Posted in jerusalem, news, peace, psalm

Unrest in Jerusalem: a month of terror attacks takes its toll

Posted on by elizabethprata
Pixabay photo

Jerusalem and Israel proper is the location where our Holy God has put His name (2 Chronicles 6:6) and set up His people. (Zechariah 2:12).

As a result, the world hates the holy city. The world hates His people. The world hates the tiny nation. Yet God has said that those who harm Zion touch God Himself. (Zechariah 2:8).

But the God-hating world doesn’t care about what God has said. The sinful world hates Sinless God and ignores His warnings…and touches Israel anyway.

Of late there has been an increase in violence in Jerusalem. Usually when I write about any terror attacks in that holy land it means that the Palestinians are lobbing rockets their way. This time is different. The terror attacks are personal and one-on-one: car rammings and stabbings. Here is a report from Tel Aviv by AFP News

As violence grips Jerusalem and other cities, a climate of suspicion has threatened even the most basic interactions between Jews and Israeli Arabs, not to mention Palestinians. Israeli authorities have long sought to stress the diverse nature of their society, with Israeli Arabs and Jews living together. But while some cities are relatively integrated, on the whole the two communities live parallel existences. Arab Israelis account for some 17.5 percent of Israel’s population. A series of gun, knife and car-ramming attacks against Jews as well as ongoing clashes between security forces and Palestinian protesters has worsened mutual mistrust. In the streets of Jerusalem and other cities, Israelis are frightened by random knife attacks, 

See this live-listing from the IDF blog (Israel Defense Force)

The latest cycle of Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians began on September 14th, and has been ongoing. This violence includes unruly riots, shootings, stabbings, car rammings, hurled IED’s and rock attacks that are taking place throughout the country.
The IDF and its troops continue to work tirelessly with its partners in the Defense Establishment to protect themselves and ensure security for Israel’s civilians, in accordance with government directives. 

Terror attacks by the numbers: 

41 Stabbings
4 Shootings
5 Car Rammings 

For real-time updates, follow our Twitter account:@IDFSpokesperson 

October 23
7:15 A.M. – IDF soldier injured in stabbing attack near Gush Etzion. Assailant shot on site.

October 22
8:00 A.M. – Israeli civilian injured in stabbing attack in Beit Shemesh. Assailant shot on site. 

October 21
9:00 P.M. – Five IDF soldiers injured in car ramming attack near Bethlehem. Assailant shot on site.
3:30 P.M. – IDF soldier injured in stabbing attack near Jerusalem. Assailant shot on site.
6:20 A.M. – Attempted stabbing attack in Israeli community near Nablus. Assailant shot on site. 

October 20
9:50 P.M. – IDF soldier injured in stabbing attack in Hebron. Two assailants shot on site.
4:30 P.M. – IDF soldier and Israeli civilian injured in car ramming attack at Gush Etzion Junction. Assailant then attempted to stab the wounded but was shot on site.
11:15 A.M. – IDF officer injured in stabbing attack during violent riot near Hebron. Assailant shot on site. 

And so on…

As Mr Abbas, the Palestinian Authority President commented at the outset of this latest surge of violence.

Mr. Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, said the following on Palestinian television on Sept. 16: “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem. This is pure blood, clean blood, blood on its way to Allah. With the help of Allah, every martyr will be in heaven, and every wounded will get his reward.”

CBN posted this a few minutes ago:

Israel Ramps Up Security at Rachel’s Tomb amid Terror Surge

JERUSALEM, Israel — Thousands of Jewish worshippers gathered at Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem Friday and many more are expected throughout the weekend to mark the anniversary of the biblical matriarch’s death. Israeli authorities will deploy hundreds of extra police and security forces to the site in view of the surge in attacks by Palestinian terrorists. The rise in attacks began on the eve of the Jewish New Year and continued throughout the fall holidays and afterward.

As I said at the beginning of this essay, the world hates Israel and Jewish people because God has set His name upon them. So why, if God loves His people as the Bible claims, does the LORD allow terror and evil to befall His people so often, these people who are the apple of His eye? Because of His promises. Not only did He promise them Land, and His presence among them as ruler, and exaltation, and being set apart and dwelling in safety, He also promised punishment if they failed to worship Him as He commanded. Therefore, the LORD is allowing this violence as part of His ongoing promise of punishment of His people for rejecting His Son, Jesus, the promised Messiah, for their rebelliousness and their faithlessness.

