Posted in theology

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

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Part 1

Part 3

The issue with Parachurch organizations – especially ones founded by women part 1

Yesterday I discussed some of the pros and the many cons of “Parachurch Organizations,” also known as Christian ministries. These are Christian organizations founded for a purpose- some with a social justice emphasis such as Christine Caine’s A21 which aims to to end sex trafficking, or disaster relief like Samaritan’s Purse.

Others are founded by women in order to inspire women to discipling and fellowship, and it is these which most often go off the rails. One of the issues with parachurch organizations is often its lack of accountability, said Carl Trueman in a 9Marks essay. When a parachurch organization, or ‘ministry,’ is founded by women, led by women, teaches discipling, focusing on emotions, well, you have a cauldron of elements ripe to bear bad fruit. IF:Gathering is one example, Living Proof Ministries is another.

Another issue I have with parachurch organizations is that they often end up competing with churches instead of supporting local churches. Walk to Emmaus is an example of this. Some even end up supplanting the local church, where women feel if they’ve done a course or joined a group, that ‘counts’ for church.

Today’s review is one of these parachurch ministries founded by women, focusing on discipling, and is off the rails. I was asked to look into The Yada Factor and The Transforming Center. Today let’s take a look at The Yada Factor. Tomorrow I’ll look at The Transforming Center

THE YADA FACTOR

The very first thing a woman is confronted with when going to The Yada Factor’s website is this statement:

https://yadafactor.com/

Yada is a Hebrew word that the ministry founder says it means ‘to be known by God’ in case you’re wondering about this organization’s title.

Yada introduction video below for your perusal. What usually follows a claim of teaching you to ‘hear God’s voice’ is an emphasis on how noisy this world is, so you are missing out in hearing it. I’d like to point out here that the world has always been noisy and stressful. In 25 BC the city of Rome had a population of 1 million.

This is the ancient Rome Paul wrote to the church. Now imagine these CGI streets thronged with people. Noisy. Stressful. So, they missed out on hearing God’s voice also? No. Source

It is no more so now than it ever was. It is a fallacy to think that God cannot cut through the ‘noise’ and the ‘stress’ to make Himself heard. Saul was busy going all over Asia Minor killing Christians, but God simply spoke and His voice tossed him to the ground. Moses was going about his business when he saw a burning bush and a voice emerged from it. Amos was in the fields busy herding when God called. Jonah didn’t even want to hear the voice of God but God got through to him.

Don’t fall for the error being taught today that we are so busy and stressed we will miss God’s voice- but THIS ministry or THAT organization has the secret key to hearing it. He spoke worlds into existence. He can make himself known, IF prophetic speaking was even going on today- which it isn’t. He spoke and He is now quiet, because:

God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,2 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).

So immediately your discernment radar should be alerted to anyone saying they hear the ‘voice of God’ or will teach you to cut through the clutter in order to hear the ‘voice of God’.

From 2021 Tax return we read that Yada Factor: “Despite the hardships of 2020 we see how God prepared YadaFactor to help people find intimacy with Him from the comfort of their homes. Using YFE, The YadaFactor Experience, an on-line course designed to help people hear God’s voice personally through Scripture and share in community.“

No. You will not hear God’s voice personally.

The YadaFactor experience (“Experience”, another buzz word. Christianity is not an “experience” to be had but a God-glorifying life to live via an identity God gave us) is rife with promises that God is just waiting in the wings to speak to you directly and personally, if you just adhere to the 7-week course then try real hard to listen for God’s promptings and intimate revelation to you as you write your own thoughts down in a notebook.

I would sit by the fire, open the Bible to wherever my fingers took me, ask the Lord to speak and I would write. I journaled like a crazy woman with many tear soaked papers. ~Founder Deb Csutoros

Since God is not speaking now because the canon is closed, the Yada student will inevitably feel disappointment. God is not speaking. The student will wonder and wonder why this isn’t working. She will wonder if the impression or prompting she thinks she received is really from God or not. Only disappointment and confusion will result from seeking intimacy with God by waiting to hear His voice, even if the course is allegedly ‘based on the Bible’. It’s based on unbiblical premises, a one size fits all template, and run by women whose foundational motto is psychologically based and emotionally driven.

Now, the Yada factor experience promotes some good things. They want you to seek a closer relationship with God, to pray diligently, to read your Bible, and to share your biblical insights gained with sisters in Christ. All these are good things. It’s how a “ministry” like this hooks you.

Instead of a shepherd’s hook, many of these ministries offer a fishing hook disguised as a shepherd’s hook. Shepherds bring you into the fold. Ministries with false promises only hook you to lure you away.

It is the church where you seek fellowship, deeper knowledge of God, and discipling.

It’s all about me, my wounds, my trauma, my emotional well-being

What happened was, the three women who founded it were meeting and discussing their struggles in an environment where they ‘felt safe’, didn’t try to correct one another, and felt free to be genuine about their doubts and fears. This is a good thing, as they shared what they had been learning from their daily Bible study. But the bad thing is, we are supposed to do that within the local church. If you feel you can’t be genuine with one another in your own church, such as to share insights, confess sins or struggles, knit together in a bond of the Word of God, then what is your church about? And if you feel comfortable with friends outside of church and meet to discuss things in an emotionally secure atmosphere, that’s great, but why start a whole ministry to draw others away from their own church?

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16)

being devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor, (Romans 12:10).

We are supposed to be ‘one anothering’ within our own church, not meeting random women through a flat screen on Skype.

Looking into the credentials of the women who co-founded Yada Factor, we see one of them earned a

“Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology in 2016. She has been counseling in private practice since 2009 and she integrates the tools from this ministry into the counseling process to encourage clients to hear God’s voice and lead them from pain to healing. Her dissertation sought to learn how to create post traumatic growth with those whose religious beliefs collided with their trauma where many question God and need to find resolve and healing. The outcome of her study has helped her to offer a model of processing…“

That ‘model’ seems to have been a 12-step program. We read in the Yada Factor’s material:

“Pegi’s 15 years of experience as an Al-Anon member has greatly influenced the forming of YadaFactor…“

“What started as a Christian twelve step Bible study eventually transformed into an intimate fellowship based entirely on God’s Word.“

What is a 12-step program?

