Posted in theology

Is God Giving Direct Revelation? Part 3

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Is God Giving Direct Revelation? Part 1
Is God Giving Direct Revelation? Part 2
Is God Giving Direct Revelation? Part 4

I am publishing a 4 part series on Direct revelation. This is part 3. Part 4 will be tomorrow. Next week I have some different topics to cover. People in greater numbers, not fewer, are still claiming God spoke to them personally, or directly. This is known as direct revelation.

Throughout the Bible from Adam to Noah to the Prophets to Saul/Paul to the Apostles even John on remote Patmos, God and Jesus spoke directly to people to communicate His word. He also spoke through angels, a burning bush, and even a donkey.

When the Bible was completed, He ceased speaking directly. We have the word of God now as the final communication from Him.

Yet with the plethora of people claiming God still speaks, even some claiming He speaks to them, offering encouragements and making promises, I am examining whether those claims can be true. Despite the stern warning in Revelation 22:18-19 and despite the clear statement in Hebrews 1:1-2, people are alleging ‘God told me’.

I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19).

God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, (Hebrews 1:1-2).

After Revelation when John penned the words of Revelation, the final book, God concluded that the revelation was complete.

Some people, when they claim God has communicated with them, say they felt a sense of peace about the issue which they discussed. Is a feeling of peace a sure way to determine that a message from God was real?

Is having peace about something a fool proof way for Christians to know God’s will?

No. Firstly, founding any decision or action on a feeling is unwise. Feelings are fleeting. Feelings are deceptive.

Secondly, since we have already determined that God is NOT speaking directly to people these days, therefore any feelings that are evoked from a lying action are also suspect. The ‘peace’ they are feeling could easily be a deceptive feeling of peace, brought on by a seeming affirmation of what their flesh wanted.

People in the New Testament didn’t usually feel ‘peace’ when they communed with God. Peter shrunk back in the boat and pleaded with Jesus to ‘go away from me!’ Isaiah said he was undone. Even the gentle scene with Hagar, she was told to go back and serve abusive Sarah, was not a decision that would have evoked a peaceful feeling. Paul was told to stay in Corinth and keep preaching, that polluted city of licentiousness and blasphemy.

Not that communication with God audibly was never peaceful, but usually in these communications, God is telling people to do something either countercultural or counter to what the flesh wants. These are difficult things that normally evoke other feelings besides peace.

Further, Paul learned peace. Philippians 4:11, Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

He had to learn it. He learned it the hard way, being beaten in every city, jailed, hounded by false teachers, accused of preaching false doctrine, slandered. He learned contentment. But he didn’t start out being peaceful with every situation. He learned it. So must we.

You can be anxious about a path you know you should take but still be confident in the LORD, but not have peace in ourselves. We often DON’T have peace, because the Gospel and holy living we are called to do is oppositional to our flesh, which still is infused with sin. That there might be an unpeaceful battle in our conscience or our heart about a particular decision is by no means indicative of its error. Though sometimes it is, like everything with the Bible, we don’t determine holy standards by our feelings or experiences.

Posted in theology

Is God giving direct revelation? Part 2

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Direct revelation Part 1
Is God Giving direct revelation? Part 3
Is God giving direct revelation? Part 4

The answer to the question in the title is: NO. God is not speaking now apart from or outside of His written word. Take a look at Part 1 for scriptural explanation of this question and answer.

Of the many millions of ‘Christian’ teachers and authors out there who claim that God IS speaking today, they claim also to have the insider information on how to hear him, how to detect if the voice was from God, and how to communicate with him in return.

Again, no. But the question remains, that so many people unfortunately ask:

If we do hear a voice, how do we know it’s from the Lord? And if it’s not from God, then who is speaking?