This punishment will continue until it reaches its full expression in the Tribulation. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7, FMI go here) is about Daniel’s people as it is stated in the Book of Daniel in 9:24.

The Tribulation has nothing to do with the Church. It has everything to do with the pagan world’s rebelliousness in pursuing sin and not God, (Isaiah 24). It will be a time when God will purge the earth of wicked people. It also has everything to do with Israel.

As evil and dark as the Great Tribulation will be, it will also be a time of glorious salvation. (Revelation 7, especially Revelation 7:9). Many will come to redemption, and all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:26-27, Isaiah 45:17).

We are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. When we pray for that peace, we are really praying for the Lord’s return and the end of all hostilities against His people in His land, forever. The hostilities will continue to occur until that Day, the Day of the LORD.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.” (Psalm 122:6).

We pray for His holy city, for the prosperity of a city whose very name means peace. In so praying we are also praying for the holy Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem. As Gill’s Exposition states of the Psalm 122:6 verse,

for Jerusalem, not merely literally considered; though as that was the metropolis of the nation, and many of them the psalmist addresses were inhabitants of it, it became them to seek and pray for the peace of it, their own peace being concerned in it; see Jeremiah 29:7; but for the spiritual and heavenly Jerusalem, the church of God, and for the peace of it; that Christ, the Man, the Peace, the Peacemaker

The minds of the Jerusalemites are darkened in understanding about Who Jesus is. The minds of the Palestianians are darkened in understanding about who Allah is. Rather than hate them, because they are not our enemies, we love them in their ignorance and pray for deliverance; deliverance of the city, of the Land, of the people.

The LORD will set the Day in which He will protect His people with His own hand. (Ezekiel 38:17-23). At the final battle called Armageddon, human rule is destroyed forever. (Daniel 2:44). Israel

Pray for the peace that will bring war, and pray for the war that will being peace. Love Jerusalem and share our goods with the poor of that most high city.

For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. (Romans 15:26-27).

Posted in angel, jesus, magi, star

What was the "star" of Bethlehem?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I read with interest the research by Colin Nicholl regarding Mr Nicholl’s new book, The Great Christ Comet, reviewed by Tim Challies. Apparently the book is a scholarly journey into discovering what the star was which guided the magi after Christ’s birth. Speculations over the years have leaned toward an astronomical event ranging from a planetary conjunction, to a comet, to a nova. Others have speculated that it was some kind of natural phenomenon. Mr Nicholl’s conclusion was that the “star” was likely a comet.

I am not a scholar and I am not an astronomer. I may be displaying my great ignorance just by commenting on this topic. However I would like to humbly plunge ahead, and propose that the “star” which led the Magi from the east to Christ’s home could have been an angel.

I suggest this as a possibility to be seriously considered, for the following reasons. First, let’s read the pertinent verses (of which there are not many) beginning in Matthew 2:1-2,

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

We read further in Matthew 2:9-10, that

After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

The very name ‘angel’ in Hebrew is malak which means messenger, and in the Greek it’s aggelos which means the same. The greatest news the world has ever known or will know is the news of Jesus Christ, so it makes sense that God would use an angel to herald Christ’s birth to the Magi. God used an angel to tell Zechariah of the coming birth of the forerunner to the Messiah, John the Baptist. He used an angel to tell Mary (Luke 1:30) she would conceive by the Holy Spirit. He used an angel to tell Joseph not to divorce Mary and also to warn Joseph in a dream of the danger to the baby. (Matthew 1:20, Matthew 2:13) He used angels to tell the shepherds that Christ was born. (Luke 2:9). Given that angels were heavily involved as messengers to tell the good news of Christ’s birth, it makes sense He would use the same method to tell the Magi, as well.

Secondly, angels are formidable, powerful beings. They possess intellect, will, and strength. The holy angels carry out the will of God, including agents of His judgment. Look at some biblical examples of how powerful angels are:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. (Revelation 7:1)

saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. (Revelation 9:14-15, these are unholy angels, but being angels, they are still incredibly powerful).

One angel in Revelation 14:6-7 is so powerful that he flies around the earth at mid-heaven to proclaim the eternal Gospel to all who live on the earth with his loud voice.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, (Revelation 19:17).

