the LORD,

“He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:14 NIV).

The LORD answered

Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18 NIV)

By the way, you see the first photo of Brown University’s official crest & the University’s Motto? It’s “In Deo Speramus”, which means, “In God We Hope”.