Posted in theology

Aurora Shooting: Christian mom who was there testifies to the Goodness of God

Posted on by elizabethprata

This Christian mom of two teenagers was in Theater 9 on Friday, July 20, 2012 when James Holmes opened fire on the audience in the United States’ worst mass shooting. She testifies to the goodness of Jesus through the massacre. It is a must read.

So you STILL think God is a merciful God?!
“So, you still believe in a merciful God?” Some of the comments online are genuinely inquisitive, others are contemptuous in nature. Regardless of the motive behind the question, I will respond the same way.

“Yes.”

“Yes, I do indeed.”

“Absolutely, positively, unequivocally.”

Read on to hear why. [Ht Kim at The Mystery of the Ages]

Posted in bible, comfort, inspired, joy, peace

How the bible’s word can comfort you

Posted on by elizabethprata

When times are good and nothing bad is happening, we can take anything, any philosophy or biblical doctrine, and in our leisure time we discuss it and mull over every minute detail. This is OK in the case of biblical doctrine. The Lord gives us time to examine the details. That’s good, to go deep.

But when tragedy comes, we don’t have time for close examination and hyper-detailed discussions over tiny threads of doctrine. Take the Titanic sinking. If I was in the water and someone threw me a life ring, I would not stop to discuss whether it was made of fiberglass or polyurethane or cotton. I wouldn’t have a discussion in the water with the next survivor over the fact that the ring is round and rather should be square. I would simply grab it and cling to it.

When tragedy comes, I run to the bible. I don’t study it. I don’t mull over the lexicon and the different word definitions. I don’t read the parallel verses. I don’t study the overview of the writer and his audience and the message’s purpose.

I just read it.

How does just reading the bible help when tragedy strikes? The bible is a supernatural book. It is from Heaven. It is not just words on the page. It is a heavenly sent Spirit-breathed and God-inspired book. One definition of the Doctrine of Inspiration states of the bible: “It is God superintending human authors, so that using their own individual personalities, experiences, thought processes and vocabularies they composed and recorded without error His revelation in the original copies of scripture.”

As John MacArthur restated it, “God spoke through men without violating their thought processes and their own vocabularies, and yet they were able to produce scripture without violating His truth.”

Thus, the words of God pierce the soul sometimes in ways we cannot articulate, but nonetheless speak truth to us. Here is a beautiful example of that.

I was teaching the first and second grades on Wednesdays night. I had a good-sized group of 6 and 7 year olds. Mostly boys. Active boys, lol. It never failed to impress me and the other leader ladies in the room how the children stilled to hear the bible lesson. Anyway, as we got ready this particular night to start the lesson, one thing the kids had to do was open their bibles and turn to the page of text from which the curriculum was to be taught. Because their fine motor skills were immature, they had a hard time with this. It took a few minutes to get all 12 kids opened to the right page and their finger on the right verse. Some kids got there faster than others.

I had one second grade boy who had turned to the verse very quickly and being in second grade, was able to read well. It was from Psalm 100:1-5

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

This boy re-read the first line by himself, in a quiet voice. I was watching him and listening. “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands…” He stopped. He played with his shoelace and was quiet for a minute. Then he whispered aloud to no one,

“I like that. I don’t know why I like that. But I like it.”

THIS is why reading the bible on days of national tragedy or personal stress can help us. Mark 10:15 says, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

This boy allowed the Spirit to apply truth and beauty to his heart. He let the Holy inspired words wash over him and rest there, with no ability to articulate why it had blessed him, but he understood it was a blessing and he acknowledged it!

Romans 14:17 says that “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

To me this means not a joy we manufacture or feel on our own, but the joy in Him that the Spirit brings forth to us through His word. I don’t see supernatural things in the world today like the ancient peoples did, of rivers drying up or Red Sea parting or a plague of frogs raining down, but I do see the supernatural. This boy accepting with joy and peace the truth of the Spirit-inspired word to his heart and soul was a visible supernatural event of the Spirit’s work of comfort.

In the trying times, race to the bible. The Spirit wants to comfort you. Let Him. Read it as if it is the Titanic’s life ring surrounding your body, buoying you up over the cold waters that swamp you. Because, it IS.

Posted in aurora, shooting, theater

UPDATED- Aurora Colorado shooting

Posted on by elizabethprata

Many tears this morning for our evil, sinful dying world, and the people affected by the tragic and wanton shooting in Aurora Colorado. The only Light of this world is Jesus. ‘When the darkness closes in I will still say Blessed be the name of the Lord’.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

—————Update————–

OK I’ve had time to cry, pray, mourn, sing, run to the bible, and pray some more. That’s what I do on tragedy days.

