Posted in charismatic, false prophets, macarthur, strange fire

Charismatics be warned: false visions, ecstatic experiences and prophetic proclamations are blasphemous

Posted on by elizabethprata

“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity.“

~Charles Spurgeon, The Immutability of God

Is your pride drowned in the infinity that is Holy God? I hope so. I hope mine is! What helps dampen down my pride is simply contemplating Him.

I’m reading 1 Kings. I am up to chapter 18, the tremendous chapter where God displays His power over the false prophets of Baal. In the chapters leading up to the climactic moment, the power of the LORD is displayed in many ways, and it builds and builds. He spoke to Elijah and commanded him to go to Zarephath. Yes, that is mighty power, that the Holy God of heaven would speak His word to a man, the prophet Elijah. Don’t let that become mundane. He is LORD over men! Then He fed Elijah by the brook by commanding the ravens. He is LORD over creation!

And Elijah drank from the brook. But the brook dried up. (1 Kings 17:7). Stop there. The LORD had told Elijah that he would feed Him by ravens bringing him bread and that he could drink from the brook. (1 Kings 17:4). I wonder if the brook dried up slowly, and Elijah could see it going, getting smaller by the day until only mud was left. I wonder what he thought. Or did the brook dry up overnight, and when Elijah went to drink from it in the morning, it was gone. I wonder what Elijah thought then. We know Elijah was a mighty man in the LORD, but he was still human. Did he muse aloud, “Aw, man. What now?” The next verse said that “the word of the Lord came to him” (1 Kings 17:8), but it doesn’t say when. Was there a lag between when Elijah spotted the dried up brook and the word came? Was Elijah thirsty? How long did he wait?

Anyway, next was the miracle of the widow’s never-ending jar of flour. He is a LORD of provision! And then came the resurrection of her dead son. He is LORD of life and death!

And then the LORD told Elijah to gather the false prophets of Baal and He manifested His great power over them and their notion of a false god.

“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (1 Kings 18:38)

The fire consumed the stones. So great is his power. It consumed the dust. So precise is His power.

The next verse says that the false prophets fell on their faces. And yet we have so-called Christians, one after the other, coming out of the woodwork saying that Mighty Jesus, descends from heaven and pals around with them at the zoo, or while they are shaving, or runs around going ‘woop woop’ with Gumby arms. That THIS Jesus, does those things:

“and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” (Revelation 1:13-16)

That this Jesus who said He was not coming again until the time, appears to them in visions…

“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

“See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” ” (Matthew 23:39)

…and they DO NOT FALL ON THEIR FACES, but joke around with a buddy Jesus of their imagination. FALSE is the Charismatic movement. They make up a god of their vain imaginings. He is immutable and His hand is mighty and His Son is coming again in power and glory.

Please take some time to listen to the live stream of the powerful preaching at the Strange Fire conference going on now. And if you are reading this and cannot listen live (as I can’t) or the conference is concluded, then be sure to listen to the uploads which will be on the website when the conference concludes. Dr John MacArthur explains why he and his elders & peers put together the conference:

The conference came about as a result of my escalating concern about the charismatic movement. While claiming to represent a special work of the Holy Spirit, many in charismatic ranks—joined now by many in mainstream evangelicalism—are actually guilty of blaspheming Him. Out of a love for God’s people, and more important, for the sake of His glory, some hard things needed to be said.

I opened with Spurgeon and his sermon on the immutability of God, let’s close with him and another quote from that sermon. We do not need pale and flimsy man-made so-called miracles attributed to the wispy smoke of strange fire, not when we have the Holy Godhead to contemplate in spirit and in truth. We do not need visions and miracles and ridiculous speeches and claims when we have the power and might to contemplate from His word. Spurgeon encourages us:

“Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatary. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrows? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.“

It’s very simple. The Charismatics who claim physical, ecstatic, and visionary experiences diminish their souls and besmirch the Godhead. Pure worship from His pure word expands the soul and honors the Godhead. Listen to the Strange Fire lectures and sermons to learn how to distinguish between the two.

Posted in street of gold, tribulation, wealth

Wealth is relative

Posted on by elizabethprata
Photo Wikimedia. Our plate had only two claws on it.

Some time ago, I went out to dinner with my husband and a well-heeled couple. The rich couple were hosting some clients. We all ate at a very high-end restaurant in Miami. We had attentive waiters, there were plush carpets, an extensive wine list…one of those places. I remember ordering the stone crab claw appetizers for $30 per plate, and this was in the 1990s.

Growing up, I never paid attention to money much. We always had a lot of it. I thought it was important to be frugal, though, and moderate with money, and to be generous. But as to the amounts, I didn’t pay attention. It was always there.

In my early adult years I owned a home and had a professional job, and not a lot of debt except the house. I liked earning my own money and paying for things in a timely manner. I guess you could say that I was a regular person in my relationship to money and personal wealth.

