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The past week(s) have been tough but the future looks bright

Posted on May 11, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

These past couple of weeks have been rough in our corner of the church. Rachel Held Evans’ passing caused so much grief for her followers and her detractors alike. The display of hatred and bitterness of her followers came after, toward anyone daring to speak a word against their prophetess (their words). It was hard to watch.

Then there was Beth Moore’s craven yet politically manipulative comment that she is preaching on Sunday at a church for Mother’s day and followers of THAT false prophetess came out of the woodwork to proclaim their glee in doing the same, even at Southern Baptist Convention churches, whose statement of faith had traditionally rejected this kind of activity.

Then there was Owen Strachan’s piece biblically outlining why a woman preaching the sermon in church is forbidden by God, and Moore’s self-serving rebuttal to it, her rising anger displayed wantonly for all to see, along of course, with her many followers yapping at Stachan’s heels for his daring to speak against their prophetess.

I’ve only mentioned two women but their combined following just on Twitter alone topped one million people. And their blogs, events, book sales have much greater reach than that, sadly. A huge segment of the western Christian world have been impacted in some way by just those two teachers.

So, it’s been turbulent on social media this week. It reminded me of the Riot at Ephesus where the idol Artemis was enshrined in one of the ancient world’s largest temples, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World in fact. Paul’s Gospel preaching started to have an impact, and the merchandise sales began to decline. A silversmith named Demetrius made silver shrines of Artemis and brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He claimed that Paul was “leading the people astray”.

The Riot in Ephesus Acts 19:23-27
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Notice that Demetrius twice mentioned his business and twice mentioned the goddess Artemis. But notice the order. He first was concerned about his business, both times. Then he mentioned the goddess and worship.

In any case, the people were gullible and became, as the verse says, “furious.” The Greek word for this fury is ‘thumos’. Strong’s concordance explains:

2372 thymós (from thyō, “rush along, getting heated up, breathing violently,” – properly, passion-driven behavior, i.e. actions emerging out of strong impulses (intense emotion). When thymós (“expressed passion”) is used of people it indicates rage, personal venting of anger.

That rage, that passionate personal wrath, is what we saw from RHE followers, from Beth Moore followers, and Beth Moore herself.

At Ephesus, the people filled the arena and shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

That is stunning. The theater there could hold up to 25,000 spectators. You know how loud it gets when just the school gymnasium at school is filled for a pep rally with a few hundred students, and everyone is stomping on the bleachers. Imagine thousands upon thousands of people creating a ruckus and shouting in unholy fury. It’s also stunning that they did it for two hours. That kind of shouting and rage is difficult to maintain at those intense levels. It seems that satanically inspired fury can be maintained for that length of time with no problem.

I liken the ruckus of social media over Rachel Held Evans’ death and Beth Moore’s tweet as similar to the riot at Ephesus; intense, rage filled, sustained, with the followers of those false teachers claiming that those trying to bring the truth were leading them astray. But at the root of it is money. It always is.

The lesson here in looking to that passage of scripture in Acts is that we should never doubt the intense love people have for their idols and the lengths to which they will go to protect and defend them. Never underestimate the power that greed has over those who teach falsely, for their motivation is money. (2 Peter 2:3). Don’t miscalculate the wrath that those in the cottage industries surrounding the idol and financially benefiting from the idol will go to preserve their income. Always remember that those who follow false teachers, false gods, and idols will say that anyone bringing the truth is actually lying and leading the people astray.

It’s been an upsetting week, many people doing and saying unpalatable things. I don’t know the Lord’s reason for ordaining RHE’s number of days to end at 13,505 or why He is allowing Beth Moore to continue polluting the church and blaspheming His name into her 60th year. His will be done. The good news is that we have glory to look forward to. We will sing and worship in truth and unity, with not one blot, not one jot, not one tittle of falsity anywhere. No false teachers will skulk in any corner, no false prophetess will lead anyone astray, and no merchandising of the people will ever happen. Glory will be sparkling pure, clean, and wholesome.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:1-7)

glory

discernment, theology

Beth Moore has a Lot to Answer for in Normalizing Women Preaching/Teaching to Men, again

Posted on May 10, 2019August 2, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The holiness of God cannot be plumbed to its heights. We have no real conception of how Holy God is. Only Isaiah and Ezekiel (Old Testament prophets) and Paul and John (New Testament Apostles) really have a notion. They saw heaven or were given a vision of it. When Isaiah saw God on His throne, and understood his own sin in comparison, he said he was “undone” and fell to the ground.

So just as God’s holiness is infinite and unreachable in its limits, so is sin. I think we really have no idea of the extent of sin, its ugliness, and its infinite abyss. Just when you think sin can’t possibly get any worse, it does. It goes lower, gets worse, and continues on through its bottomless depths.