Jesus is Good. How so, one might ask? Well, how many angels did He send to tend to the people who love Him? “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). If we were blessed with spiritual eyes being opened as Elisha’s servant was, (2 Kings 6:17) and God allowed him to see the myriads of chariots in the spiritual realms standing at the ready for battle, we might see legions of angels sent from on high at the command of God, to minister to those in pain and anguish in Aurora Colorado this morning.

He is Good because though the evil stain of sin and hate overspread the Mall in Aurora, His victory will out pace all that satan can do or ever thought to do. Satan is a loser and all his schemes and plans will fail. The Holy God of Israel has won! Take heart even in the darkness because He is the Light! He has the victory.

Therefore who can say how many miracles were given in grace to the people at the shooting location? Who can say how many medical miracles He effected through the hands and minds of the paramedics, nurses, and doctors? Who can say who many miracles were effected by His own hand, directly? Because He is good and loves us, we can have assurance that His eyes were on the situation.

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9a)

What else is Good? We do not know how many people who were threatened with death at any second will re-think their time on earth and finally repent to Jesus unto salvation. He sends Gospel seeds which flower, and do so ever more when there is darkness and sin. This is so He can be glorified ever more brightly.

He is Good because He will accept true repentance from all who come to Him, even the shooter himself. His mercies are so far above us, we cannot conceive of a loving God such as this. Yet He does love us. He is Good because of this, caring for and redeeming a sinful humanity.

It is satan that is bad. But we are not unaware of satan’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) and we persevere in love so satan will not steal the joy, even on a dark day such as this. My love for Christ does not depend on positive circumstances. Let our love for Him and our faith that He is working in this situation just as He always has in every situation, ever since He said, “in the beginning…”

Posted in chemical weapons Syria, drought, freak storm, middle east

News out of the Middle East today: chemical weapons Syria, drought, freak storm, and Bulgaria bus

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is some of the recent news for you.

MIDDLE EAST

Do you remember just two months ago Israel’s largest-ever coalition government was created, when the party leader for the Kadima party Shaul Mofaz became Vice Prime Minister as part of a deal reached for a government of national unity with Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud party? Well, all that’s over now.

Mofaz Quits Israeli Government: Why he did it, and what it means.
“Some Kadima members, and political analysts, believe Mofaz decision could effectively destroy the party, which is already bleeding public support. With Kadima out of the government, Netanyahu’s government still retains a healthy majority of 12 seats in the Knesset. But this upheaval could lead to new elections by the end of the year, or possibly in early 2013. It could also complicate the PM’s decision to launch a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. I believe Netanyahu is seriously considering a strike against Iran this fall, before the U.S. elections. But if his governing coalition falls apart, or if his approval ratings drop significantly, this could impede his ability to garner domestic Israeli support for such a strike.”

Washington Post

It is a shame that Mofaz led his party away from the unity government this week. Just a few days later Israeli youths were the target of a horrific terrorist act of blowing up a bus full of Israeli citizens at the Bulgarian airport at Bursa. “A suicide bomber with fake US identification carried out the attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria yesterday, according to Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov,” reports Christian Science Monitor.

Reaction from Israel’s highest echelons has been swift and fierce. Between rocket attacks on Israeli soil, some of them occurring just yesterday, instability in neighboring Syria, especially the pivotally important Golan Heights, and now this attack abroad, Israel is well and truly fed up. The strongest language yet has been issues forth in a harsh speech: “Netanyahu Vows ‘Forceful Response to Iranian Terror‘” and is quoted as saying, “Iranian terror continues to strike at innocents. Israel will respond with force to the Iranian terror,” he said.”

Of course today the Israelis are backing down from that promise of a forceful response, that it won’t rush to retaliate. It is surely a time of wars and rumors of wars, as Jesus said the time of the end would be (Matthew 24:6)

If the Unity Government had remained intact it certainly would make it much easier to obtain an affirmative vote for military action. As it is, we will see what will happen next. For now, in looking at the photo array from Washington Post, tears come to my eyes in searching the faces of these victims…

Resolve in the face of this Paramedic

Anguish in this young woman. You notice her shoes were blown off, and her feet are bandaged. Likely she had to walk over broken glass to get to safety.
Despair in this elder’s face.

We have the hope of His coming. We cling to prophecy as a promise through which we can be comforted about our future with Jesus. But that doesn’t diminish the anguish of the now. He said that at the time of the end “there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity…” (Luke 21:25a). The distress of the nations is our distress. These things must be. Prophecy even explains how and why, and in that way, our brains are satisfied. But our hearts ache.

IRAN

Ex-Iran Revolutionary Guard member Reza Kahlili (not this real name) has been warning us for a little while now that the flavor of terrorism will change. He has been saying that the face of terrorism as the US citizens and Israeli citizens have known it will change from brown to white. Muslims have been working hard at setting up terror cells in Mexico, working with the Mexican drug cartels. They have been busy in South America and the US and/or recruiting people from heretofore unassailed racial groups. Terrorists doing Hezbollah business could be brown or white, Hispanic, Caucasian or anything in between.

