Posted in sci-fi, screwtape, travel photgraphy

A few things you might enjoy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a roundup of some links and thoughts for you.

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

Eric Metaxas essay: “Screwtape on ‘The Da Vinci Code’. A funny send up if CS Lewis’s famous character Screwtape (a demon) were to extol the virtues of the Da Vinci Code novel from his darkened and hellish perspective. Many parallels to issues with today’s Gnosticism and superficial thinkers accepting the original lie: there’s more and I’m here to show you. Plus, it’s funny. To wit:

“Indeed the mystical sleight-of-hand involved in shoehorning so many cubic yards of gasbag cliches, shopworn half-truths and straightfaced howlers into a single volume simply beggars belief; and if I didn’t know that the author had had unwitting “help” from my former colleague, the venerable Gallstone, I simply shouldn’t believe it could have been done at all!”

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

The 15 Craziest Things In Nature You Won’t Believe Actually Exist
Here’s one- I had never heard of rainbow eucalyptus trees.

Books, books, books! If you love books you will like this page.

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

According to DumbLaws.com, in Vermont it is illegal to deny the existence of God. The law might have been on the books but it certainly didn’t reach the heart, because Vermont is today this nation’s most Godless state.

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

According to this poll, the top five most underrated Sci-Fi movie masterpieces are,

–Silent Running
–Gattaca
–Serenity (movie epilogue from the television show Firefly)
–Dark City
–Primer (this is #1 underrated movie, he said)

I’m not a huge fan of modern science fiction because it has gotten bloody. But I did enjoy (pre-salvation) Terminator 1 & 2, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Metropolis and of course Star Trek.

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

Lately I have enjoyed End of the Spear, The First Grader, The Way (n a sad way because it shows the futility of life without Christ, an inadvertent message from the movie, I am sure), The Stranger with Orson Welles, Microcosmos, and That Guy…Who Was in That Thing (some language).

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

If you want to read something encouraging, my friend with Parkinson’s Disease has a word. You might leave a word with her to encourage her also.
…My Help Comes From the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth

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

Some gorgeous HDR travel photography! If you can’t go there in person, this is the next best thing

Nomadic Pursuits

This French Chateau has 365 fireplaces.

Posted in discernment, false doctrine, genesis 3, satan

Discerning The Circle Maker’s advertising techniques and how they match Genesis 3

Posted on by elizabethprata

Just two days ago, I published a piece about the book, The Circle Maker, written by Mark Batterson and released in 2012. I’d left the issue alone until then, choosing not to do a book review or a discernment essay on it because it seemed so obvious that this was something Christians should not be involved in. But at the end of 2012 it became clear that Batterson’s concept of casting a circle to claim God’s promises to unleash our dreams was saturating even the most stalwart bastions of the faith, when the organizers and participant of the True Woman conference including Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Joni Earicksen Tada, promoted it. These are elder woman who should be leading us women into a deeper faith, not into occult and pagan practices that originate from outside the bible. I was pretty shocked.

Many other fine essays exist on the internet that show you in biblical terms why Batterson’s circle making is unwise and even dangerous, including a review by pastor and Christian book reviewer Tim Challies. In the piece I linked to above, there is a set of links at the bottom to some of those writings.

So I developed a piece from an angle that demonstrated in pictures that the practice Batterson promotes is not new and it is not Christian.

However I’d like to write about it one more time, this time as a discernment piece to unpack the way he presented it. Something that Mr Batterson said sticks in my craw, and though I’d planned a piece today examining an uplifting verse from Matthew, I am switching to get this down first. It’s like what Jude said,

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

I am contending. Hopefully this will help someone be discerning, not just of The Circle Maker but in general and armed for the future by unpacking the techniques used to attract people to the book and its premise, and how they are the same that satan used in the Garden against Eve.

See, in his promotional video and in the book’s advertising blurb, Mr Batterson said:

“Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing?”

This is how successful advertisers always begin their pitch.

It is how satan began his pitch. He approached Eve and made her doubt what she knew, so she would be open to hearing a solution to a problem she didn’t know she had.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)

Then satan, taking a cue from Ron Popeil, said, ‘but wait, there’s more!’ And satan presented to her a solution to her problem she didn’t know she even had until satan pointed it out.

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

Eve wanted to fill the lack that she now understands she has in her life,

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate”, (Genesis 3:6a)

And like all false doctrine, it spreads quickly, corrupting others right away.

“and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6b)

So there was Eve, the only sinless woman to ever live and she dwelled in utter perfection. The air temperature was perfect. Her surroundings were beautiful. Her body was perfect inside and out. The animals were perfect. She was never hungry or cold or angry or had any ache whatsoever. She had perfect harmony with her husband and perfect unity with God.

And yet satan was able to convince Eve that somewhere out there, there’s more. He told her that her life lacked something, and she believed it. Taking the fruit, she ate, rationalizing all the way. Now read Mr Batterson’s pitch again:

“Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing?”

I mourn daily that so many Christians forgo the praise that is due the Lord and forget how glorious a life we are actually living. Though we do not dwell in perfection like Eve did, we have perfection inside us.

First, let’s stop a moment and thing of how full our lives really are. We have been saved by grace. This is monumental! As Dr MacArthur preached, we should be “adoring God for our eternal inheritance.” When did we become discontent with the universe’s most glorious act, the salvation of a sinner to the holy breast of God!?

But wait, there’s more! God dwells inside us!! Wow! What a gift!

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9)

Jesus Himself deemed that He would send us a comforter, teacher, friend, and guide. Jesus said,

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”… (John 16:7). “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).

But wait, there’s more! If all that wasn’t enough, we have the opportunity to pray to Him, and He listens. Have we become inured to the fact that God is God, He who calls Himself I AM, will listen to our petitions and pleas? Far from being disinterested or inattentive, Jesus is monumentally interested in bringing about Good for our sakes. He didn’t save us just to wander off and sit on another planet contemplating His navel. He is involved with His people. He accepts praise and worship, and He ordains good for us. He listens to our prayers!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26).

