Posted in scripture photo, wrath

Scripture photo: Rebukes ("Church Bulletin" series)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Church bulletins are great. They contain information the congregant will need during the week, such as which deacons are ‘on call’, who is going to staff the nursery next week, and what time the church supper starts on Wednesday. Some pastors include sermon notes, or a devotional.

The cover always contains a pretty picture and a lovely verse. The picture is always eye catching. One might see a meadow-covered mountain top or a close-up of a pretty flower. The verse is always likewise. Always. It’s encouraging, or it speaks of God’s love or a promise of God.

I’m irked by this.

Leave it to me to be irked by something pleasant, right? But just once I’d like to see a different kind of verse on the front of a bulletin, a verse that speaks of God’s wrath, or His justice, or something unpleasant. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” says 2 Timothy 3:16, so let’s not always focus on the verses that please us or encourage us. What about the verses that challenge us, or convict us, or make us think, or speak of an aspect of God that’s increasingly denied these days, such as His wrath?

Here is today’s entry:

In this Old Testament verse, God is prophesying against the Philistines. God’s promise here serves as a specific warning about the Philistines and a sort of comfort to the Israelites, whom the Philistines were harassing. Matthew Henry’s Commentary says of the general promise here,

Those who glory in any other defence and protection than the Divine power, providence, and promise, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their glorying. Those who will not leave it to God to take vengeance for them, may expect that he will take vengeance on them. The equity of the Lord’s judgments is to be observed, when he not only avenges injuries upon those that did them, but by those against whom they were done. Those who treasure up old hatred, and watch for the opportunity of manifesting it, are treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath.

A parallel verse to the Ezekiel verse comes from Psalm 9:16: “They shall know Me, not in mercy, but by My vengeance on them.”

It is a fitting concept on which to end the imaginary “Church Bulletin” series. Far from presenting only one attribute of God, the “pleasant” side as most American worship bulletins do, it is comforting to see Him fully, including His wrathful side. His holy justice, His perfect rebukes, His righteous anger, these are comforting in their own way. Any persecuted Christian whose family has been slain would take comfort in knowing that future justice will be done to the persecutors. In Israel’s Old Testament days, that would be the Philistines. In our day, it is still the Philistines, though Middle East persecutors are not called that now.

“But what if there is a lost person in the church who reads these about His anger or wrath or holy justice?” Then I say “Good.” Sinners need to understand that God’s anger abides on them. The sword of vengeance is pointed at their heart and soul, to be released any moment at God’s good will and pleasure. Sinners must understand we have a loving and merciful God because we have a HOLY God.

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Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #1, Vulture

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #2, Anguish

Scripture photo: “Church Bulletin” Series #3, Hell

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #4, Lake of Fire

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #5, Wrath

Posted in 90 minutes in heaven, bible, heaven tourism, truth

Heaven Tourism: Compare Don Piper’s heaven scene with Apostle John’s

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’d written a few days ago that heaven tourism books are bad. The ‘heaven tourism’ phrase refers to the increasing bunch of people who have a vision and claim to have visited heaven, been shown or told things, and ‘came back’ to write a book about it. Or go on the speaking circuit.

No one has visited heaven except He who has come down from heaven, Jesus. (John 3:13). Aside from a very few individuals such as Ezekiel and Isaiah, John and Paul (who incidentally said it was unlawful to speak of the inexpressible things he’d seen (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) heaven currently remains a closed port of call unless one has died in Christ, and even then, at present it remains a one-way trip.

Yet Don Piper claims to have gone there for an hour and a half and came back to write a whole book about it. This is what Don Piper said he saw first thing:

In my next moment of awareness, I was standing in heaven. Joy pulsated through me as I looked around, and at that moment I became aware of a large crowd of people. They stood in front of a brilliant, ornate gate. I have no idea how far away they were; such things as distance didn’t matter. As the crowd rushed toward me, I didn’t see Jesus, but I did see people I had known. (90 Minutes in Heaven, p. 26-27)

John the Apostle went to heaven. He was in the spirit in the Lord’s day. He heard a voice. This is the first thing He saw:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

Don Piper noticed right away that his great-grandmother Hattie’s teeth were white. (p. 34). That is a huge contrast to what John saw and how he behaved according to the scripture above.

