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The irreversible destruction of false teachers

Posted on November 8, 2024November 8, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1).

Gill’s Exposition explains the intriguing part about broken beyond remedy:

shall suddenly be destroyed; or “broken” (e); as a potter’s vessel is broken to pieces with an iron rod, and can never he put together again; so such persons shall be punished with everlasting destruction, which shall come upon them suddenly, when they are crying Peace to themselves notwithstanding the reproofs of God and men;

I understand that when Christians are developing and practicing discernment, it’s sometimes difficult to detect a false teacher, especially in the early days of the false teacher’s ministry or the early days of the Christian. Other people, though they suspect, find it hard to admit that their favorite teacher is false. “But they teach about Jesus!” they say. I know, it’s interesting to listen to some of the more crafty (Genesis 3:1) teachers who have such eloquence of tongue and then believe they are insincere. But remember that the antichrist is prophesied to gain the world by a smooth tongue and flattery. (Daniel 11:21). These present mini-antichrists (1 John 2:22) are almost as smooth as the prophesied Antichrist will be in the future, so it is no wonder that they are so slick in their speeches.

The main way to detect a false teacher of course is to compare what they say to the Bible (Acts 17:11).

But even then, some are so disguised as an angel of light that they never put a word wrong. Think of Demas who traveled with Paul, Simon Magus who was baptized by Philip, and of course Judas who lived WITH the disciples.

So here is another way to detect a false teacher: how they react when they are corrected or challenged. Doctrine is utmost, but behavior is important. How does the true or the false teacher respond when posed a question, challenged in their interpretation, or rebuked for their teaching?

It’s the behavior when corrected that also indicates the true vs false teacher. If the teacher is God-honoring s/he cares about the word as primary importance. How crushing it is when we say or teach something in error or contrary to proper exposition! We hasten to correct, humbling ourselves to Him and the truth of His word.

The false teacher who rebels when teaching the word will continue to rebel when corrected in the word. As the Proverb says, he will harden his neck. Stiff necked is a synonym for stubborn. Instead of being teachable and gentle, the false teacher will entrench him or herself into stubbornness and double down on their position. This is because they are full of pride, and care not for the truth of God’s word. They SAY they care, but their behavior SHOWS they do not.

The second half of the Proverb is encouraging. I know it’s all the rage to claim love and kindness to and for false teachers, but I do not. If a teacher has abused the name of Christ, twisted His words, and persistently shown that they care only for themselves, money or fame, harming His sheep in the process, the second half of the Proverb is rallying to my soul. It motivates me to leave the judgment of this scourge of fiery ants to the Lord, and to take comfort in His timing. They WILL be broken beyond remedy. Good.

When challenged over these issues the false teachers stiffen themselves, they entrench into their stubbornness. This is a God-ordained exposure. Let us not ignore these exposures seen through their behavior, but heed the wisdom in Proverbs.

It’s OK to take comfort in the knowledge of the coming permanent and irreversible destruction of these wolves. It means that the name of Jesus will eternally remain spotless with no dung thrown on Him or on His people, ever again. What a day that will be!

theology

Prata Potpourri: Election reflections, Helpful new info on Steve Lawson, Owen Strachan’s great essay

Posted on November 7, 2024November 7, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We are so undeserving of this reprieve. I am feeling extremely grateful. But let us make the most of it while we can. Below is what I posted on my social media today-

I am still mulling over the Steve Lawson situation. He is the man who was world renowned for expository preaching, a traveling teacher at Trinity Baptist Church, Ligonier, The Master’s Seminary, and Grace Community Church, in addition to his own ministry he founded, OnePassion. He engaged in a 5-year adulterous affair with a woman almost 50 years younger than himself, was outed by Trinity Church, fired, and subsequently Lawson hasn’t been seen or heard from since. The other ministries such as Ligonier and TMS etc fired him and OnePassion’s Expositor Magazine folded.

It was a shock.

There were a lot of hot takes, a lot of discussion, and there is even now, two months later, lingering chats about the fall of a once-seemingly solid Christian. Of the media I consumed about this issue, this one from With All Wisdom (WaW) was the most measured, informative, and gracious I have heard or read. They waited over 5 weeks to comment, and did much first-hand investigation and interviews to learn more.

One thing they discussed was Lawson’s preference for expensive things- ties, suits, hotels, food etc. They mentioned his salary and honoraria, and the tax returns. I took a look after the podcast ended to see myself and saw that according to the IRS 990 form for OnePassion, Anne Lawson, Steve’s wife, states that she worked for the ministry 1 hour per week and earned a $30,000 salary.

Interestingly, the With All Wisdom guys learned that Lawson was not listed as nor described as a pastor at Trinity Baptist, not an elder, and not even a member. He was listed in their leadership page as “Lead Preacher”. When Trinity Bible Church was asked by With All Wisdom if the church would go forward with church discipline, the church said no. They can’t. Lawson wasn’t a pastor nor a church member. Lawson was accountable to no one, and as the guys on the podcast said, this is errant ecclesiology and in all likelihood even led to the circumstances that allowed the scandal to erupt.

Interestingly though, the OnePassion IRS tax return lists Lawson as “a teaching pastor”. In my opinion, he and/or the church are playing with semantics. Because Lawson was not a pastor in any sense of the word. He was an itinerant teacher, trotting the globe (while living a shameful double life).

Based on the With All Wisdom podcast’s information, I now know why Trinity Bible Church isn’t issuing any further information. I will also stop looking for it.

Tune into With All Wisdom’s chat to hear wisdom and grace over the situation. For me, their teaching on lessons learned was invaluable. For example, the difference between ‘wrong information’ and ‘wrong impressions’ was a lesson I took to heart.

Episode #98: Updates on the Steve Lawson Situation

I like Owen Strachan’s writing. Strachan (pronounced Strachan, rhymes with ran) published an essay yesterday titled Morning in America Again: 7 Reflections from Trump’s Election. If you are of an age like I am, you remember the highly evocative and effective re-election campaign by Ronald Reagan called Morning in America.

