Posted in elder women, encouragement, Michelle Lesley, sharon lareau, susan heck

Where are the mature women writers?

Posted on by elizabethprata

It’s been a long week. The time change has thrown me for a loop, I know that. And two weeks of solid rain and darkness and fog hasn’t helped either. When it’s this rainy and dark all you want to do is stay cuddled up in bed and mutter “stay away, cruel world.” When I do get to work, (because God said if a man will not work, he will not eat, 2 Thessalonians 3:10), the kindergarteners, the constant rain and no outside recess makes for a very un-fun atmosphere. They’re cranky too!

I notice that Tim Challies posted an essay of Aimee Byrd’s who had re-posted it from Lisa Spence, called “Where are the mature women writers?“

Lisa expresses her gratitude that there are many younger women passionately writing and given a platform to do so, but laments the lack of more experienced, mature voices to speak to the issues that we are confronted with after the toddler rearing years. … Many of the big conference platforms and marketed book deals are invested in the younger women. I’m glad to see that young women have more resources to choose from these days, but what if we want to read about more than being a mother or the beginning foundations of the faith? Where are the more academic or doctrinal contributions from women? Where are the women being included in theological conversations with men that are not on mere token women’s issues? There are some, but the ratio is way out of whack.  

I agree that the Christian media darlings are usually the younger, more vivacious, excitable women. These are women who write as the author notes, about foundational theological issues or about being mommy to young children. Where are the women with a more mature understanding, going through middle years life issues, or who simply possess a greater wisdom and speak it calmly, even staidly?

There may be fewer of these women and the ratio may be out of whack, but for heaven’s sake, it’s not like there’s a complete dearth of middle years women who write and blog and speak.

There’s 59-year-old, married for 40 years Susan Heck, “With The Master“. Mrs Heck is a mother and a grandmother.

Michelle Lesley is a homeschooling mom of 6, involved in music ministry, and is an author. She blogs at Michelle Lesley Books.

Mrs Sharon Lareau is a 27-years-married woman in New England who home-schooled her children for 18 years. She has health issues which render her homebound and which impact her ministry. Grace abounds in her writing. Her nook is at Chapter3Ministries.

New Englander DebbieLynne Kespert is married and also has cerebral palsy which necessitates the use of a headstick to write. She writes at The Outspoken Tulip.

Georgian Martha Peace is a 50-year married mother of two and grandmother of 12. Mrs Peace is both an author and a speaker. She writes at http://www.marthapeace.com/

And just for a change of pace, there’s me. I am a 55-year-old childless, single woman devoting time outside of work to Jesus, as 1 Corinthians 7:34 says the unmarried or childless woman is to do. I can’t vouch for how wise I am but I do blog theologically. 🙂

This list comprises women of diverse interests and stages and physical abilities of middle years life. I know that there are many more mature, middle years women who blog about the issues we face and the deeper theological thoughts gracefully given to us from years/decades of living in submission to the Lord and His word. I suspect one reason these elder women labor in relative obscurity compared to the younger, media-oriented women is that they just roll up their sleeves and with little fanfare, go about the Lord’s business.

Posted in color, jesus, rainbow

Tourist captures spectacular ‘fire rainbow cloud’ phenomenon on camera

Posted on by elizabethprata
A few days ago I posted about physicists who believe they have discovered a parallel universe bumping into ours. I’d written about what the Bible says about heaven, wondered where heaven is, and how much different the laws of physics might be within it. Mostly, I wondered if God’s heaven is immediately next to us, not just parallel, but in amongst us, just invisible due to being in another dimension.

Today a friend sent me a neat story from the Caribbean. “Tourist captures spectacular ‘fire rainbow cloud’ phenomenon on camera“. The story isn’t being put forward as a spectacular sign from God or anything like that. The sub-hed to the headline states, “There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for the stunning sky display.“

There are two interesting things to me about the story. First, the rainbow-cloud phenomenon photographed there is pretty. I like pretty.

Telegraph UK

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Telegraph UK

The meteorological explanation for the rainbow cloud is pretty simple. As it’s stated in the Telegraph article,

“In clouds, iridescence is a by-product of sunlight being diffracted by water droplets or ice crystals, causing the various wavelengths of light, which we see as colours, to emerge at different angles,” he said.

“As they reach the observer’s eye, the observer perceives a pattern of various colours as those different wavelengths reach his or her eye from distinct directions, rather than being jumbled together and appearing whitish.”

