Posted in Uncategorized

Joel Osteen and Jesus are mutually exclusive

Posted on by elizabethprata

A few weeks ago, the Spirit began pricking me over Joel Osteen. I’ve written about him many times and in fact I thought it was obvious that Osteen is a false teacher who brings a different gospel and I moved on to other discernment topics. But in the last few weeks, I’ve prepared in draft several blog essays about him, aggravated in my spirit over this man’s teachings but not feeling the go-ahead from the Holy Spirit yet.

Then in the last few days I have had some conversations about Joel Osteen. More than a few people have said to me, “Oh, I like Joel Osteen.” And now the news that Osteen was one of the paid consultants to the  producers of the History Channel’s mini-series, “The Bible”, my mind and heart went “Aha!”

Osteen has been successful to insert his erroneous theology into our faith. But it is not enough for me to say “He is wrong,” I need to offer you some examples of how or why as talking points so that when you have conversations yourself about the man, you can use them, as will I. I give these to you as food for thought, because right now if you like Joel Osteen, I am contending for you in the faith.

Osteen’s appeal is always the same as satan’s. What satan offered Eve in the garden, Osteen offers us today. The danger of a man like Osteen, who in fact was raised up as our judgment, is that not ALL he teaches is wrong. Not ALL of it is totally off. He has successfully melded false and true in a seamless way that the tickled ears often has a hard time discerning.

What did satan offer to Eve? Health, wealth, god-hood, success, and prosperity.

“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.” 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 3:4-6a)

What Joel Osteen preaches is the same, including that we are little gods. Here is how.

In a sermon from Lakewood, Osteen was speaking as to how much our words have power over God. He fleshed this concept out in his recent book, “I Declare”. In this pulpit example, Osteen is talking about the power of our words, and gave a ‘biblical example’ of Zechariah as the angel prophesied to him that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to birth the Messiah’s forerunner, John the Baptist. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel, and God shut Zechariah’s mouth. Osteen explained why God did this:

“See, God knows the power of our words. He knows we prophesy our future, and He knew Zechariah’s own negative words would stop His plan.”

Quote. Unquote.

“Osteen is giving more power to the creature — us — than to the Creator. As sons and daughters of God, we reflect the communicable attributes of God, such as love and intelligence, but we don’t reflect His incommunicable attributes, such as omnipotence. Our words don’t contain any magical power that can upset God’s plans.” (source)

Osteen has no knowledge of the sovereignty of God, but preaches that we are in fact in control of Him, and we are in fact in control of our lives, and thus, He is not in control of the universe. If He is not in control of the universe, He is not sovereign.

These kind of preachers do not know the real God and His sovereign will. He hates God, because he continually masks Him from his followers. As a matter of fact, Osteen declared his intention to hide the God of the universe from his followers in this quote from an interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien:

“She then said, “When you say homosexuality is a sin and there’s a bunch of people who clearly are gay in your church. You’re calling them sinners. I mean, that’s the opposite of uplifting, I would think.” She established the perfect platform for Osteen to respond with the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he did not. “Well, Soledad, I don’t necessarily focus on that. I only talk about that in interviews,” he said.” (read more here on Osteen from Al Mohler). Refusing to preach sin, masks God and dilutes the necessity for Jesus.

Other examples of Osteen’s preaching that is directly contrary to God’s word:

He has said, “99.9% of people are good people, they just make bad decisions.” You veritably heard Osteen’s voice saying the same thing through Noah’s narration in the recent mini-series segment from the History Channel called ‘The Bible’. Osteen was listed as one of the paid bible consultants for the series. You heard the same theme bad choices, bad decisions theme, when Noah said the reason for the flood was “Wrong choices, wrong decisions, that’s why this [the flood] is happening.” Osteen brought us from the biblical presentation of man as totally corrupt and evil continually (Genesis 6:5), to, “oops, bad choice,” like it was a decision between sauerkraut or no sauerkraut on your hot dog. Saturating sin and total depravity is not a mistake, it is a condition.

Osteen minimizes sin and the necessity for Jesus and instead preaches using the bible as a ‘how to get through life manual’ rather than instruction as to the revelation of who God is. He says, “What I do,” evangelist Joel Osteen told CNN’s Larry King in 2005, “is just try to teach practical principles. I may not bring the Scripture in until the end of my sermon, and I don’t feel bad about that.”

Yet Romans 3:12 states there is none good, no, not one. I can give a statistic, 100.00% of people are bad. You are bad. I am bad. Yet Osteen’s constant preaching that we are essentially good people undermines the necessity for Jesus to go to the cross. If we are essentially good, that we just make bad decisions, then we have the power in our selves to change that by speaking words, therefore we do not need Jesus.We just need to shape up a little. In Osteen’s world, all we need is to adjust our athletic cup or fix our slip, and we’re good to go. Ahhh, that’s better. But the adjustments he tells us to make are all minor, external and end up just being whitewash on the tomb. (Matthew 23:27).

Look how pretty and white! Oops, they’re still dead, though…

Osteen’s job as pastor IS to preach scripture, not just as a footnote but as the entire reason for being. What are pastors supposed to do? Give us a pep talk on how to avoid negative thoughts and get a good parking place at the mall? (as stated in Your Best Life Now). No.

“[W]hat then are pastors supposed to do? Quite simply, they are called to equip the holy believers to do all those things (see Eph. 4:11-12). They are called to teach those holy believers to obey all of Christ’s commandments (see Matt. 28:19-20) by precept and example (see 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:12-13; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:16-4:4; 1Pet. 5:1-4).

Scripture couldn’t make this clearer. The biblical role of the pastor is not to gather as many people as possible at Sunday-morning church services. It is to “present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28). Biblical pastors don’t tickle peoples’ ears (see 2 Tim. 4:3); they teach, train, exhort, admonish, correct, reprove and rebuke, all based on God’s Word (see 2 Tim. 3:16-4:4).”

Comparing these qualifications with those that are often listed by institutional churches that are searching for a new pastor reveals the primary problem with so many churches. They are looking for an employee manager/entertainer/short-speech-giver/administrator/ psychologist/activities and program director/fund-raiser/friend-of-everyone/work horse. They want someone to “run the ministry of the church.” The biblical overseer, however, above all else must be a man of great character and commitment to Christ, a true servant, because his goal is to reproduce himself. He must be able to say to his flock, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). (source)

John MacArthur also wrote an introduction to a new blog series on The Role of the Pastor.

Osteen has also said–

“Hindus love God. I’ve seen their sincerity.” Larry King live, 2005, and many times afterwards. Yet, Hindus do not know God. No matter how sincere a person is, if they do not have the Son, they do not have the Father. (1 John 2:23). Yes, look how sincere this Hindu is worshiping idols at his home shrine.

Osteen has said that Mormons are Christians. “The Texas pastor did say that the Mormon faith was “not traditional Christianity,” but that Mormonism still falls under the umbrella of Christian tenets. “Mormonism is a little different, but I still see them as brothers in Christ,” said Osteen.

