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Why are people attracted to ruin? (A beautifully decaying world)

Posted on May 11, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

In the beginning, God created a perfect universe, the beautiful stars, and a habitation for His people, humans. Earth was perfect. Rivers were sparkling and drinkable. Trees and flowers were lush and abundant. And Adam and Eve were His triumph, people with whom to have fellowship with Him. I can’t imagine how beautiful it all was, but I know He is going to restore it. (Revelation 21:1; Ezekiel 47:1-12).

When Eve and then Adam sinned, God cursed the earth. (Genesis 3). Thorns sprung up. Animals turned to carnivores. Sweat and blood and labor and toil became the characteristics of man’s life.

Despite the present despoiling of the earth after all these thousands of years, it is still beautiful in many places. Like this-

Photograph by Ireena Worthy on Flickr

Photograph by Mario Neumann (scuba.hamburg on Flickr)

Photograph by Nick Lippert (via Komo News)

There are many more beautiful photographs here: Top 100 photographs of the year 2012

I’ve said over an over that this present time, and every day thereafter, draws humankind closer to the moment when there will be a final dividing line. The middle ground that the Lord has graciously allowed is disappearing day by day. After Revelation 13 when humankind is forced to choose between the beast or the Lord (Rev 13:16-17), the final destinies will be set. Every day we go forward in time is another day that widens the gap between believer and unbeliever. it all is drawing down to that.

And each day we go forward widens the gap between believers and unbelievers. Every day, more apostates are unmasked. Every day more and more false prophets and preachers infiltrate pulpits. Every day more thousands fall for satan. It widens, until the earth is a battleground of them versus Jesus. (Revelation 16:14-16).
“It’s a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.”Therefore the curse is proceeding apace, also. Amid the beauty of those scenes above, and many, many more, we have scenes of ruin.

Strange Geographies: The Mojave Desert’s Airplane Graveyard

Submerged ghost town comes up for air
In this May 7, 2013 photo, birds fly over the village of Epecuen, Argentina. Epecuen village was once home to 1,500 residents before it started flooding on November 10, 1985. After heavy rains the lake Epecuen burst its banks. It only took 20 days for the town to submerge beneath almost 10 metres (30 feet) of water forcing everybody to leave. As the years passed slowly the water started to recede. Nowadays the town that was never rebuilt, and was famous for therapeutic salty waters that surrounded it, is once again becoming a tourist destination but for the ruins that have been left. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Tank graveyard on Afghanistan

Photo: Ilya Varlamov

I thought these next two photos were eerily similar. Pompeii was the Roman-era vacation seaside resort town of about 20,000 people, that was covered in ash in 79AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, obliterating the town in ash in just a few days. Before the curse, volcanoes didn’t erupt. After the curse, earth became our enemy. The town was submerged under ash for 1500 years, and re-emerged after it was re-discovered in 1748. Excavations have been ongoing ever since. Today, Pompeii is a huge tourist draw with 2.5 million visitors arriving each year to view the ruins.

The photo below that is of the Argentine lake resort town of Epecuen, formerly home to about 20,000 people that was suddenly submerged with water when the lake overflowed its banks in a violent rainstorm. Within days the town was obliterated.

“It’s a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.”

“I came to see the end of the world!”

Why do people travel 6 hours to the town of Epecuen from Buenos Aires to view ruins? What attracts people to the post-apocalyptic visions? The NY Times examined the whys and wherefores of what it is about ruin and blight that attracts tourists. Detroit is the UN capital of ruin porn, a visual genre that not only photographers and artists explore, but tourists to also, coming to the city specifically to stare at ruined buildings. People are simply fascinated by it, as they demonstrate by driving to Epecuen over rough country roads. The NY Times article states,

“Meditation on ruin is a long and noble tradition. In Renaissance Italy, antiquarians like Leon Battista Alberti and Poggio Bracciolini began to promote the study and preservation of Roman ruins, which, to that point, had been unsystematically pushed aside as the city expanded. According to Alberti’s biographer, Anthony Grafton, they also “made fun of those who became too depressed” about the ruins, like poor, oversensitive Cyriac of Ancona, who “seemed to mourn the fall of Rome with excessive emotion.” “

We think nothing of viewing the Colosseum in Rome, a ruin, but ponder the whys of people driving to Detroit to look at falling down buildings. Perhaps the ancient has more mystique, and thus pondering the ruins of today is just plain morbid? A Paris family flew to Detroit to see the ruins of the once-beautiful Packard Plant, and when asked what appealed to them about Detroit, “One of them gleefully exclaimed, “I came to see the end of the world!”

In this article titled the Psychology of Ruin Porn, ruin photographer Matthew Christopher said, “I’d like the viewer to step back just a bit and to see the horror story that’s implicit in the image,” he says. “These pictures document physical conditions that are the direct consequences of failed economies.”

I agree with his assessment but would edit it to a biblical stance. When people are drawn to modern ruin, either in images or to places, it is to personally interpret not just the physical conditions that are the direct consequence of failed economies, but to document physical conditions that are the direct result of sin and the curse.

See, all people respond to the creation. All. People.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

Romans 1:18 says tough that people deliberately suppress the truth. The feel it. They know it. They suppress it. Yet their fascination with it peeks out in trips to ruins, to ponder the explosiveness of a long-dormant volcano, a once-placid lake becoming a killer, weapons of ear dying in the desert. The earth is blighted by disease,war, and cataclysms, and we cannot help but ponder the power of it all. The fascination with ruin, pure and simple, is people pondering their eternity, thinking they have escaped such a ruin themselves. But they have not.

The same is true for people who travel far and wide to view the beauty of the earth. They are responding to God’s eternity set within their hearts.

The Lord has dominion over all. As we see in this verse from Ezekiel 21:27, it is prophesied of Israel–

“A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.”

Yet the Lord’s dominion extends also to the church and the whole world. Wesley’s notes explains, “Shall be no more – Never recover its former glory, ’till the scepter be quite taken away from Judah, and way be made for the Messiah. He hath an incontestable right to the dominion both in the church and in the world. And in due time he shall have the possession of it, all adverse power being overturned.”