The basic premise of the 12-Step model is that people can help one another achieve and maintain abstinence from the substances or behaviors to which they are addicted, says https://americanaddictioncenters.org

“Scripture does what psychoanalysis can’t do — it pierces the heart, penetrates deep into the soul and judges the motives. To see yourself in the light of Scripture, is to see yourself as you really are.” ~John MacArthur

I applaud anyone who has earned a doctorate, but I’d love to know about how the founder’s ‘model of processing’ helps people overcome years of sorrow and pain after experiencing trauma. I’d love to know how her degree in clinical psychology intersects with her Christianity and whether she believes in the sufficiency of the Bible as a healer for ills. Too often clinical psychologists dispense Christian advice though a secular worldview. We already know that she does not believe totally in the sufficiency of the word, since the ‘Experience’ relies on teaching personal revelation from God. Their thrust seems to be focused on the individual and her healing, rather than getting to know our Great God through His word.

I can summarize it this way: ‘Learn how to hear God’s voice, SO THAT you can use Him to focus on yourself and your need for emotional healing from trauma.’ Their emphasis seems to be on using God to help you get beyond trauma, rather than learning more about who God is.

In this way, God becomes a vehicle, rather than the Alpha & Omega.

Ladies, you don’t need a 12-step phycological model overlaid onto the Bible to help you with your doubts, fears, addictions, emotions about God. You need God and you need each other in church.

And the emphasis on emotional wounds is very present while the words sin, sin nature, and repentance are absent from the material I read. Thus it is very man-centered even though there are promises the Yada Factor student will get to know God better. If the focus is on your own trauma, the only person you will get to know better is yourself. And who hasn’t been traumatized by life? Some more than others to be sure, but we live in a sin-soaked world run temporarily by satanic powers. We ALL need to look up, not within.

Where are you, ladies?

My usual concern with women-founded and women-led ministries is that these women aren’t at home, and it’s a problem because if they are rebelling against scripture in that, what else are they rebelling about?

All three ladies of The Yada Factor are long-term married women with grown children. Great. But they should be focused on the home, children (even though grown) grandchildren, and husbands. Their bios show that Yada Factor is not the first corporation they led, each of them have been very busy outside the home in careers they labeled ‘Christian ministry’.

In fact, Deb Csutoros worked for ten years while her children were small, “as Founder and Director of a faith-based nonprofit helping teenage girls recover from sex trafficking.” She got so overwhelmed and tired, she eventually resigned, rested, only to pop up and start another parachurch organization in Yada when she felt better. (source)

  • Cindy Chamberland, founder. Licensed professional counselor bio: you should read it.
  • Debbie Csutoros, founder blog essay. You should read it.
  • Pegi Richardson, founder: specialty- spiritual formation. Pegi belongs to a church (yay!) but the church identifies the wife of the main pastor as part of the leadership team (no). “…is part of the leadership team of Boca Raton Community Church, serving alongside her husband, Pastor Bill“

My Reactions to Yada factor: Conclusion

  • First, they are a parachurch organization, something which often just ends up competing with the local church. It’s your pastors and elder women and friends in the church who are supposed to do what these women say they do- pray with you, develop trust, ‘do life’ together, etc. Your CHURCH, not some coaching ladies trained in a faraway place. You can’t “farm out” Titus 2.
  • Second, it’s pointless to create a template for pursuing holiness. Sanctification is not not a template one size fits all, 12 steps, do this. A woman who has learned how to be a coach through Yada teaching you AND a bunch of other women from different churches, denominations, life experiences all at once is not the way. Get to know your local women in your church. Gather with them. Create memories, share experiences, teach each other by living example. Gather corporately, pray with each other, sing, and read the word and good Christian books together. A Yada coach is a clinical template that the Bible has no example for.
  • You have no idea what church the flat-screen, Yada coach guiding you belongs to, if they belong to one at all. You don’t know their doctrine.
  • Thirdly, their mission and vision is off: OUR VISION: Everyone knows and hears God. OUR MISSION: Helping people know it is possible to hear God personally through reading, writing, and sharing scripture. No. God is NOT speaking these days.

My advice is to make a commitment to the ladies of your OWN church. You begin the modeling of a woman who bravely shares real things- your sins, your struggles, your fears, if such groups are not present already. Listen to other women, really listen. Model one anothering by coming alongside in prayer, in love, and in dedication to sharing the glories of Christ from what your own pastor has taught you. Stay away from ministries alleging to bring you intimacy with God through a clinically trained coach’s flat screen teaching you to search for a non-existent voice that will not speak.

Further Reading

Gender roles: What about parachurch ministries?

What is the spiritual formation movement?

How parachurch ministries go off the rails

What Should You Do With Your Diagnosis? Responding Biblically to Mental Disorder Labels

Posted in theology

The issue with Parachurch organizations – especially ones founded by women

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Part 2

Part 3

A parachurch organization is a Christian ministry that operates outside the local church’s governance and funding. Some work closely with a church, others are loosely connected, and still others seem to be separate from any oversight from a local church.

While laudatory in many cases, some of these organizations increasingly draw women away from their home church, infuse them with false doctrine, and re-seed them back to their church to infect it.

EPrata photo

Examples of parachurch ministries

GotQuestions defines a parachurch ministry this way: “The definition of a Christian parachurch ministry is “a Christian faith-based organization which carries out its mission usually independent of church oversight.”

Some different types of para-church ministries are, those involved in evangelism (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Child Evangelism Fellowship), discipleship, (The Navigators, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship), Bible dissemination (Gideons International), disaster relief (Samaritan’s Purse), medical helps, domestic violence shelters, and so on. Christian book publishers and Bible translators are also considered a para-church organization. RC Sproul’s Ligonier.org is a parachurch organization designed to have a primary focus on the theological education of laypeople.

The Church is where it’s at

The positive with some para-church organizations such as radio ministries, Bible dissemination, or missions organizations are that the Gospel can be introduced in closed countries or places devoid of a church. The downside to a parachurch organization is that many of them lack oversight. Some discipleship parachurch organizations even become a substitute for church.