Yet Mormonism teaches that God used to be a man on another planet.

Osteen has said- “I know when Victoria and I used to travel with my father overseas, a lot of times we would go over a few days early, and it was amazing how many times we would get upgraded to first class. When I’d go up to that counter I’d kid with Victoria and I’d say ‘Watch this! We’re going to get upgraded.’ And I’d go up there expecting to get preferential treatment. I’d go up there knowing that I have an advantage, I’ve got the favor of God….when I’d go up there I’d just smile real big and be real friendly and that whole time under my breath I’d be saying ‘Father, I thank you that I have your favor. I thank you that you’re causing me to stand out in the crowd. I thank you that your light is shining down on me.’ And Victoria will tell you time after time, for no reason at all, they’d bump us up to first class. See, that’s the favor of God… That’s God’s favor giving us preferential treatment.”

Does that sound like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, or what?! “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

Worst of all- Osteen denies the exclusivity of Jesus: saying in January of this year-

“Well, I believe Oprah that there, I believe that Jesus is the way to the one God, but there are many paths to Jesus.” He has said many times on Larry King & other places that Jesus may not be the only way. Many times.

Osteen’s Prosperity theology is a cauldron of cultish doctrines that have been cloaked in Christian terminology so it will fly in under spiritual radars. Osteen and preachers like him are not wrong on just minor theological differences, they are wrong on many of the fundamentals of the faith. It is not a matter of style or delivery or segment of ministry. It is about satan versus Jesus, wrong doctrine vs truth.

I hope these quotes and facts open your eyes to the fact that Osteen is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Satan is subtle, he is not going to come in with a pitchfork and all ugly. He will smilingly lead you to hell. Osteen sows corruption (Galatians 5:9) & confusion but God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Cor 14:33). Osteen is the very definition of this verse:

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3)

Look at his book covers. It’s obvious who Osteen cares about most.

Can you watch a preacher who teaches the unwary that our words are more powerful than God’s plan? That we have the power to declare and create over our own lives? That Jesus is not the only way and that Mormons and Hindus if they are sincere, will also attain heaven? That your best life is now? Are you are essentially saying to Jesus that you disagree with Him and agree with Osteen that you will trade health, wealth, prosperity, and success as your best life now? Yet Jesus offers so much more. Osteen’s Jesus only offers us sin for a season – but Jesus offers eternal life. The two are mutually exclusive.

Posted in ethiopian eunuch, faith, simon the magician

The Gospel: comparing Simon the Magician and the Ethiopian Eunuch

Posted on by elizabethprata

Jesus said that the Gospel when it goes out, will fall on varying kinds of ground. (Mark 4:3-9). The seed falls on rocky ground, thorny ground, hard ground, and good ground. Only in the good ground does the seed sprout and bear grain.

In Acts 8 we see two men receive the Gospel, and each had a heart that was different kind of ground.

Simon the Magician

“But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.” (Acts 8:9-13)

“Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” (Acts 8:19-23)

Believing by seeing

Simon said he himself was someone great. He was proud. He believed by seeing. (Acts 8:13). He tried to buy his way into the kingdom.

As a result, the Apostles told him his heart was not right before God. (Acts 8:21). That Simon was in bondage to iniquity. (Acts 8:23). They told Simon to repent. He did not repent, but only asked them to pray for him so that he could escape the consequences. (Acts 8:24). Just like Judas, who was seized with remorse but did not pray to God for forgiveness.

The Ethiopian Eunuch

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”e 38And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Believing by hearing

The Eunuch was humble, not saying he was someone great (although he really was, unlike Simon the Magician) but answering Philip by saying he did not understand the passage. He asked for guidance in understanding it. This is humility, and he loved the word. He believed by hearing. The Eunuch stood on God’s word, being baptized. The result was, he went on his way, rejoicing.

For one man, he was rebuked and in need of repentance, but refused to pray to God. He is like the “ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19)

In the other man, he stood on the Word of God and received it with gladness and in communion with the Holy Spirit. He is like the ground that is good, “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (Mark 4:20).

Seeing is not believing. Hearing is believing.

Posted in history channel, the bible

Why I am not watching History Channel’s "The Bible"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Part 2 here: “It sows error and confusion”

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

I am seeing a lot of tweets and other social media discussion about the debut of the History Channel’s presentation of the miniseries “The Bible.”

I am not going to be watching it. I will tell you why.

First, before watching, reading, attending, or in any way absorbing anything related to the bible, it is wise to look into the background of the people who prepared the material. In our day we have the internet to look into the doctrines of the people bringing us their message. Even in the first generation church, they have heard things about certain men who bring false doctrines and evil words. (Acts 9:13, Acts 15:24). So because we have the opportunity to be Bereans ahead of time, we are.

The people putting together this production adhere to false doctrines and do not know the truth.  As Erin Benziger wrote on her blog,

“Not only, then, were seeker-driven and Word Faith pastors such as Warren, Osteen and Jakes consulted, but others of questionable convictions like Erwin McManus, Craig Groeschel, Gabe Lyons, Samuel Rodriguez and others. Time and space prevent from examining here each of these names in depth. The producers of The Bible even have consulted with Tom Peterson, founder and president of Catholics Come Home. The inclusion of Peterson is most interesting when one considers that the Roman Catholic Church preaches a false and deceptive gospel, having anathematized the true gospel as found in Scripture. The official Board of Advisors for the miniseries also includes such troubling names as Richard Mouw and Miroslav Volf. One cannot help but wonder, with the consultation and input of so many differing theological views (albeit most of them liberal), can this production actually be an accurate representation of inspired Scripture? Having viewed an extended preview (50 minutes in length) of the production, this writer would honestly like to ask the producers and consultants of this miniseries: Was the Bible itself consulted, or was this written using vague memories from stories learned in Sunday School years ago?”

Roma Downey, wife of producer Mark Burnett, plays Mary  in the mini-series, and was best known as the kind hearted angel on the long-running television program “Touched by an Angel.” However, Downey’s spiritual journey has taken a turn toward darkness. She openly embraces New Age and Mysticism. It is reported, “Roma also attends the University of Santa Monica, a private graduate school founded by New Age spiritual and self-help guru John-Roger, and will graduate with a master’s degree in spiritual psychology in June.”

She listens to and is influenced by New Age false doctrines such as Oprah-promoted Eckart Tolle and Tony Robbins, and as she says her husband claims, “‘My husband says I’m so self-realized I’m practically levitating.'”

Self-realized, but not sanctified. When she reaches for the actor playing Jesus, which Jesus is she reaching for? The Jesus of the bible, or the Gnostic/Mystical Jesus that Eckhart Tolle teaches?

With the crew behind the production seeming godly but denying its power, I wonder how much of the pure truth will be presented. Can truth spring forth clean and pure from a whitewashed tomb?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27)

Another reason to avoid this production is that the makers of the series admit to “dramatizing” the events, something that in the normal world is called “exaggerating” at the least and “lying” at worst. This is OK when dramatizing a story, but the bible is not story- it is truth. It is written, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2).