Now of course, the economy in America has changed and many people are struggling, even if they are lucky enough to have a job. “The working poor” I think the term is.  Wikipedia explains:

“While poverty is often associated with joblessness, a significant proportion of the poor in the US and Canada, but also Italy, Spain, and Ireland are actually employed. The wages the working poor receive are insufficient to provide basic necessities and lead to people making choices between having food on the table or having a table. Largely because they are earning such low wages, the working poor face numerous obstacles that make it difficult for many of them to find and keep a job, save up money…“

So back to the long-ago fancy dinner in Miami. The bill came to well over $600. I was amazed that one evening’s entertainment could be so expensive. I remarked as such to the host (a person with I was very familiar, so we could speak familiarly). He said, “It’s like this. You go out and spend $60 and it’s not so much money to you, because of your income. I go out and spend $600 and to me it is not so much, because of my income. It’s only another zero.”

He said that in 1998, and I remember it today. “It’s only another zero.”

The coming Tribulation will widen the gap between the working poor, who will simply become the poor, and the rich. There will be extreme wealth (Rev 18:3) and extreme poverty (Rev 6:6).

The extremely wealthy will trade in ivory and gems and spices and men. The poor will work all day for a loaf of bread.

However the relativity of wealth even then will be able to be comprehended. The people eating bread will glare at the large limos gliding by, the wealthy eating in restaurants, and the money traded as ships come in. “It’s only another zero” will still be comprehensible.

However, the wealth I am thinking of is incalculable.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

There are not enough zeroes in the world to comprehend the treasure that awaits His children.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

The inheritance is our salvation come to full fruition in the eternal state. Oh, yes, we will receive physical inheritance, in terms of rewards, and a place in His Father’s house prepared for us, and we will dwell where there are magnificent jewels and a street of gold. That is not the inheritance I am speaking of. That is like what we think of on earth when we inherit the grandmother’s jewels or mom’s house or dad’s roadster.

What we inherit is salvation, and then we inherit Christ. He is the unique jewel of the universe, distinct in glory and beauty.

And there are other things too, we can’t even conceive of.

“But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

The difference between a rich man and a poor man’s zero is minuscule compared to the riches of His immeasurable grace and our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

May these thoughts bless and encourage you. 

Posted in news, prophecy, pulpit, sermons, signs

Should pastors do news-prophecy updates?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been thinking a lot about pastors who do prophecy updates. This is when pastors speak from the pulpit regarding current events of the day, such as the Syrian civil war, or a major earthquake, or the eclipses coming up, or Egypt’s coups, etc. The speak about this news from the pulpit during service and relate the news back to the bible.

Should pastors do this? Should they refrain from updating their parishioners on the news?? It is a difficult question. As with all hard questions (and easy ones too) let’s look at the bible first. The role of pastor is to include:

–Care to those whom he has been entrusted (1 Peter 5:2-3).
–A pastor is a shepherd of God’s flock who is to instruct, teach, and protect the people under his charge. In John 21:15-17, Jesus said to Peter, feed My sheep, tend My sheep, feed My sheep.
–Acts 6:4 those who lead the church are charged to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
–Acts 20:27 declare the whole counsel of God
–2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Though pastors have many duties as defined by the bible, teaching and preaching the word of God to the flock is number one. It is the major way they tend the sheep, and feed the sheep. They also protect the sheep from wolves, by guarding the congregation from false doctrine and the people who bring it. Feeding the lambs with the bread of life is uniquely given to elders/overseers.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31. The only enduring thing in this world are the words of Jesus, and shepherds are entrusted to pass them to the people, to explain, to use as encouragement and rebuke, for training in righteousness.

Prophecy is part of that general mandate. Too few pastors preach the prophetic passages or even mention them in passing. Somehow prophecy has gotten a bad reputation. This is likely because so many crazy people have set dates and brought shame onto Christianity by being a fringe element. Others are too shamefully gleeful at the wrath parts of judgment in prophecy and do not demonstrate the love of Christ by counterbalancing His wrath with talk of His grace and mercy. Or, many pastors don’t want the ‘taint’ that has besmirched prophecy in general to taint them, so they shy away. Oftentimes, it is also because seminaries do not teach pastoral students the importance of prophecy or preaching the prophetic passages, calling them unknowable, or controversial, and they ignore them altogether. Thus, new pastors don’t feel equipped to preach on them and they never do, even as they mature.

Frontspiece to “America A Prophecy”
William Blake 1793

As for the sheep, us, many have gotten discouraged by the hype that too many eager pastors have promoted with prophecy. Or, they have picked up on the general taint and they frown meanly from the pews when or if a pastor preaches it.

Yet the bible says to preach the whole counsel of God. Preaching the prophetic is encouraging because it shows God’s sovereignty, His careful attention to detail, and His everlasting covenants. When was the last time you heard a good sermon from, say, Obadiah? I listened to Phil Johnson preach from Nahum last weekend, and I loved every minute of it.

However that said, there is a difference in preaching prophecy and preaching secular news. As an example, John MacArthur has been preaching for 46 years, 44 of them at one church. All of his sermons he’s preached since 1969 are online. I’ve listened to a healthy sampling of them from each decade, including the ones from 1969, from the 70s, and 80s and 90s and 00s and beyond. In a bare few, he mentions current events. For the most part, he simply does what the bible says, preach the word. The word is always fresh. When he expounds on it, I literally cannot detect which era the sermon is from. It is as fresh as if he delivered it today than when he did 45 years ago. It is all edifying.

