By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
I reminisce about vacations from Maine to Florida, exploring beaches from Labrador to the Bahamas. Each beach offers unique treasures—shells, sea glass, coral, and rocks—revealing the wonders of God’s creation. Blending natural history, personal reflection, and Scripture, my essay celebrates the beauty and mystery of the sea.
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
I reflect on Jeremiah’s account of Israel’s idolatry, especially worship of the “Queen of Heaven,” noting how whole families participated. Drawing parallels to today, I warn that modern Christians similarly drift into false practices when men are passive and women exceed biblical roles, disrupting God’s intended balance.
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
In Jeremiah 34, King Zedekiah and the Israelites promise to free their servants, hoping to gain God’s favor during Babylon’s siege. Once danger lifts, they break their vow, re-enslaving them. This hypocrisy exposes false repentance. God condemns such deceit, reminding believers that vows to Him must be sincere and kept.
Continue reading “The Hypocrisy of Hollow Obedience”by Elizabeth Prata
Ligonier: The History of the Reformation
Logos: What Is the Protestant Reformation? Everything You Need to Know
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
In 1998, I drove to Maine’s Farnsworth Art Museum to see Wondrous Strange: The Wyeth Tradition, an eerie exhibition exploring dreamlike and unsettling imagery. Reflecting later, I contrast the human imagination of the Wyeths with the true “wondrous strange” mystery of the Gospel—God’s unimaginable incarnation and redemption.
Continue reading “The True ‘Wondrous Strange’”By Elizabeth Prata
Jesus said I AM seven times. Satan said “I will” five times. There is a big difference between I AM and I will.
Jesus said,
In Isaiah 14:14-15 it is said of Lucifer,
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart,
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:14-15)
Jesus declared himself I AM out loud, before many, Satan said quietly in his heart. Jesus declares the reality, Satan declares his individual desire. Jesus is eternally I AM, satan was created and generated ambition later.
Jesus was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 1:8) and what He purposes will come to pass (Isaiah 46:10. Satan WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER HAVE ANY OF HIS WISHES, HOPES, AMBITIONS, GOALS, OR PURPOSES ULTIMATELY COME TO PASS. (Revelation 20:10).
Jesus did it all, He paid it all, it is finished.
Friends, remember, satan is a defeated foe. He is active, but moot. He is around, but vanquished. Those of us in Christ are victorious through Christ’s eternal act of submission, crucifixion, and resurrection, His love, and His will.
Satan says he will, but GOD DID.
By Elizabeth Prata
A while back I listened to the great Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preach through a series called “Great Biblical Doctrines.” I love doctrine. By doctrine, I come to know Christ. Through living it, I manifest a Christlike character. Far from being “head knowledge” only, learning doctrine ignites my heart in love for Christ and to obey Him more fully in all things. One cannot pursue holiness (2 Peter 1:15-16) without knowing what or Whom you pursue.
Lloyd-Jones began his series of 81 sermons on the great doctrines of the Bible in 1952, finishing in May 1955. He preached them on Friday nights, and by the end, the 2000 person capacity of the room was exceeded and they had to find a larger room to hold all the people interested in hearing these great truths. Far from the sometimes heard sentiment “Doctrine bores people”, Christians are eager to hear about the decrees of God, and love getting to know Him better.
Dr Lloyd-Jones said way back in 1953 in his sermon as part of the Great Biblical Doctrines series “The Lord Jesus Christ”, the following, which is something people say to me and around me all the time:
Begin Lloyd-Jones quote:
“I am anxious that I should deal with the case of anybody might be present and whom may think and say, ‘Well, I don’t have much time to be interested in Doctrine like this. I’m just a simple believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ My friend, if you take up that position, you’re utterly unscriptural. It was because such simple Christians were ready to believe false teachers, and DID believe false teachers, that so many of these Epistles had to be written with their stern warnings against the terrible danger to the soul of believing these wrong teachings and false ideas concerning the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Continue Lloyd Jones quote:
“It is not enough to say ‘I believe in Jesus Christ’. The New Testament asks you a question when you say that. It asks, ‘What do you believe about Him? Is He man only or is He God only? Has He come in the flesh or hasn’t He? What is the meaning of His death? What did He do?’ The New Testament is concerned with definitions. I suggest that there is nothing that is further removed from the teaching of the New Testament itself than to say ‘it’s all right as long as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that it doesn’t matter very much what you say about Him in detail.’ It is the detail that is the most important and vital to our whole position.”