As a matter of fact the Jewish Press article from yesterday states, “In Norway, for example, an ethnic Norwegian convert to militant Islam who has received terrorist training from al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen, is awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the West, officials from three European security agencies said on June 25. European officials have confirmed that the man is “operational,” meaning he has completed his training and is about to receive a target.”

USA Today has an article noting the connection between Dearborn Michigan, and the fact that this white, lanky, American-ized suspect entered Bulgaria on a fake US driver’s license. “Officials were using DNA samples to try to establish his identity. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told reporters that a Michigan driver’s license was retrieved, but he said U.S. officials reported that “there was no such person in their database.” Michigan is home to one of the largest Arab communities in the U.S.”

Dearborn is home to THE largest US mosque, too. Dearborn of late has been host to an influx of Middle East immigrants. Wikipedia: “Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs have also immigrated to the area. Since then, Arab immigrants from Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, most of whom are Muslim, have joined them. Lebanese Americans are still the most numerous group. The Arab Muslim community has built the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in North America.”

Iran is still belligerent. And ready.

Ex-Revolutionary Guard member: Iran ready with terror plans to hit U.S. if Israel attacks
“Kahlili says, in the event of an Israeli airstrike, Iran is prepared to up the ante, not by responding militarily, but with a global campaign of terror attacks.” Should it become an all-out war, then they will definitely respond on the world stage by terrorist attacks within the U.S., in Europe, and against America’s interests, against Israel’s interests,” Kahlili says. Intelligence officers believe Iran has already done the pre-operation surveillance for a series of terrorist attacks. There’s plenty of evidence that Tehran has scoped out targets, taken photos and written plans for terrorist strikes in the Mideast, Europe, South America, and even the United States.”

SYRIA

Yesterday saw one of the largest battles in Damascus Syria. (Isaiah 17:1). The situation is increasingly unstable. The blast near Parliament killed the core of the Syrian Security elite. Syria is in chaos after the attack on the regime

Everybody is eyeing those chemical weapons that could be up for grabs if the regime falls. See this next article-

Israel and the US reportedly discussed attacking Syrian weapon stockpiles in light of the situation in Damascus
“Against the backdrop of the Syrian instability, the New York Times is reporting that Israeli and US defense officials have discussed the possibility of destroying the weapon stockpiles of the Syrian army. The move is considered as a means of preventing the weapons from falling into the hands of terror elements, such as Hezbollah.”

WEATHER

Crazy, crazy, crazy. These photos at the Daily Mail are astounding! I’ll post just a few. The Daily Mail’s pics are very large and you will get a real sense of the power of God when He uses weather if you go there to see them all.

More at Daily Mail. Here is The Guardian’s take on the “Freak Summer Storm Hits NYC“.

That storm might have broken the heat in NY but it is still going strong in the US Midwest, and is killing the corn. The heat is forecast to linger for the rest of the summer. The worst drought in 25 years has brought about the devastation of the corn crop, and likely soybeans too. This in turn has already caused food prices to rise. “Vilsack revealed that 78 percent of U.S. corn and 11 percent of soybean crops had been hit, and compared the situation to a 1988 drought that cut production by 20 percent and cost the economy tens of billions of dollars.”This will result in significant increases in prices for corn. We’ve seen a 38 percent increase since June 1 in the price of a bushel of corn — it’s now $7.88. A bushel of beans has risen 24 percent,” he said.” (Revelation 6:6, Matthew 24:7).

Stunted corn grows next to a cattle feed lot in Springfield,
rural Omaha, Neb. on Tuesday. The drought gripping the United States
is the widest since 1956. (Nati Harnik/AP)

Remember that drought, the big drought, AKA the Dustbowl?

“For eight years dust blew on the southern plains. It came in a yellowish-brown haze from the South and in rolling walls of black from the North. The simplest acts of life — breathing, eating a meal, taking a walk — were no longer simple. Children wore dust masks to and from school, women hung wet sheets over windows in a futile attempt to stop the dirt, farmers watched helplessly as their crops blew away.” [source]

Here is a drought map from today, July 19, 2012, from National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration. (NOAA). 55 of the contiguous 48 states are suffering drought conditions.

“The 1936 North American heat wave was the most severe heat wave in the modern history of North America. It took place in the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and caused catastrophic human suffering and an enormous economic toll. The death toll exceeded 5,000, and huge numbers of crops were destroyed by the heat and lack of moisture.”

