(no title)

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 23, 2011 by elizabethprata

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a time when we traditionally celebrate the blessings we enjoy in life. Many families have a tradition of sitting around their table and each guest or family member saying what they are thankful for.

I’m thankful for my salvation. For that to be possible I am thankful for the Holy Spirit drawing me to Jesus. For that to be possible I am thankful to Jesus for obeying the Father and dying on the cross. For that to be possible I am thankful for God who created all the world and who is so Holy that His son obeyed Him and took all the wrath that was destined for me on that cross. I am thankful He revealed Himself to us and that we have the privilege of prayer, the Word, the gifts, the fruits, and eternal life. I am thankful for the promises of prospering us in the regenerative process of growing in Christlikeness, for treasures and rewards in heaven, for the promise of rest and peace.

When we attend the marriage supper of the Lamb, sitting at the banquet table, we will be rejoicing. Now, the time after the rapture when we are presented as a bride, and the time of the Tribulation when we are having our purification and our rewards at the Bema Seat, and the time of the Millennial Kingdom when the marriage supper continues…and the final huge celebration at the New Heavens and the New earth after the old one is melted in a fervent heat…I don’t know if there will be actual food and actual table. I think there will be but I don’t know. So we go forward thinking of this as a celebratory rejoicing in heaven in our real, glorified bodies but unsure of if there will be food actually.

So when we are rejoicing in the Spotless Lamb after the rapture at the Marriage Supper, we will be thankful for His blood-bought purchase of us, for sure. We can personally thank our ministering angels. We can shake the hand of the saints from the Old Testament, such as Abraham, Esther, John the Baptist, David, Jeremiah… we can see God and live! What gratitude we will feel, for He created every good thing. Gratitude is a good thing and we will be experiencing it perfectly and fully!
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bible, false doctrine, false teachers

Why we name false teachers

Posted on November 23, 2011 by elizabethprata

Christians are called to love one another. However foremost and primarily we are called to live in truth and protect the truth. So many times John rejoices over the new Christians walking in the truth, in 1 John, 2 John, 3 John… Do not mix up loving the brethren with remaining silent when false teaching comes for the sake of peace. If you love them you will speak up.

The Word is a precious gift, bought with the blood of our own Savior so that it could be inspired by the Spirit to men whom God loves so dearly. It is God’s own revelation of Himself to us for Godly living and proper worship. 2 Timothy 4:2 tells us to —

“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

I submit to you that the Word is out of season at this present time. It is very hard today to cut through the accumulated baggage that is American Christianity. There are fads, books, ridiculous doctrines, liberalism, and attacks on the very foundations of the most basic truths of the faith. Under most attack today are the notions of hell as a place for eternal punishment of the unrighteous, that Jesus died for sins and rose again on the third day, and that Jesus is the only way to heaven. One out of season approach to the Word that particularly grieves me is when people say “take God out of the box” we have put Him in and they stay away from conviction of their convictions. No, God is not in a box, He is infinite. But He purposely revealed Himself in the 66 books of the bible and that is the God He wants us to know at this time. He didn’t make Himself uninterpretable and He didn’t make Himself unclear in that revelation. There is more to God, but for now, we work with what we have, and that is the God in the bible. Which ironically often comes in a box.

Paul warned that a major end times sign is that they will not endure sound doctrine. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires:” (2 Timothy 4:3). It doesn’t say that they will not endure doctrine, but sound doctrine. The Greek word “sound” in the part of the verse ‘sound doctrine’ means healthy, pure, well as in not-sick. It means as opposed to a debilitating sickness. And that is what unsound doctrine is, sickness.

It reminds me of the verse in 2 Timothy 2:17. Paul urged the workers in the faith to remain strong, refuting the words of false teachers such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, and Paul said something interesting here. He said that their teachings will spread like gangrene. The Greek word used here gangraina means gangrene, just as we know it today. A cankerous, spreading, oozing sore sickness. The US National Library of Medicine defines gangrene as “the death of tissue in part of the body.” The church is the body of Christ. Does that resonate with you, or what?

Paul is saying that false teachings kill off parts of the body in oozing, putrid, destructive manner. Worse, the method of death of this tissue is defined as happening “when a body part loses its blood supply.” Jesus paid for the body with His blood so when we are cut off from the blood of Jesus by false teachings we are in very severe danger! That is what false teaching does, causes destruction to a part of the Body. The Holy Spirit was so apt in using gangrene as a metaphor! How wonderful He is!

So how do doctors treat gangrene? If it is caught before the infection goes too far, it is removed through a medical term called debridement, a medical word meaning the precise removal in an exact surgical procedure excising just the infected tissue. (I don’t want to get carried away with stretching metaphors too widely, but the body of the church is called the Bride…) However, if gangrene is left untreated for too long, a larger part of the body may need to be amputated. Finally, if left untreated for too, too long, the whole organism dies.

As far as the Word goes, I submit to you that failure to correct false teaching in firm manner over the last few decades has led us to the very brink of this apostate time, when Jesus said asked if, when He returns in His second coming, will He find faith upon the earth? (Luke 18:8.) One can almost imagine the gangrenous, disgusting thing that religion will have become by then, left untreated. And the pure parts that are left will have been amputated do deeply there may only be one finger or one toe remaining in light and in truth. Sorry for the gross images, but Paul started it!

So what are we to do when coming across a false teaching? Now I admit it is easier to point to a false teaching when finding a false teaching like Jentezen Franklin or Joel Osteen, or Beth Moore or Billy Graham because they are far away and we can simply turn the channel, walk by their table at the book store without purchasing, or say no to taking up their simulcast. But what happens when the false teaching comes to your church and you have to endure it week after week? Now there is a problem and I tell you up front is the hardest thing in the world to handle. Many, many people won’t, can’t, or don’t. And that is why we are in this apostate situation. Brothers and Sisters, you have to point it out!

But before you do, make sure that you have prayed, loved, walked, studied, waited, watched, and prayed some more. Then and only then when the Spirit assures you the time is right, go public. Be ready for blowback of satanic proportions!

People will question your authority to point out a false teaching, especially if your pastor is promoting it. This is very good, we should be questioned when we say a church leader or pastor is promoting a false teaching. (That is why you have to be very sure that the Spirit led you to the right conclusion). Read these following verses but be sure to read them in the context of the chapters later so you have a thorough understanding of the mandate and burden to publicly exhort against a false teaching.

1 Timothy 5:20: Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.

Titus 1:13: This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

Titus 2:15: These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

But am I sure we are to do this to a brother? Yes. When Peter went off the rails in Antioch, Paul opposed Peter to his face. “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” (Galatians 2:11-14). What? Wasn’t Peter saved? Not condemned? Well John 3:18 says we condemn ourselves by what we believe and Peter had condemned himself by accepting a false teaching. It also could mean that the Gentile believers at Antioch were condemning Peter already. There was a ruckus and it was known that a division was happening in the church there because of the divisive nature of the Judaizers’ false teaching.

It was particularly hard because the co-pastor at Antioch, Barnabas, Paul’s beloved Barnabas! was now also being carried away too. Gangrene spreads, and Paul must have been grieved to see he was losing Barnabas to the hypocrisy dividing the church there. Peter was the most highly thought of in all of Christendom. But that didn’t stop Paul, because Jesus is even higher than that and it is His name we defend. He got to the point in Gal 2:14 where when he “saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel.” Paul waded in, knowing that the truth was more important than keeping peace. He opposed Peter to his face. The Spirit saw fit to include that in the record so we must use that as a pattern for today. When public sin against the Gospel encroaches on the church, there must be immediate and unequivocal church discipline to rectify it. Otherwise when we preach holiness and purity but don’t get rid of unholiness and impurity, we destroy our own credibility.

Now to the other point. Many people say not to name names. However, throughout the New Testament, we are told who was sinning and why. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, Saducees, Scribes and Herodians. (Matthew 16:6-12 and Matthew 23:15). Paul rebuked Peter in Gal 2. Paul dealt with Hymenaeus, Philetus (1 Tim 1:20), and Demas (2 Tim 4:9-10). Peter dealt with Simon the Sorcerer and Ananaias/Sapphira (though these last two were not false teachers bringing false doctrine, but liars bringing hypocrisy to the tithe or grieving the Spirit). Names were named.

We know the names of the false doctrines too, not just the people perpretrating them. There were the Judaizers/Legalists, (Acts 15:1), Gnosticism (1 Timothy 6:20-21, and likely was what Paul was dealing with in 1 Cor 8), Asceticism (Colossians 2:18-23), Antinomianism (2 Timothy 3:2-9). There are other false doctrines, but suffice to say, why do we know the names of these false doctrines now? Names were named.

Most of these false doctrines are still around today, and indeed it is a blessing that they were named, so we can identify them and combat them in same manner as the forefathers of the faith did.

I have tried to show you that false doctrines and teachings are a gangrenous cancer that must be opposed and excised. It is uncomfortable to do this and it seems excessive to name names. But let me put it to you this way. Knowing now that false teaching kills the body, let us think of false teaching as a runaway train hurtling toward your town and potentially crashing into the houses and businesses lining the track.

The first thing to decide is, IS there a runaway train, and is it on our track? Have we heard the report correctly? Paul saw that they were not straighforward, and to me this means he had examined the issue up close and had proof. It doesn’t say “Paul heard…” or, “Paul wondered…”If it is a true report of a runaway train, would you stand by and say nothing? Would you say, “Well, the people in the houses are asleep, they will get mad at me if I call them at this hour. I better stay quiet for the sake of peace.” Of course not! But that is what people expect us to do when we spot a false teaching.

Secondly, do you make the call to the house owners in the path of destruction and say this:

“Get out! there is a runaway train coming!”
“Where is it?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Well, from what direction is it coming?”
“I can’t tell you that either.”
“What is the name of the train? Which train?”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you.”
“What time will it get here?”
“I can’t tell you that as well.”
“Why can’t you tell me the specifics???”
“Because I don’t want to offend the train.”

What good is sounding the alarm if you won’t go into specifics? Failure to be specific on behalf of not wanting to cause trouble for the perpetrators of false teaching is actually saying you prefer to besmirch the name of Jesus because you don’t want to offend satan!

It is not easy to do this though. It is not easy to discern false teaching, it takes prayer and study. It is not easy to stand up to the spiritual leaders and say they are wrong. It is not easy to maintain your convictions in the face of blowback. They will make you quail and they will make you doubt.

But look at our gracious God:

Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 1:7). He was true to Jeremiah and He will be with you as well,

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). We are to go forth teaching and protecting the sound doctrines of the Gospel in the disciples and He will be with us to the end.
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bible, God, prayer

This made me laugh: Peter and his impetuousness

Posted on November 22, 2011 by elizabethprata

I’m reading a small pamphlet called “Found: God’s Will.” I plan to donate it to my church library and I’m reading it in advance of that, though I know that the author is solid and the information will be good.

So I am on this part discussing Peter’s experience with Jesus in several settings. In this one, they are on the boat.

“Suddenly one of the men in the boat looked out and said, “Someone is walking on the water!” Sure enough, with robes flowing in the wind, here comes Jesus walking across the whitecaps.

Peter cried out, “Is that You, Lord?”
The Lord answered, “It is I”
Peter said, “Can I come?”

“You may wonder why Peter said that. Why didn’t he wait in the boat until Jesus got there? But that wouldn’t have been like Peter. He said to himself, ‘Jesus is over there. I am over here. That is not good. I must go over there.’ It never entered his mind that normally he was not able to walk on water. That was not even a problem.When he saw Jesus, he had such a desire to be with Him, that he went.”

LOL! ‘It never entered his mind that normally he was not able to walk on water“… Is your desire to be near Jesus that strong, that the impulse to be near to Him overrides all else?

How do we be near Jesus these days? First, we repent of our sins and become saved. If we are not saved, we are outside His body. God does not lead those who have not received Jesus as personal Savior. If you are not with Him, you are against Him. (Matthew 12:30). The first step is to be saved, that brings you so close to Jesus that he sends the Holy Spirit to be inside you! Talk about close!

Next, we have to die to self. It is our flesh and our will that separates us from Jesus. When we are not saved it is our sins that keep us from him, our flesh wanting to say and do things that oppose Him. When we are saved, the fleshly will and lusts do not go away. Unchecked and unrepented fleshly sins do cause us to be distant from Jesus, even if we are saved, (Proverbs 28:13) though we do not lose our salvation. But our lusts can be held in check by submission to the Holy Spirit and He helps us resist sin. We do not have the power or the will to do that but the Spirit does. So Jesus said,

“Luke 9:23-24 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

Also, pray frequently. Colossians 4:2 says to “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Devote is a strong word, the Greek means to persevere in, to remain steadfastly upon. Don’t become lax in your prayer life, sending up a quickie prayer before bed and falling asleep in the middle of it. The prayers of the saints are heard by the Holy God in His courts!

“The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” (Revelation 8:4)

Have you pondered lately what a privilege it is to pray to God and that He promises to hear them? We have a Holy and Loving God on His throne, with Jesus sitting by His side interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) Wow! Get excited over that!

So, to be close to Jesus we are born again, we die to self daily, and we pray devotedly. What else could we do to stay close to Jesus’ side? Read His Word, of course. That is what Peter was doing- propelling himself toward the Word.

When we pray we speak to Him, but when we read His Word, He speaks to us. Everything we need to know about truth, Godly living, prayer, fasting, parenting, working, serving…it is all in there. Does the Word sit on your shelf, gathering dust?. Does it languish in the back seat of your car, fading? Or is it well-worn, spine cracked, pages wrinkled, children familiar? Personally I find the Word fascinating and beautiful. God sent the Word in the flesh to us, (John 1:14) and after that He sent the Word to us in the closed canon of the bible. (Revelation 22:21). He says things like this in it:

“The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8)

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12)

We are dearly loved, by the Holy God! Not just loved, but dearly loved! So dearly love Him back and read what He has to say to us, read about His nature and character as He reveals it. How can we serve a Jesus we don’t know? How can we love Him back if we do not know Whom we are loving?

There are many things we do to stay close to the Lord, but I’ll end with this one. Stay faithful through trials, dear ones. Stay faithful. Trials come, they do to all born again believers. Peter said to rejoice when they come. Why rejoice?

“These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:7)

The glory of Jesus Christ! And that is what everything we do is all about: the closer we are to Him the more glory we can reflect back on Him! It is all about He who is coming soon to gather His children to His bosom and take us home. (Isaiah 40:11). His glory is so pure, so bright that no one can see it and live. (Exodus 33:20). But when he collects us, we will be transformed, (1 Corinthians 15:51). We will see it! What a sight that will be! (1 John 3:2)

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jentezen franklin, the daniel fast

Jentezen Franklin, and his false teachings on fasting

Posted on November 21, 2011 by elizabethprata

“PART 1: The Daniel Fast, here

If you partake of this fast, other benefits mentioned on The Daniel Fast website are winning the battle over the flesh (hard to do when we are still flesh when the fast is done), losing weight and healings from diabetes, allergies, arthritis and cancer. Another benefit is said to be putting our spirit in charge of the other two parts of us, the soul and the body. It must be news to the Holy Spirit that we can put Him in charge of things. (source). Here is what others have experienced by fasting along with Jentezen Franklin: healed relationships, spiritual growth, physical healings, financial breakthroughs, and other blessings. Wow.

“If that is the case, you have to wonder what blessings aren’t being released, Franklin writes, what answers to prayer are not getting through…what bondages are not being broken…because we fail to fast.” The Word-Faith crowd always makes a point to say that we will lose out on something if we don’t do it their way. This is an example. Fasting is a voluntary activity we engage in at the prompting of the Spirit or when we feel we need to humble ourselves in grief or repentance, or to focus on Jesus in a more pointed way. More on fasting in previous post.

Jentezen Franklin is the guru of fasting. He has written two books on it and is the one who championed The Daniel Fast. His statements about why we fast include fasting to get a blessing, to earn God’s favor, to get a public reward, to get our greatest breakthrough, to “release” a hundredfold return. (source).

So the lesson from The Daniel Fast and Jentezen Franklin is that we fast to get something. I do not believe we fast to get something, and I do not believe we should expect something and I do not believe we have the power to cause God to do something if we fast. More on what fasting is all about in the previous post.

Secondly, if we fast, Franklin says, it causes God to “release” these things into our lives. My understanding is that fasting is a private expression of a deeply felt spiritual need and a way to humble myself before Almighty God.

All this elevates fasting to an importance the bible does not give it nor did Jesus give it. So who is this Jentezen Franklin?

Franklin is pastor of a Holiness church in GA but he is also pastor of a Holiness church in CA. How does he do it? This article from Charisma Magazine explains:

“Every Sunday, Franklin arrives at Free Chapel in Gainesville (GA) by 5 a.m. for prayer, preaches two sermons and shakes hundreds of hands before boarding a private jet at 2 p.m. with his family and two staff members. They arrive at John Wayne Airport, located five minutes from Free Chapel Orange County (OC), and by 6 p.m. Franklin is in the pulpit. The next day is filled with Orange County staff meetings, and the group returns to Gainesville on Tuesday. “This may sound like a crazy schedule, but it is actually exhilarating,” Franklin says. … “My family comes first, and what shows me that this is of God is the way they can be with me more now than ever,” Franklin says. “The school systems have actually worked it out that my children can be off the two days so they can be with me.”

Is this a biblical model of pastoring? Pastor means shepherd. How can he shepherd his flock if he has one pasture in Judah and one in Persia? He can’t. It is not a biblical model of shepherding. As for his family, is taking his children out of school for two days a week the best, most stable life for them? Is his ambition so great he plunks his children in the middle of his “crazy schedule” so he can enjoy the ‘exhilaration’? And a private jet??? He had a choice to stay in GA. He chose the jet set lifestyle. Is this the proper Christian pastoring and fathering model we want to buy into? It isn’t for me, and I refuse to spend money buying his book.

His friends tell us a lot about who Franklin is. This weekend he is preaching from the pulpit of false preacher Joel Osteen’s stage at Lakewood Church! (source here and here). There is no worse false church in America than Lakewood. There is no worse false preacher than Osteen! Osteen denies the Gospel in favor of becoming a motivational guru to have “your best life now”. The only way you’re having your best life now is if you’re going to hell. (that was John MacArthur’s wit). This Jentezen Franklin will be preaching from Osteen’s stage for two days. That should tell us a lot.

FALSE PASTOR ALERT.

If that is not enough, after this weekend Franklin will be hosting the “Praise the Lord” show with Jan and Paul Crouch on TBN. There is no deeper of a snake pit of false doctrine than Praise the Lord show on TBN and Franklin will be promoting it. (source)

Franklin should be excised from any bible-believing church on these bases ALONE.

But wait, there’s more.

As for his teachings, they are false doctrine too. He said in one sermon as he appealed for money, lots of it for over ten minutes, over sentimental music blared from loudspeakers, “I’ve never come to Hillsong Conference where I haven’t sown at least a $1000 seed…”

Yet the bible says, “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Mt 6:2

and Franklin goes on, “$1000 seed…into this place, because if I sow now, the rain of now will fall on my life.” NAME IT CLAIM IT! Tithe big, you get big. And what is “the rain of now” for heaven’s sakes? His hands were fluttering down as rain, and the audience looked up as if expecting manna or Armani suits or money to fall from the sky right then.

He is a Word-Faith preacher and we know those are false. The Word-Faith crowd is big on “if you do this, you get this.” “If you do this it will cause God to move.” They talk about ‘releasing’ power into your life, but in fact the only thing we have the power to release is a fart after dinner. He elevates to us more power than we have and diminishes Jesus in the process.

“It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of ministry,” he says. “It’s dangerous to have a growing ministry and a shrinking passion for God; something gets out of whack. When I find myself becoming mechanical in my preaching, even a one-day fast fine-tunes me and makes my heart sensitive. For me, fasting is the key.”

Fasting is not Jiffy Lube. It is the Word fine-tunes you. Sigh.

But most telling, is the following:

He said, “When I feel myself growing dry spiritually, when I don’t sense that cutting-edge anointing, or when I need a fresh encounter with God, fasting is the secret key that unlocks heaven’s door and slams shut the gates of hell. The discipline of fasting releases the anointing, the favor, and the blessing of God in the life of a Christian.”

Don’t gloss over this.

It is the most abhorrent statement imaginable. It is sacrilege. Jesus has the key to heaven and hell. Nothing we do unlocks it. How sacrilegious to say that any activity we do unlocks heaven or shuts hell. This is wrong! On just that statement, he should be booted from every bible-believing pulpit, our churches, and our bookshelves!

And why is fasting characterized as a “secret”? It is not, at least not to anyone who reads the bible. And what is a ‘cutting edge anointing’? Is it different from a regular anointing? Franklin distinguished the “normal seed” from the “precious seed” in one ‘name it claim it’ sermon I’d listened to. I guess I am missing out on the “cutting edge” anointing and I just have to settle for the regular anointing we get when we’re saved. (1 John 2:20).

See, that is the dangerous heresy in Word-Faith preachers like Franklin, they subtly elevate themselves and their teachings above what the bible says, making everything else seem humdrum by comparison by using sexy words like cutting edge, fine-tune, heart sensitive, breakthroughs, hundredfold return, precious seeds…. it is all very exciting in Franklin’s world, exhilarating, even. By comparison, the staid old faith, prayer, service, obedience seems dry as yesterday’s toast.

The Word-Faith doctrine “puts confidence in the nature of faith rather then in the object of faith. It assumes that there’s something inherent in believing that enacts [or “releases”] something when it isn’t true at all. It is not the nature of faith that is effective, it is the object of faith. It is my faith in God that gets results not my faith in my faith.” (source: A biblical answer to the prosperity Gospel)

Franklin Jentezen is a jet setting, TBN hosting, Osteen partnering Word-Faith prosperity preacher who has no business being in any biblical church. He is a wolf. Avoid Jentezen Franklin and The Daniel Fast. Rely on the Holy Spirit to direct your steps. Pray, fast when the Spirit prompts you, read your bible so you will have the discernment to spot a false teaching when you come across one. Go have a good lunch, and don’t forget to thank the Lord for it!
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jentezen franklin, the daniel fast

The Daniel Fast and Jentezen Franklin

Posted on November 21, 2011 by elizabethprata

Part 2: Jentezen Franklin and his false teachings, here

It is with heavy heart I write this today. I have been called by our gracious and Holy Spirit to write this. Out of sincere duty to Him who reveals truth and obedience to Him who saves, I must say some things about the Daniel Fast and about Jentezen Franklin of the Fasting books. This is part 1, about fasting and the Daniel Fast

First, a parable. Picture a large house, in which you and I live with a family. We are all busy, doing things, and happily dwelling there. In November I awoke one morning and went into the baby’s room, and as I opened the door I saw with horror that there was a wolf curled up with the baby, snarling and drooling. There are two things I could do. I could close the door and go downstairs to make breakfast, not saying anything about the wolf in the house. Or I could flip on the burglar alarm, call 911, and get my shotgun. Of course I opt for the latter. I am going to make a warning that there is a wolf in the house, I am going to make a ruckus about it, because wolves are dangerous and there are babes to protect.

The house is Your Church. The wolf is The Daniel Fast and/or Jentezen Franklin, the promoter of the current fasting fad. We make a ruckus to let everyone know that there is a wolf ready to pounce on the babes of our faith.

FASTING

There are many churches today participating in the current fad known as The Daniel Fast. This is a man-made so-called spiritual activity that is supposed to automatically draw you closer to God by eating things that are on a list and not eating things that are not on a list. Other benefits touted if you partake of this fast are winning the battle over the flesh (hard to do when we are still flesh when the fast is done), losing weight and healings from diabetes, allergies, arthritis and cancer. Another benefit from doing the fast is said to be putting our spirit in charge of the other two parts of us, the soul and the body. It must be news to the Holy Spirit that we can put Him in charge of things. (source)

Fasting is in the bible, but the way it is being taught in the Daniel Fasting plan and in Franklin’s book it is off center. That is the genius of false teaching, take a biblical thing and twist it.

Let me say that I know good pastors have a heart for their people. I can’t imagine the stress and difficulty of being a pastor in the last days, and the mourning they do for the sheep who are sleeping and at such risk! I want to shake them myself, out of complacency, laziness, or apathy, and get them to see that every moment for Christ counts. I know they want the best for us. But the Daniel Fast and the Jentezen Franklin books are not the way to wake them up and this isn’t the best for the congregants of a church.

About fasting: it is good. I fast. Fasting is biblical. However the only New Testament direction we are given is from Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, and in that, the only specifics we are given about fasting is as a voluntary activity prompted by the Holy Spirit TO DO IT IN SECRET. Jentezen Franklin’s model calls for the opposite. Otherwise, Jesus said, the temptation to lean toward pride and hypocrisy is too great. We are told in Romans 14 that the kingdom of God is not what we eat or drink, but the Daniel Plan contains a long list of what we may eat or drink.

If a person engages in it for the wrong motivations, such as it being a promoted activity from their church leadership, or as a weight loss plan, or as a healthy lifestyle, then it is a fad of no worth!

“Fasting in and of itself is unknown in Scripture as an end in itself. All of the benefits of fasting in the Scripture are indirect, not direct. Fasting is never isolated to create some virtue in and of itself. You don’t just say well, I’m going to be spiritual, I will not eat. You are no more spiritual because you don’t eat than because you do eat.” (source)

“Fasting is to deny self, but it is not done in a vacuum. You don’t just say well, I’m going to deny myself. I’m going to say no to myself and stop eating for no good reason. There is a reason to humble yourself in that manner. There is a reason to deny yourself in that manner. There is a reason to inflict yourself in that manner and the reason is a consuming one. [F]asting never occurs in a vacuum. It never occurs biblically without a corollary. So, fasting is almost not something you choose to do, but something you cannot avoid.” (source)

What is the reason people would go on a Daniel Fast, which strictly is not the definition of fasting, because fasting is avoidance of food? Is it just to do it? Because it will make you grow spiritually? It won’t, if that is your sole reason. It’s not an activity that causes growth, it is an outward expression of an interior spiritual need or circumstance.

Here is an excerpt on the Daniel Fast and fasting in the New Testament from John MacArthur’s site, Grace To You:

“What’s sad is the effect these self-appointed authorities have on those who follow them. They bind consciences with false guilt. Setting themselves up as judges of what goes into your mouth, they oppose our Lord Jesus Christ, who declared all foods clean and said that nothing should be rejected if it is received with gratitude (Mark 7:19; 1 Timothy 4:1-5).

“The New Testament leaves the details of fasting to the discretion of the believer and even de-emphasizes fasting in the progress of revelation. When Jesus taught against hypocrisy in Matthew 6:1-18, he taught us to give, pray, and fast privately. If you do, your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

[As opposed to praying, fasting is a] “Different approach altogether. Yes, he tells those who fast to fast in secret (Matthew 6:18). But he does not say, “Fast, then, in this way.” He does not give any instruction on fasting. He does not address frequency. He does not address diet. He does not address drinking liquids while fasting. He most certainly does not address whether the starchy endosperm in semolina vitiates the purpose of the fast!”

“His silence shows that Jesus de-emphasized fasting in comparison to prayer. If you needed such details to live your Christian life, He would have given them (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). His silence shows you shouldn’t preoccupy yourself with the matter. Teachers today should not regulate fasting or elevate it to prominence when Jesus left it in the shadows.”

Fasting is a private, Holy Spirit inspired activity usually and traditionally associated with grief, repentance, or for a specific purpose that Jesus Himself relegates to a private matter between a believer and God, vertically. The Daniel Fast promoters and Franklin have made it an activity on some name it-claim it spiritual check-off list, a horizontal display of public piety laden with potentials for hypocrisy and pride, exactly what Jesus said not to do. I’m sorry to be harsh, but someone has to say it.

A short series of essays on the proper approach to fasting can be found on John MacArthur’s blog below, and in part 3 he deals with the Daniel Fast specifically. It is not long, each part is only 2 pages. I encourage you to read this four part series from a senior pastor of our faith to get an understanding of the theology behind fasting from which any discerning person can go forward on making good decisions on determining if their urge for fasting is a spiritual need or a church activity, and whether or not to take part in any program or plan set before them.

The Heart of Christian Fasting, Part 1. The Old Testament.
The Heart of Christian Fasting, Part 2: Sermon on the Mount
The Heart of Christian Fasting, Part 3: The New Testament (it is this part he deals with the Daniel Fast)
The Heart of Christian Fasting, Part 4: Fasting Today

If someone wants to listen to or read a good sermon series on fasting, again I direct them to the Grace to You website and the series entitled Fasting Without Hypocrisy, Part 1

I condemn this Daniel Fast as a fad, a gimmick based on flawed teachings, and man-made motivations and well apart from proper biblical moorings.

I exhort with all possible urgency that any church practicing it is dangerously adrift!

Part, 2, Jentezen Franklin next
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bible jesus, salt and light

Salt & Light

Posted on November 19, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16).

We know how to be light. We let our Christian lives shine brightly, the fruits of the Spirit evident (Galatians 5:22-23) as a sweet perfume. (2 Corinthians 2:15). The darker the evil, the brighter the light.

Don’t be a match. Don’t be a lighter. Don’t be a candle. Don’t be a flashlight. Be a Fresnel lens! A fresnel lens is a fixed lens of circular disk of stepped prisms. “A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses. The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design. It is a thinner, lighter lens made with separate sections mounted in a frame. Compared to conventional bulky lenses, the Fresnel lens is much thinner, larger, and flatter, and captures more oblique light from a light source, thus allowing lighthouses to be visible over much greater distances.” (source).

Science makes a better lighthouse lens: “State of the art, one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, the great lighthouse of Alexandria, built around 280 B.C., towered some 450 feet above Egypt’s greatest harbor. At that height, it was the second tallest structure in the world, after another of the seven — the Great Pyramid of Giza. The light within, also state of the art, was an open flame. From that time until the 18th century, the lights that warned ships that they were approaching land improved hardly at all. Some burned coal. Others stuck with wood. Oil lamps backed by mirrors eventually offered a bit more candlepower. Still, every coastline in the world remained littered with the ribs of broken ships whose captains didn’t see the lighthouse until it was too late. Then, in 1822, a frail scientist with a passion for optics made a revolutionary breakthrough. His name was Augustin Jean Fresnel. An example of his greatest creation, a large object that looks like a crystalline beehive, is his lens.”

It was the most important breakthrough in light magnification in 2000 years. (Aside from Jesus Himself, that is!). All prior systems paled by comparison with the Fresnel lens.

So even light has different qualities and magnification levels. I hope you strive to be big and bold and shine with the bright, refracted light of a Fresnel lens!

But salt? How does one be salt? We know that salt is a preservative. With no refrigeration in past days and lands, salt is the medium used which preserved the meat from decay. I read that in the Old Testament times that covenants were sealed with salt, salt was exchanged. Roman soldiers were paid in salt, that is where we get the phrase “not worth your salt” from.

If you really wanted to wreck your neighbor, before we had cars into which we put sugar in the tank, disputing neighbors used to salt the land and no crops would grow there. The area at the southern end of the Dead Sea is salt bed after salt bed, nothing grows there. And the Sea itself is so salty nothing lives in it (except recently discovered bacteria!)

If we put too much salt down, it will kill the thing we are trying to preserve. If we use too little it has no sting, no flavor, and is useless.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13-16).

Being salt is not as appealing as being light. Everybody breathes a sigh of relief when the lights are turned on, especially after a long night hiding in the tornado closet with the power out, or after a lengthy period of darkness of any kind. Light is welcome. Salt is necessary, and often it is unwelcome, because as mentioned earlier, it stings. But this cultural climate of tolerance and love and false humility and meekness is simply a means to lull the Christian that they don’t need to be salt, too. Well, we do. You’ve heard “pouring salt in the wound” and that means causing someone pain by applying stinging salt to where there is a wound. But sometimes we do have to cause pain or upset if we have to rebuke or exhort, saying biblical truths to people who have forgotten them, or who don’t want to hear them. You know what? Pouring salt on a wound does sting but it controls infection.

Christian, don’t abandon your duty to be light AND salt. It is all for His glory.
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bible jesus, eu, one world economy, prophecy

Ann Barnhardt closes brokerage, citing financial investment as Russian roulette, run by godless, criminal political cronyism

Posted on November 18, 2011 by elizabethprata

Glenn Beck’s The Blaze website as well as the guys from Zerohedge are reporting on the first casualty of the MF Global bankruptcy, which is also part of an accelerating momentum toward total economic collapse.

MF Global was one of the ten biggest bankruptcies ever, according to the Wall Street Journal last week when the news came out. The effect was that it became a purgatory for MF Global Customers, and about 33,000 Account-Holders couldn’t get to their cash. ‘My Entire Business Has Come to a Halt’ said one, and this is true for thousands of the little people. Even the big people were affected. Gerald Celente of Trends Research said that his account was emptied and all his positions on gold were closed. The ultimate effect was on us all, as all big bankruptcies are wont to be.

Today a broker closed her business and sent a letter to her customers explaining why. She is Ann Barnhardt, of Barnhardt Capital Management, Inc. and her letter is making huge waves. Rush read it on today’s program, The Blaze posted it, and Zerohedge published it too. Ms. Barnhardt is commercial hedge broker specializing in cattle and grain, representing Farmers, ranchers, etc:

“The Entire System Has Been Utterly Destroyed By The MF Global Collapse” – Presenting The First MF Global Casualty
“Dear Clients, Industry Colleagues and Friends of Barnhardt Capital Management,”

“It is with regret and unflinching moral certainty that I announce that Barnhardt Capital Management has ceased operations. After six years of operating as an independent introducing brokerage, and eight years of employment as a broker before that, I found myself, this morning, for the first time since I was 20 years old, watching the futures and options markets open not as a participant, but as a mere spectator.”

“The reason for my decision to pull the plug was excruciatingly simple: I could no longer tell my clients that their monies and positions were safe in the futures and options markets – because they are not. And this goes not just for my clients, but for every futures and options account in the United States. The entire system has been utterly destroyed by the MF Global collapse. Given this sad reality, I could not in good conscience take one more step as a commodity broker, soliciting trades that I knew were unsafe or holding funds that I knew to be in jeopardy.”

“Specifically, they froze customers out of their accounts WHILE THE MARKETS CONTINUED TO TRADE, refusing to even allow them to liquidate. This is unfathomable. The risk exposure precedent that has been set is completely intolerable and has destroyed the entire industry paradigm. No informed person can continue to engage these markets, and no moral person can continue to broker or facilitate customer engagement in what is now a massive game of Russian Roulette.”

“I have learned over the last week that MF Global is almost certainly the mere tip of the iceberg. There is massive industry-wide exposure to European sovereign junk debt. While other firms may not be as heavily leveraged as Corzine had MFG leveraged, and it is now thought that MFG’s leverage may have been in excess of 100:1, they are still suicidally leveraged and will likely stand massive, unmeetable collateral calls in the coming days and weeks as Europe inevitably collapses. I now suspect that the reason the Chicago Mercantile Exchange did not immediately step in to backstop the MFG implosion was because they knew and know that if they backstopped MFG, they would then be expected to backstop all of the other firms in the system when the failures began to cascade – and there simply isn’t that much money in the entire system. In short, the problem is a SYSTEMIC problem, not merely isolated to one firm.”

“And so, to the very unpleasant crux of the matter. The futures and options markets are no longer viable. It is my recommendation that ALL customers withdraw from all of the markets as soon as possible so that they have the best chance of protecting themselves and their equity. The system is no longer functioning with integrity and is suicidally risk-laden. The rule of law is non-existent, instead replaced with godless, criminal political cronyism.”

A tale of two shepherds

Posted on November 18, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Prophecy of the Shepherds

The LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.
“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.” (Zechariah 11:17).

That is the Antichrist. In Daniel 11:36 we see more about this foolish, worthless shepherd. “Then the king [the foolish shepherd] will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.”

“Jesus said of this worthless shepherd, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” (John 5:43)

O, such blindness to reject the True Shepherd for a man of character so evil, so foolish, so worthless! What they gave up:

“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” (Isaiah 40:11).

Look what He does for His sheep! “For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25)

He is the Good Shepherd!

“Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:1-18)

You can be in the flock, cared for by the Overseer of Souls! You can be carried in the bosom of the One who lives in glory! If you repent of your sins and submit to the Shepherd, you will be. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” Follow Him!

Glory to Jesus, the Highest!
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theology

Murmuration…breathtaking

Posted on November 15, 2011 by elizabethprata

MSNBC: “A chance encounter on Ireland’s Shannon River creates a magical moment for a pair of filmmakers to capture one of nature’s greatest phenomena, a murmuration. TODAY.com’s Dara Brown reports.
Dara Brown writes: “Sophie Windsor Clive and Liberty Smith experience one of nature’s greatest and most fleeting phenomena, a murmuration on Ireland’s Shannon River. The pair created a short film about their amazing row and submitted it for the World Wildlife Fund competition ‘Life, Nature and You. Make the Connection.’

Now, as you watch this, imagine these birds are in the Millennium Kingdom after the Tribulation the earth is renewed, and they are singing God’s praises (Romans 8:19) instead of groaning in His creation as they are now. (Romans 8:22)

Psalms 8:3-4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Enjoy!

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bible jesus, damascus, end of days. prophecy, end times

Damascus will be destroyed: A prophecy getting closer to fulfillment with each day

Posted on November 15, 2011 by elizabethprata

The Arab Spring finally burst into full bloom for Syria in April 2011, in Clock Tower Square. Protesters were fired upon with live ammunition, leaving about 50 people dead. The protests never stopped, and have turned into a full blown revolution against President Bashar al-Assad. He brutally squashes any uprisings with bloody crackdowns, yet they continued. The death toll rose throughout the spring and summer. Ally Turkey, alarmed at hosting a growing influx of refugees across the border, tried to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on Assad, to no avail. The UN sent an assessment team to the country in August and also Obama said Assad must go in that same month. Still Syria ignored the world’s consternation. In September the bloodshed showed no signs of abating, and in early October a resolution condemning Syria’s response to the uprising was presented to the UN Security Council. It was vetoed by China and Russia. Finally in early November, the Arab League, of which Syria is a member, denounced Assad’s handling of the uprising and suspended Syria’s membership in the Muslim organization.

Finally even the Arab League’s brotherhood had had enough. After Syria defied the US, the UN, and fellow allies, and the Arab Brotherhood called Syria on the carpet. The Arab League knows that if Syria keeps this up, the West WILL militarily intervene, likely using NATO, and the Arab brothers do not want that. They are more than aggravated with Assad. The kicked Syria out of the Arab League.

Arab League suspension of Syria brings military intervention closer
Syria brutal regime at tipping point

So, stunded by even his brothers’ defection from his camp, Assad said he had a change of heart. Unfortunately that change of heart didn’t stick because the next day, we awoke to news that an additional 70 people had been killed in the protests. And this time, Syria hopes they will have sheltering wing under which to take refuge: Russia.

“The latest carnage included 12 suspected army deserters as mass demonstrations spread throughout the country, testing how much more blood Assad can shed. He is in a do-or-die battle, vowing not to be the next Qaddafi or Mubarak but crowding himself into a tight corner as the Arab League turns against him by suspending Damascus from the organization … Syrian officials are in Moscow to try to shore up support from Moscow after Jordan’s King Abdullah said Monday, “If I were in his [Assad’s] shoes, I would step down.” He later denied that he was calling for Assad to quit.”

Russia plays prominently in the last days prophecies, allying with Iran and Turkey to attack Israel in the prophesied battle of Gog-Magog that Ezekiel 38-39 depicts. Syria also plays a prominent role in unfulfilled prophecy. Isaiah 17:1 says that, “The burden against Damascus.“ Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.”

Notice the language in that prophecy. It is passive tense. It does not say that Israel wipes out the city. It does not say which enemy destroys the city. It does not say that God destroys the city. We do not know who or how the city ceases. We don’t know how it will happen or from whom. Only that it will. We only know the result. In other prophecies God says who will do what, and how. Not this time.

We all assume Israel will do the deed but it really could be anyone, even God as He smote Sodom and Gomorrah. It could be NATO. It could be Turkey. It could happen as rebels get a hold of chemical weapons of mass destruction and unleash – accidentally or on purpose – a holocaust that destroys the city. The Syrian bio-weapon threat is huge and growing and quite worrisome now that stability has vanished from the region. It could be that rebels with Libyan weapons that had gone missing from Libya make an attack and things get out of hand. No matter, the fact is, as Damascus becomes increasingly belligerent and the Middle East hotbed that is the epicenter of last days prophecies climbs over the horizon and hurtles toward us, we are closer than ever to that final obliteration of the city of 6 million Isaiah prophesied 2700 years ago. Keep one eye on the news, and the other eye looking UP!
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