CNN Religion Blog reports, “They took many artistic liberties to compress the story lines while hoping to remain true to the story. A public relations manager for the project described the liberties to me as “extra-biblical but not contra-biblical.”

“Artistic liberties”? If your preacher took liberties with the bible the deacons would be having a conversation with him on Monday morning. “Hoping” to remain true? That means they know they already aren’t.

Ultimately, if it is extra-biblical, it is against the bible. Anything from outside the bible and inserted in, is false because it is not from God. (2 Timothy 3:16). If it is not from the bible, it is from man. Man’s philosophy is called “hollow and deceptive” according to Colossians 2:8.

Third, I’d expect the liberal New York Times to give the mini-series a pan on the basis of it being religious, but that is not the total reason. Here is part of their reasoning:

“In this heavy-handed treatment, having Jesus born in a manger is not enough; the arrival also has to occur during what looks like a typhoon. Because why have a moderate amount of hardship when you can have an excess of it? … The feelings behind the series may be sincere — Ms. Downey has said that she and her husband “felt called to do this” — but the approach here actually shows a lack of faith in the power of the biblical stories.”

“This doesn’t serve the source material — so rich in interconnections across time — very well, and it doesn’t make for very involving television. Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and the other great biblical figures aren’t really developed in a way that illuminates them or makes them linger in our minds; they are simply called forth to perform a set piece or two. It’s like a trip through a Christian theme park. “Next stop on the tour, ladies and gentlemen: the Noah’s ark tableau, followed by the Daniel in the lion’s den diorama.”

In other words, no only has the source material been manipulated, the results aren’t even that compelling, despite the dramatizations. It isn’t even good tv.

Should we be grateful anyway that such a production offers us an opportunity?

Patheos acknowledges the problems with the way the bible was handled and presented in their piece, History Channel’s ‘The Bible’- Less Filling, Tastes Great’, but they urge us to compromise. “So perhaps in this Lenten and Easter season we may be thankful for any conversation starter, however cheesy, that may give us a chance to have a richer discussion about the Bible and its riches.”

Well, is Jesus a crumb and an afterthought that we are willing to grab onto because the world finally allows a sliver of a conversation about Him – on their terms? No. Did Paul say, ‘well that slave girl is possessed of the devil but at least she is saying the right things. I think I’ll use her as a conversation starter’? No. By the power of the Holy Spirit he ordered the demon to come out of her and he went on presenting the Gospel purely and unadulterated by any compromise (Acts 20:27). The Holy Spirit does not need the devil’s help.

One thing that may help, is to imagine yourself on the couch watching the ‘dramatization’ of His life and His word with that big logo of the “H” on the screen, and Jesus was sitting next to you on the couch. In that case, would watching the show be edifying? Jesus-exalting? Well, the Spirit is in you, present with you always, and if you watch with your spouse then where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there also. (Matthew 18:20). So He will be with you while you watch it. How will you explain the compromise when you give an account for everything? (Romans 14:12).

Remember, this is the same channel that says evolution is truth and the big bang caused everything to come into existence from nothing. That happily teaches our children that dinosaurs roamed millions of years ago, and that archaeological data recorded through fossil dating is scientifically accurate.

There may be some people in your sphere who do watch the series, and may indeed come to you with questions. I’d take the time, rather than spend it putting something vile before your eyes, (Psalm 101:3) to instead brush up on the parts of the bible that the Spirit leads you to. Use the bible itself to witness, not a flawed and corrupt whitewashed tomb. Use the Word from the resurrected Savior, delivered by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Take the hours you’d watch the mini-series to instead study John’s Gospel, or another section, Genesis 1 or Genesis 6 perhaps. Imagine how sanctifying that would be! :0 Then you’d really have some refreshed chops to speak to a person who asks you.

Psalm 119:3 says that the unrighteous walk in His ways- they do not compromise. If you know ahead of time that the people involved in the writing and scriptural oversight of this series are false, and the people acting in it are false, and you already know they messed with the word, can they really do the justice to the bible that you would want? Are you willing to absorb that?

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11)

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

Part 2 here: “It sows error and confusion”

Posted in bedroom, florida, tampa

FL man swallowed by sinkhole: "A loud crash, then nothing"

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wasn’t going to report on the man in Florida who was sleeping in his bed at 11:00 at night and was swallowed by a sinkhole that opened up under his bedroom. The hole swallowed all the bedroom furniture and the man. The only thing the brother found after he heard his sibling scream was a bit of the mattress sticking out.

Because after all, I’ve reported and reported on sinkholes over the years and how many times does one need to report on the phenomenon to have people understand that the very ground under our feet is not as solid as we think, but Jesus is the only solid rock?

But this event in Tampa yesterday is a bit unusual. For one thing, the house did not collapse, not even yet, a day later and the hole getting bigger. Second, the man disappeared in an instant. It is the first time I’ve really heard of a death that has resulted (Likely death, though hope is severely diminishing as the family waits for word). And the worst part of this terrible tragedy is the feeling of utter vulnerability. In bed we are undressed, unconscious and totally unable to defend or counteract what may happen. It is the one time in the day when we lay down and trust that we will wake up the next day.

Except for some people, they do not wake up. We are all unfortunately used to stories of home invasions with death through violence, or death through illness during the night. But this, this, seems beyond the pale.

Except it is not.

No man is guaranteed a tomorrow. This concept is encapsulated in the verses from James most explicitly:

Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain, (And yet ye cannot tell what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away.) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and if we live, we will do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.” (James 4:13-16 Geneva).

Every moment of our lives depend on God. This goes for the saved and the unsaved.

The ground under the house is a chasm, the man said. The officials are quoted as saying:

“Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, told the AP Friday that he “cannot tell you why it [the house] has not collapsed yet.” He added that the earth below was a “very large, very fluid mass.” “This is not your typical sinkhole,” Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill told the AP Friday. “This is a chasm. For that reason, we’re being very deliberate.”

I think of the chasm that is under every person. Jonathan Edwards spoke of it in his classic sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. I am not relating this to the man in the sinkhole, but to the fact of death coming to every person:

“The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.”

“The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. — That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.”

Whether the end comes because of a normal means or whether it comes eerily like the way described by Edwards, your end will come.

“As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him. For he knoweth whereof we be made: he remembereth that we are but dust. The days of man are as grass: as a flower of the field, so flourisheth he. For the wind goeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the loving kindness of the Lord endureth forever and ever upon them that fear him, and his righteousness upon children’s children,” (Psalm 103:13-17, 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

Man is frail. We do not go on forever, notwhithstanding our lengthening years via medicine and artificial means.

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever: and this is the word which is preached among you.”(1 Peter 1:24-25 1599 Geneva Bible)

The flesh shows the weakness of our nature.

If there is any message to be taken from the weird story of the man in the sinkhole it is that- we are going to die. Sometimes today, sometimes tomorrow. Sometimes in usual ways, sometimes in unusual ways. I wrote about that notion here- So many creative ways to die: the story of George Millet and the ink eraser.