It would be interesting to compare the 1936 Depression heat wave with the current heat wave. The 1936 heat wave information from Wiki was last updated in 2007. I am sure the comparison would be illuminating, as would a comparison to the drought and crop failures. But you would have to be a better man than I. My heart aches enough as it is.

Keep praying and keep looking up!

Posted in glory, jesus, rest

Encouragement: Preparing a place for us

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is such inexpressible and perpetual activity in the holy realms, it is breathtaking to think of. All heaven is working under command of our Holy God to ready for the Time. What time? The time when God says to Jesus, “Go get your bride!” And His deposit of our inheritance will be redeemed in full! (Ephesians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 1:22). All of time, history, prophecy, and Holy Sovereign Decree has been moving toward the time of fulfillment of the promises of Jesus to His Bride and the promises of God to His people the Jews. Everything.

If you have ever been involved in a project, you know the cycles you go through. There’s the initial excitement, the middle part slow slogging, then the hurry up, ‘oh my goodness the deadline is approaching!’ feeling. I lived on a sailboat for two years, and the few days before we launch is a hectic rush of never-ending activity to get all the provisions on board. The deadline to leave port is hard and fast, one which liveaboard cruisers and Navy personnel know the feeling well. If you ever have opened a restaurant, or built a house, or sold a house and had to move, gotten ready to graduate, gotten married…you know that the activity to prepare for the event by the deadline is never ending and increases the closer the deadline comes.

We do not know the day or hour the Father will tell His Son to go get His bride, but we can sense the deadline nearing. There is a massive amount of activity, some of it seen and some of it unseen.

But back to the bible’s pictures of activity. Didn’t Jesus say, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2).

Things are being prepared, right now. Our lodging in New Jerusalem. Our feast. The temple perhaps. I don’t know, but He is preparing. He is engaged in activity to ready for the moment when a flood of redeemed souls enter glory to dwell with Him forever.

He is also preparing for the moment when His promises to his people the Jews come to fulfillment and the Kingdom Comes. Here is one specific glimpse of that preparation:

Jared Hollier drawing

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line
“And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” (Zechariah 2:1-2).

Zechariah had been awakened and was shown a series of 8 astounding visions all in one night. One of them is that God sent a surveyor (likely The Angel of the LORD, Jesus) to measure the place where the final Jerusalem will be, its exact size and placement! Rejoice O Jerusalem! “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;” (Isaiah 66:10).

Right now Jerusalem is called Egypt and Sodom, (Revelation 11:8), but someday it will be cleansed, and it will become the holy city God intended it to be.

Look! He is so gracious, He showed Ezekiel also! “In the visions God brought me to the land of Israel, set me on a high mountain in which there was a structure like a city on the south. And he brought me there and behold there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed and he stood in the gate.” (Ezekiel 40:2).

Measuring … preparing … So much activity:

Wm Blake, Jacob’s Ladder, from Wiki

“And he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Genesis 28:12).

Going and coming … ascending and descending … Not just in the Old Testament but the activity continues in the New:

“He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51).

The Sovereign God, His Perfect Son, and the Holy Angels are working to bring about the fulfillment of all the glorious promises of the bible. I know we know the judgment promises will come true. The world and the heavens will be UNcreated in a reverse orderly progression that mirrors the 6 days in the Creation. Mountains will crumble. Rivers will dry up. Sun will blink out. Stars will fall. People will die.

But to the positive, He is also readying His universe for the new heavens and the new earth, for the moment when the Father says, “Son, it is time for you to be married. GO GET YOUR BRIDE!”

Is there any doubt that the preparations will have been completed and the glowing glorious heavens will be inexpressibly beautiful? No, no doubt.

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:2-4)

Our Savior who Saves by grace, our Father, the architect of the earth and the universe, the author of our faith, the redeemer of souls, the Chief of all the Holy Hosts, is preparing…for us.

Posted in ben ari, israel, messiah, messianic jews, new testament

Israeli MK Ben Ari tears up New Testament and throws it in trash

Posted on by elizabethprata

Missionaries in Israel proclaim the Gospel just like they do everywhere else on other mission fields. The issue is sensitive in Israel, though, and some laws have been passed to hinder distribution of mission materials, including the New Testament.

There is much tension regarding Christian missionaries who are proselytizing in Israel in and among Jewish people. After all, Israel is the only nation in the world to have been established (again) on the basis of their religious heritage and not race, geography, economics or any other attribute.

This news article from June 2012 states,

“Yad L’Achim Gets Missionary Ad Pulled from Israel Radio‘: ‘Quick action by Yad L’Achim forced Israel Radio to pull a cleverly disguised missionary ad from its Russian-language programming.”

Therefore there’s much open hostility by Jews against Christians, particularly against “Messianic Jews.” Sometimes Messianic Jews are targets of terrorism from Jews just as much as Jews are targets from Muslims.

