(no title)

Grace upon grace

Posted on October 12, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Our church had ‘Homecoming’ today. Answers.com explains the tradition-

Church ‘Homecomings’ are special services usually set on the anniversary date of the founding of the church. Services are normally themed to acknowledge those saints who not only founded the church but over the years have contributed to the well being of the church and the body of believers. The services can also be a great aid in drawing the body of believers closer to God, one another and the church.

Our pastor preached about the older generation and the next generation, from 2 Chronicles where David was handing the reins over to his son Solomon.

After services, we had a pot luck lunch in the Fellowship hall, and also outside under tents, for the overflow. The buffet line is long and the table is laden with green bean casseroles, pork, fried chicken, and jello salads of all kinds, as well as many plates of deviled eggs. In other words, lots of cuisine representative of the South and it’s all delicious.

I stood in the slow-moving buffet line next to a young man who is a member of our church. He teaches the college and career class and he is of college and career age himself. I like talking with him because he likes talking of Jesus. So do I. He said that he was reading John 1:16,

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

He said he was pondering that. All the examples of grace the Lord has given us. I started pondering that too, while he was saying it. It’s a good thing to ponder. Then he said he read a passage in Mark,

And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. (Mark 13:20)

He said, that’s grace. Jesus did not have to shorten the days. He didn’t have to give that grace, in order that some survive. He would be justified to slay all flesh on earth. Grace upon grace.

David with the head of Goliath. Caravaggio.

I thought about it on the drive home. I thought that definitely was a good example of the John verse. And I thought of another example of Jesus’ grace. Though we bemoan the liberal and often unfocused nature of the youth’s worship, and we know that many of that age are leaving the fold, and we also sadly know that many aren’t saved at all but are only looking for the next high (and it just happens to be Jesus for a moment), in His grace, He does send us the next generation of men. He raises up youths with a hunger for the word, with intent and focus and joy. He graces us with the knowledge that though today’s Christianity is being revealed to be false, the core is strong. The root is there bearing graceful fruit. Jesus is always going to raise up a generation for His holy name.

We know God raised up older men like Noah and Abraham and Moses, but he also raised up youths. He anointed David king as a youth, used Daniel for His name, gave us young Timothy, established young Jeremiah as His prophet. (Jeremiah 1:6-7). He is still raising up young men.

Find them, nurture them, encourage them. They’re there. The gates of hell will not prevail against His church, and so, there is always a strong generation coming up.

Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:11-16).

Grace.

Source

contending, encouragement, jesus

Encouragement for the battle-weary Christian soldiers

Posted on October 11, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Oh well, I’m tired and so weary but I must go along
Till the Lord comes and calls, calls me away, oh yes

Weary. CC

We’re all familiar with the opening lines of that beautiful song, Peace in the Valley. It is a song of comfort and promise, based on verses of comfort and promise. (Psalm 23, John 14:27, Isaiah 11:6…).

I believe all true Christians are also familiar with that feeling itself from time to time, perhaps more than time to time. It seems sometimes that a permanent weariness has settled in and we all feel it. The weight of our sin and the world’s sin presses down on us so heavily that ‘going along’ gets harder with each passing day. We’re climbing a mountain with a heavy load that gets heavier with each passing step.

Burdened. EPrata photo

The wolves come and snarl and claw at us. The lions prowl closer and closer, ready to devour. The enemy combatants lob word-grenades at us when we stand up for the truth. In some places, they lob real grenades.

It is a wild and unforgiving world out there, sometimes worst of all in the church! People definitely don’t want to hear about Jesus, sin, wrath, truth, vs. false doctrines today, do they?

The verse about tickled ears is coming alive before our eyes. (2 Timothy 4:3). I think wolves is a good and apt metaphor for those who reject the truth. When they surround us on social media or at home or in church or at work, they snarl and claw and do everything they can, including dirty tricks, to protect their false notions.

Paul experienced these things, constantly, from people he had nurtured and considered friends. He was betrayed over and over again by false converts who left him, (Demas), by true converts who went away (Mark), others who simply got drawn away into false teachings for a while or who became unruly (Corinthian church). In 2 Tim 4:16 Paul wrote that ‘all left him’ at his first defense. Ouch.

Of course, our highest example is Jesus, who was betrayed by an inner circle friend, by the Israelite people He had promised to deliver, and by the world. But He is full of grace and love and left his disciples (and us) with encouragement-

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Source

In reading the verse, the phrase ‘take heart’ jumped out at me. I looked it up in the Lexicon. The Lexicon for the word ‘take heart’ is defined this way- and I hope all of you who are contending for the truth take heart from these words,

Take heart: tharséō (derived from /thársos, “emboldened from within”) –
–properly, bolstered within which supports unflinching courage
–literally, to radiate warm confidence (exude “social boldness”)
–because warm-hearted.

tharséō (“emboldened to show courage”) refers to God bolstering the believer, empowering them with a bold inner-attitude (to be “of good courage”). For the believer, 2293 /tharséō (“showing boldness”) is the result of the Lord infusing His strength by His inworking of faith (“inbirthed persuasion,” 4102 /pístis). Showing this unflinching, bold courage means living out the inner confidence (inner bolstering) that is Spirit-produced.