The second thing I thought of when I saw this photo and read the explanation for its appearance, is that the colors are there all along. It’s the angle which makes the difference. It is all about the light- when and at which angle it penetrates the wavelength.

It’s like the kingdom of God. It is there all along, we just can’t see it until the Light penetrates our eyes at a different angle. This is true in a twofold way. The first way the Light penetrates us is by faith, when faith comes. Paul experienced that on the road to Damascus in a vivid and physical way. The Light appeared and he was struck blind for three days, as Jesus spoke to him directly. Then the scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he could see. For the rest of us, faith comes in a metaphorically similar way- the scales fall from our eyes when we repent, and we can “see” Jesus, spiritually.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

The second way the Light comes and illuminates what is already there is when we die, or when we are raptured alive to see Jesus in the future. We will finally be able to physically see by sight what was there all along, the parallel universe which is God’s heaven. We will see Jesus, we will see the New Jerusalem, we will see the amazing creatures who have six wings and wheels within wheels, we will be able to see all of it. It already exists, of course, it is present in real form. We just can’t see it, like we usually cannot see all the colors of the spectrum in a white cloud.

But when the angle changes and suddenly we’re surrounded by iridescent Light, spectacular beauty and color, hallelujah!

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)

Set your eyes on things above, too! You never know, while you’re privileged to see a rare rainbow cloud, you just might also see Jesus returning to gather His loved ones!

Posted in heretic, mark batterson, new age, the shack, william p. young

Heretical New Age books being promoted as Christian (and Christians are buying them)

Posted on by elizabethprata

The information below is from a Facebook post from a person named Jonathan D Hoegle. I do not know who Mr Hoegle is. A friend had re-posted his piece and that is who I became familiar with the list below. I looked at the poster of books and read his bullet-point list of warnings for each book. I agree. I also like the bullet-point format. I have reviewed The Shack, Conversations with God, and the Circle Maker and posted reviews of Jesus Calling that other people wrote. But the list of warnings Mr Hoegle posted for each heretical book is a good quick-reference list.

Hoegle wrote: “All six of these books are often promoted as “Christian” but are “New Age” books which preach “Another Jesus”, “Another Spirit”, and “Another Gospel”.”

“Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch teaches:
● No Devil
● No Sin
● No Hell
● Man is God
● Universalism
● Relativism
● Reincarnation
● Jesus is one of many Ascended Masters (Lord Maitreya, Djwhal Khul, Melchizedek, etc).

“The Shack” by William P. Young teaches:
● Universal Salvation
● God does not Punish Sin
● Human Heart is Good
● “Do what thou Wilt”
● The Bible is Fallible
● Relativism
● Against Organized Churches
● Redefines Sin
● Heaven is not Accurately Depicted in Scripture
● God is Against Rules.
Listen to Jason Cooley/Nate Marino teaching on the Shack
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=815151833102

“The Revelation” by Barbara Max Hubbard teaches:
● Human Nature Good
● Born to be Christ
● You are God
● Separation of God is a Delusion
● If you don’t believe you are God you are Cancer
● 2nd Death is for those Who cannot Evolve
● Christ will not Return until enough People are Linked to Him via (Christ -Consciousness)

“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young teaches:
● Occult/New Age Channeling
● Spiritual Dictation
● Creative Visualization
● Meditation
● Divine Alchemy
● Co-creation with God
● Practicing the Presence
● Jesus Flatters

“The Circle Maker” by Mark & Parker Batterson teaches:
● Insufficiency of the Bible
● Use Witchcraft to get Prayers Answered
● God is Submissive to Man’s Will
● Pray in a Demanding and Arrogant Way rather than Humbly
● Use Visualization Tactics
● “Name it Claim it Theology”
● “Primacy of Man’s Will over God’s Will.”
● Principles Taught in Talmud

“A Course in Miracles” by Helen Schuchman & Marianne Williamson teaches:
● Panentheism (God is everything)
● All is Love
● Recognition of God is Recognition of Self
● No Sin
● No Need for Salvation
● Old Rugged Cross is Useless
● Evil does not Exist
● No Devil,
● We Face Armageddon (in ourselves) No Need for Future Armageddon (collective)
● Meditation.

Thanks Mr Hoegle. Back to me now. Here are some publishing facts of a few of the books Mr Hoegle listed above. In 2014 Jesus Calling was “the seventh-best selling book in America last year was a 10-year-old Christian devotional written by a woman who claims to have written down the words of God.” (source)

Did you catch the import of that? Jesus Calling was ten years old and it was still in the top ten best-seller list. And, it is one of the best selling books in America, not only in Christian circles.

