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Is Being Rich A Sin?

Posted on February 16, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Not that I would know, lol. But the question has been raised.

Having money is not a sin. Abraham, Job, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea, Joseph son of Isaac and Moses were either wealthy themselves or lived in wealthy circumstances. Alternately, not having money is not a sin, either, as we see from Mary and Joseph, and Jesus Himself.

But the Bible does warn us that there will be false teachers who do not teach for the love of Jesus but for the love of money. (2 Peter 2:3). 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all evil. The issue isn’t having or not having money. It’s what you do with it. Abraham shared his wealth generously with his nephew Lot, he tithed generously to the King, he supported his family, he helped others with his provision. Abraham knew his prosperity came from God and wasn’t his to begin with.

Greedy prosperity teachers hoard it, collect worldly goods by twisting the Word and living off others’ backs by using God for their own gain. The first recorded words of Judas was about money, and the very next verse reveals his motivations: he was a greedy thief who helped himself to the purse. Properly acknowledging from whom all blessings (and material wealth) flows is paramount, as king Nebuchadnezzar found out in Daniel 4:30.

The Bible also tells us that in addition to believing right doctrine, teachers are held to a higher standard and must live a righteous lifestyle. I’ve noticed as some wealthy false teachers’ wealth has increased over the decades, their charitable giving has decreased. That’s always the proportion for the worldly. But the Bible says Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21).

Having material wealth does give rise to a danger of self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency. It IS hard for wealthy people to gain the kingdom, (Matthew 19:24), but having wealth isn’t any more a sin than being poor is a sin. It’s how you live that counts. How you obey God. How you use what He has given you, no matter how much or how little.

Where is your primary orientation, all your thoughts, your goals? If your thoughts are toward getting and maintaining your possessions, then you have nothing.

If they are pointed toward Jesus, then no matter how much money or possessions you have, you have everything.

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24).

treasure

encouragement, theology

What is Love?

Posted on February 15, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Valentine’s Day is done and in the books. When you work in an elementary school in a lower grade, V-day as the kids call it, is almost as popular as Christmas. Even more so, because we’re in school for the cupid holiday and out of school for the Santa one.

The kids are so cute exchanging cards and little candies and they get excited over all of them. My teacher had brought in donuts and a juice box and they ate their snack and drank their drink and watched an old Disney movie for a few minutes, continued from the Christmas party. They considered the Valentine’s day ‘party’ a huge success.

But the day of love brings about thoughts on What is Love? as Haddaway sang in 1992. (Yes I’m that old). My notion of love was certainly different back then, as I was not saved. I often asked that question. I Wanna Know What Love Is, Foreigner asked and so did I. I was a child of divorced parents. I saw adultery, abuse, open marriage, betrayals, and disownments within the family and out. Growing up in the 1950s and 70s was confusing and a child of the world certainly had no clue about what love was. Cupid and Aphrodite didn’t help explain it, either.

Well, if one is saved by the grace of Jesus through the cross, one knows what love is. It’s not the ephemeral, cupid-like arrow dart Shot Through the Heart, which fades away. Eros is a fickle friend. It’s not the false promises that Whitney Houston sang in I Will Always Love You, because the flesh only loves itself.

Love is the love that Jesus gives and is. (1 John 4:7-21). It is sacrificial, endless, and pure. It will never die and will always surround us with its promise and never fade away. Jesus loved His disciples to the end and (John 13:1) He loves His people forever. (Romans 8:39). And so we love Him because He first loved us.

Here are a few resources for you about love-

The Prominence of Love (sermon)

You say, “Well, where does it [love] come from?” Well, we’ve said this last time, I’m simply going to remind you of it: When you walk in the Spirit – and to walk in the Spirit means you turn your life to His control, you confess your sin, you allow the Spirit of God to govern your thought patterns – as the Spirit of God controls you, He produces fruit, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, and love will only come in that way. So the way you approach it is not in a self-righteous determination of your own mind; the way you approach it is simply to yield your life to the Spirit of God, “Holy Spirit, control me today, take over my life, live through me,” and the fruit of love will be manifest.

