This is what they forget
Two thousand years is a long time. That’s two centuries.Two bundles of hundreds. Fifty generations, give or take. A long time.
Jesus ascended sometime around 33 AD. Before He left, He promised to come back.
He is coming back.
Men of Galilee,” they said, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11).
When He returns, sinners will stand before Him to receive their punishment for their sins. (Psalm 145:20).
We will stand before Him also. We won’t be receiving wrath or condemnation or punishment as the wicked will, but we will account for everything we said and everything we did in His name. (2 Corinthians 5:10, Matthew 12:36, Revelation 22:12).
We have one job. As Christians, we are charged with bringing one message and one message only, containing its necessary elements, to people whom Jesus charged should hear it. (All the world.) We have a job title: Ambassador. Continue reading “This is what they forget”
Our inheritance: It is only going to be one or the other
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
(Mark 1:15)
Social Justice, the Global Church, and Controversies
It has been dizzying this past 3 months in the evangelical wider world, and very worrying in the online evangelical world. The controversies have been deep and fervent. The lines between camps within visible Christianity have widened. Seemingly stable ministries have suddenly swerved hard.
There have been numerous events and controversies which reveal that we are less than unified over Christian foundational beliefs.
The April conference called MLK50 sparked a division in how we as Christians are to approach race discussions. TGC and GCC’s coupling for a west coast conference titled “Enduring Faithfulness” sparked a discussion about how far to delve into the culture and which topics are truly Gospel centered. Agreement was not reached and the two entities uncoupled. Beth Moore’s Letter to Brothers charged the global church with misogyny and threw gas in the cultural #MeToo movement, which in turn and inflamed the evangelical world’s discussion about the global church’s ‘treatment’ of women and their roles.
The ReVoice conference did the same for same-sex attraction and gay identity within Christianity. Paige Patterson was fired. The SBC messengers/members briefly seemed to flirt with the nomination of a woman, sparking a discussion about whether “women are called to positions of leadership” in church or para-churches. International Mission Board President David Platt delivered a 6-minute report to the SBC affirming Isa as Messiah and conversion through Muslim dreams. Popular actor Chris Pratt mentioned God and grace at an awards speech and the undiscerning Christian world joyfully affirmed it as Gospel, sparking a discussion about what the Gospel is and how many elements of it one needs in order to match the biblical message.
Todd Friel of Wretched Radio published a 23-minute excellent video talking about “The Gathering Storm: A Split in the Reformed World“.
In this 1-minute clip, Alistair Begg reminds us that the church’s mandate is not economic, social, or political. However the global church for so long now has been browbeat with the message that it is, that “people who should know better” have allowed its tendrils to creep into their minds and make inroads.
It has been a wild spring.
Nate Pickowitz is a New England pastor and author. Bio below. His wife Jessica wrote a wonderful study guide to the MacArthur/Mayhue tome Biblical Doctrine. This week Nate tweeted a series covering these issues in a gracious and insightful way. He said that “In truth, this thing has so many tendrils, it’s near impossible to wrap my brain around all that it is, but I’m trying.” I am too. I’ve ridden the roller coaster and in the end put my head in my hands wondering “What is happening?!?!”
I decided that still and always my personal call to action is the same as it’s always been. Share the Gospel. Remind people of what the Gospel is. Urge people to reject any different Gospel. Use social media to present these messages. Repeat.
Here is Nate’s message. Perhaps it will help you solidify some thoughts about all this.
—————–Nate Pickowitz—————–
I’ve got serious pastoral concerns about recent growing trends in Evangelicalism. In truth, it seems to fall under one complex, multi-faceted mechanism. Frankly, I’m not sure if using labels is helping or hurting.
We’re seeing terms like “social justice,” “Cultural Marxism,” “liberalism,” even “intersectionality.” Advocates of this movement flatly reject these terms (perhaps they don’t subscribe to all the tenets of them), but we’re certainly seeing a noticeable movement in full force.
In truth, this thing has so many tendrils, it’s near impossible to wrap my brain around all that it is, but I’m trying.