“The Spirit of the Abyss” by Wilhelm Kotarbinski

Strachan’s thoughts essentially mirrored mine above but of course fleshed out and better. I think a lot of people are thinking along these lines:

We have all lived through a long and almost unbroken nightmare. We have been forced to contemplate not only our present darkness, but the possibility of still greater unleashing of darkness through the presidency of Kamala Harris. We have trembled at that reality; we have wept; we have felt great surging waves of fear, anxiety, doubt, discouragement, and hopelessness at times.

“We have all lived through a long and almost unbroken nightmare. We have been forced to contemplate not only our present darkness, but the possibility of still greater unleashing of darkness through the presidency of Kamala Harris. We have trembled at that reality; we have wept; we have felt great surging waves of fear, anxiety, doubt, discouragement, and hopelessness at times. But for now, we have been granted a reprieve, a temporary stalling of evil as driven by the modern political left.”

Strachan is Senior Director of the Dobson Culture Center and Host of Grace & Truth podcast. His essay was poignant about the election but also a call to arms, with a warning not to rest. But so encouraging to think, as he postulated, that woke ideology is waning, that the near future might actually have a positive effect on gender wars, that legacy reporting institutions are mostly dead… do read his wonderful essay!

And now we return to a world absent of glossy political fliers in the mail, our phones will calm down from incessant political ads, and hopefully our Bibles will be opened more frequently as we have stared into a world where fascism and oligarchy, not to mention Banana Republic, was looming over us like the Great Wave at Kanagawa. May we give proper glory to God for His kindness.

theology

Walsch, Young, and Beth Moore: ungodly channelers producing ungodly books. Part 3: Beth Moore’s “When Godly People do Ungodly Things”

Posted on November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A post on Instagram by the ever-solid Doreen Virtue about channeling (it’s here) reminded me that in 2011 I had written a series of essay examining what channeling (or ‘automatic writing’) is, and had examined three highly popular books that these seemingly Christian authors had published. I’ve revived and updated those essays here, I also shortened them, and split them up to examine each author in turn.

Neale Donald Walsch wrote “Conversations with God” (1995), William P. Young wrote “The Shack” (2007), and Beth Moore wrote “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things” (2002). All three were Christian bestsellers. All three are unholy.

Automatic writing is when a writer clears his mind, gives his will over to another entity from the supernatural realms, and allows his hand to be used as a transcriber, thereby allowing the entity to produce the work, and not himself through his own mind or consciousness. Not even the scriptures were generated in this manner. The Bible’s authors received inspiration but were mentally and emotionally present and the Holy Spirit used their mind and personality to write. The authors didn’t zone out and become robots as another entity produced the works.

One thing these automatic writers I’m looking at who channel these supernatural entities have in common is they all had a Christian-ish background. The second thing they all had in common was abuse, parents who were distant either physically or emotionally, and/or trauma of severe kinds that usually resulted in a deep depression throughout adulthood. It was in the depths of their depressions at the bottom of their turmoil that they began to experience the “call” from the other side. Here are their stories. Today, we look at Beth Moore.

Beth Moore was raised a Christian in Arkansas, attending church and Sunday School regularly. She earned a political science degree from college and after a few years “took a Bible doctrine class” taught at her church. Moore has been very open about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. In her recent memoir she finally revealed that it was her father who abused her. In her speeches she often mentioned the abuse (though not who the perp was).

She is also well known for having shared her personal thoughts on her low self-esteem, feeling of worthlessness, insecurity, etc. and in fact has memorialized those feelings in most of her books. For all that, she is closely guarded about her personal life but it is my opinion that the frequency with which she raises her personal traumas is an indicator that they are not slain and are in fact indicative of a deep depression, despite all her perkiness.

Beth Moore wrote in her book Believing God: “What God began to say to me about five years ago, and I’m telling you it sent me on such a trek with Him, that my head is still whirling over it. He began to say to me, ‘I’m gonna tell you something right now, Beth, and boy you write this one down, and you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it: My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief. My Bride is paralyzed by unbelief.’ And He said, ‘Startin’ with you.’” God says, “and boy you write this one down”.

She states in the Believing God DVD: “You know what He told me not too long ago? I told you when I first began this whole concept, He first started teaching it to me about five years ago, and He said these words to me: ‘Baby, you have not even begun to believe Me. You haven’t even begun!’ You know what He said just a few days ago? ‘Honey, I just want you to know we’re just beginning.’ Oh, glory! That meant I had begun. Hallelujah! But He was telling me, ‘When this ends, we ain’t done with this. Honey, this is what we do for the rest of your life.’ And He said those words to me over and over again: ‘Believe Me. Believe Me. And I hope it’s starting to ring in your ears, over and over again, Believe Me.’”

Beth actually believes God speaks to her, speaks in such familiar language, and uses endearments such as babe and honey.

No.

In Moore’s “When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, in the preface she states,

Transcription from the screen shot reads: “This book represents one of the most unique writing experiences I’ve ever had with God. Unbeknownst to me, He’s been writing each chapter on my heart for several years. When the message for this book was complete (in His estimation—not mine!), God compelled me to ink it on paper with a force of the Holy Spirit unparalleled in my experience. He whisked me to the mountains of Wyoming where I entered solitary confinement with Him, and in only a few short weeks, I wrote the last line.

Now here is the question. Beth Moore says that she holed up in a cabin by herself, and a written work poured out, emerging complete and not by her own hand. Moore said, “When the message of the book was complete, in His estimation, not my own”? So, a disembodied spirit via a force or a voice was telling her what to write and when to stop! Moore was not in control of the editing process, a force was. Her physical body was used by a disembodied spirit to write things down and she felt like she could not resist the force (‘compelled’). This is channeling, sisters.

Transcription of screen shot: “I am being as honest as I know how to be when I say that I did not write these pages by simple preference. I wrote them because had I not, the rocks in my yard would have cried out. What God does with what He’s required is His business. I entrust this message entirely to the One who delivered it while I sat bug-eyed.” (Source When Godly People Do Ungodly Things).

