Posted in hope, jeremiah, weeping prophet

Read Jeremiah for a good dose of reality, and then rejoice!

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m reading Jeremiah 4 and 5 now. The verses in those chapters were spoken by God to Jeremiah to preach to the people of Israel. It was an actual prophesying and an actual call to repentance and the things predicted actually happened. So it is not good to allegorize them nor to spiritualize them. At the same time, there are lessons in the book to take away because human nature doesn’t change, not unless they have the Spirit to transform them. Like this:

“They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!” (Jeremiah 5:12-13)

Matthew Henry’s Commentary says of the verses from 10-18, including the ones I excerpted above:

“Multitudes are ruined by believing that God will not be so strict as his word says he will; by this artifice Satan undid mankind. Sinners are not willing to own any thing to be God’s word, that tends to part them from, or to disquiet them in, their sins. Mocking and misusing the Lord’s messengers, filled the measure of their iniquity. God can bring trouble upon us from places and causes very remote. He has mercy in store for his people, therefore will set bounds to this desolating judgment. Let us not overlook the nevertheless, ver. 18. This is the Lord’s covenant with Israel. He thereby proclaims his holiness, and his utter displeasure against sin while sparing the sinner, Ps 89:30-35.“

Don’t we hear that same sentiment today that the Lord will do nothing. “God is love. He would never send anyone to hell!” Our preachers have become wind, the word is not in them. Think of the prediction of Peter. Peter warned us and told us to remember the prophets of old and to heed the warnings of the apostles:

“that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:2-4)

Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 4:18,

“Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.”

God is love, but He is holy. Evil is not HIS way. It is our way and our deed that have brought this upon ourselves. It is bitter and it is hard. Still, the LORD reaches out to His people.

“I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’” (Jeremiah 6:17)

And like Jeremiah, we see all that is done under the sun in the name of the Lord, and we ask,

“Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart.” (Jeremiah 12:1-2).

Isn’t that the way today? I know many of you grieve because of the falsity you see and have to endure near and far. You see as well as I do so many Christians today who are near to Jesus with their mouth but are far from Him in their heart. It grieves us all, though I dare to say no one more than Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. But his tears are our tears, too. We love the Lord and long for the day when holy righteousness is on the land for His sake. When His name will not longer be besmirched by them or by us!

The LORD longs for that day too. And He rejoices.

Even during His incarnation when Jesus endured agonies of sin and saw so many sheep lost on the hill, bleating for a Shepherd (Matthew 9:36), even as he approached the most painful, difficult moment the universe had ever seen or will ever see, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit for the Father’s plan!

Jesus sent out the 72 and when the 72 came back,

“In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21)

If Jesus rejoiced in the Father’s plan, even though the time was dark and sin abounded, so shall we! What is there to rejoice about, you ask? As they rejoice in heaven over one sinner who repents, so shall we!

“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

We rejoice in His creation, in His city, and in His people!

“But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.” (Isaiah 65:18)

And as Jesus told the 72 who returned from their tasks amazed at the power of the name of the Lord, Jesus said, do not marvel that the demons were subject to them, but

“but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).

There is much to rejoice about, even as we weep.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)

As Matthew Henry says of the Romans verse, “He is honoured by our hope and trust in him, especially when we rejoice in that hope.”

Hope and trust in Him, even as the world is ripening for judgment. Rejoice that this is His plan, His way, and His will. As for our weeping prophet, Jeremiah’s tears have been wiped away by the God whom he served, (Revelation 21:4) and yours will too some day! Jeremiah is now forever rejoicing in heaven. We will meet him at the gathering of the saints. Until then, let us heed the legacy he left behind; Godly tears, seeking the holy I AM, and clinging to the hope Messiah has delivered.

Posted in loneliness, mbewe, mike gendron

Preparation for satan’s advent; Catholic debate; Encouraging news from Africa; You’re not alone!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are some good links for you. I enjoyed this essay, really a chapter from Dave Hunt’s new book: “The Ultimate Lie“. It is about the coming antichrist. Here are a few choice quotes.

“Society has been undergoing a step-by-step preparation for the advent of Satan’s messiah, and in our moment of history has at last produced a generation so perverted that it will actually mistake the Antichrist for Christ.”

“First of all, the apostate church in the last days must become so corrupted that it actually opposes what Christ taught while at the same time insisting that it is faithful to Him.”

“How dare anyone think that a world ripening for judgment can be rescued by Christians working together in political/social activism with the followers of all religions, and with humanists and atheists!”

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

This is from Mike Gendron at Proclaiming the Gospel:

“Debate Produces Passion but No Fruit”
Written by Mike Gendron on 23 July 2013.

“The debate between Mike Gendron and a Catholic apologist was successful in the sense that God’s Word accomplished its purpose. As the Word of God was proclaimed, it strengthened the faith of the Christians who were present but brought further condemnation for those who rejected it. Mike stayed focused on contrasting the supreme authority of God’s Word with the fallible teachings and traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism. Throughout his presentations he magnified the Lord Jesus Christ as the all-sufficient Savior who saves repenting sinners completely and forever. Yet, it was heartbreaking to see stubborn-hearted Catholics continue to reject the glorious Gospel of grace”.