I believe that there are some advocates of this who are masquerading as Christians who are not. I also believe that there are genuine, regenerate Christians who are part of this as well.
However, my biggest concern has to do with the gospel itself. What is the gospel? The gospel is “good news”—it is the message of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross to save us from condemnation due to sin. And this work reconciles us, first to God, second to other believers.
So, “reconciliation” is key. Again, it is primarily about us and God, but when we are transferred into His kingdom, we are reconciled to every other blood-bought believer through the very same gospel.
However, Jesus never promises prosperity, societal prominence, earthly equity, an end to suffering, earthly utopia, freedom from insult & injustice, political success, or any other earthly temporal blessing.
We are seated with Christ “in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3); we live in the hope of an inheritance that is imperishable, not for earthly gains that are perishable.
With all that being said, there is certainly spiritual fruit that comes from the gospel; there are gospel effects. Regenerate Christians love others, serve others, give to others, seek to help strangers. This is all true.
But this movement seems to be seeking the effects of the gospel, and preaching them *as* gospel. Further, they make the effects non-negotiable mandates. As if to say, affirmative action is our primary Christian mission… except that, it’s not.
Preaching the gospel, making disciples, bearing witness to Christ by our testimony and lifestyle—those are all mandates of our mission. The social benefits are, to a smaller degree, the fruit & not the root.
However, this movement pushes back and is actively fighting for social fruit. And that’s where ‘intersectionality’ comes into play. This is the overarching tool of social justice.
By grouping people into nice, neat categories, they can be dealt with en masse, and coalitions of like-minded proponents can put pressure on others to force them to give them what they want.
This is, at its core, a version of Marxism—to see two classes (the haves & the have nots) warring against each other, with the ‘have not’ minority class attempting to overthrow the “privileged” majority class. But is that what Christ would have us do?
Are we social revolutionaries? Are we culture warriors? Are we supposed to be aggressively fighting to gain earthly benefits? While Bible verses are being used in various ways (ways foreign to the history of biblical interpretation), the scope of the Bible doesn’t support it.
At best, this social focus is a gospel distraction; at worst, it is a gospel distortion. I’m starting to believe that it is anti-gospel and anti-Christian.
Does it affect our churches? Absolutely, it does! The ministries, leaders, and resources being distributed are finding their way into the local church. Even small-town, senior citizen churchgoers have Facebook, and watch videos from online ministries.
We lament Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar videos, pushing prosperity gospel to our people. We ought to lament this as well. Because what is the net effect? Gospel confusion and gospel misrepresentation.
Anybody who does any level of biblical counseling knows that victimhood is the number one enemy of true repentance and spiritual growth. If I can blame someone else for my problems, then I can avoid responsibility.
I fear the social justice movement is creating an environment where Christians are seeing themselves as victims, and not as beneficiaries of divine grace.
Further, where are the exhortations toward forgiveness, forbearance, endurance, humility, and grace? When was the last time you heard a social justice leader expound on Jesus’ teaching to “turn the other cheek”?
I’m not saying that there aren’t problems. Yes, racism exists, injustice exists, hatred exists; because sin exists! But how do we deal with these sins? The same way we deal with any other sin.
Now, believers who have repented of sins may feel led to impact those they’ve wronged in a positive, social way. But is it the church’s job to mandate it? Or is it up to personal conviction? Shaming the Bride into action is not of Christ.
What is the way forward? To be honest, I’m not 100% certain of every single step. But I know that our mandate is to continue to preach the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to call sinners to repentance, to preach God’s wrath & grace, and to love the Body.
And for what it’s worth, I reject all pejorative labels, classes, and categorizations. I’m not a “white Evangelical.” My name is Nate, and I’m a bondslave of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Addendum: This isn’t my “hot take”—I’ve been watching things for several months, reading articles & books, talking with dozens of pastors. While I’ve repented of unkind or hurtful engagement, I want to be faithful to stand for the things I’m convinced are biblically true.
———————end Nate Pickowitz———————
Back to me now.