Do we have social boldness? If we do, the world tries to beat it out of us. That is the weariness many western Christians are feeling now. We crave that peaceful valley.

Digital art, CC

Contending for the faith is a process. We have faith in Jesus, He delivers the Spirit into us, the Spirit infuses us with Jesus’ strength to endure trials, and the knowledge that He does this gives us our confidence, because it is His confidence. He empowers us with a bold inner attitude and in that way we are His lights. The light shines and encourages others. Yes, the light draws the moths but it also shines truth to eyes that are blind and hearts that are dark.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:12)

I am sure that though you’re being buffeted, Jesus looks down and says to His holy angels, ‘see that little light of mine? She is doing a good work for Truth in My name’.

We take the example of David, who lived a turbulent life. As I listened to the Phil Johnson sermon this morning called Sanctuary, Pastor Johnson said that the only peaceful time in David’s entire life was when he was a boy and youth. One day he was called from the fields and anointed King, and his life was never peaceful or calm after that.

Yet from that turbulence, we have the Psalms, songs from David where he poured out his anguish onto the Lord and from which we receive our comfort. As Pastor Johnson said,

As he pours out his heart to the Lord, He naturally begins to focus his thoughts on the Lord, and there he finds hope in the midst of every trial, because he knows the Lord is faithful. And Psalm after psalm that begins on a note of fear or crushing sorrow closes with a profound expression of hope and faith.

Turning your attention to Jesus helps loosen our burden as we lay it down before Him, and naturally then we ponder the greatness, tenderness, and faithfulness of our Shepherd. Focusing on Him, as Pastor Johnson said, helped David time and again

“…makes him look at his troubles from the perspective of eternity, and he realizes that even though it sometimes feels like he is on the precipice of hell, the trials of this life are as close to hell as he will ever come, but this is also is as close to heaven as his wicked adversaries will ever get.

When you are surrounded by wolves because you’ve contended for the faith, whether online or in real life, turn to the Lord as your sanctuary. As you pour out your griefs to Him, you will find peace there as David did. Our Lord is faithful.

So, how can I go along when my strength fails? When I am so weary? I can do it

BECAUSE HE LIVES.

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

"Is Your Church Worship More Pagan than Christian?"

Posted on October 10, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Todd Pruitt wrote a great article titled, Is Your Church Worship More Pagan than Christian? It begins this way,

There is a great misunderstanding in churches of the purpose of music in Christian worship. Churches routinely advertise their “life-changing” or “dynamic” worship that will “bring you closer to God” or “change your life.” Certain worship CD’s promise that the music will “enable you to enter the presence of God.” … The problem with the flyer and with many church ads is that these kinds of promises reveal a significant theological error. Music is viewed as a means to facilitate an encounter with God; it will move us closer to God. In this schema, music becomes a means of mediation between God and man. But this idea is closer to ecstatic pagan practices than to Christian worship.

Yet in the years since then I have learned some valuable lessons. Chief among them is the realization than an emotional high is no substitute for true spirituality. paperthinhymn
Pruitt continues by explaining the theological errors of churches that use music as a mediator between the people and Jesus. Of course there are further explanations in the article. I recommend it highly. Here are a few more excerpts,

1. God’s Word is marginalized.
In many Churches and Christian gatherings it is not unusual for God’s Word to be shortchanged. Music gives people the elusive “liver quiver” while the Bible is more mundane. Pulpits have shrunk and even disappeared while bands and lighting have grown. But faith does not come from music, dynamic experiences, or supposed encounters with God. Faith is birthed through the proclamation of God’s Word (Rom 10:17).

2. Our assurance is threatened.
If we associate God’s presence with a particular experience or emotion, what happens when we no longer feel it? We search for churches whose praise band, orchestra, or pipe organ produce in us the feelings we are chasing. But the reality of God in our lives depends on the mediation of Christ not on subjective experiences.

3. Musicians are given priestly status.
When music is seen as a means to encounter God, worship leaders and musicians are vested with a priestly role. They become the ones who bring us into the presence of God rather than Jesus Christ who alone has already fulfilled that role. Understandably, when a worship leader or band doesn’t help me experience God they have failed and must be replaced. On the other hand, when we believe that they have successfully moved us into God’s presence they will attain in our minds a status that is far too high for their own good.

4. Division is increased.
If we identify a feeling as an encounter with God, and only a particular kind of music produces that feeling, then we will insist that same music be played regularly in our church or gatherings. As long as everyone else shares our taste then there is no problem. But if others depend upon a different kind of music to produce the feeling that is important to them then division is cultivated. And because we routinely classify particular feelings as encounters with God our demands for what produce those feelings become very rigid. This is why so many churches succumb to offering multiple styles of worship services. By doing so, they unwittingly sanction division and self-centeredness among the people of God.

