Posted in encouragement, good shepherd, living water, sheep

Sheep lie down

Posted on by elizabethprata
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
(Psalm 23:1-3)

Regarding the sheep who lie down, I was listening to James Montgomery Boice exposit the 7th chapter of Micah, verse 14.

Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest,
in fertile pasturelands. (Micah 7:14)

Mr Boice explained about the Shepherd and the sheep. He said that he had heard, but did not know if it was true, that sheep won’t lie down until their needs are met. Only when they are full, their thirst slaked, and their surroundings peaceful, will they rest. I began looking that up because having lived next to a flock of sheep for the past year, I like looking at them and learning their qualities so as to better understand the Bible’s use of them as an example. O.P. Gifford, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Brookline MA in 1909, wrote an exposition of the Twenty Third Psalm for the Homiletic Review Minister’s Monthly. Pastor Gifford remarked-

A sheep has four stomachs. When its first stomach is full, he will lie down and ruminate, that is, chew his cud so that it can pass to the second stomach. But it will still not lie down if there is restlessness within the flock, or if there is friction between sheep family members, or if there is a predator. A lying down sheep means he is full, peaceful, and content.

EPrata photo

Here is an excerpt from Pastor Gifford regarding the still waters:

The pictures in the Bible are tremendous for allowing us to see biblical truths, no matter our age, culture, or epoch in which we live. I look forward tot he day when I can lie down, thirst slakes, hunger dismissed, and no friction in the flock, and no predators. Ahhh, the Lord is good, or should I say the Good Shepherd is good!

——————————————————–

Further Reading

Sheep Know His Voice: Inspiring Video

Wells of Living Water

Posted in prophecy, rapture, salvation, tribulation

Will any people be saved after the rapture, during the tribulation?

Posted on by elizabethprata

A friend on Facebook asked me a question. I like questions. They send me searching the Bible for a Spirit-led answer. I enjoy studying for a purpose. Here is the question:

How it can be that the bible states that most people will go to hell, yet in the tribulation, so many are saved they can’t be counted? Is the dynamic different in the Tribulation?

As for most people going to hell, yes that’s true. The Bible says that Jesus promised-

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14)

A specific answer as to how many will be saved during the wrath known as the Tribulation period can’t be given, because we cannot quantify “many” and “few”. We know for example, that many people died in the Flood (most actually). Few were on the narrow way, (only 8 people actually. Noah and his family). We know that most were sent to destruction when four of the five cities of the plain were destroyed. Admah, Zeboiim, Sodom and Gomorrah were thriving cities full of people, and most were sent to destruction when the angels came to destroy them with brimstone. (Genesis 19:13, 24-25; Deuteronomy 29:23). Only a few were saved (4 actually, and one of those turned out to be a false convert).

Over the course of world history we can’t know how many means few and how many means many. But we notice the fact that as soon as Jesus began teaching the hard truths, most left him. (John 6:60, 66). If we look at the scene in context as a microcosm of the world population, most people throughout history have either rejected Him outright or left the faith showing they never were of Him at all.

Therefore I believe the dynamic in the Tribulation is different. I base this on the verse in Matthew where Jesus said the Tribulation will be a unique time in world history. (Matthew 24:21,

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

As for why so many would be saved, it is because the Tribulation is the fulfillment of the Bible’s promises. John MacArthur says in his sermon “Tribulation Saints part 1”,

“We have prayed that some day there would be a sweeping revival across the world that would bring millions of souls into the Kingdom. It has been the prayers of God’s people through the centuries that God would bring a great harvest of souls. And He will. One day it will come. It will be the greatest movement of God’s saving power in terms of sheer numbers that the world has ever known. Now that anticipation of that should not shock us because God longs to save…”

Revival is something we always pray for, but we don’t often realize that the revival that comes might look very different than the revival we envision in our head. Usually we envision a peaceful, joyful revival that sparks cultural change and personal peace. Yet the revival ahead in the Tribulation will be in a time of blood and war and grief and widespread martyrdom.

The reasons so many will be saved are found in Romans 11:26, that all Israel will be saved, and in Genesis 12, the fulfillment of Abraham’s covenant that all (pagan) nations through Abraham will be blessed.

If you’re interested, you can hear about salvation during the Tribulation explained more fully in John MacArthur’s sermon “Tribulation Saints” parts 1 and 2, expositing these verses from Revelation 7 under discussion.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10).

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:13-14)

Praise the Lord who saves!!