It is not from the Lord. It is not. There is an entire sub-industry to the Christian Publishing industry of ‘how to hear from God’. Rick Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Joyce Meyer, Mark Batterson, Dallas Willard, and many others have written books and teaching curricula on this topic. The marketplace is flooded with books on how to hear from God. If direct revelation was such an important method of communing with God, why is it so lacking in instruction in the Bible? No, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, says All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;

We can tell by comparing what was said by this voice and how the people reacted. First, the reaction of the recipient-

The Reaction

The true recipients of God’s word or even of His word through an angel was they all fell down, they were crushed and undone as Isaiah was. ‘The trauma of holiness‘, as RC Sproul used to say. An encounter with God always was a traumatic experience. Peter cried out, “depart from me for I am a sinful man!” They hear the word and obey immediately, because they know it is God speaking.

Yet these ladies who claim to hear from God flit around as if it’s a robo-caller on the other side of the phone. When Beth Moore receives a message, she argues with God, so does Joanna Gaines, who actually reported that she flatly told ‘god’ NO. Beth Moore even put ‘Jesus’ on hold saying she’d get to him in a minute and went on with what she was doing first! No, IF it was God first they would fall down in despair for their own sinfulness, and second they would be eager to hear and obey.

The Content

Next, you can tell the voice isn’t from God because of the content of the message. The women (and men) claim to have casual chats with the holy almighty. Sarah Young’s revelations are all things a woman would like to hear, and in a manner that doesn’t even sound like God is speaking, but a 13 year old girl mooning over a poster on her bedroom wall of the latest celebrity teen.

Many times, the content of the so-called message from God is centered around the person to whom God is supposedly communicating- their wants, their needs, their issues. When God communicated in the Bible with people, his messages were mainly concerned with proper worship, His glory, His prophetic plans, His commands, His judgments.

For example, in the New Testament God communicated with Joseph in a dream. In the dream, God told Joseph to take Mary as his wife and to flee to Egypt. He didn’t tune in to ask Joseph how he was feeling about Mary’s pregnancy.

In the Old Testament when He spoke to Hagar in such a personally compassionate way, He told her what to do and then uttered a prophecy about her son.

No, Jesus taught his disciples and by extension us, to pray. He didn’t teach us anywhere in the New Testament to seek His audible voice. (Matthew 6:9-13). All we need is in the Bible.

The Deception

People who claim to hear a voice rarely say that it could be a deception. They seem sure that it was God and only God who spoke to them. For example, Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s show Fixer Upper and the Magnolia Empire, said she heard God clearly in a garden no less, and he supposedly assured her that all her dreams of having a large platform will come true. It never occurred to her seemingly, that the ‘voice’ was indulging her flesh and that it could have been a deception. No, because she was being assured of her dreams, that seemed to cement it for her and she went on to tell this ‘testimony’ in a widely circulated video. Here is a sample:

“I hear God say very clearly, he said ‘Joanna if you trust me with your dreams I’m gonna take Magnolia further than you could have ever dreamed so just trust me.’ I remember hearing that and feeling completely peaceful about it…”

Of course she felt peaceful, she was just told by a voice she thinks is the creator of the universe telling her he will make her dreams come true. Wouldn’t YOU feel ‘peaceful’ about that?

Why do these direct messages – especially the ones to women – never seem to have anything negative to them? God told Hagar to go back and serve Sarah who hated Hagar and abused her. Not so ‘peaceful’. Did God tell the Angel Gabriel to tell Mary that all her dreams would come true? No, he told her what would happen to her body and what to do next. Rebekah inquired of God why her pregnancy was so painful, God told her that 2 nations were in her womb and one will be stronger than the other. He didn’t take time to assure her of her feelings about it.

That dreamy, sentimental faith which ignores the judgments of God against us and listens to the affirmations of the soul is as deadly as cyanide. Faith in faith is faith astray. To hope for heaven by means of such faith is to drive in the dark across a deep chasm on a bridge that does not quite reach the other side.

AW Tozer (Of God and Men)

If someone hears a voice it could be the devil or his unholy angels. Satan masquerades as minister of righteousness, after all, and so do his fallen angels. (2 Corinthians 11:14). Eve was deceived by satan masquerading as a serpent. Demons spoke through men, (Acts 9:13-15). There is such a thing as lying spirits who speak through the mouth. (1 Kings 22:19–23).