Source

The pagan music practices to which Mr Pruitt was referring were described in several different ancient writings and modern commentaries.

The cult of Dionysus coming from the northland spread in a great wave of religious enthusiasm over Greece proper, over the island states of the Aegean, and across to the mainland of Asia Minor. At first it met with violent opposition, as the legends of Lycurgus and Pentheus prove. In those early days rarely was the god graciously received as he was, for example, by Icarus in Attica. In spite of opposition, however, the contagious enthusiasm of the wine-god spread with unusual rapidity throughout Greece. In order to restrain Bacchic excesses the city-states of Greece had no other alternative than to adopt the Cult, bring it under state patronage, and by official regulation temper its enthusiasm somewhat. At Delphi Dionysus was associated with Apollo, and there the sacred maidens went mad in the service of the two gods. In Athens he entered into civic partnership with Athena and yearly wedded the Basilinna. At Eleusis he was brought into relation with Demeter and led the march of the candidates along the Sacred Way from Athens. In Teos and Naxos he even became the paramount state deity, the “god of the city” and “protector of the most holy state.”

It was as a private cult, rather than as a state religion, however, that the worship of Dionysus made its deepest impression on both Hellenic and Hellenistic life. In the private brotherhoods, the natural emotions aroused by the cult practices were allowed free play and the guaranties offered to initiates were of a very realistic order; hence the appeal of the cult was strong, particularly to the masses and to women generally. At the beginning of Aristophanes’ comedy, Lysistrate, impatient with waiting, complains that if the women had been invited to the shrine of Bacchus “there would be no getting along for the crowd of timbrels.” Indeed, the prominence of women in the worship of Dionysus is one of the most striking features of the cult. Pagan Regeneration, A Study of Mystery Initiations in the Graeco Roman World by Harold R. Willoughby, [1929]

Timbrels are an ancient kind of tambourine. The quote meant that if all the women were invited there would be so many clogging the streets with their tambourines, no one would be able to pass by.

The result of pagan cultic worship, especially Dionysian worship, was a frenzied scene at the temple, and a cacophony that permeated the city from on high to down low.

Menander demonstrates women’s role in pagan worship:

‘We were offering sacrifice five times a day, and seven serving women were beating cymbals around us while the rest of the women pitched high the chant (olulugia)’ (Fragment 326).

In Daniel 3:4-6, the passage is talking about King Nebuchadnezzar and his command that all peoples worship him. To that end, he had made a statue and commanded all to worship before it. In the commentary on the verses, James Burton Coffman Commentary (1992) expounds,

the Temple of Aphrodite Pan Demos, located atop the Acro Corinthus, encouraged the patronage of their one thousand sacred prostitutes by a cacophonous blast of instrumental music five times a day, signaling that, the prostitutes had changed their clothes and that another feast on the sacrifices had been made ready. In our own times, with the continued degeneration of the whole science of instrumental music into the vulgar rhythms and noisy cacophony of the current era, such later styles of instrumental music are impossible of reconciliation with any conception whatever of holy worship.

Hear hear. We have come full circle from the days of the AccroCorinth temple worshipers’ ululations and frenzied dancing, to the same today in many Charismatic and other ‘churches’. It wasn’t acceptable then and it isn’t acceptable now. In 1 Corinthians 14:33-34, Paul said,

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. GotQuestions explains,

The concern of 1 Corinthians 14, and much of the epistle, is order and structure in the church. The Corinthian church was noted for the chaos and lack of order rampant in that assembly (verse 33). It is interesting that no elders or pastors are mentioned in the book, and the prophets who were there were not exercising control (see verses 29, 32, 37). Everyone in the church service was participating with whatever expression they desired, whenever they desired. As a result, those with the gift of tongues were speaking simultaneously, those with a revelation from God were shouting out randomly, and no one was concerned with interpreting what was being said, even if what was said could be heard above the din. The meetings quickly descended into chaos.

The Temple at Corinth and other places in the realm were already hotbeds of female chaos, musical cacophony, and wild dance. Women in the pagan temple were temple prostitutes. Part of their worship used music not only as a call to prostitution but as a method of working themselves up (to madness in many cases) and in a fever pitch, unite with the divine. If music did not have that capability the cult of Dionysius would not have spread so quickly and have been so well-known at Corinth as a synonym for debauchery. Christians must be vigilant about music being used to promote feelings and subjective experiences rather than to explain doctrine and praise the Savior. It all too quickly leads to chaos and worse, as Paul warned and as we see in the pagan cultic worship sessions.

Temple of Athena

Paul urged order in the church and the women to remain submissive. This would be an incredible contrast to what was happening in the immediate culture at the pagan temples, and further give Christianity its distinctive stamp.

So that was a short course in pagan worship and the influence music had on it back in the ancient days. When you read a title like Is Your Church Worship More Pagan than Christian? we can easily see that many of the chaotic, music-inflamed services at many churches, youth conferences, and revivals are indeed exactly like the pagan worship at Corinth, and are exactly what Paul railed against.