Who are you going to believe? Paul, who actually went to heaven, whether in the body or the spirit he did not know, God knows, but who said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord? Or Don Piper who wrote that to be absent from the body is to be present with Great-granny Hattie?

Be very skeptical of people who claim to have visited heaven or some dimension where Jesus is. Beth Moore claims it, Don Piper, Kim Walker-Smith of Jesus Culture band, Colton Burpo, Jesse DuPlantis, and many others. Yet have any of the people who died and were resurrected in the Bible apart from Jesus described anything they saw? Lazarus, Peter’s Mother-in-Law? The sleepy youth who fell out the window? No.

John MacArthur wrote at Answers in Genesis:

Four biblical authors had visions of heaven—not near-death experiences. Isaiah and Ezekiel (Old Testament prophets) and Paul and John (New Testament apostles) all had such visions. Two other biblical figures—Micaiah and Stephen—got glimpses of heaven, but what they saw is merely mentioned, not described (2 Chronicles 18:18; Acts 7:55).
Only three of these men later wrote about what they saw—and the details they gave were comparatively sparse (Isaiah 6:1–4; Ezekiel 1, 10; Revelation 4–6). All of them focused properly on God’s glory. 

They also mentioned their own fear and shame in the presence of such glory. They had nothing to say about the mundane features that are so prominent in modern tales about heaven (things like picnics, games, juvenile attractions, familiar faces, odd conversations, and so on). Paul gave no actual description of heaven but simply said what he saw would be unlawful to utter. In short, the biblical descriptions of heaven could hardly be any more different from today’s fanciful stories about heaven.

Avoid such fanciful stories and focus on what is written for our edification: the holy word of God contained in the 66 books of the Bible. Any and all references or descriptions of heaven in that Book are true and are all that we need to know about heaven for the present time.

Posted in god's wrath, scripture photo

Scripture photo: Wrath ("Church Bulletin" series)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Church bulletins are great. They contain information the congregant will need during the week, such as which deacons are ‘on call’, who is going to staff the nursery next week, and what time the church supper starts on Wednesday. Some pastors include sermon notes, or a devotional.

The cover always contains a pretty picture and a lovely verse. The picture is always eye catching. One might see a meadow-covered mountain top or a close-up of a pretty flower. The verse is always likewise. Always. It’s encouraging, or it speaks of God’s love or a promise of God.

I’m irked by this.

Leave it to me to be irked by something pleasant, right? But just once I’d like to see a different kind of verse on the front of a bulletin, a verse that speaks of God’s wrath, or His justice, or something unpleasant. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” says 2 Timothy 3:16, so let’s not always focus on the verses that please us or encourage us. What about the verses that challenge us, or convict us, or make us think, or speak of an aspect of God that’s increasingly denied these days, such as His wrath?

Here is today’s entry:

Have you heard this statement lately? God is a gentleman, He would never…” and fill in the blank with whatever you think God is too gentlemanly to do, usually like overcome your resistance to the Holy Spirit and regenerate you anyway. However from this verse we see that our God is a God of wrath. His wrath is not only stored up for the Day of Judgment, or has exhausted itself on Jesus while suffering on the cross, or is solely a historical thing such as on the Israelites when they were carried off in war and captivity to Babylon. No. God is angry every day with sinners, He displays His wrath every day says Psalm 7:11.

In this Romans verse, Gill’s Commentary explains what Paul is saying

By “the wrath of God” is meant the displicency [aversion] and indignation of God at sin and sinners; his punitive justice, and awful vengeance; the judgments which he executes in this world; and that everlasting displeasure of his, and wrath to come in another world, which all through sin are deserving of, some are appointed to, God’s elect are delivered from…

Though the covers of church bulletins are always lovely and nice to look at, and the accompanying verse is always encouraging and sweet, the importance of balance can’t be overstates. Through this verse we are reminded of an aspect of God’s holy character, His hatred of sin. What better place to be reminded that God hates sin and is angry with sinners than at church, where one comes to repent, to hear the word, be strengthened in the Spirit to go out and be renewed in our Christ-like character? What better place to be reminded that those who aren’t saved yet dwell under a mighty sword of anger, and we should be merciful to them and share Jesus with them?

Gill asks and answers the question as to where this wrath is seen?