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

The Christian Pundit, as always, has a few good words:

“Holiness and Advancing the Gospel”
August 7, 2013 By WVD

“I remember once in a church which I knew very well, I was being entertained by a lady who seemed to be one of the leading lights in the church, and to my astonishment I found that her husband never went near the place at all. I subsequently discovered that the probable reason was that the lady, while very active and busy in church work, was failing lamentably in certain practical aspects–she did not always pay her grocer’s bill, for example. Yes, she was a great church worker but she was negligent in matters like that. Subsequently this lady, who had only been a nominal Christian, really became a true Christian. And what happened next? Only six weeks after his wife’s conversion, and without anyone asking or pleading with him, the husband began to attend that place of worship. He now came because he saw that something had happened to his wife.”

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

Pastor Conrad Mbewe in Africa has some great news:

The Young, Restless, and Reformed…In Africa

After my last blog post, which went “viral” compared to my other blog posts, I have decided to write on something more positive that is happening across Africa—at least in English-speaking countries. This is the growth of the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement on the continent.

In the recent past, I have been in touch with a significant number of people across Africa, who are largely young professionals in their twenties and thirties, and who have recently embraced the Reformed Faith. They have sought me out and shared with me their excitement at their new discovery.

How has this happened?

This has been almost exclusively through the Internet. Having grown up within extreme Charismatic or mainline Liberal church circles, they did not know any better. However, a growing discontentment has caused them to search the Internet for sermons that would feed their famished souls.

In due seasons, they have come across sermons of men like John MacArthur Jr., John Piper, Paul Washer, Thabiti Anyabwile, etc. Sometimes, it has been because a friend in church or across town or even in another part of the country has made the discovery and commended the site to them.

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

Barbara has some encouragement for the lonely:

Loneliness is a Lie
By Barbara Eccleston

“When I was suddenly widowed, I was thrust into a world where I felt easily overwhelmed without my husband at my side. But my Lord Jesus was with me every step of the way and every moment of every day. No person has ever lived alone and no person will ever die alone. In each life, at every stage, there is the Ever-Present God…”

Posted in bible, marriage, morality, tim gunn

Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m writing three loosely connected blog entries. The first one was about marriage. The second was about divorce. This third one is about celibacy.

Tim Gunn, Wikipedia pic

I started watching Project Runway this summer. (Thanks, free Hulu!). Project Runway is a contest show where each week the fashion designers must create a fashion look and the best one is selected and the worst one causes the judges to boot the designer. During the times while the designers are creating, a man named Tim Gunn who used to be a professor of fashion at the Parsons New School for Design in NY comes in and consults with the contestants. He mentors them and helps them. He is very good at what he does.

Being the fashion industry and set in NY, there are many gay contestants. Some don’t talk about it and some do. Mr Gunn doesn’t. After binge-watching a bunch of episodes, I became interested in Mr Gunn. He seemed like a very nice man.

Googling him yielded uniformly that he is, indeed, a nice man. He’s very caring and genuine with the contestants and very skilled in his ability to mentor and draw out their thoughts and convert them to concrete design. I enjoy his style as a teacher and also his clothing style!

It turns out, that yes, Mr Gunn is gay.

The most prominent item in the search results was this: he stated in an interview last year that he has been celibate for 29 years.

photo credit: Dead  Air via photopin cc

He said that his partner broke up with him, which was devastating, and said the boyfriend did so because Gunn’s sexual perfomance wasn’t all that great. It also was said that Gunn had struggled with his sexual preference and as a result he had attempted suicide as a young man. Gunn said that he made the decision to abstain from sex because “it’s very psychological”. Lastly, he was very worried about staying healthy, since at that time the pestilence afflicting the gay world, AIDS, was rampant. He said he is glad to be alive today.

When Mr Gunn made his declaration last year, it stunned secular society (at least, the segment of the society that follows these things). The LA Times said that he “blew the nation’s mind this week” and asked, “How weird is it to go without sex for 29 years?” Others speculated that this was so unusual that perhaps a new disorder should be added to the DSM–IV for asexuality. The tone of the article was that certainly no one would make this choice if there wasn’t something wrong with him.

Certainly, society’s pressure to be sexual was felt by Mr Gunn, who insisted that he had ‘nothing to be ashamed’ of, and that he “is a fulfilled individual.”

Excesses at the NY Gay Pride parade.
photo credit: Boss Tweed via photopin cc

Heterosexual youths hook up like it’s nothing nowadays. The adherents to a homosexual lifestyle in particular insist that one be promiscuous, in a celebration of ‘pride’ in their choice to have unnatural sex. Gay men are supposed especially lusty and proudly strut and have sex at the drop of a hat.

The day after Mr Gunn’s revelation, the LA Times reported, “Today, Tim Gunn’ was one of the mostly widely searched terms on Google, partly because such an admission was shocking even in a world that thrives on TMI.”

That’s because the lustful world cannot conceive of a person not indulging their lusts.

Here is the point, he made a personal decision to refrain from sexual activity (for whatever reason) and held to that for three decades. If a man who has unnatural lusts can do that for himself by himself, then what can a person struggling with homosexual thoughts and desires do who appeals to the Holy Spirit? The Spirit aids us in resisting lusts, and Mr Gunn shows us that it can be done.