Posted in encouragement, jesus, john bunyan, lion, pilgrim's progress, prophecy

Lunging Lions along the Way

Posted on by elizabethprata

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is a tremendous book. It’s an allegory of the Christian’s life from salvation to heaven (“The Celestial City”). In the book, there is a scene where Christian Pilgrim is attempting to climb the way to Porter’s Lodge Up ahead he can see two lions crouching at the edge of the path. What Pilgrim doesn’t know is that the lions are chained, and if Pilgrim stays in the middle of the path, he will not be harmed by the lunging lions. Here is the excerpt:

Now before he had gone far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a furlong off the Porter’s lodge, and looking very narrowly before him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he, I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back by. (The lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them; for he thought nothing but death was before him. But the Porter at the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt, as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, Is thy strength so small? Mark 4:40. Fear not the lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none: keep in the midst of the path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.

We ourselves are pilgrims in a strange land. Our way is clear because, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105). The way is lit by His word and it is made clear, but it is a narrow way. Take care to stay on the middle line of that Way, dear friend, as I strive to do myself. And look, see what good promises are ahead for His people the Jews and those of us grafted in!!

Isaiah 35:1-9

The Ransomed Shall Return

1The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God.

Pink flowers bloom after a rare rain ignited seeds
 that had lain dormant in the desert for years.

3Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Rushes thriving by a pond. EPrata photo

8And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
9No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.

The redeemed shall walk there. A promise we can cling to, hope on, and await expectantly. How beautiful the feet…

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7)

Posted in Lamb, prophecy, sacrifice

Did Jesus perform sacrifices at the Temple?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I was asked a good question by a friend. I like questions. They send me searching into the Bible and I spend happy moments or hours delving into the mysteries of God in the Bible to unearth a Spirit-filled answer. The question was, did Jesus offer animal sacrifices at the Temple, even though HE was going to be the sacrifice? And was sinless?

After some thought and biblical research, this was my answer. As for Jesus offering animal sacrifices, I am not personally aware of any scene in the Bible that depicts this, but I am pretty sure that He did. How can I be pretty sure?

First, Jesus lived the Law perfectly–

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mt 5:17)

Though the Bible does not offer extensive information about the early or childhood life of Jesus, there are a few glimpses of Jesus and His keeping of the Law. We know his parents Joseph and Mary kept the Law, and they taught Jesus to do the same. The pair came to the temple on the 8th day after Jesus birth to fulfill the Law of Moses (Luke 2:21-22).

Skip forward to a few years, we know the family went up to Jerusalem to fulfill the Law concerning the festivals. (Luke 2:41-42). And Jesus was submissive to his parents in all things [according to the Commandment honor thy parents]. (Luke 2:51)

Jesus was baptized, certainly He did not need to go through a ritual that represented repentance and cleansing from sin! But He did.

“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 Cor 5:21).

This means that God treated Jesus AS a sinner, even though He was not.

So therefore we can extrapolate that He likely also performed sacrifices when He came to the proper age. If He didn’t do sacrifices, He would not have fulfilled the Law as Matthew recorded Jesus statement. Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf and Jesus performing the sacrifices was still a picture of that, until the cross and the torn veil in the Temple.

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b).

Posted in discernment, ronnie floyd, southern baptist convention, truth

SBC President Ronnie Floyd, Featured Speaker at New Apostolic Reformation’s IHOP

Posted on by elizabethprata
My friend Pastor James Bell posted this on Facebook this morning.

IHOP– not pancakes! BUT… IHOP: International House of Prayer! IHOP HAS BEEN INDEXED AS A CULT by Multiple and Diverse Ministries. THAT FACT makes the following troubling: I read that Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd will be speaking at the IHOP’s (International House of Prayer’s) OneThing conference December 28-31.

IF FLOYD boldly exposes the serious false teaching of IHOP and of Romanism and calls them to repent– wonderful.

HOWEVER, he does not, Floyd will be teaming up with a group of charismatic mystics and Roman Catholic praise musician Matt Maher.

For example, Matt leads the “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” at Catholic Churches, such as Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe which is devoted to Mary, “the Mother of Life.” The “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” refers to the worship of the consecrated host of the mass. Because of the supposed power of the Catholic mass to transform bread into the very body and blood of Jesus, the host is “adored” as Christ Himself.