I’ve written several times about Beth Moore’s desire to preach at a pulpit, to men, with authority. See just two examples with links below. Over time, this desire has defaulted into a de facto reality. She tweeted this week in response to a woman boasting that she was preaching 3 Sunday services in a SBC church, Moore in reply said she herself was “doing” the Sunday service on Mother’s Day in Tomball TX, her hometown.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited. (Titus 2:3-5)

Sadly, Beth Moore’s failure to rebuke and train the young woman but instead applaud her for her decision to preach, and in fact celebrate her own sin, fails the Titus verse completely. Moore is teaching women to usurp, not be self-controlled, pure, and godly women at home, as commanded.

When Dr. Owen Strachan, (pronounced Stran, rhymes with man) Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Director of the Center for Public Theology, and Senior Fellow of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, wrote a biblical and clarifying essay on Moore preaching. Moore, who “took a doctrine class,” berated him publicly.

Her tweet contained nothing of a teachable spirit. It was haughty and displayed none of the humility and meekness Jesus demands from His people. Then as she stewed some more, she admitted she was “going off like a bottle rocket.” This behavior fails the command for teachers to be “self-controlled.”

But that is what happens when a person rebels against scripture. They descend further into a depraved mind and then gather others to do the same, then applaud them for it. In fact, the entire situation is one that the Bible warns will happen with ungodly people. Romans 1:28-32,

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Why the Lord is allowing Beth Moore to engage in behavior that stores up wrath for herself is His will alone. But woe to Beth Moore on the day she stands before a holy God and is called to account.

—————————————–

Please read the following essays I wrote for more information on the devastating results that occur when we buck God’s word, especially when it comes to His Divine Order.

Beth Moore has a Lot to Answer for in Normalizing Women Preaching/Teaching to Men

Beth Moore: A Type of False Prophetess like the Jezebel of Thyatira?

Examples of Beth Moore preaching to and with men. Notice in her tweet she had said she only has preached at “SBC churches, like, 15 times”. But there are also plenty of other churches she has preached in…to men…against the will of God … as set in His word…

Below, Moore getting angrier and angrier at the rebuke she has received. She tweeted the following, which sounds more like a pre-teen arguing with her parents than a 40 year teacher of the Bible who has learned the required conditions of gentleness, humility, and self-control. Also, her Legalism is showing. Godliness is not a ratio of good outweighing the bad.

potpourri, theology

Prata Potpourri: RHE, divine order, false humility, book sale! more

Posted on May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We are winding down the last school days of the year. The kids finish at our school here in the south on Tuesday, May 21 at noon, and the teachers exit the building for the final time in the 2018-19 school year on that following Friday. It’s a tiring but exciting time. We love the summer break, and we need it. We love to see the remarkable growth of the children from when they first entered our grade. We will miss them. It’s a poignant moment when they give us our last hugs and say goodbye. They’re not “ours” any more, but have moved on to bigger challenges, after the rest they deserve and family time over the summer.

I wish our growth in sanctification could be as evident as the kids’ growth in school. I wish there were benchmark tests we could take to externally mark our progress. I wish we could get a report card to let us know how we’re doing. Growth in our education in the Lord is more hidden, but if one compares our words and deeds to the Bible, then our progress is more easily seen. The Bible is our report card, and our progress can be compared by looking at where we were a year ago.

Are we gentler and more humble? That’s an A+. Are we more sacrificial and giving? That’s an A+ Are we able to control our tongue, offer wise counsel, retain more of His word? That’s an A+

Well you get the idea. Christianity is an upwardly mobile endeavor, both spiritually and someday, physically. Keep learning and growing, friends, as I also pray I am doing.

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

If you’re not over-saturated with the Rachel Held Evans news of her death and influence, I found these essays to be thoughtful and helpful in putting the whole thing in context. One of the charges made to even the sensitively written essays and obituaries was that no one should “speak ill of the dead” and/or that it was “too soon” to write anything negative about her. These essays deal with these issues.

How should Christians respond to the death of Rachel Held Evans?

Rachel Held Evans denied the God of the Bible and, instead, created a god in her own image – a god that allowed her to exist comfortably alongside those who worship the sexual revolution. Out of all the tragedies surrounding her death, the most tragic thing is that all evidence points to the reality that Rachel Held Evans entered eternity under the wrath of God.

Should we stop calling Rachel Held Evans a false teacher?

At the same time, we must not pretend that her teachings honored the Lord. Both Denny Burk and Allen Nelson IV have documented the serious errors in her theology, and I strongly urge you to read their articles. Rachel Held Evans espoused a liberal theology that strips the Bible of its authority, thereby putting her followers in danger of becoming false converts.

RIP RHE

Over the weekend, Rachel Held Evans’ followers have been thanking her, in memoriam, for encouraging them to be gay, feminist, a woman pastor, to worship a female version of God, to not feel guilty about voting for a woman’s right to choose abortion, to celebrate doubt, and to cut essential doctrines out of the Christian faith. What she taught in life, she’s being celebrated for in death. And yet we who know the truth are expected to remain silent about the danger they are in? We’re supposed to hide our light under a bushel until—when, exactly?