This is said to be “revealed”, where? not in the Gospel, in which the righteousness of God is revealed; unless the Gospel be taken for the books of the four Evangelists, or for the Gospel dispensation, or for that part of the ministry of a Gospel preacher, which represents the wrath of God as the desert of sin, the dreadfulness of it, and the way to escape it;  

but this wrath of God is revealed in the law, it is known by the light of nature, and to be perceived in the law of Moses, and may be observed in the Scriptures, where are many instances and examples of divine wrath and displeasure; as in the total destruction of the old world by a world wide flood, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, turning Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt, the plagues of Egypt, and the several instances mentioned in this chapter. 

I’m not thrilled with sin or wrath, of course, but I love my God and I love all His attributes. Even His holy justice will be something to behold, in solemnity (Revelation 8:1) and in awe (Habakkuk 3:2). We should not hide it or omit it from Christian and Gentile public consumption.

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Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #1, Vulture

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #2, Anguish

Scripture photo: “Church Bulletin” Series #3, Hell

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #4, Lake of Fire

Posted in scripture photo

Scripture photo: Lake of Fire ("Church Bulletin" series)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Church bulletins are great. They contain information the congregant will need during the week, such as which deacons are ‘on call’, who is going to staff the nursery next week, and what time the church supper starts on Wednesday. Some pastors include sermon notes, or a devotional.

The cover always contains a pretty picture and a lovely verse. The picture is always eye catching. One might see a meadow-covered mountain top or a close-up of a pretty flower. The verse is always likewise. Always. It’s encouraging, or it speaks of God’s love or a promise of God.

I’m irked by this.

Leave it to me to be irked by something pleasant, right? But just once I’d like to see a different kind of verse on the front of a bulletin, a verse that speaks of God’s wrath, or His justice, or something unpleasant. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” says 2 Timothy 3:16, so let’s not always focus on the verses that please us or encourage us. What about the verses that challenge us, or convict us, or make us think, or speak of an aspect of God that’s increasingly denied these days, such as His wrath?

Here is today’s entry:

It does us good to be reminded of our former destination, before the call of God came to regenerate our heart and we repented. Keeping the fate of the unsaved ever before us should spur us to witness and to urge those who dwell in wrath and in bondage to sin to turn to Jesus. The Gospel is His permanent, ever-saving message. It should also remind is of the holy justice of our Holy God, rendering wrath unto those who rebelled and rejected Him. Church bulletin photos and verses only ever seem to focus on the holy blissful side of our stance with God and His love. His holy wrathful side and His justice are also important aspects of His wonderful Being.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says of verse 15

The blissful lot of the righteous is not here specially mentioned as their bliss had commenced before the final judgment. Compare, however, Mt 25:34, 41, 46

Faithlife Study Bible reminds us of the purpose of the lake of fire:

the lake of fire: This final death, which leads to eternal separation and judgment, is permanent and inescapable

I’ll finish with a comment from the great Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. How wonderful to be reminded of these things, from discomfort at the verse bringing to mind of the inescapable judgment of God, how sweet, then, is the reminder of His grace!

All those who have made a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell, shall then be condemned with their infernal confederates, cast with them into the lake of fire, as not being entitled to eternal life, according to the rules of life laid down in the scripture; but those whose names are written in that book (that is, those that are justified and acquitted by the gospel) shall then be justified and acquitted by the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life, having nothing more to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these are all destroyed together. Let it be our great concern to see on what terms we stand with our Bibles, whether they justify us or condemn us now; for the Judge of all will proceed by that rule. Christ shall judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel. Happy are those who have so ordered and stated their cause according to the gospel as to know beforehand that they shall be justified in the great day of the Lord!

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Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #1, Vulture

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #2, Anguish

Scripture photo: “Church Bulletin” Series #3, Hell

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #5, Wrath

Posted in bible, discernment, facebook, scripture twisting

"Anyone can find the dirt in someone"… How Facebook helps twist God’s Word

Posted on by elizabethprata

Have you seen this on Facebook? It is a wonderful sentiment. I approve of the concept of looking at the positive and trying to find the good in a person.

Seeing this makes me emit an instant, “awww” and want to press “Like” and “Share.”

But I don’t. Why?