The following is quoted from ‘Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry:

There are certainly many different theological distinctives in the Christian church, and many of us do differ. However, we do not go so far as to label each other cults or heretics. On the other hand, IHOP has been labeled dangerous, cultic, false, and heretical by many ministries, former members, apologetic groups, and godly men. In fact, other charismatic Christians have stood up to oppose them as well. A small listing of these groups include:

The Apologetics Index
Apologetics Resource Center
Critical Issues Commentary
Pastor Ernie Gruen (a Charismatic preacher) who was written a manuscript entitled “Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teachings of Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries).” Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries) is Mike Bickles former ministry prior to founding IHOP.
Pastor Bill Randles (a Pentecostal preacher) has written a book titled, “Weighed and Found Wanting.”
The Gospel Masquerade is a website created by a former staff member of IHOP.

All these resources are available in the references section. I especially recommend The Gospel Masquerade website, Pastor Gruen’s manuscript, and Pastor Randles’ book.

Conclusion: Though it may seem like a place that is on fire and passionate for God, this is simply not the case. Many of the people that do go there are sincere Christians, but they have been overcome by the lies and experiences they have there. In short, the people I have communicated with ignore the things above and simply hold on to what they have experienced and point the finger at me saying, “You don’t know about us.” 

Unfortunately I do know, and I hope this article persuades or helps you convince someone else who is going down a destructive path. It breaks my heart to see so many young people fall victim to this place and all the people who waste their lives and God-given talents to expand IHOP’s kingdom and not God’s Kingdom.

References
[1] http://www.ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000036203
[2] Randle, Bill. “Weighed and Found Wanting: The Toronto Experience Examined in the Light of the Bible. Cambridge, UK. 1996. http://www.apologeticsindex.org/docs/WeighedAndFoundWanting.pdf
[3] Gruen, Ernie. Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teachings of Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries). Shawnee, KS. No date. http://www.deceptionbytes.com/AberrentDoctrinesKCF
[4] http://www.apologeticsindex.org/b56.html
[5] http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/CHAOS1.HTM
[6] http://signofjonah.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/ihop-and-cultural-influences
[7] http://www.pfo.org/growingpains.htm
[8] http://thepredestinedblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/ihop-manifesto.html
[9] http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue107.htm
[10] http://carm.org/centering-prayer
[11] The Lockman Foundation. New American Standard Bible. La Habra, CA. 1995.
[12] MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians and Philemon. Chicago, IL. 1992.
[13] http://gospelmasquerade.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/contemplative-prayer-continued/

————————————–

Other people/organizations concerned with President Floyd’s appearance at IHOP’s OneThing convention are:

Michelle Lesley: SBC President Ronnie Floyd, Featured Speaker at New Apostolic Reformation’s IHOP

Lighthouse Trails Letter to the Editor: SBC President Ronnie Floyd to Speak At IHOP “Onething”

Berean Research: Southern Baptist Convention president to speak at IHOP-KC’s “Onething” gathering?

I know many people, pastors even, who are more aligned with and loyal to a denominational affiliation than with Jesus. However as Michelle Lesley says, “As a lifelong Southern Baptist it grieves me to have to report this, but if you’re Southern Baptist, you deserve to know and need to know what the president of your denomination is doing.” Personally, I had been proud to belong to a church which affiliates with the SBC but in recent years I have become saddened by the liberal drift, their intolerance for the Doctrines of Grace worse, their disdain for the people who believe in them, and the blatant acceptance of false doctrines and the people who bring them. Now this. I hope and pray that the reason Mr Floyd accepted the invitation is to speak the truth in love to the IHOP participants. Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

However if Mr Floyd does not speak the Gospel to the IHOP participants at OneThing Convention, it will be terribly sad. It would mean that even the most conservative denominations err, as this incident shows us. Yet the encouraging thing is that we are SO GRACEFULLY BLESSED to have a Savior to whom we can look, and in whom there is no error, no lie, and no sin! We must keep looking to Jesus, even when favored teachers, pastors, or denominations fall. Jesus is the answer, He is the blessing that was given by God to the world, but the world received Him not. (John 1:10-11).

If you are saved today, saved from an eternity in hell separated from Jesus, then you have the truth and can continue looking to Him to remain solid in your doctrine. The lesson is, even men like Ronnie Floyd who has been a pastor for 38 years in a conservative denomination can drift away, so we must cling to the Rock. (And not make an idol of a denomination, as some have).

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

EPrata photo

Posted in encouragement

Encouragement: Preparing a place for us

Posted on by elizabethprata

I posted this on Thursday, July 19, 2012. I post it again.

There is such inexpressible and perpetual activity in the holy realms, it is breathtaking to think of. All heaven is working under command of our Holy God to ready for the Time. What time? The time when God says to Jesus, “Go get your bride!” And His deposit of our inheritance will be redeemed in full! (Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 1:22). All of time, history, prophecy, and Holy Sovereign Decree has been moving toward the time of fulfillment of the promises of Jesus to His Bride and the promises of God to His people the Jews. Everything.