Moore is saying that she sat passively like a robot or an automaton while God delivered a message. No. Moore is saying that her book is so important that all of creation would cry out if she didn’t write it. No.

Furthermore, she is putting herself as an equal to the Apostles who were praising JESUS at that time. Moore’s pride in elevating her book to the level of importance akin to joy expressed at the arrival of the Messiah illustrates a prideful heart.

Sisters, one may wonder how these authors dare to write these blasphemous words, AND believe them. But pride is incremental. it speaks to the lust we have for ourselves in our hearts, and slowly insinuated its tentacles around that prideful heart to darken its view of Jesus and brighten our view of ourselves. Watch out for pride, or someday you may find yourself (or myself) saying that we are so important the rocks would cry out if we didn’t do such and such!

Further Resources

Grace to You: Hearing from Heaven

Doreen Virtue: Say NO to Jesus Calling New Age Channeled Books

The End Time: How do Christian authors end up channeling spirits and producing books from them? Pride

theology

Walsch, Young, and Beth Moore: ungodly channelers producing ungodly books. Part 2: William P. Young’s “The Shack”

Posted on November 5, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

One thing these automatic writers who channel these supernatural entities people all have in common is they all had a Christian-ish background. The second thing they all had in common was abuse, parents who were distant either physically or emotionally, and/or trauma of severe kinds that usually resulted in a deep depression throughout adulthood. It was in the depths of their depressions at the bottom of their turmoil that they began to experience the “call” from the other side. Here are their stories. Today, we look at William P. Young of “The Shack” fame.

William P. Young was born to missionary parents and within a stone age cannibalistic tribe that his parents were evangelizing in New Guinea. At age six he returned to Canada and attended 13 different schools before graduating and then attending Bible College. He earned his religion undergraduate degree and then went on to seminary.

In his case, Young says “sexual abuse was probably the most fundamental building block of my shack.” When he was a young child, he said, tribal people near his parents’ missionary station abused him, and he experienced more abuse by older students at the boarding school he was sent to at age 6.

At age 38 he had an affair with his wife’s best friend that nearly cost him his marriage. He became homeless after trying to keep up and working three jobs. Financially insolvent due to bad decisions, Young says the book “The Shack” was born from the pain he was feeling inside while at the same time recognizing he was a religious performer. During that time (in 2004) Young became a Universalist.

Universalists believe everyone will be saved whether they have repented or not.

In this essay titled Paul Young and Universal Reconciliation, the author states, “Paul Young told me he is a “hopeful universalist.” He believes that our loving God sent His Son to die for every single sinner without exception. One day God will effectually reconcile every sinner to Himself. Paul uses the term “hopeful” universalism because he understands that the Scriptures speak of judgment, but Paul is “hopeful” that even in judgment, the love of God will eventually bring the sinner being judged to love for Jesus Christ.”

No.

Young’s early trauma informed his personality, decisions, and eventually, his religion. He said he became a perfectionist performer in order to survive. “Young says he became ‘a perfectionist performer with a persona that you present to the world covering up an ocean of shame. I’m the oldest. “I took the brunt of some of the negative dynamics in our family at the time. A lot of those things fed into becoming a perfectionist performer. I held it together until I was thirty-eight years old, and then it all blew apart thanks to the grace of God, and I started an eleven year process of dismantling everything and putting it all back together.“

So, he deconstructed. Or apostatized.

Even though Young had earned an undergraduate degree in religion (or because of it) and had started seminary, Young emerged from his education and his introspection with a false view of God.

Like Walsch in the previous essay, with no born-again faith underpinning his worldview, Young sought relief for his messy life of trauma and heartbreak in all the wrong places.

For the 11 years Young worked through his understanding of “the nature and character of God.” By the end of 2004 he had come to “peace with myself and peace with my sense of who I believe God to be”—a process he condensed to a weekend in the book. His writing process is l described in his own words here:

“I had this interaction with Divine Love, however you wanna do it. I have a very conversational relationship with God, and on, on my dad’s 80th birthday, he stepped on one of my [emotional] mines, you know, that I didn’t know were my mines – he just didn’t live up to one of my expectations and blew stuff up. And so I’m pissed off and I go for a walk, and I can sense the presence of God next to me.” (Source)

“And I, I feel an arm around my shoulder, you know, and it’s, we have this little conversation and, and I hear Love say, “you know, you know Paul, your dad hasn’t known how to be a father for 60 years. He’s not suddenly gonna figure it out. And I went, “yeah, I know that. I know that.” And then I hear in the inside voice, I hear, “if it’s okay with you, would you let me be all that and more?” (Source).

On his creative process-

“I had this experience — and this was early when The Shack had just begun to take off — and I woke up in the middle of the night — and it’s never happened to me before and it’s never happened since — and I was literally caught in a waterfall. It’s like I was sitting up in bed in a waterfall of creative ideas. And about an hour into this I thought to myself, ‘I need to get up and write this down,’ and it all stopped. And I really felt “the voice.” You know, to me it’s the Holy Spirit, who just said, ‘Isn’t that what you always do? You don’t trust that creativity is a river,’ and I said you’re right, I don’t trust, and I said I’m not going to live like that anymore. And immediately the waterfall started again for an hour until I fell asleep. (Source)

Did the Holy Spirit speak directly to Young? No.

The people I’m looking at here, Young, Walsch, and Moore, all had severe and long-term trauma in their lives. They were horrifically abused, and/or were abandoned, fell into depressions, were attempting to claw their way out of some kind of traumatizing pain and a broken-down life.

In the cases I read about, and they are anecdotal to be sure, none of the people said, “I was having a tremendously satisfying career, a strong marriage, and I felt joyful and grateful to God, when I suddenly felt the call from the other side…” Nope. In all the cases, the automatic writers were at their most vulnerable, and at their lowest point of life, had wavering faith.

When we are at our most vulnerable is when we are at our most vulnerable. It sounds redundant but it is a truism that when we are wrestling with why bad things happen to us we mix our sorrow with anger against God, that is when the spirits come. And of course by that I mean if one is not a born-again believer, it’s the demons, satan’s crew who comes.