The point of the article is that when music is used ‘to bring us closer to God’, it actually separates us from God by instilling a false worship, the worship of emotional highs and subjective feelings. It often is used as an intermediary, or a vehicle, to foment a feeling of closeness with the divine,when all it is really doing is exhausting us with its constant undulations from high to low and high again.

From a youth who has lived the pagan worship and come out alive- barely:

That instead of developing depth it breeds shallowness, immaturity, and confusion. I’ve learned that worship can become the biggest draw for the church, and that worship nights will steamroll over bible studies and adult Sunday school. That a church oftentimes will pour much more resources, energy, thought and time into making a killer worship service than they will into developing deep, thoughtful, meaty, mature, theologically precise and provoking bible studies.

Don’t let that be your church. Music is not worship and it should not substitute for true spiritual depth and relationship with the real intermediary- Jesus Christ.

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

Christian missionary doctors fighting Ebola irritate Brian Palmer and other liberals

Posted on October 9, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I read an interesting opinion piece in the liberal online magazine Slate, by atheist Brian Palmer, who also writes for the National Resources Defense Council. He noticed that many of the people working in West Africa with the Ebola patients are Christians. Worse, they are Christian missionaries, Christian missionary nurses, and Christian missionary doctors. He is at once amazed that people would volunteer for such a task, and at no pay (which blows his mind!) yet at the same time he is irritated.

Caduceus, Wiki CC

Why? They talk of Jesus too much.

His attitude was, ‘if they want to be do-gooders, at least shut up about Jesus and keep the medical science free from all that … religion‘. He also notices that governments and corporations are not rushing in there to help, and that’s just too irksome to deal with. The Christians are showing up the organizations that are supposed to help.

You can read his original piece here. His title is telling, don’t you think?

In Medicine We Trust
Should we worry that so many of the doctors treating Ebola in Africa are missionaries?

This piece at NewsBusters responding to Palmer’s opinion about the Ebola missionaries is interesting. NewsBusters nailed Palmer’s tone. They put Palmer’s quotes in bold.

‘Mingling of Religion and Health Care’ in Ebola Crisis Stirs ‘Visceral Discomfort’ at Slate

Brian Palmer revealed what many secularists feel about Christian missionaries in Africa in a Thursday piece on Slate, especially the role on the front lines of the ongoing fight against Ebola. Palmer acknowledged how “missionary doctors and nurses…have undertaken long-term commitments to address the health problems of poor Africans,” but added that “for secular Americans…it may be difficult to shake a bit of discomfort with the situation….It’s great that these people are doing God’s work, but do they have to talk about Him so much?”

The writer later hyped that “some missionaries are incapable of separating their religious work from their medical work. Whether implicitly or explicitly, some missionaries pressure their patients, at moments of maximum vulnerability and desperation, to convert.” He admitted, “That troubles me. I suspect that many others have the same visceral discomfort with the mingling of religion and health care.“

Mr Palmer’s attitude is nothing new. It is as old as the hills. In 250 AD in northern Turkey, there was a terrible pandemic. Bodies piled up. Terrified healthy people fled. Some cities were decimated. Afterward, they found battlefields littered with dead soldiers but without wounds. They had simply dropped dead from the pandemic.

Camp Fuston, KS, Spanish Influenza

Christian pastors Dionysius and Cyprian, along with many deacons and laypeople, stayed behind to help. It’s not that they were immune, they weren’t. It’s that the Christians had the hope of Jesus in them, knowing He had come to earth to reconcile men to Himself. His loving sacrificial act spurred the Christians to do likewise of the pagans dying in droves. They laid down their lives for them. Dionysius later wrote about the nursing efforts of the Christians

“Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead … The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner, a number of presbyters, deacons, and laymen winning high commendation so that death in this form, the result of great piety and strong faith, seems in every way the equal of martyrdom.”

Dionysus noted next how the Christians even prepared the pagans for burial. He also described how the pagans reacted:

The heathen [pagans] behaved in the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treated unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease; but do what they might, they found it difficult to escape.”

Screen shot, Monty Python & Holy Grail, “Bring Out Your Dead” scene

Human nature is no different then as it is now. When the Ebola deaths spiked this summer, The Liberian Observer reported,

Guarded by heavily armed platoons of officers from the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and the Police Support Unit (PSU) several weeks ago, two mini trucks conveyed the corpses of Ebola victims to be buried in Johnsonville. This dumping of about 45 bodies on the bank of the Kpan-wein River under the heavy guard of police and soldiers immediately created a stampede, with people running in all directions, for fear of being contaminated or afflicted with the Ebola disease.

One hundred years after the plague Dionysius wrote about had abated, Roman Emperor Julian (the last Emperor) tried to get the pagan priests to perform such heroic acts of charity and care. They wouldn’t. It is perplexing to the unsanctified mind that people would lay down their lives for a stranger, would give and provide for them. It further perplexes them, as it does Mr Palmer now, that the government won’t step up neither will the pagan religions, but the Christians always do. Julian wrote,

“The impious Galileans support not only their poor, but ours as well, everyone can see that our people lack aid from us.”