The Holy Spirit helps all of us in resisting that which is not profitable. He helps us resist any and all sins. In today’s society, l-ust, promiscuity, fornication, homosexual sex, adultery, p-ornography are the most deeply embedded of the sins and the ones society most pressures us to succumb to. However they are exactly the sins which should be most resisted.

photo credit: EssG via photopin cc

This is what Jesus said about marriage and the marital bed:

“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:12)

So there are three categories. Those who were born without an ability to engage in a sexual union. Second, some have had some sort of accident, or undergone some kind of religious rite, or some slaves castrated to work in a harem, etc. and physically cannot perform.

The third category are people who feel led to remain single and not married (not because of an unwillingness to commit) but do so by a dedication to this state of singleness (‘made themselves’) and it is for the sake of the kingdom.

Jesus is saying many things here. First, that if you are married, it is not good to be celibate. Celibacy is only good for those who are not married. The context of his sermon here is on the subject of marriage & divorce.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5,
“Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

So we know not to make ourselves eunuchs if we are married. That does not further the cause of the kingdom.

At the end of His talk, Jesus said “let them receive it.” This means receive His whole teaching on marriage, sex, and singleness. It is not a command, because He said, ‘let them’ receive it. If you are married, have a happy and fruitful marital bed. If you are single and feel that the Lord is not leading you into marriage or back into it if you are widowed or widower, let them receive it. It is all for the sake of the Kingdom.

Now, does one think that the Holy Spirit is not going to help in either of these cases, the married or the single? Of course He will! He ministers to us, helps us resist unwanted thoughts, convicts us of potential actions, brings scripture to mind in dangerously tempting situations.

The world cannot understand a Christian’s actions regarding sexual conduct. The world was amazed, perplexed and felt almost betrayed by Mr Gunn that he chose to make himself a eunuch for three decades.

They won’t understand. Here is John MacArthur expounding on the Matthew verse, especially the part where Jesus says, ‘let him receive it.’

photo credit: soundfromwayout via photopin cc

“I think this is a very important statement at the end of verse because, you see, the Lord puts this in there knowing that most people aren’t going to be able to hear this, right? I mean, if I go into the average situation with a bunch of pagan people, I mean, if I went down and spoke at the local Kiwanis club, for lack of a better illustration, or if I went into the local college classroom and I said, “Now, I want you to know, people, this is the law, here’s what is God’s standard: you will marry one person for the rest of your life and make a lifelong commitment‑‑no divorce. Furthermore, if you are single, you remain single for the sake of the kingdom of God, not to play around.” Now, how well would I be received? They’d say, “Who is this idiot? Where did you come from?”

Take heart single people. The Holy Spirit will help you resist desires. Gill’s Exposition explains of the Matthew verse:

“But here it means such, who having the gift of continency without mutilating their bodies, or indulging any unnatural lusts, can live chastely without the use of women, and choose celibacy: for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; not in order, by their chaste and single life, to merit and obtain the kingdom of glory; but that they might be more at leisure, being free from the encumbrances of a marriage state, to attend the worship and service of God.”

If you are single, choose celibacy. You are doing something for the Kingdom! Not that your choice expands it, but that in the extra time you have in being single, you can devote yourself to the Lord instead of the the spouse & children. If Tim Gunn can do it without aid of the Holy Spirit, you certainly can. “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Why should you cast your cares on Him? Because He cares for you.

photo credit: Lel4nd via photopin cc

Posted in facebook, sin, social media, society

Social media is changing child custody disputes, child-support payments, & divorce

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am in the midst of writing three loosely connected blog entries regarding marriage and the family. The first piece looked at marriage through the creation of man and woman and God-ordained society. That piece also contained news of the UK’s new legislation allowing gay marriage. While the ink was still drying, a gay couple sued the Church for refusing to perform their gay wedding even though the legislation promised that churches would not be forced to perform them. So they are making an end run around that and going to court.

The third piece looks at celibacy.

This piece looks at an interesting news article I read in the Providence Journal. We have all read of the ridiculous youths and graduates and young adults losing jobs or not getting jobs because in their partying enthusiasm, they posted one too many photos on their Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr page and they were fired or disciplined or passed over for the job. But here is a more serious effect that is changing the face of families- and divorces.

The new ‘private eye’ in divorce cases
“There’s a powerful tool, and relative newcomer, at work in Family Court in Rhode Island. It’s social media, and it’s affecting child custody disputes, child-support payments and, in some cases, the distribution of marital assets. There was the father seeking custody of his 3-year-old son who posted a photo of himself standing in a field surrounded by a dozen marijuana plants. “He went down in flames. No pun intended,” lawyer William F. Holt said.”

 “Eighty-one percent of the nation’s top divorce attorneys reported seeing an increase in the number of cases using social networking evidence, according to a 2010 survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Facebook led the pack for online divorce evidence, with 66 percent of the lawyers naming it as the main source.”

There’s a Facebook meme that went around, I’m sorry I can’t find it again, that was a poster which said “Thank goodness I did all my stupid stuff before the internet!”

Kevin Colvin, an intern at a bank
told his boss he had to miss work
due to family emergency.
And posted this on his FB page. (source)

There is something funny about that to us over-fifties. But there is something also kind of sad about it too. Because people today, with the internet, are not only doing stupid stuff, but they are deliberately posting photos and comments about it. No one is forcing them to go public with their stupidity. They did the stupid thing and then they broadcast the stupid thing.