So the ultimate point is, are we ready for eternity? Every person has one. We will live forever either in heaven with Jesus, or in hell without Him. When these weird things happen, or when a ‘celebrity’ dies (like Bonnie Franklin yesterday) the first thing I think of is “were they saved?” I hope the unfortunate man in the Florida house was saved. I hope that his grieving brother thinks on eternity now that it came to his house.

We know the Lord is everlasting,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.” (Psalm 41:13)

But we messed up the earth with sin-

“The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.” (Isaiah 24:5)

Therefore those who are not cleansed from sin will go into everlasting punishment. Those who are cleansed of sin through his grace, repentance and submission will go to everlasting peace-

[On Judgment Day] “Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, and say, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go into everlasting pain, and the righteous into life eternal.”

PLEASE PLEASE consider these things.

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold now the accepted time, behold now the day of salvation.”(2 Corinthians 6:2)

THAT is the lesson of the sinkhole.

Posted in armstrong and miller, days of Noah, little flowers

Potpourri for you: Armstrong and Miller, Days of Noah, The Seventies

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is a good article. It begins this way

Noah’s Neighbors & the Moral Barometer
By Dean T. Olson

One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded struck Japan in March 2011. It was so powerful that it moved the entire planet by shifting its axis over 6 inches and shoving Honshu, the main island of Japan, 13 feet to the east. The tremor was so violent that it actually sped up the rotation of the planet and shortened the length of that day. As one of the most powerful ever recorded, the Tohoku earthquake devastated the region and demolished the Fukushima nuclear plant leading to a deadly release of radioactivity. 18,000 people died or are missing. Fears of a meltdown of Japan’s nuclear power plants wrought by the damage from the quake spiked sales of iodine pills in America. At the same time, bloodshed and violence escalated in Libya and Syria and threatened to rend the shabby dictatorships across the Middle East. Meanwhile bees are mysteriously disappearing and frogs are mutating accompanied by massive die-offs of birds and fish at widely dispersed locations around the world. Mysterious sounds emanating from the heavens and the earth are reported worldwide. And the sale of doomsday bunkers continues to surge. What is going on?

I don’t know any more than you do. But I have some suspicions. To understand what is transpiring we may need to pull our Bibles from those dusty boxes in the attic. I don’t say that lightly because suggesting that we may be witnessing Biblical prophecy unfolding is to risk the sideways glances of friends and neighbors who assume that early onset dementia has blunted one’s faculties. Such prejudices are not without merit based on the folly of misguided date-setters and millenarians who perennially, and incorrectly, predict the end of world.

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

I liked this one too–

Prudent people will examine their faith
By Mike Gendron

Whenever I meet Roman Catholics, I ask them if they were born into the religion or if they choose it. Almost always they say they were born a Catholic.

I then ask, “Have you ever examined your faith with the Bible to see if it is true saving faith?” Almost always the answer is, “No.” coupled with various responses suggesting “the Catholic Church is the one true church” or “how can one billion Catholics be wrong?” These responses are very troubling when we consider that people can be wrong about a lot of things in this life and still survive, but if they are wrong about their eternal destiny, they will pay for that irreversible mistake forever and ever! The Lord Jesus said the gate to heaven is narrow and very few find it (Mat. 7:14). This is due in part because very few look for it. Instead they follow the masses on the broad road to destruction.

God’s Word says, “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps” (Proverbs 14:15). People who are lost in religion blindly accept what man says without testing their words with God’s Word.

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

How about a few thoughts on Music Worship?

Hey Church Musician, You’re Leading Worship Too!
by Stephen Miller

There are few things more confusing to me than watching a worship team standing on the platform, and seeing the face of a worship leader who has all of his being in engaged in worship of God. But then as I survey the rest of the team, I see a bass player with a too-cool-for-school scowl on his face or a guitar player with a sheepishly bewildered or bored look on his face. Or a keys player whose face is completely expressionless, glued to a sheet of music.

They are all worshiping the same God, right?

As believers, we are all leaders of worship. Whether standing on the platform or in the congregation, we are all collectively encouraging one another to enter into the kind of full heart, mind, soul and strength demonstration of adoration that our God desires.

This is magnified from the platform. As the privilege of influence increases, so does the responsibility of leadership. That is not confined to vocalists.

The “worship leader” is not the only one leading worship. Bass players… Keys players… Drummers… Guitarists… You’re leading worship too.

Here is a wonderful photo from the National Archives, series called “National Archives: Searching for the Seventies“

Caption: “Gasoline stations abandoned during the fuel crisis in winter of 1973–74 were sometimes used for other purposes. This station at Potlatch, Washington, west of Olympia, was turned into a religious meeting hall. Signs painted on the gas pumps proclaim ‘Fill up with the Holy Ghost . . . and Salvation.’ Potlatch, Washington, April 1974. (David Falconer/National Archives/Records of the Environmental Protection Agency”

Look at more photos from the 70s here.

Saw this on Challies. Armstrong & Miller is a satirical comedy sketch show on BBC One.

Posted in bible, inerrant, sola scriptura

Having a high view of scripture

Posted on by elizabethprata

Do you have a high view of scripture? I hope so! By ‘high view’ I mean do you believe it is the only authority, is the external authority of all things, given to us by God, is sufficient and is the final authority?

Today’s Christian community increasingly has a low view of scripture. They are led by feelings, mysticism, leadings and hints and intuitions. They are saying they’re receiving prophecy and revelation and hearing God in contemplative prayer. Let’s get back to the only word that we can stand on: the bible.

Athanasius, an early church father, wrote, “These are fountains of salvation, that they who thirst may be satisfied with the living words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these.”

Look at something interesting in Matthew 22.

“But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:29-32)

Did you notice something? Verse 31, a little nugget embedded in the flow: “have you not read what was said to you by God”? Here was Jesus standing before crowds, speaking directly to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. They were the lawyer’s lawyer, knowing the scriptures backwards and forwards so they could make rulings and interpretations. (Read more about the Sadducees here)

So there is Jesus, who is God, speaking truth day in and day out (because these Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes followed Jesus around and they knew what He was saying), and they questioned Jesus. Jesus did not respond by saying, “Didn’t you hear what I said last week?” No. Jesus referred them to scripture, saying, ‘did you not READ what was said’.

Jesus held a high view of scripture all His life. Remember what He told satan the three times in response to temptation, “It is written.”

Martin Luther said of feelings and leadings versus the Word,

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God–
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”

― Martin Luther

Ultimately, the bible is the Lord GOD’s final, authoritative proclamation. If you are tempted to go forward in worship or a decision or a mission based on a mystical experience of some kind such as a dream or a voice, then I ask, does God use His Word to accomplish His purposes, or not?

