Posted in discernment, doctrine, false teachers, jesus, teaching

If a teacher teaches some things wrongly, but the Gospel rightly, is it OK to follow them?

Posted on by elizabethprata

A lot of people wonder when it is reasonable to leave off following a teacher. What are the standards for giving loving benefit of the doubt, and banning them completely from your mind, your church, and your home? Both are called for in the bible.

There are these verses,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)

And then there are these verses,

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, (2 John 1:10)

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us  (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

How do we know when to do which?

First, it’s helpful to understand the difference between brethren and teachers. All Christians are brethren, including teachers. But the standards for becoming a Christian and the standard for teachers are different.

Pure

All brethren stand on the same, equalizing blood-soaked ground. None are qualified to do so, except by the grace of Jesus and faith alone. This standard includes teachers.

But once in the Lord’s kingdom through salvation, the Spirit bestows different gifts. The gift of teaching is given to some, not many, and for those, there are different standards of behavior and of scrutiny. In James  3:1-2 we read,

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

Not many of you. This indicates the seriousness of the calling. The verse also indicates the extreme fallibility in all of us. So teachers should be especially wary, because they handle the word of God, and are in a position to cause more damage and harm in Jesus’ name. That is why they are judged more strictly.

So already we know that the first standard of teaching is that it is given by gift of the Spirit. It’s not something that can be taught, adopted, or decided upon, and certainly not entered into casually.

The second thing we learn from that one verse alone is that it is a serious calling, and a stricter standard is given for the Christian’s performance in it.

Thirdly we already know that ‘not many’ are given the gift.

So what are the standards for teachers from there? There are moral/behavioral standards, and there are doctrinal standards for teachers.

BEHAVIOR

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8)

not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3)

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. (Titus 2:3

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, (Titus 2:3)

DOCTRINE

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. (1 Timothy 4:6)

So what IS good doctrine? Well, we know that there are teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1). And likewise, there are teachings of God. Theologians generally categorize doctrine into ten major headings: (source MacArthur Study Bible)

  1. Holy Scriptures
  2. God the Father
  3. God the Son
  4. God the Holy Spirit
  5. Man
  6. Sin
  7. Salvation
  8. the Church
  9. Angels 
  10. Last Things

All good teachers will teach any and all ten doctrines rightly. But what about the Gospel? If a teacher teaches The Gospel rightly but some of the other doctrines wrongly, it still OK to follow that teacher?

Well, let’s look at exactly what The Gospel is.

Here is 9Marks listing of the elements of the Gospel.

  • The one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him (Gen. 1:26-28).
  • But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him (Gen. 3; Rom. 3:23).
  • In his great love, God sent his Son Jesus to come as king and rescue his people from their enemies—most significantly their own sin (Ps. 2; Luke 1:67-79).
  • Jesus established his kingdom by acting as both a mediating priest and a priestly sacrifice—he live a perfect life and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of many (Mark 10:45; John 1:14; Heb. 7:26; Rom. 3:21-26, 5:12-21); then he rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted (Acts 2:24, Rom. 4:25).
  • He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness (Acts 17:30, John 1:12). If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God (John 3:16).

If you compare the Gospel to the ten doctrines, you find the doctrines permeate the Gospel and the Gospel permeates the doctrines. A teacher must know holiness, speak of and understand how exalted God is. He or she must have a true understanding of sin. So many false teachers teach sin is just a mistake, or can be controlled, or is not our fault due to generational bondage, or any number of reasons that distance ourselves from responsibility for our sins.

A teacher must have a proper understanding of who Jesus is. There’s ‘this same Jesus’ who will return (Acts 1:11) and ‘a different Jesus’ preached and taught falsely. (2 Corinthians 11:4).

A flawed teaching on the law vs. grace, of the cross, of the resurrection, or of sanctification affects the Gospel relating to those elements. Not understanding what God’s wrath affects the doctrine of Last Things.

So you see, if a teacher teaches “the Gospel”, they are really teaching ‘the good doctrine’ (1 Timothy 4:6)

In addition, if you still want to follow a teacher who seems to be teaching some things well and others poorly, remember the demon possessed slave girl.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17)

Is there anything inaccurate about what she said? No. Then why didn’t Paul like the free advertising? Because nothing pure can come from a deceitful heart. Because her father is the father of lies. Who needs satan to advertise the Gospel when we have the pure word and holy servants to do so?