Decades of biblical illiteracy, personal prophecies, heaven tourism, the New Apostolic Reformation, IHOP/Bethel and the Charismaniacs, false professions of faith/false converts, tolerance of sin have deeply damaged the evangelical stance on the sufficiency of scripture and many other doctrines. It has tarnished the Gospel witness of the church. But that is to be expected.
Though other churches existed at the time Jesus wrote to the 7 mentioned in Revelation, of the 7, only 2 received no condemnation. That means of this particular microcosm, 72% of the churches had a significant enough problem within it to cause Jesus to write and threaten their dissolution. This kind of percentage is normal. It is even magnanimous, I believe. Most of the global church is bloated with non-believers or with people who are so apathetic for Christ or so distorted in their thinking their witness is practically nil.
However, the good news is that Jesus always leaves a remnant. His people are true and beautiful and working for His glory. They are sprinkled all around the world like salt, seasoning their spheres with truth and the Good News of His name. People newly converted are growing. Missions are working. Good books are being written. Solid sermons are being broadcast. Lives are being changed. Minds are being transformed. It IS happening.
None of this is a surprise to Jesus. While it may unsettle us to see such devastating controversy, and while it may dismay us to see its tendrils creep into our churches, and while it may upset us to see those tendrils go ignored or concerns about them discarded, Jesus is brightly shining and His glory is being manifested in every heart who truly knows Him. The Savior is victorious and the Church is triumphant.
——————————-
Pastor Nate Pickowicz (B.A., Muhlenberg College, M.A., Trinity Theological Seminary) was raised in Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, where he now lives with his wife, Jessica, and two children, Jack and Elizabeth. Before planting Harvest Bible Church, Nate worked in financial services until being called into ministry in 2009. He is the author of Reviving New England: The Key to Revitalizing Post-Christian America, and Why We’re Protestant: An Introduction to the Five Solas of the Reformation. He is also the general editor of The American Puritans Series.
Word of the Week: Propitiation
3. Immanence
2. Transcendence
1. Justification
A definition would be:
The satisfaction of the righteous demands of God in relation to human sin and its punishment through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, by which the penalty of sin is cancelled and the anger of God averted. [The NIV is distinctive at this point, in that it generally translates this term by “atonement” and related words.]. Source: Dictionary of Bible Themes, Martin Manser.
An explanation would be:
“Propitiate” and “propitiation” are not commonly used in the English language. We must look to an age long gone in order to discern their meaning. In ancient times, many polytheists thought of their gods as unpredictable beings, liable to become angry with their worshipers for any trifle. When any misfortune occurred, it was believed that a god was angry and was therefore punishing his worshipers. The remedy was to offer the god a sacrifice to appease his anger. This process was called “propitiation.”
A few of the New Testament writers used exactly the same word, but the meaning was slightly different. Instead of seeing God as one whose mood needs to be appeased, “propitiation” focuses on the sacrifice of Jesus by death on the cross which brought the resultant peace between God and sinful humanity.
The Greek term for “propitiation,” hilasmos, occurs in some important passages: Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10. The message we get from these passages is that propitiation (also called “expiation”) pertains to Christ’s sacrifice for sins in order to bring about a peaceful relationship between God and humanity. Source: Holman treasury of key Bible words, by Carpenter, E. E., & Comfort, P.
The key verses for our word propitiation are in Romans 3:25–26, where Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
and in 1 John 2:1-2,
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
The effects of propitiation: God’s justice is satisfied, His wrath has been exhausted, His mercy is available to those who repent.
3. Immanence
2. Transcendence
1. Justification
Prata’s Place / Graceful Garlands: Gradual Growth
My title comes from,
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9.
Kay Cude poetry: The Tunnel
Kay Cude Poetry. Used with permission.