Source

The bible tells us:
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

Gill’s Commentary explains,

His sense is this; that the light of the Gospel, which he had communicated to them, the spiritual knowledge of the mysteries of grace, which he had favoured them with, were to be openly declared, and made manifest before men. Light was not given merely for their own private use, but for the public good of mankind; and therefore, as they were placed as lights in the world, they were to hold forth, in the most open and conspicuous manner, the word of light and life:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, (Ephesians 2:10)

In 1 Peter 2:12 we read,

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

We are called to live a good life before the pagans. This glorifies Jesus. In some cases, we are called to live a good death. This glorifies Jesus.

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You will be swallowed up

Posted on October 9, 2014 by elizabethprata

It’s one or the other. There is no need to make it more complex than it is.

Swallowed by death,

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. (Isaiah 5:14 KJV)

Swallowed by life,

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:4 ESV)

The difference between being swallowed by death or life is repentance of sins and falling onto Jesus. He is mighty to save. Be saved today.

discernment, madison county, misuse, red raiders, scripture, separation of church and state

The Madison County Red Raiders Monument and scripture misuse

Posted on October 8, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Last Friday, an issue blew up in our county. The Freedom from Religion Foundation and the American Humanist Association separately lodged letters ordering the Superintendent and School Board to remove or modify a spots statue containing two scriptures. That is a lot of firepower for a tiny rural county in the foothills of the mountains in north Georgia. It was privately donated to the District and it was installed in front of the field house. The two scriptures on the statue, which also contains a ‘sword in the stone’ atop the 2-ton granite structure, are:

–Romans 8:31,“If God be with us, who can be against us?”
–Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” which had been shortened on the monument to read “I can do all things”, and, “strengthen me”

I’d written about the statue issue and the resulting outcry – from both sides – here:

The scripture laden Madison County Red Raiders Monument and the Humanist Association who wants it gone

In that essay, I had not discussed the legalities of the statue’s installation on public school because I’m not versed on those things. I did take issue with the statue, having come to believe it should be removed. Not because it violates the Constitutional Establishment clause, I don’t know if it does or doesn’t, but because it is an idol.

One thing I’d taken issue with is the pagan portion of the statue. The sword in the stone is from a pagan myth of King Arthur with a few Christian-y elements woven in. The other things I’d taken issue with is the stumbling block put in front of the young football players. They have incorporated it into a superstitious tradition, touching it for luck. In the essay I’d explained superstition, and how God hates to be manipulated.

Mixing pagan myths and Christianity, and engaging in superstitions, are serious to God. They are bad. Another issue I’d taken with the statue is the fact that the scriptures themselves have been ripped from their context and reduced in power to a motto in order to help kids win a game. This, also, is serious.

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:17

Four days after the issue blew up in the print news and broadcast tv, an opinion letter to the editor of the local daily newspaper was published.

The Madison County High School Monument is Constitutional, by David Larkins

It is well-written by a local resident who also has a son on the football team in question. It addresses the Constitutional issue very thoroughly. In the letter making his case that the statue’s location is constitutional, the author also mentions the following:

The monument was paid for with a private donation, and it has no religious purpose. Its intent is to inspire the football team to play hard, and do their best, as they engage their opponent on the football field. The inscriptions on the monument are appropriate for that purpose, regardless of the original source of those inscriptions.

I am sure that Mr Larkins is a kind and good father and a proud resident of the County. He is obviously well-spoken. The opinion piece was well done. Which is what gives me the confidence to write this next part. A letter like that has a lot of thought that goes into it. It is edited, and thought over and it’s edited again. But it confirms exactly what I’ve been saying about using such scriptures in the sports arena, an arena that is all too often an idol-arena.

–“no religious purpose“? Yet the bible tells us that all scriptures have a purpose. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16

–he write that the inscriptions however, do have a secular purpose, which is to ‘inspire players’ to play a game well and win. Is this how we ‘use’ the word of God? Our sovereign and holy God?

–“The inscriptions on the monument are appropriate for that purpose, regardless of the original source of those inscriptions.“

What he just said is, disregard Jesus. The scriptures are useful, and the source doesn’t matter. Dismissing the source of the scriptures, using verses for a secular purpose and a favorable outcome, and unhitching them from their context, is blasphemous. It is not to be done. The source always matters!

This use of scriptures is no different than how false teachers use scriptures to twist them for their own gain.

On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

It is no different than when a faith healer uses the word to get money from followers.

It is no different than when false teacher uses the word to promote personal prosperity or financial success.

It is no different than when any false teacher uses the scriptures to obtain a secular personal outcome (fame, book sales, accolades…)

When we see a Benny Hinn saying things like, “If you will come back and make that pledge, God will heal your heart tonight,” or, “God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows righteousness,” we tut-tut and say, ‘How dare Benny Hinn use the scriptures for such a craven purpose!’