Matthew Henry commentary says of the slave girl verse,

Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers.

Mixing lies and truth is what satan did to Eve. And look what happened.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9 cf 1 Corinthians 5:6)

If a teacher is teaching wrongly have nothing to do with him or her.

That’s not to say that a true teacher must teach all doctrines perfectly. We are imperfect individuals. But as I said in a previous essay, the Holy Spirit who is inside us will never allow a true teacher to remain in a false understanding. The Spirit always testifies of Jesus and points to Him, who is Truth. That’s why discernment means being alert, and watchful and patient. A teacher should always be growing in Christ-likeness. A false teacher is always growing away from Christ.

1 Timothy 6:3 says that good teaching is sound doctrine according with godliness. An overseer’s primary job is to “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Jesus IS Truth. Seek Him and don’t compromise for anything less.

Posted in messiah, salvation

"Who do you say that I am?"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Who is Jesus?

Is He a prophet? Is He Elijah? Is He a nice, moral man with a few good things to teach?

Who you say Jesus is determines your eternal destiny.

Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets“. (Mark 8:27-28)

What ho, Mormon, who is Jesus?

Source

Mormons: “Mormons do not believe in the Trinity as we understand it. They believe that God and Jesus were separate physical people” who dwelled on the earth, [former Mormon Beth Johnston said. “God was Jesus’ father, and both men died“.

Muslims say Jesus (Isa) was a Messenger, a Prophet, not deity, never crucified.

As-salamu alaykum, O Muslim, who is Jesus?

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say


not “Trinity” : desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. Quran, Chapter 4 The Women An-Nisa: Verse 171

Shalom, good Hebrew. Who is Jesus?

Judaism teaches that it is heretical for any man to claim to be God, part of God, or the literal son of God. The Jerusalem Talmud (Ta’anit 2:1) states explicitly: “if a man claims to be God, he is a liar.”

Wiki Commons

And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:29)

The exclusivity of Christianity as the sole way to salvation is an eternal truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Jesus is the Messiah, the promised One, the savior of all humankind.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)

Anyone who rejects Jesus as Messiah…King…Lord…Savior…Forgiver of sins, will not go to heaven. They remain in their sinful flesh, and will be damned.

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:50)

Between the sinful, perishable flesh, and the sinless imperishable kingdom which the gates of hell shall not prevail against, is a great gulf fixed–

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ (Luke 16:26)

Except that while they are still living, you may cross from perishable to imperishable by and through Jesus, by confessing Who He Is.

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Posted in Christians, middle east, orthodox, persecution

Sunday Martyr Moment: "Christians" in the Middle East

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Sundays I used to post an essay called Sunday Martyr Moment. I did so because I want to remember the martyrs who went before us in the faith.

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs- According to this summary from Christian Book Summaries,

Writing in the mid-1500s, John Foxe was living in the midst of intense religious persecution at the hands of the dominant Roman Catholic Church. In graphic detail, he offers accounts of Christians being martyred for their belief in Jesus Christ, describing how God gave them extraordinary courage and stamina to endure unthinkable torture.

From the same link, the book’s purpose was fourfold:

  • Showcase the courage of true believers who have willingly taken a stand for Jesus Christ throughout the ages, even if it meant death,
  • Demonstrate the grace of God in the lives of those martyred for their faith,
  • Expose the ruthlessness of religious and political leaders as they sought to suppress those with differing beliefs,
  • Celebrate the courage of those who risked their lives to translate the Bible into the common language of the people.

Text from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

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

In the last posting, last February 2014, I looked at the ten primitive persecutions. Foxe developed his chronicle in chapters from the first martyr, Stephen, in chapter 1: “History of Christian Martyrs to the First General Persecutions Under Nero” and in February we got to the end of chapter 2: “The Ten Primitive Persecutions“. That brought us up to 303AD.

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

Last February was the last Martyr Moment I’d published. I’d wanted to cover only the first ten primitive persecutions, because once you get into the 300s AD, Catholic martyrs are mixed in and it becomes too hard to separate fact from mystical Catholic fiction, at least it was for me.