But wait, there’s more!

Jesus sent the Spirit to inspire men to write His words down, so that we could always have its wisdom and comfort to guide us also. The Spirit makes the words come alive and since they are eternal and come from the holy place, the words in the bible are eternally good.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16).

There is so much more, too. We are justified, sanctified, have the privilege of prayer, have the incredible word, have the daily opportunity to serve Jesus, have treasures stored up in heaven, have an eternity awaiting us in glory…and yet satan comes along and says-

“Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing?”

My answer is no. No, I don’t sense there is far more to prayer. I trust that there is and I trust the Lord to take care of things whether I “sense” it or not. No, I do not sense there is far more to God’s vision for my life, I know there is. I trust Him to unfold it in His timing and in His way. No, I do not sense there are more experiences to have, I know that there are. I trust the Lord to bring me along in sanctification whether I ‘feel’ it or not. I trust the promises in the bible about what my daily life will be like.

I trust what God hath said.

I get sad when adults are so undiscerning. I get upset undiscerning adults taint the children.

Jesus is very protective of the children. They are the means by which the successive generations carry the faith. (Joel 1:3).

“It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2)

“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

And yet on August 6, 2013, The Circle Maker for Kids will be released. An undiscerning generation will be teaching the next generation to rely on sensing, personal experience, and wiccan circle casting for their worship.

Within two years of the original book’s release, do you see how quickly we have been made merchandise of? For kids, for students, the daily journal, the curriculum, prayer challenge, it goes on and on.

Do you see the original book’s cover in hardback, ‘the solution to 10,000 problems”? Did you know there were 10,000 problems that Mark Batterson can help you solve? I thought the bible was the solution to 10,000 problems!

A classic advertising technique- you have a problem, and here is the solution. My prophet’s heart cries out, why, o why, aren’t the bible’s solutions good enough for people?

The blurb says “The Circle Maker will help you bring your God-given dreams into being through tenacious prayers that honor God and make the impossible come true.”

You…your… my prayers will make my dreams come true…let’s cut the middle part from the sentence and just say what is really his truth: “The Circle Maker will … make the impossible come true.”

It is God who answers prayer a God who does the impossible. Not my prayers, not my faith in my prayers not my method of prayer, and not my tenacity.

Jesus, please come soon and save the children from this ruinous generation!

Below I’ve pasted “Efficient Advertising Techniques“. Be aware when you are being sold a bill of goods and being made merchandise out of. It begins with a question, and intimating you have a problem you didn’t know you had.

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

“Advertising techniques can be of many kinds. All creative advertisers use some of the following techniques and tricks to grab the potential consumer’s attention and turn it to sales.”

Arouse Curiosity
“Nothing works better than this technique. Humans, by nature are always drawn towards the unknown, or in this case something new and advanced. Arousing curiosity with words, prints, images or visuals will definitely make an impact. On an average, an individual spends less than 5 seconds to go through an entire ad. If your subject does not arouse curiosity immediately, it is a lost opportunity. A well-crafted ad should be eye-catching, and difficult to ignore.”

“Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer?”

Hath God really said?

Promise a Benefit
“Most brands are associated with some pre-defined character, and they need to be re-emphasized with every new service advertised. The headline must promise a benefit for the consumer, because in most instances it is the headline that sells the product more than the copy, images or the celebrity. Advertisements should also carry general information about the service center address, phone numbers, credit cards that the business accepts, and the name of a person to ask for when calling for more information.”

“In this powerful booklet, excerpted from THE CIRCLE MAKER, Batterson helps you uncover your heart’s deepest desires and God-given dreams and unleash them through the kind of audacious prayer that God delights to answer.”

Emotional Appeal
“Many advertisers attract attention by pulling at the heart stings and triggering emotions. An emotional response is by far the most powerful reason for making decisions. Emotional and rational thoughts are interdependent, as the ability to decide rationally is determined by issues that drive the emotions. We get more attracted to products and services that make us feel good and safe. The concept of emotional appeal are best seen in insurance ads made world over, and also companies that associate their sales with social upliftment causes.”

“How big is your God? Bigger than a positive MRI or a negative evaluation? Bigger than your secret sin or secret dream? Is He big enough to heal your marriage or your child?“

Children
“In most houses, children have a say in every big or small purchase made. Most parents just give in to the tantrums, a fact well-known to the advertisers. Out of ten commercials one sees through any medium, 8 have children featured in them who are generally a little more perfect than the target audience. These perfect children then go on to become role-models that have to emulated by other children.”

“The Circle Maker for Kids: Basing this story on his adult bestseller The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson shares the ancient Jewish legend of Honi the Rainmaker with children to teach them about the power of prayer. Ages 4-8.“

Posted in apostle john, foxe's book of martyrs, martyr

Sunday Martyr Moment: Apostle John

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.

JOHN

The Apostle John, the brother of James, is credited with founding the seven churches of Revelation: Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Thyatira, and Ephesus. It was from Ephesus, it is said, that he was arrested and sent to Rome where he was cast into a large vessel filled with boiling oil that did not harm him. As a result, he was released and banished by the Emperor Domitian to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. After being released from Patmos, he returned to Ephesus where he died about 98AD. He was the only apostle to escape a violent death.

Even with the continual persecutions and violent deaths, the Lord added to the church daily. The Church was now deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and watered abundantly with the blood of the saints. She was prepared for the cruel persecutions to come.

—————–

I’ve often read that John was the only Apostle the Lord let live to a ripe old age, and the only one to escape martyrdom. Yet I often think that that in itself was a difficult end, also. John was one of the few who saw the Lord transfigured- standing atop the mountain in His glory. He was the only apostle to have seen the entire crucifixion, and was the first apostle to see the empty tomb. He saw, lived, breathed and tasted a small glimpse of glory .

Yet he lived so long…almost 70 more years after the crucifixion…he had seen his brother James die, the first apostle martyred (Acts 12:2). He had seen his family die. He had seen Mary the mother of Jesus whom he took care of, die. His friends died. He, alone, was left at the end. Having seen and tasted the glory that he knew was in front of him 70 long years prior, was made to wait the longest to come into it.

