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.

Posted in internet cafe shooting, klemetti, randy alcorn, volcanoes

Linkapolooza: Alcorn on Prosperity Gospel, volcanoes, the shootin’ grampa, Rosenberg’s sermon in Haifa, and more

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are some links for you guys to some good stuff I randomly found.

How the Health and Wealth Gospel Perverts Our View of Evil and Suffering
By Dr. Randy Alcorn

It’s a stick up! These robbers didn’t expect the elderly patron to shoot! Two robbers holding up patrons of an internet cafe at gunpoint were surprised to be shot at by an elderly man who not only shot them, but chased them out of the store. The robbers were injured, they were also arrested. The incident was captured on live surveillance camera from three angles.
http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=2367545bff53
I think it’s cool the old duffer was in an internet cafe in the first place.

Joel C. Rosenberg preached a great message in Haifa Israel this past Sunday. Here are his notes.

Sermon in Haifa: “O GOD, In Light of the Growing Threats To Israel, Open Our Eyes”

“…Let us pray that the Lord opens the eyes of all Israelis to how much the God of Israel loves them, and what a remarkable plan He has for their lives. Let us pray that the Lord would open the eyes of all Israelis to the truth that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah that we’ve been waiting for, and that when we choose to follow Yeshua and let Him save and rescue us then He will give us the supernatural peace, hope, joy and courage that we so long for….”

Here’s a shortie but a goodie from The Christian Pundit,

“American Mansions and Sanctification“
“…We love going through these houses and marveling at how men have taken raw materials from creation, used their gifts to cut, carve, shape and paint, and make something that brings delight: a porch with intricate stone work framing a lovely view; a Durer etching in exactly the right alcove; cut glass that takes sunlight and turns it into thousands of rainbows on a tile floor. But how often do I take the time to delight in the Lord’s work in the souls of His people? …”

Geologist and volcano expert Erik Klemetti asks, “The Volcanoes of Colombia: More Active or Just More Watched?“

Of those people asking if there are more earthquakes, the USGS says no, there are just more instruments recording them and more population impacted by them. I say this is not the correct answer. Their own quantifiable data clearly shows an increase in seismic activity. Now we wonder the same about volcanoes. It seems to me there are more volcanic explosions lately, does it seem that way to you? Read on to see how Klemetti answers that question with regard to volcano activity in South America.

So many of today’s evangelical preachers are falling into apostasy. We need discernment. But if we don’t have discernment who do we go to in order to learn discernment? LOL it is a chicken and the egg question. I recommend Justin Peters’ “A Call for Discernment”. His three part series is on Youtube.

1. A Call for Discernment Session 1 – Dangerous Doctrine
2. A Call for Discernment Session 2 – Mangled Manifestations
3. A Call for Discernment Session 3 – The Hurt of Healing

Some of the old guys of the faith sure knew their stuff. If you’re not sure about today’s skinny jeans wearing, sex-talking hipster preachers, then check out some of the fathers of the faith like AW Pink. Here is one quote:

“Afflictions are light when compared with what we really deserve. They are light when compared with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. But perhaps their real lightness is best seen by comparing them with the weight of glory which is awaiting us.” —Arthur W. Pink

The Lord is good and kind, He is also Judge and there is no jury. We preach the full counsel of God here because of the simple reason He delivered it to us. Thank you Jesus!

Posted in absolute truths, bible, jesus, pharisee, rob bell, sadducee, wider mercy

The danger of "Let’s not put God in a box" thinking

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m tired of that old chestnut, “think outside the box,” aren’t you? Good ole Wikipedia defines thinking outside the box as “to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking. This is related to the process of lateral thought. The catchphrase, or cliché, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has spawned a number of advertising slogans. To think outside the box is to look further and to try not thinking of the obvious things, but to try thinking beyond them.”

Here is the proverbial box:

Here is the proverbial task: “The “nine dots” puzzle. The goal of the puzzle is to link all 9 dots using four straight lines or fewer, without lifting the pen and without tracing the same line more than once. One solution appears below.”

Here is one of the solutions:

Here is the solution described: “One of many solutions to the puzzle at the beginning of this article is to go beyond the boundaries to link all dots in 4 straight lines.”