The first ten persecutions covers well the tribulations the early Christians went through. I listened to a recent sermon from John MacArthur. On Sunday nights he is going through the book of Acts. The sermon is called “Persecuted for Truth’s Sake” and it covers Acts 4:1-12. (There is no transcript yet, but there will be). He mentioned the persecutions, the first ten, and generalized some of the more heinous acts. It is always worthwhile to remember what the early Christians did, they were bold in proclaiming Christ to a hostile system, which at that early time was the Jews. I recommend the sermon.

I bring up the persecutions and martyrdoms now for another reason. We skip ahead to 2014, and the Middle East. In 2014, we are living in apostate times and most people attend an apostate church. “Christians” all too undiscerningly accept any person who says they are “Christian”. Most of the church today is one big undiscerning, deluded club.

We hear repeatedly that Christians are being killed in the Middle East for their faith. We read articles about the Christian martyrs in Syria, Iraq, and other places. We read about ISIS, the terrorist group, which is actually a government successfully holding large swathes of land, insisting at point of a knife for all to convert or die. Many “Christians” refuse, and are killed.

What I am going to say is not popular, but we need to be discerning for two very important reasons.

First, most of the people killed in ISIS-controlled territory who say they are Christian, are not.

The largest non-Muslim group in the Middle East are Coptic Christians. By some accounts, between 4 and 8 million Egyptians are Copts. Some estimates say 10 million.

Egypt’s Coptic Christians are set to vote for a new leader on Monday to succeed Pope Shenuda III,
who died in March leaving behind a community anxious about its status under an Islamist-led government.
The candidates for leading the Coptic Church, (from L) Father Bakhomius of Virgin Mary in Wadi Natroun,
Father Rafael from St Marina Monastery, Father Seraphim of Virgin Mary, Bishop Raphael of Central Cairo, and Bishop Tawdros of Beheria in Giza Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany Source

Copts are part of the Eastern Orthodox Church (AKA Oriental Orthodox). Copts believe that liturgical ritual and faith plus works saves you. Of Orthodox churches, according to this excerpt from GotQuestions, says that

in doctrine, they have much more in common with Roman Catholics than they do with Protestant Christians.

Sadly, the doctrine of justification by faith is virtually absent from the history and theology of the Orthodox Church. Rather, Orthodoxy emphasizes theosis (literally, “divinization”), the gradual process by which Christians become more and more like Christ. What many in the Orthodox tradition fail to understand is that “divinization” is the progressive result of salvation, not a requirement for salvation itself. Other Orthodox distinctives that are in conflict with the Bible include:

The equal authority of church tradition and Scripture
Discouragement of individuals interpreting the Bible apart from tradition
The perpetual virginity of Mary
Prayer for the dead
Baptism of infants without reference to individual responsibility and faith
The possibility of receiving salvation after death
The possibility of losing salvation

Coptic Monks circa 1900, Wikipedia

Here is another article regarding Coptic “Christians” specifically-
“What is Coptic Christianity, and what do Coptic Christians believe?”

Well if the Copts adhere to a doctrine that is not saving, what about the other people who are called Christian in the Middle East? The second largest group claiming to be Christian are Lebanese Maronites, and they simply are Catholic. The other name for them is the Maronite Catholic Church.

As for the rest, most are from some kind of Orthodox church, whether it’s Russian, or Greek, or Armenian etc.

There was an Assyrian Evangelical Church of Tehran but it was forcibly closed between 2010 and 2012. There is a Presbyterian church in Iran, but it is small, and it is unknown as to whether it is still going. It was (I believe) affiliated with PC USA which is a denomination gone apostate, anyway.

I am NOT saying there are no Christians in the Middle East. I AM saying that we do not automatically accept every single person claiming to be Christian as Christian, especially when they are from obviously apostate churches such as the Catholic or Orthodox. We must be discerning. We stand for a pure doctrine and proclaim ‘this same Jesus’ who left us and will return. We don’t abandon that mindfulness and steadfast adherence to purity in the church when we’re pressured by the natural response of grief over deaths and persecution of any minority.