By these examples we know the power of angels, and that they can and do supersede ‘the natural order’ when God wills. If they can hold back the winds of earth, fly in midheaven around the planet, and stand on the sun, it makes sense that angels can also appear in the sky and shine a light bright enough to guide Magi across the desert.

Third, angels are called ‘stars’ in the bible. It is one of their nicknames. In Job 38:7 we read that all the stars shouted for joy when God made the world, and stars could either mean the actual stars or more probably, it was the angels shouted for joy at being witness to this stupendous act of God.

In Rev 12:4 we read that satan drew 1/3 of the ‘stars of heaven’ down with him to sin and rebellion against God, and a parallel to that is in Daniel 8:10, where the ‘little horn’ grew great and drew some of the ‘starry host’ down to earth. Revelation 1:20 tells us that the stars in context are angels:

As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

However the verse from Daniel 8:10 and Revelation 1:20 are disputed. The angels referred to as stars in Revelation could also mean the pastors of those churches.

Fourth, if the star that moved purposely in the sky was an angel, it would solve the issue that arises with a planet normally maintaining an orbit, or a comet maintaining a trajectory. The star in Matthew did move in a way that was distinct from any known planetary object. It moved before the men and came to rest at the place the LORD intended for it to rest, above Jesus’ house.

So we have learned that angels have a function in the bible from Genesis to Revelation as messenger, are powerful enough to stay in the sky and guide men, are frequently referred to as “stars” in the Bible, and are used intensely in the events surrounding Christ’s birth. These are just some of my ideas as to the mysterious object in the sky leading the Magi to the place where our precious Savior dwelled in his earliest days on earth. I could be extremely wrong, but I thought I’d throw my two cents into the pot.

Posted in grace, poem, sin

The winds of sin: A Poem

Posted on by elizabethprata

The winds of sin blow strong
The hearts of stone weigh heavy
The minds of shadow love darkness
The evil day His will prolongs.

The wicked will not prosper
They answer for their deeds
Their names not found on the roster
They stand before Him, these weeds

The winds of grace blow strong
Sin, death and hell cast out
All is fresh and new in beauty
Jesus reigns in glory over the throng

By EPrata

Posted in chris powers, encouragement, full of eyes, joy, titus

Awaiting the Blessed Hope

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a beautiful drawing from Chris Powers of Full of Eyes Ministry. His picture brings to life the verse from Titus 2:12-14,

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

I’m waiting for the Blessed Hope, so eagerly and excitedly.

Chris’ artist statement is:

In these verses, Paul’s point seems to be that the grace of God teaches us to be godly pilgrims in this life, living in the world as faithful people of God, and yet always waiting, always hoping, always looking for the appearing of our great God – Jesus Christ. I have always been struck by the beauty of Paul’s contrasts here….directly after affirming that Christ is “our great God and Savior,” he adds “who gave Himself for us.” Christ’s deity and His sacrificial death are placed side by side as a reminder of the depths of His love and the beauty of His character…..our God is the One who gave Himself for us….and the God who gave Himself for us is the One whose glory will one day dissolve earth an heaven in His appearing……how stunning it will be for believers on that day! 

The One whose beauty is splintering the skies and whose majesty is terrifying the nations,  that same one  is the one who loves us and gave Himself for us….wonderful.
In this image I wanted to show that the believer is a pilgrim and yet always lives with the “sight” (by faith) of Christ’s appearing before their eyes….He is our great hope.

Chris Powers illustration, Full of Eyes Ministry

I can’t imagine what it will be like when we hear the trumpet and the Voice calling us home! I can’t imagine our joy, and our amazement and our relief and our surprise and our worship. I can’t imagine what it will be like to live in a body that is un-corrupt and free from sin!

The Christian life is hard. As we grow more toward the holy end of the spectrum the more we hate our own bodies, minds, and hearts. Not because we have low self-esteem, as I used to think before I was saved, but because we know how our sinful acts blot the name of Jesus and are against Him and Him alone. We love Him so much, He being of perfect character and beauty, that when we sin it’s hurtful to our own selves more and more. Our very bones groan in agony. Psalm 6:1-3 captures it

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
2Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
3My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O LORD—how long?

And that brings us back to the Titus 2:12 verse. The spirit is training us to renounce ungodliness and live self-controlled upright lives, while we wait for the Blessed Hope. He is Blessed, and the Hope is great! Turn your countenance toward heaven, see the joy set before you (by faith) and know that one day, our joy will be by sight.