I applaud and honor those pastors who occasionally relate something happening in the culture or the world to the bible. John MacArthur did this in 2012 when he preached two sermons pointedly on America’s downward slide into immorality. They were “sermons on the spiritual and moral decline being championed by our country’s leaders.” The introduction to that two-part series states,

“If you’ve followed John MacArthur’s teaching for any length of time, you know he rarely says much about politics, culture, or society. It’s not that he’s uninformed on those topics. It’s that they’re often an intrusion upon the teaching of God’s Word. Evangelical Christians are already too easily distracted from the Great Commission in order to engage in partisan politics.“

However, sometimes mixing the current news and the bible is called for. Dr MacArthur stated

“I’m not one to talk about politics as such, but I was essentially amazed that one of the historic parties here in the United States adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform. This is a new day in our country. Parties which used to differ on economics now differ dramatically on issues that invade the realm of God’s law and morality.”

Even at that, the bulk of those two sermons were mainly focused on the Word of God and not the news of culture. And the rest of his sermons are focused totally on the word of God.

In the few cases if a secular news event is mentioned in an older sermon I am listening to, it’s jarring. It dates the sermon and makes it seem old and creaky. It kind of ruins the whole thing. Tying news into preaching is a bad mix, kind of like the iron and clay toes in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar that will not stay together.

There are some pastors who choose to speak a prophecy update each week, or quarterly. I have more concerns about these. I truly thank these preachers for doing weekly prophecy updates, I know their heart is in the right place. I know they love the Lord. But to work news back into the bible and claim meaning from it regularly is a dangerous activity, in my opinion. When a pastor has committed to a weekly prophecy update that includes the news of the world, their attention is necessarily divided.

I believe pastors should walk a fine line when it comes to preaching the news. They spend time reading newspapers instead of reading the bible. Tying news articles to the word means we think we can see what the Lord is doing or that we know his ways. But His ways are far above our ways. The pulpit is for God’s word.

Pastors should be excited about His appearing though, and talk much of our new home based on what the bible says, and look forward to the era to come. But they throw ALL prophecy out with the bathwater and never mention that this earth isn’t our home! Instead of preaching news stories from the pulpit, they go too far in the other direction and never preach the bible’s prophetic passages, either.

As far as news goes, we have come to the prophetic brink so often since 2008 and then the Lord saw fit to retreat the world from the prophetic brink. Russia is rising, Middle East is inflamed, the world economy is tanking, Damascus is dying, Egypt is failing, we can see the prophetic indicators.

The pastor’s role is to preach the word in season and out, ALL of the word, and this is on them- when

St Bernard preaching from a pulpit,
G. Martini, 1470

they do not preach prophecy passages from the bible they are not fulfilling the command to feed His sheep the whole counsel of God. But the word does not command shepherds to feed us news. So many pastors unwittingly get drawn away when they include secular news to their sermons from the pulpit. They start looking at the news and not expending their precious time on learning the word. Satan will take anything, even something good, and make it bad. If they feed us the word then we will understand and see the times. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being able to tell the weather from signs but not His appearing from the fact of His appearing! (Mt 16:3). And Paul said –

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess 5:4-5)

So the pastors preach the word, the whole word, and the Spirit illuminates the times for us.

It is a shame that so few are excited about His appearing. Paul mentioned it constantly! I talk about it a lot at church. I think He is coming soon. Not because the news indicates He is coming back soon but the bible says His return for His bride is imminent. It is something to get excited about! Not the news but simply the eagerness of going to our new home or the fact of His coming to get us. It is a sad thing that too few Christians look eagerly to that moment. If Paul and the early Christians did, how much closer is it today! Every NT book except Philemon mentions the prophetic future of our being raptured to Him and the new era. Christians who long for His appearing even earn a crown! And that is a shame, that so many brethren won’t share the joy of anticipation. I speak it from the bible, though, not from the news.

I do believe that the Lord is returning soon. I believe the rapture will be any day. I have believed this since I read it in the bible. The events today look to me like they are pointing to our last moments on earth under the Age of Grace. But, it’s been 7 years since I first thought that and it could be two years from now or another ten or I could die tomorrow and go to heaven anyway. We just don’t know. We look at the seasons and we look for His appearing and this should give us urgency to witness. But when I go to church I want to hear His word explained, there is no better way to spend time than hear the word. It is the only enduring thing on this earth.

What’s your opinion on the matter?

Posted in china, one world economy

The words "USA" and "default" beginning to appear in news headlines: big changes ahead?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The words “USA” and “debt” and the dreaded word “default” are starting to be used in the same headline. The Congressional-Presidential standoff on the budget and the Federal government shutdown has rattled the world. As the dollar is currently the world’s reserve currency this is making everyone else very nervous. The problem is, as USA Today explains,

Source

“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who shuttled between the global finance talks and negotiations with Congress over the debt ceiling, has warned that he will exhaust his borrowing authority Thursday and the government will face the prospect of defaulting on its debt unless Congress raises the current $16.7 trillion borrowing limit.”

CNBC explains “Debt is not the only method to finance overspending”
“When our government spends more money than it takes in, as it has been doing both consistently and at an accelerating pace for the past 30 years, it has to find a way to pay for that overspending. As any individual or business knows, there are choices you face when you need more money than you have at hand. You have to find a way to bring in more capital through making more money, selling some assets or securing financing.”