The second reason to be cautious is not only to display a measured and mature response in discernment, but that if indeed most of the people calling themselves Christians are not, then it is worse when they are killed. True martyrs make the boldest statement of all when they are killed for the name of Jesus- in truth. Then they go to heaven. False Christians who are killed for their faith make a weak statement by their death, for they stand on sand and proclaim hot air, and when they die, they go to hell. We cannot celebrate their survival as wholly as we would like, because they proclaim a false Gospel and a different Jesus, which spreads when they flee persecution. We do grieve their death because they are eternally damned.

It’s sad when a true Christian is killed for the faith but their death glorifies God. It is bad when any lost person dies, because their soul is damned in hell under eternal torment forever. But when a false Christian is killed ‘for the faith,’ that is the worst, because the person goes to hell but on earth the Spirit had been blasphemed and Jesus had been denied by their false Gospel. Their death brings glory to satan’s gospel. Therefore, it’s the worst.

Knowing the facts about ‘Christianity’ in the Middle East helps us pray more pointedly and mindfully. In the heat of the emotional moment, please don’t abandon discernment in trade for running to stand under a too-large umbrella of faiths that are no faith at all. We love the people of the Middle East, Muslim or Orthodox, because they are both hanging by a gossamer thread over the pit of hell, and in such a harsh environment they could die at any moment. But now you know how to discern and now you know in which direction to pray for them.

Posted in discernment, false teacher, prophecy, rick joyner, visions

Rick Joyner – "Encountering Heaven"… Or not.

Posted on by elizabethprata

On September 7, 2014, in his Prophetic Ministry 101 speech, Rick Joyner shared about when he had a bad case of food poisoning (or flu) and …

…was caught up in to heaven for eight hours. … I say prophetic, but I don’t know if it was just prophetic experience or if I was really there, but it seemed real. I saw things that I believe really are part of the heavenly realm. But this one was many times better than I’d ever experienced before. At the end of the whole dream – and this was an 8-hour, earth-time dream – I know because it started at midnight. I laid down at midnight, went right to sleep, went right into this dream, woke up several times during the night astonished, just trying to understand everything I’d just seen and heard. I’d then I’d fall back to sleep and go right back into the same place. Over and over. … I’d had that experience one time before, just one time, where I woke up, went back the same place in the dream, but this time it happened over and over. It was just awesome.

At the end of the dream, I ended up on Main Street down here. [pointing]. Our Main Street. And I’m standing there, I’m in heaven and I’m on Main Street, and the Lord said ‘You’ve got to bring this here.’ We’re going to have heaven on earth. Right here!

Joyner goes into ‘explaining’ that Jacob’s ladder dream meant that the angels ascending and descending means that the angels are “bringing back to the earth evidence of heaven’s reality.”

In the video synopsis, we read, “In this week’s Featured Video, Rick Joyner shares about a recent experience in heaven.”

The phrasing, ‘recent visit’ made me think of the frequent hotel points you can rack up for a free gift if you travel to a place enough times. “Purchase 9 drinks, get the 10th free!” Like, on this ‘recent trip’, Joyner could redeem his points for either a ride on Jesus’ rainbow horse Colton Burpo said Jesus owns, or enjoy a light lunch with John the Baptist.

A few things, in seriousness.

1. Joyner’s “recent trip to heaven”. How sacrilegious, impious, and irreverent to even describe the gift of seeing the heavenly realms in such a flippant way. Of course Mr Joyner did not go to heaven, but he thought he did, and to describe it in such a way demeans the realm our King Jesus presides over. Paul was too humble to even speak of his trip for 14 years, only did so when pressed, and then it was in the third person. Paul would never flippantly say something like, “Oh yah, this time I went up there I saw…”

2. The false visionaries like Mr Joyner try to legitimize their false experience by using biblical language to describe what happened. When Joyner says “What I saw and heard” is reminiscent of the bible’s command from God to “Write what you see and hear” as in Revelation 1:19, Deuteronomy 27:8, Jeremiah 36:2. Of course Joyner’s description of whether it was a prophetic experience or whether he was really there is reminiscent of Paul’s description (which he was too awed to even ascribe to himself in the first person) of 2 Corinthians 12:3. That is one way the false prophets attempt to make their false teaching sound biblical, by using biblical language. But you can think it through, and you remember that Paul was too awed to even tell it, but Joyner is eager not only to tell it right away but to piggyback his ‘awesome’ heaven trip with his explosive flu. Also if you think it through, knowing that if Jesus is bringing people up to heaven and giving a command, then it is new revelation and equal in authority to what is already written.