There is a Bible verse attached to the sentence. A Bible verse is the word of GOD. So I must treat it with respect, and at the very least, look it up to make sure that someone making the scripture picture didn’t accidentally make a typo on the address. So I check to see if the verse and the address match up?

No. Here is what Proverbs 11:27 actually says.

  • Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it. (ESV)
  • The one who searches for what is good finds favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him. (HSCB)
  • If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you! (NLT)

No matter what translation you look at the verse in, the sentiment expressed on the photo is not the same as the one stated in the Word. Every translation mentions evil, but the scripture photo mentions only good. The verse is saying that the person who goes looking for trouble will find it but those who do good will receive favor from God and men.

That’s the trouble with Twitter, Facebook, etc. Only half the verse is shown. Or it’s ripped from its context (Jeremiah 29:11 comes immediately to mind). The context in which this verse was ripped then twisted is embedded among-

Proverbs contrasting the nature and destiny of the righteous and wicked (11:1–31). The righteous follow a clear path in life, are delivered from troubles, are generous, and strengthen their communities. The wicked hoard money but are not saved by it, are a curse to their families and communities, and face certain punishment.

Garrett, D. A. (1998). The Poetic and Wisdom Books.

In untwisting the twisted part of the verse Matthew Henry says of it:

1. Those that are industrious to do good in the world get themselves beloved both with God and man: … that seeks opportunities of serving his friends and relieving the poor, and lays out himself therein, procures favour. All about him love him, and speak well of him, and will be ready to do him a kindness; and, which is better than that, better than life, he has God’s lovingkindness.
2. Those that are industrious to do mischief are preparing ruin for themselves: It shall come unto them; some time or other they will be paid in their own coin. And, observe, seeking mischief is here set in opposition to seeking good; for those that are not doing good are doing hurt.

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

The verse is not about finding a nice quality in a person among other negative qualities. It is about a person himself doing good as opposed to evil. The one who does good receives favor from men and God. The one who does evil, piles evil back onto himself. It’s actually the opposite of what the Facebook photo verse is stating.

The Facebook twisted version makes man the hero.
The Bible’s version makes God the hero.
See the difference?

And does it make sense to put a scripture address on a verse that is totally re-phrased in man’s words, anyway?

EPrata photo

That’s the problem with twisting a verse. It’s a problem also when we carelessly re-tweet it or share it without proper investigation. We add to the general confusion regarding what the Bible actually says. Of all things on this earth the one thing we should be the most careful with is God’s word. Yet on social media, a powerful influencer of minds and hearts, it is the most carelessly handled. It’s sad that so many have shared and liked this verse that is not a verse and means what it does not mean.

Now, I’m not condemning any of the nearly 1 million people who shared it. It’s a nice sentiment. I wanted to post it myself. But if you want to send around a nice sentiment like this one, there are plenty of them in the Bible that mean exactly what they mean without omitting important parts of the verse or twisting it. You have your pick of verses that urge us to edify each other, to cover each other’s sins, or to love one another.

Before pressing “Like” or “Share” please stop and look it up. Make sure the verse is addressed correctly and isn’t twisted.

Don’t twist the Bible

Posted in scripture photo

Scripture photo, Hell ("Church Bulletin" Series)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Church bulletins are great. They contain information the congregant will need during the week, such as which deacons are ‘on call’, who is going to staff the nursery next week, and what time the church supper starts on Wednesday. Some pastors include sermon notes, or a devotional.

The cover always contains a pretty picture and a lovely verse. The picture is always eye catching. One might see a meadow-covered mountain top or a close-up of a pretty flower. The verse is always likewise. Always. It’s encouraging, or it speaks of God’s love or a promise of God.

I’m irked by this.

Leave it to me to be irked by something pleasant, right? But just once I’d like to see a different kind of verse on the front of a bulletin, a verse that speaks of God’s wrath, or His justice, or something unpleasant. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” says 2 Timothy 3:16, so let’s not always focus on the verses that please us or encourage us. What about the verses that challenge us, or convict us, or make us think, or speak of an aspect of God that’s increasingly denied these days, such as His wrath?