If you have ever been involved in a project, you know the cycles you go through. There’s the initial excitement, the middle part slow slogging, then the hurry up, ‘oh my goodness the deadline is approaching!’ feeling. I lived on a sailboat for two years, and the few days before we launch is a hectic rush of never-ending activity to get all the provisions on board. The deadline to leave port is hard and fast, one which liveaboard cruisers and Navy personnel know the feeling well. If you ever have opened a restaurant, or built a house, or sold a house and had to move, gotten ready to graduate, gotten married…you know that the activity to prepare for the event by the deadline is never ending and increases the closer the deadline comes.

We do not know the day or hour the Father will tell His Son to go get His bride, but we can sense the deadline nearing. There is a massive amount of activity, some of it seen and some of it unseen.

But back to the bible’s pictures of activity. Didn’t Jesus say, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2).

Things are being prepared, right now. Our lodging in New Jerusalem. Our feast. The temple perhaps. I don’t know, but He is preparing. He is engaged in activity to ready for the moment when a flood of redeemed souls enter glory to dwell with Him forever.

He is also preparing for the moment when His promises to his people the Jews come to fulfillment and the Kingdom Comes. Here is one specific glimpse of that preparation:

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line
“And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” (Zechariah 2:1-2).

Zechariah had been awakened and was shown a series of 8 astounding visions all in one night. One of them is that God sent a surveyor (likely The Angel of the LORD, Jesus) to measure the place where the final Jerusalem will be, its exact size and placement! Rejoice O Jerusalem! “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;” (Isaiah 66:10).

Right now Jerusalem is called Egypt and Sodom, (Revelation 11:8), but someday it will be cleansed, and it will become the holy city God intended it to be.

Look! He is so gracious, He showed Ezekiel also! “In the visions God brought me to the land of Israel, set me on a high mountain in which there was a structure like a city on the south. And he brought me there and behold there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed and he stood in the gate.” (Ezekiel 40:2).

Measuring … preparing … So much activity:

Wm Blake, Jacob’s Ladder, from Wiki

“And he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Genesis 28:12).

Going and coming … ascending and descending … Not just in the Old Testament but the activity continues in the New:

“He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51).

The Sovereign God, His Perfect Son, and the Holy Angels are working to bring about the fulfillment of all the glorious promises of the bible. I know we know the judgment promises will come true. The world and the heavens will be UNcreated in a reverse orderly progression that mirrors the 6 days in the Creation. Mountains will crumble. Rivers will dry up. Sun will blink out. Stars will fall. People will die.

But to the positive, He is also readying His universe for the new heavens and the new earth, for the moment when the Father says, “Son, it is time for you to be married. GO GET YOUR BRIDE!”

Is there any doubt that the preparations will have been completed and the glowing glorious heavens will be inexpressibly beautiful? No, no doubt.

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:2-4)

Our Savior who Saves by grace, our Father, the architect of the earth and the universe, the author of our faith, the redeemer of souls, the Chief of all the Holy Hosts, is preparing…forus.

Posted in bible twisting, jesus, polygamy, sin

"I don’t preach about polygamy but I feel it is a very Christian lifestyle."

Posted on by elizabethprata

When people claim that the Bible is dusty and outdated and its contents are not for us now, they know not of what they speak. Of course we know God’s word is living and active and His precepts are at once fresh and eternal.

But for those who say it is outdated and culture has moved on and the Bible people need to get with the times, they could not be more incorrect. Man’s sinful nature means that since the Fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, man has made the same sinful mistakes he always has. Man is the same, and so is his sin. That means culture is the same, and so are its sins. Exhibit A:

Thom Miller of Mansfield Ohio.

Miller claims to have been an enforcer for the Mafia in Cleveland. He also told a newspaper in 2003 that he had been shot three times, jailed more than 20 times and fathered 12 children with five different women. In 1991, Miller was sent to prison for stabbing a man during a bar fight. (source)

Sounds like a sinful man, a sinner just like the rest of us. However, Mr Miller’s story continues-

While in prison, he stole a bible and found God. … Miller was released from Prison after serving seven years. (source)

A man who is regenerated by the grace of God and living a holy life with the indwelling Holy Spirit is a story that never gets old, it is beautiful every time. How great! I wish his story had a happier ending. But Mr Miller’s story is just beginning and his is the story of sin, which gets old very fast.

Mr Miller married and he became an ordained minister. He has a church in Mansfield, Ohio and runs a prison ministry.