A Course In Miracles “was “scribed” by Dr. Schucman between 1965 and 1972 through a process of inner dictation. She experienced the process as one of a distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which earlier had identified itself to her as Jesus.” (source). Did you know ACIM was made into a movie? And that it has spawned a cottage industry of books, a school, workbooks, promotions on Oprah, and more? Millions of copies of ACIM were sold after cheerleader for the book, Marianne Williamson, appeared on Oprah.

Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch turned onto a long conversation, there are three trilogies of this dribble, nine bestsellers. Walsch explains how he got the books: “In the spring of 1992…an extraordinary phenomenon occurred in my life. God began talking with you. Through me. This time…I decided to write a letter to God. It was a spiteful, passionate letter, full of confusions, contortions, and condemnation. And a pile of angry questions….To my surprise, as I scribbled out the last of my bitter, unanswerable questions and prepared to toss my pen aside, my hand remained poised over the paper, as if held there by some invisible force. Abruptly, the pen began moving on its own. I had no idea what I was about to write… ” Yet another author who got his book by God speaking directly to him.  (source)

In The Revelation, Barbara Marx Hubbard, you guessed it, recorded a divine voice. The NY Times reviewed her book in 1993 and even back then, noted that the book contained a clever marketing ploy- by”associating its product with ideas that the market has already accepted. Hubbard sets out to sell her new age notions by identifying them with nothing less than the Bible.She purports to record the words of the Higher Voice (or Voices) (p 84), as it (or they) spoke to her. It takes the form of a verse-by-verse interpretation of The Book of Revelations of St. John the Divine, the last book of the Bible. The bulk of the book exhibits three types of print, representing scripture, the Inner Voice’s interpretive revelation, and Hubbard’s commentary.”

The Shack was also a book that its author claimed was dictated to him by Jesus. “Then one day in 2005, he felt God whisper in his [William P. Young’s] ear that this year was going to be his year of Jubilee and restoration. Out of that experience he felt lead to write The Shack. According to Young, much of the book was formed around personal conversations he had with God, family, and friends (258-259).” Toward the end of writing the book, Mr Young had said that he spent one weekend writing four chapters, and one chapter came out whole and he never edited it.

We’re batting a thousand here, because The Circle Maker was also channeled. Author Mark Batterson wrote, “There have been moments in my life when the Spirit of God has whispered to my spirit, Mark, the prayers of your grandfather are being answered in your life right now. When Challies reviewed The Circle Maker, he also noted that Batterson seems to hear from God-“Second, he makes direct communication from God the normative experience for the Christian. He speaks often of God whispering to our spirits and encourages Christians to follow inner impressions, what he describes as “the promptings of the Spirit.” “Let me spell it out: If you want to see crazy miracles, obey the crazy promptings of the Holy Spirit.” I believe that every Christian longs for that unmediated, face-to-face contact with God; and yet again, the challenge for the Christian is whether we will be content with being indwelled by the Holy Spirit who illumines the words of Scripture so that God speaks to us through his Word.”

It is not a coincidence that these books claim some sort of direct revelation from God, and are also on the best-seller lists. God spoke in His word. He is not busy authoring books by Batterson, Schuchman ,Young, Hubbard, Young, and Walsch. He chose 40 men to be the minds through which the Holy Spirit flowed His word, not 40 plus six more.

Posted in jesus, physics, universe

Scientists discover a parallel universe bumping into ours?

Posted on by elizabethprata

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

———————————

Scientists believe there are many universes. In theoretical physics this theory is called multiverse. They theorize that the several, or many, universes bump into each other like bubbles and when one collides against another there’s an impact which leaves evidence. Here is Inverse, the science and culture magazine’s take on it:

Parallel universe bumping into ours

We may have, for the first time ever, just glimpsed another universe. A new analysis of data from the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope suggests that a peculiar glow out in deep space could well originate from a separate universe residing just next to ours.

The existence of multiple universes — a multiverse — has been considered scientifically plausible. If all these universes emerged from the same Big Bang, then they’re likely sitting together like ducks in a row, vibrating. If these universes touch one another, the thinking goes, the resulting collision would leave some sort of trace evidence.

Please notice the words ‘likely’, ‘if’, ‘plausible’, ‘suggests’, and ‘could well’. Hence the reason the scientists are called ‘theoretical physicists’.