This week will be scripture photos of ones you never see on a church bulletin or online as a scripture picture. But I love these just as much as the flowery ones or the encouraging ones. So get ready for scripture photos, Prata-style. If anyone needs a church bulletin lady, I’m available…

EPrata photo

The Matthew 10:28 verse is saying, as Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary explains, is:

Our Lord warned his disciples to prepare for persecution. They were to avoid all things which gave advantage to their enemies, all meddling with worldly or political concerns, all appearance of evil or selfishness, and all underhand measures. Christ foretold troubles, not only that the troubles might not be a surprise, but that they might confirm their faith. He tells them what they should suffer, and from whom. Thus Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service

Gill’s Exposition says,

this is peculiarly solemn, “I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear,” even Him.
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell—A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world; in other words, that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the material as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever. In the corresponding warning contained in Luke (Lu 12:4), Jesus calls His disciples “My friends,” as if He had felt that such sufferings constituted a bond of peculiar tenderness between Him and them

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #1, Vulture

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #2, Anguish

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #4, Lake of Fire

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #5, Wrath
the-end-time.blogspot.com/2016/01/scripture-photo-wrath-church-bulletin.html

Posted in bible, sola scriptura, still speaking, united church of christ

United Church of Christ’s edgy ‘sorta scriptura’ campaign

Posted on by elizabethprata

With words like “rebranding” and “edgy” and “campaign” better suited to a New Coke commercial marketing blitz, the United Church of Christ (UCC) is re-launching their ten year old “Still Speaking” campaign in a 2.0 update fresh for 2016.

Oh boy.

Chills, I tell you. I got chills.

Not really.

The UCC’s campaign isn’t a campaign and it isn’t edgy. It’s just blasphemy and biblical ignorance.

Here it is in the UCC’s own language:

God is Still Speaking, the identity campaign that branded the United Church of Christ in a distinctive way and helped define its progressive voice in the faith community, is getting an upgrade/refresh in 2016. In fact, the UCC launched the pilot phase of Still Speaking 2.0 on Dec. 1 in anticipation of a full rollout after the first of the year. 

“We are asking what the new edge is for the United Church of Christ,” said the Rev. John C. Dorhauer, UCC general minister and president. “It is clear that the brand still works, but we are all using the same language that we have used for 10 years. In addition, the edge 10 years ago was clearly built around commitments to ONA and marriage equality.” But since the world has changed and marriage equality is the law of the land, Dorhauer says the UCC is working to identify what now sets it apart. “So, what’s our new edge?”

Jesus Christ. That’s the edge. Jesus. He is everything and He is all you need. Jesus is the premier Person in the entire Universe, He is what sets anything apart. His Gospel is the edgiest message ever proclaimed on the face of the earth. The world hates it. Living for Christ and proclaiming His Gospel is the edgiest you can ever get. Unless it’s blaspheming His word. [see below]. That’s really living on the edge.

Here is an ad from the UCC campaign:

Yes He did. Don’t these people read the Bible?

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. (Revelation 19:18-19)

But obviously the UCC does not read their Bible. Here is UCC’s new, 2016, freshly edgy ad:

As my Twitter friend Tara at @AMamasWisdom said of the above ad, “sorta scriptura”.

Tara nailed it. The above ad is blasphemous. What it’s saying is that the Bible is nothing more than a flawed guide to life. By the way if it is occasionally wrong, who decides which parts are wrong and which parts are right in it? Man.

In my growing up days of the wild 1960s, there was a cultural revolution led by that generation’s youth. Peace-love and all that. Their mantra was “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” It was a ridiculous statement but it made a crazy sense at the time.

Well it’s another crazy time. There are so many fake “churches” calling themselves churches, it makes me want to say “Don’t trust anyone calling themselves a church.” Not really but, man, it’s rough out there. If UCC leadership as a whole promotes these as their doctrinal statements regarding their denomination, (and they are) we can safely say that any Christian should stay away from the denomination as a whole. Erase them from your list as a church entirely.

My message to you is this: anything can happen regarding church life, and it will. Don’t stick with a denomination just because it has been your family’s tradition. Don’t stay in a church that obviously points to man (like the one above) and does not point consistently and correctly to Jesus. When visiting churches, be very careful. Sentiments like the one the UCC expressed are more and more common now, not just uttered from a fringe guy marginalized through church discipline, but these heresies are mainstream and widespread doctrines held by entire denominations as their Church Distinctive. Or, “brand”.