Picture the wounded young gazelle on the African savannah, and lions approaching.

In the cases of our writers, many of them felt a sense of restoration after being contacted from the other side. When we’re down, we all want comfort. Young and Walsch have said that they felt restored through the process of writing these things about God. I believe Moore uses her writings and her talks on tv and at conferences as a therapy session, as I have stated before. What person suffering from trauma, pain, and depression wouldn’t want to respond to a whisper in their ear that ‘god’ can and will take the pain away? That they are a special person and the ‘voice’ will give personal, secret, new thoughts and ideas to you, you special person?

But we must guard our heart.

Pride is the root of these automatic writings, with the person willingly participating in the notion that they are special enough to have been contacted by ‘the other side’ directly. Like Apostle Paul was, or Elijah.

We live in a world that is actually satan’s. (2 Cor 4:4). We need strength to deal with the crafty cunning schemes of the satanic system that is all around us. God gave us armor but the armor does not do any good if it is in the closet. (Eph 6:10-19).

Here is an example of the craftiness of the devil’s schemes. William Young is talking about his writing process. He said “In the first draft there was more religious language. God was actually quoting Scripture, which kinda didn’t work. In the re-write I was actually able to embed Scripture in the conversation almost in a way that people don’t pick it up.” So Young actually watered down the scripture, which we know is the only language that penetrates hearts and reveals God. But for Young, ‘It didn’t work.’

Do you think that God would send words to a person about Himself and then inspire the author to hide them so they are ‘not picked up’? Once you divorce the scripture from its source you can then change the wording subtly.

Guard your heart, stay close to God, and if you hear a ‘voice’ reject it as satan’s and seek God’s through His word.

Further Resources

Tim Challies’ review of The Shack or here

How do Christian authors end up channeling spirits and producing books from them? Pride

What does the Bible say about channeling?

automatic writing, beth moore, bible jesus, channeling, prophecy, satan

Walsch, Young, and Beth Moore: ungodly channelers producing ungodly books. Part 1- Neale Donald Walsch and his alleged ‘conversations with God’

Posted on November 4, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A post on Instagram by the ever-solid Doreen Virtue (it’s here) about channeling reminded me that in 2011 I had written a series of essays examining what channeling is (AKA ‘automatic writing’), and had examined three highly popular books that these allegedly Christian authors had published. I revived and updated those essays, I also shortened them splitting them up to examine each author in turn.

Automatic writing is when a writer clears his mind, gives his will over to another entity from the supernatural realms, and allows his hand to be used as a transcriber, thereby allowing the entity to produce the work, and not the human writer through his own mind or consciousness. Not even the scriptures were generated in this manner. The Bible’s authors received inspiration but were mentally and emotionally present. The Holy Spirit inspired their own minds and personalities to write. The authors didn’t zone out and become robots as another entity produced the works.

The point of the 2011 essays was not so much to examine the content of what these writers wrote about. Though discernment lacks in many a Christian heart these days, the ungodly moments in those books eventually become apparent to the readers who call upon the Spirit for light and illumination.

Turning to the point of this essay, I noticed similarities in the emotional lives of today’s ‘Christian’ automatic writers used by spirit or a ‘force’ from the other side. Hopefully I will provide an understanding of how satan works in the emotionally vulnerable.

One thing these automatic writers who channel these supernatural entities people all have in common is they all had a Christian-ish background. The second thing they all had in common was sexual abuse, parents who were distant either physically or emotionally, and/or trauma of severe kinds that usually resulted in a deep depression through to adulthood. It was in the depths of their depressions at the bottom of their turmoil that they began to experience the “call” from the other side. Here are their stories. Today, we look at Neale Donald Walsch.

Neale Donald Walsch, 81 years old. Photo Source- Facebook

Neale Donald Walsch was brought up as a Roman Catholic, he was an altar boy, actually. Born Again Christians know that Roman Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a false religion. However, in a conference on ‘God and Love’ at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center, Colorado in what looks to be about twenty years ago, Walsch described his growing disillusionment with the rigidity and minutiae of Catholic traditions as a youth and mocked it cynically in a ‘humorous’ speech at the conference.

His family encouraged his quest for spiritual truth and eventually he wound up informally studying comparative theology for many years. In that quest, Walsch sadly did not turn to the Bible but to himself.

He was at an incredible low point in his life. A fire had destroyed everything he owned, his marriage had broken up, he was in a car crash and suffered a broken neck, then became unemployed and homeless. Living in a tent, Walsch picked up cans in order to eat.

He had no faith to cling to, and no way to resolve his anger. In 1995 Neale Donald Walsch realized his life was a mess. He said, “I woke up one night just angry, really frustrated, and wrote down what was on my mind” in an angry letter to God. God ‘answered’.

As described here, Walsch has said, “After writing down all of his questions, he heard a voice over his right shoulder say: “Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?” When Walsch turned around, he saw no one there, yet Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down. The ensuing automatic writing became the Conversations with God books.

Walsch’s own words, “To my surprise, as I scribbled out the last of my bitter, unanswerable questions and prepared to toss my pen aside, my hand remained poised over the paper, as if held there by some invisible force. Abruptly, the pen began moving on its own. I had no idea what I was about to write….Out came….Do you really want an answer to all these questions, or are you just venting? … Before I knew it, I had begun a conversation.” (New York Times article).

Walsch’s spiritual stance is that we are all one with God and that helping people is the satisfaction to life.

No. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy HIM forever.

What resulted from Walsch is a cottage industry of false religion permeating the world. Wikipedia states that “Conversations with God, was published in 1995 and became an international bestseller. It remained on the New York Times Bestseller List for 135 weeks. Six of his other books have made the Times list in the years since. He has published 28 books and his works have been translated into 37 languages.” His books are not a small problem.

“In the spring of 1992 an extraordinary phenomenon occurred in my life. God began talking with you. Through me.” ~Neale Donald Walsch No, God doesn’t talk to me thru Walsch. God talks to me thru His Son! (Hebrews 1:1-2)

God is not speaking today. True, in the past He has spoken directly to several people in the Bible (not as many as you’d think) and in various ways, too. But He has spoken in His word, which is complete and sufficient for all training. (Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:16).

Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God contributed to the New Age religion and its growth. The counterculture hippie movement of the 1960s had by the 1970s morphed into the New Age movement containing elements of the early twentieth century Victorian Theosophy spiritism, 1050s UFO mania, and Helen Schucman’s 1975 A Course in Miracles. Shirley MacLaine’s 1983 book Out on a Limb added much fuel to the fire of fervency for a holistic spiritualism devoid of God. I remember that book, it caused a huge stir.

What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Satan from before the beginning of human history through to now and beyond, will try to poison God’s Gospel. In some people, man’s inherent pride will click with this notion that God selected them specially to speak directly to them and they will be used in this way to pervert the Gospel. Some who seek a man-made religion will pick up these wrong theories and philosophies and connect through these unfortunate authors and their books. Millions.

When I was on the path toward the cross but not there yet, I was curious about religion. But my pagan mind didn’t know which religion to choose. I did not know at the time the God chooses us, we do not choose God. I bought the trilogy Conversations with God and I read book 1. The book did not make sense to me. It meandered, it was internally contradictory, and it was boring. I didn’t even bother to read Walsch’s book 2 and 3, they stayed on my shelf, unread, until I was born again and I then threw them all out. I thank God for preserving me until the time He appointed the moment of justification.

Sisters, when an author says that God spoke the book to him or her, run. The only book God spoke in is the Bible, and the only authors who had a conversation with God are the 66 authors who were inspired by the Spirit, not possessed by a spirit.

Further Resources

GotQ: What does the Bible say about Channeling?

Doreen Virtue: The Truth about Channeled Books (5-min video)

poetry, Uncategorized

Kay Cude poetry: Broken

Posted on November 3, 2024 by elizabethprata

Kay Cude poetry, Used with permission.

Artist’s statement:
This was the very first Christian piece I ever composed. I began it as a poem of heartbreak about my son, but as I wrote and edited, it moved away from my sorrow about him to my sorrow about my spiritual immaturity and subsequent failures. Then it continued on to the approaching darkness of this age and my inadequacies and weakness relative to my witness for Christ. I still am panged when I read this piece, but determined to continue on and strive against my “self” and honor Christ.

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theology

Three Bad Things

Posted on November 2, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m the kind of person where a major catastrophe could happen in front of me or to me and I’d go immediately into calm problem solving mode. But if a little thing happens I go to pieces.

Several events like that happened to me recently, which taught me lessons.

I drive only old cars. I mean like 15+ years old to near-antique cars. You expect old cars to break down. And they do. One of them was a champ till the end. Two others broke down constantly. I was alone by the side of the road numerous times. At night, in the rain, whatever whenever. Not my favorite thing. In fact, I am now highly skittish about the breakdown potentiality. I have a knot in my stomach every time I get behind the wheel. This car I have now is 17 years old.

A couple of weeks ago at the end of the day a staff member at school told me my rear passenger tire was very low. He offered to pump it up (school has a few gadgets to get people on their way again). There is a tire place a half mile from school so I headed there after work. The tire guy said all my tires were low and that one was extremely low. He assured me that is what it probably was, and since he is a tire guy who has a tire place and deals with tires, I thought, ‘well, OK’. Plumped up, my tires and me were on the road again.

Three days later that same tire was extremely low again. Repeat operation tire pump up at school. The person who helped me found a small hole and showed it to me. Again, off I went to the tire place. The guy jacked up the car enough to spin the tire and search for a hole or nail. He didn’t find it. He called for senior tire guy to come and he searched. Then began the treatment of customer as Nervous Nellie Old Lady. “You sure it was this tire?” My silent reply- “You sure you’d ask a GUY that question?!’ Out loud I politely replied, “Yes, I’m sure”. They did search diligently for a hole for a while longer but came up empty.

It had been flat twice in 5 days. There WAS a hole. There was no way I was leaving without a resolution. I asked if they had a good used tire. “Yes we do, in your size.”

Five minutes later the man came out of the garage wiping his hands. “Sorry that used tire has a hole in it.” Internally I replied, “Sure you found THAT hole.” Out loud I said, I’ll buy a new one. How much?”

$130 later I was driving down the road with a new tire. I was aggravated, sure. But though these minor hitches occur in life, God is present in my life too, and He is bigger and better than the interruptions that He providentially orchestrates.

Lesson #1: I had driven 50 miles and back to church at 65mph on the highway. The tire could have blown or flattened and put me by the side of the road. Instead, God caused the staff member to glance over and see the tire (in fact, when I thanked him for seeing it, he said “God did”. It happened at work. I was safe at work. I had friends who could help me if the car was not drivable. I got safely to work and back both times. There was a tire place a half mile away. The situation was resolved within 15 minutes and I was on my way with minor inconvenience. Even the cost of a new tire wasn’t bad.

Try to see God in and behind things that happen, from major to minor. Think about how to praise Him even when inconveniences. Especially when inconvenienced.

Problem #2

When the air conditioner isn’t on in my apartment the humidity rises. Did you know that ACs work not by cooling the air but by removing the water in the air? At least that is how I understand it. I have a dehumidifier and of course it needs emptying once in a while. I get up at 4:30 am on weekdays and I noticed it had turned itself off, needing an empty. I carefully removed the bucket and slowly walked over to the bathroom sink. I tipped the bucket over into the sink. I missed the sink. Gallons of water went all over the counter, inside the under cabinet and on the floor. Welp. That’s one way to wake up in the morning!

The good in that is most of the water went onto the bathroom area rug. I carefully lifted the sopping rug, drained the water and laid large towels down and got up the rest. I threw them all into the sink, intending to wring and throw into the dryer when I got home.

This event tells me that the Lord is reminding me I am entering a new season of life. I’m about to be 64. I am not the same person I was at 34. I drop things frequently now, needing to remind myself that I must grip objects tighter than I think I do. The depth perception isn’t the same anymore, that is how I missed the sink (in the dark, no glasses on makes it worse too). I obtained an old lady grabber because I’ve shrunk in stature, I cannot reach the 2nd shelf any more.

