christianity – Page 2

My 9/11/2001 memory; Part 1

Posted on September 10, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Photo of the fallen towers in New York City, taken by an American Legionnaire a few days after the terror act, and given to me

In March of 2001 I started a newspaper. It was a weekly community paper where I’d determined to cover our local government. I was fiercely committed to our First Amendment rights, especially a free press and the right to assemble.

The local community had a newspaper already but it had drifted from its origins when founded 30 years prior, and was now actually oppressing the citizenry. They were effectively a government arm. I had a goal of using my paper to teach the locals what their rights and responsibilities were as participating citizens of a great country and how to grow our town into a thriving society, based on those aforementioned freedoms.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, it was a Tuesday. I’d arrived at my newspaper office early since Tuesday was a big paper day, we go to print early Wednesday morning. We weren’t digital then, I’d have to drive the laid-out boards to a nearby city, so the timing was important. Tuesday then, was the day we put the paper all together.

I was renting my news office from my friend who lived a big, rambling farmhouse. I was in the front room, she and her family lived in the back rooms. She called me from her living room. I thought it was unusual that she phoned, being just a few feet away from me in the same building. But her usually quiet voice evaporated all other thoughts. She said with fierceness, “COME HERE NOW”.

The first plane had just hit the twin tower in NY. Shoulder to shoulder we stared at the burning hole in the North Tower, trying to comprehend what had made such a big hole. We watched with eyes wide, breathing shallowly, standing with arms numbly at our sides…

As we watched, the second plane hit at 9:03. Our heads swiveled toward each other, eyes locked. We knew. We knew without saying a word that this was an attack. We were being attacked from an enemy combatant.

We also knew that nothing would ever be the same. It only took seconds for us to realize this.

A knot was in my stomach and comprehending thoughts refused to form in my head. But we did know that when a war starts you do a few things right away. We got our purses and first we walked across the street to the hardware store and we bought the biggest flag they had. We went back to the office and put it up.

AMERICA!

Then we drove down the street to the bank to get money. Cash was going to be important if the electricity went out or we were ordered to evacuate. We didn’t know what was coming next and we wanted to be prepared. It could have been a nuke coming next, for all we knew. We worried about nukes. There was a huge Navy telecommunications station in Cutler, Maine that the Russians had their missiles aimed at for a long time. Maine certainly was a target. We felt exposed, unsafe, with an enemy that could be lurking anywhere.

At the bank, they had the TV on in the break room with the door open and the volume up so customers could hear what was going on. A third plane had crashed into the Pentagon. We saw the fire and military men running around to evacuate that military building. The Muslim terrorists had struck the building that represented the strongest military in the world! This was a different kind of war.

While we were at the bank we saw a fourth plane had just gone down in PA. The smoking crater was being shown. We knew that plane was part of whatever was happening. It seemed like it was coming from all directions. The feeling was disorienting, not just for us but for everyone. Everyone around us seemed like zombies…with unsure gait, eyes wide, half-sentences drifting off as the mind groped.

We did not know if we would have to evacuate so after the bank, we gassed up our cars. Better be prepared. Then, with the flag up at the office, cash in hand, and cars parked and ready, we went into the office and got to work.

FREEDOM!

We resolved that our freedom was under attack. Running a newspaper which reported the news and offered a platform for the people to speak their thoughts on any political or civic matter freely, we decided our most patriotic thing we could do to support the Constitution that day was to get the paper out. The terrorists were not going to stop the presses. They were not going to stop freedom from ringing out. And that is what we did.

Those Muslim terrorists were evil. But we are all evil before we repent. I wasn’t saved on 9/11. I was about to be soon, but not yet. Jesus is the hope we have to become good. Not on our own merits. We do not become good through our own efforts. No, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.” It is not a popular thing to say, that we are not good, but we are not.

In Islam the only sure way they have to get to heaven is to kill in Allah’s name. The terrorists thought they were gifting Allah with their lives but 1 second after they died they learned Allah is a figment. There is no Allah. They met the one True God – Jesus- who will pour out His wrath upon them in hell for all eternity. (Revelation 14:10). As He will to all sinners.

In Islam you pour out your life so that others die. I thank Jesus that He poured out His life so that we may live…and become righteous. “It is because of him [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Even at that, our fleshly lives on earth are a struggle, a struggle against sin and growth in righteousness. I long for the day when flesh shall be glorified and sin shall be banished.