Peter said we have a “more sure word”. (2 Peter 1:19). You can be SURE that it is God speaking when you read His word. You don’t have to take courses to learn how to determine if what you are hearing is from God or not. (It’s not). You can be sure that His written word is sufficient for your life. Read it, enjoy it, be confident in it!

Further resources

Direct revelation Part 1 The End Time

Does God Still Give Revelation?

Toxic Devotion: A Review of Sarah Young’s—Jesus Calling by Bob DeWaay

The Problems with Personal Words From God: How People Become False Prophets to Themselves by Bob DeWaay

Posted in theology

Is God giving direct revelation? Part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Is God giving direct revelation? Part 2
Is God giving direct revelation? Part 3
Is God giving direct revelation? Part 4

I’ll do a short series to finish out this week on the dangers of direct revelation. I’ve written about this subject a few times. Why do I return to this subject? First, because it is a pervasive issue in the faith; second because it is a dangerous practice; third, because it betrays either a massive ignorance on the part of the person who claims God talked to them or a massive self-deception; and fourth, because I still get push-back every time I write on it, showing the continuing need for teaching on this subject.

Look up the subject of ‘god spoke to me’ or ‘god whispers’ or ‘god told me’ anywhere online and you will receive millions of results purporting to teach you how to hear God’s voice, or from people who claim to have already heard it. I googled ‘God whispers’ and received 15 million results, starting with books on Amazon that teach it.

No. God is not speaking now, except by His Spirit who illuminates the truths in His written word, the Bible. (And not the Catholic Bible and not the Mormon Bible).

1. What is the “God told me” religion?

It is a conviction that God is still personally speaking to people today, that He delivers new revelation, He guides in personal, individual matters such as where to go or what job to take, or who to marry, and the general notion that He speaks to His people directly, outside of scripture. But He doesn’t. The 1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 1 number 1 says,

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.

( 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Ephesians 2:20; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 2:14,15; Psalms 19:1-3; Hebrews 1:1; Proverbs 22:19-21; Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19,20 ).

This is known as ‘Cessationism’, from ‘ceased’, meaning stopped. The podcast from G3 Ministries discussing that the miraculous gifts of the spirit have ceased can be listened to here.

2. Does God talk to us audibly?

No. Hebrews 1 refutes the idea that God is still speaking in various ways as He did in the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Then, He spoke through a burning bush, a donkey, angels, Prophets, visions, voices, and circumstances such as earthquakes or brimstone, etc. It should be noted that God did not speak directly to His people often. He only spoke during times of great change, as with Moses, the period of Elijah and the Prophets, and when Jesus came in his incarnation. There were hundreds and hundreds of years where God didn’t speak in any way directly or indirectly.

It was not a common thing then and it is not a common thing now. His word is final. Jesus is the ultimate message. If we insist that we hear from heaven now, it renders Jesus less than the pinnacle of God’s written revelation. If He speaks now, it renders the scriptures as we know them open and insufficient. It renders Jesus’ message incomplete and needing additional stopgaps, patches, and additions.

Further, IF he is speaking now, then which people do we believe? How are they authenticated?

God’s Final Word in His Son: God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

G3 Ministries is coming out with a film on this issue in September. It is called, aptly, Cessationist. Here is the trailer:

Further resources include:

Is God giving direct revelation? Part 2

God’s Final Word essay from Christian Library

Does God still give revelation? Grace to You essay

Posted in 4th of july, america, bicentennial, celebration, tall ships

Tall Ships Bicentennial memory, 1976

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve been reminiscing this morning about the 4th of July in 1976. It was our nation’s 200th anniversary, and I lived in Rhode Island then. I was 15 1/2 and massively excited about the Tall Ships.

My grandparents had bought a beach house in 1938. The thing to do back then was buy a seasonal cottage by the bay or ocean, and the family goes to the cottage all summer while the men commuted to work. The state’s nickname is The Ocean State because of so much ocean coastline everywhere.