What is it with people today? They are simply mental!

Apostasy is growing. This means indeed that people are stupider, more mental, and just plain moronic and crazy. No, I’m not being mean. Romans 1 chronicles the progression of behavior and thinking that captures people as they, or a society, descend deeper into sin.

When people do not honor God, they descend into futile thinking. Verse 21:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

The word futile in the verse is from Greek, (mataioó) and it means to “become vain or foolish, am perverted”. And the word thinking means “to have self-based confused reasoning”. And then foolish again, means “properly, without comprehension; foolish because incoherent…failing to put facts together, describes a person failing to structure information in a meaningful way, and therefore unable to reach necessary conclusions. This person is illogical because unwilling to use good reason.”

A hemp field in Mongolia.
photo credit: Gregory Jordan via photopin cc

See? They can’t think straight. They refuse to think straight. That is why they do stupid things like break the law to grow marijuana plants, leave their wives, sue for custody of their son, photograph themselves in the pot field, and publish it on the internet. Duh.

The one feeds the other. Selfishness leads to divorce, so does laziness, sense of entitlement, conceit, in other words, all the things that Paul said would happen in the end time.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

So you have people dishonoring God, becoming foolish and perverted in their thinking, which causes them to do more stupid stuff, which indulges their lusts, which causes them to sink further into depravity and perversion…it is a cycle of rapidly diminishing returns.

I did find it interesting that the article went on to say that it has been the past ten years of technology that has dramatically forced an evolution of family law in RI. KoonsFuller is a Texas Law firm which offers a brief overview of the history of family law:

Divorce is a terrible thing.
photo credit: hebedesign via photopin cc

Family Law History

Family law has undergone a tremendous amount of modification over the past century due to the quickly changing roles identified within American families, the varying definitions of the concept of “family” and the importance of each individual’s rights within the family unit.

 The revolution began in earnest during World War II, when women began to enter the work force en masse. Significantly, women found an avenue that would allow them to assert themselves as separate and independent individuals, and a profound evolution of roles within the family began that continues to this day. The impact was felt from family law to real property law, through civil law and probate law, and continues to have an impact on the development of family law cases and the interpretation of those laws by the entire judicial system.

 In the 1950s and 60s, the number of marriages ending in divorce increased steadily across the nation. In 1969, the Texas Legislature adopted Title 1 of the Texas Family Code, allowing “no-fault” divorce. Divorcing parties no longer had to prove improper conduct or other grounds for dissolving a marriage, and the number of divorcing couples increased even more dramatically.

Stephen Cretney’s work in the book Family Law in the Twentieth Century: A History also affirms that “the law governing family relationships has changed dramatically in the past one hundred years.” And anyone over the age of fifty knows that anecdotal evidence shows an increase in the disintegration of the legal family, of which marriage has always been the entry and divorce rather than death is the increasingly employed exit.

The more that people indulge their lusts the more stupid they will get. The series of verses in Romans 1 shows us this. As they say in business, economics, and politics, there is a ‘law of diminishing returns’. This applies to sin, too. The end result of sin is always death. (Romans 6:23). Look how sin works by applying the principle of diminishing returns. Here, Dr Paul Johnson of Auburn University explains,

photo credit: arbyreed via photopin cc

When increasing amounts of one factor of production are employed in production along with a fixed amount of some other production factor, after some point, the resulting increases in output of product become smaller and smaller.

Dr Johnson uses an example of a small garden plot to illustrate diminishing returns.

A simple example of the workings of the law of diminishing returns comes from gardening. A particular twenty by twenty garden plot will produce a certain number of pounds of tomatoes if the gardener just puts in the recommended number of rows and plants per row, waters them appropriately and keeps the weeds pulled. If the gardener varies this approach by adding a pound of fertilizer to the topsoil, but otherwise does everything the same, he can increase the number of pounds of tomatoes the garden plot yields by quite a bit (notice the amount of land is being held fixed or constant).

If he adds two pounds of fertilizer (rather than just one), probably he can get still more tomatoes per season, but the increase in tomatoes harvested by going from one pound to two pounds of fertilizer is probably smaller than the increase he gets by going from zero pounds to one (diminishing marginal returns). Applying three pounds of fertilizer may still increase the harvest, but perhaps by only a very little bit over the yields available using just two pounds.

Applying four pounds of fertilizer turns out to be overdoing it — the garden yields fewer tomatoes than applying only three pounds because the plants begin to suffer damage from root-burn. And five pounds of fertilizer turns out to kill nearly all the plants before they even flower..

So the sinner can sin more and more but the amount of yield he gets eventually diminishes. At the end the return on your production of sin is death, like the burned roots that simply zap the tomato plants. You’re dead. Ask any recovering alcoholic about this. Ask any sober drug addict about this. Ask any child molester about this. Ask any serial killer about this. OK, maybe not a good idea to approach a serial killer, but you’ve read about the high that these addicted folks get in their preferred sin and how they are always seeking the bigger high, the next high. The same goes for even the “respectable sins”, for example, gossips. The more they gossip the more they want, the more people look to them for the juicy tidbit, the more they seek out the juicy tidbit, the more they gossip….Hedda Hopper made a career out of gossip. The gossip journalists are always looking for the bigger story. Each one has to top the last. As with all sins, there is always the search for the ever elusive satisfaction. People are perpetual sinning machines.