Thank you Lord for raising up such a patient and humble and long-serving servant- for your glory and our benefit. I’m so appreciative of the books he wrote: The Gospel of John, Revelation, and the epistles of John 1, 2, and 3. I know that in eternity the wait must not have seemed long, but while living so long and in such persecuting and difficult conditions, it must have felt like an eternity.

Posted in chalk circles, mark batterson, prayer circles, sorcery, wiccan

Showing in pictures how “The Circle Maker” practice is occult/Wiccan

Posted on by elizabethprata

 

In 2012, Mark Batterson released his latest book. It is called “The Circle Maker”: and the blurb says:

“The Circle Maker, ‘Drawing prayer circles around our dreams isn’t just a mechanism whereby we accomplish great things for God. It’s a mechanism whereby God accomplishes great things in us.’ Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing? It’s time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. What impossibly big dream is God calling you to draw a prayer circle around? Sharing inspiring stories from his own experiences as a circle maker, Mark Batterson will help you uncover your heart’s deepest desires and God-given dreams and unleash them through the kind of audacious prayer that God delights to answer.”

Chalk prayer circles have caught on in the Christian world, just as many other new techniques and methods for experiencing God have caught on. At the September 2012 Indianapolis True Woman Conference headed up by titans in the female evangelical world, Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Joni Eareckson Tada, those and other well-known conference speakers repeatedly urged women to pray inside a drawn or made circle, and they did so themselves.

There are so many unbiblical influences affecting the evangelical world, and some of them are so unbiblical they do not bear scrutiny. That was my stance, and was the Sola Sisters’ stance as well. They wrote this week of chalk circles:

“I have never bothered to address the problems with the book The Circle Maker, because the whole concept of “circle making” was simply so patently pagan and ridiculous on the face of it that I assumed it would be obvious to any Christian how unbiblical this book was.”

Me, too, Sister.

And yet, the influence is mounting, so the situation must be addressed. They wrote,

“Sadly however, I am getting more and more emails from people saying that their church leaders are recommending The Circle Maker, doing a Bible study with it, passing it out, etc.”

Me, too, Sister.

I am getting questions about prayer circles and chalk circles and the Circle Maker book and people are generally asking “It is OK to pray inside a chalk circle?”

Christian blogger Jamie McMullen attended the 2012 True Woman conference via simulcast and also wondered about why there was such heavy pressure to pray inside a circle. The emphasis at the Conference was a bit different than Batterson’s in that the women said that revival should start with ourselves, and that is what should be prayed for inside the circle. McMullen’s essay on the event is here. Her concern arose from the fact that despite the shift in emphasis by the women, chalk circles originate from an unbiblical message:

“Instead of calling people to revival, Mr. Batterson promotes a prosperity message that is centered on praying for God to make your hopes and dreams to come true by praying in a chalk circle or circling the promises in scripture. In his book and website, Mark Batterson, sites as his examples, Gipsy Smith and Honi the circle maker, a Jewish legend in the Talmud; who drew a circle on the ground and sat in it until God answered his prayer for rain.”

Here is Wikipedia’s explanation of who Honi was:

“During the 1st century BC, a variety of religious movements and splinter groups developed amongst the Jews in Judea. A number of individuals claimed to be miracle workers in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha, the ancient Jewish prophets. The Talmud provides some examples of such Jewish miracle workers, one of whom is Honi ha-Ma’agel, who was famous for his ability to successfully pray for rain.”

Honi’s appearance was in the first century BC, during the intertestamental period. Here is an explanation of this period:

“The intertestamental period is a term used to refer to a period of time between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament texts. Traditionally, it is considered to be a roughly four hundred year period, spanning the ministry of Malachi (c. 420 BC), the last of the Old Testament prophets, and the appearance of John the Baptist in the early 1st century AD, almost the same period as the Second Temple period (530 BC to 70 AD). It is known by members of the Protestant community as the “400 Silent Years””

Note with diligent concentration, please, that Honi was not a biblical character. Note again that he appeared during the time when God was deliberately NOT SPEAKING. He spoke through no prophet and had performed no miracle during this time. And yet it is on this non-biblical character and this extra-biblical legend during this silent time Mr Batterson bases his entire theology and method in “The Circle Maker.”

And Christians are eating it up. Below, Conference speakers DeMoss, and others praying at True Woman Indianapolis 2012

From DeMoss Revive Our Hearts website

From DeMoss’s website Revive Our Hearts, we read a transcript of some of the things that were said at the 2012 True Woman conference:

Holly Elliff: I loved that during the conference around the auditorium and in various places there were circles.

Holly: And those circles were symbolic because they represented the fact that every woman wanted to put herself there, draw a circle around her own life and say, “God, what do You want to do in me?”

Nancy (conf): And as you pass by those in the days ahead, I want to encourage you, if there is room, to just step inside one of those circles.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Because all the speakers had an opportunity to stand in it. And of course, I had an opportunity to wheel inside that circle. May revival begin with me.

Woman at the Conference,
From DeMoss Revive Our Hearts website

True Woman simulcast participant Jamie McMullen’s concern led her to research this circle making and praying, and also to contact the conference organizers to ask if they were aware of the deep occult and pagan origins of this circle making. She wrote, “I received an email back promptly assuring me these circles are to help us visualize our commitment to God as well as give an outward showing to God that we are repentant and want revival to start with us. Then the representative stated: “No occult connections”.

However they are severely deluded as to the occult connections. The pagan connections is the point of this essay. Sola Sisters, Jamie McMullen, and Pastor Swofford did a superb job of showing why chalk circles are not biblically supported, using Bible verses, and I urge you to read their essays to see why. All the links are in one place down below.

Therefore, I am taking this issue from the occult angle. Interestingly, after three hours’ research last night I came across Pastor Jason Swofford’s work which exactly confirmed my own research as far as why and how the practice varied from the Bible, and for that I’m grateful. He is pastor of the Myers Road Baptist Church in WA and his research on prayer/chalk circles can be read here. He has two essays and  a video.