Posted in atonement, cross, jay bakker, rob bell

Harlem Shake is dead but at least questioning the atonement is still cool

Posted on by elizabethprata

It’s a little rough but gets the point across:

The Harlem Shake is the latest “craze” to sweep churches that preach an emergent, soft, different Gospel. Those churches engage in social justice on weekdays and re-gather on Sundays to have rock concerts, share what dreams and revelations Jesus sent them whilst sipping cappuccino and admiring the gauge in their nose. You get the idea. There is more here from CNN about the Harlem Shake from a secular point of view, but make no mistake, the shake is sweeping churches. They have to stay relevant you know.

What was encouraging was that the Node ‘Last Shake’ video was posted to Facebook by 19-year old friend of mine. Not all youths are under the sway of the cool pastors in skinny jeans! Hallelujah!

At the blog A Twisted Crown of Thorns this is posted: “These relentless overtures to make the church more hip or more culturally savvy are in themselves a danger to any church. They downgrade the gospel, make people seek excitements as vehicles for their silliness and pander after entertainment instead of seeking Christ as a Savior for their sins. These excitements are a judgement to any church. Believers come seeking for bread and to be fed and you offer them stones! Oh brood of vipers, and you call yourselves Christ-ian (Christ-like)!”

I’m studying for the Sunday School lesson, it is from John Stott’s “The Cross of Christ.” Pretty inspiring stuff. The cross never gets old, ya know?

Except when it does. I believe the study contained in our Sunday School quarterly is timely. The cross and Jesus as the substitutionary atonement, punished by taking the wrath of God for our sins, shedding His blood, is a doctrine that’s increasingly being denied.

Just last week Jay Bakker (son of Jim and Tammy Faye) denied the atonement in his book “Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed” following up his doubt about the atonement in an interview with The Christian Post. When CP asked him to clarify, Bakker said, “Yes I am definitely questioning the atonement.” (And yes, that thing on his lip is a honkin’ lip ring.)

One would think that there would be SOME hard and fast doctrines that people would not mess with. Like, Jesus as God. Or the Virgin Birth. Or, the Atonement. But these are exactly the ones that are under attack in the last few years. The atonement is being questioned and denied with increasing momentum. Besides Bakker, other notable people who question or deny the atonement these last 5 years have been people such as Reverend Jeffrey John, a Bishop of the Church of England, who called the doctrine “repulsive.” (Rev. John is gay, by the way).  Giles Fraser, a priest of the Church of England in London,  quickly followed up on John’s assertion by saying, “No, Jesus is not a blood sacrifice to appease a vicious God.”

On this side of the pond, in 2011 Rob Bell denied the atonement in his book “Love Wins,” itself a denial of hell. In case you are wont to say ‘Oh that’s just Rob Bell, some guy who doesn’t affect me,’ think again. Time magazine named him to its annual list of 100 most influential people in the world, after making him the cover story in April 2011. Bell founded Mars Hill church in Michigan and it was considered one of the fastest growing churches in America.

William P. Young denies the atonement. Who is he, you ask? He wrote “The Shack,” a book which spent two years on the NY Times bestseller list AND was given the Diamond Award of sales over 10 million copies by the Evangelical Christian Publisher’s Association!

Still think that the doctrine of the atonement is solid at your church? The influence of these men who deny it is pervasive. Did you read The Shack? You were affected by the denial of the atonement. Think on how many people you knew were reading it, offered it to you, or commented about how good it was. Another influence on denying the atonement. Think you’re unaffected by the likes of Bell or Bakker?  They have large congregations, who are media savvy and have or produce their own television shows. They spawn other men who become pastors. They have congregants who go out into the community and speak of the these ideas. They have members who move and take these ideas with them. They and their ideas are poison chaff, blowing in the wind and landing at your threshold.

Be warned: the doctrine of the atonement is being chipped away at from all compass points and no doubt in your sphere too.

Speaking of Bakker, he announced last week he is leaving Revolution Church NYC “to pursue other opportunities.” And in other exciting news, he wrote a book that is being published this week. He wrote on his website-

“In the coming months, after 6 years in Brooklyn, I will be moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have some exciting opportunities there and decided it was time for a fresh start. … [Sad that after only 6 years he feels stale…] My co-pastor, Vince Anderson, will remain on staff in his role as pastoral care minister and will continue to serve as a resource to the online community. He will be meeting with the local members here in Brooklyn, to determine how they would like to proceed. We believe that this time of transition will make for a more dynamic Revolution Church, and will help us focus and expand our scope and mission. Through this time, we ask for your continued support. Donations can be sent to our Brooklyn office, or online through Paypal. To support Revolution Church click HERE. On another note, my new book, “Faith, Doubt and Other Lines I’ve Crossed” is now out.”

I’ll sum it up: ‘I am restless, bored, and moving on, need time to tour for my book and make merchandise of you, don’t worry, the online stuff is still there because we have diluted worship to the point where ‘connecting’ in Jesus’ name means ‘liking’ the podcast, and don’t forget to DONATE DONATE DONATE. See ya, bye.’

He is going to start a Revolution church in MN. In case you don’t think that Revolution church, with its gay marriage affirming, atonement denying, liberal teachings is a big deal, there is a Revolution Church in Tuscon, Long Beach, Wilmington NC, Gainesville GA, Atlanta GA, NYC, Canton GA, Oakland TN…and the list goes on.

Anyway, the cross. The cross is central. Stott wrote, “Yet the enemies of the Gospel neither did nor do share this perspective. There is no greater cleavage between faith and unbelief than in their respective attitudes to the cross. … Why do we ‘cling to the old rugged cross’ and insist on its centrality, refusing to let it be pushed to the circumference of our message? Why must we proclaim the scandalous, and glory in the shameful? The answer lies in the single word integrity.  Christian integrity consists partly in a resolve to unmask the caricatures, but mostly in a personal loyalty to Jesus in whose mind the saving cross was central.”

Are you loyal to Jesus? Then you are loyal to the cross. Stay that way.

Posted in earthquake, end time, volcano

News round up: lots of quakes, terrible hatred in China, superbug worries CDC, culture creep

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Chinese and Japanese are still heightening their skirmishes over the Senkaku Islands. The Australian reported today on the Japan vs. China situation–

China-Japan dispute a powder keg, says US
“Territorial dispute over the small Senkaku island chain between Japan and China is a “powder keg”, according to the outgoing US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, Kurt Campbell. Mr Campbell linked the dispute to what he described as an increasingly difficult and dangerous environment for Australia, and the need for Canberra to maintain a realistic level of defence spending. “In four years as assistant secretary I’ve faced many difficult diplomatic situations,” Mr Campbell said in an exclusive interview with The Australian, “but none more difficult than this. “I’ve rarely seen diplomats on both sides (Japan and China) more white-knuckled, and on both sides the sense that no retreat or compromise is possible.”

This tense situation has wrought harsh feelings on both sides. This Chinese restaurant posted the following heinous sign:

Incendiary Beijing restaurant sign triggers online fury
“A sign at a Beijing restaurant barring citizens of nations involved in maritime disputes with China – along with dogs – has triggered a wave of online outrage among Vietnamese and Filipinos. The Beijing Snacks restaurant near the Forbidden City, a popular tourist spot, has posted a sign on its door reading “This shop does not receive the Japanese, the Philippines, the Vietnamese and dog(s).” Photographs of the controversial sign have gone viral in Vietnamese-language forums and featured heavily in Philippine newspapers and websites on Wednesday.”