There is an enormous amount of suspicion and hostility leveled against Christian missionaries and evangelists. The website at Jewish Israel makes this statement:

“Due to the numerous political, economic and security hardships facing both Israel and the Diaspora, large sectors of the Jewish community in Israel have become dependent upon evangelical Christian political influence and charity. While much of this support appears to be benign and benevolent – and some is indeed sincere – Israel’s embracing and accepting of Christian fundamentalist sponsored activities and philanthropy has been exacting a serious cost and adversely affecting both religious and secular individuals and groups throughout the private and public sectors of Israeli society. Our Jewish values and heritage are being compromised.”

As most Christian Missionaries walk a fine line between hostility and acceptance, and as each mission field is fraught with its own particular demands and challenges to proselytizing, so it is in Israel.

In this article from the Israel daily newspaper Haaretz from 2010, we read of an “Aggressive Missionary Campaign in Central Israel“

Note the language the reporter uses. It is snide, sneering, biased, and he makes frequent use of journalistic tricks like “scare quotes”. Here is a sample:

“Jews for Jesus” in Israel brags that it has launched a missionary campaign in “an area that has never had a significant evangelical activity since 1948” – namely, Tel Aviv’s satellite cities.” Uses the word brags.

“Different groups spoke Hebrew, English, or Russian, providing their “services” for all sectors.” The word services is in scare quotes.

“The missionaries’ latest gimmick is the placing of thousands of “traffic tickets” on cars”… the word gimmick is a bias word.

“Deceptive tactics of this nature have become the accepted protocol in the evangelical Christian movement, writes Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz”…deceptive and tactics are both heavily biased words that leave a taint in the reader’s mind.

“Rabbi Shalom Lifshitz said, “Now is the time to demand a change to the missionary law, and to put a stop to this wild, criminal missionary activity that leads to tragic results.”’

Needless to say, Christian Missionaries in Israel have a hard row to how.

And that brings us to the laws Israel has instituted to control, limit or even prevent missionary activity. Although the laws at present there appear to be only two laws being enforced which limit missionary activity in Israel:
1) No one can offer a material inducement for someone to change their religion
2) No one can discuss changing religion with a minor (under 18 years of age) without their parents’ permission,

…the facts on the ground are that there is much discrimination and hostility against missionaries and Christian materials. Make no mistake, when it is stated that there are laws and guidelines against missionaries, the focus is really on the Christian Evangelicals.

With this context in mind, here is an article reporting on how new testaments mailed to the Israeli Congress (Knesset) were reacted to. While most ‘quietly dispose’ of the materials, one Minister of Knesset reacted violently. This happened three days ago. Jerusalem Post reports.

“Many MKs opened their mailboxes on Monday morning and were appalled to find a New Testament inside, sent to them by a messianic organization. The Bible Society in Israel, a messianic Judaism institution for research, publication and dissemination of holy books, sent a “Book of Testaments,” which combines the Tanach and New Testament in one, leather-bound volume, published with references in Hebrew for the first time.”

Gasp! In Hebrew!

One MK in particular had a more violent reaction than others. He is Michael Ben Ari, acknowledged to be an extremist- on the Jewish side. The Hebrew daily newspaper Maariv reported Tuesday that Knesset (Parliament) member Michael Ben Ari deliberately tore up the New Testament and threw it in the trash. He posed for photos while he did it and then posted the pictures.

According to Maariv, the shipment of the “Christian holy book sent to all members of the Assembly with a blessing caused uproar. “MK Michael Ben Ari tore the pages of the book in protest and said: “This is a provocation. … He explained it: “This abominable book, motivated murder of millions of Jews Bainkoosetzih and centers of car-da-fe.” claims “a provocation of the Church missionary ugly, no doubt the place of the book and his handlers into the trap of history.”

That last excerpt was Google translated from the article. Google had a hard time with the Hebrew. But you get the idea. MK Ben Ari believes that Christian holy materials are a desolation to their religion, the catalyst for Jewish persecution, and a threat to their nation.

On Wednesday, there began the expected outrage against Ben Ari’s outrage. MKs are calling for Ben Ari to be censured. Israel has been battling perceptions of their low tolerance for Christian Missionaries for a long time (a perception that may indeed be warranted) that Ben Ari’s action only serves to highlight.

So why this hostility to the Christian witness? Usually the case is because of 2 Corinthians 4:34 which says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So it is satan who has blinded the non-believer’s mind. However, it is a little different for the Jew. In this case, it is GOD who has blinded them!

Paul wrote in Romans 11, “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” (Romans 11:7-10).

He continues the thought in verse 25- “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans 11:25).