Ultimately, all earth will be a ruin before the Lord renews it. That is why we do not cling to the cities of today, nor do we exult in their passing, for that means the unsaved people within them are passing into eternity of hell. The writer of Hebrews said, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

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Woman who fell to her death eaten by vultures in 45 minutes

Posted on May 10, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This week I’ve posted on several different topics. I posted an academic kind of essay called “What we need around here is some apocalyptic journalism.” I posted a sweet essay and a simple one about creation, called “Birds make me laugh.” I posted one about discernment and contemplative prayer, and a political one about the Middle East. I think what we are missing to round out the week is something of the weird!

It is reported that a woman who was hiking in France fell 980 feet off a cliff to her death. Before rescue workers could extract her body, vultures had eaten the body within 45 minutes.

“The body of a woman who died after falling off a cliff in France was devoured by vultures in just 45 minutes, before rescue workers were able to reach the body. The 52-year-old woman was hiking with two friends in the French Pyrenees on April 14 when she fell off a cliff and plunged more than 980 feet to her death, according to France’s TF1. The woman’s body was eaten by vultures in minutes. “There were only bones, clothes and shoes left on the ground,” Major Didier Pericou told The Times of London. “They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body.” Adding, “When we first went out in the helicopter looking for the body, we saw numerous vultures without realizing what they were doing.””

Spooooky!

Vultures are carrion birds and the bible declared them unclean, in the Old Testament. The Lord will use vultures after the Tribulation to eat the bodies of those who fell at Armageddon.

The Lord organized the world and he made several different avian migration routes. The largest goes over Israel. Three continents funnel their birds over Israel twice a year, as they migrate north to south or south to north, depending on the season. 500 Million birds funnel over that tiny nation, as they avoid the Mediterranean and Caspian seas and fly over Israel. It presents quite a hazard to flight navigation, a problem Israel has recently made advances in solving. I wrote about the bird migration over Israel, here in this essay titled Bird Watching in Israel, and The Great Supper of God

As far as prophecy goes, there is this verse-

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.” (Rev 19:17-18).

This moment occurs after Jesus bursts back onto earth on a white horse with His saints following, and He slays all those hundreds of millions assembled at the battle of Armageddon. The angel then calls to the birds “which fly directly overhead” to come eat the dead. I’d often wondered about the hundreds of millions of dead and how or where the birds will come from to be able to match the numbers indicated in the verse of how many dead there will be to eat.But the LORD has that covered, with having set the migratory routes and the great numbers of birds already traveling over that region.

Also Ezekiel 39:17 at the end of the Gog-Magog war: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.”

In that previous essay, I’d shown that because of the bird migration routes going over Israel, and how the Lord has already trained them, the numbers of birds available to attend the Great Supper of God are already set. Now with this article about the woman hiker in France, you can see how, once the birds arrive, how efficient the carrion birds are in dispatching corpses.

There will be two great suppers. One will be the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. All those who believe on the name of Jesus as Savior and Lord, having repented of sins and believed in His work on the cross, and in His resurrection, will be attending. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). It is going to be great!!

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God. (Revelation 19:7-9).

The other supper will be the Great Supper of God.

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,e both small and great.” (Revelation 19:17-18).

Only two suppers. You will either eat with the Lord in glory, or be eaten as carrion by vultures. The difference is repentance or rebellion, salvation or sin. The difference is eternal. Pray to Jesus now for salvation and be blessed of those invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!

Told you this was a weird essay! Praising the Lord for carrion birds! Yes! He already has everything organized and in His timing, all will be performed excellently- just as the bible says!

You might also be interested in this:
Where the vultures gather

apocalypse journalism, ecclesiastes, robert jensen, tribulation

What we need around here is some apocalyptic journalism

Posted on May 9, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A true church is marked by spiritual discernment. The church, the body of Christ, the people of God, are able to look at the world and understand it. They have the capability to sort out the things that are happening all around them both in the realm of the physical world as well as the spiritual.”

~John MacArthur, Marks of a True Church part 1

People underestimate the power of the press. The words the press uses, and the issues they choose to present (and not present) shape the way we think about the world. For a Christian, it is the bible that shapes our thinking and provides the worldview. (Romans 12:2). It is either-or. You are either influenced by the world, or the bible. Just as the words of the bible have the ability to transform our mind, the press has the ability to shape how we think about issues. The result of journalism is that it can potentially shape our reality. Journalism does the following-

first, it helps people make sense of the world (as described above)
second, it figures prominently in the upcoming Tribulation (more in a minute)
third, I believe unsaved people have now gone beyond comprehending what is going on in the world and that therefore journalism has exceeded its usefulness in this regard. This is the point of this essay.

Robert Jensen of the University of Texas at Austin, Journalism department, wrote an extraordinary essay this week. In it, the Professor called for “apocalyptic journalism.” Don’t get excited, he is not referring to Christianity in any way, nor giving credence to our God as existing and sovereignly controlling affairs of men. But he is acknowledging that man’s understanding (unsaved man, that is) simply can’t comprehend the scope of our world’s catastrophes any more. In my opinion, his acknowledgement is a significant advancement on the road toward the rapture.

Jensen seems to understand that the fabric of things is unraveling … and unraveling so completely that it is not going to be repaired. He, and others he quotes, see an upcoming “massive social dislocation” due to our failure to ‘make peace with Gaia.’ (honoring the creation rather than the creator as per Romans 1:25.) He writes,

“That means that we’re in trouble, not in some imaginary science-fiction future, but in our present reality. We can’t pretend all that’s needed is tinkering with existing systems to fix a few environmental problems; significant changes in how we live are required. No matter where any one of us sits in the social and economic hierarchies, there is no escape from the dislocations that will come with such changes. Money and power might insulate some from the most wrenching consequences of these shifts, but there is no permanent escape. We do not live in stable societies and no longer live on a stable planet. We may feel safe and secure in specific places at specific times, but it’s hard to believe in any safety and security in a collective sense. … In short, we live in apocalyptic times.”

He is right. We do. And this isn’t even the Apocalypse yet.

What Jensen is comprehending is the eternity set within his heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He feels it, but just doesn’t know what it is. He seeks a framework within which one can try to make sense of what is happening. Jensen speaks the same words that millions are already thinking, of this I am sure. His view has become the representational view of most of the secular world. Sadly, he will never find the framework he seeks to make sense of things, unless he has the framework of Jesus.

