Posted in encouragement, ephesians, spiritual armor, spiritual battle

Fighting the good fight in full spiritual armor

Posted on by elizabethprata

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

1. PUTTING ON THE ARMOR (6:10–13)

a. What: to be strong in the Lord (6:10).

6:10. Paul exhorted believers to be strong in the Lord and in the might (kratei, “power that overcomes resistance” as used in Christ’s miracles) of God’s inherent strength (ischyos; cf. “the power [kratous] of His inherent strength” [ischyos] in 1:19). Hence believers can be strengthened not only by the person of the Lord but also by His resources (cf. Phil. 4:13).

b. How: to put on God’s armor (6:11a).

6:11a. The form of the Greek imperative put on indicates that believers are responsible for putting on God’s (not their) full armor (panoplian, also in v. 13; all the armor and weapons together were called the hapla; cf. 2 Cor. 6:7) with all urgency. The detailed description of the armor (given in Eph. 6:14–17) may stem from Paul’s being tied to a Roman soldier while in prison awaiting trial (cf. Acts 28:16, 20).

c. Why: to stand against the devil’s strategy (6:11b–13)

6:11b–12. The purpose of putting on God’s armor is to be able to stand against the schemes or stratagems (methodeias, used in the NT only here and in 4:14) of the devil or adversary (cf. 4:27). Christians are not to attack Satan, or advance against him; they are only to “stand” or hold the territory Christ and His body, the church, have conquered. Without God’s armor believers will be defeated by the “schemes” of the devil which have been effective for thousands of years.

The struggle is not physical (against flesh and blood); it is a spiritual conflict against the spiritual “Mafia.” Though the ranks of satanic forces cannot be fully categorized, the first two (rulers and authorities) have already been mentioned in 1:21 and 3:10.

Paul added the powers of this dark world (cf. 2:2; 4:18; 5:8) and the spiritual forces of evil. Their sphere of activity is in the heavenly realms, the fifth occurrence of this phrase, which is mentioned in the New Testament only in 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12. Satan, who is in the heavens (2:2) until he will be cast out in the middle of the Tribulation (Rev. 12:9–10), is trying to rob believers of the spiritual blessings God has given them (Eph. 1:3).

Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 642–643). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Posted in bible, dunamis, state of the church, word

Jesus Vomits: State of the church 2015, Conclusion

Posted on by elizabethprata

State of the Church 2015, part 1
State of the Church 2015, part 2
State of the Church 2015, part 3

Four years ago I assessed the State of the American Church in a multi-part series, writing from my own perspective in my own opinion based on Bible prophesies and warnings. (The links are on the right sidebar, scroll down.) How is the American church doing now, four years later?

Four years is not a long time in an adult’s life. But in the church’s life, these past four years have been like dog years. According to this canine aging scale, a large dog’s age compared to a 4 year old human would be 34 years now since I wrote the last State of the Church essay.

It has been a whirlwind of satanic activity and visible decline since the last time I’ve had an opportunity to prayerfully discern the State of the Church.

What have we in America been doing these last decades? While some local churches remain true to the preaching and living out of the Word, in others, the organizations that call themselves church in America have even forgotten the Christian life is a battle! In other cases where there is a semi-real church, we’ve sent our saints to the equivalent of a tennis camp and think they are equipped for Godzilla!

Jesus had something to say about that:

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Japanese woodblock, 1890

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. (Rev 3:16, HCSB)

Well, we in America have to close up churches that are in reality just a tennis camp and we have to get real about the battle. We in America have to get into shape. Do we in America think that judgment does NOT begin in the House of God? Do we in the Bible Belt think that our suffering will be the lesser? Do we at whatever our location is believe that we can continue to coast along, carry debt, admire Rick Warren’s growth tactics, organize a ‘choose Jesus’ revival, and think we are doing something for God?

The battle in the church in America has passed a tipping point. Our battles are no longer Bunker Hill or Bull Run. They are Antietam. They are Iwo Jima. They are Pearl Harbor- with satan on the ‘winning’ spiritual side of each of those. For example, I have heard it explained that the June 26, 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing homosexual marriage and considering it as a “right” was the equivalent to Roe V. Wade decision in 1973 legalizing abortion.

With that decision, Satan made a decisive military advance in polluting the culture. Yet always remember that God causes or allows everything to happen. Ultimately Jesus has won, but the battle rages in heaven and on earth between satan and God until The Day.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (1 Peter 4:7), and

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17).

In the last essay I’d explored judgment beginning in the house of God. Now I’d like to look at “time”.

In verse 17 the word for time in Greek is kairos.

The word kairos was an ancient Greek word meaning “opportunity,” “season,” or “fitting time.” Another Greek word for “time” was chronos. A sequence of moments was expressed as chronos, emphasizing the duration of the time; an appointed time was expressed as kairos, with no regard for the length of the time. Thus, chronos was more linear and quantitative, and kairos was more nonlinear and qualitative. … Kairos is related to the Greek word kara (“head”). A kairos is a time when things “come to a head,” requiring decisive action. (GotQuestions)

IT’S TIME TO MAKE OUR STAND

What is the remedy for a weak and apathetic Laodicean church? For a weak and apathetic Christian? How do we make a stand? We need the dunamis power. This is a biblically important Greek word. It is used 120 times in the New Testament. Strong’s describes it as,

for the believer, power to achieve by applying the Lord’s inherent abilities. “Power through God’s ability” is needed in every scene of life to really grow in sanctification and prepare for heaven (glorification). “Power through God’s ability” is needed in every scene of life to really grow in sanctification and prepare for heaven (glorification).

In the Holman treasury of Key Bible words dunamis is further explained:

1890 ad for explosives company. Source: LOC

The Greek word for power is dunamis; it speaks of “potential power” and “actual power.” Our English word “dynamite” is a derivative. Everyone knows that dynamite is powerful, but God is more powerful. He can create things, while dynamite can only devastate.

Everything in creation has a certain amount of “power,” but God’s power is immutable. Animals have power. There is power in nature: the wind and storms, the thunder and lightning. People have the power to do good and evil. Rulers have God-given power and authority (Rom. 13:1). The Bible also speaks of the power of angels (2 Pet. 2:11) and of spiritual beings known as “principalities and powers.” Satan has also been given certain powers (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6). But God is all-powerful (Eph. 1:19). In fact, “Power” is a name for God. Jesus said that the Son of man would be seen “seated at the right hand of Power” (Matt. 26:64, NASB).

God’s power was manifested in Jesus. This power was shown through Jesus’ miracles (Matt. 11:20; Acts 2:22); in His works of healing and exorcism (Luke 4:36; 5:17; 6:19; Acts 10:38). God’s power is shown supremely in His resurrection. Jesus speaks of His power to give up His life and the power to take it again (John 10:18), but the New Testament speaks most frequently of the power of God the Father shown in the raising of His Son from the dead (Rom. 1:4; Eph. 1:19–20). During the Second Coming, Jesus will be seen coming on the clouds of heaven with “power” and great glory (Matt. 24:30).

Meanwhile, Jesus is able to deliver people from the power of sin and death, from Satan, and from all the spiritual forces of evil (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10–18). Since the ruler of this world, Satan, had no power over Christ (John 14:30), he cannot have power over those who rely on Him. Those who believe in God receive power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:8), inner dynamo to live in His service (Eph. 3:16), power to be His witnesses (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), and power to endure suffering (2 Tim. 1:8).

We also get our word dynamic from dunamis. The word always implies energy and power.

Some examples of the way this word was used in the bible are:

  • The Power that came and overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35)
  • The Power and authority with which Jesus dealt with the demons (Luke 4:36)
  • The Power given from on high to those told to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the world. (Acts 1:8)
  • The Power in nature (Romans 1:20)
  • The All-surpassing Power that is in us (2 Cor 4:7, 2 Cor 12:9, Ephesians 3:20-21, 2 Timothy 1:7 &etc.)

John MacArthur explains the dunamis power in our lives:

You say, “Well, if we all have the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t we have power in our lives? Shouldn’t we really move out in our lives?” That’s right, because Acts 1:8 says, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” The word “power” is dunamis or dynamite. You should be literal dynamite. Most of us look at our lives and say, “I think I’m a dud. I keep lighting the fuse and nothing happens.