Now, the bible reveals that there are three heavens. ( 2 Corinthians 12:1-4). The first one is where the birds fly. (Deut. 11:17, Deut. 28:12, Judges 5:4, Acts 14:17).

The second heaven is where the planets are. (Psalm 19:4, 6, Jeremiah 8:2, Isaiah 13:10).

The third heaven is where God dwells. It is the highest heaven. Though we can see the first and second heavens by eye, we can only presently see the third heaven by faith. (2 Corinthians 5:7). No one knows where it is. (1 Kings 8:30, Psalm 2:4, Matthew 5:16, 1 Kings 8:27, Deut. 10:14)

The UK Daily Mail is a good publication for its reporters’ skills in writing for the common man’s understanding. In their article on the subject of this potentially newly discovered multiverse reaction, they write that when they believe the two universes bumped into each other,

Parallel universe

Within this glow left over from the moments after the Big Bang, he discovered a number of spots where the microwave light is far brighter than it should be.

This extra bright light absolutely could be a simple physical reaction when some anomaly occurred in deep space. I’m not a physicist. But I am a Christian, and I do know that God’s glory shines brighter than the sun.

And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. (Matthew 17:1-2)

And this is the message we have heard from him, and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:27)

In the Daily Mail article it continues,

Dr Ranga-Ram Chary says the signals he has seen suggest the alternate universe may be very different from our own. He says it could have a ratio of subatomic particles called baryons and photons that is about ten times greater than what we see in our own universe. This would mean the physics in this alternate universe could be quite different from our own.

As Christians we know that God lives outside of space and time. We also know that it is a real, physical place. Jesus has a real, glorified body, (Luke 24:39). He and also the angels can move in ways that would appear to suspend our own dimension’s physics. He walks on the surface of the sea. (Matthew 14:25). He passed untouched through a mob intent on throwing Him over a cliff. (Luke 4:30). He looks normal man one moment and His glory-light shines out the next. (Matthew 17:2). Angels dispatched from heaven appear to men before their prayer is even finished. (Daniel 9:21). It stands to reason that the physics is different in heaven than it is on earth.

Where is heaven? It seems logical that it is a parallel dimension (or “universe”) separate from but adjacent to ours. It might even overlap.

Where is heaven?

However, since God is spirit, “heaven” cannot signify a place remote from us which He inhabits. The Greek gods were thought of as spending most of their time far away from earth in sort of a celestial equivalent of the Bahamas, but the God of the Bible is not like this. He is always near us when we call on Him (James 4:8), and we are encouraged to “draw near” to Him (Hebrews 10:1, 22). Granted, the “heaven” where saints and angels dwell has to be thought of as a sort of locality, because saints and angels, as God’s creatures, exist in space and time. But when the Creator is said to be “in heaven,” the thought is that He exists on a different plane from us, rather than in a different place.

So when we read that there is an extra-bright light from what appears to be a universe bumping into ours with different physics from ours, it is entirely possible that it is heaven.

What a wonderful anticipation we have in speculating about God’s abode. This much we know:

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” (Revelation 22:3-6)

Posted in discernment, false teachers, God in a box

"God can use it…"

Posted on by elizabethprata
“I don’t agree with everything [insert false teacher’s name here] but there are some good things he/she says.” In rebutting this notion, author Michelle Lesley phrased it best. She said in her essay titled,

Mayoral Candidate Opal Covey Rebukes Fred and Speaks in Tongues–

Ladies, you want to know why I warn against false teachers? This is why. You start out with “gateway drugs” like Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer, thinking, “It’s OK. It’s only a little unbiblical teaching. I can stop any time I want,” and pretty soon you end up like this lady, strung out and face down in the gutter of blasphemy and false doctrine. This is an embarrassment to the church, an awful witness to the lost, and a black eye for Jesus. Just say no to false teaching.

There is the story of the demon-possessed slave girl in Acts which relates here.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16-18)

Why didn’t Paul say, as so many pastors and teachers and women say today, “She is speaking truth. I don’t agree with everything she says, but God can certainly use her. I’ll let her speak for me”?

Because it isn’t about the words such a person says, it’s the source. Paul taught,

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

He made four explicit points:

Righteousness v. lawlessness
Light v. darkness
Christ v. Belial (satan)
Believer v. unbeliever

He made four implicit points. The goal among believers is to be in:
partnership
fellowship
harmony
in common

Whatever flavor your favored partly or all-false teacher demonstrates from the second column, God will not use it. The dividing line is clear. Have nothing to do with those who are lawless, or dark, or of satan, or are an unbeliever.