Yet, Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:14 of the church that it’s “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

EPrata photo

The local church is to teach-

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2).

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13)

Parachurch organizations did not exist during the time of the first century church, so the Bible doesn’t mention them. Acts 2:42 outlines principles of the purpose of the church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

The church is the pillar, and Jesus is the cornerstone of it. Our entire focus should be life lived in and around our home church.

It goes without saying that believers should be a member of a church, submitted to elders and faithfully attending. There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. Each of us has a spiritual gift given to us by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of edifying each other within our local body of believers. Staying outside the confines of church life is a denial of the gift and makes a hole in the global tapestry Jesus is weaving. Not to mention failing to participate in the ordinances: the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

Our focus for our believing lives on earth should be the local church. If your church has raised up men to lead Bible studies, great, or women who disciple as per Titus 2, super. If you have classes or structures in place teaching for children and youth, that’s wonderful.

EPrata photo

Ladies, watch out

Sadly, some women look elsewhere than their own church for fellowship, prayer, or Bible study. They gravitate toward parachurch organizations. Some do so simply because they were invited by a friend, and being curious and with servant attitude, follow her friend to the organization to try it out. Those are the organizations to which I take exception to, the ones rife with false doctrine and slyly begin to substitute for the local church. Upon first reading of these parachurch organizations, they sound good. Their aims and goals sound solid. Healing, discipleship, fellowship, what is wrong with that?

Nothing…until you look deeper and you realize healing, discipleship, and fellowship are a church function. And then you look further that these organizations are founded on something other than the word of God. Many of them are based on experiences, half-biblical truths, or ecumenicalism of the worst degree, where false religions’ doctrines are introduced.

Jesus promised to build His church- Matthew 16:18. The weekly global gathering of true believers would find expression in local congregations, where Jesus promises to build them up. It is in these congregations, if they adhere to a biblical ecclesiology, that men would be teaching and leading.

Ambitious or dissatisfied women who want to teach and lead in ways the Bible does not prescribe, find that their unbiblical ambition is able to be satisfied by founding an organization outside the church. These ministries, by definition, usually have no connection to or spiritual association with a local church. Jesus did not promise to build a parachurch.

Yet many of these parachurch ministries founded and run by women seem to have women who have no connection to a local church. Many of their About pages don’t list that the women even belong to a church. Or if they do, and you look at their speaking schedules, you see that they miss most of the Sunday gatherings per year because they’re on the circuit. Or they are just very busy, well, running the parachurch organization to attend church, or even to minister to their own families.

Many parachurch CEOs don’t realize at the outset just how MUCH their ‘ministry’ will impact their family time, not to mention their church attendance. EPrata photo

Again, not all parachurch ministries are bad. Some are good. Answers in Genesis is an evangelical parachurch organization. So is Fellowship of Christian Athletes. These operate independently of a church. Grace to You is a parachurch organization directly connected to a church. This author writes,

While I do not desire to denigrate excellent Christian ministries that function outside of local church oversight (I was saved through a parachurch ministry, I went to one for college and seminary, and I currently work at one), it must be asserted, based on the Scripture we examined above, that these ministries, no matter how large or effective or well-managed, owe their very existence to the institution Christ established two-thousand years ago. Without the church, there would be no organization to stand beside it. (Source)

Yet the parachurch organizations that go wayward, as it says in the article below, can do damage for years.

J. Mack Stiles in this 2011 article said: “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.”

As some para-church ministry grow, they take on a life of its own, disown the local church, and crawl off, drawing the unwary with it. They end up competing with the church instead of supporting the church.

As this phenomenon has increased, para-church organizations have confused the global body about what the church does as these organizations take on more of the roles the Bible says what the church should be and do. Granted, many churches have abandoned their calling to evangelize, disciple, and serve the community, but it is not for parachurch organizations to pick up the slack. It is not for parachurch organizations to become a kind of church that supplants the called church. Many of these are founded for ‘discipling’ purposes, co-opting a role reserved for the church.

Worst of all, it is my contention that many of these parachurch organizations that are female founded, female led, as a result, are petrie dishes of false teaching, only to slither out of the dish and propagate itself like leaven into real churches.

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Carl Trueman on parachurch organizations, describing 2 ways they go off the rails. One way is rampant ecumenism. Here is the other way they go off the rails:

Parachurch Organizations Rarely if Ever Have Proper Structures of Accountability

The second reason parachurch groups go awry is that they rarely if ever have proper structures of accountability. The New Testament makes it clear that the appointed custodians of the faith are the elders, men specially selected because of their qualities of character, ability, and reputation, who have a special duty to safeguard the faith and practice of the church. Parachurch groups have no such biblically sanctioned structure, and many of them have not thought carefully about the framework of accountability needed to remain orthodox. Further, they tend to be run by the self-appointed, or by people with money, or by those with a can-do attitude. (Source)

Many of the worst of the worst are parachurch organizations founded by women and they are the worst because they hardly ever have an accountability structure. Indeed, these women CEOs should be sitting in their own church quietly learning (1 Timothy 2:11) and asking their husbands at home. (1 Corinthians 14:35).

Examples of women- founded parachurch organizations gone off the rails from the start

  • If:Gathering was founded by Jennie Allen on an alleged direct revelation by “a voice from the sky” her words, who started IF to discuss feelings about the Bible (not what the Word means, but how they feel about it).
  • Walk to Emmaus, a weekend retreat, was developed by women, it’s all about forcing an emotional reaction to the blowout personal experience at the end. Catholic doctrines are laced throughout the weekend teachings.
  • Proverbs 31 Ministries was started by Jennifer McHugh but expanded in 1995 when Lysa TerKeurst and Marybeth Whalen came on board. The women who are part of this organization partner with false teachers and preach to men.
  • Going Beyond was founded by Priscilla Shirer, for the purpose “not only to see all understand His written Word but for all to experience His Power!”
  • Raechel Myers founded She Reads Truth and “invites women of all ages to engage Scripture through curated daily reading plans, as well as online conversation led by a vibrant community of contributing writers.” It “started as a small group of strangers on the internet who wanted to be more intentional about reading God’s Word.” Fellowship and teaching through a flat screen? No thanks. The Bible knows none of that. Experiential parachurch ministries founded by women are sadly too common.
  • Living Proof Ministries, founded and led by Beth Moore, teaches false doctrine, has no accountability, and refuses doctrinal or lifestyle correction.