Posted in bible, death, jack kelley

Jack Kelley has died

Posted on by elizabethprata
Source

Many of you are familiar with writer Jack Kelley. He ran a website called Grace Thru Faith and on it he wrote many essays explaining the Bible from his interpretation. Apparently he had been sick to his stomach for a few weeks, unable to keep anything down. His (I assume wife) Samantha took him to the hospital due to symptoms of dehydration. After extensive tests they discovered cancer riddling his body. They put Mr Kelley in hospice care immediately.

Now it is reported that Mr Kelley has died. The end came very quickly for him. He went from feeling merely unwell, to hospital, to end of life care, to death, to eternity. The following was posted on his website today:

Monday, October 19th, 2015
Update: Last night after a beautiful time of prayer and worship over him, Jack went home to meet his Savior. It wasn’t the healing I, and so many others, had asked and believed for. But it is, in Jack’s words, the ultimate healing. Below are the words that he wrote in 2006 that bring me comfort in this while my heart is broken. I pray they give you comfort as well. 

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
The following question was emailed to our “Ask a Bible Teacher” column this week. Since it’s such an important question, I’m responding in our feature article format so as to provide greater detail. This will also allow more people to see it, because it’s a question we’ve all asked. Continue reading

I’ve mentioned that I disagreed with Mr Kelley on many of his biblical interpretations regarding bearing fruit, Calvinism, Catholicism, and young earth. My point is, he knows the truth now. The end can come at any time for any person. Do you know what you believe? Do you know why you believe it? Are you sure that what you believe is in line with the Bible? How do you know?

Though we sin daily, we need not fear standing before the Lord when we are called home through death or the rapture. It could be fairly sudden as it was for Mr Kelley. Death could come nearly instantly, like when my Christ-denying father failed to yield at an intersection, was hit, and died at the scene. When Mr Kelley went to the hospital I’m sure he never expected to be put in hospice care that day. When my father got in his car to drive into town I’m sure he never expected to end up a few moments later at his eternal destination.

If you’re putting off witnessing to a person, thinking, “I’ll get to it tomorrow” there might not be a tomorrow for that person- or for you. Life holds many surprises. The very next breath we draw could be our last. Or the breath we expect to be our last might turn out to be one of many more.

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

Anyway I just wanted you to be aware of the news regarding Mr Kelley. I know some of you read his site.

You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. (Psalm 39:5)

———————————————–

Further reading

airō on Jack Kelley: Gutless Gracers’ easy-believism

Posted in encouragement, praise, scripture photo, worship

Scripture photo: Love unmerited; and a praise to the Lord

Posted on by elizabethprata

I attended a church service today that was so sweet, so fresh, so fine, it sparked my thirst for seeing Jesus face to face all the more. Heaven’s worship is going to be so wonderful, I can hardly think on it!

The service began with five baptisms at the middle service. The pastor said there were several baptisms at the early service and several more would be conducted at the later service. Upon stating their desire for baptism, the prospective baptizees must complete a four week ‘new member’ course prior to being immersed. Baptism at this church is a serious thing, being a weighty ordinance of the Lord, and it is not undertaken casually. Therefore, knowing this, I celebrated their obedience into the faith all the more! I always tear up at baptisms, and this one was so beautiful I did have many more tears than usual. The elderly lady sitting next to me put her arm around me and said “Is one of them yours?” I said “No, but yes, they all are, now. They are my family.”

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

What a blessing to see new believers step forward and openly declare their intent to follow Jesus. Some of the baptizees were adults, some were college aged, some were younger. One man was an exchange student from China. What a wondrous display of the Holy Spirit’s move, to bring a person here to be baptized into the faith and when his school term ends, will return to plant his own seeds.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

After some good music, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty…” the pastor said that next Sunday the congregation will come together to vote on purchasing a house and 4-acre parcel adjacent to the existing 16-acre campus, it will complete their long-term vision. They believe they are meant to be in that spot, stay in that spot, and to grow disciples who in turn go out and plant churches in the neighborhood, county, state, nation, and the world. And they are doing this. They are committed to this biblical model, and it is a joy to see their obedience to it and the Spirit’s working through them in it.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

The sermon was at once Jesus-exalting and personally humbling as the pastor exposited the word of God and gravely and lovingly explained a parable from Matthew. What a balm to receive the word from a mature preacher who understands the scripture and is eager and sober in explaining it to his flock.