So in 1938 my grandparents bought a cottage on a small hill overlooking Narragansett Bay, which led to the Atlantic Ocean. It was unfortunate/fortunate…the 1938 hurricane wiped out RI as far inland as Providence, and destroyed huge swathes of coastline and many hundreds died. It wrecked the cottage pretty bad. It was unfortunate that they had the beach house only a few months before the state’s worst hurricane hit, but fortunate because they could rebuild it to their liking. Over the years they added on and enlarged it, slowly.

The Bay was great. It was a giant playground for us kids and cousins. Back in the 60s and 70s kids did stuff and we didn’t die, lol. Every kid had a ramshackle boat of some kind or another. My dad used to tell us when he was a kid they’d come to the beach house for the summer and he’d find a boat with holes in it abandoned on some mudflat, and he and the cousins would fix it, and they scraped up a motor from somewhere and fix that, and then they’d go out onto the Bay and get quahogs and fish for bass. (Quahogs are a clam you dig out of the mud flats at low tide, but way out far and low tide only).

In my day we had a new Boston Whaler to go around in. Can you imagine sending your ten and twelve year old kids out onto the bay in a boat for the afternoon and say ‘come back for dinner,’ LOL! But that’s what we did, mess around in boats, and mess around in the water and jump off the dock all day until our hands were pruny and our lips were blue.

On the 4th of July it was great because you could see all the towns’ fireworks from across the bay. Us kids would be running up and down the beach in the dark holding sparklers and whooping with joy as kids do. We were barefoot of course and I remember stepping on a sparkler that had just gone out and someone had thrown to the sand. It really hurt and the shock of the fiery pain was too much for old sensitive me, so forever after that I was not such a huge fan of sparklers. But I do think they are pretty.

The grownups had all sorts of amazing and highly dangerous fireworks. Before they were banned by the US government in 1966, they set off cherry bombs, and there were bottle rockets and lots of other things they spent hundreds of dollars on to have a blast creating their own fireworks show. Then we’d watch everybody else’s show.

In 1976, for the first time in history all the Tall Ships from around the world were going to gather at Newport RI. It was a huge, huge event. We’d eagerly read the paper every day for months before the time, watching to see which new Tall Ship was responding to the invitation. The list was growing longer and longer. Tall Ships from Russia, Argentina, England, all over, were going to sail up Narragansett Bay from Newport in a parade. The Newport Bridge was lined with people, thousands upon thousands lined the shorelines, and the Forts on all the islands dotting the bay. We piled in boat, and got into the mix of the thousands of boats crowding the bay to see this historical event.

Part of the event was a tall ships race from Bermuda to Newport. Wow, that must have been something to be in Bermuda’s Hamilton Harbor and hear the cannon and see them unfurl sail and take off across the bounding main!

There is something so elegant and majestic about a Tall Ship under full sail. The Secretary of the Navy came to RI for the ceremonies, and after the ships parade they docked at Newport and you could tour them. Prince Harold of Norway came over on one of them and also attended the ceremonies. It was so much fun. Eighteen tall ships from 14 nations came to RI for the 1976 4th of July. The boats were actually heading to NYC for the actual 4th where there would be a massive fireworks celebration and another parade up the Hudson River.

From Newport RI Archives. See the men on the spars?!

Tall Ship Eagle See the men on the spars?

This is a picture of Operation Sail Bicentennial 1976 in NYC from the South’s Grit Magazine! The ship is the Coast Guard Tall Ship USS Eagle. What a great ship!

Here is a write up,

“Operation Sail 1976 provided a centerpiece for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration. The event took five years to plan, featured more tall ships … including the Soviet Union’s czarina of the sea, the Kruzenshtern, which Frank Braynard had won over against all political odds on a trip to Moscow. … They proceeded “in company” to New York, where they were met by a vast spectator fleet. In partnership with the Navy, Operation Sail 1976 also resurrected the tradition of holding an International Naval Review, which brought together a peacetime armada of 50 warships under as many flags. From the deck of the USS Forrestal, President Gerald Ford reviewed the parade of sail, complete with a 21-gun salute. In Frank Braynard’s estimation, it was “the biggest assemblage of ships since the Battle of Navarino in 1827.”