Or when we see Joyce Meyer say things like “The Bible says right here John 10:34 . . . ‘and Jesus answered is it not written in your law I say we are gods.’ So men are called God’s by the law…” we understand that she ripped the verse out of context in order to preach her unbiblical and heretical ‘little gods’ doctrine. When a heretic like Meyer uses verses we understand by the Spirit that most times, she is preaching out of context in order to promote a false teaching.

So why, when we see a scripture on a stone monument and it is stated to the public that it is not for religious purposes but there simply to promote good gamesmanship, do we NOT say it also is heretical, and unbiblical and a blot against God?

There’s misquoting God’s word, and there’s misUSING God’s word. Ben Irwin wrote about the most misused scriptures, that

Christians read (and quote) Scripture in tiny, artificial fragments all the time. And by doing so, do we alter the meaning without even realizing it.

Bill Hitchcock said in this piece, Philippians 4:13: Misused, Misapplied, and Misinterpreted,

It is important to note that a big problem often occurs when people pluck out a single verse from the Bible. The context and meaning of one or two sentences disjointed from its message can alter tremendously. Sometimes you have to read entire chapter(s) or more to get the meaning of one sentence. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” It has become the battle cry of self willed. Here’s where the hiccup begins; “I”. The first and biggest problem that occurs is when folks make this passage about themselves. I want to do something that I have determined I want to do. And I am going to employ the power of Christ to accomplish My goal. Anything that is focused on self is worldly and is a sin.

And again, from The Cripplegate, Nathan Busenitz in his piece I Can Do All Things,

They have turned it into a slogan of personal empowerment—a declaration of self-achievement, ambition, and accomplishment. For many, this verse has been trivialized into some sort of motivating motto for material prosperity, career advancement, or athletic success. But in reality it is nothing of the sort.

They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Titus 1:11

Using scripture for personal advantage, in this case, to win a game, should never be done. Just as we should not rip verses from context to twist and use to gain money, or to gain healing, or to gain fame, or to gain notoriety, or to gain false converts, we should be equally aghast when it is used for sports in a terrible trivialization that we have unfortunately become used to and have accepted.

Jesus is the Word. He was with God from the beginning. He bled and died and rose again, triumphing over death to reign in patience from heaven until the moment when the Father will tell His Son to get His bride. Scripture should reveal who He is, why He did this for us, and train us in righteousness. His word contains the glories of heaven, the revelation of the Father, the power of the Spirit, the record of creation, the promises of a holy future.

Why reduce it to a sports slogan? Why?

daniel, encouragement, prophecy

The UN tries to solve the world’s unsolvable problems

Posted on October 6, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I read an interesting article last week. It concerns the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. The UN website states the purpose of the General Assembly:

The General Assembly (GA) is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.

Every year in September, the world gathers at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Secretary-General of the UN gives his “State of the World” speech. This year’s speech (the 69th) was much darker, with much less hope than previous years. Here are some excerpts from this year’s speech by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

“This year, the horizon of hope is darkened. Our hearts are made heavy by unspeakable acts and the deaths of innocents,” he told the assembled leaders from 193 nations. “Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers. Never before has the United Nations been asked to reach so many people with emergency food assistance and other life-saving supplies,” he said.

“It may seem as if the world is falling apart, as crises pile up and disease spreads. But leadership is precisely about finding the seeds of hope and nurturing them into something bigger. That is our duty. That is my call to you today.”

Another article about the UN Opening Day session reports a bleak world picture as well. It was published this morning before the Secretary-General gave his speech.
Here are some excerpts from this article.

World leaders meet with multiple crises on agenda

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Facing a world in turmoil from multiple crises ranging from wars in the Mideast and Africa to the deadly scourge of Ebola and growing Islamic radicalism, leaders from more than 140 countries open their annual meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday with few solutions.

Looking at the array of complex challenges, Norway’s Foreign Minister Borge Brende told The Associated Press: “It’s unprecedented in decades, that’s for sure.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will deliver his state of the world report at Wednesday’s opening of the General Assembly ministerial session, gave a bleak preview to reporters last week: The world is facing “multiple crises,” with all featuring attacks on civilians and having dangerous sectarian, ethnic or tribal dimensions.

World problems have always been difficult. The world after WWII when the UN was formed was very different than the world that had existed before the war began. Two atomic bombs had been dropped, ushering in the atomic age, and then the space age came in. Every generation has had to deal with complex problems and policy makers at this highest level have always gone into the UN General Sessions knowing that.

However, every generation has had to deal with problems that have been incrementally more difficult than the generation before. It was only a matter of time until the problems outpaced man’s ability to solve them. I think we are reaching that tipping point.

Source

It is a restless, sinful world, nation against nation.
Isaiah 17:12, Isaiah 57:20, Matthew 24:7.