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (Jeremiah 3:15)

After the sermon we had the privilege of praying over and commissioning a couple with their baby who are finishing their furlough and are returning to their mission field into East Asia. Anyone who wanted to pray aloud for this humble and obedient couple was invited forward to do so. Hands were laid upon them, tears were shed, and hope was ignited that many living in darkness would hear the Gospel and be saved.

And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (Mark 5:19-20)

I know the state of the visible church and it is not good. But the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church that Jesus is building and where there IS a solid visible congregation, it is a beautiful thing.

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22)

The worship of the Holy head of our church, Jesus Christ, no matter where you are, is a life-affirming, sobering, joyful, glad thing, and something we have privilege to do each day for all eternity when we arrive en masse at New Jerusalem at the rapture. O blessed day.

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. (Psalm 111:1)

Posted in america, christianity, discernment, heresy

The biggest heresy in America

Posted on by elizabethprata

Listening to John MacArthur’s second sermon this morning, on “Why The World Hates Christians, part 2” he mentioned an 11-month-old survey done by Ligonier and LifeWay Research. The research involved identifying the biggest heresy in America. Before MacArthur revealed what it was, I’d thought it might be Prosperity Gospel, or Charismatic errors. Nope.

Here is what Ligonier/LifeWay found: The biggest heresy in America was a denial of human depravity. Human depravity is the concept that after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, all humans from that point on are completely unable to see the things of God, to do any righteous deeds pleasing to God, or to respond in any way to God. We are completely unable. Our inability renders us dead in our sins, and being dead in our sins renders us unable. We need God to draw us to Him, to make us see Him, and to be able to respond to Him. This doctrine means, we as humans prior to repentance and justification, cannot “choose God.” As John MacArthur explains complete inability:

This doctrine has been called “Total Depravity,” but I feel that the “total depravity” is a misleading term.  If you look up “depravity” in the dictionary, it’s a synonym for viciousness.  It’s a synonym for being vile.  In fact, to be depraved, according to the dictionary, is to be degraded, debased, immoral to a dangerous degree like rapists and serial killers.  The word “depraved” sort of connotes a level of evil that’s just not applicable to everybody.  To say someone is totally depraved, you know, you think of Jeffrey Dahmers, or Charles Manson, or somebody who has not a vestige of human goodness, and void of all normal affection and restraint.  To call someone “totally depraved” would set them outside normal people as vicious perverts.  

That is not what is meant when theologians refer to total depravity because not everybody is as bad as they could be, and not everybody is as bad as everybody else.  What we’re talking about here is what I’ve chosen to call “absolute inability.”  What is true of everybody is we have no ability to respond to the gospel.  We are completely unable to raise ourselves out of a state of death.  We are completely unable to give our blind hearts sight.  We are completely unable to free ourselves from slavery to sin.  We are completely unable to turn from ignorance to truth.  We are completely unable to stop rebelling against God, stop being hostile to His Word.  

We are not only unable but we are unwilling to do that, unwilling to repent, unwilling to believe.  And if we are to repent and to believe, then it must be like it was for Lazarus, where God who commands the dead to rise has to also give them the power.

The church I used to attend is just such a church, participating in promoting the biggest heresy in America. From the pulpit and in Sunday School the Calvinist-hating pastor used to promote the notion of “free will” and our ability to choose Jesus as Savior. He would talk about our minds having just a ”flawed rationale’ and ‘clouded thinking’, not the fact that the Bible states we are completely blind (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) and totally unable to do anything for God. (Romans 3:10). Five minutes into one Sunday School lesson he explained free will and on that same Sunday in a 20 minute sermon he mentioned it again 5 more times. Talk about indoctrination. And this was just a dinky little Southern Baptist Church in a rural county.

Here is a web page listing all the verses which explain man’s incapability to choose God.

With such indoctrination about the false concept from churches from east to west, and on television and in books and in movies that we have freedom to choose Jesus, it’s no wonder that this heresy has grown so monstrously pervasive. I’m glad Ligonier/LifeWay named it a heresy.