EPrata photo, not EPrata

For people who say, well, ‘Don’t put God in a box, He can use anything’, you’re right, God can use anything. He can turn me into a giraffe. But will He? No, He created animals after their own kind. Just because God CAN turn me into a giraffe doesn’t mean He will.

He can do anything, even use a demon-possessed girl speaking truth – but He won’t. He didn’t. The Holy Spirit inside Paul was tormented hearing the slave girl speak heavenly glories from a satan-polluted mouth! (Acts 16:18). Any false teacher is demon influenced. In Galatians 1 Paul was astonished they were deserting the Gospel so quickly. In 2 Corinthians 11 he chastised them who put up with a different Gospel so easily. In Revelation 2, Jesus threatened the Thyatirans for tolerating a false prophetess. No, God won’t use falsity. His Son is too beautiful to Him and His Gospel is too pure. Why should he?

God chose to speak thru His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), not through satan. So why would you limit God and put Him in a box by saying He can’t follow through on what He said He will do? Trust Him. If He said He will work through the Gospel given rightly, He will.

And what if…”God can use” a false teacher’s words not to draw women to Christ but to harden them in their sin? Be careful what you say “God can use.” God DOES use sinners, wolves, and false doctrine, but not in the way most people think. God CAN use Beth Moore to harden women in their self-esteem, legalistic, selfish ways.

I’ll end with another best quote from a sister in Christ. When the TV series “The Bible” was released by Roma Downey, Sunny Shell reviewed it. She put in a Q & A to her review. She hypothetically asked,

Q. “Even though there’s a lot of error in this movie, still, don’t you think it’s a great way to show people who God really is, I mean, can’t God use anything to save someone?

A. No, I don’t think this movie is a great way to reveal the truth about God since it’s filled with lies about God. And yes, I realize God can use anything to save someone, but He only chose to use the message of the true Gospel to save all men (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Nowhere in Scripture does God command or allow His children to use the work of Satan to proclaim His truth. And God is clear, anyone who denies Him and defiles His holy character or word, works for the devil, not for God. 

Since the beginning of time, the devil has attempted to minimize and blaspheme God’s holy character by lulling us to disregard His holiness, justice and righteousness. God has never called His children of light to partner with the works of darkness (2 Cor 6:15-16). As God’s children, we are commanded to pursue holiness, rather than try to find a way to compromise the glory of Christ in order to “reach more people”.

Well said, Mrs Shell. As for false teachers, just a little bit of poison kills. We know that satan speaks through these teachers, and satan only speaks lies. He will meld a few lies in with the truth so that the two are nearly indistinguishable, and therefore appear harmless. His lies involve the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh.

If I hear a woman saying “I know [such and such false teacher] doesn’t teach everything according to the bible, but I like some things she teaches” then I know one thing for sure. Something in that false teacher’s doctrine appeals to her flesh and she is unwilling to give that up.

Yet we are called to slay the old man in us. Romans 8:13 says,

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Mortify the flesh, and kill off that part of you that wants to cling to a teacher others have said or shown you with the Word are not giving an authentic Gospel.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Posted in bethel redding, bill johnson, discernment, false church, jesus culture

“Activating” the kids at Bethel Redding

Posted on by elizabethprata

If there was any ever doubt about how satan grabs your kids early, this should erase it. Satan is a relentless enemy, unswerving in his plot to usurp Jesus from His throne, and unstinting on the number of low and dirty tricks he uses to thwart the Gospel at any age and every age. But we read God’s Word “so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Here is a good essay written by a friend, at My Word Like Fire. It shows in devastating manner the ease with which satan goes after the children. We know that Jesus is a victorious King, and that no plan or scheme of satan will ultimately prosper against those who love Jesus…but it’s still difficult to see the kids being chewed up like prey by a bloody and evil enemy.

My question is, to what lengths do you go to protect your children from the schemes of satan? Are you diligent in doing devotionals with them? Reading the Bible to them, and with them? Sacrificially making sure they attend a good Bible-based church for Sunday School or Wednesday night lessons? Do they see your marriage as a metaphor for the sacrifice of Jesus for His bride and submission to Him?

Here is the essay “Activating” the kids at Bethel Redding. Please read.

Bethel Redding leaders continue to present an unbalanced and unhealthy preoccupation with signs and wonders–or, as I have come to call it, a bells-and-whistles theology. It should be no surprise that this is also present in Bethel Redding’s children’s ministry.