Jesus spoke of the Broad Way and the Narrow Way in Matthew 7:13-14.

 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The broad way is the way of sin. The narrow way is the way of holiness. The Broad way is without Jesus. The narrow way is with Jesus. There are only those two ways, nothing else and nothing in between. Anyone on the broad way will stay on the broad way and not make the hop until and unless they repent and Jesus brings them over. The two paths don’t run parallel to each other like the white fog lines on this road.

photo credit: gustaffo89 via photopin cc

The two paths diverge.

God is always working (John 5:17, Romans 8:28). Everything is always in motion. Thus, the believer is always being sanctified. He is always in progress toward the Father in Christ-likeness.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.  (2 Peter 3:18 )

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The unbeliever is always progressing downward in sin. They are growing too. Growing worse. The law of diminishing returns shows us that they will always seek after sin in greater amounts. Whether those amounts consist of huge leaps forward on the road or tiny baby steps depends on the person, but they are always progressing downward.

“All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.” (Proverbs 21:26)

 “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” (Titus 3:3)

“while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13)

I opened with a news story that showed people acting stupidly, seemingly inexplicably. They are changing the face of family law. I showed why people act the way they do. It really isn’t inexplicable, it’s sin. And sin and sinners get worse. If too many sinners get worse in their sin, society as a whole becomes worse. At the end, there is a tipping point and God gives a society over to its lusts. After that another phrase besides the “law of diminishing returns” comes into play:

“Circling the drain.”

If you ever watched bath water drain from a tub, at the end there is just a little bit of water left and it goes around and around the drain before getting sucked down the vortex.

Definition: A medical phrase, “FTD–fixing to die, near extremis, pre-code Medtalk Referring to a patient whose future prospects of life are dim”

The legal article from the Providence Journal above describing our society indicate behavior that clearly shows we have become stupid (futile in our thinking). If marriages are disintegrating at such a rapid pace and through such heinous means as immorality, illicit spying, hatred, and duplicitous technological methods as those … if people are behaving in such a way so profusely that it has changed an entire segment of the legal profession … our society is truly circling the drain.

Lord, come soon!

Posted in al-qaeda, frankenbomber, prophecy, rapture

A credible threat from al-Qaeda’s frankenbombers worries officials. Embassies closed

Posted on by elizabethprata
London bombings, WWII. Source

The world is not a safe place. The world is not our home, thank goodness. But until it is time to go to our new home (New Jerusalem), Christians are enduring the same dangers as everyone else.

There is a credible threat from al-Qaeda which has officials worried. This time, they seem really worried and have a good reason to be concerned.

Chicago Tribune reports, “The al Qaeda threat that closed U.S. embassies in the Middle East on Sunday is the most serious in years and the “chatter” among suspected terrorists is reminiscent of what preceded the Sept. 11 attacks, a U.S. lawmaker who is briefed on intelligence said.”
“What is your opinion about surgeries through which I can implant the bomb … inside the operative’s body?” one writer asked.

First, let’s turn to prophecy. We read in the bible that we can know the end. We know what will happen and how history will turn out. That is what prophecy is, foretelling history in advance. That is because the author of history has revealed it to us.

We know who will be in power at a given time (Jesus as King, Prophet and Priest). We know how the geology of the earth will change (Temple Mount splits, islands flee away, etc). We know the economy, (no one will be poor, there will be 100% employment rate). We know the sun will go away and the glory of Jesus will be the light by which we live and thrive. We know the name of what will be the largest city on earth, “New Jerusalem”. We know all that and much more.

Working backward a bit, we know what will precede those events. Wars, diseases, plagues, starvation, violence, weather, poverty…sin! The Tribulation AKA The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Working backward from that a bit, we are in this time now. A time where grace has come, and salvation by Jesus is available, but a time of increasingly sinful acts that compete for the human’s soul and combats His grace.

photo credit: ashley rose, via photopin cc

Since before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4) God has had a plan for His children. He set names in His Book of Life (Revelation 20:15) and set forth a stage upon which to carry out His plan, earth, heaven and the universe. (Genesis 1). He desired to display His glory, (Psalm 19:1; 8:1; 50:6; 89:5), to commune with man who He made in His image. Since the beginning, He has communicated with us! This communication is to show us who He is and how to glorify Him. It is to have us align with His holy will and through His will, He has brought many children home to be with Him. And the spectacular thing is that He told us what will happen, since the beginning. (Genesis 3:15).

Since Man’s fall in Genesis 3, His intention has always been to bring all things to fulfillment.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:8–11)

So one could safely say that all known history since ‘the beginning’ has hurtled forward, propelled on a track toward a finish, a fulfillment, a conclusion. There is a vanishing point.

photo credit: gustaffo89 via photopin cc

I always like to ponder, “where are we on that track?” Now, it is a dangerous and silly thing to state for certain. It is a pointless thing to think one can know for sure. But we can know gradations of darkness and wavelengths of light. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).

Prophecy has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary )

We are not in the Tribulation now but we see it coming. There are a number of prophecies which are just about visible. Where are we on the track? Close, I think.