The world does not make sense unless one sees it through the biblical worldview. Any other worldview will be false. But it is the worldview people have used for millennia and its falsity is showing up clearly now because it is coming apart at the seams. Nothing makes sense anymore and nothing is working.

Jensen continues in his article by saying that we need a new framework in order to connect the dots. He is right, and he is so close to the truth! The framework we need in order to make sense of the world is Jesus. But that is not what Jensen calls for.

In Jensen’s mind, and I believe he is speaking for many in the world who can’t figure out what’s going on, is that the old dots that need connecting are too far apart now. They are so far apart that each one is as distant from one another as the east is from the west. So therefore, he calls for new dots. He calls for “apocalyptic journalism”, a kind of return to ‘prophetic preaching.’ He says in effect that those prophets of Old Testament days didn’t cause the crises that came upon people, but they had something important to say that ought to have been listened to. He says we need more of that nowadays. What Jensen forgets is that the old Prophets had messages from God, they weren’t monster shouters spouting off on their own agendas. Anyway, the people didn’t listen to Noah preaching apocalypse when the world was unraveling the first time. To continue, Jensen writes,

Prophetic preaching does not put people in crisis. Rather it names and makes palpable the crisis already pulsing among us. When the dots are connected, it will require naming the defining sins among us of environmental abuse, neighborly disregard, long-term racism, self-indulgent consumerism, all the staples from those ancient truthtellers translated into our time and place.

The sins that need naming are not environmental abuse, being a bad neighbor, racism, and consumerism. Jensen says that those were the old sins that Amos and Hosea and Jeremiah and Isaiah were calling out against, and we use modern language to name them now. No, not at all. The prophets were calling the people to stop sinning by turning away from sin and turn to Him in repentance. Obeisance and repentance were the clarion calls of the day, as were rejecting idols and worthy worship of the LORD, because God is the only hope, through Jesus. I am so sad that people today see that the world is crumbling, the old frameworks don’t make sense any more, that journalism is failing to show us the world through a proper lens- and do not turn to the one Hope there is. Even Jensen says he has no hope. Look what he writes at the end of his article–

[INSERT HOPEFUL ENDING HERE]
That subhead is not an editing oversight. I wish there were an easy solution, an upbeat conclusion. I don’t have one. I’ve never heard anyone else articulate one. To face the world honestly at this moment in human history likely means giving up on easy and upbeat.

In this, Jensen is right. To face the world honestly DOES mean giving up on being upbeat- if you are a secular person who doesn’t know Jesus, that is.

The upcoming Tribulation movers and shakers will use journalism as a fully satanic framework to promote satan’s false signs and wonders. (2 Thessalonians 2:9). It will be used to promote the peacemaker who will turn out to be the antichrist. It will be used to show the death of the Two Witnesses. (Revelation 11:9). Satan has his clutches in the media even now, and after the rapture you will not be able to believe anything you see or read. The Tribulation will be a time of utter lies, because it is the time given to satan to allow sin to come to the full, and satan is the father of lies. Anyone who reads a newspaper or watches the news now knows we cannot trust it. What will it be like after the rapture? The worst.

Jensen’s message, as well as most of humanity’s today is, “Nothing’s working, we’re losing hope, it is all for nothing”. These were words that Solomon used after he had tried every which way to find fulfillment. Solomon’s conclusion was that all is vanity.

All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing. (Ecclesiastes 1:8)

Hosea wrote that Israel had been feeding on wind. (Hosea 12:1). That is the world today, feasting on vanity and wind, and finding that nothing they do fulfills. But, there IS hope!! Saving the world does not depend upon us, upon man. That should be a relief. The earth is the LORD’S and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1). He will take care of renewing it. The prophets of old called for the people to turn their eyes on God and his coming Messiah. He is the hope. Any spiritually discerning person knows that though these times are dark we have a huge hope in Jesus coming soon. We have the hope of our inheritance, which is Him and His finished work on the cross, forever. Jensen calls for someone to [INSERT HOPEFUL ENDING HERE]? OK I will!

[THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL]

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

birds, childlike faith, children

"Birds make me laugh"

Posted on May 9, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The cafeteria at school is crowded with first and second graders. It is full, and it is loud. VERY loud. It has to be, with nearly 200 children talking even at a normal level, trays banging, feet shuffling, and forks tinkling.

There is this first grade boy who is quiet. He doesn’t speak much, and when he does it is in a soft-spoken voice. He is sensitive and artistic. He has a kind heart and loving eyes.

He raised his hand today and he had something to say. I came over, expecting him to ask me the usual, please open my ketchup packet, or I dropped my fork and I need another. Instead he said,

“I saw birds at my house.”
“What kind of birds did you see?”
“I saw a blue jay!” he said happily. “I saw a robin, and a red bird, and crows.” He looked very pleased about this.
I said, “The red bird is a cardinal.”
“OH! I saw ducks too. We have a pond. And some other birds I forgot.”
“Yes, ducks are birds. What do you like about birds?”

“Birds make me laugh.”

To be touched by the simplicity and beauty of birds singing and flying about your yard is, to me, a response to the Creator in childlike faith.

A childlike faith means that the child sees the wonder of God as the bible says. Children intuitively understand the connection of creation to the Creator.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Even as the creation groans for its Creator, it still does what it is supposed to do- bring Him glory. And they do it.

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this? (Job 12:7-8)

contemplative prayer, meditating, mysticism

Are we there yet? I contemplatively prayed all day and all I got is bupkis

Posted on May 8, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The unregenerated man looks within, and finds nothing. There is no inner peace, no ritual, philosophy, no lofty argument that will ever bring it.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8).

That is how deception works. It’s the blending of empty philosophies with what we are already familiar with. It packages poison in a pretty package with a bow. Satan wants to make his poison attractive, so when you read about “contemplative prayer” it puts together two good words to make a poison result. Many people think that ‘contempative prayer’ means contemplating God via prayer. It does not.

Words like Vision casting, missional, emergent, centering prayer, gifting, unity, spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines and tolerance are just a few words that the dark side has co-opted, injected with poison, and launched aloft via milkweed seeds to waft into unwary churches with no screens on their windows.