Here is just one more example of the blasphemy coming out of Bethel Redding as exposed from My Word Like
Fire-

Bethel Redding Children’s Pastor says Jesus asked him for forgiveness

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. (Luke 17:1-2)

And in case you are thinking that Bethel Redding is just a faraway church on the other side of the country (or world) in California having nothing to do with you, Bethel Redding with pastor Bill Johnson has spawned both the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry where you, too, can learn to be a prophet; and Bethel Redding Music, which is exported all over the world. You might know Bethel Redding’s song One Thing Remains, for example. “Your love never fails, never gives up, it never runs out on me”… among hundreds of other songs infiltrating all churches everywhere. It is written and sung by the group Jesus Culture, formed at Bethel Redding.

See? Satan never gives up, never runs out on you…

Posted in creation, God, valley of vision

Hovering over chaos, order came to birth: Valley of Vision

Posted on by elizabethprata

My morning devotional includes reading one prayer from the phenomenal book “Valley of Vision.” These are Puritan prayers, collected and compiled by grand subject. Today’s was “The Spirit’s Work”. For me, these prayers are utterly moving, piercing, and beautiful with a lyricism of writing and a stirring of the soul that is unmatched, except by the Bible. Here is today’s, and I comment at the end:

The Spirit’s Work (from The Valley of Vision)

O God the Holy Spirit,
Thou who dost proceed from the Father and the Son,
have mercy on me.

When thou didst first hover over chaos,
order came to birth,
beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.
Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart;
Take away the infirmities of unruly desires
and hateful lusts;

Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief;
Brighten my soul with the pure light of truth;
Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise,
rich with every goodly fruit,
beautiful with heavenly grace,
radiant with rays of divine light.

Fulfil in me the glory of thy divine offices;
Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier;
Take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul;
Through thee may I daily learn more of his love,
grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty;
Lead me to the cross and show me his wounds,
the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan;

May I there see my sins as
the nails that transfixed him,
the cords that bound him,
the thorns that tore him,
the sword that pierced him.

Help me to find in his death the reality
and immensity of his love.
Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth
in his, ‘It is finished’.

Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of
atonement achieved, expiation completed,
satisfaction made, guilt done away,
my debt paid, my sins forgiven,
my person redeemed, my soul saved,
hell vanquished, heaven opened,
eternity made mine.

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.
Write them upon my heart, that my walk be
sin-loathing, sin-fleeing, Christ-loving;
And suffer no devil’s device to beguile
or deceive me.

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

As I read the line that says,

When thou didst first hover over chaos, order came to birth, beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.

It brought to mind a metaphor. When all three Persons of the Triune God were intimately involved with the earth’s creation, it made me think of a metaphor of how the Triune God is intimately involved in similar work to hover over us, order coming to birth, beauty robing our soul, and fruitfulness springing forth. He creates out of the formless void of our disordered heart peace, calm, rest, fruitfulness. All three Persons of the Triune God are involved in creating in us an interior world of light.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:2-3)

May the perfect and loving God who created earth and soul, bring you truth and comfort today. Let the Light of His love and Word illuminate your soul.

Posted in discernment, paths, satan

The old paths

Posted on by elizabethprata

Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (Jeremiah 6:16)

Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. (Proverbs 4:26)

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:6)

My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. (Job 23:11)

All our righteous walking with Jesus is not without intervention by angels, strength of the Holy Spirit, and the will of God, because satan the adversary always tries to hinder us. He attempts to knock us off the path. He works to misdirect us.

because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

Gill’s Exposition says of the Thessalonians verse,

Satan does all he can to hinder the preaching of the Gospel, the hearing of the word, the profession of religion, and the saints coming together, and having spiritual conversation with each other; being, as his name “Satan” signifies, an enemy to Christ and his interest, and to the souls of men: indeed he can do nothing but by divine permission, nor can he hinder the will of God, and the execution of that, though he often hinders the will of man, or man from doing his will; he hindered the apostle from doing what he willed and purposed, but he did not hinder the will of God, which was that Paul should be employed in other work elsewhere. 

Stay true to the Lord and His ways. Stay in the Word, and stay praying. God promised to those who walk in His paths that they will find rest for their souls. Though as we see in the Jeremiah verse, some refused to walk in His ways.

The old way isn’t the popular way! It is being abandoned daily by people who have decided that new is better. They are leaving the Bible, the old songs of the faith, old fashioned worship, praising the Lord, and preaching. Seeker services are replacing old time worship of the Lord. Yet, God has not changed, Heb. 13:8. I can find no room to change myself. I think I’ll ask for the old paths and walk in them. How about you? The enemies are changing the signs, but the Lord will knows the way. Let’s ask Him and He will lead! (source)

Amen!