Mark Batterson says in his promotional video, that we should – “Learn how to pray in a new way.” “Dream big”. “You can’t just read the Bible. You need to start circling the promises.” “Your job is not to crunch numbers and make sure the will of God adds up. Your job is to draw circles in the sand. If you draw the circle, God will multiply the miracles in your life.”

The Gnostic always ties in what you do with your spiritual success. “If you do this…God will do this…”. That is one way to tell if you are being fed a Gnostic technique.

Secondly, run fast and far from anyone who says they have come up with “a new way” to do anything regarding Christianity. God delivered His word once for all to the saints. (Jude 1:3). Moreover, Jesus was very specific when He taught us how to pray. (Matthew 6:5-15.) In Matthew 6:9 Jesus said “Pray, then, in this way”. It is not possible to get any clearer about how to pray. For Batterson to declare he is teaching us a new way directly goes against what Jesus said in the canonized and complete revelation we know as the Bible.

I believe in the power of photos so I gathered photographs from different eras and different cultures and different religions which depict people praying inside a sacred circle. Looking at the pictures it is clear that chalk circle praying is pagan.

Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker,
demonstrating how to cast a circle

This is not a “new” thing, despite Batterson’s advertising it as such. As a matter of fact, ritual circle making is as old as the hills, and has always been unbiblical. I ask you, is Batterson’s making a chalk circle above any different from the Wiccan making a prayer circle below? Both are making a space they claim is sacred, as opposed to the space inches away outside the circle that is common. This sacred space keeps evil away, they both claim. Both claim that it is a bubble that has power and will draw down promises from on high to the benefit of the petitioner.

The man below is a Wiccan, showing how to “cast a prayer circle”. You can see he is a Wiccan, I placed an arrow atop his shrine that points to his pentacle. In Wiccan circle casting we are told that we cast a circle “to direct your energy (read – make your thoughts materialize –) …and to create a concentrated flow of energy and direct it into the informational system of the Universe. In other words, casting a circle ensures you achieve the result faster and do it safer.” This description matches Batterson’s concept completely.

In Batterson’s The Circle Maker, he promises that if read his book, “we will claim God-given promises.” He also states that “if you draw prayer circles, God will answer those prayers.” Both the Wiccan and Batterson say the same thing- draw a circle, pray to a higher power, and get results.

This is witchcraft.

Speaking of magic, Wikipedia explains what a “magic circle is. “A solomonic magic circle with a triangle of conjuration in the east. This would be drawn on the ground, and the operator would stand within the protection of the circle while a spirit was conjured into the triangle.” Wikipedia, Magic Circle

That explanation is no different from Revive Our Hearts’ email response noted above, that we should stand inside a circle, visualize, and call on the Spirit for what we want. No. Different.

This is conjuring.

“A prayer circle in Hinduism is a Mandala. “a mandala is a circle used in prayer. It is a kind of diagram. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of aspirants and adepts, as a spiritual teaching tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.”

Did you catch that “focusing attention” reason of the mandala’s use in Hinduism? The same thing the Christian prayer circle was said to promote, “to visualize our commitment.”

The photos below are explained thus: In Hinduism, Human beings with their  finite instruments of knowledge, cannot conceive of the formless Infinite. So the use of images aids concentration. Last month, we had performed a ‘Graha shanthi homa’ in our home. As part of the prayers to the Sun God, a beautiful mandala was drawn on the floor in front of the puja room.

Source
Source

Native Americans pray inside a medicine wheel.

Indigenous Cultural Education Center – ICEC

In the photo below, Native American Sacred Wheel (Shaman), “Paul Davids by the Medicine Wheel that overlooks Boynton Canyon, Sedona, where Rahelio explains the wheel’s sacred mysteries and powers for prayer.”

Druids prayed inside a sacred circle –

Here is a Mystic praying in a circle-

Photo Laura Briedis
Participant at True Woman conference

Here are Buddhists praying at a circle-

The most potent objection to sacred circles in my opinion is their origin from Wicca. In Witchcraft we learn how to cast a circle, something in the photo way above I’d posted.

Below, a Witch coven in the 1940s.

Prayer labyrinths are also similar to chalk circles.

Above, people walk the Saffron Walden turf labyrinth in Essex England.

 

Discernment tips:

1. Whenever someone says they have a NEW way of doing Christianity, run. This includes a new way to fast, a new way to pray, a new way to experience God, a new way to do church … I say run, because Jesus outlined what to do via the Spirit in the Bible. It is all there before us. There are no new ways. There is only THE way.
2. Whenever someone discounts the Bible implicitly or explicitly, run. Mr Batterson had said, “You can’t just read the Bible. You need to start circling the promises.” He has added a work, and this implicitly says the Bible isn’t enough.
3. Ritual/Idol/Activity – Whenever someone says you have to perform some activity to get God’s notice, run.
4. Gnosticism always implies the author has either a secret knowledge or a hierarchy to get closer to God and is revealing it for the first time now. Batterson said if you perform circle casting, the following will occur- “the CLOSER you get to God the BIGGER your dreams get.” I don’t know how much closer we can get to God than having Him INSIDE us.
5. Beware of people who use personal examples and not the Bible to “prove” their new method works.

The bad news…”The Circle Maker for Kids” is being released on August 6.

God condemns idolatry:
“Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.” (Isaiah 57:8)

Sorceries have always been condemned in the Bible and we are told that even at the end during the Tribulation they will have been going strong:

“nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:21)

I hope you can see by now that despite Batterson’s claim that this circle praying isn’t a ritual, it is. I hope you can see by now that despite the True Woman conference people saying it has no link to the occult, they are wrong. I hope you have read enough to see that if the book or Bible study is presented at your church, you can refuse on solid grounds. It never originated from the Bible, and therefore is not profitable for us.

Here are more links to read thoughtful and biblical explanations as to why, when it comes to praying inside a circle, you should leave the practice alone and stick to Matthew 6.