For example, centering prayer sounds good. Here is the definition of what it is and how to do it.

“Centering prayer is popping up within the emerging church movement. Centering prayer, also known as contemplative prayer and listening prayer, is the practice of relaxing, emptying the mind, and letting one’s self find the presence of God within. It involves silence, stillness, patience, sometimes repeating something, and the practice of “not knowing” as the person seeks God’s presence.” (source).

So what’s wrong with seeking God’s presence? Relaxing? Because meditating, or contemplating God, does not involve emptying the mind and allowing a whatever presence to enter. That is just asking for trouble, it being so occultish. Meditating on God’s word means actively contemplating Him, via bible verses. (Psalm 63:6, “When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches.” Psalm 119:15,23,27,48,97, same source as above.). It means thinking. Not emptying. You see how contemplative prayer is the opposite of what the bible says to do? The term does not mean what you think it means.

A Christian does not need to be still and know He is God, we do not need to empty the mind in order to find Him. THIS is what “be still” means in the context of the Psalm 46:10,

“”be still”; not that they should be like sticks and stones, stupid, indolent, and unconcerned at the commotions that were in the earth, and be unaffected with the judgments of God, and be wholly silent and inactive; but that they should not be fearful, nor fretful and impatient, or restless and tumultuous; but be quiet and easy, resigned to the will of God, and live in an assured expectation of the appearance of divine Providence in their layout.” (Gill’s Exposition).

It means your mind is calm because you have contemplated God, His statutes, and you rest easy knowing He is in control.

If you are asking “are we there yet” because you’ve gotten involved in the trap of stilling the mind in expectation of a presence to endow you with information, peace, or any other emotion, it is because you will never ‘get there’ that way. Any Christian knows the ‘are we there yet” question is moot: when we hear the trumpet, we’ll be there in an instant. Everything else until the trumpet sounds or we stop drawing breath is a slog through lively, active, mental contemplation of Him. In other words, STUDY!

ersecution, muslim, world watch list

And the winner of "The most difficult place on earth to be a Christian" is…

Posted on May 7, 2013 by elizabethprata

Open Doors released their list of top-Christian persecuted places to live on earth.

North Korea Deemed ‘Worst Persecutor’ of Christians by Open Doors World Watch List 2013
“North Korea has been deemed the “worst persecutor” of Christians by Open Doors USA, in its 2013 World Watch List – a report into global persecution. The country has held the top spot in the persecution list for the past 11 years now, and has been widely condemned for its human rights abuses and infringements on religious freedom. “For the eleventh year running, this is the most difficult place on earth to be a Christian,” the report stated. “One of the remaining Communist states, it is vehemently opposed to religion of any kind. Christians are classified as hostile and face arrest, detention, torture, even public execution.”

The following list, with North Korea at #1, are places in the world where Christian experience “extreme persecution.” It is the 2013 list which means it is data gathered from 2012 and released in April 2013.

North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan
Iraq
Somalia
Maldives
Mali
Iran
Yemen
Eritrea
Syria

This next bunch are in order of those countries which perpetrate “severe persecution” of Christians,

Sudan
Nigeria
Pakistan
Ethiopia
Uzbekistan
Libya
Laos
Turkmenistan
Qatar
Vietnam
Oman
Mauritania

You can read the entire watch list here. Please pray for our brethren in the line of fire, and for those who are firing on them.

end of days, muslim, persecution

Christians are the new terrorists, man copies out bible by hand, Christian exodus from Islamic countries

Posted on May 7, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Hatred of Christians is nothing new. It has been with us since Adam and Eve. Satan hates whom God loves. Christian persecution is nothing new. Satan kills who God loves.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” (1 Peter 4:12-16).

However, we know that as the time of the last days comes to a close (last days being between Christ’s ascension and the rapture) the hatred will rise in preparation for its flashpoint-bursting during the Tribulation (AKA Time of Jacob’s Trouble AKA Day of the LORD). (Matthew 10:22)

However, the hatred for Christians and Christianity has risen to a furious level unprecedented in my lifetime. And I’m talking not just the usual nations one would expect hatred of Christians to be present in zeal and furor, like Saudi Arabia, but in America. It is an irrational, unreasonable, unreasoning, mad-dog kind of foaming at the mouth hatred.

In just the last couple of weeks we read these headlines:

Fundamentalist Christian Monsters
“Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”

Source

Pentagon says military personnel can evangelize but not proselytize
“Service members can share their faith (evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one’s beliefs (proselytization),” Christensen added. The Alliance Defending Freedom characterized the clarification as backtracking from a previous statement issued Tuesday that the ADF said indicated members of the military could be subject to court martial for “religious proselytization.”

Army Orders Removal of Bible References From Military Scopes
“The U.S. Army is ordering that references to Bible verses that were etched into rifle scopes sold to the military be removed. Troops at Alaska’s Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks, were told to remove the Bible references, which the company manufacturing the scopes engraved next to the serial numbers. The two verse references etched into the scopes are John 8:12 and II Corinthians 4:6. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,” reads the scripture from the Gospel of John. The verse from the apostle Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians reads: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.””

I wrote about the bible verses on rifle scopes in 2010. In that article, “Mikey” Weinstein, pictured, is the same man who spoke the quote in the first link, ‘Fundamentalist Christian Monsters.” He said the following of bible verses on scopes-

“This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country,” said Weinstein. “It’s literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we’re fighting. We’re emboldening an enemy.”

How sad to speak this much hatred and for us to know that this man will stand before Jesus on judgment day and account for his words. Please do not hate Weinstein back, only pray for him!

As for the brethren around the world, Fox News reports today-

Christians in all Muslim counties face persecution
ranging from low-level harassment
and discrimination to outright genocide. source

The Mass Exodus of Christians from the Islamic World
“A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.” In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.”

Belgium erasing Christianity for Islam
“Under the guise of letting go of the Christian holidays, this text provides Muslims with a waiver to add Islamic holidays…. Six Belgian senators introduced a draft resolution in the Belgian Parliament that would make “Islamophobia” a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. A person would be guilty if he “considers Islam to be violent, threatening or supportive of terrorism…” or “considers Islam to be a political ideology, used for political and military purposes to establish it hegemony.” If passed, the law would pose a devastating blow to the exercise of free speech in Belgium. Wallonia, the French-speaking southern region of Belgium, has officially renamed the four major Christian holidays on the Belgian school calendar with secular names. Critics of the move say it reflects an ongoing effort by politicians in Belgium to remove Christianity from public life to accommodate a burgeoning Muslim population.”