Here is an excerpt from their research conclusions-

Thanks to a recent survey by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research we now know the biggest heresy in America. Pushing errors regarding the trinity and the church into second and third place is the denial of the Bible’s teaching about the doctrine of sin, especially in the related areas of human depravity and human inability. I say “related” because what we believe about human depravity impacts what we believe about human ability; what we are determines what we can or cannot do.

Regarding human depravity, the research showed: 

  • 67% agree “Everyone sins at least a little, but most people are by nature good.”
  • 40% agree “God loves me because of the good I do or have done.” 

Regarding human inability, the statistics were: 

  • Only 16% agree with the doctrine that says “people do not have the ability to turn to God on their own initiative.
  • 71% of Americans agree that “an individual must contribute his/her own effort for personal salvation.”
  • 64% of Americans agree “a person obtains peace with God by first taking the initiative to seek God and then God responds with grace.” 

In summary, the vast majority believe that: 

  • Though we sin a little, by nature we are good.
  • We can do good and God rewards our good deeds by loving us.
  • We have the ability to turn to God on our own initiative.
  • Salvation involves us taking the initiative that God then responds to.

Go to the link above for more information and Ligonier’s infographic. Their conclusion was this:

“The future belongs to Christians with conviction.”

Is that you? Do you stand by what you believe? Are you strong on biblical knowledge and exhibiting a practical holiness? Because now is the time to know what you believe, why you believe it, and be ready to defend it- at all costs. Luke 14:28.

Posted in children, discernment, satan

Here is an example of how satan targets children

Posted on by elizabethprata

Satan is targeting your children. You know this. But do you really know it?

We read the newspapers about what the world is doing to children in schools, with the teachings on the false theory of evolution, with gender-neutral bathrooms, the homosexual agenda in “sex ed.” But outside of schools behind the scenes there is monstrous pressure, relentless, shark-like never ending pressure to succumb to evil. Here is an excerpt from an unsolicited email I received this week. It is one of many I receive from authors and publishers wanting me to promote their books. If they are sending me, a small, insignificant blogger, emails like these, you can be sure they are papering their doctrines of demons from wall to wall, top to bottom.

I would love to send you a new book that teaches The Law of Attraction, and other metaphysical ideas, to children. The author is a Reiki Master and proficient in the Bowen Technique, as well as has a diploma in Energetic Healing. Even if you do not typically review books, we did want to offer the book to you in case you felt so inspired to share it with the children in your life, and, if they enjoy the book, perhaps post about it on social media or in your newsletter or recommend it among like-minded friends.

It’s gut-wrenching and startling to read something like this, isn’t it? Satan is at work, prowling like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. Be honest, when you read that verse, you picture in your mind that satan is going after you, or friends- adults. But instead, picture satan the lion devouring a child. He rips their little souls to shreds, their innocent faith crumbling under massive badgering to see the world satan’s way.

From the beginning of the Bible, we see that human-kind understood that children are a blessing from God, given by Him. Eve said,

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” (Genesis 4:1).

In Genesis 33:5 we read,

Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked. Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.

The LORD thinks highly of children. He blesses a family by giving a child to them!

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5)

So if children are a blessing, a heritage, and a reward, how should we be raising them? In the knowledge of the LORD and His ways, of course. But these days, easier said than done.

Now, I do not have kids, so even commenting on parenting children and raising them in the Lord is a tough row to hoe for me. However, I am an educator in an elementary school and have been since 1983. I’ve seen the decline of morality, and the foundation of family crumble, from a mass perspective if not a personal one. in looking at classroom after classroom of wide-eyed innocents. Let me tell you, the decline is precipitous.

So given how high-risk these days are, and given how hard satan is going after the children, here are a few good resources for parents and relatives to peruse and perhaps use in contending for the spiritual safety of the kids.

Parents—Don’t Leave Teaching to the Church

The church is not the only place our children should be taught biblical truth. Parents can do many practical things to combat the evolutionary indoctrination their children face. In addition to ensuring that their children receive meaningful instruction from church, parents are responsible to build a biblical worldview in their children on a daily basis.

On. A. Daily. Basis.

Don’t wait until the children are one year old, or two years old. Or entering daycare. Or wait until Pre-Kindergarten. From birth, teach Jesus on a daily basis. AND live it in front of them.

Michelle Lesley wrote a series entitled The 10 commandments of Parenting.