To Those Who Crave Controversy (Essay by John Newton)

If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab concerning Absalom, are very applicable: “Deal gently with him for my sake.” The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself. In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

How does a person love Jesus? What does it mean to love Jesus?

Jesus said that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends (John 15:13). Jesus did this and more by dying for us while we were still His enemies in order to make us His friends (Romans 5:8). Much of what it means to love Jesus comes from understanding and appreciating what Jesus has done and is doing for us. We love Jesus because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

How Can I Love Christ More? (essay)

In his book, The True Christian’s Love to the Unseen Christ, the Puritan Thomas Vincent offers nine directions that will lead you to your desired destination. Meditate on Christ – Direction 1: “Be much in contemplation of Christ.”

Still (!!!!) Single

I am 25 years old. I have been single for the past…25 years. I have never been kissed. I have never gone on a date. I have never received a note in class that said, “Do you like me? Check yes or no.”

love verse 4

rapture, theology

How Long Must The Lord Tarry? Habakkuk Asked the Same Thing

Posted on February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Any sensitive Christian these days is probably be feeling what I am feeling. The gravity of the times and the perilousness of the dwindling time for the lost weighs heavily on me. I mourn the lost: the hand of Jesus is outstretched to one and all, but many bat it away, or refuse to see it in the first place. The knowledge that millions will be lost forever is truly an ache in my heart. As the time of rapture grows closer, and their moment of deadline for the closing of the church age grows nearer, that ache grows worse. Jesus said that many will be lost, the way is broad, and books will be opened (while the saved are so few their names can be contained in one book). Knowing how terrible hell is, and knowing how the perishing have to literally step over Jesus to get there, the horror of their eternal loss is absolutely crushing to me.

But we are told these days would come, and that they would be perilous: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:2-5)

The violence in the world is another ache. Some days the ache is only dull, other times, like today, the ache is sharp. The regard for human life is at a low, but I won’t say an ‘all-time low’ because that low regard for life and the high violence will get worse during the Tribulation. In these last days of the Church Age, though, the violence is certainly bad enough. The commonness of child-murder in the form of abortion has lent itself to this low regard for life. Lately there have been so many shootings.

I hear of tragedies and shootings and rebellious atheism and hatred of Jesus, and I just weep for Jesus. He is so good, so kind, so patient, dying for us, and we simply spit at Him and His love. I was asking in prayer today “Why, Oh, Lord? Why do you wait so long? Why do the unjust prosper? Why do the children suffer?” and He led me to Habakkuk, an Old Testament prophet asking the same questions 2700 years ago.

O LORD, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
(Hab 1:2-3)

The Lord replied:

“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;*
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.”

The *cross reference in His answer is to Daniel 8:17, which is: “So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, ‘Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.’ ”

The LORD answered Habakkuk in chapter one that He was planning to take care of the immediate problem in Habakkuk’s days, by raising up the Babylonians to punish the Israelites. But more importantly, God said in Chapter 2 that overall justice would come, but in the last days.

I pray that people will come to know Jesus’ love. I also pray that His justice will be done. He will not be mocked. Killings and murders and knifings and beheadings and most important, hatred of God and His glory are equally tragic and troublesome to my spirit as those who refuse His love. He came as the Lamb. He will come again as the Lion. Are you ready? May His will be done.

*This essay first appeared on The End Time on August 2010.

encouragement, theology

You Are Not Alone: Lessons from Elijah

Posted on February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Poor Elijah. He really went through it, didn’t he? He was surrounded on all sides by non-believers. They were vigorous in their false faith and Elijah was vexed to the extreme. It’s really hard to be the only one in a place where you are the only one who knows the truth and proclaims it, yet no one else will listen.