Individual Jews can come to saving knowledge of Christ, as anyone can. Joel C. Rosenberg is a prominent example of one man with a Jewish heritage could accept by faith that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. However, because they are partially hardened, Jewish individuals accept Jesus through massive odds. Widely, and as a nation, not at all. Not yet.

Source, public domain bible clipart

God is not finished with Israel. He will return His attention to them when the full number of the Gentiles is fulfilled (Rom 11:25) and deal with His rebellious but beloved people. In the end of the end of the Tribulation they will cry out to Him and accept Him as Messiah. (Zechariah 12:10). Jesus proclaimed, ““For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” ” (Matthew 23:39). They do, and He comes!

All Israel will be saved at the appointed time: “And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;” (Romans 11:26).

Blessed is our Lord who is mighty to save, mighty to preserve, mighty to remember. Until that time, the road ahead for Jews, Christians, and everyone else will be fraught with hostility and rising persecution and divisions. One thing we can do is be aware of the tensions, we can pray for missionaries in Israel, we can pray for the zealous but mistaken Jews like Ben Ari. We can pray for men like Ben Ari who hold in their hands the key to eternal life, the New Testament story of Jesus the Messiah, but continue to reject the Good News. We can praise Him for the missionaries who constantly attempt to get the News in front of all people in Israel using all methods at their disposal, whether spoken or written. We should plead with God to make these materials more widely distributed and more available. Because…they will soon need it.

Posted in and when necessary use words, live the gospel, Preach the Gospel at all times

What is the Gospel? Can you "live the Gospel"?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The clip is from Voddie Baucham Ministries. I agree with his preaching here. It drives me crazy to hear people say “Live the Gospel.” Essentially, people who say that are saying that people will come to repentance for their sins and saving faith in Jesus on the basis of having watched their sparkling personality for a period of time. LOL, NOT! Here is Pastor Baucham on the subject:

“The Gospel is News. The word for Gospel, euangelion, it means announcement, it means News. The gospel is news. By the way, we do not “live the Gospel.” We cannot live the Gospel. OK? That’s foolishness. You don’t live news. For me to say, ‘I’m going to live out the gospel, is to say I’m going to live out the front page story in the newspaper yesterday. And if I came to you saying, ‘hey, man, I’m going to live out the front page story of the newspaper’, wouldn’t you say to me, “Actually, that’s news that happened yesterday. You can’t live it out.'” You don’t live the Gospel. And so, somebody walks up to you, …you know what St. Francis said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words,” you look at them and you say, ‘he didn’t know what the Gospel is.’ Obviously. Because nobody who knows what the Gospel is would say such foolishness. You have to use words to preach the Gospel. Whether they’re written words or they’re spoken words, you have to use words. Why? Because the Gospel is NEWS! That would be like saying, “Give the news at all times, and when necessary, use words.” You turn on the television and there are a bunch of people out there living their lives. And you look at it and from that somehow you’re supposed to determine what the news is. … You can live in light of the Gospel. You can live because of the Gospel. But you cannot live the Gospel.”  …

… “You don’t need the news about Jesus. Just watch me.”  Ouch. There’s more on the clip

What IS the Gospel? Bible.org says, “The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia summarizes the gospel message this way:

“The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8–11; II Cor 5:14–19; Tit 2:11–14).”

The Gospel in a Nutshell
“In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, the apostle Paul summarizes the most basic ingredients of the gospel message, namely, the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of the resurrected Christ. Note the four clauses introduced by that in bold type in verses 3-5 below:”

“15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 15:4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…[NET bible]”

“These verses, which were an early Christian confession, give us the heart of the gospel and show the that the resurrection is an integral part of the gospel. Note that Paul described this as “of first importance”—a phrase that stresses priority, not time. The stress is on the centrality of these truths to the gospel message.”

“Actually, the central ingredient of the gospel message is a two-fold confession: (1) Christ died for our sins and (2) He was raised on the third day. The reality of these two elements can be verified by the Scriptures (cf. Ps. 16:10; Isa. 53:8-10) and by such awesome historical evidence as the empty tomb and the eye witnesses. Thus, the other two elements mentioned here accomplish two important facts regarding the gospel. The fact that He was buried verified His death, and the fact that He appeared to others verified His resurrection.” ——-end bible.org——-

So go on out there and live for Jesus, live according to biblical precepts, live in His light, go on with your living. But don’t forget to speak the News to those who are dying.

Posted in how to pray for your pastor

How to pray for your pastor

Posted on by elizabethprata

We all know the importance of having a Holy Spirit guided, wise, mature, man of faith as our pastor. We also know that the men he surrounds himself with to edify him, encourage him, and sharpen him are also important to the pastor and to the local congregation. I frequently urge us to “pray for our pastor!’ Well, here is a pastor asking for us to pray in this way. Here is a window into what one pastor says are common needs of the men of the pulpit. I got it from Tim Challies today.