God may take a long time to set up and begin to fulfill His plan, but when He decides the time is right it all happens quickly. I look at Sodom. At dawn, the angels told Lot and his wife and daughters to get out of the city. By the time the sun had risen, Sodom was no more!

Landscape with Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Artist, Joachim Patinir, c.1520

“The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” (Genesis 19:23-24).

The outcry against Sodom had grown and grown and grown over time. We know this because in Genesis 13:12-13 Abram and Lot separate and Lot chose all the Jordan Valley to settle in, but pitched his tent close to Sodom. He had the whole valley to pick from but he chose to dwell close to sin. We know ten years passed, because Genesis 16:3 says Abraham dwelled ten years in Canaan. Then He had Ishmael by Hagar and he was 86. Then in the next chapter Abram was 99. (Genesis 17:1).

Next we see that the angels went to Sodom and saw Lot sitting at the gate. This is a place where judicial decisions are rendered, men transact business, and they watch for spies, armies and visitors. It is a place of leisure but also of importance. The fact that Lot was there indicates that he had stature of some kind. The verse doesn’t say for sure what his position was, but given his association with the well known and regarded Abraham, it is likely he was sitting there in some official capacity. (source). It takes time to grow to credibility and stature within a city. So, time has passed and Sodom’s sin had grown. We also see that Lot was no longer living in a tent near the city but in a house IN the city. (Genesis 19:3).

All this to say that during the whole time, Sodom had been growing in sin. There were outcries. Years passed. More outcries made. The outcries “had become great.” (Genesis 19:13). Yet the people were oblivious at their looming vanishing point. They went on in their sins day after day and year after year, until suddenly, the city was flattened into ashes. In one moment!

God’s Promises to Abram, James Tissot c.1896

It takes a long time for prophecy to build but when the wheels are set in motion, it happens fast. And there is ‘no pause button’, as Pastor JD Farag likes to say. Though Abram lobbied for Lot, he could not and did not dissuade the Angel from his plan to destroy Sodom.

Personally I believe we see so many of the almost-fulfilled prophecies that there is no pause button. That we passed the point of no return. There have been many times in the last decades where we approached the brink. The 1990 Oslo Accords was a major brink. September 11, 2001 was a major brink. The 2008 election, economic crash, and Japan tsunami were major brinks. The overthrow of Gaddafi and Mubarak were major brinks. But each time we’ve ratcheted back and things calmed down a bit. But the overall trajectory has been forward motion. Over the last two years especially, I believe it has gone even faster. This is my opinion.

Damascus is being destroyed as is Syria, the peace talks (covenant?) are gaining traction, the weather has been strange long enough so that many nations’ grain reserves are low or nil, new diseases are popping up every day, Jerusalem is truly isolated diplomatically, Iran just about has the bomb, Russia is once again strong and pugnacious…

Could God pull back on all those and calm the tone and then ratchet it all back up in ten years? Sure. But will He? I personally believe no.

Now to the news which is causing concern, and I believe shows just how easy it would be to ignite it all. Just as sulfur rained down on Sodom one sunny morning, so could the terrorists’ bombs ignite the final confrontations. Since 9/11, technology has advanced to incredible proportions. We have robot drones, Google street view, clear satellite photos, internet spying…and now this:

19 US posts to remain closed this week, as lawmakers say terror threat ‘specific’ and ‘serious’
The State Department has announced that it will keep 19 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa closed throughout the week “out of an abundance of caution” in the wake of terror threats that shut them down. Posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali and Port Louis have been instructed to close for normal operations from Monday through Saturday, department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. …

 Rooney suggested Sunday the travel warning will not be lifted soon. “If I had plans to travel to certain places in the Middle East, I would probably go ahead and cancel them,” he said. Rooney’s comments followed Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the threats are “very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.” He also described the threats as “the most serious … I’ve seen in a number of years.” …

 New York Republican Rep. Pete King, who leads the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence, said the threat included dates but not locations of possible attacks. “The threat was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given,” he said on ABC.

They seem very serious about this. More so than the run of the mill “oh no!”

ABC news reports, “The senior U.S. official said there is concern about devices that could be implanted inside the body of a terrorist. “We are concerned about surgically implanted devices,” they said. “These are guys who have developed the techniques to defeat our detection methods.” The official also said authorities were stunned that the group broke “operational security” — meaning they talked likely knowing it would be picked up by intercepts.”

Implanted in the body?? There is no way to defeat that. This Slate report from July 7 of 2011 has more.

“By year’s end, the SITE Intelligence Group had captured a detailed online exchange among al-Qaida followers. “What is your opinion about surgeries through which I can implant the bomb … inside the operative’s body?” one writer asked. Others advised him to stitch plastic or liquid explosives into the martyr’s abdominal cavity.”

This site reports even more specifics back from 2010.

“I am waiting for the interaction of the experienced brothers [doctors and scientists] to connect the two sciences together and produce a new kind of terrorism, Allah willing,” he wrote, according to a translation by terror experts at the SITE Intelligence Group.” (source).

It appears that the last few years the terrorists’ focus on creating ‘Frankenbombers’ has been successful. Hence, the renewed concern and focus of the stated and credible threat today.