This next story totally perplexed me. It is so wrong on every level. I’m going to post lengthy excerpts and comment in between.

Area man copies out entire Bible by hand
“In 2007, Phillip Patterson decided to create his own handwritten copy of the Bible. Now, six years and more than 2,400 pages later, Patterson will finally copy the book’s last word on May 11. ABC News reports that the 63-year-old began by copying the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, before moving on to the King James Bible. Copying the Pentateuch, he determined his technique, layout and technical details. Patterson writes at a wooden desk by his bed on 19 by 13 inch watercolor paper with felt-tip pens. He pencils ruled lines onto the page to guide his writing and then erases them when he finishes a page. Patterson began copying the complete King James Bible, considered the most literarily renowned version of the Bible, in 2009. He used to work up to 14 hours each day on the project, but now he averages about six to eight hours, until he can no longer stay awake. “I go to bed and close my eyes and feel so incredibly serene,” he told ABC News.”

OK, so I’m reading along, thinking, ‘hm, this is kind of strange, but if it gives the guy a sense of peace…though I wonder why He isn’t talking about why he is doing it..’ Then we read this next-

“Patterson began the project after his longtime partner, Mohammad, mentioned that Islam has a tradition of handwriting the Quran. When Patterson answered that the Bible was too long, Mohammad suggested that Patterson do it anyways.”

So Patterson is a homosexual, with an Islamic partner. Curiouser and curiouser.

“Patterson has encountered obstacles along the way. Poor health (he suffers from AIDS and anemia) sent him to the hospital multiple times and he relies on two canes and walls and furniture to get around his apartment near the Massachusetts border.”

So Patterson is an active homosexual, with AIDS and an Islamic partner…

“Patterson will transcribe the Bible’s final lines in the Book of Revelation at a ceremony at his church, St. Peter’s Presbyterian, on May 11.”

What what?!?! Very strange.

The sad part, of course, is that he personally transcribed the book of John, literally touching every letter, savoring the formation of each, coming alive from his hand through the pen, and not succumb to the power of the Gospel, the deity of Christ, and the beauty of the grace He gives to repentant sinners.

Please repent, time is short. If you are a Christian, whether in a hostile country or not, please understand that the definition of a hostile country is rapidly eroding. Soon, it will simply be the world is hostile to us and there is no place hatred of Jesus won’t have touched you personally as a child of Jesus. Be prepared. Pray up, know the world expect hostility, and listen for Jesus’s call to the Bride!

damascus, earthquakes, explosion, nuke

Did Israel use a nuke at Damascus (likely not). And other news

Posted on May 7, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are a few things I thought were interesting. First, the USGS list of earthquakes over the last 7 days. I know the disclaimer at the top of their page says they are going to stop updating the page at some point, but I keep using it until they do, because it is easier to read, has larger print, and has the major quakes in red so you can spot them easier. The new page has none of that. I noticed a cluster of smaller quakes in unusual places, occurring close in time. I list them here

2.9 WESTERN TEXAS
2.6 WESTERN MONTANA
2.8 WESTERN MONTANA
2.7 OREGON
2.6 WESTERN TEXAS
3.6 SOUTHERN IDAHO
4.2 SOUTHERN IDAHO
2.8 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

The Australian reports ‘Lost continent’ found off Africa
“SCIENTISTS believe they’ve discovered the remains of a lost continent on the floor of the Indian Ocean off Africa. The research team from Norway, South Africa, Germany and the UK identified the ancient “microcontinent” after analysing beach sands from the island of Mauritius. They believe Mauritius was split from the larger island of Madagascar, 900 kilometres to the west, by volcanic eruptions between 61 and 84 million years ago. The beach sands were deposited by subsequent eruptions within the last nine million years. But the analysis found a smattering of zircon grains up to 2 billion years old, suggesting the recent volcanoes had spewed out fragments of an ancient continental crust.”

OK, this has the geological world pretty excited. They love anything that they believe supports an old earth construct. The earth is not billions of years old, despite what scientists and Jack Kelley say.

It seems likely that at some point however, the continents were joined, and during the flood the massive geological upheaval separated them. (source). That event was tremendously stressful to the earth. Remember the 9.0 quake at Japan two years ago. A short amount of shaking during that earthquake moved the earth’s axis and shortened the day! What did the Flood do to the lands? Peter says that the earth at that time was deluged with water and perished. (2 Peter 3:6). And as Gill’s Exposition says, ‘whatever alteration there might be in its form and position.’ Not that the earth passed away, but everything on it and in it died. One can only wonder at God’s power. Therefore though the earth is not billions of years old, it is interesting to wonder about a lost continent or two!

A few days ago, Israel carried out two strikes in Damascus. Foreign Policy magazine reports,
“Top news: The Syrian government charged Sunday that an overnight airstrike that targeted what is believed to be a military research center in Damascus was carried out by Israel, a development that marks the most significant international military action in the ongoing Syrian conflict and raises the specter that the conflict will spread beyond Syrian borders.”

The enemies of Israel are claiming that the massive explosion at Damascus the other night was in fact a nuclear blast. In viewing the video posted of the explosion from different angels, they say that the cloud that arise from the massive fireball looked like a mushroom cloud. The explosion happened at night and Israel is mum on the entire operation, so due to the fog of war it will likely be impossible to nail down whether a nuclear missile, a nuclear-type missile, or simply a powerful rocket destroyed the facility atop the Damascus mountain.

However that doesn’t matter a bit. Whether or not Israel used a low-level nuke (and I think that they did not) the enemies of Israel will simply claim that they did and run with it. This will provide them grounds to call for a retaliation, and also obscure the fact that there is evidence that the rebels used sarin gas (a deadly poison).

John McTernan wonders if WWIII has broken out, and though sometimes he gets a bit over-excited, I admit I wondered the same thing myself when I saw that blast. You can view the Youtube eyewitness video of the massive explosion, here, and/or search Youtube for other angles to view. When I saw how large that explosion was, like McTernan, I wondered, “Is this it?”