And now we have two more female founded and led parachurch ministries that have recently come to my attention and I was asked to review, “The Yada Factor” and Ruth Haley Barton and her Transforming Center. Tomorrow: The Yada Factor.

Posted in end time, prophecy, the end

Doomsday clock moves 10 seconds closer to midnight

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Headline this week! “A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight“. The lede says- “The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.”

Oh noes! Is we doomed?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock depicting how close our planet is to complete annihilation, based on factors the scientists calculate that will result in planetary doom. It is only symbolic.

The Doomsday Clock and its annual warnings about the imminency of annihilation have generated some skepticism over the years and prompted debate over its purpose. Source

It was moved in 2017, 2019, 2020. In 2020, the scientists moved it ahead to 100 seconds before “midnight,”— the closest the clock had been to Doomsday since 1953. In 1953 they’d moved it ahead due to the United States’ test of its first thermonuclear device, followed months later by the Soviet Union’s hydrogen bomb test. People were legitimately scared in 1953, thermonuclear landscapes were a new and frightening horizon to deal with.

This graphic from the BBC shows the times the ‘clock’ was moved.

Source

Scientific American devoted their entire magazine some years ago to our fascination with ‘the end.’ According to the scientists, we focus on the end because of our pattern seeking brains, and also to feel special. In the September 2010 issue, the editors and writers take a hard look at all kinds of finales, including doomsday scenarios. The magazine presents 18 stories all devoted to the end, finality, sustainability, catastrophe, and doomsday. They opened with an editor’s note, below:

Eternal Fascinations with the End: Why We’re Suckers for Stories of Our Own Demise
“Welcome to “The End,” at least as we know it. The features here, from the September 2010 issue, cover a range of topics, such as the decomposition of human flesh, the disappearance of cultures, the Earth’s remaining natural resources, and apocalypse scenarios. Once again, the world is about to end. The latest source of doomsday dread comes courtesy of the ancient Mayans, whose calendar runs out in 2012, as interpreted by a cadre of opportunistic authors and blockbuster movie directors. Not long before, three separate lawsuits charged that the Large Hadron Collider would seed a metastasizing black hole under Lake Geneva. Before that, captains of industry shelled out billions preparing for the appearance of two zeros in the date field of computer programs too numerous to count; left alone, this tick of the clock would surely have shaken modern civilization to its foundations.”

Remember the 2012 doomsday scenario? I do. It was hectic!

The secular world has always been fascinated with life endings, planet endings, universe endings… They claim that Christians, with our book of Revelation, are the ones fascinated by it, but in reality the constant barrage of “climate change doom”, “sinking continents doom”, “melting ice caps doom”, “asteroid doom”, “famine doom” – and never mind “alien doom!” and the like, illustrate they are the ones really fascinated by it. Shows like “End Day” and “Life after People” bring in the high ratings.

I used to wonder this question often myself, before I was saved, about the end of life on the planet. In my 20s I used to be scared of the warnings of a solar ray doom crisping the planet. It’s normal to muse on the eternal question, ‘is this all there is? Or is there something else?’ Those who are not saved always wonder what comes after death, even death of the planet.

In 1970 we ‘celebrated’ our first Earth Day. Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. Not the God who made the earth, but the environment, the result of His works. Romans 1:22-23 come to life: “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

There is the sense of the eternal placed in all humans’ hearts, they know instinctively that the planet will end. But not the way they surmise.

That early focus on environmental appreciation turned to hysteria, and doomsday movies centered around population explosion and earth sustainability came along, notably Soylent Green. This award-winning and popular movie depicted the investigation into the brutal murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans and a hot climate due to the greenhouse effect. (That was what they called “climate change” before they called it climate change.)

In the movie, much of the population survives on processed food rations, including “soylent green.” Tune out now if you do not want to know the ending of this movie. OK, here comes the spoiler. The processed food named ‘soylent green’ is people, it is made from human flesh. The film ends with the main character Charlton Heston screaming, “Soylent Green is people!” It became a catchphrase throughout the 70’s.

In this article from the Scientific American issue devoted to “The End”, “Laying Odds on the Apocalypse: Experts Assess Doomsday” the writers ask “Could modern civilization really come to an end? Experts take stock of eight doomsday scenarios.”

See? The secular world is just fascinated with the end.

Yes, civilization really will come to an end. The unsaved with their fascination with the end, yet at the same time denying they have a fascination with it. The Bible says “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3).

I think it is an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand our culture constantly depicts ‘the end’ in movies, TV shows, and films, and the public gobbles them up. On the other hand, mockers and scoffers mock and scoff at the notion when Christians proclaim that the world really will end, sneering that the world always has gone on and it always will.

As for eschatological Christians, that is, Christians who study the branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind, are fascinated with the end for a reason: it IS the end. And we will see Jesus, the author of the beginning and the end because He is the Alpha and the Omega.

Atomic scientists of the Doomsday Clock, Scientific American, and others, can look no further than the Bible to discover what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen, even at the end. Here is a summation of all the prophetic verses in the Bible:

The ungodly will rebel, they will refuse Jesus’ nail scarred hand of salvation, and they will meet their end. The end will come, not by overpopulation or asteroid or global warming. The end will come, and it won’t be as stimulating as comfortable intellectual discussions from ivory tower editors and scientists publishing theories in magazines. The end will come, and it won’t be as sexy as when they watched it in the movie theatres with fancy graphics and computer generated people. All one needs to do is look at the bible, and believe what it says. The end is there:

“looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!” (2 Peter 3:12)

“The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken.” (Isaiah 24:19)

“The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope (Micah 1:4)

“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:7)

It is the end for the ungodly, but that is not the end! It is not the end for the Godly! Believers in Jesus will see the earth renewed! We will live!

Rev 21:1-6 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done.”