With the current climate of government strangulation of the entrepreneurial spirit and small business death, it’s not likely we will make more money. On a larger scale, we have no assets to sell, except land. Would Russia like Alaska back? The scenario for raising money is unlikely. And as for securing financing, China has already gone to their limit for us in buying our debt and has warned us they are loathe to buy ore. They are also making moves to remove the US dollar as global currency reserve. So that scenario is unlikely too.

CNBC says, “Debt cannot be used as a continual financing solution without dire consequences.”

One dire consequence that is likely with the US and the Chinese is this: invasion. Don’t laugh. Wikipedia explains sovereign default:

“Since a sovereign government, by definition, controls its own affairs, it cannot be obliged to pay back its debt. Nonetheless, governments may face severe pressure from lending countries. In the most extreme cases, a creditor nation may declare war on a debtor nation for failing to pay back debt, in order to enforce creditor’s rights. For example, Britain routinely invaded countries that failed to repay foreign debts, invading Egypt in 1882.”

Members of a Chinese Military Honor Guard. Source Wikipedia

If we can’t pay China back, do you think they will hesitate to come get what is owed them? Something to think about. Even if they do not invade our mainland, they may seize overseas assets.

“Other examples include the United States’ “gunboat diplomacy” in Venezuela in the mid-1890s and the United States occupation of Haiti beginning in 1915. A government which defaults may also be excluded from further credit and some of its overseas assets may be seized“

I think that we think the world is civilized and that finances and war are further apart than they really are. And remember, the second horse of the apocalypse if the fiery red horse of war. “Peace will be taken from the earth.” (Rev 6:4).

Here are three snippets of current news headlines remarking on the US potential for default.

—————————-

World top bankers warn of dire consequences if U.S. defaults
Three of the world’s most powerful bankers warned of terrible consequences if the United States defaults on its debt, with Deutsche Bank chief executive Anshu Jain claiming default would be “utterly catastrophic. This would be a very rapidly spreading, fatal disease,” Jain said on Saturday at a conference hosted by the Institute of International Finance in Washington. “I have no recommendations for this audience…about putting band aids on a gaping wound,” he said.

—————————-

Get your fiscal house in order: China warns US as Asia expresses concern for $1.3tn of investments
“China, the biggest foreign creditor of the United States, has waded into the American budget crisis, warning Congress that it must resolve the political impasse over the debt ceiling without further delay. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhu Guangyao, told America’s deadlocked politicians on Monday that “the clock is ticking” and called on them to approve an extension of the national borrowing limit before the federal government is projected to run out of cash on 17 October. We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a US debt default to ensure the safety of Chinese investments in the United States,” Mr Zhu told reporters in Beijing. “This is the United States’ responsibility,” he added.”

—————————-

Finance officials press U.S. on default risk
“World finance officials pledged on Saturday to deal with new risks to the global recovery while they kept up pressure on the United States to address the biggest threat of all — a market-rattling default on U.S. debt.”

—————————-

CNBC further explains,

UK Telegraph


“However, a default is hardly the only threat to our credit standing. We lost our AAA credit rating for the first time ever from S&P in 2011 based not on a default (which was threatened but never happened), but instead on our overall accumulation of debt, lack of a credible plan to reduce it and overall problematic policymaking governance. All of those issues have gotten worse. We have more debt than two years ago and there has been no improvement in our political discord, the financial savvy of our lawmakers, or in our governance in general.”

The economy plays a major role in the Tribulation. As a matter of fact, an entire chapter of Revelation is devoted to the Lord’s destruction of the global economy. (Revelation 18).

Revelation’s third horseman, the Black Horse of the Apocalypse, is unleashed by Jesus to wreak economic havoc on the world (Revelation 6:5-6). This happens at the beginning of the Tribulation. The world economy fails, and is restructured as seen in Revelation 13 into a one world economy with one currency. (Revelation 13:16-18)

The world economy picks up and reforms and apparently successfully too, given the luxuries that the merchants lament when it collapses for the final time in Revelation 18. This last, restructured economy is the worst one of all, given that satan has been allowed to thoroughly pollute it to its final length of sin.

Source

“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:4-5)

What I am saying is that there are several characters who play a major role in the final days. There’s the antichrist, the false prophet, satan, his unholy angels, the holy angels and of course Jesus. The final religion and the final economy are major players too. Those last two become judgments upon the people of the earth, vehicles for the pursuing of the length of sin and two of the means by which Jesus judges humanity. Remember, the participating in the economy or not participating in the economy is tied to whether you will worship the beast or not worship the beast. The economy is the tempting fruit and the ultimate dividing line. Those who wish to participate in the final economy will accept the mark of the Beast which is a mark of worship and allegiance to him. Christians who refuse will die of starvation or be hunted down and martyred. (Revelation 13:16).

Drastic, catastrophic changes for the global economy are ahead. You know, it seems that we have always had an economy like this one, but there have always been eras in finance as well. In Mesopotamia archaeologists discovered 5,500 year old clay balls that indicate a record keeping for a thriving economy. This is amazing because they predate the time before writing was invented. (source).

For a long time, bartering was the means by which men traded. Then modern banking was invented in 14th century Florence, Italy. Then we invented bar codes and checks were born and then credit cards and ATMs all the rest we know in this generation. And all along, countries default and hyperinflation comes and goes.

Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty
Enlightening the World
(1886) by Edward Moran.
Museum of the City of New York.

Since 1800, 91 countries have defaulted or had major debt restructuring. The United Kingdom defaulted four times. Twenty have defaulted in this century, since 2000. It’s not an unknown thing and is actually more common than we think. That it can’t happen to the US is ridiculous to even entertain. Of course it can. We are not above the laws of finance and the rules of sound economy. That is is likely to happen to the US is more logical to entertain.

Such huge changes are ahead for us. Keep looking for Jesus, since we are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess 5:9) and will not be present here for any of these devastating earthly changes. I’m looking forward to the wonderful changes in the plan Jesus has for those who love Him: rapture, (1 Cor 15:52) glorification, (1 Cor 15:53) and eternal rest and dwelling in heaven with Him. (1 Thess 4:17). Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!

Posted in Sunday martyr moment

Sunday Martyr Moment: Persecution under Decius, 249AD

Posted on by elizabethprata

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

The Seventh Persecution, Under Decius, A.D. 249

This was occasioned partly by the hatred he bore to his predecessor Philip, who was deemed a Christian and was partly by his jealousy concerning the amazing increase of Christianity; for the heathen temples began to be forsaken, and the Christian churches thronged.

These reasons stimulated Decius to attempt the very extirpation of the name of Christian; and it was unfortunate for the Gospel, that many errors had, about this time, crept into the Church: the Christians were at variance with each other; self-interest divided those whom social love ought to have united; and the virulence of pride occasioned a variety of factions.

The heathens in general were ambitious to enforce the imperial decrees upon this occasion, and looked upon the murder of a Christian as a merit to themselves. The martyrs, upon this occasion, were innumerable; but the principal we shall give some account of.

Fabian, the bishop of Rome, was the first person of eminence who felt the severity of this persecution. The deceased emperor, Philip, had, on account of his integrity, committed his treasure to the care of this good man. But Decius, not finding as much as his avarice made him expect, determined to wreak his vengeance on the good prelate. He was accordingly seized; and on January 20, A.D. 250, he suffered decapitation.

Julian, a native of Cilicia, as we are informed by Chrysostom, was seized upon for being a Christian. He was put into a leather bag, together with a number of serpents and scorpions, and in that condition thrown into the sea.

Peter, a young man, amiable for the superior qualities of his body and mind, was beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, “I am astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries even your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such actions as your laws would punish. No, I shall offer the true God the acceptable sacrifice of praises and prayers.” Optimus, the proconsul of Asia, on hearing this, ordered the prisoner to be stretched upon a wheel, by which all his bones were broken, and then he was sent to be beheaded.

Nichomachus, being brought before the proconsul as a Christian, was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Nichomachus replied, “I cannot pay that respect to devils, which is only due to the Almighty.” This speech so much enraged the proconsul that Nichomachus was put to the rack. After enduring the torments for a time, he recanted; but scarcely had he given this proof of his frailty, than he fell into the greatest agonies, dropped down on the ground, and expired immediately.

Denisa, a young woman of only sixteen years of age, who beheld this terrible judgment, suddenly exclaimed, “O unhappy wretch, why would you buy a moment’s ease at the expense of a miserable eternity!” Optimus, hearing this, called to her, and Denisa avowing herself to be a Christian, she was beheaded, by his order, soon after.

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You see the sins of the heathens which inflame the hatred of Jesus and His people. Avarice, jealousy, hatred, anger… these are the lifeblood of the heathen. Yet these same sins and others intrude upon the unwary Christian too. Lack of love, factions, divisions, and jealousies split and fray the sweet unity of the brotherhood of Christ. During times like that, the church looks no different from the world.

In these days of equal hatred and jealousy with heathen all around, let us seek to be the light, distinct from the world and pleasing to our Savior.

Posted in gracelife, Judy Luenebrink, nahum, phil johnson, preaching, tim challies

Three great sermons: Phil Johnson, Tim Challies, Judy Luenebrink

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are a few good thoughts, AKA God’s word preached from good men and women.

I love a good sermon on the Old Testament prophets. I love a good sermon on wrath every now and then. Wrath is part of God’s attributes, and we must study all of God’s attributes in order to know Him completely. Learning about His wrath also sensitizes me to His grace. The comparison is astounding. You really know grace when you study wrath, and vice versa. I was under His wrath until I was saved, and this compare and contrast exercise always humbles me…and makes me love Him all the more. Old Testament sermons from credible men are hard to come by though. One of my favorite pastors, Pastor Phil Johnson, often preaches from the Old Testament. Recently he preached on Nahum in a sermon titled “Wrath Poured Out Like Fire.” It is tremendous.

I wrote recently about “Finding God’s Will for Your Life“. I mentioned that God’s will is for us is not necessarily to sell all our goods and run off to Burma as a missionary or otherwise to be excessively ‘radical.’ Christians living the regular life is what God calls most of us to do.

The issue was still on my mind as I perused the list of wonderful sermons to choose from at the Grace Community Church. Pastor Tim Challies from Toronto was a guest pastor at the GraceLife pulpit. He preached on “A Life Pleasing to God” from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12. He directly addresses the Radical craze and the Crazy Love craze and presents a theologically solid and thoroughly enriching sermon on how to please God with your life. Please take a listen, I am sure you will find it comforting.