I was reading Zechariah last night, tears coming to my eyes at the sweep and scope of the LORD’S work upon the earth. We often settle into reading the same chapters which point to last days prophecy- Matthew 24, Revelation, Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38 & 39, and Isaiah 17 and 19. But the bible holds so much more, of course. Obadiah is interesting, if difficult. Zechariah enhances Revelation, being an almost parallel. Ezekiel 40-48 gloriously describe the Millennium kingdom. The last third of Isaiah points to Israel’s restoration. And so on. Don’t be afraid to branch out in reading Old Testament passages from the major and minor prophets. The Lord is great to behold, no matter what passage you read and no matter how much or how little one understands it at the time. Continual reading opens the passageways of understanding. And don’t forget Peter, Paul, Jude and other NT writers had stuff to say about the last days, too. So don’t get stuck in a rut, read, read, read- widely and often!

death, sin, spirit

One sin feels lonely

Posted on May 6, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Sin always brings destruction and death. Even if you are a Christian, especially if you are a Christian, you are not immune to sin’s temptations nor its effects. Satan will tempt you and tempt you. Jesus paid the price for the penalty of our sin on the cross. After His resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us resist sin. But we still battle it.

The bible tells us to kill sin. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” In other words,

“If ye do not kill sin, it will kill you.”

As believers, we cannot lose our place in heaven due to sin, because Jesus took them unto Himself, but we lose our rewards. 1 Corinthians 3:15 says, “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Due to the nature of sin, I like to say ‘one sin feels lonely.’ In his book “Surviving in an Angry World”, Charles Stanley writes about anger’s link to other emotions. He takes the one sin of anger, and shows how it has a way with linking to other emotions, which become actions. He wrote for example, anger + hatred = rage. Yet the bible says be angry and do not sin, not letting the sun go down on your anger. (Ephesians 4:26-27). The reason is that this gives the devil a foothold. Another example is anger + resentment = retribution. Yet the bible says ‘vengeance is Mine sayeth the LORD. ‘(Romans 12:9).

Sin is a snare that captures evildoers (Proverbs 29:6). It can happen before you know it. Jesus said that anger in your heart is like murdering in fact, both are sins. What He was saying is that sins begin in the heart, then land on the mouth and once a person gives voice to it, it becomes action. In Good News Club we always used to say that we hope the Lord will be pleased with everything we “think, say, and do.” Because that is the progression of sweet aromatic actions that please the Lord, and that is the same trajectory of sinful actions that displease the Lord.

Let’s say a man is daydreaming salacious thoughts about a female co-worker. His wife sees his pleased, daydreamy look and says, “What are you thinking about?” The man of course can’t say “Another woman” so he says “My golf score last week.” So he adds lying to lust and two sins are born. Then let’s say he does not stop those thoughts and they turn to action. He says to his wife that he is running to the store for milk, and he takes the long way so he can drive by her house. His wife says “What took you so long?” and he says that he stopped to chat with a friend he ran into. Now he has added collusion + deception to his cadre of the sins of lust and lying. They are piling up fast. The final stage is when he flirts with the woman, taking his thoughts and words to action. We have a messy pile of ugly sins now, and one sin doesn’t feel lonely any more.

In the Garden, in Genesis 3, we see that disobedience was born and then right after, blame, shame, and arguing. It did not take long to open the door to a nasty pile of sins in Adam and Eve.

By the time you see a pattern of sin emerge in a person, you can bet that there are other sins alongside it. Like this iceberg.

Though the sins one sees in a person outside themselves may seem small, the heart is holding a huge pile of sins under the surface.

The Lord gave us the Holy Spirit to help us kill sin. Would you rather deal with a mountain, or a molehill? Molehill of course. Nobody likes to climb Everest when you can simply step over an anthill. Or trap a little fox as opposed to shooting big bad wolf. (Song of Solomon 2:15). No pile of sins are too big for our gracious Lord to handle. He already forgave them at the cross. But please do not let them grow in you. The bigger the mountain of sins in you, the more people are hurt when your sin is finally revealed. Sin has effects on you and on those around you, too.

If you repent, the Spirit will help you in the Lord’s power to resist the sinful inclinations of man. Pray to Him for help in repenting and resisting sin, as soon as it comes to mind.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

(Ephesians 5:11)

And always remember, it was an iceberg that sank the Titanic.

discipline, pastor, plagiarism, sermon

Preaching hollow words: when pastors plagiarize

Posted on May 5, 2013 by elizabethprata

Today, the deacons revealed to our congregation that our pastor was asked to resign for plagiarism.

I’m heartbroken.

But I am also joyful.

This is a story of the faithfulness of Jesus and His concern over His church, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in how He operates in giving gifts and working among the people. It is a praise to the Lord for the way He set up the church and the checks & balances that are in His word.

People, the process works.

So what happened? For many years, he had been downloading sermons from the internet, memorizing them, and passing them off as his own work. I’m not talking about plagiarizing an outline. I’m not talking some research lifted from one sermon and used in his own sermon. I am talking mirror image, page for page, word for word ripoff. For these last few years, his entire preaching ministry was an act.

IS PLAGIARISM A SIN? OR JUST A HELPFUL AID TO BUSY PASTORS?

Plagiarism is an act where a person takes credit for another person’s work. It doesn’t have to be illegally obtained, like stolen words or infringed copyright. It can be, but depressingly often these days, sermons are purchased from websites where the pastor or person who owns the website sells them, like Charles Stanley, for example. Rick Warren also offers sermons. There are sites like sermoncentral.com, pastors.com, sermonspice.com, and desperatepreacher.com where you buy them. The practice has become so widespread that 7 years ago, the Wall Street Journal wrote about sermon plagiarism, saying,

“That Sermon You Heard on Sunday May Be From the Web”
“The widespread buying of packaged wisdom has touched off a debate about ethics, especially after incidents in which pastors have resigned over plagiarism allegations. Some members of the clergy say sermon sales diminish religious oratory and undermine both scholarship and the trust between ministers and their flocks.”

“Every minister owes his congregation a fresh act of interpretation,” says Thomas G. Long, a preaching professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. “To play easy with the truth, to be deceptive about where the ideas come from, is a lie.”