So when you tell this to someone and they say “But they use the bible!” you can say of course they do. Satan did even with Jesus when satan tempted Him. If they didn’t use the bible, it’s easier to see they’re false. So….they use the bible and biblical language. Like when Beth Moore said she saw Jesus in the heavenly realms and He purportedly said to her, “And boy you write this one down. And you say it as often as I give you utterance to say it.” Who talks like that? No one, except the Old Testament prophets, so the false ones inflate their puffed up visions with puffed up language.

3. Obsessing over irrelevant details as if to legitimize it. Example: “It was an 8-hour dream.” As if that matters. How long was the Jacob’s Ladder dream? How long was Paul’s dream in the third heaven? How long was John’s vision on Patmos? How long was Daniel’s dream? John simply said “After this…” and began recording the next vision.

Jacob awoke from his ladder dream, “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16-17).

Jacob praised God and built and altar, he didn’t spend time repeating how long the dream was, as if these details have the power to cement false visions into reality.

3a. Another detail this false diviner Joyner obsessed over was the ‘wonder’ of waking up so many times and then falling back into the vision and being ‘right back there’. If God is going to lift you into the third heaven, as He really did to Paul, are you really going to marvel at the lesser minutiae of His ability to wake you and then drowse you and bring you back up? More to the point, don’t you think God has the power to keep you in the sleeping vision state until He has finished showing you what He wants to show you? I bet Joyner woke up ‘over and over’ because he had to pee.

4. Joyner said it felt real. Just because it feels real, it isn’t. Satan performs lying signs and wonders, it is not hard for an angel to appear to a person in a dream. In Matthew 2:13 an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee with baby Jesus and Mary to Egypt. The unholy angels have lost none of their power, including entering your dreams like that holy angel did with Joseph, they just use it for evil. The unholy ones have the power to enter your dreams – obviously, because Joyner had a false one. I mean, it is up to Rick Joyner to bring heaven to earth? Or earth to heaven? And it was not clear in the speech which he meant.

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:32)

Why teach through the filter of a dream that was filtered through a sinful brain and out a sinful tongue, when one can simply teach from the unadulterated word of God? That is what Peter meant when he said we have a more sure word (2 Peter 1:19). Peter was ranking Scripture over experience.

It should be obvious that Rick Joyner is a false teacher, a false prophet, and a wolf. These descriptions of encounters with Jesus, via visions, and dreams, like Kim Walker Smith music born from fresh encounters with Jesus in heaven, and audible devotions and romantic “Presences” a la Sarah Young, and mind-pictures and visitations and visions like Beth Moore’s, and books and books and books written about people’s ‘recent trip to heaven’ (or hell)… it is a scourge! A plague of falsity. False visions are so commonplace nowadays that it is not enough to have only one, you must have many and join the frequent heaven flier club.

The people claiming these divine experiences make a fatal mistake: they forgot that satan’s ministers masquerade as righteous angels (2 Corinthians 11:15) and that the white light, or the friendly voice, or the romantic warmth is easily counterfeited by powerful angels out to lie, kill and destroy.

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. (Colossians 2:18-19).

Did you catch that? People going on about their false visions are puffed up and are not even Christians (not attached to the Head).

If you have NOT encountered heaven in some kind of ecstatic vision or dream, be grateful.

If you HAVE encountered someone who says they have gone to heaven, be wary.

If you have been saved by the grace of our resurrected Jesus, be ready!

Religious deception in the church is a marker of His soon return. (Matthew 24:3–5, 11, 24; Mark 13:5–6; Luke 21:7–8).

We will all see His heaven soon enough, together. And that is good enough for me.