Finally after a time of build-up, there was a showdown. You know the story. Under God’s direction, Elijah set a contest with the Baal Priests and false Prophets and of course God won. Then God told Elijah to kill all 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah did. When Elijah heard how angry Queen Jezebel was to have lost all her Priests, and she said she would kill Elijah, Elijah ran away. He ran and he ran and he ran until he was exhausted. Then he cried out to the LORD-

“And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:9-10).

Remember, these Prophets were men after all. Regular men. They served the LORD directly and were given the charge and the ability to receive His Word and repeat it to the people. But their work was thankless, emotionally draining, and lonely. No one loved a prophet. (John 4:44)

Elijah was not a glorified man, nor a superhuman man. He was a regular person. And he had just gone through a debilitating and lengthy ordeal of fruitlessly trying speaking the Word of the LORD to the people, and they refused to hear. Then he went through an awful but glorious contest where the LORD manifested Himself to all. How would you react if the LORD manifested Himself in front of you? The reaction of the prophets and the apostles who see or hear God’s glory fall down as dead men. (Rev 1:17; Is 6:5; John 18:6; Acts 9:4; 1 Kings 18:39).

Not only did Elijah live through a great and powerful manifestation of God’s glory, he had to then go and kill 450 people. Personally. “…Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.” (1 Kings 18:40b). The most highly decorated heroes of warfare in our own day receive commendations for having slain fewer of the enemy and most of those were not for hand to hand combat.

By now Elijah hides in a cave, thinks he is the last believer and cries out the God that he is finished, he wants to die. I don’t blame him.

So the man is tired, spiritually drained, afraid for his life, and alone. Or he thinks he is alone. The first thing God does is send an angel to comfort Elijah. (1 Kings 19:5). The angel gently touched Elijah’s shoulder, and refreshed him with food and drink. Elijah was not alone.

The next thing that happened was the God spoke to Elijah. He told Elijah to listen, and there the LORD sent wind and rockslides and tumultuous earthquakes but He was not in the wind nor the rocks nor the tumult, He was in the still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:12). Elijah was not alone.

God told Elijah that “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18.) Elijah was not alone.

God told Elijah to go to a certain town and find Elisha and anoint him as prophet to succeed Elijah. Just as Elijah was growing weariest, God gave him light at the end of the tunnel, and showed him that his time of service was nearing an end. He needed to train Elisha, and then Elisha will take over “in your place.” (1 Kings 19:16b). He would have a helper for a while. Elijah was not alone.

Best of all, Elijah knew to whom to cry out, and God answered. God was with Elijah. Elijah was not alone.

Elijah was blessed to have the LORD personally tell him he was not alone in his faith. But by that same token, because of its inclusion in the Bible, the Lord is telling us today that we are not alone. He sends His Spirit to us. He sends His unknown angels to us. He sends encouragers to us. He sends His Word to us. He sends hopeful doctrine to us so that we have light at the end of the tunnel, hope in the rapture of believers. We pray to Jesus and He hears us.

We are never alone. We may feel as Elijah does, weary and dispirited in the service, with no one nearby who is like-minded. We may live in a town where there are no other Bible believing Christians within your field of vision, as Elijah had thought, but we belong to a body. That body extends worldwide, and we are part of it. We are not alone, not one of us.

This essay first appeared in April, 2011. It’s been edited lightly.

theology

Another resource to consider: the teaching of Betty J. Newman

Posted on February 12, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m always delighted to find new resources. I consider one of my tasks as a Christian lady in life and online, to discern, enjoy, and pass on solid resources to fellow lady believers. It’s one of the ways I believe it’s good to use the gift of the Spirit of discernment the Lord graciously gave me.

newman I’m also grateful to have been born in this era, where so much teaching is available to us via the world wide web. I came across Betty J. Newman and want to share her with you.

Her bio says

Described as “the Will Rogers” of Bible Study teachers, Betty possesses a natural talent and passion for teaching. With her soft Southern Appalachian accent and dialect, Betty will share solid Bible study teaching and make you feel comfortable and right at home.