Since 2006, plagiarism in the pulpit has exploded into something that is commonly done. It’s become so ingrained in Christendom, particularly in western countries, that there are even discussions now as to whether plagiarism even IS a sin. We read of excuses like Rick Warren’s, who said, “other pastors’ sermons fed my soul – and eased my preparation! we’re all on the same team. Let’s help each other out…”

Unequivocally, plagiarism, in any sphere or any form, academic, professional, or pastoral, is a sin. Period. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. Jer. 23:30

The fact that these websites flourish is an indicator of deep rottenness at the heart of our faith. To use sermons from Warren or Stanley or desperatepreacher.com is a sin of omission because your flock believes you have done the work of creating a unique message from the Spirit designed specifically to meet a local congregation’s spiritual needs, when it is actually someone else’s work, and you do not correct them. Whether the originating pastor gives you permission to use his work is beside the point, though it does add stealing to cheating when a pastor takes a sermon without paying for it or without the original pastor’s permission.

Some pastors make the issue an even deeper sin by not just letting their flock believe he created the sermon, but purposely says that he created it. The first is a sin of omission, the latter is a sin of commission. He might say, “This week as I was preparing …” or, “As I was researching for this message…”.

It does get even worse. In the ugliest sin of all in the plagiarizing sphere, some pastors use the same anecdote as the original pastor did, but change all the pronouns to “I” and spoke it as if he has lived the anecdote himself.

As DA Carson says of this all too common practice, “re-telling personal experiences as if they were yours when they were not makes the offense all the uglier. Make no mistake, plagiarism in the pulpit is an offense, both to Jesus and to the sheep who are supposed to be feeding on His word.”

How terrible to be following an under-shepherd who leads the Lord’s sheep to green pastures, only for the sheep to discover that the grass he is feeding them is astroturf.

CON MEN

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence. The people who perform these scams are confidence men, or con men.

Though it pains me to say it, a pastor who is dwelling in a permanent pattern of plagiarism is a con man. They are in a position of trust with Jesus as the called under-shepherd, and in a position of trust with the members of their flock as an approved workman to feed them. The act of plagiarizing sermons is a trick, a sleight of hand that can only be called fraud. The bible calls men like these impostors and deceivers (2 Timothy 3:13). Trust is destroyed in an instant.

As John MacArthur said in his sermon “Should fallen pastors be restored?“, “Trust forfeited is not so easily regained. Once purity is sacrificed, the ability to lead by example is lost forever. As my friend Chuck Swindoll once commented when referring to this issue–it takes only one pin to burst a balloon.”

Often, a pastor who plagiarizes initially may have had a good intention, but as the Christian Index reported in 2006, one misstep can lead to disaster–

One misstep can be disastrous. Consider the case earlier this year of a mid-Georgia pastor who was struggling under stress of personal problems and had trouble focusing on weekly sermon preparation. Over a six-week period he preached several sermons verbatim without giving attribution. When confronted he confessed and shared his problems and asked forgiveness from the church. It was not an act of laziness but pure survival, he maintained, trying to hold his ministry together in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. While the church apparently extended the forgiveness, the pastor did feel his ministry had been severely damaged and resigned from the church.

MacArthur concluded his sermon, he said, “What should you do in the current crisis? Pray for your church’s leaders. Keep them accountable. Encourage them. Let them know you are following their godly example. Understand that they are not perfect, but continue nonetheless to call them to the highest level of godliness and purity. The church must have leaders who are genuinely above reproach.”

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

What is the biblical stance on plagiarizing?

The wonderful bible does cover this, directly and indirectly. In Jeremiah 23:30 we directly read of how the LORD feels about stolen words:

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD,

who steal my words from one another.

Barnes Notes says of the verse, which is embedded in a longer treatise about how false prophets operate,
“Jeremiah gives in succession the main characteristics of the teaching of the false prophets. The first is that they steal God’s words from one another. Having no message from God, they try to imitate the true prophets.”

Clark’s Exposition says, “Three cases are mentioned here which excited God’s disapprobation:, first, The prophets who stole the word from their neighbor; who associated with the true prophets, got some intelligence from them, and then went and published it as a revelation which themselves had received, Jeremiah 23:30.”

Though a modern day pastor is not a prophet of old who exhorted the Word of the LORD from direct revelation, he still is a type of prophet, because he is exhorting the word of the Lord delivered via the bible and understood via the Spirit.

The LORD is against this practice of stealing words from one another. AGAINST! Anything the Lord is against, I am against also. It is that simple.

In addition to the Jeremiah verse which speaks directly to stealing the Lord’s words, we read a simple commandment in Exodus 20:15, Thou Shalt not steal. Taking someone else’s words and using them as your own is stealing. A pastor doing this is also blasphemy. (Blasphemy: To blaspheme is to speak with contempt about God or to be defiantly irreverent.)

Further, the bible speaks to deceit. Purposely intimating or explicitly stating a sermon is your own when it is not, and pretending another person’s life story is yours when it is not, is deceit. The bible speaks much to deceit and lies.

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish. (Proverbs 19:9)
You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. (Leviticus 19:11)
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29)
Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; (Colossians 3:9)

And so on.

None of us who believe in the Lord want to sin. We know we are going to. The key is to repent immediately so that we can get back into right relationship with Him. However, the consequences are even higher for pastors/elders, (and deacons) because the bible endows them with special responsibility, and outlines explicit qualifications for their office. I refer to Titus 1:5-9 for pastors.

As John MacArthur summarized, “Its requirements are faultless character, spiritual maturity, a willingness to serve humbly and a skill in teaching.” 1 Timothy 3:1-7 also lists qualifications for overseer/elder/pastor (terms used interchangeably) and again the first one is to be “above reproach”. All other characteristics listed that go to qualifying a pastor for service to lead a flock stem from that overarching quality: faultless, above reproach.”

Obviously any pastor who plagiarizes is no longer faultless nor above reproach. MacArthur continues,

“Pastors must take great care to remain above reproach for several reasons. First, they are the special targets of Satan, and he will assault them with more severe temptation than others. Those on the front lines of the spiritual battle will bear the brunt of satanic opposition.”