See? The pencil drew lines outside of where the mind had applied a limit beyond the dot.

Jesus told the disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducee. (Matthew 16:16). Leaven is yeast, and it only needs a little bit to permeate through the whole loaf. Now, the Pharisees and Sadducees were polar opposites. The Pharisees were the traditionalists, legalists, and conservatives of the day. They were popular, and often were the famous men in town who ran things. The Sadducees were the liberals, free-thinkers, rationalists. They were not as popular but were still part of the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas was a Sadducee.

Pharisees applied extra traditions above the Law as delivered to Moses via God. These traditions strangled faith. The Sadducees were on the other end of the spectrum, questioning everything. They doubted the resurrection, angels, Spirit… They were asking questions all the time, and were never on firm, dogmatic ground. They seemed to be extra-intellectual but also appeared humble when asking their questions. All they were really doing was instilling doubt. They were the ones who asked Jesus who the woman with 7 husbands will be married to in heaven. (Matthew 22:23-30).

Why did Jesus say to beware the leaven of these two groups, if He knew that both groups would cease to exist within 70 years? Because these two groups are still around. Today, Rob Bell would be a Sadducee. Here is one example of a Sadducee questioning tactic: “Bell “articulates his ‘questions’ using rhetorical flourishes that seem purposefully designed to twist truths he knows to be communicated in scripture and that hold those truths up for public ridicule.” As in this example: “Will only a few select people make it to heaven and will billions of people burn forever in hell?” (source)

Yes. The bible clearly teaches that. Satan said to Eve, “Hath God said…?” (Genesis 3:1)

Any Prosperity Gospel teacher, like Jentezen Franklin for example, would be a Pharisee. You have to fast to get a blessing, you have to give seed money, you have to, you got to, do this, do that.

So all these centuries later, we must still heed the warning to beware the leaven of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Men’s hearts do not change and these false yeasts are still here too. Jesus said to beware and so we must. (Source for the above, JC Ryle ” Warnings to the Church“)

Now to the box. I agree that God is majestic. I know His thoughts are not my thoughts and His ways are not my ways. I know He is so much higher than I am. (Isaiah 55:8-9). I know He cannot be contained in a box and He is outside it. Sort of.

People say “Let’s not put God in a box.” I disagree with this, or, at least, in part. What they are really saying when they say that is “Let’s release God from the box so that I can have my own free-thinking ways.” While God is above the box, what He revealed to us for our own edification, teaching, and reproof in His word is IN the box!

God gave us the box and that is His word. Going outside it, as demonstrated in the dots puzzle, means going outside His authority.

I mentioned above that Sadducees appeared to be intellectual but humble because they posed their heresies in the form of a question. This tactic today is encapsulated in a false doctrine MacArthur calls “The Hermeneutics of Humility. This approach maintains that because God is SO high, we cannot with any certainty or clarity make any dogmatic statements about what He said in His word. Interpreting His word must be approached with a humble, seeking questioning attitude. Instead of “Thus saith the LORD,” the Sadducees claim, “Hath God said? Let’s have a conversation about it. My puny brain is too humble to say for sure. Making a certain claim would be too arrogant.”

MacArthur explains it this way: “A new movement is now arising in evangelical circles. Apparently, the main object of attack will be the perspicuity [clarity] of Scripture. Influenced by postmodern notions about language, meaning, subjectivity, and truth, many younger evangelicals are questioning whether the Word of God is clear enough to justify certainty or dogmatism on points of doctrine.”

The warning is: As long as I am not clear and don’t speak in any absolutes, then I am not under the authority of what it says. If we can’t interpret it fully then we can’t obey it fully.

Not that asking questions about scripture is bad. I ask questions all the time. ‘Ye must be salt and light’. I ask, OK, why salt? Why not pepper? What is it about salt that Jesus used that word He wanted to know and apply? How will this edify me? I don’t ask, “Did God really say salt? Is salt the only seasoning? Can I use pepper?”

You see one set of questions affirms scriptural truth while seeking to go deeper within its box, and the other set seeks to tear down the cardboard walls that exist to keep us within His authority to wander outside it.

Let’s change what Satan asked Eve. If he had approached it this way: “God said not to touch the fruit. So are you going to touch the fruit?” It would have been easy for Eve to say, “No.” The box’s walls are clear, and going outside would have been a deliberate disobedience.