That was a day you just never forget, the elegance of the ships and the pride in our nation and the celebrations all over. It felt great to be a part of it and just to be alive and young in America.

So cut to 1994 or so. My husband and I were living aboard our 37 foot yacht and had sailed far up the James River in VA and anchored at a kid of watery cul de sac. Not many cruising sailboats went up this far, it was a long way up and a long way back. But the high green hills and the peace were what we sought, and even better was knowing the William and Mary College was a short distance away and adjoining that, a park. It would be quiet and far from the cruising hubbub that sometime got to us as we cruised south to the Bahamas with a fleet of other like-minded live-aboard cruisers. It was the equivalent of taking a turn onto a dirt road as you drove south on the highway from GA to FL.

We got settled, anchoring the boat and buttoning up the sails etc. We were thinking about what to make for dinner when we heard a ‘whoosh’ and turned to look at the river entrance. It was a tall ship! The HMS Rose (right) was making a slicing sound in the river and the whoosh was the wind in their sails. Our boat was the only boat in the river and immediately the Rose aimed for us. They lowered the US flag and put up the Jolly Roger, lol, a bunch of sailors being trained were now having a bit of marine fun. They circled around us under full, billowing sail. It was thrilling to see a tall ship this close, just 50 feet away. As they tacked around us and sailed a bit further away, they let off the cannon! A boom and a puff of smoke and cheers from the sailors broke the stillness of the quiet waters and woke the sleeping geese along the shore.

Above my photo of the moment the HMS Rose came through.

We laughed in joy and just like that, the ship swapped the Jolly Roger for the US Flag again and sailed out of the cul de sac and back down the James River. We felt honored to have been given this treat. If we hadn’t seen it ourselves we would not have believed it. It all happened so fast!

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he brings them to their desired haven.” ~Psalm 107:23-30

Posted in theology

True Freedom

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Political freedom is great but…

Freedom can be defined in different ways and has been, at different times in history. But as we celebrate our freedom today, 4th of July Independence Day here in the US, we celebrate the fact that on July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, says History.com. We declared our separation from Great Britain, and from the oppressive taxes and micromanagement of the King’s governing of us. We wanted to be a free people.

For 247 years we have been enjoying the civic and political freedoms our Constitution has afforded us. But Christians know that the only true freedom is in Christ. Non-believers are slaves to their sin, there is no escaping the bondage to which they are joined. Believers are freed from our past sins, and freed from the power of sun as we progressively become sanctified, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus’ life, who died on the cross.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)

Christ freed us!

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1).

Slavery to sin is the worst slavery of all. But you do not have to be subject to its laws and its oppression. Repent, believe on the Son, and be free today!

…freedom in Christ is best
Posted in theology

What to leave in what to leave out

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

People accuse Christians of having “blind faith.” They charge Christians of being “dumb” or a “robot”.

This is not so. The Bible is evidential. Evidential is an adjective that means serving as evidence. From Vocabulary.com, we read, “Often used as a legal term, evidential is sometimes paired with the words “proof,” “burden,” or “hearing.””

The Bible has many external and internal proofs that the information contained in it is reliable. Believers know that it’s reliable because it’s from God, who is perfect. It’s the revealing of Himself to humanity, and everything He does is good, therefore the Bible is good.

However, unsaved people are blind to the glories of God. They cannot please God. Their mind is clouded with sin and their foolish hearts are darkened. So they do not believe the Bible as credible, true, or good.

Yet sometimes, a person gets curious about the Bible. They want to know, logically, why so many people find the Bible fascinating. They want to know if it is true, or the things in it are trustworthy. They investigate.