Commandment 1: Thou Shalt Be A Believer
Commandment 2: Thou shalt put God first in thine own life
Commandment 3: Thou shalt have a Christ-centered marriage 
Commandment 4: Thou shalt make a pro-active decision that thy household will be a Godly one
Commandment 5: Thou shalt train thy children in the words of the Scriptures
Commandment 6: Thou shalt teach thy children to pray
Commandment 7: Thou shalt consistently and lovingly discipline thy children
Commandment 8:
Commandment 9: Thou Shalt Be Forgiving
Commandment 10: Thou Shalt Love

Grace To You: Ten Commandments of Parenting

One of the most common questions I get from Christian parents is about parenting.  They want specific and practical advice for rearing their children in the very best way. Couples usually understand their general parental responsibility, but will often speak of the need for help in specifically framing their biblical commitments to optimally shepherd and train their children.

Children don’t know when their innocent and correct worldview is being chipped away at. But it is, since the first moments they take a breath. Guard the kids!

Posted in death, discernment, hell, jesus, love, sin, wrath

When love includes hate

Posted on by elizabethprata

I had a Twitter interaction this week. With an opening like that, you know how the rest of this is going to go.

There are Christians on Twitter who tweet verses about God’s love. This is fine and great. I do that too! But there is an overemphasis in social media on God’s love, and rarely presentation of our personal sin, or His wrath, or the world’s curse or death, or hell. Yet Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven.

As the writer at Bible.org stated,

It may be worth noting that in Deuteronomy 28 (and following), the blessing section (28:1-14) is a great deal shorter than the cursing section (28:15-68). 

Speaking only of hell or wrath isn’t good either. God is a balanced and perfect God, and speaking of any and all of His attributes is always fruitful. But the excessive focus on “love” is, well, sickeningly sweet to me. Presenting only the ‘good’ attributes like love to the world, gives the world a picture of a Holy and Sovereign God as needy and wimpy.

Here is how the Twitter conversation went. I saw this tweet being re-tweeted by someone who I follow and follows me:

So I replied with this from Revelation 19:11,

And she valiantly and staunchly tweeted back:

She didn’t even tweet back a verse of love, but instead chose to deliberately cut out the part of the verse that says He makes war and judges. Those attributes are not so popular, and they get very little airing on public forums like Facebook, comment sections, and Twitter. So I answered:

And there was no reply.

I had heard a Phil Johnson sermon this weekend that I enjoyed. (What Phil Johnson sermon ever isn’t to enjoy? 🙂 Here is the part where Pastor Johnson was explaining how an overemphasis on Jesus’ love diminishes even the holy attribute of His love to a man-centered false notion of love that is far from the truth. Here is Pastor Phil Johnson:

Love Not The World

Now this is vital, because there are a lot of people who want to make the principle of love a kind of ethereal goodwill that is strewn about indiscriminately on every conceivable object. In fact, in the culture of American Christianity, if you include the mainstream denominational groups and everyone in our society who uses the label “Christian,” I think it’s fair to say that the prevailing notion of Christian charity in society at large is an idea of love that is always benevolent, always congenial, always positive about everything. 

I hear this all the time. Years ago, when I first began to investigate and catalogue the Christian resources on the Internet, I made a large list of links to other Christian Web sites. And in order to keep them all straight in my own mind, and in order to help Christians who might not be very discerning about doctrinal dangers on the Internet, I classified my links to other web sites Web sites according to their doctrinal soundness. So there’s large a category of links I have labeled helpful, and then there are other categories called “Bad Theology” and “Really Bad Theology.” And then a few years ago I found I had to add a category called “Really, Really Bad Theology.” And I’ve annotated every link on those pages to help explain why I categorize them as bad.

And to this day, nearly every week of my life, I get e-mail messages from people who are convinced that it is inherently unloving to label anyone else’s ideas bad theology. And they write me to chide me for posting my disagreements with other Christians’ doctrine on the Web. 

But the love that is called for in the New Commandment is not a vague, indiscriminate congeniality. Real love for the truth necessarily involves hatred for error.

Real love for God includes hatred of error. One error is the gauzy exclusive focus on Jesus-as-boyfriend, “in love” with His bride wearing a wrath of braided daisies and never the Crown of many diadems. Here is where the rest of the Revelation 19:11 verse takes us. To verses 12 and 13:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

The picture of Jesus than the one where He is smilingly depicted as sitting among the disciples among a field of, um, daisies is the one that social media and immature Christians exclusively present. The picture of Jesus as a bloody, judging, sin-avenger? Not so much.