Part 2 tomorrow, upon the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Here are John MacArthur’s sermons during that terrible week that aimed to help people understand-

John MacArthur: Sept 12, 2001, A First Response to the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

John MacArthur, Sunday, September 16, 2001, A Biblical Perspective on Death, Terrorism, and the Middle East, Pt 1

A Biblical Perspective on Death, Terrorism, and the Middle East, Pt 2

Jesus will return in glory with His glorified saints. He will institute new nations and new cities populated by sinless resurrected chosen ones. There will be no more war because our hearts will be made right with Him. There will be no more terror because we will want nothing, having been given it all by our Savior. If you bow low to the Savior and repent, He will lift you up high. Please do it soon.

hail, prophecy

A little known prophecy in Job

Posted on September 4, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m sure you have read (and admired) the following verse from Job a million times. But have you ever considered the prophetic aspects of this powerfully packed scripture? Job 38 is the climactic chapter where God speaks to Job about His own sovereignty over creation, time, and over all the peoples of earth.

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?” (Job 38:22-23)

Have you ever noticed the phrase, “the time of trouble”? Other translations say reserved for “the time of distress”. You will also notice the reference to “the day” of battle and war. These are standard phrases referring to the days of the wrath (Tribulation). (For example, Jeremiah 30:7, Obadiah 1:14, Joel 2:11).

God has used hail before in judgment and He will do so again. In the past, He used hail during the plagues He sent to Pharaoh, in themselves pictures of the Revelation judgments of the coming Tribulation.

“The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field“. (Exodus 9:25)

The future judgment will contain another plague of hail-

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. (Revelation 16:21)

Gill’s Exposition says of the Job 38 verse,

Of hail we have instances in Scripture, as employed against the Egyptians and Canaanites, Exodus 9:25; and of a reserve of it in the purposes of God, and in prophecy against the day of battle with antichrist, Revelation 16:21.
And though there are no instances of snow being used in this way in Scripture, yet there is in history. Strabo reports, that at Corzena and Cambysena, which join to Mount Caucasus, such snows have fallen, that whole companies of men have been swallowed up in them; and even armies have been overwhelmed with them, as the army of the Gauls and such quantities have been thrown down from mountains, on which they have been lodged, that towns, towers, and villages, have been laid prostrate by them and in the year 443, a vast snow destroyed many.

I am so awed by prophecy. The (probably) oldest book of the Bible, Job, (~2000 BC?) contains a prophecy that is parallel to the last book of the Bible, Revelation (~90AD). God has His plan and who can thwart it? He has set aside some for eternal condemnation and others for eternal joy. He has stored aside His wrath to be unleashed upon them, and hail will be part of that stored-up unleashing. He is precise and will do what He says and it will come to pass to the perfect degree.

The Bible is awe-inspiring in its presentation of our God, who authored it and revealed to us what He wants us to know. Part of that knowing is seeing His prophetic mind and His plans come to pass. I praise Him for all His plans, ways, perfections, prophecies.

theology

What are the Terrifying Secrets of Revelation’s Seven Thunders?

Posted on August 31, 2026September 1, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS
The Seven Thunders in Revelation are mentioned but John is ordered to seal them. They remain mysterious, possibly indicating terrifying judgments. While speculations abound, their essence reflects God’s authority and terror due to the already-delivered wrath and more wrath to come. This essay emphasizes the chilling reality of the future Tribulation and urges readers to share the Gospel before these events unfold.

What are the terrifying secrets of the seven thunders? I don’t know. No one knows.

100_2097moon at sunset pixlr red sky — EPrata photo

Revelation 10:1-4, I saw another strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 2and he had in his hand a little scroll, which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; 3and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. 4When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.“

The Seven Thunders seem to be a part of the series of judgments in the Book of Revelation. I say “seem to be” because the words were not allowed to be written down, so we cannot be sure that they specifically are judgments. However, coming in sequence after the Seal and Trumpet judgments, and before the Bowl judgments, it seems that the mysterious Thunders may be judgments too.

Given that thunder is the voice of God in judgment, it furthers the notion that these mysteriously sealed instructions may be judgments. They were actual words, because John heard them. They were something that was uttered, and could have been written down intelligibly, except that John was ordered not to.

John MacArthur wrote of the Seven Thunders in his book Because the Time is Near:

The seven peals of thunder did not merely make a loud noise, but communicated information that John was about to write. In obedience to God’s commands, John had already written much of what he saw in his visions. Later in Revelation, John would once again be commanded to write what he saw in his visions. (14:13; 19:9; 21:5).
But before John could record the message of the seven peals of thunder, he heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.”Whether the voice was that of the Father, or Jesus Christ, or an angel is not revealed. The command, however, clearly originated with God. The reason John was forbidden to record the message is not revealed. It may be that the judgments were simply too terrifying to be recorded. Any speculation as to the content of their message is pointless. If God wanted it to be known, He would not have forbidden John to write it. They are the only words in the book of Revelation that are sealed.

Let’s focus in on the “too terrifying” part of the reasoning here. In all the apocalyptic movies I’ve ever seen specifically related to the Tribulation, they are all uniformly sanitized. In other words, the horrific reality of the Tribulation as depicted in the Bible’s Book of Revelation was visually watered down to be as non-reflective of the reality of a cellophane wrapped hamburger meat at Publix is compared to the blood, filth and messiness of a low-rent butchery. And even that is not reflective of the reality of what is coming.