“Second, their fall has a greater potential for harm. Satan knows that when a shepherd falls, the effect on the sheep is devastating.”

“Third, leaders’ greater knowledge of the truth, and accountability to live it, brings greater chastening when they sin.”

“Fourth, elders’ sins are more hypocritical than others’ because they preach against the very sins they commit.”

What happens when a sin like that goes undetected, or unaddressed if detected? First, it gives the pulpit over to satan. Sin is his playground. If he has the pulpit he has a voice in the church. He will use that prime position to secretly introduce destructive doctrines. (2 Peter 2:1). What could be better than a sinning pastor to accomplish that?

Barnes explains how this secret introduction of false doctrines is accomplished-

“They would not at first make an open avowal of their doctrines, but would, in fact, while their teachings seemed to be in accordance with truth, covertly maintain opinions which would sap the very foundations of religion. The Greek word here used, and which is rendered “who privily shall bring in,” (παρεισάγω pareisagō,) means properly “to lead in by the side of others; to lead in along with others.” Nothing could better express the usual way in which error is introduced. It is “by the side,” or “along with,” other doctrines which are true; that is, while the mind is turned mainly to other subjects, and is off its guard, gently and silently to lay down some principle, which, being admitted, would lead to the error, or from which the error would follow as a natural consequence.”

Left unaddressed, things will only get worse over time. The thief comes to steal, kill, destroy. (John 10:10a). Therefore any gross, disqualifying sin discovered in a pastor or leader must be addressed!

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

What should be done if plagiarism, or another ethical or a moral sin surfaces in your pastor?

The wonderful Lord put processes and standards and gifts in place. This is why it is so important to have been abiding by them all along, so when satan comes, and he will, (2 Peter 2:1, Matthew 7:15), your church will have a vigor that’s inherent in your church already. To resist the devil, you need the Lord’s strength, and that strength includes adherence to His statutes. In other words, obedience is your foundation.

Some of these standards include having men only as elders and pastors. Having deacons who fit the biblical qualifications of the office. Church discipline process is given importance and exercised when necessary. Overall, issues of church governance appear in Acts and pastoral instructions are given in the epistles to Timothy and Titus. Follow those!

If your church has strayed from the biblical polity as given, then start now in strengthening it. A bridge with foam buttresses will not stand. No matter how strong the bridge is, it needs that solid infrastructure to withstand the rushing flood of waters satan sends against it.

How about the people of the congregation? Does the church practice discipline? Bible.org states, “The discipline of the church is first patterned after the fact that the Lord Himself disciplines His children (Heb. 12:6) and, as a father delegates part of the discipline of the children to the mother, so the Lord has delegated the discipline of the church family to the church itself (1 Cor. 5:12-13; 2 Cor. 2:6).”

Church discipline nurtures all involved, whether to restoration or to discipline. (Hebrews 12:11).

In other words, does your church structure fit the outlines we’re given in the bible? Having vigor in those areas is like an athlete who strengthens his muscles to prepare for the race. You cannot expect to run a marathon if you have not been preparing for it!

Next, does your church honor the gifts of the spirit? All of the gifts? The Spirit sends people to your church with certain gifts that will meld and coalesce in a way that He knows you need now and will need in the future. Often, the gift of discerning of spirits is misunderstood, ignored, or maligned. Sometimes justifiably so. There are nuts out there who believe there is a demon behind every tree and that you got that hangnail because you have a spirit of hairballs. Use your gift and honor the gifts of others. It is for the common good, after all! (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
Plagiarism has been a problem in the world for centuries. It is defined as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own.” A truly humble person with real integrity will avoid plagiarism, and that was true of Paul. He never displayed a willingness to take credit for others’ labors. ~John MacArthur.
WHAT HAPPENS IF PLAGIARISM IS ADDRESSED BADLY?

I’ve spoken of what happens if a church addresses plagiarism correctly, and if a church fails to address it. The third possibility is it is ignored or addressed badly, it leaves the church vulnerable.

It leaves the church powerless and without the Spirit.

Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932) was a Wesleyan Methodist minister. ordained in 1890. Rev Chadwick said in a sermon called The Tragedy of a Powerless Church“

“The Holy Spirit is the active, administrative Agent of the glorified Son. He is the Paraclete, the Deputy, the acting Representative of the Ascended Christ. His mission is to glorify Christ by perpetuating His character, establishing His Kingdom and accomplishing His redeeming purpose in the world. The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He fills the Body, directs its movements, controls its members, inspires its wisdom, supplies its strength. He guides into the truth, sanctifies its agents, and empowers for witnessing.”

“It is possible to excel in mechanics and fail in dynamics. There is a superabundance of machinery. What is wanting is power. To run an organization needs no God. Man can supply the energy and enterprise for things human. The real work of a church depends upon the power of the Spirit.”

If you are in a church where an ethical or moral failing has been uncovered in a pastor or elder, take heart. The loving Savior cares more for His church than all of us combined! He loves us and wants his trophies of grace to be strong and beautiful for His name. He is intimately involved in His church! We are His Bride. There’s comfort in clinging to that. Also, He sent His word via the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and His designated Apostles and writers. His word contained warnings and prophecies, including warnings that false pastors or leaders will come. How wonderful that He told us ahead of time so we can be prepared. Prophecy is a true word, so if it comes to pass we can praise the Lord who knows the end from the beginning. (2 Peter 1:19; Isaiah 46:10).

If you have elected Godly deacons, then how to address this issue will become known to them, no matter the specifics of your particular denomination’s constitution or bylaws. Jesus is involved, and He sends His Spirit to endow these men with wisdom of what to do. Pray for them and trust them.

Jesus sends His Spirit to operate in and activate Christ’s power! His gifts meld together in a beautiful way to ignite glory for the Father. To avoid a powerless church, then acknowledge who is the Head of it. (Revelation 3:20). We worship the risen Christ, not a man, no matter how loved or popular or how long his tenure has been in your church. Be a praying church, a submitting church, a gifted church, an obedient church. How wonderful and beautiful is the Holy Spirit who points to Jesus always, and who multiplies HIS church-

“Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.” (Acts 9:31).

————————
Of Related Interest,

Discernment lesson: The Sin of Inaction

Where is the righteous indignation? The holy anger?