Both pictures are true. Always tweeting, showing, describing, or even living, one picture of Jesus exclusively and not the entirety presents a false God.

John MacArthur’s sermon “Why the World Hates Christians, Part 1” also urges us Christians to speak of Jesus and His holy attributes of wrath, sin, judgment etc. It’s important. Don’t neglect putting them out into the world, he said, because it’s sin if we don’t. Here is Pastor MacArthur:

The world will hate you if you “start identifying evil as evil. We don’t want to do that. Let me help you. The Pope is evil. He is from the Kingdom of Darkness. He is anti-christ. Anyone who would say atheists are going to heaven, is anti-christ. Jesus said you will die in your sins and where I go you’ll never come because you believe not on Me. Not only do you need to believe on god but on Jesus Christ.

Homosexuality is evil. Gender identity tampering is evil. Adultery is evil. Fornication is evil. Lying is evil. Pride is evil. Self-centeredness is evil. Self-righteousness is evil. That’s why they killed Jesus, because He said their religion was evil. … 

John 7:7 says that the world hated Me before they hated you, because I testify of the world that its deeds are evil. If we don’t SAY that, we’re sinning. You can say it in love, but it has to be said.

Call evil what it is: evil.

We must love and talk of the attributes of God that the world hates to hear about, such as judgment, hell, wrath, and sin. If we don’t, who will?

Posted in critical issues commentary, discernment

Putting God in a box?

Posted on by elizabethprata
Bob Dewaay’s work at Critical Issues Commentary is wonderful. Mr Dewaay writes thorough essays covering a particular issue that is affecting Christians. As it’s written on his About page,

Critical Issues Commentary is … a series of carefully researched essays on important theological issues. Since 1992 more than 80 articles covering more than 60 specific “critical issues” have been published. Each article contains Biblical exegesis as well as interaction with famous teachers and teachings. Our prayer is that God uses this effort to help readers grow in their faith and be strong in their witness. Critical Issues Commentary was founded to help people find their way out of unbiblical teachings that confused their understanding of the faith.

In an excellent essay covering the topic of Christian Contemporary Divination, a particular paragraph piqued my attention.

Putting God in a Box?
I have debated people about these techniques many times. They often say, “God can do anything and use anything, you are tying to put God in a box.” You probably have heard that argument. When I was doing my research on divination for the previous issue of CIC, I thought about the “putting God in a box” accusation. The Biblical record shows that it is God who purposely limits the ways we can come to Him. If there is a “box” God made it. I think a better analogy than a box, is a sheepfold. It is a Biblical analogy.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). The true sheep enter the sheepfold through the door, Jesus Christ (John 10:7). He as the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). He protects His sheep from the wolves, gives them pasture, and abundant life (John 10:10-15). Being in the sheepfold may seem restrictive compared to the adventures of exploring the bigger world out there unencumbered by the guidance of the Shepherd. However the restrictions are there to save our spiritual lives. 

The restrictions God places on how and by what means we may legitimately come to Him and receive spiritual truth are for our own good. The spirit world that Christian mystics like Morton Kelsey want to explore is far more complex than even Jung and Kelsey give it credit for being. The dangers of deception are far more real. In fact, if we journey into the world of the spirits by means other that what God has ordained, we will be deceived, not may be deceived. The spirits who inhabit that world have been there for many thousands of years practicing the art of deception. They willingly give people whatever experience they would tend to think is from God. Jose Silva, who is Catholic, when he went into his alpha level to gain guides received Jesus and Mary.The spirits will give you what you would expect is from God in your own context. They will provide any experience that serves their deceptive purposes, including sending a spiritual “Jesus” (see 2Corinthians 11:4). The prohibitions on divination are there to protect us from these malicious entities. 

So we are not putting God in a box, God is putting us in a sheepfold if we are willing to be there. The practices of “thinking outside the box” that are so popular today are fatal when it comes to spirituality. God has not left access to spiritual truth in the hands of innovative thinkers who like pioneers blaze new trails. God has given access to Himself, once for all, through Jesus Christ who is our heavenly High Priest. The truth is revealed once for all in the Scriptures.