“Why, if I have the Holy Spirit, don’t I go anywhere?”
“Why, if I have all things that pertain to life and Godliness” 2 Peter 1:3
“Why, if I’m complete in Him” Colossians 2:10
“Why, if I have this power does nothing happen?”

And the question is simply answered because you’re not filled. It’s one thing to have the Spirit resident. It’s something else to have the Spirit dominant.

How does one get the Spirit to be the dominant factor in our lives? MacArthur explains some more. I won’t post all of it, you should read the transcript or listen to the sermon. But is it not a question of receiving some kind of Charismatic double dose of the Spirit to fill us. He continues by explaining from Peter’s life as revealed in the scriptures what it means to gain access to that Power. And then,

Being filled with the Spirit had the same result as standing in the presence of Jesus Christ. Do you know what it means to be filled with the Spirit? It means to live as if you’re in the presence of Jesus Christ. It is nothing different than a consuming and constant Christ consciousness. The mind that is centered on Him, the mind that gazes continually at His glory, 2 Corinthians 3:18, will be changed into His image. That is why in Col. 3:16 it says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” You see? As the Word about Christ dwells in you richly, His presence becomes manifest in your conscious mind, and as His presence dominates your mind, the Spirit of God controls you.

The mind that is centered on Him, the mind that gazes continually at His glory, 2 Corinthians 3:18, will be changed into His image. That is why in Colossians 3:16 it says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” You see? As the Word about Christ dwells in you richly, His presence becomes manifest in your conscious mind, and as His presence dominates your mind, the Spirit of God controls you. … It is simply Christ consciousness and, people, it comes from inputting the Word of God. It’s not a mystery. It’s not an emotion. It’s not an ecstatic experience. It is the feeding of the Word.

Once again the remedy turns out to be inputting the Word of God. This is where it always begins and ends. The stand we take in a darkening culture is having the sword of the Lord in our minds and hearts. The sword is the word of God. Dunamis/dynamite! Obedience, inputting the Word and prayer.As Dr MacArthur said,

the filling of the Spirit of God is connected with the Word of God.

We need it explosively, boldly, truthfully. Preachers and Teachers ignite this power by explaining what the Word means as the Spirit applies. We ignite it when we study.

Yet most Christians either lay people or teachers or preachers do not operate out of the power that they have accessible to them- the application of the Word via Holy Spirit which is dunamis. It’s why the American church is so weak. Or they operate out of a false understanding of the power available to them- like the Charismatics.

This clarion note is putting out a general call to every true American congregation to a higher understanding of the Word with more authority, seriousness, and boldness than the American church has seen in these last decades. But that general call does include us, every teacher at every local church and every preacher in our county, and every church in the state, and all the true denominations in the south…and…

Who do people say that I am? (Mark 8:27b)

We need the power of the Word for training up. We need to be strong just at a time when the American church is so weak. We need the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit working through the word to transform our minds. We need to see Jesus more clearly than ever for who He is. We need teachers and pastors who will explain the Word authoritatively and proclaim it unashamedly. We need Christians who will diligently and openly study the word in full submission to the Spirit. Anything less at this stage of history is sending Christians into battle with a tennis racket.

———————————

Further Reading

Answers in Genesis: Finding Our Way in Secular America

Secularization is proceeding quickly, and it’s not accidental. Strong forces are pushing it on us. As Union University professor Hunter Baker defines it, “Secularism means that religious considerations are excluded from civil affairs.”1 And as British writer Harry Blamires explains, that exclusion constitutes an “assault,” one which “takes the form of an attempt to relativize whatever is fixed, whatever is firm, whatever represents the absolute and the transcendent in the presuppositions on which Christian civilization has been built.”2

Masters Seminary Why I love the Church
In a short series of upcoming posts, I’m going to outline some biblical reasons I love the church. Let’s start with the first one today:
1. The Church Is Being Built by the Lord Himself



Posted in dancer & the dame, honor flight

Movie reviews: Honor Flight, Dancer & the Dame

Posted on by elizabethprata

Summertime and the living is easy…except finding the entertainment is hard.

But good movies are out there.

First, Honor Flight. This is a 2012 documentary chronicling the efforts of Wisconsin volunteers to organize Honor Flights in the Midwest. These are special flights transporting WII veterans from their home to the WWII Memorial in Washington DC and back, all free of charge. The IMDB blurb says

Honor Flight chronicles a community coming together to honor World War II veterans. The film follows a team of Midwest volunteers as they race against the clock to send every local WWII veterans to see the memorial built in their honor and the heart of the Capitol city of a nation that they protected.

The race against the clock refers to the fact that 900 WWII vets die per day. They are all in their mid-to-upper 80s and early 90s now, and many are very ill. Within 20 years there will not be any left in which to honor or hear first-hand accounts.

Common Sense Media movie review of Honor Flight

Parents need to know that Honor Flight features significant grainy footage of WWII, including bombings, wounds being tended in field hospitals, and some graphic descriptions of the horrors of war, as well as a recurring photo of a starved (but alive) man in a Nazi concentration camp. It shows modern-day, terminally ill vets in hospital settings and has several intense emotional scenes about death, nostalgia, and heroism. There’s some historical context regarding the importance of different battles, but the focus is largely on the lives of the living veterans, their families, and their desire to see the D.C. memorial before they die.

HONOR FLIGHT is a moving documentary about the work that can be done when a group of passionate people work toward a common goal. In this case, the goal is simple: Help WWII veterans, who die at the rate of 900 a day at the time of the documentary’s filming, visit a WWII memorial in their honor before they pass away. For kids interested in history, this puts a very human touch on a distant war. These are living veterans discussing their memories of losing friends and fellow soldiers to battle, surrounded by their loved ones today who want to show respect for their service. There are some good context discussions of important battles, but the main focus of the documentary is the way a community came together to provide this service, free of cost, and must race against time to extend the offer to terminally ill veterans who sometimes are in no shape to travel. Better for older kids due to the emotional intensity, but, for those mature enough, it provides a compelling picture of families mobilizing to give closure to a generation that’s expected to be gone entirely within the next 20 years.

One of the featured veterans was at Iwo Jima and witnessed the raising of the flag, a moment captured in Pulitzer winning glory by Joe Rosenthal. The vet described the battle and the conditions, as well as the flag raising. Hearing a first hand account was so moving, all the more so because it was given in typical humble style noted by the documentary as a hallmark of the WWII veteran generation. “I’m not a hero. The guys who didn’t make it back, they’re the heroes.”

Another featured vet living in Wisconsin was made sadly famous as The Living Skeleton.

Source

Joe Demler was 19 years old and weighed just 70 pounds when LIFE’s John Florea took his picture in a notorious German POW camp in 1945

When Joe described the liberation, again in typically humble fashion, he was concerned for two things, one, that the soldier in the bunk next to him was alive when the Allied soldiers liberated the camp, but died before they could feed him. And the second thing Joe worried about…was that his mother would see the photo and be upset.

It was only geographic happenstance that there were two veterans who had such dramatic stories. In truth, every WWII vet’s story is dramatic and precious. The entire documentary is one well-told, from the perspective of the organizers of the Honor Flight, to the volunteers, and family members. The veterans are terrific. Really. It made me want to run out and find a Grandpa to adopt.

If you are even 1% patriotic, this documentary will absolutely amaze you and inflame your passionate gratitude for our country’s war hero men and women. If you are 0% patriotic, if you watch this film you will be 100% before the end. Get the tissues, tears will flow.

FMI or to donate, Honor Flight Organization

On Netflix. Also free on Snagfilms.com

Dancer & the Dame

A movie released in April 2015 (missed this in the theaters? Yeah, so did I), starring Mike & Molly’s Billy Gardell, CSI: Miami’s Eva LaRue, and The Practice and Lillyhammer’s Michael Badalucco.

IMDB blurb says,

Billy Gardell is Rick Dancer, a wisecracking, disgruntled detective who is long past his prime. Only with the help of Princess, a fussy and fastidious canine cop, can Dancer break the case of his career.

I saw that it was “recommended For You” on Netflix. Afterward I also saw it was deemed “A Christian Movie” and had Dove ratings. It had one moment of “Dear God, if you’re there…” kind of prayer so it had no overt or even particularly detectible Christian message.

However as a movie that Christians may enjoy, yes. It had no nudity, no double entendres, no sexual situations, not even any suggestive situations. It is a cop movie so it did have some bullets flying, but no gore. A frying pan to the head, and some bar fights. No swearing.