Posted in bible twisters, encouragement, joel osteen, scripture

The ignorant & unstable twist scriptures, but the wise persevere patiently

Posted on by elizabethprata
JAdams

A reader emailed me a longer comment regarding apostasy, the Osteens, and Facebook. Her thoughts were well presented and captured the unarticulated thoughts I’d been having regarding bible twisters. I asked her if I could post it as an essay. She said yes.

We are all born for a specific time and placed in the epochs to perform works for His glory. We are here now, at the end. True, mature Christians stand in amazement watching the collapse of the church. It is a hard epoch to be living in, but no harder than the first church, or the persecuted church, or the apathetic church, etc. But still, those who love Jesus fervently find it difficult to be surrounded by so much sin, so much satanic activity inside the church, so much hatred for our Savior.

Jesus has the victory, and the true church will never fail, but it has become so inflated over the years with false converts, false doctrine, and pastors who are in Adam and not in Christ, that all these outer layers are imploding to reveal what the bible has said all along: the true church is small. Few find it. (Matthew 7:14).

In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter is talking about something Apostle Paul had written. Peter says,

“as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

 You note that Peter acknowledges that some of the doctrines Paul explains are hard to understand. Anyone who has read Romans knows this. The unstable and the ignorant will twist those hard verses. But you also notice something else. The ignorant and the unstable also twist the easy verses. To reverse things, those who twist the bible’s scriptures are ignorant and unstable.

[And a note to those who dismiss Paul’s epistles as contrary to Jesus’ doctrines, Peter confirms them as “Scriptures”.]

Enter the Osteens. Enter Linda Dodson, who is also grieved by these apostate days. Here is her comment, so well done I wanted to share it with you.

——————————-

Like you, though, I am grieved by the falling away of the church because of the lack of sound teaching and example by Christian leaders.

I thought you might be interested in this. I came across it when a Facebook friend commented on it. It was from Joel Osteen’s Facebook site on September 10:

Second Timothy 4 says, “Be calm, cool and steady, unflinchingly endure hardships.” If somebody says something derogatory about you, don’t even flinch. Don’t blink. Don’t let it faze you.

That did not sound right to me because I knew 2 Timothy 4 talks about people turning away from sound teaching to satisfy their itching ears. So I went to Biblegateway.com and read through that chapter several times trying to discern where Joel was getting that statement about someone saying derogatory things about you. I couldn’t find it.

So I went to Joel’s Facebook page and was saddened by the amount of comments, thanking Joel for “the word” and relating how they have people in their lives who are critical, bullying, etc.–comment after comment showing obvious lack of discernment.

I got angry how a ‘pastor’ can say whatever he wants, whether it’s biblically sound or not, and people just lap it up like it’s true. So I posted a comment of my own:

“I have read 2 Timothy three times through this morning and don’t see where this is said. Paul is telling Timothy to be strong because people don’t want to hear the truth of the gospel…not that people are saying derogatory things about Timothy. It’s not about Paul or Timothy, it’s about people’s resistance to and antagonism toward Jesus Christ and the gospel message.”

The irony of this has not been lost on me, and I was going to post something to that effect but figured no one would get it, so I stuck to speaking the truth in love.

God bless you,
Linda

—————————————-

Presbyterian congregation, 1947

I thought the Osteen Facebook comment was a perfect example of how the ignorant twist Scriptures. I also thought that Linda’s response was pitch-perfect. I pray this is an encouragement to you in the following ways:

Though the unstable and ignorant speaking false things from the bible are all around us, even in pulpits, there are stable and wise Christians. They labor in the back pews in quiet conversations after Wednesday night bible study/prayer meeting. They have concerned coffee with a stumbling sister. They speak up on blogs, comment sections, Twitter and Facebook, often bearing the wrath of the ignorant upon their heads for their words. They fix cars in garages with brothers who need discipling and the truth spoken in love.

The truth spoken in love is not spoken in haste. You notice that the mature are Bereans, seeking to confirm what is said, or not said, or wrongly said, before offering their own words of correction or wisdom. The mature and the stable are not as numerous as the ignorant and the unstable, but such brethren are out there, proclaiming His word quietly, consistently, humbly. Just as there are many unknown pastors diligently dividing the word for the edification and encouragement of their flocks, so there are many sheep absorbing it and going forth in strength and determination on behalf of the spotless name of Christ.