A New Kind of Pharisee

This essay isn’t particularly about RHE specifically but its recent publication after her death and resulting reactions speaks to the state of Christian civil (uncivil) dialog that I found helpful.

Have you seen them? There is a new kind of Pharisee today. Things like social media have paved the way for them. And they are not rare or quiet. Here is a partial profile of the new Pharisees:

Blaspheming St. Rachel Held Evans

Just so we’re clear: if you believe that it’s morally wrong for people to respond to the death of RHE by tearing into her legacy viciously, then I agree with you. There may be a time for doing that, but four or five days after she is dead is not that time. It’s a matter of respect. But if you believe that there is no morally acceptable way to write critically about her legacy so soon after her passing, well, we’ve got a problem.

In OTHER news:

A good one from TableTalk Magazine I found helpful in clarifying an issue I’ve long had with responses to encouragement.

False Humility

“Thank you so much for taking time to bring me dinner while I’m sick. I’ve noticed that you have a selfless, others-focused life, and I’m so grateful to be a beneficiary of that grace in you.”
“Well, glory to God!”
I see these sorts of exchanges often. Someone writes or speaks a word of encouragement, specifically pointing out God’s goodness in the life of a friend. The recipient of the kind message, perhaps not knowing how to respond, deflects the encouragement with a statement such as “Glory to God.”
Of course, it’s important and right to consistently acknowledge the Lord and not to take credit and glory for the gifts that God has provided or the opportunities you have, but it’s another thing to deflect all encouragement so that we appear humble.

Run, do not walk to this sale! I checked the prices of all the offered books and they are deep markdowns even from comparing to Amazon WITH a Wikibuy coupon. I happen to know that if you spend $50 or more, you will receive free standard shipping, within Continental USA. It is a limited stock and when they are gone, they’re gone.

Godly Women
Banner of Truth Trust’s sale on books about Godly women.

Women preaching seems to be all the rage these days. Own Strachen has a few thoughts about that.

Divine Order in a Chaotic Age: On Women Preaching

Our culture today does not embrace divine order in either scriptural form or natural form. Our culture is anti-order. Think of what Christopher Hitchens once wrote: “We atheists do not require any priests, or any hierarchy above them, to police our doctrine.” In Hitchens’ mind, the greatest evil is not the priest, but hierarchy–another word for divine order.

The Pyromaniacs have some thoughts on Thinking Like a Slave. It’s timely for me, I was surprised a few weeks back when I posted that Christians must regularly attend church, I received several vociferous replies that I was quite wrong. Dan Phillips here explains/rebuts/destroys the very reasons I received that are often given as justifications for failing to worship corporately. In other words, he nailed it.

Combined with the essay above regarding the rebellion of the ‘saved’ Christian against a divine order & hierarchy, it’s a nice bookend piece. Here’s Dan-

But no. I can roll them all together, and deal with them all in one. Every one of these excuses, though presented in great deal and with great conviction, shares the very same fatal flaw. Every one of them views the Christian life as a process of negotiation.

A good article on why music is becoming increasingly derivative and less creative

The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality)

Besides the decline of music literacy and participation, there has also been a decline in the quality of music which has been proven scientifically by Joan Serra, a postdoctoral scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona. Joan and his colleagues looked at 500,000 pieces of music between 1955-2010, running songs through a complex set of algorithms examining three aspects of those songs:

The advent of drones makes aerial photography easier to produce for anyone without a pilot’s license and a plane. This series from My Modern Met depicts our connection with water. Beautiful photos

Stunning Aerial Photos Reveal the Natural Human Connection with Water

From the ocean, lakes, and rivers to hot baths and swimming pools, people are drawn to all types of water. For many, these bodies of water are cool, warm, comforting sanctuaries. Even from the early days of humanity, people sought out large expanses of water for survival, but also because it simply feels good to be in and around it.

These really ARE the Best Black Bean Burgers You’ve Ever Had. The secret is to briefly bake the black beans first, drying them out a bit. I am making these this weekend. Along with some yellow rice and an avocado it will be a delicious Saturday lunch!

I have been enjoying Netflix’s old BBC show Dad’s Army. A comedy about the WWII Home Guard. Clean and actually funny as well as heartwarming.

Enjoy your weekend!

psalms, theology

The terrifying gentleness of God, or the gentle terror of God

Posted on May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I love the poetry of the Psalms (and the Bible, really 😉

In Psalm 18, David is praising the Lord for being the Rock.

pulpit rock1
6In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

7Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13The LORD also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

It’s a sweeping and vivid rendering of God’s might. You can feel the earth trembling and the smoke from His nostrils curling and the fire He’s breathing out. God’s protection of His children is no less real for this being poetic. No, it is majestic.

Then David writes in v 35-

You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand supported me,
and your gentleness made me great.