As a movie it was poorly written, implausible, and cheesy. It also aggravated me that they dumped the K9 on Dancer with no training, something that is not only implausible but dangerous.

That said, it was engaging, innocent, well-acted, and good for the whole family. The dog is great and the kid is cute. Billy Gardell is very witty and natural, I’d see more films with him in them. If he gets the chance after this one!

On Netflix. Also on Youtube for free, here.

Posted in laodicean church, persecution, state of the church

Jesus Vomits: State of the Church 2015, part 3

Posted on by elizabethprata

The State of the Church 2015, part 1
The State of the Church 2015, part 2

Four years ago I assessed the State of the American Church in a multi-part series, writing from my own perspective in my own opinion based on Bible prophesies and warnings. (The links are on the right sidebar, scroll down.) How is the American church doing now, four years later?

Four years is not a long time in an adult’s life. But in the church’s life, these past four years have been like dog years. According to this canine aging scale, a large dog’s age compared to a 4 year old human would be 34 years now since I wrote the last State of the Church essay.

It has been a whirlwind of satanic activity and visible decline since the last time I’ve had an opportunity to prayerfully discern the State of the Church.

At the end of part 2 I’d said that persecution seems like it is about to begin in America. We have already endured soft persecution such as adverse legal judgments, employment firings, vandalism, and public marginalization. Is hard persecution about to begin? Will we be able to retain our Constitutional right to Religious Liberty?

A CHILL WIND DOTH BLOW

Developments in the US conspire to put a chilling effect on freedom of worship

In the previous essay I’d outlined the abominations God had told Israel not to perform, else He would punish them by vomiting them out of the Land. I had shown how rampant these same abominations are in America, a nation that has been uniquely blessed in history. Jesus judges nations. Thus, America should expect to answer for squandering her blessings from the Lord and to be punished for performing sins that the Lord hates.

But what about the Church? The world always does these things, and though America’s crimes are very great as a nation, how is the church doing? What is the state of the Church in America?

There is a difference between the church as the Bride of Jesus and the church that calls itself the church. I hate the false church. I love the true Church.

The Master’s Seminary: Why I Love the Church. The true church will become brighter than ever. Persecution always does this. Far from chilling evangelistic activity, putting on ice any religious freedom always warms it.

However to pagans, we are all the same. Catholics, Mormons, Christian cults, and Protestants are all “the church” to them and that is the “Jesus” that they see. So the false church that calls itself the church is sinning against Jesus by doing abominations in His name.

In Leviticus 18:21-23 the LORD said He would make the land vomit out its inhabitants if they failed to follow His statutes and did abominations. The abominations for which Jesus said He would vomit them out of the land included the famous list of sexual sins, lying with a neighbor’s wife (adultery) lying with a man as a woman (homosexuality) and lying with animals (bestiality). It also includes warnings against sacrificing children to Molech (abortion).

In Revelation 3:16 Jesus again reiterated that He expects that church to do good works, else He would vomit them out of His mouth. In Revelation 3:17 He says,

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Whoever is naked is not covered in the righteous robe of Christ. Blind means mentally blind. He is speaking to a church that has become not-His-church.

Source for original photo

This church is naked, apostate, self-deluded and unaware that Christ stands apart from them and is not in their midst. Yet they were still apathetic, not having zeal to remain in Christ’s statutes.

Therefore since they were apostate and unsanctified, they had allowed the world to enter in. The same sins that Jesus warns against have flooded the church, or the organization that calls itself the church. Divorce is high among Christians in the church. It is a myth that 50% of Christian marriages fail, but the Christian divorce rate is still uncomfortably high. Porn is a problem among Christian men as it is for worldly men. Abortion rates for those claiming a religious affiliation are also high.

When the world sees a church that does the abominations Jesus warned against, then the world doesn’t see Jesus nor do they see a peculiar people set apart for His name. The world sees an ineffective abominable religion filled with worldly people that makes no difference in lives and blasphemes the name of Jesus through their abominable acts. No wonder Jesus said He would vomit the Laodicean church out His mouth.

So whether we are discussing the uniquely blessed nation of America or the visible entity that calls itself the church in America, we are deserving of all the bile that Jesus can heap upon us.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR THE FAITHFUL?

EPrata photo

Look at 1 Peter 4:7, which says

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

The end of all things started at the cross. Peter begins that passage by reminding the saints that the end of all things is at hand. We should be reminded of that also. At the cross, Jesus enacted his final prophetic plans. Never mind the time span, as far as tasks go, there are just two left for God to accomplish- build the church to its completion and defeat satan at Armageddon. The end is at hand.

Now look at 1 Peter 4:17,

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Then Peter continues after verse 17 with that momentous passage about Christian suffering. He begins to wind it down with this truth- it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God…

Pulpit Commentary explains Peter’s statement about judgment

The beginning of judgment is the persecution of the Christians, as our Lord had taught (Matthew 24:8, 9, and following verses); but that judgment is not unto condemnation: “When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32); it is the fiery trial,

Persecution makes the false Christians leave church and it quickens and toughens the true believers. In this way Jesus uses the evil for our good and His glory.

When Peter says “it is time for” the word time there is not chronos, clock time, but kairos, the season, the tipping point, the crucial moment. And for the last 2000 years, nation by nation, continent by continent since those words were written around 67AD, He has been purifying His church. He does this through through trials and suffering at His providential crucial moments. The church at Rome, Jerusalem, the 7 churches in Asia Minor, Europe, China, Soviet Union/Russia, Egypt…His purifying judgment in the House of God has been ongoing, and now in my opinion from what we see, it seems to be America’s turn.

TIPPING POINT IN AMERICAN CHURCHES IS HERE

Retaining our religious liberty in the future days will become increasingly impossible. This will purify the church because the apostates will either toe the carnal line or depart the faith altogether. Judas was revealed as faithless. Demas loved the world and after a time, departed the faith (2 Tim 4:10). Many who loved the show of the miracles departed when Jesus taught the hard things. (John 6:66). It is to God’s glory when the tares depart under their own volition, because to allows the light of His true disciples to shine more brightly.

This is the best illustration of a tipping point I’ve seen. Though it isn’t related to religion, it deftly shows in one drawing what happens when persecution comes (in my opinion).

Source

Wikipedia explains, in Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king of Ephyra. He was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill to nearly the top, only to watch it roll back down, repeating this action forever. The false members of the American Church are operating under their own strength. For a while they can roll the rock up the hill. However they cannot get it to the top and too weak in strength, the rock rolls back down again. It falls away.

The Christians are not operating in their own strength. When they get their rock up to near the top, they have the necessary strength to roll the rock to the crest and beyond because we are operating in Jesus’ strength. As the rock rolls downhill, the snowball effect means it gathers steam, becomes stronger and faster, and becomes larger as it picks up other Christians along the way. The tipping point separates the weak and false from the strong and true.

Here are a few reasons why I believe the tipping point for persecution in America has arrived.

–Oregon bakers ordered to pay homosexual couple $135,000 AND was issued a gag order to stop talking about their faith, (restrict freedom of speech and impose a financial burden)

—Church vandalism in Texas. Not a mosque and not a synagogue, which are often in the news for having been vandalized, but a vandalism at a Baptist Church in Texas sparked by their church sign. What had the Church put on their sign? Simply “Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right.” The sign’s message provoked a particularly blasphemous and shocking scrawled message. In addition, two churches in Texas were burned by arson this week. (spiritual hatred expressed in real, physical terms)

–A newspaper announced subsequent to the SCOTUS decision that they won’t publish any letters to the editor in opposition to same-sex marriage. (restrict freedom of speech, remove Christians from the public forum)

More ominously:

The National Review reported, “For Churches That Won’t Perform Same-Sex Weddings, Insurance Begins to Look Iffy“ The president of the nation’s largest church liability insurance group announced that essentially it does not cover a church that is being sued for refusing to perform a same-sex wedding. The article stated,

“July 1, David Karns, vice president of underwriting at Southern Mutual Church Insurance Company (which “serve[s] more than 8,400 churches”), wrote an “all states” agents’ bulletin addressing same-sex marriage. ‘… There is no coverage for any judgments against an insured.” In other words: Churches, you’re on your own.”