Given the size and magnitude of the threats, the new technology, and stunning confidence of the terrorists, and their satanic, singular intent to wreak havoc, it is going to happen. It is just a question of when.

So that brings us back to the vanishing point track line. Where are we on the track? Given all that we see happening, and given that the outcry today is so very great as it was in Lot’s time, (Genesis 18:20-21, 19:13), is the Day near? It could well be. Just remember, that it begins suddenly.

If the Day is not today, my faith will not be shaken. I have a kingdom perspective. What this means that the time counts as nothing. I am an eternal person and I know my eternity is with Jesus. Eternity is a long time. Another year, or five years or ten years before He comes is a vapor compared to that. (Or I might die tomorrow, for I know not what tomorrow holds, Proverbs 27:1).

If indeed the time is near, (and it is, James 5:8), then the question becomes, “Am I ready?” Am I ready to be taken bodily up to heaven to be with Jesus?” What will make you ready is that you recognize you are a sinner, and that your sins disqualify you from being with God in heaven. Since everyone sins, everyone is disqualified. Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life as the Spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:19) and then to shed His blood to cover our sins. He did this on the cross where He absorbed all Gods wrath for sin. God His Father, pleased with His Son’s sacrifice, accepted it, exhausted His wrath, and raised Jesus from the dead. Now all one needs to do is believe the aforementioned, repent of your sins and believe on the name of Jesus for eternal life.

“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).

“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)

“but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Romans 4:24)

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Please consider these things. The time is near.

Posted in gay marriage, genesis, homosexual, marriage

‘I am still not getting what I want’: UK Gay couple suing church for refusing ‘wedding’. And, God ordained marriage as explained by Genesis

Posted on by elizabethprata

Part 2: Social media is changing child custody disputes, child-support payments, & divorce
Part 3: Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you?

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

With the homosexual agenda advancing into so many areas, especially marriage, I have been thinking deeply about God-ordained marriage and why its absence from society isn’t good for society. I have assembled three blog entries that are loosely related to the topic of marriage in these days of apostasy.

photo credit: jakebouma via photopin cc

Great Britain recently became legal in Engnland and Wales. The story below from last week notes that the legislation hadn’t yet been signed off on by the Queen, but she has approved it by now.

Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom, David Cameron

England’s Gay Marriage Law To Become Legal After Lower House Approval
Gay marriage is to become legal in England and Wales after the lower house of the British parliament approved the final changes on Tuesday to a law that had Prime Minister David Cameron’s backing but split his ruling Conservative party. The law had the support of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats, Britain’s two other main political parties, but damaged Cameron’s standing within his own party with many of his own lawmakers criticising him for being too liberal. … After a two-hour debate, the House of Commons passed the bill, meaning it now only needs to be approved by Queen Elizabeth, a formality.

Prime Minister Cameron had promised that though homosexual marriage would become legal, churches would not be forced to perform them if it went against their beliefs.

However, this did not deter the gay lobby. They are now suing the Church of England to force them to perform gay marriages. As one gay man said, “I’m still not getting what I want.”

And isn’t that exactly what sin is all about. Pursuing your ungodly lusts no matter the cost to yourself or others. Jude 1:16a says, “These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts;”

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, left,
with boyfriend Tony. (source)

‘I am still not getting what I want’: Gay couple suing church for refusing ‘wedding’
“Less than two weeks after the coalition government’s gay “marriage” bill was signed into law, a homosexual man has launched a lawsuit against a Church of England parish in Maldon for refusing him and his civil partner the lavish church wedding of their dreams. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow told the Essex Chronicle that he has launched the suit because, despite the law, “I am still not getting what I want.”  Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which comes into effect next year, grants anyone in a civil partnership the ability to convert that partnership into a “marriage.” But the law contains measures specifically to preclude unwilling churches from being forced to participate.”

Other articles say that the courts will decide…

You know that satan never stops and he never sleeps. He was given an inch and he is taking a mile. Give him a mile and he will take the city.

Let’s go back to Genesis 1-

Michaelangelo, Sistine Chapel Painting, God creating Adam

In the Creation account, God created the universe and everything in it in 6 days. Each time as the day ended (24-hour day) God surveyed His work and declared it good. (Genesis 1:4, 8, 10, 12, 21, 25).

When He created man, it is the first time we read of the Holy Executive Council together, all three intimately participating in the creation. Until that point we read ,”And God said, And God said, And God said.” But with man, it is recorded, “Let Us make man…” It is an important moment.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)

After He made man, he said it was “very good.”

So from this we gather that man is the most important of His creations, because he is the only one made in His image. And it was the only creation that God declared ‘very good.’

Now, think for a moment. What was the first thing we read of in the bible that was ‘not-good’? No, it wasn’t the serpent of chapter 3. It is in Genesis 2:18:

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

The first thing that was not-good was that man was lonely. He was alone with no society to commune with except God. Then God caused the beasts to come before the man to see what he would name them. And still, the man was alone. We often focus on the helper part of the verse in 2:18. But look at the part that says “fit for him.” Dogs are man’s best friend. An animal could have become a nice companion for the man, as they have done today. But no. Monkeys are funny and sort of look like humans, they are sociable animals, they have opposable thumbs…why wasn’t a monkey a good helper? Because he was not fit for the man. (“The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:20).