I think the Lord is reminding me that as I age, reliance on Him is a daily necessity. Even though it’s true that it is ALWAYS a necessity to rely on Him, a new season of life means it needs to be at the forefront of my mind even more firmly. There are things I just can’t do like I used to. A boon is that as I muse over this, I delight in the fact that I have eternal life. I don’t know how people who are nearing the last quarter or less of their life who don’t know Christ cope with the fact that one day, death will come.

Problem #3

So a third thing happened. It was Halloween. Halloween week at school is something non-educators just do not get. It is the national crazy holiday for kids. Because…CANDY. Not even Christmas presents top CANDY. You have no idea how much kids clamor for candy. It was also Red Ribbon week, so every day was dress up something. Halloween was costume day. There was also an assembly. Nuts I tell you. The whole week was nuts and Halloween day was nuttiest.

After school, though pretty tired, I decided to risk going up to Kroger for my weekly groceries. Thursday is a quiet day at the store, and I knew I’d be zonked on Friday. Weekends are monstrously busy. So Thursday it was. The weather was sunny, bright, and warm. I tootled up there contentedly and got my things and was feeling pretty happy with myself because I’d saved $21 and got out in less than 40 min, a personal best.

I opened my front car door and threw in my keys and purse, locked the door and closed it. OOPS! Groceries and me on the outside; keys, AAA car, spare key, and phone inside. Not good.

I tried pushing the window down a crack like I used to be able to do with my other car. No go. A Spanish man saw what I was doing and said ‘Call policia.’ Good idea, I said, thanks.

I went inside and told the customer service lady what I’d done and asked if they could call a police non-emergency number on behalf of a senior citizen lady. By now I was internally panicking and ready to jump off a metaphorical cliff. So instead I prayed to Jesus for this to be resolved quickly and inexpensively and well, quickly. So quickly.

The service desk lady said usually the policeman makes his rounds at this time, but warned me that they do not usually unlock doors unless there is a baby or animal inside.

The non-emergency dispatcher said she would call back if an officer was going to come. IF?! Gulp. I had a dilemma. Should I go outside and look for the officer? Or stay by the phone? More panic, because I do not like dilemmas.

I looked to my left and who did I see walking down the aisle. My dear friend the school counselor! I ran over. She said “Hey! How are you doing?” I said “BAD.”

I related the sad story of how stupid I was. She came over with me to the service desk. She said, “Hey I saw a police car stopped out front, it looked like he was looking for someone.” I said, “That’s’ MEEE!”

We went outside together and the officer was kind and said he’d meet us at my car. He worked on the lock while my friend talked calmly to me. I felt so stupid, really stupid, because I don’t usually make mistakes like this. I was just so tired from the day and not thinking. She gave me a hug and then the policeman was successful with getting the door unlocked. Voila! She even loaded my groceries for me. She is truly in the right profession as counselor.

The Lord answered my prayer – it was resolved inexpensively and He sent me a friend just then. She had said she did not even need to come to the store early because her prescription was not going to be ready for another hour. Amazing! He allowed the officer to unlock the car even though an animal or baby was not inside. I was on my way within 20 minutes of shutting the locked door on myself. Amazing!

I thought long and hard about what the Lord is showing me. First, He is absolutely involved in our lives, to the minutest degree. This should spark relief, gratitude, and an eagerness for prayer.

Second, he answers prayer. Sometimes He even answers in the way that was asked. What were the chances that at the exact moment I needed someone to calm me down He would send the perfect person whose personality and training makes you instantly calm? That I would not have to wait hours? That I would not have to spend money?

Third, that I need to add another routine to my life. In addition to managing my energy that ebbs and flows in fits and starts now, in addition to remembering to grip things harder than I used to, in addition to making sure I am stepping firmly and carefully so as not to fall, I now need to routinely keep keys in pocket. Add non-emergency number to wallet. I cannot do things unmindfully any more because my brain works differently now.

Thirty years ago I was tramping the roads of Paris in a backpack, steering a yacht across the Gulf Stream, sleeping in a bunk room below the waterline on an ice breaking ferry, on an archaeological dig in Tuscany, walking up and down the Andes. I’m not that girl anymore. Now I am a nearly retired senior (how’d THAT happen!) who uses a grabber to get 2nd shelf things down and locks her keys in the car. I’m a tired educator looking forward to sitting in the chair at night and nodding off while watching TV. I’m a pudgy white haired lady who gets senior discounts at Great Clips.

gray hair, sure. But what about white hair?

And that’s OK. I just have to remember that is who I am now. But also remember that life is eternal, and it will all work out in the end. If you are in Christ, He gives that peace and assurance that no matter what stage of life you’re in, He is in control, and working things out for the best for His children. I may old, but I am His child. And that is more than OK.

theology

Mary didn’t ride a donkey on the way to Bethlehem

Posted on November 1, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The sweet nativity scenes…pregnant Mary on the donkey, Joseph patiently plodding by her side…but did you know there is no verse that says this? Only three lines describe their journey and none of them mention a donkey!

With Advent coming up, I thought I’d dig into this.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. (Luke 2:4-6).

I searched “mary and joseph on the way to bethlehem” and all the pictures that came up were like this

The scene on Christmas cards, in nativities and other places, including our minds, is one of those that is invented and not actually biblical.

I mean, she COULD have ridden a donkey…but even then, beasts of burden cost money. When Mary and Joseph appeared at the temple to adhere to the Law regarding sacrifices,

and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG DOVES. (Luke 2:24)

A pair of turtle doves.—The law of Leviticus 12:8 allowed these to be substituted for the normal sacrifice of a lamb as a burnt-offering, and a pigeon or dove as a sin-offering, when the mother was “not able” to offer the former. We may see, therefore, in this fact, another indication of the poverty of Joseph and his espoused wife. Source- Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers.

So they were likely too poor to afford a donkey!