I posted once before of the Women’s Ministry of MacArthur’s Grace Community Church. Judy Luenebrink is teaching through Hebrews. If you long for the softness of a woman’s voice, teaching credibly with solid oversight, trustworthy content, and a gentle spirit, go through Hebrews with Mrs Judy. She is on her second lesson now, The Superiority of Jesus.
What better way to spend half an hour or so, learning how and why our gracious Savior is superior to all in the universe?

I wrote earlier today on my other blog about television before computers. I mused on whether the advent of computers was a good thing or not. It was both, I concluded. The upside of advanced technology is that I can listen or watch these wonderful edifying sermons. I love particularly on Saturday afternoons to cook soup and while I peel and chop, listen to the richness of God’s word being preached and explained. I hope you find these sermons and the others on the links edifying to you as well.

Posted in apocalypse, blood moon, eclipse, john hagee, mark biltz

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 3/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

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Here is part 3 of 5 looking at the current fascination with the blood moons scenario of 2014-2015. Here, Roy Exum waxes philosophical in his overview/summary in last week’s Chatanoogan.

Roy Exum: Rev. Hagee’s ‘Blood Moons’
The Chatanoogan, Tuesday, October 08, 2013 – by Roy Exum

John Hagee is one of the best-known preachers in America. His Cornerstone Church in San Antonio has 22,000 active members. His radio/television ministry adds another 249 countries around the world every Sunday so it comes as little surprise that Hagee, also a best-seller author, has just written a new book that is rapidly climbing the Christian charts.

What will surprise you is “Four Blood Moons: Something Is About To Change” uses scripture from the Bible, NASA data, and recorded history to conclude the end of the world – as we know it – might be right around the corner. Understand, I’m not a Doomsday kind of guy, and my Bible tells me nobody knows the time nor the hour when the Lord will return to earth.

But you need to know that during the next two years a careful study of NASA tables shows we will have what astronomers call a Tetrad phenomenon – a string of four partial lunar eclipses where the moon will appear blood red on certain Jewish Holy Days. This has only happened three times in history and – every time – the blood moons signaled huge events that affected “God’s Chosen People.”

Consider this: In the Bible’s Book of Joel, Chapter 3:3-4 you can read, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”

For the record, a blood moon is not that rare. What happens during a total eclipse is when the earth’s shadow covers the moon completely. But, during a partial eclipse, the atmosphere will sometimes bend light around the edge of the earth’s shadow and the light will appear red or orange or yellow. (Think red sunsets.) But Pastor Hagee concludes that ‘when a blood moon coincides with Passover’s Seder Night, history has shown it is a sign that something big is getting ready to happen’.

The first time it happened, in the year 1493,Pastor Hagee writes, the four blood moons occurred on the Hebrew holidays of Passover and the Feast of Trumpets. Pastor Hagee writes, “This signified the beginning of the fall of Spain following the expulsion of the Jews a year earlier and was God’s announcement to the world that ‘the mantle of prosperity had thusly been placed on the shoulders of the infant nation that would become the United States’ since it became a refuge for the Jewish people.”

The second appearance of four blood moons appearing on Hebrew holy days was 1949-1950. They occurred on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles and the next day Israel was declared a nation. The third time was in 1967-1968, when the Six-Day War took place, uniting the city of Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years, “a monumental prophetic event,” according to Hagee’s new book.

Hagee has worked closely with Pastor Mark Biltz of Tacoma, Wash., who discovered that the only Tetrad Phenomenon in the 21st century, according to NASA charts and projections, will be on the exact days of Jewish holiday is 2014 and 2015. On April 15, 2014 will be Passover and on October 8, 2014 will be the Feast of Tabernacles. On April 4, 2015 will be Passover and on September 28, 2015 will be the Feast of Tabernacles. Expect a blood moon all four dates.

And if you want another sign, try this: After the first two blood moons in the sequence, and before the final two blood moons, will be a solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 – the exact date of the Jewish holy day Rosh Hashanah.

So what does that really mean? Rev. Hagee says in his new book, “Over the last 500 years, these lunar events all falling on holy days were an announcement of a time of tears and tribulation that ended in tremendous national triumph for the Jewish people.”

The minister further states, “There are no solar or lunar accidents; every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God to send signals to humanity of coming events.”

Hagee is convinced God will use the blood moons to signal that He is getting ready to change the course of human history. “No one knows the mind of God but the anticipation of these events tells us something will happen.” There are many Christians, after reading the new book, believe the coming tetrad is hardly happenstance.

That said, whether you want to buy green bananas is entirely up to you.

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It has always been safe to buy green bananas. It has never been safe to buy green bananas.

That’s because the rapture has always been imminent.

The problem with tying political or cultural events on earth to whether blood moons were happening is that for it to be truth, absolute and perfect in God’s plan, you have to tie EVERY blood moon that ever occurred to ‘something big happening to the Jews’. How do you decide which events tie in? You can’t. That is where the blood moon scenario falls apart.

Were there ‘tears and tribulation that ended in tremendous national triumph’ for the Jews or the state of Israel on July 1, 1982, when a “20th century doozy” or a red eclipse was reported in the Sarasota FL Journal? No. But Mr Hagee’s phrase has a wonderful alliteration to it. Truly tremendous.