God made a woman.

Michaelangelo, Sistine Chapel painting, Creation of Eve

“And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:22-24).

One flesh. That is one reason why divorce is such a violent act, it is literally a ripping apart of flesh.

As an aside, notice the comment at the last part; there were no parents yet. No one had a mother and a father. God had just created Adam and Eve. They had no clue about procreation and parents yet. God was ordaining society!

This is the foundation upon which the first society is built. Here we have one man, and it was not good for him to be alone. And all the beasts were brought, and still none helper was found “fit for him.” So God created woman. God then ordained future generations of society and of sexual conduct by declaring how society was to continue: through the man and woman as one flesh. They come together as one flesh and they leave the parents and they build another foundational block of society through their marriage. That is how it works, and it is beautiful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Social media is changing child custody disputes, child-support payments, & divorce
Part 3: Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you? 

Posted in foxe's book of martyrs, martyr

Sunday Martyr Moment: Alexander of Rome, Zenon, Faustines & Jovita

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:

Trajan being succeeded by Adrian, the latter continued this third persecution with as much severity as his predecessor. About this time Alexander, bishop of Rome, with his two deacons, were martyred; as were Quirinus and Hernes, with their families;

Zenon, a Roman nobleman, and about ten thousand other Christians.

In Mount Ararat many were crucified, crowned with thorns, and spears run into their sides, in imitation of Christ’s passion. Eustachius, a brave and successful Roman commander, was by the emperor ordered to join in an idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories; but his faith (being a Christian in his heart) was so much greater than his vanity, that he nobly refused it. Enraged at the denial, the ungrateful emperor forgot the service of this skillful commander, and ordered him and his whole family to be martyred.

Today: Deadly attacks force Christians
to flee villages in Nigeria’s Middle Belt (source)

At the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and citizens of Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great, that Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and exclaimed in a kind of ecstasy, “Great is the God of the Christians!” for which he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate.

Many other similar cruelties and rigors were exercised against the Christians, until Quadratus, bishop of Athens, made a learned apology in their favor before the emperor, who happened to be there and Aristides, a philosopher of the same city, wrote an elegant epistle, which caused Adrian to relax in his severities, and relent in their favor. Adrian died in 138 AD and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. Emperor Pius was one of the most amiable monarchs that ever reigned, and stopped all persecutions against the Christians.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christian Martyrs in the Colosseum by Konstantin Flavitsky

Faustines and Jovita were patient under persecution, glorifying God. The Gentiles watch us and they notice. The observer Quadratus was struck with the faith of the two brothers under torture, and thus he knew that the brothers were men of God and their faith came from God. How hollow faith in Zeus must have seemed in comparison!

No matter what kind of trial we are under, we should always be kind and patient. Many of our brethren are undergoing persecution in parts of the world. 45 Christians were killed in bombings at churches in Kano city, Nigeria. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is taking their anger out on Christians.

“A Pakistani teen who provoked an international outcry when she was falsely accused of burning Islam’s holy book is finally out of danger and settling into a new life in Canada. But while Rimsha Masih and her family have been granted asylum and were quietly relocated to southern Ontario, life for much of the Christian community they left behind in Islamabad remains bleak.”

The Name Of Jesus Has Become A Dirty Word In Politically Correct America
“In the United States today, there are very few words that provoke as much outrage as the name of Jesus.  It is being banned from graduation ceremonies, chaplains all over America are being forbidden from using His name in their prayers, and many school officials all over the nation have become absolutely fanatical about eliminating every trace of Christian expression from their schools. One elementary school in North Carolina even ordered a little six-year-old girl to remove the word “God” from a poem that she had written to honor her grandfathers.”

O, Lord, please give strength and supernatural faith to those who are living in such deadly situations. Let the glory of the Lord shine out from them in the face of their persecutors. For those of us in places where we are not hunted to death (yet) such as Canada or the US, let us who are maligned or mocked also show grace to those who spit on the name of Jesus. Give us supernatural kindness so that like Calocerius, a pagan, beholding us, would be struck with admiration, and exclaim, “Great is the God of the Christians!”

Posted in creation, God, mammoth moth

Creation grace: Mammoth moth

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Cecropia Moth is North America’s largest native moth. It is affectionately known as the mammoth moth because its wingspan regularly reaches five or six inches across. Like all members of the Giant Silk Moth family, the nocturnal adult cecropia moths are designed only to reproduce, lacking functional mouth parts or digestive system. Therefore, they survive only tendays to two weeks.

“Although these moths are common throughout North America, you don’t often see them because they fly only at night. However, because a cecropia moth is colorful as well as large, when you do see one for the first time you will remember it forever!” (source)

The species is a beautiful cinnamon color with huge eyespots on the wing. The eyespots are oval-shaped and contain rings of yellow, black and blue in gentle gradations. The blue tends to shimmer with iridescence and the moth’s entire coloration is quite beautiful. If startled, they will open and close their wings, flashing their eyespots to startle a predator in return.

The one I saw was a female, the narrow antennae gives her away. The polyphemus moth’s entire existence is to reproduce and one she has mated and laid her eggs, she dies. This one was gently expiring on the ground after fufilling her one and only duty. 😦

God’s creation is beautiful and wonderful.

“And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:25)