About that face…
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? (2 Corinthians 3:7)
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
There is another kind of face:
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. (Jeremiah 3:3).
and thou hadst a whore’s forehead; was impudent and unconcerned, repented not of sin, or blushed for it, though such judgments were upon them; ~Gill’s Exposition
We gain a bit of context here about the Jeremiah verse, from Ligonier devotional-
This analogy lies behind today’s passage wherein Jeremiah accuses the old covenant community of having “the forehead of a whore” and refusing “to be ashamed” (3:1–3). A harlot can only “work” consistently if she suppresses the shameful feelings that attend her deeds. She must lose all sense of embarrassment and be unable to blush. Israel has a harlot’s forehead, she no longer turns red with shame over her wickedness (6:15). ~Ligonier
So there’s two kinds of faces. The one that glows as it basks in the light and glory of Jesus, and the face that turns away to seek sin, and is so taken by it that it refuses to blush.
John Owen wrote about Indwelling Sin in the Believer, and here in chapter 8 in modernized language he discusses the deceitfulness of sin,
It is always carried on by degrees, little by little, so that the whole design and aim is not revealed at once. … Now, this effect of the deceit of sin is worked upon the mind. The mind or understanding, as we have shown, is the guiding, the conducting faculty of the soul. It goes before — in discerning, judging, and determining — to make the way of moral actions fair and smooth to the will and the affections.
For our faces to glow, as it were, our face must be looking at Jesus, our mind consumed with Him, stirring our affections, convicting us of sin, transforming it to His mind.
When we look away, the deceitfulness of sin will draw us away as James 1:14 KJV says
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
You see the order of things. The temptation comes after he is drawn away. We are drawn away when we look away.
The solution: don’t look away.
Be vigorous in prayer life, stay reading the Word, assemble with the saints regularly, fellowship with believers to whom one can be transparent and accountable, and frequently enough so they will know you.
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8)
Chris Pratt’s MTV Awards speech: A False Gospel and an un-Christian life
CNN called him “The ultimate good guy“. CBS called it a “Powerful speech.” The National Review called it “Spreading the Gospel“. FaithWire called it “A bold faith message“.
What is it? It is Jurassic Park actor Chris Pratt’s acceptance speech at the MTV Movie & TV awards held on June 18. Pratt was honored with the MTV Generation Award. “The MTV Generation Award is the successor to the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, though it is more serious than its predecessor. The recipient of the award is celebrated for great achievement in movies”, according to Wikipedia.
Wow. Those are some great accolades. I’m always eager for the Gospel to be shared, spread widely, and for people to come to know Jesus. I searched Google so I could hear this tremendous speech for myself! I listened, and I transcribed it. Here is the speech.
He opened with thank yous. Then said,
I speak to the next generation, I accept the responsibility as your elder. Listen up. This is what I call 9 rules of Chris Pratt, Generation Award Winner.
1. Breathe. If you don’t, you’ll suffocate.
2. You have a soul. Be careful with it.
3. Don’t be a turd. If you’re strong, be a protector, and if you’re smart, be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons so do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that.
4. When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won’t even know they’re eating medicine.
5. It doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. Reach out to someone in pain, be of service. It feels good and it’s good for your soul.
6. God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.
(He should have led with this one).
7. If you have to poop at a party, but you’re embarrassed because you’re going to stink up the bathroom, just do what I do. Lock the door, sit down, get all of the pee out first. And then, once all the pee is done, poop, flush, boom! You minimize the amount of time that the poop’s touching the air. Because if you poop first, it takes you longer to pee and then you’re peeing on top of it, stirring up the poop particles, create a cloud, goes out, then everyone at the party will know that you pooped. Just trust me, it’s science.
8. Learn to pray. It’s easy. It’s so good for your soul
9. And finally, number 9, Nobody is perfect. People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are, you are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood.
Do not forget that. Don’t take that for granted. God bless you please get home safely
——————————————
Let’s go through this speech point by point. Mr Pratt’s rules are in bold, my responses are below each point.
1. Breathe. If you don’t you’ll suffocate.
Um, ok
2. You have a soul. Be careful with it.
Is our soul ours to do with as we will? Mr Pratt made it seem like our soul is ours and not God’s to do with as He pleases. And, what is the state of that soul? What happens to the soul after death? Pratt never said.