Jason Swofford, Myers Road Baptist Church in WA–
Mark Batterson is promoting ritual magic
The Circle Maker Exposed: One Long Comment From The Circle Maker Addressed
The Circle Maker Exposed

Sola Sisters–
Nancy Leigh DeMoss Endorsing Chalk Circles? Mercy.

Tim Challies:
The Circle Maker book review

Jamie McMullen, Christian blogger, The Velvet Covered Brick
Prayer Circles

Posted in food network, n word, paula deen, racism

(UPDATED) Paul Deen alleged as a racist, dropped by Food Network

Posted on by elizabethprata

Updates at bottom.

I’ve written about the Food Network several times lately, lol. (Here, here, and here) Maybe because the level of sin has reached even this last ‘bastion’ of G-rated programming. This morning I delved into the Paula Deen issue where she has been revealed to be (allegdly) racist and has been dropped from Food Network.

I live in Georgia, but I’m from New England. Famous cooking personality and foodie titan Paula Deen has many supporters down here. This is big news in GA, Deen’s home state.

Her shows on Food Network are- Paula Deen’s Best Dishes, Paula’s Party, and Paula’s Home Cooking. Not to mention the shows her sons have also. She has restaurants, a line of cooking wares. She has cookbooks, and makes guest appearances on many other Cooking Channel and Food Network shows. She’s everywhere.

I never liked her.

But to each his own, I said, and went on with my life.

However, a while ago it came out that she had had Type II diabetes for three years but kept it hidden, all the while cooking fatty and sugary foods on her shows. That’s hypocrisy of the highest order, and lying. Then it came out that not only she had diabetes but came clean on the same day she had a lucrative contract with a drug company she was promoting to help with diabetes. That’s crass greed.

NY Times put it this way:
“January 2012 when she announced she had Type 2 diabetes on the same day she endorsed the diabetes drug Victoza and a lucrative collaboration with Novo Nordisk, the drug’s manufacturer. Because she had built her career on a no-holds-barred approach to sugar and fat (creating recipes like a cheeseburger patty sandwiched between two doughnuts and a Better than Sex cake made with cake mix, pudding mix, and heavy cream), she was roundly criticized for encouraging an unhealthy diet for others, hiding her illness and then trying to profit from it. “

Exactly!

Then it seems she and her brother, who own a restaurant together, were being sued for sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and a creating fearful workplace in which the plaintiff (Manager Lisa Jackson) was subjected to profanity and gender discrimination among other things, on a daily basis for five years.

I read the GA lawsuit. I can’t even repeat some of the things that Jackson alleges Paula Deen and her brother said, they are so crass, gross, and profane. The plaintiff has her side, and Deen of course has her side, but in this incident I paste below from the plaintiff’s lawsuit, let it be known that in Deen’s deposition she did not deny saying that she was planning a southern style plantation wedding- it’s just that Deen discounted the slaves/racial aspect of it. Click for larger.

This is Deen’s response to that allegation of the desire to have a “true southern plantation wedding.”

“And I remember telling them about a restaurant that my husband and I had recently visited. And I’m wanting to think it was in Tennessee or North Carolina or somewhere, and it was so impressive. The whole entire wait staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie. I mean, it was really impressive. And I remember saying I would love to have servers like that, I said, but I would be afraid that somebody would misinterpret.” (source)

Go ahead and read the plaintiff’s allegations, you will be shocked. There are allegations of hiring only whites to work the front of the restaurant, to calling the black staff “monkeys,”, to having a black-only bathroom in the restaurant for their workers, and these things are corroborated by witnesses in other depositions.

From the deposition:

Q. Miss Deen, earlier in your testimony you indicated that one of the things that you had tried to — that you and your husband tried to teach your children was not to use the N word in a mean way, do you recall that testimony?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And could you give me an example of how you have demonstrated for them a nice way to use the N word?

In the deposition it was also stated, as well as in the lawsuit alleged by the plaintiff, that the plaintiff had hired a consultant to review the evidence and make a determination as to whether there was sufficient cause to go forward with the lawsuit. There was.

Compare with Paula Deen’s back-pedaling in her deposition. Deen was asked in her deposition if she had ever used the N-word. Her response was –

“Yes, of course.”

Of course? Like we all do? Like it’s a normal thing? No, of course NOT.

She tried to say that it was when she was held up at a bank and a black man held a gun to her head, but her response of “yes of course” belied an inner familiarity with using the word that many in the rest of America do not possess. That, plus the other times she admitted to using the word, (but could not recall exactly when), committing to an appearance on the Today Show, and then not showing up, did it for me. In reading what she is alleged to have said at the restaurant by the Manager Lisa Jackson, it all added up to a distasteful bundle I do not care to unwrap any longer.

One incident perhaps can be explained away. Or two. But using the n-word as a matter of course, planning a plantation wedding and seeking black-only waitstaff, her and her brother’s repeated pattern of racial, ethnic, and gender harassment- in front of witnesses, cannot be explained away. There were just too many things to overlook.

A television network is a corporation and corporations exist to make money. It says a lot that a money maker like Deen was dropped summarily, even though the network had stuck by her when the diabetes issue came to light.

Read the lawsuit and the deposition. It presents a dark and ugly picture. Apparently Food Network was fed up too, and they dropped Deen from the network.

In Numbers 32:23 we read a familiar verse:

“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

“Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.” (Luke 12:3).

It is every northerner’s secret certainty that all southerners believe and act as Mrs Deen did, sweet on the outside and racist on the inside.

Many southerners who do not believe as Mrs Deen does fear that they will be lumped into the racist category without cause.

It is a sad day when sins such as hers are revealed to validate both the secret certainty of the Yankee and the secret embarrassment of the fair-minded southerner.

It is also a blight against Christianity and Jesus in particular when someone who professes Jesus holds contemptuous views and even uses their faith in fringe ways to oppress others (as I read in the deposition).