If satan changed the signs on your path, would you still know which way to go?

Posted in beth moore, jared wilson, sharon lareau, sin

6 destructive Church Trends; Pastor’s Wife, Get Real; Beth Moore Simulcast review; Death of PM service; and wearable real-looking wings!

Posted on by elizabethprata

6 Destructive Trends Happening in Your Church by Jared C. Wilson is an excellent article. I love lists, bullet points,and outlines, and this one hits all the points. The article is a synopsis of a longer work,from  Mr Wilson’s book–

The Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto against the Status Quo, by Jared C. Wilson. The book blurb reads:

In The Prodigal Church, Jared Wilson challenges church leaders to reconsider their priorities when it comes to how they “do church” and reach people in their communities, arguing that we too often rely on loud music, flashy lights, and skinny jeans to get people in the door. 

Writing with the grace and kindness of a trusted friend, Wilson encourages readers to reexamine the Bible’s teaching, not simply return to a traditional model for tradition’s sake. He then sets forth an alternative to both the attractional and the traditional models: an explicitly biblical approach that is gospel focused, grace based, and fruit oriented.

My favorite one is #4. Closely followed by #5.

————————————————-

This next article was published today by Baptist Press. It is titled,

FIRST-PERSON: Pastor’s wife, be real!

HOBBS, N.M. (BP) — It is the loudest silence, a moment so brief it is imperceptible to the untrained ear — that moment between reality and response when faced with the traditional Sunday greeting of “How are you?”
Inside there is a heart crying out to be known. Yet, as we turn up our smiles, we turn down the volume on the voice of truth. I am fine. I am great. My life is in order.
Pastor’s wife, we are facing an epidemic in our churches. It is the epidemic of being “fine.” Somehow we have bought into the lie that if anyone knew our true humanity and all of its nagging sin nature, we would be ostracized.

I love the church assembly. Some assemblies are more genuine than others, and of course none are perfect. At least if they had been perfect, they shine was off the moment I joined. However, one thing bugs me about church.

As much as we complain that church isn’t a show, we put on a show all the time, in pretending we’re fine. We’re not. How do I know we’re not? We’re sinners, (Romans 3:10) and we live on a world whose ‘god’ is currently the author of evil. (2 Cor 4:4) Of course we’re not fine. Get real.

——————————————–

Mrs Sharon Lareau has taken much time, prayer, and study to present to us women a Living Proof Live Simulcast Review, Part One. She extensively compares what Beth Moore was teaching at this latest simulcast, to the Bible. I recommend her presentation to you, urgently.

In a companion essay to her review, Mrs Lareau examines the main idea Beth Moore so fervently delivered in the simulcast, the message that all women are lacking and need to hear, which is that we need a big romance with Jesus. Mrs Lareau looks at this teaching in her essay Romance with Jesus: The Bigger Picture. This is also an excellent essay that I recommend to you. Good gravy, just go to Mrs Lareau’s page and bookmark it. You will be glad you did. 🙂

——————————————–

Another good one from Reformation 21, The Death of the Evening Service

When I was first asked about my “vision” for the church, I made the point that I’d like to see better attendance at the evening service. From some outside the church I received a few silly suggestions, but I resolved to do two things: 

1. Not coerce or manipulate people to come to the evening service.
2. Let the gospel do its work.

So why is retaining the evening service a good idea?

——————————————–

Now’s your chance to see Alexis Noriega’s beautiful pair of human-sized pneumatic articulating feather wings, which she made for Halloween. She will be posting a tutorial soon for people interested in building their own pair. Pretty cool.

Fly Like an Eagle

Posted in atonement, cs lewis, discernment, purgatory, sacred cow

Of C.S. Lewis and sacred cows

Posted on by elizabethprata
EPrata photo

A sacred cow is…

An idiom is based on the popular understanding of the elevated place of cows in Hinduism and appears to have emerged in America in the late 19th century. A literal sacred cow or sacred bull is an actual cow or bull that is treated with sincere reverence. A figurative sacred cow is a figure of speech for something considered immune from question or criticism, especially unreasonably so. (source)

Are there sacred cows in Christianity? Yes. Just ask young Jessica Lam, who dared to gently chide Beth Moore’s teaching, and Moore herself came down on Mrs. Lam like a bag of hammers. You can read about it here.