Do you love the terrifying vision of God aroused in His wrath, yet his gentleness of love for David as God raises David up?

The Psalms. They’re in the middle of your Bible.

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When Jesus says, “Many will say to me…” just how ‘many’ will it be?

Posted on May 7, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Toshiba Exif JPEG

Jesus doesn’t just give comforts and ease in His sermons. He healed, yes. He promised rest and peace for the repentant, yes. But He also issued dire warnings to the unsaved, the hypocrite, the haughty sinner and so on. He said twice in Matthew 7 that ‘many’ will not get to heaven.

We understand the word many here in the English language. It meas ‘lots.’ But studying the Bible means delving. In the Greek language the New Testament was originally written in, there are nuances and depths of meaning and shades to words. So in the Greek, what does ‘many’ mean? This is of concern, of course, because none of us want to be caught in the net of ‘many’ on the Day of Judgment.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (Matthew 7:13)

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ (Matthew 7:22)

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance for the meaning of many as used in these two verses is the same word: polýs – many, high in number; multitudinous, plenteous, “much”; “great” in amount (extent).

4183 /polýs (“much in number”) emphasizes the quantity involved. 4183 (polýs) “signifies ‘many, numerous’; . . . with the article it is said of a multitude as being numerous” (Vine, Unger, White, NT, 113,114) – i.e. great in amount.

You might recognize the prefix we use in the English- poly.

The word means so much, to such a great extent. Jesus compares one thing to another quite often, Here, it’s many and few. Compared to the saved, the number who are going to be cast into hell are many Matthew Henry sums up with this:

Those that are going to heaven are but few, compared to those that are going to hell; a remnant, a little flock, like the grape-gleanings of the vintage; as the eight that were saved in the ark, 1 Pt. 3:20.

It’s sobering to think of the entire world drowned except for 8 people. I think that we truly underestimate the depth of our sins as humans. The saved understand we are thoroughly depraved, but until confronted with the holiness of God, we really don’t understand. The few who were confronted with it and lived, (Daniel, Isaiah, John, Job, etc) immediately fell as dead men writhing about their own putridness. So it is hard to look at a large number of unsaved, especially when so many of them are pious and Christian seeming. But there will be “many.”

And because we have a hard time grasping the depth and treachery of sin, we tolerate it.

John D. Street (@jdstreetjr) Tweeted,

Is it possible for Christians and the church to be too forgiving? Revelation 2:20 (NAS): “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel…” “Tolerate” is the same word “to forgive” (ἀφίημι). The answer is yes, especially when it comes to abiding sin!

Here is Matthew Henry on the ‘many’ and the ‘few’ in the Matthew 7:15 verse above.

Here is, (1.) An account given us of the way of sin and sinners; both what is the best, and what is the worst of it.

[1.] That which allures multitudes into it, and keeps them in it; the gate is wide, and the way broad, and there are many travellers in that way. First, “You will have abundance of liberty in that way; the gate is wide, and stands wide open to tempt those that go right on their way. You may go in at this gate with all your lusts about you; it gives no check to your appetites, to your passions: you may walk in the way of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; that gives room enough.” It is a broad way, for there is nothing to hedge in those that walk in it, but they wander endlessly; a broad way, for there are many paths in it; there is choice of sinful ways, contrary to each other, but all paths in this broad way. Secondly, “You will have abundance of company in that way: many there be that go in at this gate, and walk in this way.” If we follow the multitude, it will be to do evil: if we go with the crowd, it will be the wrong way. It is natural for us to incline to go down the stream, and do as the most do; but it is too great a compliment, to be willing to be damned for company, and to go to hell with them, because they will not go to heaven with us: if many perish, we should be the more cautious.

[2.] That which should affright us all from it is, that it leads to destruction. Death, eternal death, is at the end of it (and the way of sin tends to it),—everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Whether it be the high way of open profaneness, or the back way of close hypocrisy, if it be a way of sin, it will be our ruin, if we repent not.

(2.) Here is an account given us of the way of holiness.

[1.] What there is in it that frightens many from it; let us know the worst of it, that we may sit down and count the cost. Christ deals faithfully with us, and tells us,

First, That the gate is strait. Conversion and regeneration are the gate, by which we enter into this way, in which we begin a life of faith and serious godliness; out of a state of sin into a state of grace we must pass, by the new birth, Jn. 3:3, 5. This is a strait gate, hard to find, and hard to get through; like a passage between two rocks, 1 Sa. 14:4.

There must be a new heart, and a new spirit, and old things must pass away. The bent of the soul must be changed, corrupt habits and customs broken off; what we have been doing all our days must be undone again. We must swim against the stream; much opposition must be struggled with, and broken through, from without, and from within. It is easier to set a man against all the world than against himself, and yet this must be in conversion. It is a strait gate, for we must stoop, or we cannot go in at it; we must become as little children; high thoughts must be brought down; nay, we must strip, must deny ourselves, put off the world, put off the old man; we must be willing to forsake all for our interest in Christ. The gate is strait to all, but to some straiter than others; as to the rich, to some that have been long prejudiced against religion. The gate is strait; blessed be God, it is not shut up, nor locked against us, nor kept with a flaming sword, as it will be shortly, ch. 25:10.