So satan went about it this way “Hath God said?” This causes a person to examine and re-examine what was said and subtly at the same time undermines it by the very fact that it CAN be questioned.

When I was approaching the cross in advance of my salvation, I knew a person who used this approach. I am not talking of scriptural truth, because I wasn’t saved yet. But I was an investigative reporter and I had to question everything, but also in good conscience, at the same time I had to examine everything to sort wheat from chaff, before reporting on it. What is solidly true and what is not? This guy used to ask constant questions, always sending me off on rabbit trails, dead ends, and clouding my mind with extraneous information. Just as I arrived at a conclusion, he would ask another set of questions and I’d go off again. It was exhausting. In my journal I wrote, “I am tired of this guy making me doubt what I know.”

One thing I know is that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He said so very clearly. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

Yet in this Sadducee way of thinking of ‘Let’s take God out of the box’, we now have the Wider Mercy doctrine. This is a doctrine in which people may indeed go to heaven not having known Jesus nor having heard the Gospel. Because, you know, God is not in a box. He just might surprise us and apply salvation to some faithful in deepest Africa who are pretty sincere. He could do that, you know, goes the outside the box thinking.

God CAN do anything. God WILL not contradict His word. He made promises and one of them was to send His son to die for our sins. Therefore Jesus is the only way. If God went around Jesus, the universe would collapse, because it is through Him that all things hold together. (Col 1:17).

God is not in a box. But we are. Let’s stay there.

Posted in bible trivia, game show, jeff foxworthy

‘American Bible Challenge’: Where Jesus meets Jeff Foxworthy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Coming in August, a Game Show of Biblical Proportions. Here is the promotional blurb.

“Is America ready to get their Bible lessons from Jeff Foxworthy, king of the redneck joke? It’s about to become reality as Game Show Network has released the first look at its original game show “The American Bible Challenge.” Game shows have tackled everything from the private lives of newlyweds to deepest fears of average Americans, so offering up the Good Book as the basis for frantic competition and fabulous cash prizes seems like the next logical step. They have rock bands and coffee bars in churches now, so it’s not as outlandish as it may seem at first. Foxworthy plays host to two teams as they use their knowledge of Bible trivia to win money for a charity or ministry.”

More at link, including promo trailer.

Yeah. Thanks, Emergent Church, for the Rock Bands and Starbucks inside churches thing. Way to Down-Grade.

So what do you think? Interesting way to present the bible to a new audience? Or crass way to commercialize God?

Posted in crabs, hawaii, oahu

Unknown mystery creature invades Hawaii beach by millions

Posted on by elizabethprata

Weird. What got me interested was hearing that they were crawling up on surfer’s boards and onto the surfers too. Even weirder that no one knows what they are, aside that they look like crabs in a larval stage.

Here is a news spot from KHON Hawaii—

http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/embed/iframe?aspect_ratio=3×2&auto_next=1&auto_start=0&page_count=25&pf_id=9619&pl_id=21712&rel=3&show_title=0&tags=news_local&va_id=3614081&volume=8&windows=2

“The south shore of Oahu is being invaded by something strange from sea, that even has sand crabs running for cover. “It’s the first time I’ve seen this, I’ve never seen it before,” says beach goer Bruce Kuwana. “It’s really weird, it looks like you want to eat it like a little berry,” says beach goer Sonya Lake. “There are probably millions I’d say,” says beach goer Scott Paddock.”

“If you look closely the entire shoreline is dotted with tiny, purple creatures all curled up. “Looks like it has about it 6 legs on each side,” says Lake. “Yeah it’s like an avatar crab.” “When something washes up like this you don’t know what to expect, maybe Tsunami stuff,” says Kuwana. It’s something many have never seen before. And no one we found knew what they were. “I definitely want to know where they came from and what they are all about,” says Paddock. Even the biologists at the Waikiki Aquarium are scratching their heads. They’ve been getting reports of the pea-sized crabs from Kahala to Ala Moana, all this week.”

More at link

God is so creative to make creatures we can’t even identify yet, don’t know exist, or emerge at this late stage of civilization! So neat. I hope the scientists can identify them. I’d be curious to know what they are and where they came from