The man apparently has no training or seminary experience, no authority over him to call him to account, or any brotherhood denomination out of which he has been called. He is simply a man who started a church. And this is OK too, though fraught with satanic snares and dangers. We saw that kind of mentality (“I don’t know what to do with my life. I know, I’ll start a church!” with Mr Mark Driscoll. Unattached men who aren’t trained up by the leaders, pastors, or teachers and grown in the faith while submitted to a ministry and laid hands upon, often turn rogue. And that old sin-nature reared up and bit Mr Miller. Mr Miller decided one day that he wanted two wives. And he got a second wife, with the alleged blessing of his current wife. Mr Miller is 60 years of age, and his new wife is a teenager. Miller says,

“I don’t preach about polygamy but I feel it is a very Christian lifestyle.”

Polygamy appears in the Bible but it is not condoned in the bible as an acceptable lifestyle. The reason is that the two partners become one flesh, and it’s hard for two to become one while there are three. Genesis 2:24 depicts the scene where God made Eve, and told Adam and Eve that

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This is very interesting because when God made Eve and joined Adam and Eve together in a holy union, there were not any mothers and fathers yet. They didn’t exist. By this verse though, we see that God intended for one man and one woman to marry, have children, and then to repeat the cycle of leaving and cleaving to one another in successive generations of unions. That is the Christian lifestyle, because it is a family structure that is ordained by God.

However that old sin nature reared itself and another man in the long-ago history woke up one day and decided he wanted two wives as well.  This happened n Genesis 4, the chapter immediately after the Fall! See? It is a very old story! Who says the Bible is outdated!

 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Mr Miller says that of his wives,

There have been arguments in the past and at times there can be flares of jealousy but we manage to make it work.

Rachel and Leah were two wives of the same man- Jacob. The women engaged in a bitter and long-term child-bearing competition, oftentimes with the husband as their “prize.” The envy and jealousy polluted the entire family.

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1). … When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. (Genesis 30:16).

Polygamy, envy, jealousy and family “flare-ups” are as old as man himself. Mr Miller’s words nearly identically replicate these scenes from the Bible. All of which describe sin, and do not not a “very Christian lifestyle”. What Miller is doing is living a life of hellish rebellion and picking out biblical things that sort of match how he wants to live. Here, Mr Miller’s words replicate Judges 21:25,

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Miller is just doing right in his own eyes, inventing lifestyles and piggybacking God into it rather than how it’s supposed to be done, read and understand God’s word, and obey it. The worst part of this problem is that Miller claims to be a pastor. Of course he is not, living in flagrant sin as he is, and having no knowledge of the true statutes of God. But he claims to speak for Christianity, which means he is claiming to speak for Jesus. This is a blasphemous perversion of the faith.

Culturally, Miller’s next words replicate Romans 1:32,

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Practicing such things as homosexuality, Miller says,

“I have no problem with homosexuals but I think it’s wrong that their marriage is now recognized by the state but my second marriage is not. “I’m going to try and fight the bigotry of that – this is America and my wives and I have the right to live anyway we please – providing we’re not hurting anybody.” (source)

Not hurting anybody? You’re hurting Jesus. His name, His faith, His church. No, we do not have the right to live any way we please. We have the responsibility to live as God demands.

And we knew it was only a matter of time after last June’s Supreme Court opinion stating that any homosexual or lesbian American has the right to marry. Once we drift from the God-ordained definition of marriage, all other definitions are allowed.

But back to the Bible. It is as fresh as the morning dew, recording the age-old sins of man.

If Mr Miller repented of living his NON-Christian lifestyle and of blaspheming Jesus and twisting His faith into a perverse license to sin, he too would go to heaven. Jesus would welcome him with open arms. All sins can be forgiven, except for the one sin that cannot be forgiven- that of dying without repenting and claiming Jesus as Savior before one draws his last breath.

Fortunately the Bible also records the story of redemption, and how Jesus who is God, incarnated into a baby, was birthed as a full human, lived and entirely sinless life, was sacrificed for us for our sins, and was entombed. On the third day He rose again, God being pleased with His Son’s sacrifice. His shed blood means when we repent of our sins and believe on Jesus as Lord and Savior, we have a righteous door through which to enter heaven, possessing no righteousness of our own. Thank the LORD He made a way and sent the Lord to save us sinners!