(impose threat of or real financial burden heavy enough to close churches or make weak ones be quiet because they have a mortgage to pay)

Therefore, churches carrying a debt load are soon going to discover the price that a bigger building carries, especially if or when their tax-exempt status is stripped from them. Worse, challenges against churches and Christian Colleges to their tax-exempt status are already beginning. Money will be an issue. It is just the same to satan if he closes a church due to fiscal issues than in striking the sheep with false doctrine, like in Galatians. A closed church is a closed church.

Speaking of Christian colleges,

–Christian Colleges are discovering that since homosexual marriage is constitutional in all states, that challenges to their prohibitions for same-sex co-habitation are groundless. A Christian college that accepts government funding but refuses to allow a same-sex married couple to live in housing for married students would be “on the edge of the indefensible”, said one challenger. He is right, it IS legally indefensible. Hope College and Belmont University already decided to offer same-sex couples health benefits. (pollute the place where seeds are sown and Christians are grown.)

Most ominously, since the June 26 decision, an aggressive hate campaign against religious freedom has been launched. It was encouraged by the Oregon decision of the gag order against the couple that bakes cakes.

Gay-rights groups, allies to push back on ‘religious liberty’ arguments

“Some people want to convert the crucial principle of religious freedom into a license to discriminate against others and deny Americans essential services,” the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said at a press conference Tuesday. “That’s a corruption of a noble concept, and we don’t intend to stand for it,” he said, announcing the group’s “Protect Thy Neighbor” project. The project will fight legislative efforts to let businesses and even government offices use religious beliefs as “a justification to discriminate” on matters relating not only to homosexuality but also reproductive rights, such as paying for all kinds of birth control.”

They are challenging the very concept of religious liberty. The ‘Protect Thy Neighbor’ project will become a groundswell in a short time. What they don’t know is, denying our freedom to worship and evangelize only spurs the true believers to greater, more focused and more intense action. It has been this way each time persecution began in a nation.

AMERICAN FREEDOM OF RELIGION WILL SHORTLY BE IN THE PAST

[Supreme Court Justice] Thomas additionally warns that the Court’s “inversion of the original meaning of liberty will likely cause collateral damage to other aspects of our constitutional order that protect liberty.” Further, he argues that the decision will threaten religious liberty by creating an unavoidable collision between the interests of same-sex couples and some religious organizations. (Dissenters opinions explained here)

That tipping point. It’s that collision, and the world always seemingly ‘wins’ (until Armageddon). As of this moment, religious liberty in America is at serious risk. Why do I say this? One reason the SCOTUS decision shook us is that it was 100% unattached from any part of any law or precedent. It was just simply a personal decision made from personal biases and personal will of the majority of the judges. (so said one of the Justice dissenters, and he should know).

If judges can birth a non-existent “right” (gay marriage) that means they can abort an existing right (religious liberty).

They will obliterate it by first watering it down and chipping away at it (i.e. the newspaper refusal to publish letters to the editor, the Oregon judge’s gag order…) then they will obliterate it by redefining it totally out of existence. You will be shocked to see how fast this will happen. You will be inspired to see what the true believers do in response.

In the Conclusion, the remedy and call to arms.

The State of the Church 2015, part 1

The State of the Church 2015, part 2  

Posted in abortion, culture, puritans, state of the church

Jesus Vomits: State of the Church 2015, part 2

Posted on by elizabethprata

State of the Church 2015, part 1
State of the Church 2015, part 3

Four years ago I assessed the State of the American Church in a multi-part series, writing from my own perspective in my own opinion based on Bible prophesies and warnings. (The links are on the right sidebar, scroll down.) How is the American church doing now, four years later?

Four years is not a long time in an adult’s life. But in the church’s life, these past four years have been like dog years. According to this canine aging scale, a large dog’s age compared to a 4 year old human would be 34 years now since I wrote the last State of the Church essay.

It has been a whirlwind of satanic activity and visible decline since the last time I’ve had an opportunity to prayerfully discern the State of the Church.

At the end of part 1 I’d said that persecution seems like it is about to begin in America. We have already endured soft persecution such as legal judgments, employment firings, vandalism, and public marginalization. Is hard persecution about to begin? Will we be able to retain our Religious Liberty?

This essay outlines why I believe it is. In addition. I further believe the persecution is going to be worse than we imagine. Again, I’ll offer a reason why I believe this.

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16)

The Great Wave of Kanagawa, Japanese woodblock, 1832

Jesus was dictating a letter to John regarding the Laodicean church. Jesus knew their works, but hated their indifference in doing the works. He hated their apathy, their laziness, their self-conceit, their self-delusion. He said He will VOMIT. It is the strongest physical act. Pulpit Commentary aptly stated,

Vomiting is used as a figure in which to express the abhorrence of Christ for those who lacked zeal in his service!

The Lord’s abhorrence of the Laodicean church’s works was described in the most graphic physical terms. This is not the first time such a reaction is promised from our Lord. Look at two verses from Leviticus 18,

and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. (Leviticus 18:25)

But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, … lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. (Lev 18:26, 28)

His promise is a condition, IF you do X, THEN Y will happen. It was one that was spoken to the Old Testament saints but its principles are applicable today, given that Jesus reiterated it in Revelation 3:16.

In addition, we read in Luke 12:48,

But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

In that passage, Jesus is preaching about the Bridegroom returning, and the virgins with the lamps. The section from which this verse is taken is titled “You must be ready.”

Gill’s Exposition says of the verse,

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall, much be required: the more knowledge a man has, the more practice is expected from him; and the greater his gifts are, the more useful he ought to be, and diligent in the improvement of them:

In the Old Testament God destroyed sinning nations. Do we not believe He is coming again to judge the nations? (Psalm 110:6). If much was given to a man and much will then be required, what about a nation to whom much was given?

America has been uniquely blessed. Our founding was based on the principles of religious freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. The Puritans instilled biblical principles in the succeeding generations, and exhorted them to holy living. As for our works, our first universities were seminaries in which the point was to train up Christian men to go forth and witness. We became a sending nation of missionaries all over the globe. We grew rich and used that money for Holy endeavors, building churches, printing bibles, supporting missions overseas, exporting radio and television programs, etc.

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1914

America has enjoyed a unique length of time free from persecution, or even trouble. Except for one battle in the War of 1812 and Pearl Harbor, until September 11, 2001, this nation has been largely free from military invasion on these shores. Religious persecution of Jews is unknown and congregations of other religious persuasions have been free to worship.

To America, much has been given. For a while, America rose to the task of much having been required. But like the Laodicean church, America has grown fat, lazy, lukewarm. We have said, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing” (Revelation 3:17a)
Calvin’s Commentary says of Luke 12:48,

48. To whomsoever much hath been given. Christ shows by another circumstance, that the more highly favored disciples ought to be visited with severer punishment, if they despise their calling, and abandon themselves without reserve to every kind of licentiousness; because the more eminent a man is, he ought to consider that so much the more has been entrusted to him, and on the express condition that he shall one day render an account of it. In the same proportion, therefore, as any of us is endued with higher gifts, if he does not, like a field which has been cultivated at greater expense, yield to the Lord more abundant produce, the abuse of that grace which he has profaned, or uselessly withheld, will cost him dear.

This is why I believe that our persecution in America will be WORSE than we think, because we have abused His grace. We have received an unusual-for-biblical-history reprieve and have been the beneficiaries of a long period of peace. We have grown hollow inside the church. We have become lazy, don’t take the word seriously, gotten rich, sought more riches, and have supplanted truth for the world in many cases. We have squandered His blessings, and we will pay for this because now the American section of the global church is an abomination to Jesus. The winds of satan easily blow down a hollow house.

In Leviticus 18:25-28, Jesus promised the Israelites that He would vomit them out of the land if they ‘did any of these abominations.’ What were the abominations they were not supposed to do as a nation?

And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

In America, we not only do these abominations, we are defined by them.

1. Do not lie with your neighbor’s wife. California passed a “no-fault divorce” act in 1970, sparking a revolution in divorce in America. Prior to 1970 in CA, divorce was an adversarial process through which one party had to be proved at fault, such as adultery. After CA passed no-fault divorce with other states following suit, and without one party having to publicly declare a shameful act of adultery, divorce became easy to obtain and therefore the stigma of adultery was diminished. Today, adultery is not only accepted as a likely given within marriage, adultery is even the basis for television entertainment programs. (Mistresses, Wife Swap, Mad Men…)

2. Do not offer our children to Molech. Molech was a false god who required parents to place their babies in the Molech-statue ‘belly’ and burn them alive. Child sacrifice is an abomination to God. Yet in America since abortion was legalized, there have been about 55 million babies killed. By the age of 45, one-third of American women will have had at least one abortion.