Her Twitter bio describes her as

“Farm wife/mother/grandmother/writer and teacher at Newman Valley Farm & Prayerlogue Bible Studies and Hand to the Plow on NRBTV.”

I listened to an audio teaching from Acts, a lesson Genesis 1, and a lesson on “The ‘Real’ Lord’s Prayer’ from John. There is quite a lot of teaching so perhaps 3 lessons aren’t proportional in the scheme of what is available, but I believe this sampling is representative of Mrs Newman’s teaching overall.

I tuned in to the video on Genesis 1. I did that on purpose. Genesis 1 is a literal recounting of God’s statement of the beginning. What a person believes about Genesis 1 tells me a lot about their doctrine in general. As John MacArthur said of Genesis 1, ‘If you don’t believe the first thing God said about Himself in the Bible, when does believing kick in? Chapter 3? Chapter 15?’

I enjoyed the Gen 1 lesson. Mrs Newman has a great way to set the context and acknowledging the history. Her early declaration that she believes it literally was a relief, for this is proper interpretation. She explained the Logos and rhema but as Will Rogers had the talent, hers also is being down to earth when explaining lofty concepts. She makes it understandable.

I went on to the video about The Lord’s “Real” Prayer. Again, it was consistent with my own interpretations and the others I’ve listened to in the past. It was biblical, but more than that it was insightful and offered new information, like: ‘Most of us pray in between work and other things, Jesus worked and did other things in between prayer.’

From what I’ve seen via listening and reading the titles and headlines of the material, the content focuses simply on explaining the word of God, no cultural commentary, no politics, just Bible teaching.

My opinion is that Mrs Newman is a good teacher. But content is is not all that makes a good teacher. How about delivery?

I find that often, amateur teachers who have a podcast or video lessons (as Mrs Newman has both) have annoying verbal tics that make it hard to listen to the content. The Sheologians’ constant giggling, (c’mon girls, you tout yourselves as serious, then belie that immediately with the comedy routine!) Paul Washer’s intermittent yelling, Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ nasal accent and exaggerated rolled r’s, others’ umms and ahhs or worse, ‘like, like, like’ make the listener have to listen around the tics to get to the content. John MacArthur has a voice that is well modulated. This means the voice is simply the vehicle to carry the words, making the words come front and center.

Mrs Newman’s delivery is smooth with no stumbles or tics. It is easy to listen to, meaning one is listening to what she is saying rather than how she is saying it.

She also teaches at her own church, which is another positive. Sad to say, many Bible teachers with online content these days either aren’t a member of or don’t attend their own local church. I like to know they are active and under submission to an ecclesiastical authority in real life.

Anyway, use your discernment and see what you think. This could be a good fit for you as I believe it is for me.

Website

Contact Info

SoundCloud audio podcasts

Hand to the Plow video lessons

Twitter

Facebook

theology

The First Sin

Posted on February 11, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

slander

We know the first sin was pride. It happened in heaven and it was horrific. Satan, Lucifer as his given name is said to be, was made beautiful and blameless in all his ways (Ezekiel 28:15). Then he sinned because he was proud of his beauty. (Ezekiel 28:16-17a). His wisdom was corrupted. Satan lost his place in heaven. (Ezekiel 28:17b).

Satan, still called Lucifer, was angered because of this, and he made five vows. Foremost, he said in his heart that he will be like the Most High. (Isaiah 14:13-14).

Then satan set out to enact his evil plan. His sin was pride, but he enacted his sin through another sin: GOSSIP and SLANDER. Lucifer became Satan the accuser and tale bearer.

Satan is a title that means “one who resists”. The name, or the title, depending on which interpretation and book of the Bible is using it, also means accuser. (Revelation 12:9–10). Satan accuses God and he accuses God’s people. In the famous scene at the beginning of Job, satan is seen accusing Job of only being righteous because God has blessed him. In Genesis 3, satan is subtly accusing God of being dishonest in His dealings with Eve. (Genesis 3:1-5).