Sacred cows Ravi Zacharias and Billy Graham also get a pass, being untouchable from criticism, or even from examination of their teachings. The Pope and Mother Teresa are also sacred cows, but they are not in the faith to begin with.

CS Lewis is another sacred cow.

At Church Leaders.com, C. Michael Patton asked a great question. Why do we love CS Lewis and hate Rob Bell? Speaking to the notion of the sacred cow, Patton opens his essay this way

Theologically, there is some stuff people try to sweep under the rug as well. In fact, though I say C.S. Lewis is loved by all, I do remember walking into church one day years ago. They were giving away a bunch of the “overstock” books from the library. I saw a church elder throwing away a lot of books as well. They were all C.S. Lewis! When I inquired about his odd blasphemous actions, he said that C.S. Lewis was a heretic because he did not believe in inerrancy. While this is something of an extreme example, I think it is important to realize that not everyone likes C.S. Lewis. Almost everyone, but not all. Why? 

Because he had some “non-evangelical” leanings. Besides not believing in inerrancy, he also believed in the theory of evolution, denied substitutionary atonement in favor of a “ransom to Satan,” bordered on a Pelagian idea of human freedom, seemed to advocate baptismal regeneration, and regularly prayed for the dead. To top it all off, he held out hope for the destiny of the unevangelized, believing that Christ might save them outside of direct knowledge of him (inclusivism). With all of these foibles, I seriously doubt any evangelical church would take a second look at his resume were he to apply for a pastorate at their church today. In fact, this list alone would be enough for many to call him a heretic. However, we still love him. We still read him. We still defend him. We still hand out his books by the dozens to friends and family who are struggling with their faith. This man who had his Christianity affirmed by Dr. Bob Jones but questioned by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is beloved by just about everyone, making him off-limits for serious criticism. Why?

The writer goes on to defend Lewis despite Lewis’ aforementioned “theological foibles.” Pardon me but many of the things Lewis believed in, noted above and also including the Catholic concept of purgatory, are heresy, not ‘foibles’. But Lewis gets a pass. Why? On the strength of Lewis’ persuasive arguments? (Colossians 2:4). His well-written philosophies? (Colossians 2:8).

When I first became a Christian, people urged me to read CS Lewis’ work. I said “OK.” I read Mere Christianity. I did not like it. I read The Great Divorce. I hated it. I read The Screwtape Letters, and was amused by it, but that waned halfway through. I never finished. I never even started Chronicles of Narnia. I don’t favor animal stories. Miracles? Blech. Weight of Glory? Didn’t understand it, biblically. I really tried hard, too.

I thought to myself “What is the big deal all about??” So I looked up Lewis’ theology. I was shocked that anyone would regard him as an evangelical. The man’s theology was a mess.

But I held my peace and went on my way.

In 2011 The Gospel Coalition’s Kevin DeYoung cautioned us on Mere Christianity.

C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity is a classic. It is a winsome, thoughtful, well-written defense of the Christian faith. Some of its better known sections–like the famous liar, lunatic, Lord, trilemma–have become part of the way evangelicals think and speak. No doubt God has used Lewis and Mere Christianity to awaken affections for Christ, engage the mind for Christ, and remove obstacles for the Spirit to draw people to Christ. I’m thankful for all this. More than that, I’ve benefited from every Lewis book I’ve read. But C.S. Lewis was not an evangelical. Mere Christianity shows why. Let me highlight two significant problems.

In 2013 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary noted there were some difficulties with Lewis’ theology, but continued to value his contribution to the canon of Christian thought and literature.

CT writer J.D. Douglas paraphrases Lloyd-Jones, saying Lewis’ view of salvation was “defective in two key respects: (1) Lewis taught and believed that one could reason oneself into Christianity; and (2) Lewis was an opponent of the substitutionary and penal theory of the Atonement.” In the same essay, Douglas notes Lewis’ wide celebration among evangelicals and even credits Lewis with making “righteousness readable.”

In 2015 we hear a pastor urge us to quit Lewis. I always appreciate Pastor Mike Abendroth’s biblical stance and plain honesty. Here is this short clip, he says, “Stop Quoting CS Lewis”. I totally agree.

In discernment, the command in God’s word is, test all things. Hold fast to the good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The Jamieson-Fausset Commentary says of the Thessalonians verse,

Locke says, Those who are for laying aside reason in matters of revelation, resemble one who would put out his eyes in order to use a telescope.

Test ALL. You might be surprised at what you discover, cow plop and all.