How to Pray for Your Pastor
By R.W. Glenn, pastor of preaching and vision at Redeemer Bible Church in Minnetonka, MN. He blogs at Red Meat for the Soul.

About nine years ago, I developed the following list of prayer requests that I gave to every willing hand. I haven’t passed them out in at least four years, but I decided to resurrect them. Why? I need prayer…badly! And so does your pastor. As leaders in the church, we have unique and often more intense temptations (“Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter”). So will you consider praying for your pastor the way I ask my people to pray for me?

1. That the gospel would be the focal point of my life and identity – not manhood, not being a husband, not being a father, not being a pastor, but who I am in Christ.

2. That I would not fear man by desiring the admiration of people; that the Lord’s “Well done” would be ever before my eyes.

3. That the Lord would not allow me to go long between repentances; that I would keep short accounts with Him and be sensitive to and ruthless with my sin.

4. That I would continue to grow in the character qualities of a man of God (1 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Tim. 2:22-26; Titus 1:5-9).

5. That I would have a consistent, powerful, diligent life of private prayer; that I would grow in my dependence on the Holy Spirit.

6. That the Lord would give me great diligence in study and sermon preparation, making the most of my time.

7. That my preaching and teaching ministry would be empowered by the Holy Spirit; that the Lord would effect real change in our lives through it; and that by it we would be more endeared to Christ.

8. That I would boldly and faithfully and humbly and joyfully and intentionally share the gospel with the non-Christians in my social orbit.

9. That I would see Jesus as supremely valuable, my greatest treasure, and as my dear friend.

Would you pray one or more of these 9 requests for the leaders of your local church today? For the pastors and teachers on the internet on whom you depend? For beloved former pastors in churches you had to move away from? As obedient servants of Jesus, they have put themselves at the forefront of the battlefield. Let’s cover them with the best weapon we have: prayer. 🙂

Posted in damascus, prophecy, revolution, syria

Damascus fighting intensifies: important development

Posted on by elizabethprata

Please be aware of the terrible ongoing situation in Syria. Fighting in Syria continues, but a new development is the intensifying battle for the capital city of Damascus. UN Envoy Kofi Annan is shuttling here and there, today he is in Moscow with Syria’s defender, Vladimir Putin. And most ominously, BBC reports,

“Fighting is intensifying across the Syrian capital Damascus, where the military has deployed tanks and helicopters, activists say. Shooting was reported in one of the main central streets and a square housing the Central Bank. Rebel forces say they have launched an all-out assault on the capital, calling it Operation Damascus Volcano.”

Footage of carnage in Douma last month surface today as the battle extend to Damascus. CNN reports, “Dark images of horror and despair smuggled out of Syria“

AP reports, “Intense clashes between Syrian rebels and government forces backed by helicopters spread to new areas of the capital Damascus Tuesday, including a brief firefight near Parliament.”

Twitter, Damascus resident, “Houses are on fire in AlQabun neighborhood as a result of the shelling the place is having.” This still from a shaky Youtube raw video has sounds of rapid fire gunfighting clearly heard nearby, even as billows of black smoke rise unabated from apartment buildings.

Twitter RT- “not sure its a turning point..but major development..” @stephenstarr on @BBCworld on escalation fighting Damascus Syria.” Starr is a freelance journalist & founder of Near East Quarterly based in Damascus 2007 -2012. Author of ‘Revolt in Syria: Eye-witness to the Uprising’

We are mindful of the LORD’S words, that Damascus shall be destroyed, it shall be a heap of ruins. (Isaiah 17:1).  This is a prophecy that has never been completely fulfilled. The city has always been continuously inhabited.

Damascus is mentioned as an existing city as early as Genesis 14:15.  Abraham’s chief servant, Eliezar, was from Damascus. Of course Paul was on the road to Damascus when the Lord intervened in his life and appeared to him. (Acts 9). Its population today (2011) is set at variously between 3.5 and 4.5 million souls.

Pray for Damascus. We do not know who, or how, or when it will be destroyed, levelled to the ground in a heap of uninhabitable ruins, but when it is, think of the millions who will fall with it.

Posted in book review, charles sheldon, christian books

Book Review: In His Steps by Charles Sheldon

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’ve been thinking about how hard it is to remain pure, because even with a strict filter on my computer for myself, avoiding most television, refusing to attend movies, etc, there are still images and concepts that enter in and pollute.

Christian books today may be pure, or they may not be pure, many are badly written and in some cases, just slow or clunky. So in attempting to find some kind of entertainment for myself, I stepped back to find some classics to read. In His Steps is one such classic.

It was written in 1897 by Charles Monroe Sheldon. It has sold more than 30,000,000 copies, and ranks as the 9th best-selling book of all time. It is where we got the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?”

The book begins with Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of First Church of the town of Raymond, in somewhere USA. He is self-satisfied, pleased to be pastoring a church with the best people. The town’s pillars attend his church, and all of them are pleased with the sedate regularity with which the pastor runs things. From the bell-like voice of Rachel Winslow ringing from the choir, to the heavily laden offering plate, all of them come in each Sunday, warm the pews, and leave, their Christianity never having been challenged.

Until one day a man who had been looking for a job all around town stumbles into the church, calmly and pleadingly asks the congregation to think of extending their Christian compassion to the wretched likes of him, and he collapses in front of the pulpit and dies a few days later at the Reverend’s home.

The Reverend is struck and pierced and pricked in his conscience by this. He proposes to the congregation that they undertake a project for one year, to do nothing except thinking first “What would Jesus do?” To the best of their ability to answer that timeless question before making every decision, based on their biblical understanding of His precepts, and to move in that direction no matter what the cost. We Christians, the Reverend preaches, need to count the cost.

The first third of the book is this opening, from the man who acts as the lighting bolt to shake them from complacency to the initial applications of the question, and their effects. We read of the scenarios in which the Christians who had committed begin to act according to first century Christianity. The Newspaper editor looks at the content of his paper differently. Rachel wonders how her bell-like voice can be used- for operatic entertainments or to sing to the poor in the book’s version of Hell’s Kitchen or the Bowery? The Reverend himself begins to preach according to the Bible without regard for the drop in offerings or flak from congregants.

It is this part that is most compelling. The author does a good job of bringing the first century Christian’s eyes to modern life. The book is not so dated or arcane in language that we can’t see how this works. The newspaperman asks whether Jesus would put out a Sunday edition. Would He promote saloons via advertisements, or write the articles in yellow journalism prurient language. The singer asks if it violates His precepts to heap money unto herself by accepting a fancy singing position or whether it is better to sing directly for Him during evangelistic revivals in the bowels where the wretched sinners lay in the gutter- literally. The preacher wonders about his contract if he moves forward with provoking his people. The rich business owner decides to hold discipling sessions with his blue collar workers at lunchtime even though he is kind of afraid of them- but would never admit it. All these are still modern scenarios that we’re still dealing with 115 years later.

The characters continued to attend church, and they added prayer, lots of prayer whether individual or corporate, to their weekly schedule. All these things are good.

In my opinion however, the book begins to bog down about halfway through. The people to whom the question was posed begin to apply their question, “What would Jesus do?” to a Social Gospel. The Social Gospel was a real movement in the turn of the last century, reaching its peak at just before WWI. The book characters also apply their question WWJD to the Temperance Movement, which had its peak success in the passage of the 18th Amendment, in 1917, which prohibited the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol.

Wiki explains, “The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as wealth perceived as excessive, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war.”

The book’s characters campaigned for closure of saloons, ran for office, and got involved in causes. In my opinion the Social Gospel re-directs Christian energy from individuals worshiping corporately, distracts them from personal discipling, and reduces proper witnessing. The question in the book “What would Jesus do? when applied to “Would Jesus run for City Council” was not explored adequately or applied to biblical precepts. They just thought He would. The issue of WWJD became self-limiting and caused an emphasis on social gospel instead of Gospel. Then it drifted toward Law.

That is the second criticism of the book “In His Steps.” There were no actual Bible verses or even much reference to them. The characters asked the question, and then said, “Yes I think Jesus would do this,” or “Jesus would not do this” with no further exploration as to how they arrived at the decision from a biblical standpoint. Their decisions were based on speculation and not Bible. Gradually their benchmark was simply to think Jesus would do this or that, and gravitate away from biblical precepts, into more and more Law.

The sudden introduction of a new set of characters and a new city two-thirds of the way through sort of did me in. I stopped reading and only skimmed to the end. It was interesting to note the level of authenticity the author carried through. For example, not all the characters who committed to the one-year WWJD experiment stayed with it. Some quit. Some only pretended. Others did stick with it but counted a heavy cost in personal relationships and in finances. Others seemed to be blessed in this life as they increased in relationships or finances. They stayed praying throughout. All good.

Ultimately, the focus on doing supplanted evangelizing souls through the shed blood of Jesus and repentance. The heavy social gospel focus on moral living, and worse, external show of moral living is really just the same coin as where the congregation began before the homeless man walked in.

I tolerated the book for the first one-third to a half. It makes one think about one’s conscience and decision-making along biblical principles. Sheldon does a good job in setting the question before our eyes and comparing a lukewarm, self-satisfied Christianity with the fervent, go for it, submitted Christianity the Bible commands us to. But absent the salvation component, it really just ends up being a blueprint for legalistic living.

Let me know what you think, if you come across a copy. Happy trails.