This verse tells us more about satan’s accusing and slandering activities.

milkweed

In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; (Ezekiel 28:16).

What trade? There is no merchandise in heaven. The trade referred to here is from a word meaning merchant, likely a spice merchant, going hither and yon, out and about, selling. But the word is from a root word meaning gossip monger, trading on gossip, going hither and yon, here and there, tale- bearing. Proverbs 20:19 uses the same Hebrew word, rakal, as in the Ezekiel verse,

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

So satan the accuser was proud. He thought he deserved to be higher than God, and went about here and there slandering God and tale-bearing to the other holy angels in order to accomplish this.

What were the other angels’ reaction?

“Pish”, they all said! “Look at God, just LOOK at Him, on His throne with the train of His robe filling the temple! We were there when He created everything and it was very good and we shouted for joy! Get behind me satan!”

No.

A third of the angels believed satan’s lies and slander. They, who were holy and blameless, and who saw the face of God, and observed His works from a first row position, believed satan’s slander.

If they did, how about us in our sinful flesh, under heaven and not in it, and only too willing to hear slander about someone else? What are the chances for us? We’re sitting ducks for believing lies, gossip, and slander – all of satan’s abundant trade.

Satan’s first sin was pride. He said and believed these things in his heart. But how did his sin come out? How did he act upon it? Slander/gossip/tale-bearing. If you (or I) go about up and down, hither and yon tale-bearing, we are acting satanic. Think of pride sitting upon a magic floating carpet that’s going here and there. Or the wind that is carrying the milkweed seed.

This activity is the action upon which pride is carried out. When we slander or gossip, we are putting ourselves in the same position as satan did when he did it. Do we want to mimic satan?

Think about it.

——————————————-

The nails in the Crucifixion

Posted on February 10, 2019February 10, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The crucifixion. Excruciating, painful, humiliating. It was the worst form of execution ever invented. The Romans didn’t invent it, the Persians did, but the Romans honed it for the execution of the worst of their society’s criminals.

If you are a Christian, you’ve no doubt been sitting under a pastor at some time, or heard one online, describing in detail the elements of what the Romans/Jews/Us did to the Lord on the cross, and even before. Scourging and beatings were part of the execution, so as to make the time on the cross even more excruciating. As a matter of fact, the word excruciating comes from crucifixion. The Latin word excrucio means From ex- (“out of, from”) +‎ cruciō (“crucify; torture, torment”).

I saw this tent peg and snapped a photo of it. I know that we say “He was nailed to the cross” and He was. But don’t think of little picture hangers or small nails in handyman projects. The nails to nail Jesus to the cross were huge, thick, iron things more like spikes According to one website, they were likely 7-9 inches in length.

If you’d like to read more about the actual crucifixion, this link takes you to a short and good essay. I’d re-post it here but the authors ask not t re-post their material online as it confuses the search engines. I’ve only read one article on the site, but the article in my opinion is good.

On this Lord’s Day, it’s good to ponder the actual crucifixion, what He did for us. It was our sin that kept Him nailed him to the cross. As I’d read long ago, the only man-made thing in heaven will be the scars on Jesus’ hands and side.

Please read, if you desire: Jesus’ Nails

The King’s Dale: A commendable resource for Beth Moore and Sarah Young critiques and book reviews

Posted on February 9, 2019February 9, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” For Christians with discernment, insanity is ‘being sure by the Spirit and the Bible, after research and prayer, that so-and-so is false, but literally NO ONE ELSE around you believes it or even entertains the notion for a second.’

After a while you begin to question yourself, or you question why others can’t see it, or you question God with pleading, upraised hands, ‘why, WHY can’t they see?’ All that. The definition of discernment is also often “Agony.”

It was like that for me, anyway, back in 2011-2012 when I started to question Beth Moore’s teaching.