The non-Christian apocalyptic movies movies I’ve seen, Threads, The War Game, and It’s A Disaster, were harrowing and soul-searing. Their real depiction of nuclear or nerve gas apocalypse stayed with me for a long time. The War Game was commissioned by the BBC in 1965 to specifically illustrate the horrors of nuclear war. WHen it was completed and shown to the Commission, the BBC Board found the movie too realistic to be released. For twenty years it languished in a closet until released in 1985. Yet even that film doesn’t go the distance of what the reality of the Tribulation will be like in terms of nuclear horror and death. People just do not understand what it really means when Jesus promised it to be a time of distress exceeding even the time of the Flood. (Matthew 24:21). And remember, that was a time when everybody on earth horribly died. (Except 8 people).

So here is Oliver B. Greene in his Verse-By-Verse Study of Revelation, on the Seven Thunders’ terror:

Thunder is the voice of the Lord in judgment (I Samuel 7:10, Psalm 18:13). The seven thunders “uttered their voices.” (John assumes that the readers already have Some knowledge of these seven thunders.) In Revelation 4:2, 3 John saw a throne encircled by a rainbow, and here in chapter ten we see the same rainbow. In Revelation 4 John saw upon the throne One who was to look upon as a jasper and a sardine stone, and “out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices.” In chapter 10, we have the same thunder, sounding out a message of God’s fury and judgment.

Personality is attributed to these “seven thunders.” Everything is in sympathy with the Lamb of God. These mighty thunders utter messages that are intelligible . . . they speak words. John heard what they said – and when the time comes in reality, the seven thunders will speak literal words that earth’s dwellers will fully understand. It will be a message in tones of thunder. We use a public address system to amplify voices when we want to be heard – but God needs no amplification. He can speak like mighty thunder – and He WILL when the time comes!

At the beginning of these marvelous visions, John was commanded to write in a book what he saw and heard – past, present and future. But when the thunders spoke, John was given another command. He was about to write – but a voice from Heaven said: “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not!” The seven thunders must have given a terrible message. Already set before us are blood, tears, famine, heartache and heartbreak; killing, misery, hail, fire, burning mountains, demon monstrosities, men begging to die and unable to do so. Surely what John was forbidden to write must have been beyond human imagination and understanding! There is no need to speculate on what the thunders said. Your guess is as good as mine; but you may rest assured that the message had to do with God’s last gigantic, unheard of, indescribable judgment, when God “lowers the boom” in utter destruction.

Will YOU be on earth when the seven thunders speak? You are the only one who can answer that question. If you are born again you will NOT be here – but if you are not born again, you may be here. Read John 1:11-12, 3:16-18, 3:36, 5:24; Romans 10:9-10, 10:13, 10:17; Ephesians 2:8-9; I John 1:9. Read these verses, hear what they say; receive them – and you will not be here when the seven thunders utter their message of destruction. You will be with Jesus.

Imagine a message that exceeds the terror and blood of all that had already previously been spoken. Or if that was not the case, imagine a message that was so tremendously powerful it needed to be sealed from our tender brains until the moment they would be spoken during the Tribulation.

Prophecy is supposed to motivate us to witness, and yet the reality of the judgments of souls in rebellion to God is omitted from the message of the Good News when liberals or ashamed people share it. How terrible that it’s omitted so often these days, when the days are coming that many will be living it!

May this essay motivate you to read Revelation, to pray for wisdom and understanding of the coming days, to receive the promised blessing for having read it, and for its words to be a catalyst in your heart for the lost who are under that very “boom” Greene mentioned, soon to be lowered…

Share the Good News today.

theology

The Shadow of Sin and the Treasure of Grace

Posted on August 27, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS
The article discusses Thomas Boston’s views on the inescapability of sin, emphasizing that it is inherent in human nature, even among the grace-receiving faithful. Sin follows individuals like a shadow, deeply rooted within. Our temptations arise from internal desires, highlighting the necessity of recognizing human corruption and the need for divine grace.

Continue reading →

theology

God’s allotment, our service

Posted on August 24, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Consider this verse-

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3).

Paul began the chapter with talking about our bodies as a living sacrifice, and continued after verse 3 with tying it to the spiritual gifts and our entwinement with each other as members of the Body. The concepts here are service and sacrifice.

“Measure of faith” is defined at Logos as “A biblical term referring to the spiritual capacity or level of belief given by God to individuals.”

But translating and understanding what God meant by ‘measure of faith’ turned out to be not so easy. But I loved wrestling with scripture.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains the measure of faith is not justifying faith. We all have that equally. It is not the spiritual gift of faith, only some have that. He used George Muller as an example of someone given the gift of deep, trusting faith “who was was able to pray with confidence and assurance and the amazing things happened that we can read“.

So what IS the ‘measure’ of faith? Commenter Marvin Vincent (1887) wrote that it is a difficult phrase to translate. I found this to be true. Preachers or commenters Martyn Lloyd Jones, John MacArthur, RC Sproul, Matthew Henry etc all interpreted it slightly differently. However, there are three concepts that stood out- first, God gives the faith, second, for the measure of faith we are given, we use in conjunction with our spiritual gifts to serve. Thirdly, we must not become conceited about our faith or our gifts nor think more highly than ourselves over another person.

Here, J. Witmer in John Walvoord’s The Bible Knowledge Commentary acknowledges Paul’s ‘involved word play’ in this verse:

“By his involved word play on various forms of the verb phroneō, “to think,” Paul emphasized that human pride is wrong (cf. 3:27; 11:18, 20) partly because all natural abilities and spiritual gifts are from God. As a result every Christian should have a proper sense of humility and an awareness of his need to be involved with other members of Christ’s body. As Paul explained, a parallelism exists between a believer’s physical body which has parts with differing functions and the community of believers in Christ as a spiritual body (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 4:11–12, 15–16). The point is that each member functions to serve the body, not the body to serve the members.”

Marvin Vincent in Word Studies in the New Testament, (1887) focuses on the word measure, saying our entry into the Kingdom at conversion means we now see ourselves measured against God as our new standard of measurement-

“Faith, in introducing him into God’s kingdom, introduces him to new standards of measurement, according to which he accurately determines the nature and extent of his powers, and so does not think of himself too highly. This measure is different in different individuals, but in every case faith is the determining element of the measure. Paul, then, does not mean precisely to say that a man is to think more or less soberly of himself according to the quantity of faith which he has, though that is true as a fact; but that sound and correct views as to the character and extent of spiritual gifts and functions are fixed by a measure.”

As usual, the solid and trustworthy Matthew Henry in his commentary on the whole Bible (1704) brought Jesus into the discussion-

“Because God deals out his gifts in a certain measure: According to the measure of faith. Observe, The measure of spiritual gifts he calls the measure of faith, for this is the radical grace. What we have and do that is good is so far right and acceptable as it is founded in faith, and flows from faith, and no further. Now faith, and other spiritual gifts with it, are dealt by measure, according as Infinite Wisdom sees meet for us. Christ had the Spirit given him without measure, Jn. 3:34. But the saints have it by measure; see Eph. 4:7. Christ, who had gifts without measure, was meek and lowly; and shall we, that are stinted, be proud and self-conceited?”

It seems to me after chasing down all these winding trails and mulling this phrase for the last few days, that my conclusion is we need to employ trust in our Christian church relationships. We of course remember the primary notion, we are each given a measure of faith in which we operate our spiritual gifts. Do not disparage the weaker brother or be jealous of the stronger brother. We all have a different measure.

So, when we hear preaching, trust that the preacher is operating to the widest extent in his good service to Jesus. When we see hospitable women hosting the sisters, trust that she is operating her faith and using her gifts to the fullest extent according to the measure given her. And so on for each person and each gift. We are one body, and what one does affects the others.

Simply put, use grace to think more highly of others. If we are going to measure anything, measure ourselves in sound judgment to ensure we are serving Jesus with all our mind, heart, soul, and body.

theology

Born to Be Destroyed: The Stark Language of 2 Peter

Posted on August 20, 2026August 20, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Something that always surprises me is how tolerant and soft-hearted people are when you mention so-and-so is a false teacher. They look at the person being named as false, and not at Jesus. Certainly they aren’t looking at their Bible. False teachers are of satan. But when you say someone like Joyce Meyer is false, or Beth Moore, they look at Meyer and see a woman who smiles and has a large following and has a Bible in her hand, so they say “But she’s not THAT bad”, or “Have you prayed for her?’ or “Leave her alone- God will sort it out.”

All of those are wrong responses to any named false teacher.

While many people will agree that false teachers exist, when I match the person to the claim, they will balk.

Yet the Bible describes these false ones in the starkest of terms. In just one example, we turn to 2 Peter 2:13-14 which says, ‘they revel in their deceptions’.

suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, 14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children;

John MacArthur preached about these false teachers from the 2 Peter 2:13 verse. He said –

“Further describing their action, Peter with obvious disgust says, “They are stains and blemishes.” Boy, those are absolutely vivid words. The word “stains” is the word filth spots, dirt spots. The word “blemish” is the word scab, or the word defect. It is the idea of dirt spots, defects, filth spots, scabs. They pollute. They’re dirty. They’re foul. They’re diseased. And he says they’re reveling in their deceptions.” Creatures born to be killed.

That means someone like Joyce Meyer is a filth spot. Joel Osteen is a defect. Beth Moore is a scab. THAT is how awful a false teacher is. I’m not saying these things, the Bible is!

Next, do you notice the word revel is used twice in the same verse?! What does revel mean here?

HELPS Word-studies says
tryphḗ (from thryptō, “to break down due to over-indulgence, i.e. living in excessive luxury”) – properly, feebleness brought on by self-indulgence (luxury); (figuratively) moral and spiritual breakdown (“enfeeblement”) from over-indulging in dainty (“delicate”) things, i.e. “dainty living” that deteriorates soul and body.

Their Reveling (2 Peter 2:13–14a), as Warren Wiersbe in The Bible exposition commentary interprets the verse, says-

The words translated “riot” and “sporting” carry the meaning of “sensual reveling.” They also contain the idea of luxury, softness, and extravagance. At the expense of those who support them (2 Peter 2:3), the apostates enjoy luxurious living. In our own society, there are those who plead for funds for their “ministries,” yet live in expensive houses, drive luxury cars, and wear costly clothes. When we remember that Jesus became poor in order to make us rich, their garish lifestyle seems out of step with New Testament Christianity.

Not only do they deceive others, but they even deceive themselves! They can “prove” from the Bible that their lifestyle is right. In ancient times, it was expected that people would revel at night, but these people dared to revel in the daytime, so convinced were they of their practices. A person can become so accustomed to his vices that he sees them as virtues.

These false teachers are born to be killed. Jude 1:4 says certain men were born for condemnation. The 2 Peter verse says they will be destroyed. MacArthur again,

The Greek text actually reads this way, “In their destroying they shall be destroyed.” And that’s…that’s another way to read this, that in the destructive work that they do as they lead people to destruction through their witless, non-reasoning stupidity and living off their passionate instincts, as they consume others in that operation, they will themselves be consumed. They are abandoned to destruction, born for the flesh, born to perish. Sermon- Creatures born to be killed part 1.

It is important to look at the Bible when discerning about false teachers. Because we are sinners, our sin clouds our judgment of others when assessing their output against the Bible. We need the clear word of God to remind us that these teachers whose father is satan, are not just as good as us or just as bad as us. Do not think, “Well, no one is perfect”, or “Well, I sin too.” False teachers are an entirely different beast.

These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. (2 Peter 2:17).

Springs without water are empty, like the promises of false teachers. They are reserved for blackest darkness in the future. Don’t follow them.

theology

The splendor of the temple, the beauty of the Savior

Posted on August 16, 2026August 16, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

In my church we are going through Mark. We are up to Mark 13, the much anticipated (by me) the Olivet Discourse. This is the time that Jesus spent answering a series of questions the disciples asked, and Jesus sat down and taught them while they were on the Mount of Olives (hence the name of the discourse).

Mark 13:1-2 says,

As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look! What wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

The disciples must have been shocked. When we see a great building and its sturdiness, the huge blocks from which it is built, its towering presence, we think that it will last forever. The Twin Towers in New York fell after the terrorists’ planes crashed into them. I remember seeing that in wonder and amazement. How could such a strongly built building fall? But it did. Here, my pastor begins preaching and teaching in this verse by showing how massive and strong the Temple was:

One of the 12 disciples, we don’t know who, turned around and looked back toward the temple.

Whoever this was marveled at what he saw. And according to verse 1, he called out to Jesus, look teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. What caught the eye of this disciple was the grandeur of the temple. in all of its magnificent adornment and scale. Viewed broadside, it would have been impressive. It was the largest of all the temples in the Roman Empire, and surely the wealthiest as well.

In fact, someone has remarked that if it hadn’t been a Jewish temple, it would have been considered one of the wonders of the world during its time. Nevertheless, anyone who saw it would have been awestruck. The first century Jewish historian Josephus said that it lacked nothing that could astound either mind or eye. No one had seen anything like it. One reason for its impressiveness was its sheer scale. It was massive.

The temple complex encompassed over 1.5 million square feet, equivalent to 35 football fields in size, and covering one-sixth of the area of Jerusalem. The perimeter of the complex, if you walked around it, stretched nearly a mile in total length. The cornerstones of the complex weighed more than 100 tons, and a stone along one side has been found to weigh over a million pounds. viewed from the Mount of Olives across the valley. The temple complex rose 160 feet above the Kidron Valley below, and the temple itself rose another 150 feet from the center of the complex.

The magnitude of the temple complex far exceeded any other temple in the ancient world. Another reason for its impressiveness was its sheer beauty. One contemporary Roman historian called it immensely opulent. Much of the complex was constructed with polished white marble so that it gleamed in the sun. It was said that from afar the temple complex looked like a snow-covered mountain. The temple itself was adorned with much gold. The front exterior walls were covered in thick plates of gold that reflected the sun’s rays so brightly at sunrise that onlookers had to look away.” —end of sermon excerpt

Nothing on this earth will remain. Not Mount Everest, not the biggest buildings, not the most powerful person. The earth will melt away and be remade. With that in mind, rejoice we have Jesus to cling to! He transcends all earthly strength, power, majesty, and splendor.

missionaries, theology

Adventurer gone wrong? Or a committed missionary?

Posted on August 12, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote about John Allen Chau in 2018 when his apparent death at the hands of an unreached island tribe in the Bay of Bengal was reported. My essay is below.

Meanwhile, this week Stacie, host of her channel “Adventures Gone Wrong” produced a video about Chau. She covered his upbringing and early life, his growing obsession with the Sentinel Island tribe he’d heard was unreached, and explained all his preparations prior to his attempts to reaching them. She included previous attempts in history to meet with and learn about the tribe, from the unwise contact in the 1800s, through to the NatGeo attempts in the 1970s.

The North Sentinel Island is part of a chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal where the unreached tribe living on this small speck has fiercely rejected outside contact- to the point death to those who try. In modern times, two shipwrecked sailors washed up on the shores and were summarily speared and hung as scarecrows to ward off subsequent attempts. It is this island that the young man Chau was drawn to.

Questions remain in my mind. Chau didn’t seem to belong to a church or have oversight of any pastor. He did train for brief period with All Nations International, which says they “train leaders to ignite church planting movements among the neglected peoples of the earth.” Stacie covers other preparations CHau made to reach these people.

Should missionaries operate under jurisdiction and oversight from a church or closely-tied church organization? Or are those men who say they are ‘called’ to certain peoples working under the Bible’s Great Commission in Matthew 28, under the Highest Power there is? Should there be support and oversight? Or was Chau’s willingness to give up his own life something individually but supernaturally instilled? Or was he just an adventurer, unwise but sincere?

Stacie did a good job of being fair in presenting a balanced and complete picture of this extraordinary incident that for a short time, captured the world. My essay is below the Youtube from Adventures Gone Wrong. I encourage you to watch.

The End Time essay:

Finishing my missionary series, we end with a modern day missionary, or as some call Chau, a rogue adventurer. Either way, he did what he did, and his death caused a brief global conversation about unreached peoples and the cause for Christ.

In fact, a few months ago a National Geographic documentary was issued about the life of John Allen Chau, again, depicting Chau as an unmindful adventure seeker, whereupon Voice of the Martyrs’ Tom Nettleton considers him a hero. Nettleton had rebutted this perspective, after having “conducted extensive research for an in-depth backstory. Nettleton found in Chau’s journals and other primary sources that Chau underwent an intentional and intense training process to make first contact in order to obey Jesus’ command to “go into all the world and make disciples.” More here

So, what happened?

John Allen Chau, a 27-year-old American, was killed in November 2018 on Sentinel Island, part of a series of islands owned by India in the middle of the Bay of Bengal. They are restricted islands, due to the natives’ demonstrated hostility and their continued isolation with all the lack of immunity toward modern diseases. There was a buffer zone that even local fisherman were not allowed to penetrate.

An isolated tribe dwells there with whom very few people have made successful contact over the last hundreds of years. Chau, desiring to contact the tribe for the purpose of telling them about Jesus, (as his notes and journal state), was appeared to have been speared on the beach by arrows. The same fate had awaited nearly all of the visitors to the island since written records first mentioned the place. [Photo above source]

It’s interesting to read and watch India news outlets on this story. Some there, believe Chau to have been a rogue adventurer out to get more likes on his social media. Others believe him to have been a passionate missionary desiring to share the name of Jesus. He hadn’t been trained by a missionary organization, or involved in any long-term way with a supporting church. He seemed pretty much a lone guy concerned that this isolated and unreached tribe didn’t know Jesus. Whether this was a black mark against him or a white mark for him, history will tell.

Chau’s arrival wasn’t the first visit to the island by Chau, who had gone to or near the Sentinelese at least 5 times previously. He had brought gifts such as safety pins, a football, and other trinkets in hopes of proving his friendliness. This had been hard to do, as the first recorded contact in 1880 by British Officer Maurice Vidal Portman ended badly and all subsequent contact since has demonstrated only hostility by the natives.

Portman was stationed at Port Blair on nearby South Andaman Island (the port from which Chau had departed on his ill-fated trip). Portman was fascinated with the tribe, who were painfully timid, he wrote, and ate roots and turtles. He absconded with two elderly tribe members and four children, bringing them back to his house on the nearby island for observation, where the elderly members promptly died, having been exposed to diseases against which they had no immunity. Portman returned the children to North Sentinel Island and called the foray a failure.

In more recent times, a NatGeo group attempted to land on the island to film the tribe in the 1970s, but they were repelled in a hail of arrows, one of them striking the director in the leg. Sadly, in 2006 two local fishermen were stranded there after their boat engine failed, and were also immediately killed. Their bodies were impaled and erected like scarecrows on the beach, perhaps as a warning to others who might want to venture near.