Pause that thought for a minute…

I am a writer, I always have been since I was able to write. I love language…words…phrases. How they sound, their origins, choosing words for my blog writing. It’s fun. I spend a lot of time with words.

When someone posts something on social media, I look at what they wrote, and I comment on it. Recently a woman took issue with something I replied to on a person’s large ministry page. She said I didn’t have the whole context, I didn’t know the story, I didn’t know the person’s heart, all that. Sure, I agree, more context is better than less context, but the point of social media is that someone writes something and publishes it for the world to see, and people in the world who read it, reply based on what they read.

What we respond to are the words the person chose in their published piece. What they put in, and what they leave out. The words they pick, the language the chose, gives insight into a person’s mind.

Here is a Cold Case Detective explaining his profession’s approach to forensic language. His name is J. Warner Wallace. He was unsaved but curious. He was interested in the Bible as an evidential document. It is a true cold case. I bought his book “Forensic Faith” and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Wallace said: “Detectives will have the perpetrator write down everything they did on the day of the murder from the time they woke up to the time they went to bed. I will analyze that looking for deception indicators, how they compress time, how they expand time, how they use pronouns, how they use tenses and verbs. I’m looking for adjectives and adverbs. These are really important. Optional words are really important.”

His story is that he examined the Bible using the same forensic methods he uses in his profession in solving cold cases. He found the Bible to be truly trustworthy. As a side note and a praise, he was saved shortly after that, and is now an apologist for Christ in the faith.

So while we can’t determine everything about a person from reading their words on a screen or on a paper, we can conclude some things. We might not be a cold case forensic detective, but we do have the mind of Christ and our mental faculties can detect word patterns.

Pay attention to the words they use and the words they don’t use. That second one is harder, I agree. Omissions are hard to spot. Oftentimes it takes a pattern of omission to detect something is off. Take Joel Osteen for example. He never uses the words ‘sin’, ‘repent’, or even ‘Jesus’. He will say broken, or messy, or God, but he doesn’t choose the Bible’s power words that convict a soul.

Beth Moore rarely uses the word repent in her speeches or her writing. Oh, she’ll speak or write a verse that has the word repent in it, but she rarely directly calls for repentance from sin. To my knowledge, and I checked this to the best of my ability a year or so ago, she has never taught either in person or a published Bible study, on 1 Timothy. Hmmm. That’s the Bible book that forbids women to teach men or hold authority over them.

Some people have occasionally made remarks on what I’ve written based on a conclusion they’ve come to, and after examining their statement, I’ve found them to be right. I didn’t even know I was revealing myself but they concluded something about me based on the words I use, the topics I write on.

So watch for a pattern of omission, while you are watching for the words they choose to use. Does the Bible teacher use important words like hell, death, wrath, repent, sin, Jesus. Do they overuse words like grace, mercy, forgiveness, without a balance of the other words?

And that is the point. When a person gives a sermon or writes something on social media or on paper, they are choosing words. Words and phrases are important. It is a glimpse of what is in their mind and heart. (Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45).

What I’ve described is one aspect of discernment.

Posted in theology

We walk, we stumble, but how do we deal with aftermath of a stumble?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

EPrata photo

What life in Jesus is really about, in truth, is our walk. We will fall. We will gossip. We may mentally lust. We might watch porn. We might be jealous and cut out a family member. We might lash out in anger, and not a righteous anger, either. We might drive drunk. We might, God forbid, stray from the marital bed. One of a million different sins could become public and embarrass us. What do we do? We repent.

But what is your reaction to the fall? To rising up again? Therein lay the difference. What happens after we fall?

When you fell, did you stay down? Did you lay there? Did you give up?

Did you say “woe is me, I fell, I’m not worthy of Jesus”? There are many people who and engage in continued public self-flagellation in false humility, like the Pharisees.

When you got up, did you then trudge? Paul says do not trudge but spring up and finish the race! Have joy. The race is a “good” race! It is a “good” fight!

Jesus knows we are faulty, that we will stumble, that we fail. But He is there to lift us up, the Spirit is there to encourage us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20). What awaits you when you arise is the Holy Spirit, there with hand extended, to help you immeasurably!

We all fall, the joy is in the getting up and finishing, knowing that Jesus forgives our sin, and throws it as far as the east is from the west! There might be consequences, there usually are, but joy is ours to possess.

Keep looking ahead to the finish line. A crown awaits. Our home in New Jerusalem awaits. Eternal joy awaits. Our Lord awaits. Get up, get up! Pilgrims, the time is short, our time here is shortening daily. Spring up and with all joy and energy, run to the finish line!

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)

Will you be able to say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Posted in theology

The problem with parachurch organizations…

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Today John Piper is trending on social media. Whenever a prominent Christian pastor or teacher is trending, I look into why. It’s usually not because the world has suddenly decided that these men are worth listening to and are applauding their wisdom. No. It’s usually the opposite. They have said something contrary to the world, and the word takes issue, even the professing Christian world. Or, they died.

EPrata photo

Since it was Piper and he’s elderly (77 years old), I looked into the trend right away. Gladly, he is still alive and walking- and speaking. The controversy for today is that John Piper said in his podcast a few days ago, responding to a listener’s question, that para-church organizations should not be run or led by women. You can hear the 13-minute conversation at the link or read the transcript.

The questioner went on with saying that in his globally well-known parachurch ministry, “Women will [now] be permitted to teach men from the Scripture, to be in positions of spiritual authority over men, to shape and correct doctrine within the organization, and to mentor men in their ministry roles. The reason given for this change is that a parachurch organization is not the church…”

The Christian Post wrote about Piper’s reply it, here.
The Christian Mail weighed in with Piper’s reply also, here.

Nancy Pearcy, a well-known teacher and author, took issue with Piper’s stance, saying on Twitter, “Piper keeps digging in deeper. I am a professor at a Christian university. Some of my students are men–which means, I teach men. Many men also read my books, which could be construed as a type of teaching.”

I have written about parachurch ministries several times. I’ll link those below. Some reasons I am reserved about some parachurch organizations is that they directly and purposely compete with local churches. Some just have no accountability that we can detect. Some draw women away from their home church infect them with false teaching and send them back to the home church to infect it. Or, they are run by women with a poor understanding of scripture and gradually become unorthodox.

EPrata photo

Here, J. Mack Stiles at 9Marks writes,

The standard cliché for parachurch is that it’s not the church, but an arm of the church. Yet historically, that arm has shown a tendency to develop a mind of its own and crawl away from the body, which creates a mess. Given the grand scope and size of many parachurch ministries, those which go wayward can propagate error for years: missionary organizations become gyms, heretical seminaries pump out heretical pastors, and service organizations produce long-term confusion between the gospel and social action. So what should mark a healthy parachurch? Read on to find out what Mr Stiles considers marks of a healthy parachurch.

I can’t be totally against parachurch organizations across the board, of course. Gideon’s International is a parachurch ministry. So is Ligonier from RC Sproul. Samaritan’s Purse that helps so many people after a disaster, is considered a parachurch ministry. Many parachurch ministries are healthy. But of the ones founded and/or led by women, I do have reservations. It doesn’t matter they “are not the church” as Piper explained, the ministry still should not be led or run by women-

Let me offer two reasons for thinking this way. One is that when the apostle Paul gave his instructions that only spiritually qualified men should teach and exercise authority in the church, his argument was not based on culture or on family or church or structures — ecclesiastical structures or any others. It was based on two things: (1) the order of man and woman in creation and (2) the dynamics between man and woman in the fall.

I’ll link to some of the articles I’ve written about parachurch ministries. Some of these organizations are bastions of false doctrine, hotbeds of feminism, and synagogues of satan, cloaked in flowery social media banners with softening filters and comfy women speech. Do not be deceived. Stay true to the Bible’s guardrails for orthodoxy and be careful of the teachings you choose to absorb, whether the teachings are in, or out of, the church.