The church I attended at the time was Southern Baptist in denomination, tradition, and church practice. The members were sweet and they loved Jesus and they were faithful. They had a blind spot about Moore, though. Her lessons were continually used in the Ladies Ministry, and I saw Moore’s books were cradled in more than one woman’s arms as we went about our church-activities.

I was graciously brought to a ladies retreat where the DVD of “The Hairbrush Story” was exegeted. I was also invited to a weekend Living Proof Live event. That was my first exposure to Moore, having been a recent convert and a transplant from the North, where women who wore flannel and LL Bean boots looked at women who said ‘honey’ & ‘y’all’ and wore hairbows with a degree of perplexity and wariness.

But I was now in the Land of Dixie, happily, and I threw myself into the new culture which God had led me, Beth Moore lessons and all. If this was church, I was in.

However, after the Living Proof event concluded, having listened closely to Moore’s lesson for three straight sessions, I was more than a little perturbed. When I arrived home I set to comparing her teaching (I was glad that as a journalist I’d taken copious and precise notes at the LPL event, which I still possess) to the Bible. What I was seeing in my Berean eyes didn’t measure up. But then again, I was a new convert and had just begun in church. I also looked online for credible ministries, pastors, or theologians who had also examined her work. I was a newbie after all.

What did I find? NOTHING.

Nowhere could I find any critique of Beth Moore. OK, that’s hyperbole, I found two, thank goodness! Otherwise I truly would have either gone crazy (hyperbole again) or been accused of being crazy (true fact, not hyperbole).

I found The King’s Dale. Dale Wilson ran a blog, which has since gone on hiatus, critiquing Beth Moore’s lessons and some of her books. He also critiqued Sarah Young’s book Jesus Calling. Both of these women all these years later are still in print, still cranking out more, and are still popular nationwide. Finding Mr. Wilson’s critiques saved my sanity. I was completely impressed with his work. They were objective, credible, precise, scriptural, and a relief to read. At the time, (2012-2013) there was precious little calling into question anything about Beth Moore. Reading his work confirmed my suspicions and my own research.

Chris Rosebrough whose blog at the time, Extreme Theology, presented a critique in 2010 titled “Beth Moore’s Dangerous Bible Twisting“. (or here). (Or below). Rosebrough wrote:

I recently reviewed two segments of Beth Moore’s “Bible teaching” on my radio program and I must admit I was bowled over by just how bad and dangerous her teaching really is. I know she’s popular but this woman is NOT rightly handling God’s word. Instead, she is twisting the scriptures to her own destruction and the destruction of her hearers.

I remember listening to him and hearing the surprise in his voice that when he took a look at her teaching he found such dangerous errors.

I commend both men to you, but mainly I wanted to set before you the work of Mr. Dale Wilson, of which you may not be aware. His discernment critiques of Beth Moore were early, good, and remain today as a gold standard. Here is his web page with search results for Beth Moore –

The King’s Dale: Beth Moore Critiques

Here is my compiled List of Beth Moore Critiques all In One Place

Here are my 2011 critiques of Beth Moore, the very first time I was exposed to her, and my reactions. I just took the morning to re-read all these and I’m glad to say that my research and opinions have not changed from 8 years ago when I first wrote it. I’m grateful to the Holy Spirit for discernment, even though it’s a tough go sometimes. I never would have figured out all that on my own, especially so early in my walk. I can’t believe 8 years have gone by since my newbie introduction to just how powerful and popular a false teacher can be within the Body, but also how faithful Jesus is to His own children in opening our eyes to dangers and traps of the deceivers among us.