These world problems will only grow more seemingly unsolvable. The unsolvable problems will grow so large and wearisome to the people that they will stagger under the weight of tension from the world coming apart at the seams, not only as Ban Ki Moon said, but also as US Vice President Joe Biden said this week:

“The international order that we painstakingly built after World War II and defended over the past several decades is literally fraying at the seams right now.” ~Joe Biden

He’s right, the world IS coming apart at the seams. Not uncontrollably, but under the sovereign and perfect eye of God. The world will continue to stagger under threat of global pandemic, tribal uprisings, civil uprisings, moral decay, government enforced cultural perversity, famine, drought, …until one king comes along and he’s got the answers-

And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. (Daniel 8:23).

This man understands riddles, he is cunning, comes out of nowhere, he will seem greater than his companions (Daniel 11:21, Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:20).

He will be energized by satan, and remember, satan is described in Ezekiel 28 as an angel “full of wisdom”. Satan is an angel ascribed the term ‘wisdom’ many times in that chapter- but his wisdom was corrupted by his pride and arrogance. This same wisdom, though corrupt and evil now, is still endowed to satan. He hasn’t lost it. He gives it to the antichrist, who appears on the world scene like a god. After a while the antichrist will believe his own propaganda, that is actually IS a god, and force all to worship him. (Daniel 8:25)

The world will accept him. Weary of problems, they just want some relief. This man promises it.

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. (John 5:43, Revelation 13:3)

What a heartbreaking moment. An ignorant world rejected Jesus, the precious Creator and Savior, but will accept the one called The Beast and Man of Sin.

But our Savior did not leave us without hope. He will rapture us when He is ready to get His bride, and He will render the due judgment on the unholy world that it deserves. All we have to do is persevere. Persevering is the sign that we are saved, it is the assurance of the seal of hope we have within us. It is the signal the the power of the Spirit is working in us to help us be His light in this present darkness. (Ephesians 6:12.)

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)

If they go out from us, they never were of us. Therefore, staying in Him proves we are of Him. Persevere! 2 Timothy 2:12, Galatians 6:9, Revelation 3:11. It all has a very happy ending!

confess, encouragement, forgiveness, sanctification, sins

Oliver Cromwell, "Warts and all"

Posted on October 5, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

BBC History describes Oliver Cromwell as:

an English soldier and statesman who helped make England a republic and then ruled as lord protector from 1653 to 1658. After overthrowing Charles I and then successfully defending the republic from his son Charles II, Lord Protector Cromwell reorganised the national church, established Puritanism, readmitted Jews into Britain and presided over a certain degree of religious tolerance. Abroad, he ended the war with Portugal (1653) and Holland (1654) and allied with France against Spain, defeating the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes (1658). Cromwell died on 3 September 1658 in London.

Such an august person would naturally sit for a portrait, and in the Puritan days, Flemish painter Peter Lely was the go-to court painter. Wikipedia says,

Lely was of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. … His talent ensured that his career was not interrupted by Charles’s execution, and he served Oliver Cromwell, whom he painted …

In the days before photography and social media, controlling one’s personal image was easy to do, and common. Leaders commanded idealized portraits, paintings, or statues, as opposed to realistic depictions. As this blogger opined about idealized portraiture,

It goes back as long as portraiture itself, of course; early classical portraits of emperors and such tended to cycle through emphasis on either a rugged, realistic appearance (as would befit a warrior and statesman) or an angelic, unblemished appearance (as would befit a god). In the same way, later emperors (such as Constantine) saw value in associating themselves in the public eye with prior, well-regarded emperors.

In modern times, photographic airbrushing was common as well. See the official photograph of Mikhail Gorbachev, last Secretary General of the old Communist Party of the USSR (it was to Gorbachev that President Reagan urged, “Tear down this wall!”)

Where is Mr Gorbachev’s birthmark?

Oliver Cromwell was a not too attractive man whose ruddy complexion and wrinkles was studded with pimples and warts. Cromwell commissioned Peter Lely for the official portrait. Lely sketched Cromwell and then presented the proofs for perusal. There were no warts.

For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20)

In one of those 100-years-later (mis)quotes, Horace Walpole allegedly captured Cromwell’s reaction,

“Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me; otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.”—Anecdotes of Painting in England (1763) by Horace Walpole>

It seems that the quote is likely somewhat accurate, since the final portrait did indeed to have been controversially painted in realistic and not idealistic fashion. Whatever Cromwell actually said, it is generally accepted that this incident is where the phrase, “warts and all” comes from.

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

We’re all vain to some degree. We all want to put forward ‘our best face’ as it were. Just think of Facebook. We all put out our best sayings and our most cordial attitudes but our warts still show.

He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You’ (John 21:17). Peter did not conclude from Jesus’ knowledge of his heart that he knew all things; rather he concluded from the omniscience of Jesus that he knew his heart.
See, that’s the thing. There is no point in hiding our warts. Cromwell’s were on the outside but ours are on the inside. It makes no difference to Jesus, He sees all of them. Nothing is hidden from Christ. He knows all our sins, all our flaws, all our foibles, all our proclivities. Our Father loves His children anyway. That is really the miracle. Our Holy Savior loves His sinful children.