Hold your Bible in high regard and let your children see you studying it, quoting, it, and living it. In a crazy world, the word of God is the ONLY anchor that we can trust.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

Posted in doctrine

REPOST: Sayings and mottos that sound pious but aren’t. #1: "Let Go and Let God"

Posted on by elizabethprata

I posted this on March 31, 2014. I re-post it today.

—————————————————–
#2: “I don’t use commentaries”
#3 “I’m too humble to think that I could ever know what the Bible really means”
#4: Pray Big Because We Have a Big God
#5: He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good.

Jesus took issue with the Pharisees and Scribes because they had become whitewashed tombs. (Matthew 23:27). This means that they were sick with sin on the inside and were only doing external things that hid their sin but did not address it. They were dead inside but performing rituals as if that would bring them alive. Their rituals had no meaning, and as Solomon would say, they were only striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

We do the same things today, but in slightly different ways. Just as the Pharisees were making long prayers as a show of piety for the sake of those who would hear them, (Matthew 6:5), people say things today that sound pious but aren’t. These sayings are just as dead as a whitewashed tomb, and are only striving after wind.

However, these sayings sound legitimate on their surface. It is sometimes hard to tell what truly is Christian and what merely sounds Christian. Charles Spurgeon wisely said, “Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” So what is right and what is almost right (AKA ‘wrong’) about these sayings?

Some of these mottos are:

  1. “Let go and let God”
  2. “I don’t use commentaries because they’re men’s wisdom. I only use God’s Word when I study.“
  3. We can’t know for certain what the bible means, I’m not that smart”
  4. “Pray big because we have a big God.”
  5. “He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good“

In what will be a multi-part series, let’s look at the first one.

Source, labeled for reuse

#1. “Let go and let God.” In this pious-sounding saying, the person is trying to indicate that they submit to the sovereignty of God by letting everything go and allowing Him to roll circumstances over us as He will. However if we unpack that a bit we’ll see actually that ‘Let go and let God’ actually contradicts the bible. Here are two sources which speak to the subject, GotQuestions, and Ligonier Ministries.

GotQuestions: Are We Supposed to Let go and Let God?:
“Let go and let God” is a phrase that cropped up some years ago and still enjoys some popularity today. Actually, the Bible never tells us to “let go and let God.” In fact, there are so many commandments about what we are to do that it completely contradicts the way most people interpret “let go and let God.” The popular idea of “letting go” is to adopt a sort of spiritual inertia wherein we do nothing, say nothing, feel nothing, and simply live allowing circumstances to roll over us however they may.

The Christian life, however, is a spiritual battle which the Bible exhorts us to prepare for and wage diligently. “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12); “Endure hardship…like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3); “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). Letting go in the sense of sitting back and watching events unfold however they may is not biblical.

Having said that, though, we have to understand that the things we are to do, we do by the power of God and not on our own steam. The truth is that working at “letting go” is just as much as an effort-filled work as anything else we try to do for God and not nearly as easy to do as some things.

So true! If it was that easy to ‘let go’ our sin, we would have done it! If it was that easy to ‘let go’ our worry, we’d be all set! If it was that simple as to let go our our will, we wouldn’t need God! “Letting go” is just as difficult as hanging on. Submit, yes. But even that is a daily struggle we’re told to perform as we pick up our cross (Matthew 16:24) and to pray daily for the will and help to submit. (Matthew 6:9-13).

Please go to the essay linked above to read the rest of the GotQuestions piece, which looks at the Christian life and see just exactly what we are to do.

Andrew Naselli at Ligonier Ministries explains, “Why “Let Go and Let God” Is a Bad Idea“. He says, in looking at the origin of this two-tiered theology from the 1875 Keswick theology movement, that letting go and letting God promotes in part,

–Perfectionism: It portrays a shallow and incomplete view of sin in the Christian life.
–Quietism: It tends to emphasize passivity, not activity.
–Pelagianism: It tends to portray the Christian’s free will as autonomously starting and stopping sanctification.
–Methodology: It tends to use superficial formulas for instantaneous sanctification.
–Impossibility: It tends to result in disillusionment and frustration for the “have-nots.”
–Spin: It tends to misinterpret personal experiences.

 You can tell that Keswick theology has influenced people when you hear a Christian “testimony” like this: “I was saved when I was eight years old, and I surrendered to Christ when I was seventeen.”