Posted in encouragement, God

God, use me in a mighty way

Posted on by elizabethprata

Do you ever pray that God would use you mightily? I do. I want to be used by Him and magnify His name. We often think of women in the bible who were used in a mighty way because they did mighty things. Deborah, military victor. Rahab, courageous with the spies of Israel; Mary humbly bearing the Savior. When we think of “mighty” we think of events large in scope.

But to be used of the Lord mightily can also be small in scope – but mighty just the same. The LORD will prosper His name and cast Glory onto Himself through His works. There is a small moment in the Bible worth looking at where a mighty work was done, glory shone on the LORD, but the one who did them is not even named! Yet her faith and her ‘one, small act’ was indeed mighty in scope and nature. Best of all, the Lord was glorified through them.

Naaman’s wife’s maid.

Rhoda was a maid, but named in the Bible. This girl was not even named. But no matter. Her act lives on! 

Naaman was a Syrian General, humiliated because he contracted leprosy. Meanwhile, back at his home, his wife had been given a little slave girl to attend to her. This maid was an Israelite, captured and brought to a strange land. The Israelite slave girl was strong in faith and knowing of the works God through His spokesman at the time, Prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 5:1-19)

When Naaman and his household bemoaned Naaman’s leprous state, this little girl piped up. Her time away from her culture, the temple, the assembly, her God-loving home did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm for Yahweh. She extolled His virtues to Naaman’s wife, burbling over the many miracles of Elisha and the works God did through Him. This girl was small, but she knew her God was big.

I can’t imagine such strong faith. She bore no resentment toward her captors! If it was me, I’d probably mutter something like, “Good, he deserves leprosy. I hope he rots.” But then again, we know that what we deserve is death and hell. Only the largess of the grace bestowed upon us by God saves us from “what we deserve.” So this girl unashamedly and enthusiastically shared the knowledge of the Holy God who is able to do miracles. She did not hold back and lived a life of proclamation in word and deed. When the moment arose, she did not hesitate to share God as the solution to Naaman’s uncleanliness. Though Naaman’s leprosy was very real, in the Bible leprosy is always a metaphor also for unrighteousness. A leper was never pronounced cured. He was always pronounced “clean.”

We know the rest of the story. Elisha’s servant met the General, the General in his pride was angry. The prophet told the general to dip in the Jordan river seven times, Naaman’s pride again led him away from God’s solution. But entreaties from Naaman’s servants enticed Naaman to the river, and he finally did as he was instructed. he came up the 7th time, clean.

Naaman became a believer! (2 Kings 5:15a). The little girl was a messenger of the Good News, that cleansing was available from a Holy God. One might wonder why the second in command of an entirely strong nation would listen to the urgencies of a little slave maid. Her life was not contained in one plea to her mistress, but her life must have had a persistent genuineness and a spiritual credibility so that Naaman’s wife listened, and Naaman in turn listened too.

This nameless sprout of a slave from Israel living in captivity in Syria and to which only 20 verses recount the story, did a mighty work for God. When he returned to Syria who knows how much Naaman’s worship had an effect. A MIGHTY effect.

And then there is the lad with the loaves…(John 6) whom Andrew said were nothing against so many. Never let yourself feel that your words, your act, your gift, is too small and insignificant. The unnamed slave girl’s proclamation of God led to the mightiest work of all, a cleansed heart. The lad’s loaves in God’s hands multiplied and fed thousands. You don’t know, maybe your act or your few words, small as you think they may be, will be multiplied in ways incalculable for the Kingdom and in a manner which brings glories you cannot see to the Lord. Have faith and keep heart. You are not insignificant, but mightily significant!

Posted in courage, overcomers, prophecy, strong

America is raising fragile kids traumatized by words, supporting coddled youths with snowflake spirit

Posted on by elizabethprata

The above photo was on Twitter and I liked it. There has been a brouhaha these last few weeks over the sensitivity of college aged youth and their tolerance levels. I’ve watched this thing unfold, with different articles coming out, different opinions on social media…and I’ve been thinking.

The National Review published an article titled:
Campus Commotions Show We’re Raising Fragile Kids

It seems like every week there’s a new horror story of political correctness run amok at some college campus. A warning not to wear culturally insensitive Halloween costumes sparked an imbroglio at Yale, which went viral over the weekend. A lecturer asked in an e-mail, “Is there no room anymore for a child to be a little bit obnoxious . . . a little bit inappropriate or provocative or, yes, offensive?” Students went ballistic. When an administrator (who is the lecturer’s spouse) defended free speech, some students wanted his head. One student wrote in a Yale Herald op-ed (now taken down): “He doesn’t get it. And I don’t want to debate. I want to talk about my pain.”