Ezekiel 18:4 says, Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
A cross-reference to the Ezekiel verse is this from Romans 6:23. Tragically, Mr Pratt only had to say it for his speech to inch closer to the biblical side:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. Don’t be a turd. If you’re strong, be a protector, and if you’re smart, be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons so do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that.
Christians need to be mindful of how we speak. Proverbs devotes a third of its sayings to right speech. The New Testament is full of commands about how we are to be set apart from the world and not to speak like the world. He has the microphone and the ear of thousands. He doesn’t need to use the world’s speech to make his point. He could have simply said ‘jerk’. The other part is good advice.
4. When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won’t even know they’re eating medicine.
Non sequitur but OK.
5. It doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. Reach out to someone in pain, be of service. It feels good and it’s good for your soul.
Philanthropy for its own sake absent honoring Jesus and giving Him glory is all wind and vanity. The entire book of Ecclesiastes rebuts this statement, and Paul in Romans 2:6-10, and James 2:18. The good works that believers do are good for the soul (not every soul generically as Mr Pratt said) because they are evidence of the saving grace of Jesus, and are an obedient and worshipful response to that grace.
6. God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.
It’s still a twisted version of who God is. And number 6, between the dog and the turd and the poop? We should not be such cultural doormats that we’re relieved when someone mentions anything about God. God wants the best for me? Did He want the best for Stephen, the first martyr? Is that our definition of ‘the best’? What is that ‘best’? And what do I have to do to get it? Pratt never said.
Sadly, Pratt’s is the commonly heard, shallow no-Gospel, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” chestnut. All this does is affirm people in their sin. The Gospel is both Law & Grace, Wrath and Forgiveness, Sin & Righteousness- and the blood of Christ and His resurrection. Half a Gospel is no Gospel. And what Mr Pratt preached is no Gospel. If he was really serious about God, and Jesus (whose name he never mentioned) you LEAD with it.
7. If you have to poop at a party, but you’re embarrassed because you’re going to stink up the bathroom, just do what I do. Lock the door, sit down, get all of the pee out first. And then, once all the pee is done, poop, flush, boom! You minimize the amount of time that the poop’s touching the air. Because if you poop first, it takes you longer to pee and then you’re peeing on top of it, stirring up the poop particles, create a cloud, goes out, then everyone at the party will know that you pooped. Just trust me, it’s science.
This entire section fails James 1, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6 and most of Proverbs. It demonstrates Matthew 15:11, “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
8. Learn to pray. It’s easy. It’s so good for your soul.
It is NOT easy to pray. It is hard. It is an act of spiritual war to put your hands together and ignore satan’s efforts to stop you! Did you notice he never said who to pray to? And did you notice he said why we should pray? Because it is good for us. The truth is, one reason to pray is because it exalts God (Matthew 6:9), it is a way to serve God (Luke 2:36-38), and it obeys His command (Philippians 4:6-7). Also, we pray because it is good for others’ souls. (among other reasons).
9. And finally, number 9, Nobody is perfect. People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are, you are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood.
Do not forget that. Don’t take that for granted. God bless you, please get home safely.
This last is the ANTI-gospel. He is telling people they are imperfect and need to accept that. If they do, a powerful force will deliver grace to them. This is the opposite of the Gospel.
It is our realization that we’re sinners in need of a savior to us who will deliver grace if we hate our sin and repent of it! Otherwise, accepting who we are as we are will send us to hell! That’s why it is the ANTI-gospel.
Nothing was said of sin. Our life and every breath is a treasonous act against God because we live, breathe and think only of sin, continually (Genesis 6:5). Further, why do I need grace if this powerful force already loves me and wants the best for me?
Any message urging us to accept our imperfections, grab the good life God has waiting for us, and some unnamed powerful force will give us an undefined grace is not a Gospel message.
And whose blood? Military blood like on D-Day? Jesus is now referred to as just “Somebody”?
As much as we want the Gospel to be believed by one and all, as much as we mourn for lost souls, we cannot accept any message which is not THE message.