3. Do not lie with a male as with a woman. We all know of the June 26, 2015 decision by the Supreme Court legalizing homosexual ‘marriage’ in all 50 states. The highest court has institutionalized perversion by redefining marriage, thus creating an abomination out of what was supposed to be a holy picture of Christ and His bride.

4. Do not lie with an animal…America is the largest importer, exporter, producer, and the fourth largest consumer of pornography in the world. Enough said about that.

Despite the military peace and spiritual blessings we were given these past few hundred years, America still slid from Puritans to Mistresses. We have used this time of peace and prosperity for self-indulgent, licentious endeavors. We have not only ignored God in the process, but we’ve purposely spit in His eye. Given what we know about our holy God, He will have something to say about that.

In part 3 I’ll look at two other scriptures, some recent news, and in the Conclusion, the remedy.

1 Peter 4:7, The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

1 Peter 4:17, For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

————————-

State of the Church 2015, part 1
State of the Church 2015, part 3

Posted in america, christian persecution, decline, state of the church

Jesus Vomits: State of the Church 2015, part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

State of the Church 2015, part 2
State of the Church 2015, part 3

Four years ago I assessed the State of the American Church in a multi-part series, writing from my own perspective in my own opinion based on Bible prophesies and warnings. (The links are on the right sidebar, scroll down.) The major themes and issues I wrote about in 2011 were–

  • Love among believers growing cold, something we’re prophetically warned about,
  • Failure to tend our anchor and look at the lighthouse, this translates to too many Christians not believing in the sufficiency of the word, something Hebrews imperatively warns us about,
  • Not having a biblical worldview, something the entire Bible repeatedly warns us about,
  • Believers, including pastors, who filled the vacuum of their non-biblical world view with a sinful attractional model, capturing goats instead of sheep, making church a carnal carnival, something Spurgeon predicted,
  • Carnality allowing the rise of spiritual abuse, something Jesus condemned in the Pharisees
  • The American church is increasingly not a safe place spiritually, something Peter prophesied.

How is the American church doing now, four years later?

The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, 1830, Wikipedia

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.  (Revelation 3:16 HCSB)

Four years are not a long time in an adult’s life. But in the church’s life, these past four years have been like dog years. According to this canine aging scale, a large scale dog’s age compared to a 4 year old human would be 34 years old now since I wrote the last State of the Church essay.

It has been a whirlwind of satanic activity and visible decline since the last time I’ve had an opportunity to prayerfully discern the State of the Church.

A few days ago I’d written two essays, here, and here, about the importance of memorizing scripture because persecution was coming to America and access to religious materials will be restricted. There will be suffering. I am not making a prophetic proclamation derived from direct revelation, I am stating what the scriptures say. (John 16:33, 1 Peter 1:6, 1 Peter 4:7, 1 Peter 4:12, & etc.)

We must memorize scripture and take the word seriously because the day is coming where oppression and persecution in America against Christians will play itself out in real ways. But the memorizing scripture is only the tip of the iceberg of the message I’m burdened to convey. Here is the rest. I’m saying it all at once because it is the time. It’s long I’ll break it up into several essays as I did the original State of the Church essay.

My heart’s desire is to equip the saints in the word and spark them to Godly action and holy living. I know that is yours too. We all come at it from different angles because we have different gifts. But every Christian has a mandate to boldly proclaim. And teachers are held to even higher standards.

THE BATTLE HAS NOW COME TO US

One of the things that I have observed in spiritual warfare is that events mount up, and there comes a tipping point. After the tipping point is reached, the events toward a particular path accelerate exponentially with rapidly reaching its inevitable outcome. This is of course usually the case in secular events. In spiritual events, especially prophecy, it seems that the set-up takes a long time but then it is fulfilled rapidly. The tipping point dramatically tips.
A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats. CH Spurgeon

The particular path we’re on that’s accelerating so dramatically ends in the Tribulation with the saints overcome. June 26 and the Supreme Court’s decision about Homosexual Marriage was a major touchstone in the earthly battle for the soul of the church. Most mature Christians understand this.

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, (Rev 13:7).

That’s where it’s all headed. The church won’t be overcome, the Revelation verse is another proof why the rapture will happen prior to the Tribulation because Jesus promised not to have the gates of hell prevail against His church. (Matthew 16:18) If the church hadn’t been raptured out prior to the Tribulation then the Matthew verse would be a lie. And God cannot lie. But suffice to say, the prophetic path that is laid out for us is near-obliteration of all saints from the earth.

Now, June 26 was a watershed moment in the church in America. This is easily seen and understood. What is not so well known or understood are the following things:

SATAN’S RELENTLESS HATRED

The relentless aggression and hatred satan and his minions have for Christ’s people and His church is something 99.9% of the American saints have no REAL clue as to the depth and evilness of. Oh, people intellectually acknowledge satan’s hatred, saying, “Sure, Jesus said trouble will come…” but they don’t believe it deep down. This is partly because satan’s hatred of us has been masked and suppressed all these decades and centuries since the first hard persecutions of antiquity, seen bubbling up for a while in the Catholic Church persecution of the true saints in the Middle Ages and once again briefly in the Holocaust, and today in ISIS for example, doing what they are doing to people now in the Middle East.

Meanwhile America had been enjoying a First Great Awakening, a Second Great Awakening, a Third Great Awakening, and according to the false prophets, another one is just on the horizon. Less discerning Christians have bought into that lie. In addition, each ‘awakening’ was less biblical than the last. Some consider that the “Jesus Movement” of the 1960-1980 era was a Fourth Awakening. These movements have lulled us. Why would we need to be awakened if we were consistently and properly zealous for the House of God in the first place?

Satan’s hatred for the church in America certainly has not been seen in visible ways as it has elsewhere. It’s mostly been hidden and underground, seen in the increase in false teachers, in accepted heresies, in tolerating sin. In America, we have not had physical persecution or limited-to-no access to Christian materials, and we have always had a voice in the public forum thanks to the Constitutional right of religious liberty. A Joel Osteen doesn’t seem like judgment to us as much as putting Christians in a cage and drowning them. Therefore we have mistakenly tended to believe either satan’s hatred of Jesus’ church isn’t as bad as we think or it won’t happen here.

The biggest problem facing the church is lack of discernment. If you can’t discern the truth you can die of a thousand heresies. – John MacArthur.
Paul saw this hatred in Galatians. He was astounded at the ease with which the false group had come in and polluted the Galatian church. He said that in Galatians 1:6- “I am astonished that you are so quickly…” the Greek word the Spirit used in Paul for ‘astonished’ is thaumazó, wonder at, be amazed (marvel), i.e. awestruck, “wondering very greatly,” astonished out of one’s senses;.

You get that feeling of Paul’s tone in the book. The tone is fervent, long sentences a bit jumbled and hurried, wanting badly to get the words out. Paul was astonished out of his senses. (“See what large letters I am writing with my own hand…”)

Note: I’m not talking about satan being more powerful than Jesus. He isn’t. I’m talking about Christians who don’t comprehend the depth of satan’s darkness and weaken themselves with lax battle preparation. You know how John 1:4-5 says in the KJV

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Well we “lights” don’t comprehend the darkness as deeply as we should. Add to that we are weak in battle because we don’t access the power that is given to us. More on that next.

Satan is like a Godzilla rampage, trampling city after city, stepping on puny humans and leaving carnage behind. That is the battle. It isn’t cozy and it isn’t clean. Satan fights dirty and he has massive power. For Pete’s sake he is god of the earth! (2 Corinthians 4:4). And here are the foolish American Charismatics marching up and down streets in prayer walks, thinking that they are binding satan with their stupid words, and deliverance ministers casting out satan with their tiny actions. It is not so!!

Most Christians in America have a wrong perception at the back of their minds, that somehow we’re saf(er) here in the US. That because our nation was founded on biblical principles, somehow we won’t get the brunt of what is coming. They think, ‘We’re in the Bible belt…” or ‘We’re protected by religious freedom…’ or simply ‘It won’t happen here.’

Well it will. It has started.