Secondly, That the way is narrow. We are not in heaven as soon as we have got through the strait gate, nor in Canaan as soon as we have got through the Red Sea; no, we must go through a wilderness, must travel a narrow way, hedged in by the divine law, which is exceedingly broad, and that makes the way narrow; self must be denied, the body kept under, corruptions mortified, that are as a right eye and a right hand; daily temptations must be resisted; duties must be done that are against our inclination. We must endure hardness, must wrestle and be in an agony, must watch in all things, and walk with care and circumspection. We must go through much tribulation. It is hodos tethlimmenē—an afflicted way, a way hedged about with thorns; blessed be God, it is not hedged up. The bodies we carry about with us, and the corruptions remaining in us, make the way of our duty difficult; but, as the understanding and will grow more and more sound, it will open and enlarge, and grow more and more pleasant.

Thirdly, The gate being so strait and the way so narrow, it is not strange that there are but few that find it, and choose it. Many pass it by, through carelessness; they will not be at the pains to find it; they are well as they are, and see no need to change their way. Others look upon it, but shun it; they like not to be so limited and restrained.

Those that are going to heaven are but few, compared to those that are going to hell; a remnant, a little flock, like the grape-gleanings of the vintage; as the eight that were saved in the ark, 1 Pt. 3:20.

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1645). Peabody: Hendrickson.

What a blessing we have in the ark of Jesus, saved through the storm and floods of His wrath. Repent and believe the Gospel, (Mark 1:15) and you will join the “few” who love Him more than our sins, the devil, and the world.

false teachers, theology

Disciples of false teachers, their anger, and what we can learn from this opportunity

Posted on May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata
holiness godliness

The fiercer the reaction, the deeper the hold satan has on his false teacher and her followers. We’ve seen the rabid ferocity of those who follow Beth Moore. When their idol is touched, her people come from out of the woodwork to pile on to the person attempting to bring light to Moore’s followers.

The same recently happened with Rachel Held Evans. My obituary contained mention of the fact that RHE had lived the life an an apostate, causing vitriol to pour from the lips of her many followers.

It’s important not to simply shae our heads adn go tut-tut, and walk away. I like to process an event and try to find a positive meaning from it. So that is what this essay is. Perhaps others may find it helpful.

These are a few of the names I was directly called:

wrong
gross
unkind
unloving
disgusting
opportunist
cruel
arrogant
horrid
disgraceful
insensitive
hypocrite
nasty
judgmental
condescending
Pharisee
poisonous
heathen
unsaved
good only for compost
evil
abomination
hellspawn (my personal favorite, lol)
b**ch

I asked the angry people tweeting me to cut and paste the allegedly objectionable portions of my essay, with an earnest promise that I’d take a look at it. Not one, not one person, acceded to my request. Very few even shared a Bible verse, to my recollection. I was called to be tolerant, but by the lengthy list above, you can see that their call for loving tolerance was simply a double standard, as they were anything but.

Anahn E. Moo® @anahnemoo made the following observation:

Every post, tweet, and article I’ve read by born-again Christians who are discussing the very likely state of RHE’s soul have been loving, gentle, mournful, and prayerful.
Every response by her worshipers have been vile and hateful, often laced with profanity and blasphemy.

This was a typical tweet from a #RHE devotee. There were literally hundreds on Saturday. Mainly they went like this, if I can summarize the general vein:

“RHE taught love & grace and tolerance, you horrid, poisonous hellspawn who speaks lies! I pray that you, judgmental, nasty Pharisee that you are, will find the grace that we all have, thanks to Rachel our prophet’s teaching”. This is a compilation of actual tweets.

Some of these people I chose to engage with, and I had success with one or two. One I blocked immediately, (the curse word lady). Two or three others I engaged with a bit then muted. The rest I shared the Gospel, attempted to be gracious, and let the hateful words slide off my back while offering either verses or pleasantries. One lady I did get a huge kick out of, her comment stood out. See below.

hellspawn

With so many tweeting and commenting, how did I know which to mute, block, or engage? That is a discussion I’ll enter into below. For now, I believe I can make an axiom out of this: the deeper the false teacher is in satan, the more vitriolic her followers’ response will be to anyone claiming she is false. Alternately, the longer satan has had a ‘spy’ in his clutches, having infiltrated a body of believers, the harder satan hangs on to her. (cf Revelation 2:20). His job is to use the false teacher to make slaves and draw away the unwary from Christ.

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:4).