Take heart. I did, after reading Linda’s comment. I was grateful she graciously let me post it. It humbled me and at the same time gave me encouragement. Fellow believers are out there. You’re not alone. The only good thing about all this is that the worse it gets, the closer we are to being redeemed for all time. Until then, we go forward every day,

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:11-12)

Posted in adam, death, encouragement, Eve, resurrection, sin

The First Mourning

Posted on by elizabethprata

Our earth is beautiful, but for all that, it is still cursed. I wonder what the Garden of Eden looked like! The place was created directly by God, and it was earth as He intended it to look.

He created Adam and then Eve, and the two were as humans intended to look.

For a while, a probably brief while, everything was perfect and in balance and harmony. Adam loved Eve, Eve loved Adam, they both loved God, the animals were friendly and submitted to man, who cared for them lovingly.

Then sin came,

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (Romans 5:12)

Eve sinned, then Adam. How did God feel? We know He feels. He takes delight, He is angry, He loves. I wonder if He mourned the eternally changed relationship He’d had with His humans, who no longer glorified Him. They destroyed the very purpose for which they were made. We know He cursed them (Genesis 3:16, 17). Perhaps the LORD mourned.

It wasn’t long after, Cain slew Abel. Cain was the first human to be born. Abel was the first human to die. Brothers, yet sin came between them and Cain killed Abel in a jealous fit. We follow what happened after that. Genesis 4 shows the conversation with Cain and God. The discovery of the murder. The penalty. And then we see Cain go off and our eyes travel down the biblical road to follow the story of sin and redemption as it is laid until its conclusion in Revelation.

But turn your eyes back to Abel for a moment. We do not know how it came about…but at some point Abel’s mother and father of all the living, Eve and Adam, must have discovered their son, laying dead on the ground, blood pooled around his head.

We know both of them were familiar with death. Their spiritual life died the moment they disobeyed (“surely you won’t die” the serpent lied in Genesis 3:4). They were familiar with death because God killed the first animal to make clothing out of its skin (the first sacrifice to cover them in their sin). We know they must have killed an animal themselves because they had to eat. The two humans who had never seen blood before grew to know it intimately once they sinned.

And then…the blood of their son. The bible does not record the discovery of Abel’s body, nor his burial (as far as I know). But perhaps the scene looked like this.

The First Mourning (Adam and Eve mourn the death of Abel); oil on canvas 1888 painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.


Oh, the searing pain of losing a son! A pain that would be replicated again and again through history as sin took its toll on a million mothers in epochs to come! A grief that the Father Himself would know soon enough!!

The first death was of a beloved son.

The last death was of a beloved Son.

Praise our Holy Savior for His death, for through Him we have life! Praise our Resurrected Savior for vanquishing sin!


Posted in gay marriage, lesbian, sin

90 year old lesbians get married

Posted on by elizabethprata

90-year-old lesbian couple marries after 72 years of relationship

Imagine the stories they must have after 72 years together. A gay couple has tied the knot after 72 years of relationship and said “it is never too late for people to write new chapters in their lives”, according to a report in the Quad City Times. Vivian Boyack, 91, and Alice ‘Nonie’ Dubes, 90, exchanged their vows at the First Christian Church in Davenport. “This is a celebration of something that should have happened a very long time ago,” the officiating reverend told them.

‘The officiating reverend’ is a woman

“Disciples”
You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

There are a lot of people who are taking the lesbian couple’s long-term ‘love’ as a sign that somehow validates its legitimacy. As if the fact that it has lasted so long makes them question whether, homosexuality may be OK after all.

But what it should tell us is how powerful sin is. Sin in general already has all people who are not ‘in Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:22). If one is not in Christ, they are ‘in Adam.’ But for some who have a particular sin they refuse to give up, in this case, lesbianism, if they refuse to repent, God gives them over to it.

because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; (Romans 1:25-26)

That’s all this ‘marriage’ is an example of.

As for the officiating reverend, 1 Timothy 2:11-12 says women are not to lead in the church. Hunsacker’s particular sin is rebellion against male authority, alternately, a failure to submit to the authority of scripture and its male head, Christ. The fact that she has gone so far in it- to bible college, seminary, ordination, and employment, is another example of disobedience where her mind is so seared she does not know right from wrong. Ergo, officiating at a lesbian marriage in a church that has both Christian and Disciples in its name.