It’s not easy to have the floodlight of Glory shine on you to reveal all the ugliness inside. I know I would hate it and will be embarrassed at myself when it does happen, either on this side of the veil or when Jesus comes. Mrs Deen needs prayer to open her eyes and heart to the true love of Jesus so that she will embrace these verses:

“Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)

“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” (Romans 10:12)

In heaven we will all be one tribe: the body of Christ-

“so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Romans 12:5)

I cannot wait for the day when we are all truly one, without sin and glorifying and worshiping Jesus from every tongue, tribe and nation as ONE people: as Zephaniah 3:9 says we will do-

“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.”

The ugliness of the world is heartbreaking, which makes the glory and light of heaven so appealing, desirable, and beautiful!

———-

Updates.
here are a few articles that in my opinion relay the meat of the In this CSM article, they raise the issue I had above-
Paula Deen and the N-word: A plate of bigotry with that fried chicken? 
Paula Deen, the woman who has put Southern culture on a pedestal, may be responsible for raising deeper questions about whether the marketing of Southern cuisine comes with a side of bigotry.
“But what really irked a lot of Americans about Deen’s comments is a long-held suspicion about Southern culture and its food: that it’s all honey and biscuits on top, but ultimately debilitating and unhealthy below the crust. That may not be the whole truth, but to say it’s not part of the truth would be disingenuous, especially given the controversy cooked up by arguably the South’s greatest culinary ambassador.”

In this article from Mediaite, “Paula Deen’s Sin Wasn’t That She ‘Said A Bad Word’”. In Deen’s wish to plan a wedding that featured all-Black waitstaff dressed as in the Shirley Temple tap dancing days, (her own words according to plaintiff), “See, to Paula Deen, the slavery part was incidental to her appreciation for that scene. The aesthetic that she enjoyed was centered around her own experience of living in the South. That’s the essence of white privilege, the ability to just adore the crisp “professionalism” of these men and women, without a thought for the price of that comforting visual. She didn’t like the slavery, she just liked the way it looked.”

Well said.

Posted in doctrine, scripture, theology

Is your doctrinal screw loose?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The tiny screw fell out of my glasses this week. I was standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden the lens to my glasses popped out and fell to the rug. I took off the frames and saw that the screw at the end of the bow had come out. This released the frame to widen itself, and they no longer held in the lens.

It is a very, very tiny screw. I got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and used my other hand to gently sweep all over the entire rug. Of course the screw is the same color of the rug, and it’s about 1/32nd of an inch long. I never found the screw.

Without the screw that holds the frame together that holds the lens on the glasses that go on my head that allow me to see…I can’t see. I have severe astigmatism and I cannot see things even a few feet away. I’m not allowed to drive without glasses, either. I have a spare pair but the lens prescription is a bit outdated, but they had to do until the next morning when I went to the Dollar Store and bought an eyeglasses repair kit.

I got to thinking about the small, tiny thing that holds it all together. Once you take the small thing out, it all starts to unravel.

I’d written about this concept in March 2011 but from a different angle I am taking it today.

The pair of glasses are a system, unified, whole, and each part of it depends on the other for its entire integrity. When all parts are there, the whole thing works

The glasses are like the bible.

If you remove part of it, the whole thing falls apart.

I am NOT saying that the Word of God is in any way insubstantial, tenuous, or will falter. “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ” (Jeremiah 23:29)

His Word upholds the universe and it will ever pass away. (Matthew 24:35).

I am talking about OUR belief in the Word. When you start picking and choosing this little part to believe and that little part not to believe, the unity and perfection of the word is such that each verse relies on the other. Your belief will start to crumble the moment you say something like this (and a church leader actually said this to me:)

“I’m not sure about the whole Jonah and the fish thing. As a matter of fact, I just take the whole Old Testament with a grain of salt!”

Picture the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale as that little screw. Initially, you might think that not believing that small section of scripture won’t harm your entire theology. It’s just a few verses in a very short book after all. But if you doubt the Jonah story, then what about this:

“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40).

Do you doubt what Jesus was saying? If you doubt the verse in Jonah 1, then you must doubt the verses in Matthew 12. And now your theological hold just got wider, and the screw in the glasses frame just got looser.

(Depiction of Jonah and the “great fish” on the south doorway of the Gothic-era Dom St. Peter in Worms, Germany.)

You might give room in your mind to the possibility of theological evolution – as Billy Graham does – and that ultimately to settle that belief in a literal version of the creation story “makes no difference.” But oh, it surely does. Graham said:

“I believe that God created man, and whether it came by an evolutionary process and at a certain point He took this person or being and made him a living soul or not, does not change the fact that God did create man. … whichever way God did it makes no difference as to what man is and man’s relationship to God.” – [Billy Graham: Personal Thoughts of a Public Man, 1997. p. 72-74]

Because Graham gave room in his mind for the possibility of evolution, then he made his hole bigger because Paul said “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; in 1 Corinthians 15:45, and in 1 Timothy 2:13 Paul said “For Adam was formed first, then Eve;”. Does a person discount those verses, too? One must, if he believes God could have evolved man and not created him, as Graham does.

In the end, Graham decided that all people go to heaven, even those who never heard about Jesus, as he told Robert Schuller and Larry King at different times. His slide away from the faith was long and slow, but just as damning.

Noah’s Ark, by Edward Hicks, Wikipedia

Some people say they do not believe the ark story, the animals could not possibly have fit onto a boat. But then one must discount what Peter said in 2 Peter 2:5- “if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;”

The point is, you must believe all of it, or none of it.

I can’t afford to go get more glasses. I decided it is more prudent to periodically make sure my glasses frames don’t have a screw that’s loose. If I have a screw loose, it could all too easily come breaking apart, and we would not want that to happen, would we! I’m pretty fond of seeing.

Henry II suit of armor,
Wikimedia Commons

Same with our doctrine. Periodically check to make sure you are using proper discernment. Pray to God for Him to sanctify you daily. Put on the full armor of God and pray ceaselessly (thus oiling the armor) so you will be protected from satan’s screwdriver that will try to find a loose screw to unhinge it.