These spies infiltrate the body and then promote false teachings, to which the fleshly gravitate. They accumulate these teachers for themselves, heaping them up because these false teachers suit their lusts.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (2 Timothy 4:3).

Neither the false teacher nor their followers will want to let go. The false teacher is enjoying popularity and money, the fleshly followers enjoy having their desires indulged.

Their ferocity is always at-the-ready:

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6).

Their ferociousness is always bubbling just below the surface. Upon the slightest touch, it spews immediately and with a savagery that astounds the more polite and civil members of society. This is as true in real life as it is online, I’ve experienced both.

The ‘dogs’ verse evokes a mental image of stray, skinny, mangy, hungry dogs roaming in packs, but when you try to pet them, they turn snarling with foaming lips and tear you limb from limb.

We know that the world’s systems are under satan’s thumb. (2 Corinthians 4:4). Entertainment, politics, media, secular organizations all serve satan’s agenda, not Christ’s. We have seen where Christian movie makers and actors are blacklisted or whose reputations are destroyed, simply for either speaking as ambassadors of Jesus or for making movies that reflect His precepts.

We’ve seen in politics, especially in the realms of pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality, people that flood the public square with satan’s agenda and how they pile on on to those who oppose it. Even death threats and physical violence has been done against people exercising their right to freely speak their conservative beliefs in the public arenas.

We’ve seen the media taken over by the liberal journalists, who go to any lengths to preserve and present satan’s reality and publish even lies through their print or broadcast mediums.

In my past experience as a journalist I’ve experienced how the liberal media works when I opposed the lies. They decide on a target. In one case they had decided on three targets for a certain smear campaign, but decided three was too unwieldy so then they focused their attention on one person alone, funneling all their hostility onto him. Next, they decide what to say against their selected target, and lies work just as well or even better than the truth. Finally, they tag-team the target with their talking points. They do not alter it and they do not vary their talking points, knowing that if a lie is repeated enough times, it will stick. They do this with a savagery and a brutality that is relentless and breathtaking.

Events such as these are instructive, I find. Even more so is when the Christian stands against satan’s lies when opposing a false teacher. How is it instructive? The false teacher’s followers are masquerading as penitent, polite, grace filled people, therefore they are hard to spot. But when their idol is touched, that thin veneer is stripped away quickly. This is helpful. With little effort we can quickly see who the mission field is. False converts are hard to spot normally, but when they come out in full force, well, there they are.

False teachers are a problem and have been since the beginning. Their followers are often like marauding hordes intent on destruction (of character, reputation of the body itself). In fact, in John 16:2 (NAS) we read,

“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”

They think they are doing right, protecting their false teacher so fiercely.

By the number of verses in the New Testament dealing with the fact that false teachers will exist, and that their many followers will cling to lies, we know we must be on guard and act as salt and light to their dying hearts.

Now it is the job of the Christian to determine which disciples of false teachers to engage with and which to turn away from. The Bible suggests various approaches.

For example, Jude 1:22-23 says to engage,

have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others, show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

James says to engage,

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, (James 5:19).

Titus 3:10 says to warn a divisive man once then twice, (but then then have no more to do with him, because foolish controversies edify no one.)

In other cases we are not to engage with a follower of a false teacher or a false teacher herself. We are told to simply mark and avoid, (Romans 16:17), told to close the door to the false teacher, not even allowing him or her into our homes. (2 John 1:10).

Other times we are also told not to associate:

Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3:14).

By the number of verses that exhort the believer to do certain things or not to do certain things when encountering a false teacher and/or her converts, it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved. Is this a case where I must engage? Or simply mark and avoid? Is this a case where I have mercy on those who doubt, or is it a case where the doubt is so entrenched that I must close the door to them?

The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot. (AKA wanderers from the truth) it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved.

Remember, the hate directed toward you is not directed toward you particularly, it’s directed toward Jesus. It is not a situation to decry, but it is in fact an opportunity. Wayward believers have just revealed themselves. What to do? Not all, but some are the mission field. The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot.

We can engage with scripture, share the Gospel, or simply behave in ways the world does not expect (salt & light, grace & truth).

Other times we mark and avoid. Praying to the Holy Spirit will guide you as to what to do, when. Remember, His ministry is to point to Jesus and the Spirit is even more concerned than you are for Jesus’ name, your edification and growth, and the false believer’s soul (whether it demonstrates God’s justice in perdition or in His grace in heaven).

Be well and wise, soldier, and march onward.

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This is a heartfelt PS. I wrote this essay because I process things by writing. I’m autistic. I’m not introspective. I find it easier to write it out of me and then see what is on the page.

I also wanted to make this an opportunity for encouraging anyone with some verses and facts, and a perspective that’s hopefully positive. I’m not writing this because I think said everything perfectly, I didn’t. There were a few cases where I regret my comment. I don’t write this because feel I have it all figured out. I don’t. Even though I’ve been through this before, the ferocity still surprised me. It left me unsettled.