Their pain. Their pain is king. ‘All I want to do is talk about meeeee.’ There is a new movement afoot on colleges to allow students to ‘opt-out’ of an assignment if it is too sensitive for them to handle and causes too much pain.

Some colleges are now instituting a ‘trigger warning’ that some material may be sensitive for students who have experienced trauma. In the article below, notice some of the listed content that may trigger a warning: “colonialism”. Depictions of colonialism are deemed sensitive material, enough so that students are warned about it prior, so they can opt out? In my day material covering colonialism was called “history.” [Ed. Note: in the following article the professor quoted is this author’s sister].

Warning: This education might trigger trauma. Are we coddling college students?
A “trigger warning” informs readers who have experienced trauma — be it war or sexual assault — that content in an article or book may “trigger” them and cause them to re-experience that trauma

That doesn’t sound too threatening, but a September article in the The Atlantic magazine argues the use of these content advisories, taken to the extreme on college campuses, effectively “coddles” students by shielding them from ideas and words they may find unpleasant. Oberlin College in Ohio, for example, had recommended that professors include an advisory when assigning Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” because students may be triggered by its depictions of “racism, colonialism, religious persecution, violence [and] suicide.”

Todd Friel has some information about the coddling of America in this 7 minute video.

I was amused by a viral video of a mom of a school-aged student ranting about the elementary school car rider line. Some parents who choose to drive their children to school rather than put them on the bus are also choosing to be a traffic hazard and endanger others so that they can drop off their children at the closest door rather than have their child walk an extra 50 feet. Then I was reminded of the documentary called On the Way To School, where children in four different countries are chronicled getting to school and overcoming hazards way worse than walking an extra 50 after being personally driven by mommy- like avoiding being eaten by lions, or pushing your brother in a wheelchair over dirt and miry clay 10 miles, or walking up and down whole MOUNTAIN RANGES. The documentary shows kids from South America, India, Africa and Morocco walking to school in extreme conditions- just for the privilege of being educated.

And the American children who are driven to school and dropped off in the car rider line grow up to be the wimps who opt out of a college level assignment because they are allegedly traumatized by colonialism.

The sensitive college students problem has also infiltrated Christian universities.  These same sentiments are appearing in Christian schools and becoming a problem for Christians outside universities, as noted by Friel in the video above and in Dr. Piper’s message below. Those who are offended by colonialism, or, words, will certainly be offended by the Gospel! Yet there has been some push-back regarding the hot house flower sensitivity of these American college students at a Christian University, by President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University wrote,

This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!
Dr. Everett Piper, President
Oklahoma Wesleyan University

This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt “victimized” by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable. 

I’m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic. Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them “feel bad” about themselves, is a “hater,” a “bigot,” an “oppressor,” and a “victimizer.” 

I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience. An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad. It is supposed to make you feel guilty. The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins—not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization. 

So here’s my advice:

Read the rest of his message for his advice. So what does this mean for Christians? The most basic and literal meaning is that when we proclaim the Gospel, the FULL Gospel, which includes discussion of sin and judgment, it will not be tolerated. At all. The article above says caving in to trigger warnings and opting out ‘effectively “coddles” students by shielding them from ideas and words they may find unpleasant.’ And the Gospel is the most unpleasant news there can be until the Good News is added to it. If they find mere college content unpleasant, how will it be when a Christian tells them they are sinners, angering God every day and headed for judgment and hell? It won’t be tolerated, at all, and not just from cultural pressure or outcry. By law.

Secondly and more symbolically, since leak-over occurs from the world to the faith all the time and our Christian youth will be affected, it means we have wimpy soldiers of the faith to look forward to. I think of the youth in the Bible and wonder where our stalwart soldiers of the faith are going to come from. The Lord our God is always raising up youth for His name, but it seems to me they are becoming scarcer, these brave and strong men and women of the faith.

David was a young man, a boy really, and he was a shepherd. What that means is he was in the rugged outdoors all day and all night. He watched over the sheep and protected them from bears and wolves and lions at the risk of his own life, with only a rod and a slingshot for a weapon. He walked miles and miles leading them to different pastures because grass was scarce. He was alone, out in the open, and had a great responsibility. It is estimated David was between 13 and 15 years old when he was anointed. (1Sam 16:12-13). And then, David slew Goliath. And some youth today are upset because words hurt their feelings.

Timothy was young. Paul admonished Timothy not to let anyone despise him because of his youth. Timothy was pastor and leader of a church with all that entailed, especially the honor of preaching the everlasting Gospel. Timothy was urged despite his relative youth to be so Godly that his life would be a pattern for others to imitate.