 By “saved,” they mean that Jesus became their Savior and that they became a Christian. By “surrendered,” they mean that they gave full control of their lives to Jesus as their Master, yielded to do whatever He wanted them to do, and “dedicated” themselves through surrender and faith. That two-tiered view of the Christian life is let-go-and-let-God theology.

I am aware that the motto ‘Let go and let God’ is a heavily used precept in Step 3 of the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery plan. AA has helped millions recover from their addiction to alcohol, and in this sense, AA is helpful. But don’t mistake AA’s Christianese for legitimate biblical principles. The language may sound pious but it collapses under scrutiny. Here is more information:

How does Alcoholics Anonymous compare with the Bible?

John MacArthur spoke to the ‘let go and let God’ phrase in his sermon on Ephesians 6, The Believer’s Armor.”

Do we just say, oh amen, and now I’m just going to surrender to that? I’m going to let go and let God, turn it all over to Jesus, do nothing? No, because you come to verse 5 immediately, and verse 5 says, “And beside this,” beside this, “you give all diligence,” get at it man, get with it, be diligent, be disciplined, “to add to your God given faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; And to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, godliness; And to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

In other words, you get on the job. And beloved it is not as simple as walking an aisle and making an act of surrender. That is part of it in your life, there must be a, a commitment to the Lordship of Christ, there must be an acknowledging of His power and resource in your life, but it doesn’t end there- it begins there. In Romans 6 there is a yielding of yourselves, yes, there is a yielding of yourselves in Romans 6. But there is also a mortifying or a killing of the deeds of the flesh, So it isn’t all as simple as that and that’s why we make no hesitation for proclaiming the truths of Ephesians 6.
 
The fact remains, let go and let God does not align well with biblical standards of behavior for a Christian.

As Jim Vander Spek asked, “The problem with making “Let God” the focus is that it pushes the burden back on Him. If things don’t work out, will you blame Him?“

Source. Labeled for reuse

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Further Reading

What is wrong with the popular saying, “Let go and let God”?

Posted in bible, jesus, scripture photo

Scripture photo: Anguish ("Church Bulletin" series)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here’s a change of pace for your next church bulletin cover. Pain and anguish. In the verse, Paul is about to discuss the judicial hardening of the Jews’ hearts to many of their souls’ eternal destruction. As Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary explains,

the bitter hostility of his nation to the glorious Gospel, and the awful consequences of their unbelief, weighing heavily and incessantly upon his spirit.

Paul’s response to God’s sovereign election and His judicial work among the people is an appropriate one. Our response to sin and rejection of Jesus should be the same. If all scripture is sufficient for teaching, reproof and correction, then it’s my dream that someday the church bulletin people will include some verses that do just that, as the Romans 9:2 verse does, illustrating a response to sin that is as much human as it is proper. Instead, we get a continual drip of insipid love and encouragement verses which is my opinion only serve in some cases to deepen the complacency of the self-satisfied Christian and most times, are ignored by the rest. How about some balance here, people?

OK, this is me pursuing the impossible dream… Soapbox over for today.

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #1, Vulture

Scripture photo: “Church Bulletin” Series #3, Hell

Scripture photo “Church Bulletin” series #4, Lake of Fire

Scripture photo: “Church Bulletin” series #5, Wrath

Posted in back to basics, bible, bible study

Back to Basics: How to Study Your Bible

Posted on by elizabethprata
EPrata photo

The Bible is one book but it is actually a library of 66 books. These books are written in a variety of genres. Your own bookcase at home contains fiction with sub-genres such as novels, science fiction, romance, or poetry. Alongside those might be books on your shelves of non-fiction with sub-genres such as biographies, history, textbooks, cookbooks, or how-to. You see how many genres of literature there are!

Your library of the books of the Bible is just the same. Inside the one book are 66 books containing different genres. You would not read a history book from David McCullough in the same way as you would a romance novel from LaVyrle Spencer. You would not read a cookbook written by Rachael Ray in the same way as you would a book of poetry Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

My life’s work as both profession and hobby has been to involve myself in literacy. Professionally, I help teach children how to read. When five-year-olds begin to learn how to read, we start with books that contain predictable language. They hear “Once upon a time…” and it finishes with “They lived happily ever after. The end.” If I begin reading aloud to them “Once upon a…” and stop, the children will know what comes next. When they see two words on the last page, “The end” they know what those words say. This is because narrative stories have a familiar story arc and a predictable schema that remains the same from book to book.