How about on September 26, 1996 when another red doozy occurred over the northern tier of America as reported by the Grand Forks Herald? No. The Sukkot Festival was ending on that day? Still nothing? Nope.

‘Mr Eclipse waxes lyrical over red moon’ on January 21, 2000, as reported in South African news. But January has no feast days, so there wold be no tie-in, you sputter. Well, who said there had to be a tie-in only on Jewish feast days? Where is that written? Yet Pastor Hagee said in his book about the blood moons, “There are no solar or lunar accidents; every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God to send signals to humanity of coming events.” Well? What was the signal from the January 21, 2000 red eclipse?

You see the difficulty. While it is agreed that the LORD had a plan put in place with fore-thought, back-dating every celestial event as a tie-in with an earthy event to the Jews is precarious at best.

GotQuestions says of the Blood Moon scenario:

Question: “Is Jesus going to return during the blood-red moon of 2015?”
Answer: Gaining in popularity today is the teaching that a series of blood-red moons in the next two years will be a portent of Jesus’ second coming and a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Astrological charts show four lunar eclipses will occur from 2014 to 2015. Because a full lunar eclipse often makes the moon look red or orange, it is sometimes referred to as a “blood moon” or “blood-red moon.” Some teachers of prophecy say that this tetrad of blood moons will fulfill end-times prophecies in Joel and Revelation.

What has interested prophecy teachers is not just the number of lunar eclipses in the next two years but the timing of the eclipses. In both 2014 and 2015, a full lunar eclipse will occur on the first day of Passover and the first day of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). In addition to the two lunar eclipses of 2015, two solar eclipses will also occur. Similar lunar eclipses in back-to-back years have happened seven times since the time of Christ. Some of those have occurred in years of significance for the Jewish people, such as 1948 (when Israel was granted statehood) and 1967 (when the Six-Day War was fought).

References to a moon like “blood” are found in two passages of the Bible. Joel 2:30–31 says, “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” In Revelation 6:12, John describes one of the seal judgments of the Tribulation: “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” Other passages refer to the moon being “darkened” (Matthew 24:29; Joel 2:10).

A tetrad of lunar eclipses—and the timing of those eclipses in the Jewish calendar—is fairly unusual, but not unprecedented. So the fact of the eclipses, while interesting, is no proof that Jesus will return by 2015. Furthermore, John’s and Joel’s descriptions of the signs of the Day of the Lord could refer to solar and lunar eclipses, but there are other possible explanations for those phenomena, such as changes in the atmosphere (mentioned in Revelation 6:12).

The blood-red moon theory is just that—a theory. Even as a theory, it comes close to doing what the Bible warns against: setting dates for the coming of the Lord. “About that day or hour no one knows” (Mark 13:32).

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And with that solid note, I’ll bring us to the next part, a detailed biblical analysis.

Part 1

Part 2

Posted in apocalypse, blood moon, john hagee, mark biltz, second coming, tetrad

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 2/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

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In part 1 of this blood moon series, I gave an introduction as to the fact that a new “He’s coming” timing issue is making the rounds in evangelical circles, and mentioned that two men are promoting it: Mark Biltz and John Hagee. When we look at the latest prophetic fad news, we look at the bible, which this series will do, and we also look at the people behind it who are promoting it.

Mark Biltz is one of these men. Mr Biltz is a minister of El Shaddai Ministries. He is part of a new movement called “Hebrew Roots Movement”. The Hebrew Roots movement is a false movement that attempts to revive Judaism and overlay it upon Christianity, essentially, GotQuestions says, their goal is to restore the Jewishness of Christianity, and they are the Judaizers that the Apostle Paul thoroughly refuted in the Epistle to the Galatians. Got Questions says of the Hebrew Roots Movement

“The premise of the Hebrew Roots movement is the belief that the Church has veered far from the true teachings and Hebrew concepts of the Bible. The movement maintains that Christianity has been indoctrinated with the culture and beliefs of Greek and Roman philosophy and that ultimately biblical Christianity, taught in churches today, has been corrupted with a pagan imitation of the New Testament gospels.

 Those of the Hebrew Roots belief hold to the teaching that Christ’s death on the cross did not end the Mosaic Covenant, but instead renewed it, expanded its message, and wrote it on the hearts of His true followers. They teach that the understanding of the New Testament can only come from a Hebrew perspective and that the teachings of the Apostle Paul are not understood clearly or taught correctly by Christian pastors today. Many affirm the existence of an original Hebrew-language New Testament and, in some cases, denigrate the existing New Testament text written in Greek. This becomes a subtle attack on the reliability of the text of our Bible. If the Greek text is unreliable and has been corrupted, as is charged by some, the Church no longer has a standard of truth.

 Although there are many different and diverse Hebrew Roots assemblies with variations in their teachings, they all adhere to a common emphasis on recovering the “original” Jewishness of Christianity. Their assumption is that the Church has lost its Jewish roots and is unaware that Jesus and His disciples were Jews living in obedience to the Torah. For the most part, those involved advocate the need for every believer to walk a Torah-observant life.