—end Lloyd-Jones.
I recommend the series. Please enjoy the series Great Biblical Doctrines here:
By Elizabeth Prata
In part 1 I looked at the historical context that brought female Christians to a place these days where the waters of complementarianism have been so muddied that women are now confused as to the true definitions of and limits of our roles as wives and mothers.
SUMMARY
The article today explains biblical complementarianism, teaching that men and women are equal before God but have distinct roles. Men lead in the home and church, while women are called to help, submit, and prioritize motherhood and homemaking. Working outside the home is not biblically forbidden if it doesn’t detract from family responsibilities, something each couple decides depending on their season of life.
Continue reading “Created to Complement: A Biblical View of Women’s Roles in Home, part 2”By Elizabeth Prata
Part 2 here- Created to Complement: A Biblical View of Women’s Roles in Home, part 2
SYNOPSIS
Over two decades of Christian observation, I warn that modern media, conferences, and celebrity culture have blurred biblical boundaries for women’s roles. As popularity replaces pastoral authority, false teaching spreads. I urge a return to scriptural clarity and complementarian order. This is a 2-part series.
Continue reading “From Church to Conference: The Subtle Erosion of Complementarian Roles; part 1”By Elizabeth Prata
Even though it’s Fall and heading into Thanksgiving, Christmas, and deep winter, I never stop thinking about the ocean. During the Fourth of July long weekend, lots of families take vacations, and many choose to go to the beach. I used to as well.
 |
| Shells, sea glass, rocks, coral, barnacles, and pottery from the sea, collected from Labrador to the Bahamas. EPrata photo |
I used to take a week off at Christmas and head to Florida, and the week of the 4th I’d go to my favorite spot in Maine, Lubec. If you see the map of Maine as a profile of a dog, Lubec is at the dog’s nose. It borders Canada separated only by a narrow inlet. The bridge from Lubec takes you to Campobello Island on the Canadian island of New Brunswick.
As you might guess, the beaches on the hardy, rockbound and foggy coast of Maine are wild. As a matter of fact, Dr Beach, AKA Stephen Leatherman, several years ago rated a beach near Lubec as the most wild in America.
In December, I took my vacation at Venice FL, where the sand beaches are white and the ocean is azure and gentle at the Gulf coast.
Beaches around the US and around the world all have their own personalities. Each one yields up its own treasures. At Jasper Beach in Machias Maine, the beach has no sand! There’s only smoothly polished rocks of rhyolite and jasper. I’ve taken home many smooth, glittering rocks from Jasper Beach. At Lubec’s Globe Cove, the sea yields sea glass, from the hundreds of years the fishing fleet used to throw over their glass bottles. At Venice FL, the sea yields up shark’s teeth in great numbers. At the deserted beaches in The Bahamas, you find coral washed up, bleached and in interesting twisted shapes. In Labrador, you find scallop shells bigger than your hand! All you need is one of these for dinner!
You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. (Psalm 89:9)
And of course, there’s shells!
If you ever have headed to the beach, here are a few facts I find fascinating. As you amble along the borderline between ocean and ground, as you wade in the waters to cool your tired feet, as you shield your eyes and gaze out to the limitless blue expanse, praise God for making such a beautiful habitation, and its creatures so complex and wondrous.
My favorite shell is the moon snail. He has a lot of cousins. They all have that sweet spiral, so pleasing to the eye. Their hushed colors of slate grey or moon blue are also pleasing. In the US’s warmer waters and the tropics the shell colors are brighter. Some think this is because of the temperature of the ocean. Others think it’s because of the different food available that translates through digestion to the calcium the shells are made of. Scientists still aren’t sure what kinds of pigments the mollusks are using. The reasons for shell coloration and variation are a mystery to scientists, but God created them all. In one day! He knows why their colors and shaes are so varied. Perhaps to create a palette of beauty that glorifies Him.
 |
| Juvenile whelk, collected Gulf Coast Florida. EPrata photo |
Moon snails for all their delicate beauty are actually rapacious predators. The holes you see on other snail shells are made by the moon snail. He climbs on top of a shell, spits acid, uses his tongue lined with teeth to drill a hole, then spews acid onto the hapless mollusk inside. He waits for his prey to melt a little, then inserts his stomach into the hole and absorbs the prey. Ouch! Yuck!
This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is his name: (Jeremiah 31:35)
Did you know that the moon snail is hatched with a little shell attached already? That’s the point at the start of the spiral. So cool.
 |
| Moon snail, collected Maine. Prata photo |
Scallops can grow into the size of dinner plates, their age shown by lines on the shell – just like the rings of a tree. I found that one in the photo at the top, in Blanc Sablon at the border of Labrador/Newfoundland, Canada.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. (Psalm 146:6)
The Bahamas has been described as having the third most extensive coral reef system in the world. Did you know? Andros Island has a 140-mile Barrier Reef – and that is one of the longest coral reefs in the world.
 |
| Coral. The Bahamas. EPrata photo |
Did you know? Corals are in fact animals, not plants. Coral reefs are the largest structures on earth of biological origin.
Sea glass is becoming rarer.
Did you know? Sea glass takes 20 to 40 years, and sometimes as much as 100 years, to acquire its characteristic texture and shape. Sea glass begins as normal shards of broken glass that are then persistently tumbled and ground until the sharp edges are smoothed and rounded. In this process, the glass loses its slick surface but gains a frosted appearance over many years.
Naturally produced sea glass (“genuine sea glass”) originates as pieces of glass from broken bottles, broken tableware, or even shipwrecks, which are rolled and tumbled in the ocean for years until all of their edges are rounded off, and the slickness of the glass has been worn to a frosted appearance.
This article talks about the best places to find sea glass and mentions Jasper Beach in Machiasport, Maine among other beaches Downeast. That’s where you find the round and tumbled stones. Some glass can be found there, too. But if you’re going that far, drive just a bit further to Lubec, and walk the small beach at Globe Cove. That’s where even more sea glass treasure can be found.
If you spot some sea glass, salute our God who made the ocean and currents’ motion so strong that over time his waters will wear away hard glass.
See the barnacles on the scallop? Apparently in Labrador they grow ’em big! Barnacles are a sea creature that attaches to things, like they did to the underside of our sailboat. Enough of them get on there and it slows down the boat considerably, creating a lot of drag. Occasionally you have to pull the boat out of the water at a marina and scrape them off.
 |
| Barnacles on a scallop. They make it hard for the scallop to swim, too. Prata photo |
Did you know that the cement barnacles use is stronger than anything man can make synthetically? How barnacles did it was a mystery from time immemorial until 2014. The US Navy has been intensely interested in barnacles, partly because of the issue of slowing the boats when barnacles grow on the hull, and also because the cement the creatures use is so sticky in salt water!!
When you’re walking on a pier and see the barnacles on the pilings, salute our God who made them so super strong.
 |
| Jasper Beach Machiasport ME. Prata photo |
Whether it’s shark’s teeth, shells, rocks, sea glass, pottery, or any other treasure you find on vacation, praise God who made it all in 6 days by the power of His word and the creativity of His intellect.
Below you’ll find some resources I’ve enjoyed to help me learn more about the wonderful finds you find at the beach!
Conchologists of America, information about the shells and the animals that inhabit them. Conchologist is a shell collector.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote a books of poems and thoughts called Gift from the Sea. Here is the link to the 70th anniversary edition
Remembering Lubec: Stories from the Easternmost Point (American Chronicles)
is a short book about life in that harsh but beautiful climate and location
This is a good book, and pretty, too: Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature’s Vanishing Gems
the-end-time.org 