There is no point in hiding from Him. There is no point to airbrushing away our flaws. We really are like little children when we fail to go to the throne and confess our sins. It’s like we’re toddlers who scurry to the bed and pull the covers up to hide from mom, thinking if we can’t see mom, then mom can’t see us.

Source, CC

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)

Since He sees us as we are, and He has already forgiven us, it glorifies Him to approach Him and confess our sins. This is our part in participating in our sanctification, where He is conforming us to His likeness.

Live humbly before Jesus, with no pride or vanity. Live before Him warts and all. I believe we will find in the end, that the more we do this, the more beautiful our face will become, because it will be like His.

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Coast Guard rescues man in Atlantic Ocean trying to “run” to Bermuda in an inflatable bubble

Posted on October 4, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m posting this because I think it’s extremely odd and weirdly amazing. Here is the story:

He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. (Job 9:8)

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COAST GUARD RESCUES MAN FROM HYDRO BUBBLE EAST OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber arrives on scene off the coast of Miami to respond to a report of a man aboard an inflatable hydro bubble who was disoriented asking for directions to Bermuda Oct. 1, 2014. The man was later rescued on Oct. 4, 2014, after he activated his personal indicating radio beacon upon suffering from exhaustion. U.S. Coast Guard photo

An MH-60 aircrew with Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater assists a man they medically evacuated east of St. Augustine, Florida, Oct. 4, 2014. The man was rescued after suffering from exhaustion from an inflatable hydro bubble while enroute to Bermuda. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

MIAMI — A man was rescued from his hydro pod bubble 70 nautical miles east of St. Augustine, Florida, by a Coast Guard search-and-rescue crew from Air Station Clearwater Saturday morning.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District command center received a report of Reza Baluchi, a U.S. citizen, floating in an inflatable bubble Wednesday. Baluchi was reportedly disoriented and asking for directions to Bermuda. The Coast Guard Cutter Webber arrived on scene, conveyed the dangers of his voyage and requested Baluchi terminate his trip due to the lack of supplies on board to sustain him.

On board, Baluchi had protein bars, bottled water, a GPS and a satellite phone.

After he refused to leave his vessel, the watchstanders continued to monitor his movements until he activated his Personal Locating Beacon (PLB) Saturday morning. Coast Guard HC-130 airplane and MH-60 helicopter crews out of Air Station Clearwater, Florida, were dispatched to Baluchi’s position along with the Maersk Montana, a vessel registered with the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER).

Once the aircrews arrived on scene, a rescue swimmer from the Jayhawk crew safely hoisted Baluchi from his inflatable raft into the helicopter. The MH-60 crew transported Baluchi to Air Station Clearwater where emergency medical services evaluated him. There were no reports of any injuries.

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The man planned this. He had forethought. He purchased the bubble, bought GPS, bottled water and protein bars. His goal was admirable, wanting to get to the other side. However, his efforts were so far short of the mark that it causes one to both laugh hysterically and mourn his massive inability.

His thinking just wasn’t right. It was very wrong. He woke up one say saying, “I can do this!” But reality showed him he could not.

Kind of like our efforts to overcome sin, without Jesus. Kind of like our plans, no matter how carefully thought out or earnest, will ultimately fail in the face of the utter reality that there exists a great gulf, over which we may not come. Reza’s great gulf was the Atlantic Ocean.

Ours is our sin.

The LORD knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile. (Psalm 94:11)

For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. (Ecclesiastes 2:21)

We cannot outrun our sin, we cannot dispense with our sin. It will hinder us in all our efforts to reach the other side. We need someone FROM the other side, holy and perfect, to cauterize our sin from us, burn it out and clean us. The someone of course is Jesus. Bless His holy name.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, (Ephesians 2:14)

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More about the man Reza Baluchi, who is actually quite interesting. He escaped Iran on the bicycling team (after imprisonment and torture, and other hardships. “I was tired of having no freedom.”) Here are a few links to his story. I encourage you to read about him. He has run around the perimeter of the US once and across it twice. He has biked around the world. He planned to run up Everest. He has traveled the world for peace. The bubble was another of his efforts to bring attention to the need for world peace. Again, it is an admirable effort, and I do not believe any layperson has done more in constant and persistent effort in this goal, but it is for naught. One cannot have peace without Jesus. The world needs Jesus. It makes Mr Baluchi’s story doubly sad.

Iranian ‘Running Man’ spreads message of peace (essay)

Run Around The World with Reza Baluchi (2009 video)
I would like to introduce you to one of the most amazing athletes of our time, Reza Baluchi. He has run over 100,000 miles in the past 22 years and last year ran 11,720 miles in 202 days non-stop! He is about to embark upon an epic adventure in September of 2009. He will be the first man to run to every country in the world! Why? Check out http://www.runwithreza.org

ecclesiastes, fall, season

Fall: A glorious time

Posted on October 4, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata