Tag: [By Elizabeth Prata]

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

Cai Guo-Qiang’s sky ladder to heaven and the real ladder to heaven

Posted on by elizabethprata

You know where this is going.

I’m so happy that the Chinese artist spent all his time and money and creative energy constructing this amazing event. It truly is a feat for any fireworks artist! I’m glad his deep love for his grandmother propelled him. Love surely is motivating. I have not seen the documentary but I’ve seen his work in stills and it is amazing.

“This is where I want to make a ladder to connect the Earth to the universe,” said Cai in 1994, … Ultimately too ill to attend in person, she had to watch via cell phone, and died just a month later. Sky Ladder, Cai’s attempt to commune with the unseen world, was the perfect parting gift. (Source)

That job has been permanently filled, by Jesus. Video Screen grab source

The great and majestic thing about the connection between heaven and earth is firstly, Heaven came down. (John 6:38). Jesus condescended to st aside His glory and humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross.

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8).

Secondly, to attain heaven, we need not construct anything, work for anything, perform anything, do anything. We can’t. The sky ladder for his grandmother was an act of devotion and love by an artist, a man. Jesus’ devotion to the Father who is GOD to do His will meant that Jesus’ work in life and on the cross is all that is necessary for mere humans to ascend the ladder to heaven forever- if we believe. God was satisfied with Jesus and raised Him to life on the third day, and now all that is necessary to climb the very real sky ladder is to repent and believe. (Mark 1:15).

The documentary about the life of gunpowder artist Cai Guo-Qiang is on Netflix. He sought to do this fireworks display for over 21 years, pondering how to make earth and heaven meet in fire. It was his quest…his white whale.

Man has sought to build towers to the heavens before. (Genesis 11:4).

But earth and heaven have met.

And he 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).

God is personally involved in the affairs of men, sending His messengers to and fro to execute His will. On one day 2000 years ago, He sent His messenger to tell Mary that the day had arrived whereupon heaven and earth met, in her womb, and she would birth the babe who would be THE ladder between heaven and earth. He is the door, the way, the entry.

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13).

Praise the Lord there is a way to reach heaven. Jesus.

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

Bible reading plans, choices, personal reading, books!

Posted on by elizabethprata

It’s time once again for the annual Bible Reading Plans blog essay! I’m notorious for starting and utterly failing to stick to a Bible Reading Plan. But I keep trying! Alexander Pope wrote hope springs eternal

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man


Three Reasons Why You Should Read the Whole Bible in 2017

Each year at the end of December, many people choose a reading plan for the upcoming year only to find themselves failing to keep pace as the weeks pass. It may surprise you to know how many people in your church have not read the entire Bible. This year would be a wonderful time to read the whole Bible. Consider these three important reasons why you should read the whole Bible in 2017.

Reading through your Bible has become a year-end advertisement, resolution, and chore list. I would like to encourage you not to not do it. This may seem like an odd request, but I want to drive past the activity and look at the heart. I don’t want you to grab a plan, make plans, and follow through with those plans so you can say you read through your Bible. I would rather you simply say, “I’m committed to learning about my Lord and Savior, therefore I need to read my Bible because it is the source of light in this dark world.”

I’ve never been one to follow a crowd and I balk at being herded into a plan just because it’s Bible plan time of year. Alternately, I have not read through the Bible completely, and it’s been 13 years since I was saved. So, I am lax, lazy, unproductive, non-diligent, and all the words. I want to know my Lord, and the way to do it is to read His word. So thanks to the ever-diligent Challies who wrote about different plans, I am doing three. Over-ambitious? Setting myself up for failure? Probably. However, think of the feast I’ll enjoy if I’m successful at even one of them!

This plan I chose is a five day, semi-chronological plan. And it’s free. Challies wrote, of theFive Day Reading Plan,

My favorite daily Bible-reading plan is the 5 Day Bible Reading Program from Bible Class Material which I was introduced to by Melissa Kruger. It has several features I love:

It is a familiarity plan that covers the entire text of the Bible over the course of the year. Between January 1 and December 31 those who follow it read every word of the Bible.
It is a pseudo-chronological plan that covers the text of the Bible in the order the events happened. Thus, for example, the Psalms come at appropriate moments in the life of David, the books of Kings and Chronicles are read in harmony, and so on. This helps set the events in their historical context. Yet even though it’s chronological, it’s only pseudo-chronological. There are Old Testament and New Testament readings each day and the gospels are interspersed through the year. I find this an ideal compromise over a strictly chronological program.

It is a 5-day plan. A benefit of a 5-day plan (as opposed to a 7-day plan) is that there is less chance of falling far behind. At 5 days per week it is far more doable than at 7 days—there is always a chance to catch up. Also, it allows a day or two of reading something different for those who, for example, like to read and ponder the sermon text on a Sunday morning.

It is a free plan. It’s free for the taking! They’ve got a nice little print-out you can download, print, fold in half, and put inside your Bible. It’s got boxes to tick as complete each day and each week. Or you can do what I did, which is use the Reading Plan app to organize the plan even while reading through Logos, the ESV app, or a printed Bible.

2. I also bought this one for Kindle,
Reading God’s Story, Hardcover: A Chronological Daily Bible Hardcover
by George Guthrie (Author), Holman Bible Staff (Editor)

Reading God’s Story takes that clear narrative approach to the Bible, arranging the complete text into a fresh chronological reading plan developed for the Read the Bible for Life biblical literacy initiative. In this plan the books, chapters, and verses of the Bible are thoughtfully arranged so readers can track the story of Scripture, day by day, from beginning to end, understanding the flow of events and how all the different parts fit together to make sense.

I bought this one too,
3. NIV, Bible in 90 Days, Hardcover Hardcover, by Zondervan (Author)

As you break it down into bite-sized pieces, what may have seemed to be an overwhelming challenge becomes doable and enjoyable. And this specially designed Bible will help you get the most out of your experience. Use it in conjunction with The Bible in 90 Days curriculum for all the benefits of sharing God’s Word in community, or read it by yourself. Either way, you’ll be fulfilling what for many people is a longstanding ambition: reading through the entire Bible.

Well, we’ll see. If I can’t stick to a plan for three months, or for five days in a week, I will be a sorry excise for a reader, a Christian, and a student!

Other plans

Michelle Lesley listed these kinds and other types of Bible Reading Plans on her page also. Take a look to see if there are some that appeal to you. There is a good variety. Michelle is faithful to provide a variety of credible and worthwhile resources on her page. You should bookmark it for 2017 if you haven’t already.

If you commute, pr prefer an audible Bible reading plan, there are those also. BibleGateway has The Daily Audio Bible plan.

Here is another option, The MacArthur Daily Bible:

The MacArthur Daily Bible takes a portion of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs for each day of the year, with daily comments that guide and inform you as you read through the Bible in a year. John MacArthur’s insight maximizes the benefit of each day’s reading. If a commitment to daily Bible reading never worked for you before, this is the answer.

You can also purchase it directly from Grace To You’s website, here.

Personal Reading

I am also planning on going through Challies’ reading program at the avid level. That is a commitment to read one book every two weeks. I work two jobs, and when I finish for the day, finish my own Bible reading, fulfill my ministries, and write a blog essay for that day, I’m pretty numb. But I do waste time on tv (like Judge Judy clips on Youtube) or shows like Top Chef or Great British Menu, so the fact is, there IS time to read. I want to read more. It relaxes me more than TV does and it’s better for my mind. I want to re-ignite the daily habit. I like books, and I miss them.

Here is the entire offering, from light reader of one book a month, to obsessed reader at two books per week.


Completed Personal Reading:

So far this School vacation I have finished:

JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy which was excellent. There’s profanity, but it’s necessary because when he quotes his family, that is how they spoke. Overall it’s an excellent secular book examining poverty cycles among those from Appalachia, from the perspective of ‘one who made it out.’

I read a Kindle short called My Seinfeld Year by Fred Stoller. You might remember Stoller as Everybody Loves Raymond’s whiny look-alike cousin. It’s well written and interesting about the background life of character actors and comedy writers.

Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith. It’s published by Voice of  the Martyrs. I got a few chapters in and burst out crying as a mother fleeing murderous Muslim fanatics with torches and machetes crawled through the jungle and then exhausted, stopped to prepare her young children for imminent death. Tough but necessary book! There is nothing like reading about the courage of martyrs to make one grateful for the Lord’s decision to install me in the US in a comfortable life.

Warren Wiersbe’s Lonely People: Biblical Lessons on Understanding and Overcoming Loneliness (Living Lessons from God’s Word). I’m not lonely, lol. I am accumulating books for the church library or to hand out to Christian friends. I read them ahead of time to make sure they are solid in doctrine. I’ve seen too many church libraries and even pastor’s study shelves flooded with junk. So I read them before I give them. The book was slim, readable, and biblical. Wiersbe looked at six attributes that contribute to loneliness, which he distinguishes from solitude or lonesomeness. Wiersbe offers reasons for loneliness and biblical solutions.

I had three Banner of Truth magazines piled up and finished them. These are meaty, theological magazines. I especially enjoyed the November edition looking at the doctrine of Particular Atonement and October’s edition where the last days of Martin Luther were chronicled. I encourage you to subscribe. They publish 11 times per year, one of the issues is a double issue.

On the To-Read list, books I recommend to one and all,

Truth Or Territory: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare by Jim Osman. Pastor Osman is pastor of Kootenai Community Church. He is Justin Peters’ pastor, the preacher known for his discernment conferences and videos. Pastor Osman has another book coming out soon, too. A new book by Pastor Jim Osman on Psalm 73 and the prosperity of the wicked will be released in early 2017.

Justin Peters has a new book just released this week, also-

Do Not Hinder Them: A Biblical Examination of Childhood Conversion
I live in the Bible Belt where there’s a Baptist church around every corner. It is common for me to arrive at school on a Monday and a kindergarten or first grade child shares that ‘yesterday they got saved, they’d asked Jesus into their heart’. While I’m thrilled the child goes to church and learns about Jesus, I’ve seen too many children over the years grow up and abandon their commitment and fall away. I often mourn when greeted with “Jesus into my heart” news. From the book:

Jesus said, “Permit the children to come to Me and do not hinder them; for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14). Is this a verse in support of baptizing children who make a profession of faith in Christ as most evangelicals have supposed? If it is, why is it that so many of the children we baptize grow up to show little if any fruit of having been genuinely converted? Why do so many walk away from Christianity once they gain independence from the home? In Do Not Hinder Them, author and evangelist Justin Peters presents a compelling biblical case that both the nature of children and the nature of salvation warrant extreme caution before we baptize children who have made intellectual assent to the basics of the Gospel.

Reviving New England: The Key to Revitalizing Post-Christian America

At one time in history, New England was a light to the nations. From its origination, the Northeast region has been a spiritual powerhouse, leading the way for Christianity to flourish in America and beyond. However, after three centuries of vibrant Christian influence, it encountered a perfect storm comprised of false doctrine, liberalism, and materialism, which crippled the church, and plunged the region into spiritual darkness. In Reviving New England, Nate Pickowicz makes a case for the inestimable value of the region, and offers a series of biblical prescriptions for faithfulness

I’m from New England, and it’s heart-breaking to see the empty churches, failing churches, liberal churches, all in gloriously beautiful and historic buildings that once espoused the faith in truth and light.

Women’s Ministry in the Local Church, by J. Ligon Duncan, Susan Hunt (Paperback)

Susan Hunt and Ligon Duncan walk through the Scriptures to help readers better understand what it means to have an effective, biblical women’s ministry in the church. The benefits of women’s ministries are great: training and discipling, evangelizing, and reaching out to the poor and needy. This book, written by seasoned ministry leaders, provides many proven tools to help start a women’s ministry in your church.

Ok, if I sit here writing about reading for too long I will not get to read! Happy New Year, may the Lord bless you in all you do for Him and in Him.

books-1abooks-2a

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

Wynter awakeneth all my care

Posted on by elizabethprata

One of the oldest surviving poems in written form is the Middle English poem Wynter awakeneth all my care. It is thought the poem was written in about 1340, before even Chaucer wrote.

Click to enlarge

As A Clerk of Oxford wrote on their blog,

A translation is inadequate, though; a lot of the power of the poem is in the rhymes, and the untranslatable negatives, especially ‘Nou hit is, and nou hit nys, / Also hit ner nere, ywys’. There are some clever touches, such as the phrase waxeth bare: ‘waxen’ can just mean ‘to become’, but it usually means specifically to ‘grow’ (like the moon, which waxes and wanes; do we use the word in any other context now?). But when leaves fall, waxing bare, it’s the exact opposite of growth; it’s death and depletion.

From the Library of the University of Rochester, we read,

Al that gren me graveth grene. “All that seed men bury unripe.” … “to put something under the ground, cover with earth; bury; plant.” There is no MED gloss for gren, a much-discussed crux, sometimes emended to grein, “grain, seed” (suggestive of John 12:24–25: “Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling to the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”).

Regarding the world’s joy…Spring is certainly a joyous time. Shoots and leaves burst forth. Time-lapse photography on the nature channels show flowers veritably bounding from the soil. Flora’s vivid early spring colors bring smiles to all who see.

Summer simmers into a dreamy and languid time. One’s cares still crowd the thoughts, but they are less potent, their robustness competing with sunny joys and relaxing pursuits.

Fall’s surge of color and riotous leaf swarms in wild wind both delight and vex. Stooping to pick up a brightly colored leaf, craning to see the Vee-shape of birds scuttling south, glancing at rushing clouds and crystal skies, breathing the crisp air…

Sadly, these momentary flares of color and movement are soon doused in the harsh embrownment of the darkling season. Winter. No better description of the ground and sky at late fall exists, in my opinion, than Thomas Hardy’s opening scene of The Return of the Native–

A Saturday afternoon in November was approaching the time of twilight, and the vast tract of unenclosed wild known as Egdon Heath embrowned itself moment by moment. Overhead the hollow stretch of whitish cloud shutting out the sky was as a tent which had the whole heath for its floor.

The heaven being spread with this pallid screen and the earth with the darkest vegetation, their meeting-line at the horizon was clearly marked. In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an instalment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky.

Winter’s dark death, dearth of color and lack of life…

Nou hit is, and nou hit nys, Also hit ner nere, ywys; (Now it is and not it isn’t, as if it never had been, indeed!). And yet, what a time, the bleak midwinter, to praise the Lord for all life! He has stripped away the distracting color and movement and delights of flora, and shown us His manifest care. In the bleak midwinter, one that awakeneth all my sorrow, He sustains all life, precious but hidden in His hand. “All passes but God’s will”.

How kind of Him to allow this fallow time so as to see new life resurrecting in spring, just as He came to life from the dead. The frigid season is one that entombs itself but then again bursts with life and joy and color soon enough. “It all goes to nought”, for only a season. The grace of this cyclical and everlasting flourishing is bounteous and beauteous. God is in control!

For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17).

The supremacy of Christ, spring, summer, fall, and winter, everlasting supremacy and everlasting life. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Jesus, help that this be known,
And shield us from hell,
For I know not whither I’ll go,
Nor how long here dwell.

No matter. The dormant seed entombed in ice, fleeting on scudding wind, or falling unnoticed on harsh road, I am that unripe seed, not knowing how long here I dwell. But secure am I that as wynter comes, even a death, I will spring forth in joy and color and movement from the very grave that seeks to grip me fast, but never can. The springtime of the eternity in Jesus awaits.

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Ex-Wham! singer George Michael dead

Posted on by elizabethprata

At age 53, on Christmas day afternoon, it appears that George Michael has died “peacefully at his home”. Fox News, BBC, UK Mirror, Business Insider confirm. Here is TMZ–

George Michael passed away at his home in England at the age of 53 … his rep confirms.

A rep for the pop star says, “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period.”

Details surrounding Michael’s death have not been released. Police say there’s nothing suspicious about the death, according to the BBC. George was a music legend — and sold more than 100 MILLION albums during his career. Michael launched his career with WHAM! in the ’80s — churning out hits like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Careless Whisper.

The immediate thought whenever a celebrity or local person dies, is always, ‘I wonder if they are surprised at their eternity’. Either way, whether the person died in their sin or they died in Jesus, the fact of their eternity becomes real one second after breath expires, and is a billion times worse, or a billion times better, than he could ever conceive while on earth.

I have a connection to George Michael. I’m 56 years old, three years older than he was, and grew up on his songs. I wasn’t saved until I was in my forties, so I enjoyed pop songs with all the range of lyrics from sweet to profane, for half my adult life. I liked Wham! and I liked George Michael’s songs.

But even more than that, music is so forceful especially when you’re a teen and young adult. The lyrics feel almost alive, embedding themselves into one’s brain and heart to settle intimately with the very sinews and tendons of the body, becoming part of us in ways that other leisure activities do not. You hear a certain song, it immediately takes you back, you’re swallowed in a memory with all its smells, feelings, and sensations as if it occurred a moment ago. At Psychology Today the question is asked,

Why Do the Songs from Your Past Evoke Such Vivid Memories?

We all know the power of an old song to trigger vivid memories that seem to transport us back in time and space. What songs bring back emotional memories from your past? The songs we love become woven into a neural tapestry entwined with the people, seasons, and locations throughout our lifespan. What is the neuroscience behind the ability of music to evoke such strong memories of the people and places from our past?

The discovery may help to explain why music can elicit strong responses from people with Alzheimer’s disease, said the study’s author, Petr Janata, associate professor of psychology at UC Davis’ Center for Mind and Brain. The hub that music activated is located in the medial prefrontal cortex region—right behind the forehead—and one of the last areas of the brain to atrophy over the course of Alzheimer’s disease.

The article goes on to describe findings from three different studies about the therapeutic potential the research can yield.

One of George Michael’s biggest hits was the song Careless Whisper. It is about a man expressing regret over the pain that his now-discovered adultery caused. It was a good song, but it was too real for me. It was on the radio when my ex-husband was engaged in adultery and leaving our marriage. This life-altering event occurred over thirty years ago, and the pain of one flesh being ripped back into two has simmered to long healed scar tissue, only occasionally flaring up…such as if I hear Careless Whisper again in an elevator…radio…or in the wake of George Michael’s death. The Careless Whisper is a whisper with teeth, ready to bite.

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4)

It’s strange how life takes you and your loved ones on different paths. Neither my husband nor I were saved while we were married, but eventually I became saved by grace afterward. To my knowledge, he never was. He died unexpectedly 6 months ago as a young man of 58, and I wonder, did his eternity surprise him? Is he regretting his own careless whisper? There but for the grace of God go I…at any point prior to being saved if I had died my own eternity would have surprised me as I’d be punished for all my own many careless and careful sins.

Adultery is horrible, and it inflicts a particularly painful pain that which takes many decades to soften. The grace of God lifted mine and gave me the strength to overcome anger and bitterness and to forgive. The careless whisper of adultery brings pain and spiritual death. The careful whisper of Jesus on the cross is the guiding whisper of my life, ‘It is finished.’Even as His own breath expired, He brought life to His elect who are now forgiven in sins. The sin of adultery forgiven as all other sins are forgiven. What a difference in life and death Jesus makes.

Men, women, husbands, wives, I can tell you that adultery is terrible, whether it’s the person committing it or the person being committed against. I’ve experienced it, I’ve helped wives through it. It is a dastardly sin. Don’t do it.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18).

I can never hear that song by George Michael, his Careless Whisper, and not be immediately transported to my old sunny dining room, me with a Walkman sitting at the table doing the bills, and hearing the first notes of the mellow and sultry saxophone, turned up full blast on my ears, my heart breaking, my hands shaking.

My ex-husband died recently, and this brings its own sad weight to the grace-filled heart. The man who wrote and sang the song is now dead, too. One wonders, (hopes), they are enjoying bliss and not torment. My own sins are forgiven and I know the eternity that awaits me. We three, our own unholy trinity inside a song, inside the lyrics, blowing wind borne notes now at long last released, lifting into different destinies.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Repost – From swaddling cloths to grave cloths to…

Posted on by elizabethprata

First posted December 25, 2015.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From swaddling cloths to grave cloths…to…

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

The Anunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (John 20:6-7)

 

and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Revelation 1:13-16)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)

Merry Christmas!

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Repost- The First Blood and the Last Blood

Posted on by elizabethprata

Posted Christmas Eve 2015

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first human blood shed in the Bible was a shepherd’s blood, shed by one who rejected God in jealousy and anger.

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. (Genesis 4:2b)
And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10)

The Death of Abel – Gustave Doré (1832-83)

The last blood needed for sin’s atonement was the blood of Jesus.

and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:12-14)

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)

Chris Powers, fullofeyes.com

The Last Blood. Listen to it entirely. It builds to a devastating climax.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Saddest Christmas Carol Ever

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been focusing on Jesus these past weeks. I’ve written a series on the names He has been given from the Isaiah 9:6 verse, and also a two part series on Christmas traditions. We looked at the Nativity in art. I wrote about the Peanuts Christmas moment when Linus speaks the Luke verse during the Christmas play rehearsal, after Charlie Brown had asked in frustration what is the true meaning of Christmas. I’ve been making scripture photos with snow and mangers and peaceful flocks by night.

We all have been. Most bloggers enjoy this time of year to promote the truth and beauty of the Christmas story. However, there is a part of the Christmas story that is dark, evil, and often overlooked. But it is part of the truth just as much as the pondering Mary and the babe in the feeding trough. It is the Massacre of the Innocents.

Peter Paul Rubens

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
(Matthew 2:16-18).

The Magi from the East had come to Jerusalem, inquiring of Herod as to the location of the child born, King of the Jews. King Herod was extremely troubled at this news and assembled all his own wise men to search the scriptures and confirm to him the facts of the matter. (Matthew 2:3-4).

Herod set up a wily plot to trap the babe and the Wise Men, but the Magi were warned in a dream not to return near Herod so they left the area by another way. When Herod realized this, he became enraged. Some translations say furious. Even those two strong words do not cover the depth of his violent frenzy. Herod was enraged to the point he was not even thinking straight. He was totally consumed with violent, uncontrollable anger.

Herod set a command to kill all the boys under the age of two in and around Bethlehem. Jesus was probably a few months old by this time, perhaps one year old. Can you imagine the evil depravity in a man so thoroughly deep that he would kill innocent babies just to protect his position? Can you imagine being a Roman soldier, waking up one day and being told by your legion commander to go kill babies? And you do?! Can you imagine a mother in her home, cooking the flatbread for the day and a soldier bursts in and spears your baby in front of you? For no reason?

The cries of the mothers must have been piercing and loud, rising to heaven as an unendurable shroud of grief.

When Jesus entered the world, there was joy! There was also sorrow. His incarnation was the beginning of sorrows.

Jesus is THE dividing line between good and bad, holiness and evil, humility and pride, grace and disfavor. He has always sparked joy, worship, gratitude in those who love Him. He has always sparked hatred, evil, and disgust in those who hate Him. He came to bring life (John 14:6, John 14:19). Jesus divides. Because He is life, the opposite is death. This is the first point.

Herod’s evil was no surprise to Jesus. He knew what was in man. (John 2:25). We are all sinners. Though we may not all be murderous tyrants like Herod, the capability is in us due to our sin nature. Here is the second point. Jesus lived the perfectly holy life to become the sacrifice for sin, absorbing for His elect the wrath which would punish those sins. Though Herod was not forgiven, many other murderers have been. Tyrants, evil kings, killers, prideful holders of lofty positions…forgiven. Jesus came to forgive sins like Herod’s. This is the second point.

The scene above by Peter Paul Rubens is hard to look at. He captured the fear and horror and frenzy of the most evil of situations, killing babies. Jesus knew what was in a man. Yet He came, incarnated as a Man(God) and lived among our evil for over 30 years. He prayed for sinners, He loved sinners, even Judas. He saves sinners. This kind of sin does not surprise Jesus. His mercy abounds.

We sing Christmas Carols such as O Come All Ye Faithful, or We Three Kings. We sing Joy to the World, Away in a Manger. Those are joyous and uplifting. But did you know there was a Carol commemorating the Massacre of the Innocents? It is the Coventry Carol.

Below is the US Army Band Chorus singing it in the traditional form, which dates back at least to 1534, the earliest date it was written down. Here is the song, and the lyrics in modern spelling. I like their version because it is sung properly, like the dirge it is.

Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay”?

Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay.”

The mystery and wonder of Christmas… in all its aspects, both joy and grief. Thank You Jesus for Your life, death, and resurrection.

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

“When are they coming in?”

Posted on by elizabethprata

I work in an elementary school. We are on vacation for two weeks during Christmas until after New Year’s. As the excitement among the children builds through the month of December, so does the anticipation of the staff. This is because many folks are hosting their family for the holidays.

The teacher’s lounge talk, the chat in the hallways, the conversation in classrooms among staff usually revolve around the question “When are they coming?” Older staff look forward to the arrival of their adult children for an extended visit during the holidays. Of those staff whose children who have grandchildren, the visit is all the more anticipated. “When are they coming in?” is the question of the hour, and travel plans, family plans, and Christmas plans are eagerly and happily shared. The person’s eyes light up, the tiredness suddenly seems to leave their slumped shoulders, and their walk becomes downright sprightly.

I remember as a kid the extreme excitement at the thought of extended family arriving later on during Christmas day. For the most part, they lived close by and we got to see them a lot throughout the year. But it was something special on Christmas when we traveled to the grandparents’ house, or they came to our house, and we got to visit on the most special day of all. We’d be dressed in our finest, usually toting one favorite gift to show off to the cousins and share and of course play with. There was something precious about being with family on Christmas Day. We looked forward to it with anticipatory shivers of delight.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, (2 Thessalonians 2:1)

Believers have a family that is closer than blood. Our spiritual family is united by virtue of the fact that God Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit resides in us. We are scattered across the globe, rarely if ever seeing or hearing from each other at times. But we are united and on one special day, Christmas, we celebrate the Father of this family, God, Jesus Christ, by His Spirit in truth unique to only us. Paul wrote often of wanting to see his earthly spiritual family, as in this example from 1 Thessalonians 2:17,

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,

Do our eyes light up, our step become more springy, our hearts expand with love at the thought of seeing our spiritual family? Whether we will be seeing them weekly at church or will meet them during the great reunion of the church triumphant in heaven? Are we as highly anticipatory at the thought of being gathered with the brothers and sisters?

Remember even as Christmas comes if you are estranged from your blood family, you have a hundred-fold in heaven. What a reunion that will be!

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29).

Our most eagerly anticipated reunion should be the thought of seeing Jesus as He returns for His saints in the rapture. Paul described what is prophesied to occur and then said these words should be used AS an encouragement.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

Do we speak in the hallways or water coolers of His return? Are we excited to see Him? Do we relate details of the upcoming eternal reunion with the same anticipatory enthusiasm as we describe the travel plans of our adult children’s arrival home for a Christmas weekend?

As we gather in pleasure and contentment with families this Christmas, let’s remember there is an even greater reunion coming. Just as the parents have been laboring to prepare the house for the reunion of their family for the holidays, Jesus has been preparing a place for us and our arrival. It will be clean (of sin), adorned (not with Christmas gifts but as a bride for her husband), shining and bright (not with Christmas lights but with the glory of God).

As a spiritual family we will celebrate the glory of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ, forever. The love and adoration we experience at Christmas around the tree on the morning, will be translated, magnified, and permanently eternal. We will gather not around a Christmas tree but around the Tree of Life, Jesus Himself, who IS Life. (John 14:6).

As we await the arrival of our family this weekend, let’s actively anticipate and encourage one another with the happy prospect of the great and final family reunion.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21).

Christina Cerda, Unsplash. Text added by author
Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

The Nativity

Posted on by elizabethprata

Isaiah 7:10-16
“The Life of Christ: The Virgin Birth”
S. Lewis Johnson

I liked how Pastor S. Lewis Johnson emphasized the virgin conception rather than the virgin birth. He preached, as you will read below in part, that the birth was typical, human, bloody, and messy. It was the conception that was immaculate. The art by American painter Gari Melchers depicts a scene more reflective of a birth than most nativity scenes usually do. Here, we see a deeply concentrating Joseph gazing at his newborn son, perhaps pondering the spiritual implications of this new life that promised to bring new life. Mary, exhausted, drooping, leans against her husband sleepily, recently used washbowl and cloth by her side. Is the glow from the Babe’s head, or the lantern that has been set by Him?  The scene depicts exhaustion, wonder, light, and hope.

Gari Melchers “The Nativity” 1891. Click to enlarge

Here is Pastor Johnson on The Virgin Birth. from is series on the Life of Christ-

Now out of this marriage there was to come the man who was really God, the God-man, our Lord Jesus. But I think you can see the kind of arrangements that would be made between Jacob and Eli concerning the young carpenter and the pious maiden whose name was Mary. Now, of course, the moment that this marriage was arranged by the parents, it was legal. That is, they were married. So Matthew says,  

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, (That is, when the arrangements had been made) before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband…”

Now apparently from the account, this is not stated directly, but apparently from the account, Joseph had learned of the pregnancy of Mary, whether he had been told this by Mary herself, whether he had discovered it and she had kept quiet about it the text does not say. I am inclined to think because of the statement that is made in just a moment, that Joseph was very much in love with Mary and that as a result of his love for her, the fact that she was pregnant caused a great deal of consternation to him. And I think, if I judge these characters correctly, that Mary had told him of the experience. 

But Joseph, like so many of us, when confronted with such a miracle and after all, there never had been anything like this before; the closest thing to it was the supernatural birth of Isaac in the Old Testament, but that was by natural means, and yet supernatural, I’m quite sure I can understand something of the wrestling that took place in the heart of Joseph. I can imagine that after he was told this that he spent many a sleepless night. He wondered perhaps, “Should I really marry this young girl?” That is, “Should our marriage be consummated and should be begin to live together?” If it’s not true, perhaps I should put her away according to the Old Testament law. If it is true, I hesitate to take her to be my wife for the simple reason that if this is of God and the Messiah is to be born of her, it seems almost unholy to begin to live with her. 

Now Joseph apparently was about to reach a decision, which meant that he was going to put her away. I gather that is the force of the text when he says, “And not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privily.” That is, he wasn’t going to do it publicly, but he was just going to take the minimum of two witnesses and carry out the divorce according to the Old Testament. So Joseph apparently had made up his mind. 

Now I would say that this is true because in the 20th verse, the tense of the word “while he thought on these things” is a tense that suggests that the action had been reached. That is, that the conclusion had been reached. And so having made up his mind and about ready to carry out something that was contrary to the will of God, the angel spoke to Joseph and said to him in a dream, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” 

Now this, of course, is something that we can never really fathom. We can only adore. Who could ever understand what it means to be born of the Holy Ghost? G. Campbell Morgan used to say, “This is the holy mystery, the touch of God upon the simple life that made it forever sublime.” She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. So in a restless night amid fitful sleep, Joseph had a visitor and the visitor told him in supernatural terms and direct language that this in Mary was of the Holy Ghost. Now what he meant by this was that the Spirit was the source of the vitalizing energy which gave to the embryo in her womb. 

Now I want to say something about the doctrine of the virgin birth at this point that I hope will help to clarify your mind some of the theology of it. Who would ever expect a simple New Testament professor and preacher of the word to transform the doctrine of the virgin birth so that everybody now understands it in a new light? So I’m not having any kind of sense of transforming all of theological thought concerning the virgin birth.

But I do want to say this that the New Testament does not teach the doctrine of a virgin birth, the New Testament teaches the doctrine of a virgin conception, a virgin conception. In other words, our Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, but he was born naturally, born naturally. 

Now I want you to notice that I’m not denying the so called doctrine of the virgin birth. That would make nonsense of everything that I’ve said up to this point. I just want you to think clearly that it was the operation of the Holy Spirit in the conception that is referred to here, not in the birth. Jesus was born as an ordinary person was born.

Praise the Lord Jesus was conceived directly of the Holy Spirit, absent the sin-nature that taints all of us. What mysteries the LORD had prepared in His mind since eternity began! What tremendous love He has for His people! O, Mary, what favor you had and what strength you showed in submitting to the will of God so graciously-

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”
(Luke 1:46-48).

Praise the LORD for all His ways.

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Further Reading

Challies: How well Do You Know the Nativity Story? A quiz

A Creator in the Manger

Gari Melchers The Nativity

Posted in prophecy, Uncategorized

Examining Christmas Traditions #2: Wise Men at the manger?

Posted on by elizabethprata

There are traditions regarding the Christmas story within the faith. We have Christmas carols with lyrics that say that angels sing, we set up nativity scenes with Wise Men, we erect Christmas trees, and more.

Do these traditions have any bearing from scripture? If not should we care? If not, should we abandon them? Accept them? Are we disrespecting Christ by perpetuating them? Or not?

Friday I wrote about the hymns we sing at Christmas time where lyrics portray angels singing. I looked at whether scripture shows angels singing or not. Scripture shows angels saying, proclaiming, and shouting, but not singing. Today let’s look at nativity scenes with Wise Men crowded around the babe in a manger. Is that scriptural?

Yes, and no.

Wise men did come from the east upon learning of the birth of the Messiah. They did not arrive at the night of his birth though. They arrived up to two years later. The verse says,

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2).

The ‘after this’ is after His birth, where Matthew 1 ends. How do we know it wasn’t the day after, and that it was up to two years after? Because of this-

After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. (Matthew 2:9).

The verse says where the child was, not ‘where the baby was’. In the Greek the word used for child means,

(“a little child in training”) implies a younger child (perhaps seven years old or younger). Strong’s.

The Magi went to Bethlehem and fell down and worshiped Jesus at his house. He was not in a barn, or stable, or any sort of animal enclosure, and He was not laying in a manger.

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11)

Herod died in 4BC so the men must have visited between the birth and up to when Jesus was around two years old. Later, Herod made a declaration to kill all the children under two years of age.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16).

It is clear that in actual time, the Magi from the East did not arrive in time to worship Jesus in his birth location, which was temporary. So is it unscriptural to set up a nativity scene with the Wise Men? I don’t believe so.

The Wise Men did in fact arrive to worship. It happened. It would be unscriptural for example, if a nativity scene had figures such as Moose or beavers, not indigenous to the location. Or if the scene had added figures such as Herod or Jezebel, who were evil and certainly not depicted anywhere in proximity (and of course Jezebel was long dead).

I believe that collapsing time is an acceptable literary license. The Apostles did so when they wrote inspired scripture. They said things like, ‘Then Jesus went…” where the actual time might have been months later from the evetnt written of in the previous sentence. “Jesus was born, then the Wise Men came…”

What I like about the birth chronology is that everyone involved with it, from announcement to just before the Family had to flee to Egypt, is that everyone worshiped. Elizabeth and Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, Anna and Simeon, the angels, and the Wise Men. Worship is the proper response to meeting Jesus, both intellectually and emotionally. Our Savior is born, and hallelujah that He came into the world. Though not exactly perfectly historic, the crowd around the manger of animals, shepherds, parents, and wise men do depict an accurate response to the birth of the Savior. However, I understand if some people decide to remove or not install figures of the Wise Men in their nativity, or decline to have Wise Men circulating at a live nativity scene, due to historical inaccuracy.

Jesus lived the perfect life under God’s standards for holiness that we could not. Enduring agonizing separation from His Holy Father, He cried out and absorbed all God’s wrath for our sin.  Accused unjustly, He was nailed to the cross and executed, thus becoming the sacrificial lamb. Pleased with His Son, God resurrected Jesus on the third day and Jesus ascended into heaven. Now, His blood atones for our sin and forgiveness awaits those elected to ask for it. Praise God He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him! Mercy abounds.

Further Reading: Answers In Genesis Three Wise Men?

Grace To You 2 min podcast- Where Are the Wise Men?

christmas-wise-men-verse