Now, here is information on why Chris Pratt is not a Christian role model. I apologize if some of these are unsavory and gross. Mr Pratt should never be mentioned as someone to emulate.
CHRIS PRATT’S VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY
1. Conversion
It all began with Pratt waiting outside for his friends inside a grocery store…
And a guy named Henry came up and recognised something in me that needed to be saved. “Jesus told me to talk to you…” At that moment I was like, I think I have to go with this guy. He took me to church. [The guy at the grocery store] was like, “I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you. He said to tell you you’re destined for great things.” Pratt said, “I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days. Over the next few days I surprised my friends by declaring that I was going to change my life.’ …
That is not how we are saved. It doesn’t begin with extra-biblical revelation from some random guy, promising a good life. One does not become saved by declaring that under our power we will change our lives. This was not the Gospel. But it is his conversion story in every page I looked at.
Searching for “Christ Pratt” +”sin” yields literally zero results. Google asked me if I really meant to say “Chris Pratt son”. No search yields on the word repent either. I cannot find that Chris Pratt ever uttered those all-important words.
This conversion story is the typical one I found online
2. Divorce
Chris Pratt recently divorced his wife. He cited difficulties in juggling his movie career and children. She wanted more kids. He didn’t. So they split. This is not a biblical reason. Divorce is serious. (Matthew 19:1-12).
Putting your career over children to the point that you depart from your wife is sinful and a biblical failure.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25)
As a matter of fact, his ex-wife Anna left her first husband for Chris, and the two lived together before they married. So Pratt is a fornicator, his marriage to Anna made her an adulteress, and he is an adulterer.
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:32)
3. Lifestyle
Chris Pratt has a potty mouth. Here is a link to an article recounting an interview with Pratt, but do NOT click on it, there are so many awful words. Because it is an interview with Pratt, the swear words are his own. Even this link to an interview in the staid Wisconsin Gazette is full of f-words. Prior to the transcription part of the speech above, Pratt uttered some unsavory language on television. Pratt speaks coarsely, vulgarly, profanely, and constantly.
From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:10)
it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. (Matthew 15:11).
Other lifestyle issues:
–Pratt reads porn. Shares porn with women.
–Boasts to people about his sexual encounters.
–Drinks a lot, pantomimes in public drinking from breasts.
(source for above)
–Isn’t a member of any church that has been reported, but has attended Hillsong Church in LA, which is not a church because it is a prosperity gospel/word of faith church.
In this screen shot below, which I smudged, shows Pratt giving the finger. The 2-minute clip reveals Pratt using three strong swear words, and ending with the finger. It is from 2015.
Men of the faith (and us all) are supposed to be separate from the world, not look like the world, not speak like the world, not want what the world wants. From these evidences, and the fact that Pratt says he was converted at age 19 and is now 39 yet still persists in sin and sinning, means he is not a Christian (role model).
While we hope that Chris finds the true Gospel and lives it, really, please do not promote him in Christian circles in any way.
But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)
Bad fruit is bad
Yesterday I wrote about the wind, meaning, the Spirit, blowing where it will. I wrote of how we can’t see the wind at the time but we can see its effects. One of the effects of the wind’s (Spirit’s) effect is fruit. The changed heart will be producing good fruit. A bad heart produces only bad fruit. The unsaved who profess but do not possess Christ will produce bad fruit at some point. False teachers will produce bad fruit also.
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20 NASB)
Please notice the certainty in the lesson. Jesus said ‘You WILL know them’. Not that it will be uncertain, or foggy, or maybe, or perhaps. But you WILL.
Not all fruit is produced quickly. Different fruit trees bear fruit at different lengths of time. After planting, fig trees bear figs after 1-2 years. Apple trees take 3-5 years to produce fruit. Pear trees take about 4-6 years. The point is, not all false teachers will quickly show their true nature, but at some point, no matter how long it takes, they will produce the bad fruit Jesus spoke of. And then you will know them.
They wear sheep’s clothing. This means that outwardly false teachers will appear on the surface to be like the true sheep. Barnes’ Notes explains here,
Who come in sheep’s clothing – The sheep is an emblem of innocence, sincerity, and harmlessness. To come in sheep’s clothing is to assume the appearance of sanctity and innocence, when the heart is evil.