Mary was young, maybe 14 or 15, when the angel Gabriel told her she was going to be pregnant. This is normally an event that destroys lives. Yet she humbly said ‘Let it be done to me as God wills’, then at 9 month gestation, got on a donkey and rode to Bethlehem, then fled to Egypt.

Daniel was young, very young when he was taken in Babylonian captivity. Those taken were being groomed for service, these young moldable youths. Except Daniel was not moldable. He refused the wine and foods because ingesting them would have defiled him. hHe brought his complaint respectfully to the authority, politely asking to be excused from eating and drinking it, but still, in the face of enormous pressure to cave in, Daniel rejected the training and stood for God. (Daniel 1:8). And some youths these days are upset at a sermon on love because it pricked their conscience. Some young men say all they want to do is talk about their pain. Their thoughts go no higher than their own navel gazing.

In reading widely about this trigger warning and trauma pain the sensitive snowflakes are going on about, I notice that when professors tend to use trigger warnings it is due to graphic sexual content. They assign novels that contain sexual violence or graphic sexual scenes among lesbians or homosexuals. In my opinion, the problem is not that trigger warnings are necessary, it is that the trauma-triggering material is even being presented in the first place. For those who are traumatized by violence, then learning about the Civil War, or the Cambodian Killing Fields should be a problem. Yet most professors do not use trigger warnings for that content. But assigning novels to impressionable youth containing multiple rape scenes is OK? I don’t think so.

The prophecy says,

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  (2 Timothy 3:2)

Below is where we are headed. This is a very true and chilling preview of what American higher education is coming to. And for all that, we who have the holy and pure Spirit inside of us, rest assured He will strengthen us and make us stand, just as He did with David and Mary and Timothy and David. Our home is not on earth but in heaven. We have an opportunity to be like Timothy, live a life that others would want to pattern after us, a noble, upright, strong life- In Christ. While the rest of the world sinks into a victim mentality, let us be overcomers displaying a victor mentality. Through God, we truly can do anything.

The video below is 7 minutes and I recommend seeing it.

Modern Educayshun
Neel Kolhatkar’s “Modern Educayshan” gives us a glimpse into the future of American education if things keep going on their present course. If you watch the first 1:20, you’ll see why this video is striking a chord among citizens who fear what our schools and universities are becoming.

Posted in government, jesus, prophecy

Christ is Prince of Governments

Posted on by elizabethprata

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32).
tot he
During this long Thanksgiving Break, I’ve listened to many sermons. i Heard a good sermon on the aspect of Jesus as Prince. On Expositor.fm my usual morning line-up to which I dedicate some time in the AM includes wonderful sermons from Barnhouse, Boice, MacArthur, or Lloyd-Jones. A sermon from Acts 5:29-32 delivered by Martyn Lloyd-Jones struck me. Two Lines of History, looked at Jesus as Prince over governments.

The following represents my personal interpretation & spiritual absorption of the Acts verses and the exposition of them.

We must obey God rather than men is not a license to run amok and freely break the law and become rebellious, of course. God instituted Governments. He is sovereign over them. What is meant here is that where a choice comes to obey God OR man, we obey God. That was the choice given to Peter and he chose wisely.

The concept is, Jesus is savior but also Prince- Governor of nations! He is the Prince of the Universe, thee only one who can govern, the only one who has a right to govern, the only one who is going to govern. But the world rejects this. It needs to be convinced of this, convicted of it.

Of man’s history, man’s government, what are the characteristics of this? It is quite clear in history and in the bible is that government has been appropriated by man who rejects the voice Divine. Despite all of man’s efforts to produce order, the jungle is always encroaching. Man sweats, labors, cuts back the jungle of immorality and yet strife, lawlessness, dictatorships, wars always encroach.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is a monumental work. He listed five reasons why civilizations decline and fall.

1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.

2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.

3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports are becoming more and more exciting and brutal every year.

4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within the decadence of the people.

5. The decay of religion–faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.

(Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1787).

Geographically, Paul was a resident of Jerusalem but a citizen of Rome. Spiritually we are residents of Georgia (or Kentucky or Washington) but our citizenry is in heaven. We owe respect and allegiance to those whom God has set over us in government, but our highest loyalty is toward the Prince of Governments.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7)

Let us sort out out our loyalties and allegiances. Let us look inward in order to prepare for a moment which may come to us as it did to Peter, and make our decisions regarding God and man.Will we obey man, or will we obey the Prince of Government?

A polling station, with watchful Jesus over the government…EPrata photo