So. It is the end and it is the beginning. It is an Alpha and an Omega. Repentance of your sins and believing in Jesus will secure for any person an eternally bright future in bliss and joy and in glory. The earth will be remade new, and His people will dwell on it forever. No doom ever again, just joy. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by THAT!

Posted in theology

100th day of school: One foot in front of the other

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The other day was the 100th day of the school year. The kids have 80 more to go, I have 90. We’re over the hump.

It’s amazing how fast time goes. I vividly remember school day 1, in August. Hot, sticky, kids scared, excited, uncertain. Three new classes were transferred to our school and with them, 7 new staff members to meet and get to know. The new year is fresh and full of promise and there were roads we could not see the end of.

even pennies add up eventually. Photo by Adam Rhodes on Unsplash

Our school has a big celebration, with kids and staff dressing up in 100th day gear, songs played on the intercom at intervals, and general atmosphere of fun.

I was explaining to the kindergarteners about what the 100th day means. I brought it down to their level, saying, “You’ve said the Pledge of Allegiance 100 times. You went into the lunch room 100 times. You got on the bus 100 times.” Their eyes open wide and they are amazed at the big number.

I got to thinking about what I do every day. I unlock the double doors at opening bell and greet each child coming in. I’ve done that 100 times, since I’ve not taken a sick day at all this year. I’ve turned on and off the lamps in my room 100 times. I’ve said the alphabet 100 times.

My job is good but many parts of it are either menial (like opening ketchup packs for kids at lunch), or are important but the yield is hidden and delayed. It’s not often I get a big AHA! from a student with the clouds of inexperience parting to beam light on a newly acquired skill. I just do what I do every day and hope to see results…someday.

As I mulled that it occurred to me just HOW cumulative education is. You can’t see a growth spurt all at once, but looking back, one can see growth. A definite progress. 100 days IS a milestone, and students who entered in August not knowing letters or sounds of the alphabet, are now reading. Those who didn’t know numbers are now adding. Those who never held a pencil are now writing. Wow.

It’s the same with sanctification. You read a Bible passage each day. You pray. You work at killing some sin you’re dealing with. You do this day by day. You don’t see growth. You don’t feel growth. But you ARE growing! It accumulates.

How can it not be? 100 times of anything is a lot. Aren’t we more sanctified after reading the Bible 100 times? Wouldn’t we be closer to God after 100 prayers? Wouldn’t that sin be smaller after killing it 100 times?

It’s also the same with kindness. No job is too menial, too insignificant, too overlooked to have an impact. It might not have a global impact, but it may have an impact on someone’s world. Like this. This man thanks his wife’s stylist for haircut- his wife suffered from dementia, and…well just read it. The stylist may have given 100 haircuts that day, but this one gave a woman her last, best day.

The letter was sent anonymously. Source


You might not see growth, but be assured, if you are striving, even walking, even occasionally stumbling as you walk, you are growing. It is inevitable. Fruit grows, it doesn’t languish. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. The Spirit in you nurtures growth, because such growth in His likeness glorifies Jesus.

Posted in theology

Potpourri: How to change your spouse, mental disorder labels, 5-minute chapter summaries, more!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

EPrata photo

I’m reading a commentary on Habakkuk. This prophet’s 3 chapters go like this:

LORD, why aren’t you doing anything about this?
I am, Habakkuk, see?
No, LORD, not THAT!
Habakkuk, but then, this.
Oh. You are Great! And I am not- but my faith is increased!

Our Lord is kind to be patient and merciful with us. We complain, we challenge, we ask, and when He answers as He did Habakkuk, Job, Daniel, Jonah, etc, it’s a glorious thing to ponder that He engages with His people – with the old Prophets directly and us today, through His word. Omniscient, all-powerful, His thoughts so far above our thoughts, yet He loves, cherishes, and involves His own people. He will hear your questions, too, in prayer if you ask. Beseech Him today, for everything, or nothing, just to tell Him you love Him.

Here is a roundup of links you might enjoy:

How to Change Your Spouse in One Simple Step It’s easier than you think.

A short encouragement from Puritan Thomas Watson. Really short. Really encouraging.

2Be Like Christ has 5 minute chapter summaries, like this one from James chapter 1. There are more here

I’m on the autism spectrum. They tested me when I was 8, but in 1968 there was no autism diagnoses for people, it wasn’t in the DSM yet. So the actual word never came up and nothing was ever really done to help me adjust to society. I just went along, feeling weird and not understanding, well, anything. When I was 50 years old I became aware of the word, read the encyclopedia and DSM about it, and went “Ah! That explains a few things!” But I didn’t seek a medical or psychological diagnosis. Obtaining one for an adult is difficult and expensive. But the main reason I shelved getting one was that I know that I am weak and if I had a diagnosis, I’d rest in it, rely on it, and take advantage of it. I decided being in Christ was enough. For some families, getting a diagnosis for certain things brings some much needed help, information, or funds. For sur! So, what to do? The Cripplegate answers this question: What Should You Do With Your Diagnosis? Responding Biblically to Mental Disorder Labels.

Read about Our Intercessor/Advocate from Dallas Holm, and be joyfully encouraged!

EPrata photo

I’m big on the fear of God.

The Fear of God, By Albert N. Martin

“There was a time when even the unconverted would refer to a Christian as a “God fearing man.” With this theme so prominently and frequently mentioned throughout the Scripture—both Old and New Testaments—it is regrettable that in our day it can be rare for a sermon to be preached on this most important topic, let alone an entire series. These messages therefore are much welcomed and a “must hear” for sheep who desire a masterful, “meat-of-the-word” treatment of this weighty subject.” This is an introduction to an ntir, loaded page of sermons and writings about the Fear of God: you can find here.

Awww, the classic movie Roman Holiday turns 70 this year. World has a retrospective on the Gregory Peck- Audrey Hepburn film.

Beautiful hymn at Rebecca Writes: Like a River Glorious.

Feeling like a shopping spree? The Biblical Creative has some new products; Gospel tracts, Tee shirts, hoodies: here. Want some quality handmade leather products like bookmarks, journals, key rings, here at Robrasim. Need some Just Thinking merch? Letting your haters be your motivators? Bubble stickers? Mugs? They got ’em and more.