Ravening wolves – Rapacious; voraciously devouring; hungry even to rage. Applied to the false teachers, it means that they assumed the appearance of holiness in order that they might the more readily get the property of the people. They were full of extortion and excess. See Matthew 23:25.
I remember watching an art interpretation show some years back. I like Renaissance art and this episode featured Caravaggio and his famous painting of the Bacchus. I have seen the actual painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Here it is.
I wish I could go back and really appreciate the art now that my spiritual eyes have been opened. I remember standing in front of it at the Uffizi for a short moment, and saying to myself, “Pretty! I like fruit.” And then moving on. Outwardly the painting looked good.
Let’s not move on. Let’s look at this scene for a moment.
Bacchus is a god of wine and ecstasy. Starting at the top, Bacchus’ cheeks. His cheeks are ruddy, but not a healthy ruddy like David, from being out in the air and working hard. (1 Samuel 16:12). No, Bacchus’ cheeks are red from dissipation, from drunkenness and licentiousness and debauchery and overindulgence. His eyes are glazed and drowsy. He is half dressed, exposing skin, indicating sensuousness, but the mattress he is laying on is dirty. He is offering the viewer wine, a beverage that will make one take leave of senses. But his near nakedness is also indicating he is offering something more. His fingernails are dirty.
Now the fruit. Looking hard at the fruit, you notice that despite the lushness and the voluminous quantity, the fruit is overripe. It’s rotting. It’s bad. The apple has a worm. The pomegranate has burst open. The nectarine is rotten.
If you want an technical description of this bowl of disease, here it is
Exact in detail they include precise representations of disease symptoms, insect damage, and various abiotic defects. … The fruits include black, red, and white clusters of grapes; a bursting pomegranate; figs; a large green pear; three apples—one greenish and one red with a codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) entrance hole, a small, golden russet crab with two areas of rot, likely a form of Botrysphaeria; and a half-rotten quince. The basket contains two fig leaves both with a dorsal (abaxial) view and a grape leaf yellowing at the edge suggestive of potassium deficiency. The head of Bacchus is crowned with clusters of black and white grapes and senescing leaves, one of which is turning red, probably an indication of crown gall, induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Source: Purdue Department of Landscape and Horticulture
Eww. The fruit of debauchery is rotten. The fruit is BAD. False teachers only offer bad fruit.
Do you want to eat the bad fruit? Bite into an apple with a moth worm inside? Consume sickly peaches dripping with its own rotted pus?
People often try to be charitable with false teachers. I understand wanting to be charitable, but there is a time and a place for charity. False teachers are evil. They are against Jesus. They are against you. They are against me.
Jesus said that there is good fruit and bad fruit. He didn’t say that there was fence fruit or sort of OK fruit or any fruit in the middle. The fruit teachers offer is either one or the other.
I learned my lesson with the art. Art takes a while to look at, examine, notice, and ponder. It’s the same with what teachers teach us. Good teachers and bad teachers offer us things. It takes time to look at, examine, notice, and ponder what they are offering. Once we discern the bad from the good, we are told to hold on to the good and leave off the bad.
but test everything; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9)
So there is no excuse for listening to someone generally and widely acknowledged to be a false teacher. A false teacher does not offer anything good. Their fruit is bad. You can’t follow them and expect them to produce one good fruit on the tree. Jesus said the tree is either all good or all bad.
Don’t eat of their fruit. Don’t quote them. Don’t buy their books. Don’t eat the meat and spit out the bones, which doesn’t even make sense because we are talking about fruit. When you are tempted to peek at a false teacher’s site/tweets/stream/Facebook/books, picture the debauched Bacchus with dirty fingernails on a dirty mattress offering you wormy rotted fruit.
Instead, we can imbibe of the sweet waters from the fountain of life and the pure bread from heaven.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
Psalm 36:7-9
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Further Reading
Ligonier: False Prophets and their Fruits