When children reach around third grade they begin reading in the content areas. Gone are the familiar, predictable stories where they can use the context to help fill in an unknown word. Gone are the story arcs where their comprehension of the text is supported by familiarity and predictability. New to them are passages that contain a lot of facts about Magellan, the planets, or magnets. There is no predictability in these passages, nothing to hang their mental hook on to help support the brain’s search for meaning of that unknown word or concept. We teach children different reading strategies for comprehension of non-fiction passages.

When a child reaches 6th grade or so, we hope that the years of reading have instilled in them a wealth of strategies for comprehension of both fictional works and non-fiction that are so familiar to them that they aren’t even aware of the fact that they are using strategies, nor hopefully are they aware that they are switching strategies based on which type of literature they are reading.

Photo from Unsplash, free to use

We adults are no different. When I approach a historical passage like Ezra I read differently than I do when I read a Psalm or a narrative like Mark. Even within the different genres of books of the Bible, I read differently than if I have set a goal. During the summer when I’m off work I read the New Testament straight through at least once. I want a bird’s eye view, a skim and a scan, I do not stop and I do not study. I just read.

When I read a densely historical book like Ezra, I read slowly and I use maps and pictures. I am a visual person and I need maps to show me where these people are, have been, and are going. When lots of animals are named I stop and I look at pictures of them so I can picture in my head what is going on. If you are not visual you might not need to do that.

Reading Ezra with all the kings in their respective countries for me is like a third grader suddenly having to remember all the Explorer’s names and their different travels. The difficult Hebrew names sometimes trip me up so I either decide to read relieve myself of the task of reading them perfectly, or I go to an audio reading (Max McLean) and let him pronounce it for me. So my goals and strategies differ, depending on the level of difficulty and the type of text that is before me.

Here are the different kinds of literature in the Bible. Not everybody classifies them the same way. Some classify Esther as History, others classify the book as Narrative. Some lists do not contain the genre of Narrative at all, others do. Some place the Gospel under their own category and others put them under Narrative along with Acts. Some split the genre of Prophecy and Apocalyptic literature, others put them together. Just as long as you begin to see each book of the Bible as its own kind of literature, and approach reading it from that perspective, you will be on your way to a solid beginning interpretation.

Here are a couple of visuals to help you see the Bible in the way it needs to be seen, as a bookshelf of various genres. You can view several different arrangements here at this blog.

Source

Please note that the arrangement of the Prophetic books into “Major Prophets” and “Minor Prophets” is not a statement of the worth of the book’s content. We know from 2 Timothy 3:16 that ALL scripture is valuable. It simply means that the minor prophets’ books are shorter.

Another visual arrangement of the books of the Bible is like a periodic table, in a visual theology developed by Tim Challies. You can obtain a free, large-scale, high-resolution image of this chart at Challies’ site.

The Bible is one, unified book testifying all about Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:27). It cannot be broken. (John 10:35). And yet, we can segment the books of the Bible into their proper genres and approach reading and studying them in the ways they need to be studied or read, without harm. The Bible is astonishing in its breadth and depth and insight. Of course it is! It is the word of God. We are blessed to be living in a time where there is NOT a famine of the Word, but have access to it day and night, written and audio, large text or small, Old Testament or New.

However you decide to approach your study and your reading (they are two separate things), the point is, make an orderly approach. Make decisions ahead of time. Understand the text you’re absorbing and its different literature genre requirements.

The most important thing of all is to pray. The Holy Spirit indwells you for the purpose of illuminating the scriptures to you. When you’ve made some orderly decisions ahead of time you have prepared your brain, and then as you pray for illumination, the Spirit will impress what He wants on your mind and heart. Not that you have to do it this way, but being an orderly, praying disciple of Jesus as you read about Him can’t hurt, right?

Blessings!

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Further reading:

GotQuestions: Genres of the Bible

Institute for Creation Research: Scripture Cannot Be Broken

Bible Gateway: Tour of the Bible, part 1

Grace To You: How to Study Your Bible