Let’s end with Dr. Lisle at the Biblical Science Institute and an essay on “Interpreting the Bible’s teaching on the Eternal State“. W are eternal beings with an eternal destination of only on of two places: heaven or hell. We Christians should feel gratitude, relief, and fervency for knowing in His grace He saved us from ‘the other place’ and destined us for his bosom in heaven. Think eternally, look up, and praise!

Posted in theology

Let us often think of home!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The devotional is from GraceGems, a site stuffed with goodies from the past. Much to read and be edified by there.

Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day. I pray you have a good church to attend. Gather with the saints in fellowship to worship, pray, sing, learn. This world wearies us, this is where we go to drink the Living Water, be refreshed, and go on in the week proclaiming His excellencies. Sunday is a day of rest, and don’t you feel rested after resting in Him? And just think of the eternal rest we will be given by our gracious Savior. DO think of home more often!

Tim Challies posted this from Dan Doriani:

Now on to James Smith’s devotional-

James Smith, (1802—1862) “A Devotional Glimpse at Psalm 23“

“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” Psalm 23:6

Notice, David’s expectation for eternity. Not in the sheepfold in the wilderness, but in the house of the Lord! The dwelling-place of God, the family residence of the Father of mercies and His beloved children. In that house, we shall have . . .
  all our desires gratified,
  all our prayers answered, and
  our highest expectations more than realized!

There we shall dwell in peace, united to all the saints, and enjoying the society of all the ransomed brethren! All friendship will be unchangeable, and fellowship perpetual and pure.

There we shall dwell and worship–and our worship will be spiritual, pure, and perfect!

There we shall dwell and enjoy–and our enjoyments will be dignified, delightful, and eternal.

There we shall dwell and obey–and our obedience will be perfect, hearty, and perpetual.

There, we shall dwell and rest–and our rest will be sweet, refreshing, and satisfying.
There will be no wilderness storms there.
There will be no cruel, crafty, malignant foes there.

O glorious prospect! O sweet anticipation!

In our Father’s house are many mansions; and all those mansions will be occupied, for . . .
  every one beloved and chosen by the Father,
  every one for whom Jesus became a substitute and sacrifice,
  every one ever born of the Spirit, will be there!

All God’s children shall be there–not one of them lost!
All God’s sheep shall be there–not one hoof left behind!

There the Eternal Father will be surrounded by, and enjoy the society of all His happy family.
There the glorious Savior will see of the travail of His soul, and be fully and forever satisfied.
There the Holy Spirit will fill all His temples, and enjoy His divine workmanship, and the presence of all whom He has prepared for glory.
There, Jehovah, at home with His people–will manifest forth His glory, and pour floods of light, love, and blessing upon them forever!

Well then may the Psalmist say, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures!”

Let us often think of home!
This vain world is not our rest.
Here on earth, we have no continuing city.
Home, the home of the believer’s heart, is in the skies . . .
  where Jesus is,
  where Jesus reigns,
  where love is perfect,
  where there is always a full tide of joy,
  where God displays all his glory,
  where grace satisfies the utmost desires of every renewed soul!

Posted in abraham, end time, prophecy, remember lot's wife

Abraham’s altars and the lesson for us

Posted on by elizabethprata

Genesis is such an amazing book of the Bible. In re-reading Genesis 12, I was again astounded by the depth and complexity of human history and our relationship with God. Gen. 12 is the famous chapter in which God called Abram (later name changed to Abraham) and made a significant promise:

I will make you a great nation; … I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:2a & 3a)

You can be sure that the promise of God is solid, and that we are seeing the curse of nations who curse Israel beginning before our eyes. In verse 7 of Genesis 12, “Then the LORD appeared to Abram,” God appeared to Abraham. In my interpretation he appeared as the Son (Jesus said in John 8:58,”Before Abraham was, I AM.” He was quoting God speaking to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14). God appeared to Abram! Think on that for a moment. The El-Shaddai, the I AM, the ALMIGHTY, appeared to a man, walked with him, spoke to him, comforted him, and commanded him. It is a shuddering thought to ponder the gravity of those moments. That gravity was not lost on Abraham, who built altars to Him all over the Land wherever he went. Abraham did not build houses for himself, he built altars to God.

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

Abraham built altars right away, to mark his obedience to the LORD, and to sacrifice and worship. When Abraham came back from Egypt, “to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.” (Gen. 13:3-4) which is another way of saying worship and sacrifice. When Abraham and Lot had separated and Abram moved to the region of Hebron, he “built an altar there to the Lord” (Gen. 13:18).

Abraham corresponded with the LORD by building altars for worship. Building an altar is an intentional, physical act. Worshiping on front of an altar is an intentional, physical act. When Abraham returned from Egypt, Abraham saw the altar he had originally made and ‘called on the name of the LORD’ in worship and thanks. In this case, the altar was a reminder of his relationship with the great I AM.

We do not need to build altars, but we do need to be as dedicated and as intentional as Abraham in our relationship with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You note that when Abraham and Lot separated, there was no mention of Lot building an altar to the LORD. Lot was with Abraham when Abraham got the calling from God (Gen. 12:5) and was with Abraham throughout the blessing of his peoples’ increase. Lot saw God working in his family’s life. He reaped the blessings of Abraham’s obedience. But Lot did not build an altar. And from the biblical record we see how the distance between man and God can slowly grow when we fail to consistently correspond with the LORD. Lot crept toward Sodom, closer and closer he pitched his tent, until he was finally living inside the city with all its sin and perversity. Though the sins of the city grieved Lot greatly (2 Pet. 2:6-8) Lot did not build an altar. And in the end, Lot lost his city, his possessions, his family, his wife, (“Remember Lot’s wife” Luke 17:32) and sin fell upon his daughters, who lay with their father.

We do not build altars … but we pray. Our part of the correspondence between ourselves and God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is maintained through prayer, corporate worship, and fellowship in the body of the believers. Is your heart an altar to I AM? Do you pray constantly? Do you worship in faith and obedience, as Abraham did? No? Remember Lot’s wife. Jesus said:

Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.

Build an altar of prayer in your life and you will be blessed by the presence of the I AM Himself!!!