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1)

“John Jefferson Davis writes:

Even though Calvin believes that regeneration is irreversible . . . he does not conclude that the Christian has any cause for spiritual complacency. Persevering in God’s grace requires, on the human side, “severe and arduous effort.” . . . The believer needs to continually feed his soul on the preaching of the Word and to grow in faith throughout the whole course of life. Since it is easy for the believer to fall away for a time from the grace of God, there is constant need for “striving and vigilance, if we would persevere in the grace of God.” Calvin thus balances his theological certitudes with pastoral warnings. . . . The believer must continually exercise faith and obedience to make “his calling and election sure.” (Davis, “The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine,” 222.)

Believe all of it. If you doubt, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. That is one of His ministries!

In the end belief in what some claim are the more the more fantastical parts of the Word boil down to this:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16)

The scriptures doesn’t say some parts are good, or a few parts, or even most parts. It says all scripture. Check to see if you have a screw loose. The lens could pop out and then you will not be seeing clearly. But regular maintenance of your eye-wear will result in seeing clearly, and beholding Jesus is the most beautiful thing you could ever hope to view. Having a right view of scripture is that beautiful perspective.

PS: I did fix my glasses. It was very difficult and it took a long time, and many tools. The screw is so small, I needed to use tweezers to even pick it up. I gripped too hard and the thing went flying off somewhere. Repeat the search on hands and knees with flashlight and hand feeling around everywhere. Not to be found.

I spent about 45 minutes reconstructing the frames, setting the lens on the thin frame just right, squeezing the clamp together, trying the different size screws, using the teeny screwdriver, had to use the tweezers again at the end to hold the clamp tight enough so the lens would be securely held. Let me tell you, the whole thing was such a pain that it is WAY easier to make sure that it is tight in the first place than to re-do the whole thing at time, expense, and frustration, and risking having to spend even more to get new glasses!

Posted in cooking competition, gentle speech, slander

Talkin’ smack aboutcha

Posted on by elizabethprata

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” (1 Peter 2:1).

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4:31)

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

The concept of slander or a lying tongue comes up a LOT in the bible. I tried to find a definitive number of how many times we read about lying, false witness, slander, or hateful speech, but I couldn’t. The number of mentions I did find ranged from 60 to 140, and I know there’s more. God is serious about slander.

I like to watch cooking competitions. I mentioned that before, recently. Regular competition shows are awful, many of them. The goal seems not to be to encourage someone in their talent or help them to improve in a dignified way, but to put them down in the most cutting way possible so as to get laughs, ratings, and to humiliate the contestant.

And the competitions where the competitors talk smack about each other are just gross.

The cooking competitions are usually rated G, that’s why I like them. Each has its own flavor, ha ha, but there are a few that are just plain mean (Hell’s Kitchen) and others that are nice. I’ve enjoyed newcomer American Baking Competition and four-year old Masterchef particularly, because they are nice.

That’s because judges seem to be encouraging and the point seems to be genuinely about food, not drama. For example on Masterchef the contestants are offered cooking lessons on days off by the famous chefs who on other days are their judges! And the judges on Masterchef do not seek to cut the heart out of the person, but build them up and let them compete with dignity and to improve their skills while they are there. If they fail a challenge and are asked to leave, they are always encouraged to keep trying and given a compliment on the way out.

But last Wednesday night was a turning point for me on Masterchef. The judges were extremely cutting (OK, just Joe Bastianich) calling one contestant a “narcissist in full denial”, and said “thanks for nothing” when presented the food. The contestant had demonstrated that he wasn’t teachable, but it is up to the teacher to maintain self-control with all his students. The contestant was humiliated on national television.

Worse, the show has added twists to the competition this year that seem unnecessarily hurtful in that they are designed to force contestants to compete in a cold-hearted, hard-boiled way.

Worst of all was the glee with which one contestant gloated over the stumblings and failings of one fellow contestant who was eventually chopped. She said nasty things about him and chortled at him in all his stress.

Once the nastiness can is opened all the worms come out. Talking smack about the other contestants only goes down hill from there.

In previous years contestants would not say such cutting things about each other. They might say “I think I am a better cook” or “I wouldn’t have handled it that way” but not to say outright “the guy is an idiot and I want him out of here.” That’s why I enjoyed the shows in the first place.

I may have said this before, but with the advent of Netflix, and the ability to engage in binge watching, I notice that year three seems to be the year that a show takes a dark turn. This is holding true for Masterchef. The program is partway through season 4. Season 3 was a highlight because gentle and positive and dignified Christine Ha (Left, who eventually won) projected a high-road respectability that seemed to permeate the competition. The judges were encouraging instead of cutting, too.

I had already opted out of Top Chef, while Food Network Star seems to be headed downhill as well. The focus is now on the infighting between contestants instead of cooking and improving cooking. Nowadays with most even G-rated competition shows, it’s as Tony Soprano said, “Always with the drama, you!“

I’ll watch Masterchef one more time, this week, because returning champion Christine Ha is making a guest appearance. After that, it’s American Baking Competition all the way. If the usual trend holds up, I’ve got two and a third years of that show before it takes its dark turn. 

If God doesn’t want us to slander and hates bitterness and malice, then we should not watch shows where the judges OR the contestants exhibit such traits. I’m careful about who to invite into my home. This includes television characters. I don’t like hate speech. God hates it. I don’t want to engage in it or encourage it by allowing its expression inside my home, because it pollutes me.

On last Wednesday’s episode of Masterchef, the fellow contestant’s gleeful hatred and persistent vocalization of a man who by all accounts seemed loyal and kind and skilled and a good dad was too gross to watch any more. This is not entertainment. It’s rebellion.

Be wary of slander. It’s bad not just when we do it. It’s bad when we listen to it in others. It’s bad when we know it will be present in a situation or a TV program but we seek it out anyway. Maybe we even laugh at the insults when they’re talkin’ smack about someone, forgetting that they are still real people even if they are on TV.

Jim Nix Photography, Creative Commons use

“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)

This standard is getting harder and harder to apply but we know we are supposed to be having speech that builds up:

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Is the speech you’re listening to (and thereby accepting into your soul) on movies and TV competition shows good for building up?

Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Sobering advice. I know this dramatically shrinks the pool of available entertainment, but… Jesus comes first. Personally, I’ve been slipping. I’ll have to more carefully monitor what I take in via entertainment by using this standard, in addition to working on making sure that I am not talking smack about anyone else!

Some days it seem as though there is SO MUCH room for improvement! Fortunately we have the Holy Spirit who helps us grow into holiness.

“And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

Posted in exodus international, john piper, nancy leigh demoss

Three articles showing the deep apostasy of our times

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are some really, REALLY good articles for you.

The interesting thing to me about these end times is that many a ministry is that formerly solid people suddenly take a turn to the left and swerve away from their formerly solid position. Each of the three articles below demonstrates some sort of apostasy.

Source Wikimedia Commons

Paul tells Timothy that some “have swerved from the truth”. (2 Timothy 2:18). In the Greek the word literally means to go astray, to miss the mark, have faulty aim.

In the game of darts, you notice the highest amount of points and the most sought after section of the board is the bull’s eye. It is also the smallest part of the board. To make a bull’s eye you have to aim carefully and pay attention. Jesus said the way is narrow and few find it, (Matthew 7:13-14). In darts, the bull’s eye is small and few land there.

Many of us have had sad concerns about the direction Dr. Piper has been taking in his ministry and approach to the Gospel. This truthful but gentle write-up cogently explains why, and comes with links so you can check it out for yourself. Sunny Shell: “Why I no longer follow John Piper or “Desiring God” ministry“. She says,

“I share all this to show you much Piper and his ministry “Desiring God” has, in some ways (not all), been led away from sola scriptura (Scripture alone), so that you might be more discerning about following their ministry (writings, sermons, etc.).”

The Sola Sisters are three sisters who formerly were New Age/Pagan. Their writings are about discussions regarding false teachings coming into today’s Church. Today they wrote about Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and the book The Circle Maker.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss Endorsing Chalk Circles? Mercy.
“I have never bothered to address the problems with the bookThe Circle Maker, because the whole concept of “circle making” was simply so patently pagan and ridiculous on the face of it that I assumed it would be obvious to any Christian how unbiblical this book was. When Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough and Pastor Tim Challies both thoroughly exposed the theological issues with the book (links below), I continued to assume this was a “no-brainer” for most Christians. Sadly however, I am getting more and more emails from people saying that their church leaders are recommending The Circle Maker, doing a Bible study with it, passing it out, etc.”

Erin Benziger is a Christian journalist writing about the topics of the day on her blog and at Christian Research Network. Just to show you how far the apostasy has gone, I offer this article to you in which it is reported that

Following Apology to Gay Community, Exodus International Announces It Will Close Its Doors
“Exodus International, “the oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality,” announced late Wednesday, 19 June, that it is closing its doors. The announcement came just hours after the group’s president, Alan Chambers, issued a formal apology to members of the LGBTQ community who “have been hurt by Exodus International through an experience or by a message.”

In other words, ‘we were wrong, and being gay is OK.’

Always be girded with truth. Your aim will be true if you always keep your eye on Jesus. Stay in the word, that is how to stay aimed at the narrow road of truth we must walk until the day He calls us home. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures.” More to the point, Spurgeon said, “He is not the God of apostates, for he hath said, “If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38).

Our highest aim should be to please Him. Walk the narrow way solemnly and intentionally, staying focused on Him and His word. Pray ceaselessly to Him to keep you in His path, because we see above, straying can happen to anyone.

Posted in grace, mercy

We are living stones

Posted on by elizabethprata

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

We’re living stones, being built up into a spiritual house…

I grew up in New England. When the farmers cleared the field, they dug up a lot of rocks. Rocks, rocks, everywhere. What to do with the rocks? Make a border wall out of them.

Our house was a small Cape Cod, a 100 year old cottage. The front of our house had a very long rock wall of old rocks that had been unearthed from the fields. By the 1960s the wall was falling down and it needed to be rebuilt

My father hired two old Italian guys to rebuild the wall. Italians have been masons and laying rock for thousands of years. The Appian Way is one of the world’s oldest paved roads, and it is still there, and works. Though the Italians invented cement, in our case, the wall wasn’t set with mortar or cement. It is the nestling of just the right rock next to each other, the pressure exerted of the whole structure, and gravity that keeps them all in place. (Photo, Appian Way, Wikimedia Commons)

The old guys had the rocks strewn all around. One of them would pick up a rock and test it, and look at it closely, turning it over and over. Feeling it all around with his hands, brushing off the sand and dirt, he’d put it next to the rock on the wall, and see if it fit. Nope. He’d pull it out and talk to the other Italian guy for a while, and after some talk, and laughter, taking their time, he would pick up another rock, and test it all over again.

Gradually, slowly, the wall took shape. Long and straight, it stands to this day.

In reading that verse last night at church, the picture of the old Italian guys came to my mind. I envisioned Jesus and the Holy Spirit, calmly and precisely talking, working together in perfect unity, laughing and admiring the work each was doing. Jesus saying to the Spirit, “draw that one over there to Me, I’m ready for Him… put that one here and this one next to it, ah, perfect fit…” The spiritual house is being built, in His timing, constructed to last forever, with us as the living stones. His precision is straight and true. As well as Potter and carpenter, I guess we can add Stone Mason to His construction skills, couldn’t we.

He is the Rock, the Chief Cornerstone…

“As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.” (Daniel 2:35)

“For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (1 Peter 2:6).

He is the chief cornerstone, but having the Spirit in us, our souls are so intimately tied with Him that we also are stones. Little stones from the Rock. And here comes the pun: we are chips off the old block.

Bishop of Lincoln Robert Sanderson is said to have said it first in a 1637 sermon:
“Am not I a child of the same Adam … a chip of the same block, with him?”

We are of Adam, but our precious Lord didn’t leave us on the stone quarry floor. He picked us up, adopted us, polished us, built us up “to be a holy priesthood,” and set us in His spiritual House. Praise His merciful name, His grace is so generous!