I am writing this to encourage, help, or at least offer a coda to it all. For those who emailed, commented, or tweeted encouragement, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of you.

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Poetry: “Mortifying Misunderstanding”

Posted on May 5, 2019 by elizabethprata

Poetry by Kay Cude. Kay Cude is a Texas poet. Used with permission.

flying

Obituary, theology

Rachel Held Evans, author, blogger, has died

Posted on May 4, 2019May 4, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

rhe
Rachel Held Evans, age 37, has died.

Columnist, author, mother of two, Evans had been in a medically induced coma since April 19, 2019. According to updates provided by her husband of 16 years, Dan, during treatment for an infection Rachel began exhibiting unexpected symptoms. Doctors found that her brain was experiencing constant seizures. The coma was induced in order to calm the seizures. On April 30th Dan wrote that the neurology team at the 3rd hospital they admitted Rachel to were now attempting to wean Rachel off of the coma medication without the seizures restarting, as there were complications that could occur if she was kept in a coma for too long. On May 2, 2019, Rachel experienced a sudden swelling of the brain that was not survivable. Rachel never regained consciousness.

Evans died early Saturday morning, May 4, 2019.

Evans was influential not only in the Christian world but in the secular world, too, for her liberal views of Christianity. Her openness about her personal doubt in the faith, her acceptance of homosexuality, her feminism, her promotion of gender egalitarianism, her waffling stance on abortion, and rage against an evangelical machine resonated with many.

Since her first book, “Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions”, was published in 2010, Rachel had begun accumulating a massive following on her website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram; about a quarter of a million followers as of this month.

Her next book two years later was even more popular, making it to the NY Times’ Best Seller list. Titled, “A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master”, Rachel had decided to follow every Old Testament command for living as a wife/woman and wrote about it. Two other books followed, in 2015 and in 2018, as well as speaking engagements and broadcast interviews. Her recently established GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses rapidly exceeded the targeted amount of $70,000, raising $111,810 in just 11 days and rose even more after her death was announced. Rachel was popular.

Rachel’s supporters were many but so were her detractors. Espousing a liberalism that many (including me) understood to be beyond the bounds of God’s actual word, many feared for Rachel’s soul as much as we feared her influence.

Open Letters were written, rebukes were proffered, counseling was given. Sadly, as it appears to occur with most people who drift from the Word of God, she only entrenched herself further into aberrant views, drifting away from the Rock.

Her supporters are vociferous about Rachel’s goodness and her necessary and righteous theology. As this tragedy was agonizingly drawn out for her family over these last two weeks it adds to the upheaval as usually occurs when a public figure lingers tantalizingly in the twilight between life and death.

Oftentimes we are not given an opportunity to pray so well and so long for a person’s soul. Death comes suddenly in many cases, unexpectedly. For Rachel, many who were praying, including me, were praying for a physical and a spiritual awakening. Having looked so long into the deepness of the dark abyss, these two weeks were a time to publicly ponder eternity with or without a Holy God, much to many people’s discomfort.

The death of someone who lived the life of an apostate is sobering, never joyful to anyone who knows the truth of judgment for those outside the Lord. Though there are many who teach falsely in the world, some who anger me, some who puzzle me, there are some, like Rachel, that the Lord inexplicably put on my heart as if she was a close family member wandering from the fold. I cried real tears when I wrote my Open Letter to her 6 years ago, I cried real tears in Mid-April when I learned she was in dire medical condition, and I cried sorrowful grief-ridden tears over her death when I learned of it this morning.

I prayed that Rachel Held Evans, at some point, had repented. I know not of her final state, but here is a warning to her followers, as one pastor who wrote (not directly of Rachel’s death but in general):

The world’s favorite Christian is an apostate Christian; but that love is a suicidal love (Matthew 5:13-16).

May these two weeks have been a sobering time for people who cling to a theology that is of Rachel Held Evans and not of God, and had heeded the warnings of myself and many others who took a moment to warn in love. May that be the good that comes out of this tragedy.

theology

Liberal theology “is less about God revealing his desires, but more about man revealing his”

Posted on May 4, 2019May 4, 2019 by elizabethprata

I’ve been accused of disliking a liberal person who claims Christ solely because I have a “conservative theology.”

I’ve been thinking about this term ‘conservative theology’ more deeply this week. Usually when a charge like that is made they mean a person who believes the Bible more closely or more literally than they do.

The people making the claim usually possess a more liberal theology, which is to say, having put a wedge between the Word and their heart so as to allow room for man’s ideas. Real examples of a more liberal theology, in my opinion, would be to allow for abortion in certain man-prescribed cases. Or to allow for homosexuality, if it is not ‘acted upon’. A liberal theology might be to downplay the sin of flirting with a woman with adultery on the mind, but not to actually do the deed.

But all those are still sins.

The fact is, God is the ultimate conservative. If you believe His word, you’re conservative. If you don’t, you’re not liberal, you’re an unbeliever.