Chau had stated that he was motivated by a missionary zeal. This is commendable. However, I strongly caution all of us to be discerning about those who go forth to proclaim Jesus to the nations. Just because someone claims to be a missionary, doesn’t mean they have a firm grasp of who Jesus is. Some Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesuits and other Catholics call themselves missionaries, yet they do not know Jesus. Chau also graduated from Oral Roberts University, which is not known for teaching the most solid of doctrine. We don’t know Chau’s doctrine. We don’t know which Jesus he was proclaiming. One hopes and prays that he was a true believer, laying down his life for his friends.

“The poor Heathen knew not that they had slain their best friends” ~John G. Paton

But moving on from that caution, Chau was motivated by a strong urge to proclaim Jesus to an unreached tribe. His writings demonstrate this.

His joy turned to sorrow as he was killed on the beach. Fishermen observed the natives dragging Chau’s body and burying it in the sand. Some still held out hope that Chau is alive, that the arrows did not slay him. This is not likely, however.

There are many facts and circumstances around the death of John Allen Chau that aren’t known yet. Some may never be known. However, I am satisfied that this death has captured the world’s attention. The lost do not know why Christians are willing to die in order to proclaim Jesus. Though there are Christian missionary deaths every day, sometimes in large groups at once, the fact that this death, a young man, solo, on the beach, with an unknown stone age tribe hostile to outsiders, captured the world’s attention for over a week and is still going strong. A week is a long time in the minute by minute news cycle.

Because of this, people now know of the tribe and are praying. Additionally, it’s sparked a discussion about dying for the Gospel. It has baptized the ground for Jesus and for perhaps an awakening to come.

People made many comparisons of Chau’s death to the 5 Ecuadorean martyrs in 1956 (Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian) but I see the comparison more toward the missionaries to the New Hebrides Islands in the 1800s. This is an excerpt from missionary to the New Hebrides, John Paton’s book, Thirty Years among the South Sea Cannibals-

Glance backwards over the story of the Gospel in the New Hebrides may help to bring my readers into touch with the events that are to follow. The ever-famous names of Williams and Harris are associated with the earliest efforts to introduce Christianity amongst this group of islands in the South Pacific Seas. John Williams and his young Missionary companion Harris, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society, landed on Erromanga on the 30th of November 1839. Alas, within a few minutes of their touching land, both were clubbed to death; and the savages proceeded to cook and feast upon their bodies. Thus were the New Hebrides baptized with the blood of Martyrs; and Christ thereby told the whole Christian world that He claimed these Islands as His own. His cross must yet be lifted up, where the blood of His saints has been poured forth in His name! The poor Heathen knew not that they had slain their best friends; but tears and prayers ascended for them from all Christian souls, wherever the story of the martyrdom on Erromanga was read or heard.

When these Missionaries “came to this Island, there were no Christians there; when they left it, there were no Heathens.”

Time will tell of the results of Chau’s death. I do have a fear that we still do not know his doctrine, thus, ‘which Jesus’ (Acts 1:11) Chau proclaimed, but the Lord will take the global conversations, the worldwide shock, and the questions about these ‘strange Christians’, and open many hearts, I am sure. The slumbering world, immune to knowledge of the wrath to come, was awakened by one man’s lone act, his death ‘for Jesus’ both angering and perplexing it.

Below are some resources regarding the John Allen Chau issue and missions in general.

Denny Burk:
Mission agency clears away some false assumptions about John Chau’s missionary work

Interview via Quick to Listen/Christianity Today with the director of All Nations missionary organization Mary Ho about John Allen Chau

What John Allen Chau’s Missions Agency Wants You to Know

All Nations missionary organization issues letter regarding John Allen Chau

Al Mohler The Briefing–

Segment 1: The morality of global missions: How should those in the developed world look at hunter-gatherer tribes?

Segment 2: Motivation vs. methodology: What the modern missions movement has taught us about how to most effectively reach the unreached.

Garrett Kell: Was murdered missionary John Chau and arrogant fool?

End of the Spear: Movie about Operation Auca and the five missionary deaths in 1956

Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman autobiography of first woman missionary to inland China

Rethinking the viability of short term mission trips

Why short term missions is really long-term missions

Incomprehensible Evangelicals and the Death of John Allen Chau

theology

Being a ‘Crunchy’ Christian and avoiding New Age Influences

Posted on August 10, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Doreen “Dee” Virtue is a former New Age adherent who used to write books about angel spirituality. She converted to Christianity 9 years ago and with the scales having fallen from her eyes, now is a Christian. Virtue has renounced all her New Age beliefs, books, and practices, and is happily and unashamedly a Christian. She has a Youtube channel, here.

Ashley Sheatz, wife to Trevor and his ministry On the Mount, mom to 3, has several social media accounts. Facebook, Instagram, On the Mount ‘s Youtube.

Angela Mitchell’s ministry is called Raising Apologists. She is a married stay-at-home-mom, who writes on Instagram, Facebook, and her blog called Raising Apologists, on the topics of discernment, homeschooling, and encouraging mothers and women.