We are used to seeing headlines like this one about the Jews: “Turkish Prime Minister says Zionism a “crime against humanity.’ ” The pile-on of races against races and tribes against tribes is just terrible, but prophetic. Jesus said in His Olivet Discourse that one of the conditions of the Tribulation will be that

“nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:7)

In the Greek, the words for kingdom against kingdom is ethnos against ethnos. Ethnos in the Greek means a race of people and usually refers to the Gentile world. It means a people group sharing a similar culture will be warring with each other.

I think it is interesting that though nations will rise against nations, at the very end, all nations will come together against Jesus. It seems that all Asian nations will unite and march across the Euphrates toward Jerusalem. (Revelation 16:12).

The end of the verse in Titus 3:3 says that people who were unsaved were “hated by others and hating one another.” That is how the unregenerate act. But in the last of the last days (in the Tribulation), it will be a true case of the old adage, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” By the time Revelation 16 comes, the entire world (save a remnant of believers) will be enemies of God. (Revelation 16:11).

In other news, there is something fundamentalists have been saying for a long time. We have been saying that since the homosexual lobby is working so hard to normalize their perversion, other sexual situations we take for granted as evil or wrong will also soon be normalized. Polygamy or triad marriages are creeping into the mainstream, for example. But people pooh-poohed the notion that any sane society could or would normalize pedophilia. Yet, it has begun, as this writer clearly points out:

In a piece published on January 25, 2013 in World Magazine: Christian News & Views says, “On Jan. 2 the respectable Guardian published an article, “Paedophilia: bringing dark desires to light.” The title choice is more prophetic than intended, calling to mind Isaiah’s “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). Below are excerpts, a case study in journalistic slouching toward Gomorrah.”

The article is excellent in the way is parses how the liberals are inching toward normalizing this most heinous act.

There were two 6M+ quakes today, a 6.1 in Vanuatu the and a 6.9 at the Kuril Islands. There has also been a series of quakes in Oklahoma and in Nevada. On the volcano front,

Hundreds of quakes shake villages around smoking Peruvian volcano
“Hundreds of small earthquakes have shaken the earth around the Sabancaya volcano in southern Peru over just a few days and the rumbling, along with plumes of smoke spewing up to 320 feet high, have put officials on alert to evacuate the area. Peru’s geological agency Ingemmet recorded some 536 quakes, about 20 an hour, on February 22 and 23 and periodic movement is ongoing.”

Geologist Erik Klemetti writes, “Earthquakes and Fumaroles as Unrest Hits Peru’s Sabancaya“
“The fumarolic activity at the summit is especially notable the new steam/gas plume reached over 100 meters over the volcano (although this can also be mitigated by weather conditions) — and closely followed the onset of the new seismicity.”

In terms of disease, the following warning by the Centers for Disease Control is kind of worrisome. I have been researching the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and that flu came out of nowhere and infected people at a rapid rate that is unbelievable considering the difficulty of travel and the length of time it took to get anywhere in those days. Just one day, suddenly, a new flu was born and two years later 500 million people were infected and 100 million of them were dead. Here is a news article about a superbug that the CDC is a little jittery about-

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is alerting clinicians of an emerging untreatable multidrug-resistant organism in the United States. There are many forms of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), but of the 37 forms reported in the U.S., 15 have been reported in less than a year. The CDC said the increase in CRE means health care providers need to “act aggressively to prevent the emergence and spread of these unusual CRE organisms.”

The CDC says, “Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a serious threat to public health. Infections with CRE are difficult to treat and have been associated with mortality rates as high as 40-50%(1). Due to the movement of patients throughout the healthcare system, if CRE are a problem in one facility, then typically they are a problem in other facilities in the region as well.”

These are but temporary problems that exist in artificial time on a temporary world. His word never fails and will never pass away. Let us praise Him as David did-

“When I am poor and in heaviness, thine help, O God, shall exalt me. I will praise the Name of God with a song, and magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than a young bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and they that seek God shall be glad, and your heart shall live. For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him: the seas and all that moveth in them. For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah, that men may dwell there and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.” (Psalm 69:29-36).

I hope you love His name. All His works are wondrous! What a privilege to live in these times.

Posted in cross, jesus, pope

(UPDATED) Pope declares he "is not coming down from the cross", said in 1969 that the Pope takes the place of the Lord

Posted on by elizabethprata

In his farewell speech today, Sky News reported that outgoing Pope Benedict said,

“Pope Benedict told the 50,000-strong crowd he was not “coming down from the Cross”, but would remain in the service of the Church through prayer.”

It is not a misprint.

The Papacy is an office whereupon the occupier of it sees himself as a substitute for Christ. That is what the name of the papal office “Vicar of Christ” means, substitute.

Lest one believe that it is a mis-translation, or that the Pope did not really mean it, let’s look at some of the Catholic Position Papers.

In the Catholic position paper titled the “Nature of the Papal Primacy” we read that

“In his chief ministry the Pope is obliged by the objective rules of faithfulness which derive from the revealed word of God, from the fundamental constitution of the Church and by Tradition.'[40] He has the necessary divine assistance to carry out his office. But this does not relieve him of a very grave responsibility before Christ whom God has appointed to judge everyone, alive or dead (Acts 10:42). It demands of the holder of the office of bishop of the Catholic Church humility, prudence and holiness and of the faithful continual prayer to God for the head of the Church on earth.”

“However, and this is important, on earth there is no external tribunal, neither in the Church nor in civil society to which one can appeal against his decisions. The Pope must look for advice, take the steps which prudence demands in the delicate function of governing the Church, listen to the opinion of his brother bishops, etc., but ‘the judgement of the apostolic See, whose authority is unsurpassed, is not subject to review by anyone, nor is anyone allowed to pass judgement on his decisions.”

“We reach here, perhaps, the nerve center of all teaching about the primacy. … ‘The relation of the primacy to Christ is not only historical-causal, but also actual-causal, for in the activity of the Pope Christ himself is audible and visible. Of the Pope it can truly be said: he acts in the person of Christ.’[42] With theological wisdom St. Catherine of Siena called the Pope the ‘gentle Christ on earth’ but at the same time, conscious of the moral responsibility of the Pope, she urged him to exercise with fortitude his ‘service of unity’ in the Church, that is to say, to be faithful to his most important mission.”

“The Pope,’ writes Cardinal Ratzinger, ‘is not just someone who speaks in the name of the bishops, a kind of mouthpiece they give themselves and which is there to do their bidding. The Pope is where he is, with a direct responsibility before God, to take the place of the Lord,”

You note the last paragraph, there is a quote by a young Cardinal Ratzinger, who we now know as Pope Benedict XVI, confirming what he said today in 2013 as he did in 1969 and as Catholic dogma states- the pope is in the place of Christ on earth. They really believe the pope is Christ audible and visible.