Beth Moore: Reactions to Living Proof teaching, series:

Reactions Part 1
Reactions Part 2
Reactions Part3a
Reactions Part3b
Reactions part 4

Hearing some of Moore’s teachings at a Living Proof event led me to research further. This series was the result:

Troubled by Beth Moore’s teaching, series:

Beth Moore Part 1: Introduction, and Casualness
Beth Moore Part 2: Undignified Teaching
Beth Moore Part 3: Contemplative Prayer
Beth Moore Part 4: Legalism
Beth Moore Part 5: Personal Revelation
Beth Moore Part 6: Eisegesis, Pop Psychology, and Bad Bible Interpretations
Beth Moore Part 7: Conclusion

discernment, theology

The difference between joy that’s sparked and joy that’s sustained

Posted on February 8, 2019February 8, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m a minimalist. I have been since before it was a thing. I like to live a quiet life in a tiny house. I live a low-impact, moderately frugal and careful consumer lifestyle. Living small and frugal, one needs to be sure that item brings into the home will have a valued place. Also, any item brought in will need to have at least a dual function as well as be aesthetically pleasing.

Marie Kondo is a Japanese professional organizer and lifestyle consultant whose work has been a huge hit in Japan. Her four books on the subject are bestsellers, and her soft approach to decluttering has endeared her to many.

In January of this year, Netflix released a series called Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

Kondo’s method of organising is known as the KonMari method, and consists of gathering together all of one’s belongings, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that “spark joy” tokimeku, the word in Japanese, means “flutter, throb, palpitate”), and choosing a place for everything from then on. Source

Marie’s book from which the Netflix series is based is called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Marie defines tidying up (AKA decluttering) as a process of taking each item in your hand, asking yourself whether it sparks joy, and deciding on this basis whether or not to keep it. If you don’t want to keep it, you thank it for its service, and put it in the donate or rubbish bin. It is this process which helps bring ‘the magic that creates a vibrant and happy life.’

If this all sounds a bit touchy-feely to you, it did to me too. My old shirt is an inanimate object, designed for function and perhaps a pleasing aesthetic, but nothing more. The shirt doesn’t know I’m thanking it.

You are not imagining that there’s a subtext of religion that runs throughout Kondo’s work. Marie Kondo is a Shintoist. As a teen, Marie was actually an assistant in a Shinto shrine and it is that philosophy on which her decluttering empire is based.

Kondo says that her method is partly inspired by the Shinto religion. Cleaning and organising things properly can be a spiritual practice in Shintoism, which is concerned with the energy or divine spirit of things (kami) and the right way to live (kannagara). “Treasuring what you have; treating the objects you own as not disposable, but valuable, no matter their actual monetary worth; and creating displays so you can value each individual object are all essentially Shinto ways of living.” Source.

Many others have weighed in on the religious aspect of the phenomenon of ‘tidying up’ the Japanese/Kondo/Shinto way. I won’t weigh in on that. My interest for the purposes of this essay is the part where Kondo says to make meaningful decisions of each item in your closet or room that’s being decluttered, on the basis of whether it “sparks joy.”

Shintoism, for all its religiosity, is not a true religion. Only Christianity is. Ecclesiastes is an entire book of the Bible that discusses all the ways and means the unsaved heart uses to try and ‘spark joy.’

Personally, I attempted to find joy in almost all the ways mentioned in Ecclesiastes. I worked and toiled for acclaim. I went the political route. I traveled. I indulged myself. I had wealth. I lived frugal and minimalist. I obtained an advanced degree and was vetted for an even more advanced degree.

Why, oh, why, did those things not spark joy? They were enjoyable for a while, but after the diploma was given, the landmark viewed, the applause died down, the work ceased … what was there? Only a lonely silence indicting me as to my withered soul and craven heart.

These things that Kondo tells her clients to pile on the bed and decide which of them sparks joy, well none of them. And all of them. At one time, all of them were things in front of your eyes pulsing with the promise of joy once you possessed it.

There is a reason that joy is only sparked in a secular soul. A spark is a fleeting and a small thing. Sparks go out. Quickly.

Before Christmas, children are the most joyful human beings on the planet. They radiate happiness with the expected bonanza of gifts and toys and candy and treats. They beg and beg momma or daddy for this toy or that plaything and it seems like they will just die if they don’t receive it. Then Christmas comes and they open them up and squeal with delight. Then they go play with the box it came in.