State of the Church 2015, part 2 State of the Church 2015, part 3

 

Posted in apollos, church, encouragement

Apollos: a man mighty in the scriptures but humble enough to be taught

Posted on by elizabethprata

There are so many names in the Old and New Testament. We read of Adam, Noah, Joshua, David, Mary, Joseph, Paul, Peter. And the rarely-mentioned names like Jason, Philemon, Jairus, Cornelius… The great scope and sweep of biblical history from Genesis to Revelation is a tremendous river of events and real people rolling on and under the Providential care of the Holy God we serve. These real people are ones we will have fellowship with forever. They aren’t characters, and they are not long-gone. They are alive! They’re in heaven eagerly awaiting their resurrection body, awaiting the arrival of the rest of their brethren, and worshiping Jesus right now like we will do when we get over yonder.

It’s important to remember that. When we read the Bible and see that Cornelius was commanded to go to Joppa and speak with Simon the Tanner, those are real people, alive today in heaven. Do you ever wonder more about these men and women, the oft-mentioned like Paul and the little-mentioned, like Simon the Tanner? How their lives were, how they died, what their conversion story is?

There is one man who is mentioned with fair amount of frequency in the New Testament but who is rarely talked about: Apollos. The Holy Spirit introduces to us to Apollos first in Acts 18:24. He is subsequently mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:1-17, 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, 2 Corinthians 10:1; 7-11, 1 Corinthians 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 16:12, 19, Titus 1:5; 3:12-13.

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. (Acts 18:24)

What an introduction! Wouldn’t you want someone to say that about you? “Competent in the Scriptures”? I would. Here we learn his name, where he was from, and where he came to. I like the geographical references. They ground us and give the “story” a place to hang our mental hat. Alexandria is in Egypt and Ephesus is in Turkey. Both are coastal cities.

Source

From that one verse we learn a lot. Apollos was a Jew with a Greek name, living in the north African Egyptian city of Alexandria. Alexandria was a Greek influenced city, named after the conqueror Alexander the Great. It was and still is Egypt’s largest seaport and until 641AD when the Muslims conquered Egypt, it was the nation’s capital.

Apollos’ powerful introduction continues:

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. (Acts 18:25-28)

What a joyous remark, “He was fervent in spirit”. May we all be so. In addition, Apollos didn’t know a lot at that time, but what he knew, he taught vibrantly, accurately, and fervently. May we all be so. Note that Apollos was absent the Holy Spirit at that time, he only had the baptism of John, not the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Thus, his eloquence in the flesh must have been highly notable. Imagine when Apollos received the Holy Spirit and his speech was energized by the mind of God! What a powerhouse Apollos must have been.

About Apollos knowing only the baptism of John. Here the Jamieson-Fausset Critical Commentary explains:

He was instructed, probably, by some disciple of the Baptist, in the whole circle of John’s teaching concerning Jesus, but no more: he had yet to learn the new light which the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost had thrown upon the Redeemer’s death and resurrection; as appears from Ac 19:2, 3.

Yet despite being learned, mighty, eloquent, fervent, bold, and from a sophisticated city, Apollos was teachable! Priscilla and Aquila taught him more accurately and Apollos not only submitted to their correction, he absorbed it so well he was encouraged and recommended to brethren in Achaia. The Holy Spirit was doing a marvelous work in Apollos.

He greatly helped the saints there, this was noted. Apollos was a powerful rhetorician, able to refute Jews in public through extemporaneous speaking, but doing it all through scripture and not of his own persuasion. He is a towering entry into the sheepfold at this early time.

Cut to about twenty years later. Apollos has become so popular that a faction has formed behind him, along with a faction behind Peter and one behind Paul.

For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:11-12)

Jamieson-Fausset Critical Commentary again:

Those alleging the name of Apollos, Paul’s successor at Corinth (Ac 18:24, &c.), were persons attracted by his rhetorical style (probably acquired in Alexandria, 1Co 3:6), as contrasted with the “weak bodily presence” and “contemptible speech” of the apostle. Apollos, doubtless, did not willingly foster this spirit of undue preference (1Co 4:6, 8); nay, to discourage it, he would not repeat his visit just then (1Co 16:12).

Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. (1 Corinthians 16:12)

Jamieson-Fausset Critical Commentary again:

Apollos, I greatly desired … to come unto you—He says this lest they should suspect that he from jealousy prevented Apollos’ coming to them; perhaps they had expressly requested Apollos to be sent to them. Apollos was not at Ephesus when Paul wrote (compare 1Co 16:19, and 1Co 1:1). Probably Apollos’ unwillingness to go to Corinth at this time was because, being aware of the undue admiration of his rhetorical style which led astray many at Corinth, he did not wish to sanction it (1Co 1:12; 3:4). Paul’s noble freedom from all selfish jealousy led him to urge Apollos to go; and, on the other hand, Apollos, having heard of the abuse of his name at Corinth to party purposes, perseveringly refused to go. Paul, of course, could not state in his letter particularly these reasons in the existing state of division prevalent there. He calls Apollos “brother” to mark the unity that was between the two.

In Titus 3:13 we read that Apollos is still esteemed five or so years later when Paul wrote to Titus

Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. (Titus 3:13)

Apollos was used greatly by the Head of our Church. Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:6). No matter how revered or lowly the man is, it always comes back to Jesus. Everything that is done is done by Him, through Him, with Him, and for Him. He raised up a mighty man in the scriptures that greatly helped the church, and aided Paul in laying the foundation.  When it was time for Apollos to go home, the Lord called him and there he has been ever since. When we get there, either through death or rapture, and at the appropriate time, we can sit with Apollos and hear the rest of the story. What a blessing it will be to glorify Jesus in His work on earth by hearing testimonies of that work done by the other saints.

Hallelujah!

Posted in abomination, gay marriage, homosexual

Toledo, Ohio judge refuses to marry gay couple, issues statement

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is quite interesting.

Toledo judge issues statement after refusing to marry same-sex couple

Excerpt:

TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) –

Almost two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage, a Toledo Municipal Court Judge refused to perform a local same-sex couple’s wedding ceremony.

After Carolyn Wilson and her partner were told that the Duty Judge would not marry them on Monday, Judge C. Allen McConnell has issued a statement on the incident:

“On Monday, July 6, I declined to marry a non-traditional couple during my duties assignment. The declination was based upon my personal and Christian beliefs established over many years. I apologize to the couple for the delay they experienced and wish them the best. The court has implemented a process whereby same-sex marriages will be accommodated. I will continue to perform traditional marriages during my duties assignment. I am also seeking advisory opinion from the Supreme Court of Ohio at this time as to whether or not I can opt out of the rotation. Upon receipt of the advisory opinion from Supreme Court , I will abide by its decision.”

Equality Toledo Board Member and attorney Rob Salem says the statement doesn’t comply with the laws of the court.

“I don’t think this is a very complicated issue. This court, the Toledo Municipal Court, requires the Judge on duty to perform marriages,” he said. “Judge McConnell took an oath of office when he became judge to uphold the laws of this land. He vowed also to apply those laws as equally and fairly without any regard to his own personal biases and prejudices.”

Equality Toledo Executive Director Nick Komives says the wording in the statement itself was upsetting, and after speaking with Wilson, she echoed the same sentiments.

“He referred to the couple as non-traditional, and the Supreme Court just said that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s also upsetting because they were asking for an apology from him and rather than actually giving a true apology, he decided to apologize for their wait time. Which just frankly is not enough. She (Wilson) was really just not satisfied with the apology that they received and I think rightfully so. They were humiliated by what happened and then had to wait, so I can see why they’re so upset.”

More at link

The couple didn’t like the wording of the apology?? They judged it an untrue apology and rejected it on that basis?? They aren’t satisfied, even though they got married??

Nothing less than total capitulation will do for the homosexual agenda, will it? Not too tolerant are they.

The remainder of the article quotes an American Civil Liberties Union representative, who came down on the side of the homosexuals, not the religious liberty the Judge is supposed to enjoy. It’s interesting to see what will happen next. Will his religious beliefs will be accommodated, and will he be allowed to opt-out of the rotations, or whether he will be forced to submit to the homosexual agenda despite his beliefs.

I think we can see where this is going.