Over a billion Catholics are in spiritual bondage to this heinous religious system. There are many things they lack spiritually but I can think of three to address that we can point them to. First, we can point to Christ and the bible to help them overcome what it is they lack: knowledge of grace, assurance in their salvation, and trust in Jesus to fulfill all He has said.

~~~~~~GRACE~~~~~~

The simple truth at the center of a born again believer’s faith is surrounded by Grace- that Jesus descended from heaven, lived as fully man and fully God for 33 years, died on the cross as the lamb sacrifice for our sins (taking upon His shoulders the wrath of God), was buried and three days later rose again. This is the Gospel.

Any person who believes these facts, and confesses them, is saved. (Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8). It is a free gift of Christ due to His work on the cross.

The RCC has overlaid so much on top of these simple facts, and corrupted the Gospel so thoroughly, it is hard to untangle unless a person does one thing- looks at Christ. He is the giver of grace and it is grace through faith that you are saved. A struggling Catholic can be led to these verses and sermon on these verses.  More on Grace, defined and explained, here. Bible verses on Grace, here, and still others, here.

Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

One way to help a Catholic is to point them to grace. They need to be drenched in the facts of grace to cut through the demonic noise in their spirit. Share with them essays and sermons that speak of the Grace of God.

 ~~~~~~ASSURANCE~~~~~~

A Catholic has no assurance of their salvation. First, they are taught they need to work to maintain it. Salvation in the Catholic system is something you earn “by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life and to have truly merited eternal life.” (source)

It must be spiritually disquieting, to say the least, to know that they must rely on our own selves to attain or to maintain salvation- and to never know where you stand for sure. Committing a “mortal sin” constitutes a rupture in a person’s link to God and they become unsaved. It is the worst thing to happen, but there is a chance they can go to Purgatory after death for a period of time to have the mortal sin cleansed out of them. Purgatory is another made-up doctrine that provides a safety net as a last chance effort. Either way, a Catholic is never completely assured of entering heaven. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified”. The grace of God and the work of Jesus on the cross was not enough you see. The gap is supposed to be filled by the Catholic.

We not only have assurance, Jesus IS the assurance. Hebrews 11 is a record of that very thing, the assurance we have that is in us and that IS Christ.

Faith, hope, grace… Gills Exposition says- “And were persuaded of them, and embraced them; they had a full assurance of faith, that what was promised would be fulfilled; and they took a kind of possession of them before hand, as Abraham did of the land of Canaan, by sojourning in it; as did also Isaac and Jacob; and all of them by faith embraced the Messiah, and dealt with, and laid hold upon his blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and grace, by which they were saved, as New Testament saints are.”