Perhaps Joseph borrowed a donkey. I mean, Mary was full term, heavily pregnant. It is sooo uncomfortable for women those last two months. They have bladder issues, backaches, no clothes fit, they can’t even see their feet! Simply putting on sandals would be hard. Maybe Joseph had acquired an animal from a friend for the duration. We just don’t know.

I do know it would have been hard for Joseph to see his wife in pain during the difficult and dangerous 80-mile walk to Bethlehem from Nazareth. How do I know this? Joseph was a sensitive man, caring for Mary even in the throes of believing she was a pregnant adulteress, because he sought to send her away quietly (Matthew 1:19). (Of course Joseph learned directly from heaven that Mary was a virgin and became pregnant by God’s Spirit).

Sometimes the things we think are in the Bible are not in the Bible. Cleanliness is next to godliness is not in the Bible. Justin Peters has a whole series of videos explaining the most misinterpreted verses, where people think they mean one thing but they actually mean another. The fruit that Eve ate was actually never identified, the Bible doesn’t say it was an apple.

In another nativity misinterpretation, we do not actually know how many Wise Men appeared at the child Jesus’ home. We assumed it was three because three gifts are mentioned, but in fact it was likely more than three men who traveled to see the child. (Jesus was a child then, not a baby, the Wise men never arrived on the night he was born…)

It’s not a huge deal, thinking that Mary in her late pregnancy rode a donkey to Bethlehem. She could have. She might have. It’s plausible, though not explicitly mentioned. However it is also a warning to us that we can become fixed in our mind about other things that DO matter, believing the Bible says something that it doesn’t.

theology

Cut To the Chase: Short Discernment critique on Aimee Byrd

Posted on October 31, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

About the “Cut to the Chase” series: short, bullet point discernment pieces warning about various teachers. In the Cut to the Chase I include links at the end if you care to go to the longer essays.

Aimee Byrd was a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). She burst onto the scene in 2013 with her book The Housewife Theologian. She was selected to be co-host at the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals along with intellect Carl Trueman and theologian Todd Pruitt, where she settled for a few years. She wrote more books and was a published essayist and became a sought-after speaker.

But slowly as Aimee began to espouse and proclaim her more feminist stances, alarm was raised about her from various camps in the faith. By 2020 Aimee was ‘gone’. Gone from the complementarian stance she’d once espoused, and openly rejecting biblical gender roles. Let’s cut to the chase-

1. Aimee is a feminist. Feminism is antithetical to the Gospel (1 Timothy 2:12; Titus 2:5). In fact, it’s a curse. (Genesis 3:16)

Dr. Jonathan Master, seminary president and the Alliance Of Confessing Evangelicals’ editorial director publicly asked Aimee some questions about her then-new stance, which were posted after she had refused to answer them privately: Questions for Aimee

Aimee’s public response to Dr. Master: “Peeling Yellow Wallpaper” simply demonstrated her further entrenchment into feminism, a rebellious spirit, and a hardening to correction.

The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood reviewed Aimee’s polemical and startling book containing her newly revealed feminist stance, here. They disliked it strongly.

Statement from the Alliance on the removal of Aimee –https://www.reformation21.org/blog/a-clarification-from-the-alliance

2. Aimee preaches in church to men. This violates 1 Timothy 2:12, and violates the spirit of her gender (many other verses).

In 2022 she preached at Covenant Church in Shepherdstown, WV, part of the Southern Baptist Convention. She also preached at a Presbyterian church called The Crossing, a Church in Columbia, MO. These are sermons during a mixed audience Sunday Service.

Women are not to preach. To do so despite clear instructions in the Bible shows a blatant disregard for the Jesus they profess to love. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” Jesus said in John 14:15. And as Justin Peters said,

3. Aimee is divisive and hardened to correction. This violates Proverbs 15:32, “One who neglects discipline rejects himself, But one who listens to a rebuke acquires understanding.”

In fact, Aimee knew she would be publicly excoriated for her preaching, saying at the opening of her sermon at Covenant Church,

I had to do some, you know, real soul work and prayer work to accept that invitation, not only for my own views on that issue, but just knowing ‘Hey, this is going to be on the internet’ and there’s going to be a public smearing of me after this…

And rightly so. But those with a seared conscience believe they are unjustly being smeared rather than being rightly rebuked.

Also Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Aimee left her denomination rather than submit to its teaching.

4. Aimee ordained herself so that she can officiate weddings.

In an essay on her blog titled “By the Power Vested in Me” Aimee declared her joy in being able to officiate her brother’s wedding after completing a quick course and obtaining a certificate of ordination. She obtained this certificate from American Marriage Ministries, which believes that “All people, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, have the right to marry.”

AMA’s requirements to become an ordained minister are to fill out this form. That’s it.

But, Aimee says, “I have a high regard for the pastorate.” Obviously she does not. She said in her essay that when her brother asked her to officiate his wedding, she wanted to make sure “if I say no, I want it to be for good reason.” So she consulted culture and history. The Bible is not a good enough reason?

Avoid Aimee Byrd. She is false.

Critiques of Aimee Byrd by E Prata

Easily offended, nursing wounds, and reveling in victimhood

Markers on the way-station of downgrade: Exhibit A, Aimee Byrd

They make such excuses: Exhibit B, Aimee Byrd

Apostasy again: We say goodbye to Aimee Byrd

Aimee Byrd should be in your rear view mirror by now

All Cut to the Chase essays here. Discernment on Joyce Meyer, Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, David Platt, Jackie Hill Perry, Lori Alexander (The Transformed Wife), Jen Wilkin

Cut To The Chase: The entire discernment series (David Platt, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jackie Hill Perry, Lori Alexander, Jen Wilkin, Priscilla Shirer)

theology

False teachers’ emotional teaching

Posted on October 30, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve recently written about the clique of folks who claim in public that the church ‘hurt them’, and I went into a discussion of the difference between emotions and emotionalism. That essay is here.