If one believes His Word, there is no room for liberalism. Why? So many verses warn of wandering away from His precepts, drifting away. We are told to stick close. The closer we stay to God’s word and live His precepts, the better off we are. Leave no room for a wedge to open in your heart or mind. I repeat what you’ll read below, from Michael J. Kruger, “Put simply, liberal Christianity is not Christianity.”

Stick close to His word. This is conservative theology, or rather, “theology”.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (Psalm 119:10)

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
(Psalm 119:20-22)

Like the Gospel which needs no adjectives like Social or Prosperity, or the word sinner that needs no additional explanation, like grieving or abashed, theology needs no further clarification such as conservative or liberal. It’s just theology. It’s God’s word.

Liberal theology deceives, in that it is full of half truths.

panorama road

A liberal theology rests on a false assumption that propositional truth cannot be known. See #4 and 5 in Kevin DeYoung’s essay Seven Characteristics of Liberal Theology. Once propositional truth is done away with, man’s sinful mind creates all sorts of reasons why this or that isn’t really a sin. It’s what we sinners do.

New Series: The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen, then professor at Princeton Seminary, wrote the book, Christianity and Liberalism. The book was a response to the rise of liberalism in the mainline denominations of his own day. In short, Machen argued that the liberal understanding of Christianity was, in fact, not just a variant version of the faith, nor did it represent simply a different denominational perspective, but was an entirely different religion altogether.

Put simply, liberal Christianity is not Christianity.

Here are Kruger’s 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity, each are a separate blog essay. You can find his links to each one by clicking the main link above.

1. Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship.
2. Affirming people’s potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness.
3. The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.
4. Gracious behavior is more important than right belief.
5. Inviting questions is more valuable than supplying answers.
6. Encouraging the personal search is more important than group uniformity.
7. Meeting actual needs is more important than maintaining institutions.
8. Peacemaking is more important than power.
9. We should care more about love and less about sex.
10. Life in this world is more important than the afterlife (eternity is God’s work anyway).

As for me, I’m a Christian, not a “Conservative Christian.” I’m a believer, not a “conservative believer.” I adhere to the Gospel, not a “Conservative Gospel.” I reject those appellations, and simply cling to the word as I understand it and insofar as the Holy Spirit has given me understanding and illumination.

Liberal Christanity is no Christianity.

assurance, theology

“All you need to do to get to heaven is to die”

Posted on May 3, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m listening through RC Sproul’s current Daily Video series on the topic of Assurance. In his lecture on “Four Kinds of People”, Sproul made the point that most people think all they need to do to go to heaven is to die.

That statement is boiled down from all the false notions of how the unsaved/falsely saved people comprehend heaven.

They believe, he said, that if one has lived a good life, then they will go to heaven. This false notion is affirmed by the silent removal of all mention of sin at their funeral. Listening to eulogies, one can easily believe the person lived a perfect and good life.

So, when you die, you go to heaven.

Anyone who has lived on earth for any period of time knows that there are benchmarks to achieve when you’re progressing along in any sphere, whether it’s hobbies, employment, education, or life in general. Even a kindergartener moving to first grade knows that you have to pass tests and acquire enough knowledge. There are standards to attain. You need to attain educational standards before entering the next grade level. Colleges have standards for entry. You can’t drive a car unless you pass a test. The Army has standards for enrollment. Your employment depends on achieving a standard, whether it’s anything from a rigorous medical certificate to passing a drug test. Acting requires auditions. Sports requires tryouts.

On this earth, a person practically can’t do anything anywhere without achieving an externally set series of standards.

Except heaven?

Because we all go there? So anyone can get in, anytime, for any reason? There’s no standard for entry?

It makes no logical sense.

Just like everywhere else on earth, where man has set a standard, of course there is a standard for entry into heaven. God made it. And since God made this entry requirement, it is perfect and good.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

To enter heaven, you must do the will of God.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. (Matthew 7:21).

So, what is the will of God?

God … desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15).

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

God’s will is for people to repent of their sins and believe on His Son, the resurrected Christ.

Jesus is the standard, the one and only standard for entry to heaven.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

It is true that all people die. But life does not end there. There is a test. Will you pass?

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5).

The test is to determine whether, at death, if Christ is in you.

When we die, there is a Judgment Day. (Hebrews 9:27). The one and only test will be whether Jesus knows us. Is Christ in you? If yes, you look forward to that glorious Day. If no, then you will come face to face with the Judge who will declare that you failed to meet the test, having failed to repent and believe in Him. He will cast you into hell to be punished for your sins, forever.

This is a pass-fail test. If you meet the standard, you’re in. If not, you will be barred from entry. There is no re-do. There is no auditing the class. There is no re-take. There is no bell curve. You won’t be graded on a scale. There is one and only one benchmark to meet, and it must be completed in this life before the last breath exits your lungs.

Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus.