By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
This essay reviews Dwell Differently®, examining its theology, practices, and leadership through a biblical lens. While affirming Scripture memorization, it raises concerns about self-centered application, lack of discernment, commercialization, and the implications of corporate motherhood, concluding the ministry is not recommended.
Continue reading “A Discernment Review of Dwell Differently®”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
Christianity teaches Jesus Christ as the sole way to heaven: exclusive in rejecting unrepentant sin and alternative paths, yet inclusive by offering salvation to all people who repent, believe in the Son, and obey Him, restoring humanity to fellowship with God through Christ alone eternally.
Continue reading “The Gospel: Exclusive Truth, Inclusive Invitation”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
Using The Twilight Zone’s “The Masks” as metaphor, the essay warns against judging by appearances. Outward beauty, kindness, or smiles can conceal evil. Christians must discern teachers by fruit and doctrine, not charm.
Continue reading “Wolves Wear Smiles”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
An essay critiques feminism within conservative Christianity, arguing it disguises itself as ministry. Tracing roots from temperance to suffrage, it defines feminism, challenges female celebrity teachers, and claims biblical hierarchy is violated when women pursue public platforms, careers, and influence while neglecting home-centered roles scripturally.
Continue reading “When Ministry Masks Feminism”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
This essay examines biblical suffering, distinguishing between suffering for obedience to God and suffering caused by rebellion or sin. Through Job, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, and Jonah, it urges believers to examine their hearts, trusting Christ while avoiding unnecessary, self-inflicted sorrow.
Continue reading “Suffering: Righteous, Consequential, or Self-Inflicted?”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
The hymn “Amazing Grace” presents a dual concept of fear shaped by grace: one where knowledge of Christ sparks terror and another that relieves spiritual anxiety. For believers, this fear of God is a respectful, loving acknowledgment of His majesty, contrasting with the terror experienced by non-believers facing divine judgment.
By Elizabeth Prata
All photos are by EPrata
By Elizabeth Prata
In 1744 Charles Wesley wrote “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”. It is a beautiful hymn, and one that is played frequently at Christmastime. Jesus promised to come, and He DID come.
His coming was expected. But it was also unexpected.
1. TIME. His coming took a long time, and in the meantime the world was subjected to a global flood which killed all humans except 8; long epochs of the endless cycles of war, peace, famine, drought, plenty; and the creation groaned and still groans. He took a long time to come since the Garden’s promise. The length of time was unexpected But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (Galatians 4:4)
2. WAY. The manner of His coming was indicated in the Bible but still, when the reality presented itself, the uniqueness of the event was unexpected. A virgin shall conceive? Infinite God pouring Himself into a babe, becoming flesh? Hard to understand, and, unexpected.
3. SERVE. He is King. Kings rule in glorious robes, they don’t get born in a barn among the filthy animals. They don’t arrive impoverished and alone. They don’t get born with no fanfare, trumpets, and heralds announcing it all. And of all people the actual heralds (the angels) appeared to in order to announce the Messiah’s birth- Shepherds?! The lowest of the low. He came to serve, not be served. (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 13:1-17). All this was unexpected!
4. DEPART. A King rules & reigns as long as he can. He does not abdicate. He stays healthy so he can keep ruling. He produces heirs so he will have his legacy. He doesn’t enter into his kingdom and leave a few short years later. He doesn’t delay coming into his physical kingdom until centuries later. But Jesus did. Even the disciples didn’t quite understand, they asked more than once, “Lord So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). It was unexpected that the kingdom would be spiritual for centuries then physical, later. It was unexpected that Jesus would ascend.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says,
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
I am glad for that. I would not respect a god I could figure out, or know more than. He is majestic and inscrutable. However, for all that being true, He deigned to reveal Himself and His plans to us through His prophets and then His written word. We serve a wonderful God!
By Elizabeth Prata
I’ve mentioned before that I lived on a yacht and sailed around for two years. We sailed north. We sailed south. We sailed coastal. We sailed offshore. We sailed fast and we sailed slow. We sailed during the day and we sailed at night.
I remember one night passage in particular. We had been anchored at Nassau’s Paradise Island and had upped anchor to scoot to nearby Rose Island. Rose Island is a long, skinny palm tree-lined island with no roads and no houses. A daily excursion boat playing a steel drum version of Yellow Bird arrived every day. We’d hear Yellow Bird coming, we’d hear Yellow Bird staying, we’d hear Yellow Bird going. I liked hearing the distant calypso steel drums, their notes winding around the palm tree leaves before bouncing off to arrive at our swaying boat to serenade us. In between it was quiet. Very quiet.
When we decided to leave, we wanted to head back north to Great Abaco Island. We plotted our trip on the chart. It necessitated scooting around the western tip of Rose island we were anchored behind, turning north, making a deep water passage, and then turning west to get inside the Abaco island chain. There were no navigational aids to mariners. We’d have to sail in between dodgy narrow cliffs with shallow waters dotted with deadly coral heads. Coral is sharp, it could rip a hole in the bottom of your boat faster than a blink.
It’s easy to see coral heads if the sun is behind your back, you’re wearing polarized sunglasses, and you stand far forward on the bow or even better, higher up if you have a wheelhouse. Unfortunately, this meant that to arrive in time for the sun to be behind our back in order to navigate the coral, we’d have to get there before noon. And that meant sailing overnight to arrive at sunrise.
We left Rose Island at dusk, and as the sun set, turned our vessel toward Great Abaco. Our heading was 0 degrees, due north.
Compass set for 0 degrees captain. Easy enough. The sky darkened, turned blue, then purple, then black. The stars came out. Absent any competing light, they were bright. However, one star stood out. It hung off our left spreader. The spreader is the cross-spar halfway up the mast. Our mast was unusual for a modern boat, it was wooden.
If I pointed the left spreader with the star just at the end of it, I could maintain my true north, 0 degree course. That is because the star was the North Star, and the north star never moves. All the other stars rotate around it, but Polaris never moves.
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| A long exposure photo of Polaris & neighbouring stars (exposure time 45 min),taken in Ehrenbürg (Walberla) in 2001. Source |
The North Star is a pole star, and it’s called Polaris. There is only one, the North Star. Wiki says, “While other stars’ apparent positions in the sky change throughout the night, as they appear to rotate around the celestial poles, pole stars’ apparent positions remain virtually fixed. This makes them especially useful in celestial navigation: they are a dependable indicator of the direction toward the respective geographic pole although not exact; they are virtually fixed, and their angle of elevation can also be used to determine latitude. … The North Star has historically been used for navigation since Late Antiquity, both to find the direction of north and to determine latitude.“
We did not sail by celestial navigation, even though we had a sextant. We didn’t have a GPS either but we used the compass and the charts and eyeball and Loran. (Yes, that’s how old we are). We loved using the North Star as our navigational aid. It made us feel like sailors of antiquity, brave and adventurous, casting off to parts unknown and getting there using only what was set in the heavens.
Little did I know that in truth, that ten years later I’d come to know the real God who set the stars in the heavens. (Genesis 1:16). Now my adventures are more biblical, casting off for spiritual parts unknown, and following my North Star, who never moves from His position, and is always bright.
My New Year wish for you is that you follow the North Star. Always, always keep your heading to true north. Always check for drift and for undersea hazards that can rip your keel off and sink you in a blink. It is Jesus who never moves, never changes, and all other beings, planets, and stars rotate around HIM. You cannot go wrong with a compass heading as true as that. Follow Him, whether it is night or day, or whether there are rough or smooth waters. Navigate by His brightness, and the course that is set will see you there safely.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)
Happy New Year.
By Elizabeth Prata
I like to read old newspapers from the 1800s and early 1900s. Especially local ones. Their focus on the minutiae of life is charming to me. The notices of who visited who, who is sick, the price of potatoes, who sold their horse. But even more than that, those people could write well and had a large vocabulary. I especially enjoy reading their obituaries. The sendoffs from this world to the next are eloquent and emotional. They are so unlike today’s obituaries that are so fact-driven and dry.
Our local weekly paper has been in continuous operation since 1895. This is remarkable. Even more than that, many of the oldest newspaper editions have been preserved and digitized. It is these original images I like to read. The old time font, the ads for tonics and liquids sure to drive away the numerous listed ailments…all so amazing to look at from the vantage point of 130 years later.
I brought to my screen the 1895 newspapers looking for obits. I had an idea for a blog article. But like the squirrel I am, I soon jumped here and there to many other articles. The first papers that were preserved were from January 3, 1895, and I got involved in reading the New Year’s news and wishes. It was timely, seeing that I am in the same week between Christmas and New Year’s as that long ago paper, so I changed my focus to copy some of the more interesting published items from that time. This first one doesn’t have anything to do with New Years but I thought it was hilarious, both the incident itself and the paper’s response to it. Newspapers back were cheeky, let me tell you.
DECLINES TO SERVE.
Mr. Wm. C. Berryman, who was recently appointed as a populist committeeman for Harrison district, requests us to announce in our columns, that he is not in politics at all, and that he will not accept the position, and further that he was appointed without his consent or authority. He said further on being interviewed that he was a democrat. We make this announcement for Mr. Berryman with pleasure and hope that he may never see fit to depart from the faith of his fathers. ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895.
My Note: Back then there were the political parties of the Republicans, the Democrats, and the Populists. Populists were new (1892) but suddenly very powerful. Democrats were the dominant party in Georgia at the time. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia,
“In 1892 Georgia politics was shaken by the arrival of the Populist Party. Led by the brilliant orator Thomas E. Watson this new party mainly appealed to white farmers, many of whom had been impoverished by debt and low cotton prices in the 1880s and 1890s. Populism, which directly challenged the dominance of the Democratic Party, threatened to split the white vote in Georgia.” (Source)
To Get the Best Husband.
A very pretty custom was that of tasting the “cream of the well,” the first drink from spring or well on New Year’s morn. The first part of water drawn, the flower of the well,” insured positively the best husband in the parish to the water drawer.” ~Danielsville Monitor January 3, 1895.
On New Year’s Resolutions
“What a man is at 40 he is apt to remain. No amount of New Year’s resolves will help him who is not full of virtuous endeavor. Jan. 1 dawns brightly to the mind, but the succeeding days conclude dismally as to achievement. Nevertheless its recurrence must ever be pleasant. If it does not bring accomplishment, it at least brings hope, and hope nerves us to bear our burdens, to discharge our duties. We dearly love to think that the cares and troubles of the old year, which so largely spring from our temperament, will not invade the new one.” ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895
New Year’s Don’ts.
Don’t fail to receive New Year’s day with a smiling face.
Don’t usher in that day by declaring you are growing old.
Don’t sent word you are out because New Year’s calls are out of fashion.
Don’t neglect to send a bonbon box to your best girl.
Don’t receive an old friend gloomily on that day.
Don’t trust to new 1895 and slander old 1894.
Don’t fail to send New Year’s greetings to those far away.
Don’t think you may meet your fate in 1895. Perhaps it will be better to miss him.
Don’t be unfriendly. Do all the good you can, and don’t slander anybody.
Don’t turn over too many new leaves for 1895.
Don’t be unhappy about anything. Be a philosopher.
Don’t deride the new year.
Don’t make the day unhappy.
Don’t lose your temper.
Don’t fall in love.
Don’t declare you hate men.
Don’t celebrate too much.
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That is a long list of don’ts! Don’t fall in love?? Anyway, the reference to “New Year’s Calls” or in another article “Calling Day” was the custom of people to go about on New Year’s Day visiting. Since men were not working and women liked to keep up social ties, they took the opportunity to go all around and visit one another. But by 1895 this newspaper piece described the waning days of the custom-
Originally New Year’s was intended
not for a universal, miscellaneous calling day, without motive or pro- propriety, into which it ultimately degenerated. It was intended for a day when men who had been prevented during the year by business or any condition of circumstances from keeping up their friendship of acquaintance with women they liked or esteemed should pursue social atonement for apparent social neglect and renew their pleasant relations. The idea was excellent and commendable, as was the custom. Before this city grew to be such a Babylon the calls were agreeable, often delightful, to makers and receivers. But the city became too big, and the custom was grossly abused. Many men and women thought only of the number of calls, ignoring quality for quantity, and sometimes the scenes indoors, and outdoors waxed disreputable from overindulgence.”
LOL on calling this rural Georgia town in 1895 a ‘Babylon’. I guess every generation thinks it is the worst?
Carlton News, January 3, 1895 Danielsville Monitor
‘Xmas is over and I think it has been a week of quiet, pleasant enjoyment in our town. There has been nothing to mar the happiness of our people. The usual dinners, suppers, and sociables for young and old which has been immensely enjoyed by all, and the most enjoyable occurrence was the beautiful snow which visited us last Sunday evening and now comes the new year with its number of good resolution and pledges, which we hope to see complied with and feel confident that this year will be more prosperous, and happy than the past. We wish the Monitor a happy, prosperous New Year.
–It must have been a memorable holiday to one and all here in Georgia to receive snow!
Happy New Year, Danielsville Monitor, January 3, 1896
The old year, has passed away and the new year has been ushered in. We should now lay aside all our prejudices and little petty differences, and start the new year on a higher plain. All of our new resolutions should be carried out faithfully, and we should try to make this the most prosperous year of our lives. We are all one people and all of our common interests are the same, therefore we should all strive to that end, that all may be benefited. So here is our happiest greetings to you for the New Year, and we hope that when the end of this new year shall come that you all will be our friends still, and that we will have many new ones added to our list, and we hope that not an enemy will have been made.”
Sometimes 130 year old sentiments are good ones! Happy New Year to all of you from The End Time blog.
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