Posted in earthquake, prophecy

A synopsis of quakes today, and a list of prophesied Tribulation earthquakes

Posted on by elizabethprata
USGS quakes in continental US as of Sept 7

I look at the USGS map of 2.5+ quakes everyday. After a few years your mind gets used to seeing the visual pattern. Anomalies then stand out.

You’d be surprised at how many 2.5-plus quakes hit different spots of the US nowadays, as opposed to years ago. I knew that the Americans were jolted when a large quake hit Virginia a few years ago and cracked the Washington DC monument. Small quakes happen in Maine. In Georgia last year there was one that was felt for a wide range of the state.

Typically we think of quakes happening in the Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, or California. But they happen in Texas, too. And ALabama. And Tennessee. And almost everywhere else. Occasionally. I think the only state not to have regular quakes is Florida. Only one quake centered in the state caused damage, but quakes outside of Florida have caused peripheral damage, notably Cuba in 1880 and Charleston SC in 1886.

But when I saw the above map I was struck. Usually there are not so many quakes at once in the unusual parts of the US.

Of course, the ongoing quake swarm in Oklahoma has people rattled. Since 2009 there has been an upsurge in felt-quakes and no one knows why. They attribute it to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) but Texas fracks much more than OK and they have less than a quarter of the quakes OK does, so who knows.

This map above showed 14 single, stray quakes in unusual parts of the US. The one over the farthest right is centered in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, location of one of the worst US quakes ever (in 1811-12). Yes, Missouri. The USGS article on the subject is titled,

The New Madrid Seismic Zone is at Significant Risk for Damaging Earthquakes

Last year, Joel Rosenberg wrote about earthquakes in the Tribulation.

Fifth earthquake in five days hits Israel

Every 80 years or so, Israel has a major, catastrophic earthquake. So Israelis know they are “due” for a “big one.” Those who pay attention to Bible prophecy also know that both the Old and New Testament Scriptures describe major earthquakes occurring in Israel in the last days. Earthquake preparations are on the increase by government agencies and among private companies and such preparations will now accelerate, especially in the wake of five minor earthquakes in Israel in the course of the past five days. Among the steps being taken: a new earthquake alert system is being developed by the government and is expected to be ready in 2016.

“Israel’s last major earthquake rattled the region in 1927″ reports the Times of Israel, was “a 6.2-magnitude tremor that killed 500 and injured another 700.” Before that, “an earthquake in 1837 left as many as 5,000 people dead.”

Here is a synopsis of the prophesied quakes that will happen in the Tribulation. We are in the last days. We have been since Jesus ascended. When I say the last of the last days, I mean now. After that, the Tribulation are the very last days of the age before the Millennium Kingdom.

Revelation 6:12-14
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

In the verse 12 where it describes a “great” earthquake, the Greek word is megas. It’s defined, “large, great, in the widest sense.”

Revelation 8:5
Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake

The text isn’t specific about what magnitude or where it will occur.

Revelation 11:13 predicts a quake in Jerusalem. When the Two Witnesses have lain dead in the street for three and a half days, God will call “Come up here!” and they will resurrect in front of the amazed and fearful world. Then-

“And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

More earthquakes…
There are noises, thunderings, lightnings, an earthquake and great hail. (Rev 11:19)

As great as the quake in Revelation 6 was, there will be an even bigger quake at the end of the Tribulation. We know this is true because the verse in Revelation 16:18 predicting it says there has never been a quake like this on the earth.

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.

As rich in specificity as Revelation is, it is not the only book that predicts last days (Tribulation) quakes. Joel 2:10 says,

The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

Ezekiel 38:19

For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

In Indonesia today there was a 6.5 quake, no tsunami, thankfully.

There was a 2.1 in Alabama today, no damage.

Iceland’s erupting volcano is sparking quakes. Or maybe the other way around.

After a brief lull, eruption concerns spiked again as a 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook the northern rim of the caldera of Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano Wednesday morning, according to the Icelandic Met Office.

And that is your quake report for today.