Posted in theology

Do we forgive people who haven’t said ‘I’m sorry’?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Forgiveness is a Christian activity we should have on our heart and mind often. When Mike Riccardi preached at Grace Community Church recently he addressed the topic. Later on his Facebook page, he posted Albert Martin’s words. Someone asked him a question that I’ve been asked, and it was a question I’ve often wondered myself. Are we supposed to forgive a person who is unrepentant of their sin against you?

First, Albert Martin words posted from Mike Riccardi:

The one who forgives makes a solemn four-pronged promise. When you say to someone who has asked your forgiveness for a specific sin, ‘I forgive you,’ you are making this promise:

1. I will not knowingly remember this thing against you.

2. I will not speak of this thing to any others.

3. I will not raise it with you again.

4. I will not allow it to be a barrier in the restoration of our relationship.

I grew up in an Italian family. There were certain things I was taught, either implicitly or explicitly. One was that we must hold grudges. If a wrong done to us was bad enough, you turn a grudge turned into a vendetta. Secondly, the longer you hold a grudge or perpetuate a vendetta, the stronger you looked to others. Naturally in the family there were arguments, splits, and anger abounding. Segments of the family that were “not talking” to others. People were ‘in’ or they were ‘out’. Sigh. Needless to say, forgiveness offered was fairly unknown. So was seeking forgiveness. So, needless to say, after I came to Christ (thankfully!) I had a hard time understanding the concept of forgiveness.

After Mike Riccardi’s post above had been up a while, a lady asked this question based on the 4 points:

Should this be our promise even if one does not ask for forgiveness?

Mike Riccardi answered:

“Otherwise sound Bible teachers disagree on this point, namely, whether mutual forgiveness (sinner to sinner) is to be conditional (as is God’s forgiveness of us, conditioned upon genuine repentance) or unconditional (unlike God’s forgiveness of us).”

“I am one who takes the former position: that the Bible makes a distinction between the disposition or readiness to forgive (e.g., Ps 86:5) and forgiveness itself, and instructs us to always cultivate that disposition or readiness to forgive, such that there is never any bitterness or vengeance in the heart, and such that the moment that forgiveness is genuinely sought from us we grant it eagerly from the heart.”

“But at the same time, I believe the Bible teaches that the actual conferral of forgiveness, by definition, only happens when an offending party confesses and seeks forgiveness from an offended party. I base that on a couple of strands of biblical teaching.”

  1. The distinction between the readiness to forgive and forgiveness, as above.
  2. The consistent teaching that God’s forgiveness of sinners (which is conditioned upon the sinner’s confession and repentance) is to be the pattern of our forgiveness of one another—not only explicitly in passages like Eph 4:32 and Col 3:13, but also indicated by the fact that the very same terms are used for God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of one another. If God does not confer forgiveness upon any except those “who call upon” Him, but rather stands “ready to forgive” them (Ps 86:5), then this ought to be our practice as well.
  3. Luke 17:3-4 seems to me to be the clearest passage in which this topic is dealt with, and Jesus’ instruction is explicitly conditional: Be on your guard! “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Here, forgiveness is explicitly conditioned upon repentance. I simply cannot square the teaching of unconditional forgiveness with the “if-then” conditional statements in this passage.

“But again, let me repeat: this does not mean I think we should cherish an unforgiving spirit or nurse resentment against someone who has sinned against us but who hasn’t come to seek our forgiveness. Both I (who think forgiveness is conditional) and the one who thinks forgiveness is unconditional believe that the Christian’s behavior should look exactly the same in this scenario—cultivating a cheerful disposition and readiness to forgive, eliminating any vengefulness or bitterness in their spirit against the other person, behaving happily and without rancor toward him even before he asks forgiveness. The only difference is in what we call that behavior (readiness to forgive vs. forgiveness itself); there’s no distinction in any behavior itself. Hope that helps.” –end Riccardi quote

It does help. A biblically based answer to a Christian life question is always helpful. So, have a soft heart and abounding love for others in the faith, always being ready to forgive, but actively conferring it only if the offending party has sought it. And don’t nurse bitterness.

I noticed that in my family, nursing grudges and fanning the flames of anger is a heavy baggage. It is a burdensome load to carry around. If a person who genuinely wronged us seeks forgiveness, the Holy Spirit empowers us to be genuinely forgiving. And once we release that load, how light we feel! How clearly we can see the other person’s pain and hurt. We should be empathetic to the person who wronged us, because people don’t usually hurt us out of malice. They’re hurting too. Clearing that up with the fragrance of forgiveness heals wounds.

But on the other hand, it was good to read that we are not doormats, not allowing every kind of behavior and forgiving it whether the person is sorry or not. I, too, agree that if the person comes to you, we should be ready to forgive.

Some years ago I accompanied the kindergarten class on a field trip to the Fire Station. Of course the kids were excited to see the big shiny trucks and all the gear. The firemen explained how they are always ready to race out and fight a fire. They do a lot of work in advance of a fire. Firefighters make sure the truck is clean and everything stored in its place. Even their personal gear is ready, down to the boots they can hop into, so they can race out to do their job immediately. A Christian should likewise be actively preparing ahead of time for the moment we can forgive.

Cultivate a soft heart, be ready to forgive if the person coms to you, and don’t feel guilty about not conferring forgiveness if they haven’t. Your cultivation of forgiveness will be ready for the next person to come to you!

Posted in theology

God laid it on my heart?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve been writing lately about how the constant barrage from female so-called Bible teachers claiming “God told me,” known as direct revelation, is building a foundation of sand rather than on the rock of biblical sufficiency. I’ve said many times not to accept someone’s claim of direct revelation. If they teach that, avoid the teacher.

But it does beg the question- HOW does God lead? We know He does. We know the indwelling Spirit in believers illuminates the scriptures, leads us in the path of holiness, and convicts us of sin. He is involved. But how?