Many women who teach the Bible on the speaking circuit are false. Not all, of course, but many. Since they are false they have to manufacture a work-around for their lack of illumination of the scriptures. They don’t exegete well (exegete meaning draw the Author’s intended meaning out of the Bible). They either twist the word (2 Peter 3:16), or they eisegete (meaning they put their own ideas into the Bible rather than unearth the one meaning the Author intended). Perhaps they use a cover for their obvious lack of theology. One of these covers frequently used is emotionalism.

Joe Thorn at Ligonier discusses emotionalism. He wrote in his essay Don’t pursue feelings, pursue Christ,

One danger is emotionalism, in which we allow our feelings to interpret our circumstances and form our thoughts about God. This is putting feelings before faith. The other danger is a kind of stoicism, where faith is rooted in theology but void of affection. This tendency removes feelings from faith altogether. While it is true that our emotions should not lead our theology, it is vital to our faith that theology lead to a deep experience of our triune God.

[Confession: I am certainly not perfect. I myself need to work against Stoicism.]

WHEN we commune with God, WHEN we are in prayer with the Spirit, WHEN we are at Jesus throne of grace, THEN our emotions develop into great affection for the Triune God. We do feel emotions such as relief, joy, humility, amazement, awe, proper fear; all the emotions that our study of His attributes will cultivate. But it’s theology first, and then the outflow of that growing knowledge of God is subsequently a growing feeling of affection for who He is. Put succinctly, the more we study Him the more we love Him.

Jonah knew full well who God is, but he was led by his emotions. Anger, resentment, bitterness, xenophobia…when you feel temptation to be led by your emotions at the expense of submission to God’s authority, remember Jonah.

When these false teachers lead by emotion, it creates a dependency on emotions. But emotions are fleeting. Hence the surfing analogy. We want to feel that high again that we felt at the Study/simulcast/event/conference etc. False teacher Rick Warren unwittingly explained the high of emotional learning back in a Baptist Press interview in 1998.

We’re just a church that tries to look for waves, and we ride them. And then we try to do it with balance. Catching the wave means first determining what God is doing… ~Rick Warren.

His quote typifies the flitting of encounter to encounter, a surfing the waves of an adrenaline approach to Christian life rather than persevering obediently, sacrificially, and steadily. Remember, we first discover who God is by reading His word. The article is (tellingly) titled, “Rick Warren: Surfing skills critical to ‘catching waves’ of God’s activity“

A church should look at Jesus. Not flit from high wave to high wave, and not surfing up and down based on a humanly interpreted vision of what God is doing.

Emotions give us that adrenaline and then suddenly you’re surfing, trying to catch that high you felt but every time you catch it, it needs to be a little higher than the last time. Why? The Law of Diminishing Returns-

The law of diminishing returns is a principle that states that after a certain point, each additional unit of input results in a smaller increase in output. In other words, you get less and less bang for your buck the more you do something. This can be applied to many areas of life, including business and investing. (Source).

Emotionalism will give you diminishing returns. In God’s economy, you only ever receive more. His is an economy of eternal increase. A false teacher’s economy is only ever one of decrease.

Let’s look at some examples of how false teachers use emotional language to deceive you into that false high.

Aimee Byrd’s Twitter & Threads profile pic

Aimee Byrd wrote recently about her decision to become ordained. She filled out a form, and voila! now she can legally marry people in her home state. Here is her gushing, over-the-top-emotional description about how performing the ceremony for her brother made her feel:

Last weekend I got to experience something that resonated so deeply with my soul. It felt like I got to meet a part of who I am. And in this, I wasn’t only seeing beauty, but participating in the beautiful. … ~Aimee Byrd

I’m hesitant to write about this, because it is so deeply meaningful to me. … ~Aimee Byrd

When I started this Substack, I wanted to write about what is real: what is the lump in my throat right now? ~Aimee Byrd

Aimee is a good writer, if a little fluffy for my taste. I’m not saying we should not write about what we are feeling when we commune with God. I am saying that some female teachers and false preacher women depend on flowery writing based on emotion rather than biblical facts.

In Aimee’s case, she wrote “It felt like…” She said that she mulled this over deeply and concluded, “But this is my brother asking me, and if I say no, I want it to be for good reason.” But her reasoning was based on a deep dive into history and culture, not the Bible. She decided to ordain herself because of how she felt about it [and because, she wrote, ‘the church hurt me’.].

All that combined, she wrote, “The state of Maryland doesn’t qualify what makes one ordained, or what kind of person is ordained, but recognizes ordination in the ministry as a status for the task of legally officiating a wedding. … I was comfortable to be appointed for this specific and beautiful ministry.” But God decides, and God trumps Maryland.

‘I was comfortable.’ Women are not to aspire to the ordained office in order to perform functions before the throne of God. But Aimee was ‘comfortable.’ Her soul resonated. There was a lump in her throat. It’s deeply meaningful. Sure, so that means her rebellion is OK?

Beth Moore has always written emotionally. She is emotionalism personified. She over-states things emotionally, constantly (that’s the key, emotional language is constant) using words like “with all my heart” and “deeply desire”, “in my bones”. Her teachings are saturated with overblown hyperbole and hyper adjectives such as vital, crucial etc. Even her first published study was filled with adjectives that work to evoke emotions and fervency rather than draw out from the Bible the attributes of God. She uses words like “vital” and “crucial” repeatedly. If everything is vital and crucial, then nothing is.

Beth Moore performing her Bible Study, with emotion

The basic test to determine if you’re being taught to be led by your emotions is, a few days after a study, think about what is at the top of your mind most. Did you learn more about God? Or more about the teacher? Do you remember the teacher’s anecdotes and how they made you feel, for about God and how seeing Him through scripture made you feel? Your thoughts and feelings about God stay. The thoughts and feelings about the teacher about the study about how you felt at the time, flee. See what remains. It should be a clearer picture of God.

[Many] falsely suppose that the feelings, which God has implanted in us as natural, proceed only from a defect. Accordingly the perfecting of believers does not depend on their casting off all feelings, but on their yielding to them and controlling them, only for proper reason. John Calvin, Commentary on Acts 20:37.