On Mark Biltz’s website it states the following:

“El Shaddai Ministries is a Hebrew Roots Resource and Teaching Ministry
We do not want to convert Jews to Christianity or Christians to Judaism”

This in itself should tell you that Mr Biltz is a dangerous false prophet. The millions of Jews are lost. Without conversion to Christianity, Jewish people will endure God’s wrath in hell for all eternity. Can anyone casually put such a disclaimer on their website, that millions of lost people are not candidates for conversion into the grace of Jesus?

Paul wrote:

“Galatians 2:16, “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.””

John Hagee is overly Israel-centric in his ministry as well. He picked up on Mark Biltz’s blood moons teaching of several years ago (yes, Mr Biltz predicted via plausible denial the return of Jesus several years ago when several lunar eclipses coincided with a holy day or two. The only thing that is different about the blood moons of 2014-15 is that there are four blood moons, not two.) Mr Hagee has written a book on the tetrad (four) blood moons of 2014-2015. This book is selling like hotcakes right now.

Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change by John Hagee

Mr Hagee has also promoted several aberrant doctrines himself. For example, John Hagee denies Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. From Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, we read,

“The problem, however, is with his new book “In Defense of Israel” where Dr. Hagee apparently states that Jesus was not the Messiah. If you were to go to youtube.com2 you can hear where Dr. Hagee speaks regarding his book and says his book, In Defense of Israel, will prove that “Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah,” (20 seconds in) and that “…since Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?” (32 seconds in). Obviously, this is a huge problem.”

Pastor Matt Slick, The author of the CARM essay on Hagee, then went to get Hagee’s book to more thoroughly research the matter and to confirm whether in context Hagee made these aberrant statements or not. He concludes that there are too many aberrant statements.

In my opinion, Hagee’s book “In Defense of Israel” contains serious theological error, too numerous and detailed to go into here. He has also been accused many times over the years of holding to a dual covenant theology, which he denies but the accusation still clings because Mr Hagee is disingenuous at best in attempting to dispel them. Dual Covenant theology is where Jews have a separate covenant to be saved, distinct from the one that the Gentiles hold. Remember, Peter and Paul and the other apostles were Jews! Yet they came to faith under the one covenant.

Yet Hagee is quoted in the Houston Chronicle newspaper in 1988 as stating

“I’m not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith.” “In fact, trying to convert Jews is a ‘waste of time,’ he said. ‘The Jewish person who has his roots in Judaism is not going to convert to Christianity. There is no form of Christian evangelism that has failed so miserably as evangelizing the Jewish people. They (already) have a faith structure.’ Everyone else, whether Buddhist or Baha’i, needs to believe in Jesus, he says. But not Jews. Jews already have a covenant with God that has never been replaced by Christianity.” (“San Antonio fundamentalist battles anti-Semitism,” Houston Chronicle, April 30, 1988, sec. 6, p. 1

Suffice to say, neither Biltz or Hagee are solid theologians and in fact have severely clouded judgment about what is the church and what is the Law, and this is being generous to say the least. To say they are dangerously false would not be overstating things. When looking at the blood moons teaching on the next pages, please consider the source.

Part 1 here 
Part 3 here
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More information on blood moons here in Answers in Genesis-

Will Lunar Eclipses Cause Four Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015?

Posted in apocalypse, biltz, blood moon, hagee

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 1/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

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There is a book which is exciting the hearts and imaginations of many Christians. It is even being remarked upon by secular people,

Death And Taxes: Pastor John Hagee sets new date for Apocalypse, based on ‘blood moons’ and Jewish holidays

By Jews,

Jewish Press: Messianic ‘Blood Moon’ Rising on Passover Seder Night

What is this book?

Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change

Pastor Hagee’s subtitle to his book “Something is about to change” is correct. For two thousand years, things have been about to change. Paul wrote about that in 1 Corinthians 15:52, and Titus 2:13, and 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Philippians 3:20, and Matthew 24:30, and 1 John 2:28, and Philippians 4:5… and so on. Something has always been about to change. The Lord’s return for His bride (rapture) and His return in wrath and judgment (Second Coming, different from the rapture) have always loomed over us. His return is mentioned in every New Testament book except Philemon.

Pastor Hagee wrote a book that things are about to change is because he believes he knows when they are about to change. And therein is the excitement. Someone has a clue! Someone has an inside track! Someone is about to reveal when!

We long for the Lord so it’s natural to long for His return when we can be with Him. (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Christians can know the season but not the hour (1 Thessalonians 5:4). Though the clues for the progress of the Tribulation are spelled out in detail (Rev 6-20, Matthew 24) the appearance of the Lord for His bride, AKA the rapture event, is not known. There are no signals and no signs to determine His coming. However, if we can see certain infrastructure being laid for the Tribulation then we can pray and hope the rapture is even nearer, since it will precede the wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Pastor Hagee and Mark Biltz have intuited the times and have forecasted the Lord’s return based on four red eclipse moons that will be appearing in 2014 and 2015. These blood moons, as they are called, are garnering special attention due to the fact that they will be occurring on Jewish feast days. Biltz and Hagee ascribe special significance to this.

Free wallpapers

This will be a three part series. The 2nd piece will offer an overview of the men who are publishing the blood moon scenario: Mark Biltz and John Hagee. The 3rd piece will offer informational overview of the blood moon scenario.
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Part 2 here
Part 3 here