Here is a video on the Divine guarantee of eternal salvation

Send them to verses which speak of assurance. Here is a page listing them.

~~~~~~TRUST~~~~~~

If you put faith in a man, no matter how many assurances he gives you, man will let you down. Popes die. Popes resign. Priests sin. Bishops fall. Trusting in a religious system will become a stumbling block. The born again believer’s faith is a relationship with the One who is perfect, loving, and steadfast in His promises. He cannot fail. However, since a Catholic is taught that the atonement of Jesus was not enough, it makes it hard to fully trust a savior who did not complete the work and left it to fallible man. It is one reason that Catholic dogma states that popes are infallible. But as we can see, they are.As a matter of fact, the Catholics install Mary as co-redemptrix, needing two saviors to get the job done. No, wait, three; Mary, Christ, and pope. No wait, four, Christ, Mary, Pope, and Catholic person working toward eternal reward.

And since unregenerated man populates the halls of the Vatican and on down through Cardinals, Bishops, and priests, they sin because they are under bondage to satan. We have seen, oh, how they sin. Scratch the veneer of holiness and the corruption will come out.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27).

How earth-shaking it must be for a Catholic to put trust in a system that depends on man, and then those very men are seen to be homosexuals, pedophiles, money-launderers, and much more. If they cannot trust an altar boy with a priest, how will they trust their everlasting soul to the Pope?

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1 NIV)

Solomon wrote words to the wise, saying “That your trust may be in the Lord,” (Proverbs 22:19). It is wise to trust the Lord! 

Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Help a Catholic whose world is rocked by misplaced trust in unregenerate men to once again turn to the Lord and trust Him. Once they see that the Lord never lets them down they can begin to renew their trust in their regenerated brethren.

Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur is writing a blog series of the facts of the heresies of the Roman Catholic Church. This is so that as the Pope and the RCC is in the news, we can witness clearly and with understanding of why and how the RCC is a false church. Here are the blog entries so far, in order–

A Timely Critique of the Catholic Church

Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: Grace vs. Works

The Pope and the Spirit of Antichrist

Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: The Pope

Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: Mary Worship

Each entry is concise and biblical. Please take a moment to review them, and see for yourself what the egregious errors are from this longest-running false church on earth are about.

You cal also read more here at Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry’s main page on Roman Catholicism.

This moment in time is an opportunity. Never before has the Catholic Church been so prevalent in discussion and in the news. People are listening, wondering. Our opportunity is that as ambassadors of Christ, we can be His light and share the truth.  We share the truth in love, that the RCC is false, and we share the Good news, that there is a way out- the simple Gospel of Grace.

Posted in bible, widows

Care of widows

Posted on by elizabethprata

The bible speaks a lot about widows. It speaks of orphans and the poor and oppressed, too, but this blog entry is about widows. (Left, LeMoyne engravings, Mourning Widows, 1500s)

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a compassionate, loving, detail oriented God. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9a). He knows each person on earth, and loves His believers fiercely.

In His book, the Holy Bible, there are so many verses which speak to how we are to treat those who are the vulnerable of society. In the Old Testament there are 56 verses about widows, and 26 verses in the New Testament. His care and attention to widows is tremendously beautiful.That is because widows had a rough, rough time.

“Words that occur in the general semantic field of the term “widow” in the Bible shed light on both her personal experience and social plight. Weeping (Job 27:15 ; Psalm 78:64), mourning (2 Sam 14:2), and desolation (Lam 1:1) describe her personal experience after the loss of her spouse. Poverty (Ruth 1:21 ; 1 Kings 17:7-12 ; Job 22:9) and indebtedness (2 Kings 4:1) were all too often descriptive of her financial situation, when the main source of her economic support, her husband, had perished. Indeed, she was frequently placed alongside the orphan and the landless immigrant (Exod 22:21-22 ; Deuteronomy 24:17 Deuteronomy 24:19 Deuteronomy 24:20-21) as representative of the poorest of the poor (Job 24:4 ; 29:12 ; 31:16 ; Isa 10:2) in the social structure of ancient Israel, as well as in the ancient Near East. With minimal, if any, inheritance rights, she was often in a “no-man’s land.” She had left her family, and with her husband’s death the bond between her and his family was tenuous.”

Huebner, Mourning Widow

“[T]the loss of a husband in ancient Israel was normally a social and economic tragedy. In a generally patriarchal culture, the death of a husband usually meant a type of cultural death as well. Although the denotation of widow referred to a woman whose husband had died, because of the social context the word quickly acquired the connotation of a person living a marginal existence in extreme poverty. The widow reacted with grief to her plight, and probably wore a distinct garb as a sign of her status (Genesis 38:14 Genesis 38:19; 2 Sam 14:2; cf. Judith 8:5-6; 10:3; 16:8). Disillusionment and bitterness could easily result (Ruth 1:20-21). Her crisis was aggravated if she had no able-bodied children to help her work the land of her dead spouse. To provide for her children, to maintain the estate, and to continue payments on debts accrued by her husband imposed severe burdens. Since she was in an extremely vulnerable economic position, she became the prime target of exploitation. The fact that she was classed with the landless stranger and Levite indicates that she was often unable to keep her husband’s land. (source)

This status has not changed very much over the centuries. Despite the veneer of feminism, women who are unattached through divorce or widowhood often discover they are sliding down a slope toward poverty, which this Canadian research confirms.

Many aged widows experience a decline in their standard of living upon widowhood, a pattern which is pronounced among those with limited education. Aged, 21% below the poverty line, 22% below the poverty line if have a child in care, 36% under the poverty line if disabled. (source)

“Five years down the road, median income had fallen for both widows and senior women who remained married. Among widows, median family income had declined 9.8% more than 6 times greater than the senior women who were not widowed. The study also found that not only did the standard of living for these widows decline, but more of them also fell below the low-income threshold as a result of widowhood. And once these widows were in low-income, it was very difficult for them to climb out.” Statistics Canada, 2004, The Economic Consequences of Widowhood, 1990-2001.

And widows in Third World nations fare worse.

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Source

“In many conservative Indian Hindu families, widows are shunned because they’re seen as bringing bad luck. Superstitious relatives even blame them for their husband’s death. The widow can become a liability with no social standing, an unwanted mouth to feed. Often they’re cast out of the family home,” said foreign correspondent Trevor Bormann in a recent June, 2007 interview with Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Dr. Mohini V. Giri, for the ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation.”

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“In the hours after James Mbewe was laid to rest three years ago, in an unmarked grave not far from here, his 23-year-old wife, Fanny, neither mourned him nor accepted visits from sympathizers. Instead, she hid in his sister’s hut, hoping that the rest of her in-laws would not find her.  But they hunted her down, she said, and insisted that if she refused to exorcise her dead husband’s spirit, she would be blamed every time a villager died. So she put her two small children to bed and then forced herself to have sex with James’s cousin.  “I cried, remembering my husband,” she said. “When he was finished, I went outside and washed myself because I was very afraid. I was so worried I would contract AIDS and die and leave my children to suffer.”  Here [Malawi] and in a number of nearby nations including Zambia and Kenya, a husband’s funeral has long concluded with a final ritual: sex between the widow and one of her husband’s relatives, to break the bond with his spirit and, it is said, save her and the rest of the village from insanity or disease. Widows have long tolerated it, and traditional leaders have endorsed it, as an unchallenged tradition of rural African life.”  (source)

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“In the eastern province of Shandong, a sixty-five-year-old widow had to find work on a construction site in order to pay off medical debts accumulated during her husband’s long illness. The labour contractor for the project promised her 6,000 yuan for her back-breaking work but after 82 days on the job, she had not received a single cent. … I couldn’t move the big stones, so I moved the small ones. I got tired using the wheel-barrow to move soil, so I only filled half of it each time. I had to use a big shovel to mix the cement, starting from the middle and slowly mixing it bit by bit. By night-time, my whole body was hurting, especially my waist, the pain was so bad that I couldn’t sleep.” (source)

The Lord is a caring Lord, and He loves His widows.

–“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5)

–“The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” (Psalm 146:9)

–“Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.” Jeremiah 49:11

We are reminded of the Lord’s compassion in reading about the widow of Nain, an event recorded in Luke’s Gospel.

“Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.” (Luke 7:11-17)

Gill’s Exposition says, “she was a widow; and if she had been supported by her son, her loss was very considerable; and having neither husband, nor son, to do for her, her case was very affecting… And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her,…. Knowing her case, that she was a widow, and had lost her only son: and said unto her, weep not; signifying, that he would help her, which he did without being asked to do it, as usual in other cases…. and he delivered him to his mother; for whose sake he raised him from the dead, commiserating her case: wherefore, as Christ showed his power in raising the dead man, he discovered great humanity, kindness, and tenderness, in delivering him alive to his mother; which might be done after he came off of the bier, by taking him by the hand, and leading him to his mother, and giving him up into her arms: think what affecting scene this must be!”

As for widows in the New Testament, they were prominent. “It was no accident that one of the poorest of the poor, Anna, was privileged to greet the infant Messiah (Luke 2:36-38). The adult Jesus followed in the footsteps of his prophetic predecessors with his concern for the plight of the widow. He healed a widow’s son because of compassion for his mother (something we just looked at in the story of the Widow of Nain, above,); he protested the exploitation of widows (Mark 12:40). He reversed the standards by which people were judged with the parable of the widow’s tithe: the widow gave from her poverty while the wealthy merely offered from their abundance (Mark 12:41-42). In another parable, the church was compared with an importunate widow who kept demanding that her case be heard.” (source)

If you have a friend or relative who is grieving the loss of a husband, as I do, think on how the Lord cares for His widows. It is a beautiful thing.

But think of this, too. In the first days of the unfortunate loss, the widow will be in a whirlwind of activity to make arrangements, perform duties, and getting through the initial push. After that, she will return to work, or her whatever her routine is, and her mind and heart will be occupied with making adjustments there and in dealing with her return. This second stage may continue for a while.

But then, after months have gone by, something will happen. She will realize as the dust had settled, months later, that she is alone. The “activity” will have returned to a routine level and she will not have that to distract her any more. Her brain will suddenly one day understand at a more conscious level that she is alone. And her aloneness is not going to change.

Maggie Smith as character Lady Violet on the BBC Production Downton Abbey, made a comment that speaks to this. She said “Parenting…the on and on-ness of it.”

Widows one day wake up and realize, “loneliness, the on and on-ness of it.” Things at that point get bleak, but there is hope. If the woman is a Christian, she will be encouraged at whatever stage of grief she is in. Please help her in the early days and the middle days and in the days when she makes her final re-adjustment to her status. Help her financially too. This also is a biblical command.

Though the Lord looks out for His widows, we are His ambassadors on earth. In this day and age, the Lord takes care of His widows through His church, and that means us. Please make a point to seek out a widow in your church, make sure she is not marginalized. See to it that she has food and her necessities are taken care of.

The Lord cares for the vulnerable of His society so He made provision for them in His word. (1 Timothy 5:1-16). He is a great and gracious Lord who overlooks no injustice against them. He loves His people deeply. We have a perfect friend, defender, and Groom, don’t we?!