EPrata photo

I’m suspicious of para-church organizations. Here’s why

The issue with Parachurch organizations – especially ones founded by women Part 1 of a 3-part series

The issue with Parachurch organizations – especially ones founded by women part 2: Yada Factor

The issue with Parachurch Organizations – Especially Ones Founded by Women, part 3

IF:Gathering- More Information I’ve written about IF parachurch ministry several times. Some of those links are inside the essay here. Or you can plug IF:Gathering into the search bar to find more.

Posted in discernment, holy living, kings, opposing false doctrine

Failure to actively oppose false doctrine/false teachers is a sin

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

In reading 1 and 2 Kings, patterns emerge. In a blog essay a few years ago I’d mentioned that reading the books of the Kings is like watching the tide go in and out. The king was good, the borders enlarged. The king was bad, the borders came in. In and out. Repeat.

Another pattern is seen in the LORD’s declaration of where on the spectrum the king’s goodness or badness was. Sometimes the King was declared by God as outright evil. Sometimes not so bad. Sometimes good. Here is an example. In 2 Kings 3:2a this is what is declared of Jehoram the son of Ahab who became king over Israel in Samaria:

“He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother,”

Why wasn’t he as bad as Ahab and Jezebel? After all, “he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.” (2 Kings 3:2b). But Jehoram also clung to the sin of Jereboam which had made Israel sin, and this angered the LORD.

The lesson is twofold. Leaders set the example. When they are below reproach, the followers follow suit, also falling below reproach. In addition, you can’t repudiate some sins, you must repudiate all sins. There is no picking and choosing.

Now, how about Jehu, tenth king of Israel??

“Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.” (2 Kings 10:28-31).

Photo by Nicola Fioravanti on Unsplash

Did you catch that? “All His heart”. King David was a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22). This is a high honor bestowed on a man. Why was David given such an honor in the bible? He loved and feared the Lord. He had absolute faith in God. You might wonder, David was a great sinner, how could he be deemed a man after God’s own heart? He sinned, but he repented, fully. His heart was always pointed toward God.

David loved God’s law. (Psalm 119:47-48) He delighted in it! Yet you note that despite Jehu doing what was in the LORD’S heart, he “was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD.”

David was grateful for God. God was not a means to a kingly end for David, God was the end. (Psalm 26:6-7; Psalm 100:4).

In another case of the LORD deeming a king pretty good, we see Amaziah. “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father.” (2 Kings 14:3). Amaziah did not remove the high places and the people still sacrificed to other gods there. (2 Kings 14:4). However he did follow through on a point of God’s law whereupon ‘he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father’ but correctly did not kill the children of those, as the Law states. (2 Kings 14:5-6).

As you read through the Kings the recurring theme is worship of other gods on the high places. The First Commandment is to have no other gods before Him. That the King worshiped God wasn’t good enough, he must set the example by destroying the altars of other gods. Leaving them in place is an implicit agreement with them.

Photo by Efe Kurnaz on Unsplash

This theme is seen in most of the NT books whereupon the Apostles or authors of almost every book decries false teaching. Following false teaching is following another god. Failure to repudiate false teaching is also a sin. See Revelation 2:20,

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.“

The church at Thyatira knew this woman, a Jezebel-type, was teaching falsely, and they tolerated it. Some of them weren’t following her, which was good, and Jesus said that was good.

But they did not strike her down from her high place, as it were. The Lord commended them for not following actively (Revelation 2:24) but was still against them that they didn’t dig out the cancer of her false teaching and protect the daughters of hell she was creating. (Revelation 2:23).

Discernment is active on all fronts. It means relying on the Spirit to open our eyes to false teaching, and actively asking Him to do this. It means practicing discernment by reading the word and testing what teachers teach against it (Acts 17:11). It also means when you see brethren falling under the beguiling sway of false teachers, to do something about it. Don’t tolerate it. If you do, thee Lord has that against you. Do what it right in the sight of the Lord!

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17)