I was asked this good question: “How do I respond when someone says ‘God laid it on my heart?’ “

First, understand that God, rather, the Holy Spirit, has a ministry of illumination. He brings light to your mind when you study the scriptures. He reveals wisdom and understanding to your mind, transforming it to a likeness of Jesus’ mind. When you read the Bible, then meditate on the scriptures, then apply them to your life, it is the Spirit sustaining you in this process. When you are reading the Bible another day and bazinga! something suddenly makes sense from something you read before, that is the Spirit’s illumination. When you are in a situation and bazinga! You suddenly know what to do based on a biblical principle, that is the Spirit illuminating the word to your mind.

When you feel something laid on your heart that convicts you, something you feel bad about, like harsh words, or a sin, or wounding another person, or even a secret sin- that is the Spirit ‘laying on your heart’ a conviction to repent.

The Spirit DOES ‘lay on our heart’ illumination and conviction. That is His ministry to our conscience and our mind.

If you feel ‘God laid it on my heart’ to tell someone a foretelling prophecy, or to move the family to another city, or to change jobs, or to drop out of college, or to take a trip, etc, well, that’s just your own decision making. You’re attributing your own personal decision to the Spirit, which is dangerous to do. We can’t put words in His mouth He didn’t say.

Here is an article excerpt explaining-

How can I know the will of God? First, I need to realize that God’s revelation has been “once for all delivered” (Jude 3), which means no further revelation will be made. Second, I need to accept that God’s revealed will in His Word is complete and all-sufficient (2 Tim. 3:16-17), supplying me with everything I need to live and to serve God (2 Pet. 1:3). Third, I need to admit that if I believe God laid something on my heart, then someone else has an equal right to claim that God has laid the complete opposite on his heart, and who is to say who is “right” and who is “wrong”? That’s why God’s Word is the perfect, complete and final standard in all things (John 12:48). ~Source

We might feel an impression to do something, or have a feeling, or follow a leading, but we cannot know specifically that it is the Spirit impressing or leading in that particular instance. Here is Phil Johnson of Grace Community Church, speaking to that issue after the Strange Fire Conference held some years ago:

“The Bible is perfectly sufficient, and that means someone’s personal impression based on a dream or a vision or a voice in the head has no place in the church’s teaching ministry. Those things have no legitimate authority over the conscience of any believer. We are to order our lives by a more sure word of prophecy, namely Scripture.” ~Phil Johnson

So to the question at hand: The following was asked at The Strange Fire Conference, answered by Phil Johnson:

Q. How do we distinguish between the legitimate prompting of the Holy Spirit and our own thoughts or will?

A. While God can prompt us to think or do something, He has not given a clear and objective mechanism to identify when He is doing that. Since no one can identify with absolute certainty the source of the impressions he experiences, he must not ascribe authority to them or rely upon them as direction from God. John MacArthur gives good advice on that point in this downloadable audio. Mistaking a personal impression for divine guidance can lead us far astray from God’s will and may cause serious problems in our lives. ~Phil Johnson

Q. How should a Christian respond to what he thinks might be a leading of the Holy Spirit?

By comparing the impression with the objective, authoritative revelation God gave us—the Scripture. So, does the thought you are having agree with biblical theology? Is the action condemned or condoned in God’s Word? Will that choice ultimately bring glory to God? As you answer these questions in light of biblical teaching, you can know whether you are walking in the will of God.

Look for the word “decided” in the New Testament. Paul decided to do this or that, decided to go here or there. He legitimately received direct instruction from the Holy Spirit, the canon was not written yet. But Paul also decided to do things. We do not leave our decision making faculties behind when we become a Christian.

Acts 16:4, Acts 20:3, Acts 20:16, Acts 27:1, Titus 3:12

So, ladies, if it is something you want to do and it’s aligned with the scriptures in principle, you do not have to say “God laid it on my heart.” That’s unnecessary. Just say, “I decided…” God’s will for your life is to obey Him where there are explicit commands and to obey Him to the best of your interprtation where there are implicit concepts. In between, just decide.

Further Resources

Ligonier: The Holy Spirit’s Ministry

Grace To You: Does God Give Personal Direction through a Still Small Voice?

Posted in theology

Just thinking…about my Bible reading the other day

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Virgil Walker and DB Harrison have a podcast called “Just Thinking“. They discuss cultural issues of the day and instruct listeners how to think about them biblically. They are big on thinking. The men do an excellent job of showing how to think through biblical concepts.

I am big on thinking too. We should read the Bible every day. And not just read it but at least some of the time we should think deeply about what we read. Meditate on it. To do that we ask questions as we read. Why is that phrase there? What does that word mean? What does an acacia tree look like? What does this metaphor about an ox being muzzled mean? And then spend some time finding the answers. I like BibleHub, GotQuestions, looking up parallel verses, and reading a larger context before and after the pertinent verses, to help me.

Other times, we just read it and then RE-read it. Then stop to think. This is what I did the other day and here was my thinking process.

Genesis 14:12-14

They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed; now he was living in Sodom. Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was dwelling by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were in a covenant with Abram. So Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, and he led out his trained men, born in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

In Genesis 13, just one chapter prior, Abraham and Lot had separated. One took his flocks one direction and the other man took his in the opposite direction. They settled. The Bible is 7000 years of actual history and in order to put it all in one book, the timing of things is conflated. We read chapter 13 and go to 14 and think it’s a few days later because the events being described are successive. What we might visualize in our minds is Abraham and Lot not much older or not much time had passed. But there IS a clue to how much time had passed.

In the passage above, there is a phrase we should pay attention to. “Born in his house.” Let’s put 2 and 2 together. Abraham sent his trained men out to rescue Lot from the king that had grabbed him. The men who were trained had been “born in his house”. Three hundred and eighteen men had been born under Abraham’s headship and had been trained and were ready to go out to battle. So that means these men must have been at least 15 or 20 years old. THAT’S how much time had passed.

And indeed Abram was 70 when he got the call from God in Ur, and 86 when the covenant between God and Abraham happens (seen in the next chapter) so that at least is a passage of time of 16 years when Uncle Abraham goes out to get Lot.

I find the best way to put insights together is to read slowly, or several times. And to think about what I read and what it means. The very best way to gain insight into what you read in God’s word is to pray to the Spirit for wisdom and illumination. He will give it.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

But ask in confident trust that God will deliver it.

But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things. (Philippians 4:8)