Posted in bible, illegal, tyndale, word

Memorizing Scripture: two systems to help you- ScriptureTyper and Scripture Memory System

Posted on by elizabethprata

Yesterday I wrote about an impact from the Supreme Court’s decision regarding homosexual marriage that has not been discussed much yet.

Why the SCOTUS decision means we must start memorizing our Bibles in earnest, NOW

The decision has already opened the floodgates of irrational hatred against Christians and anything related to Christianity, including Bibles and biblical material. People carrying or displaying Bibles, or holding Bible studies, are being challenged in schools, hotels, even private homes. The forces of this present darkness want to remove anything related to Jesus from public life, and eventually even from private life. Just ask anyone in China or North Korea. It will happen here, too.

Soon it will be either forbidden (like at work) or even outright made illegal to own a Bible. And yet we are living in a generation that despite having the greatest access to Bibles in any time in history, is the most biblically illiterate. Nowadays people don’t read their Bibles and don’t know what is in it. Soon it may be that they can’t read them.

OOPS! I accidentally dropped your bible in the mud! Scene from movie
Secrets of Jonathan Sperry where a teenaged boy is bullied for carrying his bible

How are we, or the next generation, going to witness to the truth if we don’t know it and have been denied access to it?

MEMORIZE IT.

I’d listed many verses which exhort us to know His word, have it hidden in our hearts and minds. Not only is the Word necessary for transforming us and in restraining us from sinning against Jesus, it is necessary to know so we can witness effectively.

I’d urged starting a Bible Drill in your church, homeschool group or afterschool club. I’d urged personal study directly of the bible and memorizing it diligently.

I’m the first to say that I’m lousy at memorizing bible verses. I barely remember my own life verses and favorites-

Life verse:

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).

Life verse:

and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

Favorite verse:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5, KJV)

I’d mentioned on Facebook about my #fail in memorizing verses. I do not want to be a hypocrite though, in exhorting for one thing on the blog and not doing it myself. I’m always conscious of doing myself what I call others to do. So a kind FB friend offered a valuable tip: she said she uses ScriptureTyper to memorize verses.

I do check out things before I offer them to you. I went to the ScriptureTyper site and created a free account and loaded 18 verses I want to memorize, and started. In addition to being totally free, it is pretty easy to use (I can’t speak to the download onto Kindle, Android, iPad or iPhone because I don’t own any of those). It is a good way to memorize verses and I like it very much. If you go to Amazon.com there are 65 reviews of it and they are uniformly good. Most of those are 5-star.

What you do is, simply load the verses you want to memorize onto My Verses page. Don’t know which verses you want to begin with? The site offers dozens of groupings such as verses on “Trust”, “Wisdom”, “Jesus” etc. They also offer a group of “Top 100 Verses.” It is a three-step method for memorizing, and once a verse is memorized the site keeps track for you of when you need to review a mastered verse in order to keep it fresh.

I like the advantage it gives busy moms and dads. You can use the App in car riders line, at the doctor’s office, at the ball field. Just take 5 minutes and practice one verse while you’re having those moments of time. I plan to use it during my lunch time. I eat at my desk where my computer is. At that time I usually pray and do a short devotional anyway. Folding verse memorization in for 5 minutes will be easy.

The saint who suggested the ScriptureTyper system testified to its ease and effectiveness of use. I do as well. Even given the limited time I’ve spent with it, I can see how this system can meld in easily to my lifestyle. I am never far from a device.

Another saint testified to a different system that does not use technology. It can be used in the family setting with children of any or all ages at once. It is Scripture Memory System at SimplyCharlotteMason.com. This memorization system uses a file folder and index cards, and is designed for best use with other people, such as parents with children, because it involves choral recitation.

‘The instructions and video at the site outline an easy-to-use system to help family members develop the habit of memorizing and remembering Scripture. By spending just five or ten minutes a day, you and your children can learn and retain hundreds of verses.’

Screen shot from Scripture Memory System instructional video

Either way, technology or index cards, alone or with family, the necessity of memorizing scripture has never been more important. During the first century church, the saints literally had no New Testament at their disposal. It wasn’t written yet. They had to wait for circular letters to be sent, read them in the assembly, and then pass them on. During the Dark Ages, scripture in the hands of the people was explicitly denied by the false Roman Catholic church. The Protestant Reformers gave their lives in many cases to write the holy scriptures in the people’s language and bring it to the masses. History records the travails of some of these men- John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, William Tyndale…men who brought the Bible to the people, at the expense of their lives in some cases.

The time is coming and may be now here, where Christians in America will have to make a stand for the Word of God. The time may be at the doorstep where possessing it in hard copy may mean we’ll be marginalized, bullied, persecuted, or killed. We have a hard copy now only because the aforementioned men stood for the Word of God. Will we make the same stand? William Tyndale did.

From Fox’s Book of Martyrs, the original language is so descriptive I’m quoting from it instead of the modern version-

Then Master Tyndale, as he was learned and well practiced in God’s matters, spared not to show unto them simply and plainly his judgment, and when they at any time did vary from Tyndale in opinions, he would show them in the Book, and lay plainly before them the open and manifest places of the Scriptures, to confute their errors, and confirm his sayings. And thus continued they for a certain season, reasoning and contending together divers times, until at length they waxed weary, and bare a secret grudge in their hearts against him.

Tyndale did not show them with his opinion or personal judgment, but from the scriptures. Isn’t that always the way, when you refute and confound the objectors with scripture, they become angry and bear a secret grudge.

As this grew on, the priests of the country, clustering together, began to grudge and storm against Tyndale, railing against him in alehouses and other places, affirming that his sayings were heresy; and accused him secretly to the chancellor, and others of the bishop’s officers. …

The bishops and prelates never rested before they had brought the king to their consent; by reason whereof, a proclamation in all haste was devised and set forth under public authority, that the Testament of Tyndale’s translation was inhibited-which was about A.D. 1537. And not content herewith, they proceeded further, how to entangle him in their nets, and to bereave him of his life; which how they brought to pass, now it remaineth to be declared.

William Tyndale is burned at the stake in Belgium in 1536,
from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

They “never rested” until the Bible was denied from the people and its bringer, Tyndale, was killed. Satan desperately wants us not to have it. This is why not only should we study it to show ourselves approved, but memorize for the day when satan temporarily wins his petty victory and removes it from our life.

At last, after much reasoning, when no reason would serve, although he deserved no death, he was condemned by virtue of the emperor’s decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg. Brought forth to the place of execution, he was tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman, and afterwards consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, A.D. 1536; crying at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, “Lord! open the king of England’s eyes.”

Such was the power of his doctrine, and the sincerity of his life, that during the time of his imprisonment (which endured a year and a half), he converted, it is said, his keeper, the keeper’s daughter, and others of his household.

As touching his translation of the New Testament, because his enemies did so much carp at it, pretending it to be full of heresies, he wrote to John Frith, as followeth, “I call God to record against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, that I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me.”

Geneva Bible, from Wikipedia

Tyndale’s plea to God to open the King’s eyes was heard. Two years after his death, King Henry VIII allowed the bible to be published and distributed widely. This was the Great Bible published in 1535. The Geneva Bible came next, had added verse addresses, and included study notes. The Geneva Bible was the version taken to America by the Puritans.

Wikipedia of the Geneva Bible: It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress. … Because the language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous, most readers preferred this version strongly over the Great Bible. In the words of Cleland Boyd McAfee, “it drove the Great Bible off the field by sheer power of excellence”.

The King James version came in 1611. All thanks to a long line of men the Holy Spirit raised up who valued the Word and kept it primary in their lives, at the expense of their lives.

The Holy Spirit energizes each saint who absorbs the word. The Spirit of the sword of God which is the word of God is already implanted in us. Be ye transformed renewing of your mind! (Romans 12:2)

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Further reading

Timeline of English Bible History: 1400 AD onward

Fox’s Book of Martyrs (text online for free)

Posted in bible, famine of the word, persecution, prophecy

Why the SCOTUS decision means we must start memorizing our Bibles in earnest, NOW

Posted on by elizabethprata

 I never like to exhort without offering a solution. Thanks to commenters and Facebook friends, here are two FREE systems to help memorize His word.

UPDATE: Memorizing Scripture: two systems to help you- ScriptureTyper and Scripture Memory System 

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On June 26, 2015, Christians got a wake-up call. That was the day that the Supreme Court of the United States decided, extant from law or precedent, that homosexual ‘marriage’ should be the law of the land in all 50 states.