Adults are exactly like that, only we hide it better. The shiny new golf clubs you wanted so bad, the new rug that the dog immediately threw up on and now is simply something that’s a pain to clean, the cookware that never gets used, the relationship you thought was THE one…. Oh, yes, those things sparked joy, for a fleeting moment.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11)

Barnes’ Notes says

This promise of the Saviour was abundantly fulfilled. The apostles with great frequency speak of the fulness of their joy – joy produced in just the manner promised by the Saviour – by the presence of the Holy Spirit. And it showed his great love, that he promised such joy; his infinite knowledge, that, in the midst of their many trials and persecutions, he knew that they would possess it; and the glorious power and loveliness of his gospel, that it could impart such joy amid so many tribulations. See instances of this joy in Acts 13:52; Romans 14:17; 2 Corinthians 2:3; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 3:9; 1 Peter 1:8; Romans 5:11; 2 Corinthians 7:4.

We rejoice not because an old shirt or a picture or a tennis racket ‘sparked joy’ for a short time, but because our names are written in heaven forever. (Luke 10:20). Comparing these two kinds of joy, the minimalist, sober, Shinto-esque decluttering is revealed for what it is.

What joy that our joy is in Him, it IS Him, it is complete, and it endures forever. His love endureth forever, and our joy in Him and His love for us endureth forever. Our spark will never go out.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
(Psalm 136:1-3)

The Awake Tree

Posted on February 7, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:11-12).

I don’t know anything of an almond branch. Is it wise to further pursue what its properties are and why God may have chosen this tree to show Jeremiah in his first vision? Yes.

God’s first confirming vision caused Jeremiah to see the branch of an almond tree. The Hebrew word for “almond tree” is šāqēḏ, from the word “to watch or to wake”. The almond tree was named the “awake tree” because in Palestine it is the first tree in the year to bud and bear fruit. Its blooms precede its leaves, as the tree bursts into blossom in late January.

Jeremiah 1:12. The branch represented God who was watching to see that His word is fulfilled. God used a play on words to associate the almond branch with His activity. The word for “watching” is šōqēḏ, related to the Hebrew noun for “almond tree.” Jeremiah’s vision of the “awake tree” reminded him that God was awake and watching over His word to make sure it came to pass.

Source: Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures.

I love the agricultural metaphors in the Bible. I don’t always understand them, not being familiar with the trees, plants, or foods of that time and place. But a commentaries help here. Dismiss other people’s charges that reading a commentary or Bible encyclopedia to enhance one’s understanding is “cheating.” It certainly is not. God raised up wise men who wrote these things for our edification. Rely on scripture first, of course, but also handy tools like these I’ve mentioned help bring nuance and depth to a passage.

Knowing the almond tree blooms first and produces its fruit before the leaves even grow, makes the point.

Here is more on the almond tree metaphor:

The almond tree is mentioned in Eccl 12:5, where in the description of old age it says “the almond-tree shall blossom.” The reference is probably to the white hair of age. An almond tree in full bloom upon a distant hillside has a certain likeness to a head of white hair.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 100).

The Lampstand described in Exodus is adorned with almond blossoms. Of course, Numbers 17 records the miracle of Aaron’s rod, which blossomed with almond fruit and blooms overnight.

How beautiful the hills must have been with the whitish-pink blooms adorning them. I remember being entranced by the silvery leaves of the olive groves sparkling on the Tuscan hills, the almond blooms must have made a similarly striking sight.

When the Lord regenerates our heart and the scales fall from our eyes, it is like we are suddenly awake, isn’t it? As we read, the illumination of His word comes to our mind all at once, blooming gems of insight bursting out before even the leaves appear. We are awake! Then the long seasons begin to cycle through, and we grow and grow in sanctification. I pray that as we grow, our blossoms of knowledge of Him appear as striking to others as the white blooms of the almond tree appear on the hillsides.