The news hit like a tsunami. The reactions ranged from ones of outrage and perplexity among Christians, to reactions of ebullience from homosexuals and those who applaud them.

The ramification of this decision from the highest court in the land will take time to fully reveal itself. However, initial impacts are not good. Almost immediately a polyamorous triad applied for a marriage certificate in Montana. More ominously, just as immediately, a newspaper editor declared that he will not publish letters to the editor expressing an opinion in opposition to gay marriage. Most portentously,

Christian Colleges’ Right to Deny Married Housing for Gay Couples Is ‘on the Edge of the Indefensible,’ Rep. Barry Lynn Asserts

Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced Monday the launch of an “aggressive” initiative to combat any state or federal legislation, or court ruling seeking to protect religious objectors of same-sex marriage from government consequence for living according to their religious convictions. … In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 26 that it is unconstitutional for states to refuse issuing same-sex couples marriage licenses, the organization expects Christian conservatives to respond by introducing a plethora of bills, executive orders, regulatory and policy changes that are “designed to resist the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deuteronomy 11:18).

What it’s saying is that the gay mafia will put to the legal test the notion that Christian colleges cannot and should not deny same-sex couples’ co-habitation at such a college. And if you’re wondering why a homosexual would even bother to enroll in a Christian college, never mind bring his or her partner and spend good money fighting to live together, it’s because homosexuals are disciplined, organized, and are fervently effective witnesses for satan. They go to the hostile places to witness for their demonic truths.

In the week or so since the SCOTUS ruling allowing homosexual marriage, some have begun to think about whether it is time for civil disobedience. Churches are drawing up policies and legal language articulating their position on whether their pastor will perform a homosexual wedding. Church treasurers are going over the bookkeeping accounts to see where they would stand if stripped of their tax-exempt status. Street preachers are settling in their mind how far to take submission to civil law versus speaking to what we have heard and seen, as Acts 4:18-20 says.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … (Colossians 3:16a)

The Banner of Truth posted a sobering article noting that the time for civil disobedience has come. They wrote that despite the clear commands of the Bible to submit to civil authorities, there are limits to that submission.

Yet the Bible itself sets limits to the submission believers owe the civil order. When some of the Old Testament kings of Israel and Judah practiced idolatry, the holy prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah stood against them. In the New Testament, when the unbelieving Jewish leadership told the apostles to quit preaching the gospel, they had to disobey this unrighteous order. Listen to Acts 4:18-20:

And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.  (Psalm 40:8)

But that isn’t the point of this article.

I’m worried about a greater danger. There is another ramification of the SCOTUS ruling where a confluence of events have conspired to put Christians at a disadvantage in the battle.

What?! you say? Through Christ we can do all things? Even David, seemingly defenseless against the giant Goliath, was victorious?! How can Christians now be at a disadvantage?

 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.  (Psalm 119:16)

Our battle is not against flesh and blood.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God… (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Christians are unarmed and unready for the battle because we have failed to put on the whole armor. We were warned, Paul did a good job there. But we did not heed. We have become biblically illiterate, and during a time in which bibles are seen as hate material and are increasingly being forbidden from many public places. Perhaps to be made illegal some time soon. So now we are missing an important component of the battle armor:

THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, THE WORD OF GOD.

US OWI WWII poster, series “Nature of the Enemy,”
response to Nazi religious book & religious material burnings

Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. (Proverbs 22:17-18)

Biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high. People don’t study the word, they don’t know what is in the word, they don’t care. They twist the word (“Don’t judge!”) and thanks to football, they are just as likely to know the verse that a person can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, as they are to believe that Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and God helps those who help themselves. Neither of the last two are even in the bible.

Less than a year ago Ed Stetzer wrote in Christianity Today that “It’s obvious: We are living in a post-biblically literate culture.”

 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21).

And now we’re caught with our pants down and our mouths hanging open. I’m not talking about thoughtful writing on theological blogs or online religious news outlet articles. In those scenarios an author has time to look up a verse. I am talking about the all-important hide-in-your-heart, wide swathes of the word, to have at the mental ready when out and about. The battle, when it comes to you, will be abrupt. You might be at the Big Box Store checkout line and the lady behind you might see your cross necklace and says, “Hey! You’re a Christian, why do you hate gays so much?” If you say grace at the employee cafeteria table, you might be heckled. Out of nowhere you might be involved in something and you’ll WISH you had that verse you know would compassionately speak to the situation, it’s on the tip of your tongue… but now you just can’t remember…

And soon, very soon, it might even become illegal to publicly carry a bible, or worse, even to own one. Holding Biblical religious material may become illegal in the United States at some point. Don’t think it can’t happen here. Irrational hostility against Christians and Christianity has already started, as noted by the news articles posted above. Bibles and/or verses and/or Bible study are all being banned at some private homes, schools, colleges, hotels (Gideon Bibles) in the United States- before SCOTUS June 26…

So if Bibles become forbidden or illegal what then? [crickets]

Source: Voice of the Martyrs.

What happened to Wednesday night Bible Drills? To using the Bible as the basis for Sunday School Curriculum? To personal Bible study? Gone. Gone. Gone.

Pastors do everything BUT preach the word, busy families shuttle kids to every kind of practice BUT family devotionals. Taking time to study the Bible and not books about the bible is simply unheard of. And we will pay for that.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

Look at what happened to the church at Ephesus. Sometime between 60 and 62AD, Paul wrote to the saints at that church, saying

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, (Ephesians 1:16-17).

Paul was effusive and enthusiastic in praising them for their faith and love.

The next time we hear of the Ephesian church it is in Revelation, written about 95-96 AD.

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent (Revelation 2:4-5)

Jesus praises the Ephesians for their enduring patience, good works, and hatred of evil. But it counted for nothing, nothing, because they had lost their first love. Their good works counted for nothing, their patience counted for nothing, not even their pure doctrine counted. They had abandoned their first love, THAT was what mattered. What was that love? Jesus. What keeps that love aflame? Being with Him in His word. The Head of the Church said “I have this against you…” And it took less than 40 years for that church to lose their love.

What was Jesus’ command for a remedy?

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Revelation 2:5)

1. Remember
2. Repent
3. Do the works you did at first

What were those works? The very ones Paul commended 40 years earlier and the very same works which characterized the early church; devotion to prayer, worship and rich bible study.

Without the sword of the Lord, we are defenseless against the wiles of the devil. And that is no good place to be. Today people won’t read the Bible. Soon it may be that they can’t read the Bible.

So here is my exhortation:

Personally read and study the bible. Not a devotional or a book or a curriculum or a study. THE BIBLE.

Make an effort to memorize verses. I fail miserably at this, so I am preaching to myself. We don’t know how long it will be until we are banned from carrying or displaying religious material in public, nor how long it will be until we are prohibited from even owning a bible, but it is hard is to fan the flames of faith without His word as the bellows. Have it ready in your heart and mind. Some of the verses urging us to do just that are listed on this essay from top to bottom.

Be diligent about studying with your children. Not just studying, memorizing. We do not know how long the Lord will tarry, but the next generation must have the Word at the ready in their hearts and minds in order to witness because access to biblical material may be too risky to obtain. Our mind may be all that we can carry.

Think about starting a memorization Bible Drill program at your church or homeschool group or after-school club. This one in Ohio is typical. There is one in just about every state, with levels that progressively lead to age-appropriate competitions. It can be modified for adults, like this one in Georgia.

Start NOW. Today.

Don’t go to battle without your sword. No good soldier would leave it dusty beside the campfire. No good policeman would go out without his gun, club, radio, handcuffs, etc. Don’t leave yourself defenseless in these times, times in which persecution is knocking at the door and is even beginning. Memorize, memorize, memorize.

Because if you think it won’t happen here I am sad to say it won’t be long before you are proven wrong. And I do not believe I am being a scare-mongering inflammatory sky is falling nutcase about this.

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.  (Amos 8:11)

Bible verse memorization has a two-fold purpose. It keeps the person memorizing them in a good and holy position so they may not sin against God, and it allows that person to witness on the spot or in places where bibles are forbidden or hard to come by, and to teach others to the truth of the Living God, coming again in glory to judge the quick and the dead.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

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Further Reading

Why is Bible memorization important?

Is Bible memorization important? Why?

Personal Bible study

Blog series: How to Study the Bible