These three ladies, well versed in a biblical worldview and walking uprightly in Jesus, discussed “Crunchy Christians Avoiding New Age Deception“. They talked about what is crunchy Christianity, discerning good wellness advice vs. unhealthy advice, and how New Age ideas can seep into even the most well-meaning mother’s worldview, corrupting it with syncretism.

Doreen Virtue has a knack for asking insightful questions, illustrating her skill to deeply listen then follow up with a question that elicits even more information. Her choice of guests is also wise. The two ladies here explain themselves so well I decided to transcribe portions of the discussion that impacted me, and interspersed with my own thoughts. I urge you to listen to the entire conversation. It will be even more impactful when you hear it in context.

In this first quote, I loved what was being said. Social media has risen to levels that greatly affect us. People with large followings are even called “influencers”. The influence is to entice listeners to buy their product, read their book, heed their advice. Many times their books or advice is good. But sometimes the advice is unfounded, unscientific, or unChristian. We must learn to research widely, and confirm what we hear or see from social media from credible sources.

For example, many people know of Dr. Josh Axe. He usually places the honorific in front of his name. People use the honorific when speaking of him. But he is not a Doctor of Medicine. He cannot diagnose or treat medical conditions or prescribe pharmaceutical drugs. He holds a Dr. of Chiropractic degree, a Dr. of Natural medicine and is a certified nutritionist. But not a medical doctor. Some people don’t research, see the ‘Dr.’ and believe all his advice is trustworthy. It isn’t.

Many social media accounts either purposely or unintentionally add other spiritualities into their advice. Even practicing Christians do this.

2020 was hard on us all, and we lost our trust in the medical profession. Ashley and Angela both speak to this. Nature abhors a vacuum, so the hole has to be filled with something else. Hence, the rise of social media medical advice from people who may or may not be credentialed professionals, or even credible.

ASHLEY SHEATZ:

My warning is don’t get all of your health advice from Instagram because you’re probably going to be led astray. You need to back it up with also your own research and googling stuff and verifying it. There’s a lot of false information on Instagram. But I think one of the key takeaways if you are on Instagram and you are getting a lot of good health knowledge- because there is a lot of it out there- is sticking to accounts that are focusing on just whole foods or more ingredient focused rather than bringing their spirituality into it. So I think that’s a good way to guard your mind is to not even as a Christian to not even follow accounts that are talking about a false spirituality or are saying things that contradict the Bible.

There are so many great Instagram accounts that are just very health food focused. And if you are a Christian, there are also great biblical Christians who are in the health world and who do bring their faith in to the word of God. We just have to be really cautious with following people who are saying they’re spiritual, right?

If you’re married, talk to your husband with what you’re reading about and what you’re ingesting because God has placed your husband as your spiritual head to protect you. And if you’re just on your phone and you’re researching all these things and you don’t ever talk to him about it, I feel like there’s already like an open door for the devil and demons, honestly, to attack you there if you’re not open with your husband.

It’s hard for some people to let go of the teacher/advice/books etc from a favored teacher or influencer if told they aren’t the healthiest for your soul. They have invested and do not want to let go. They invest time, money, or reputation in this teacher or influencer and they don’t want to hear they have been deceived. Deception by investment has a powerful pull.

Often I’ll hear back that “But this teacher is good because his method worked… But my prayer came true… But my thing resolved…”

ANGELA MITCHELL

They’ve really put some trust in this method and they’ll say, “But it works.” And my push back to that is always we’re not pragmatists, which means we don’t just do something because it works. We’re Christians. We have to ask why. We have to ask, ‘Is this ‘glorifying the Lord?’ ‘Is this changing my worldview?’ And so, a lot of the times what I’m seeing is women is, their worldviews are changing.

There’s syncretism. Now syncretism is when you take parts of one religion and you’re mixing it with Christianity. But we know in Deuteronomy and Exodus that the Lord specifically warns against syncretism. I mean we see in Exodus where Aaron creates a golden calf and says, “We’re going to use this to worship God.” And God says absolutely not. This is disobedience. It’s the same thing when we go to something for help that isn’t of God. It’s idolatry.

I see some rigid perfectionism in this crunchy movement. Women become involved with it, then absorbed in it, then myopic about it, having tunnel vision. That’s ground ripe for Legalism. A rigid adherence to a protocol, tradition, or method that the person thinks will save them, or gain ‘points’ with Jesus (or her church).

I understand the ‘crunchy’ movement is wide, with varying levels of commitment or a variety of applications. But sometimes I hear women adhering to a rigid method and thinking that if they achieve it 100% this will somehow put them in better standing with Jesus.

DOREEN VIRTUE:

How do we guard against taking our eyes off the cross and instead thinking that if we just make everything in our house and our diet 100% perfect that that will somehow save us.

ASHLEY SHEATZ:

So as the unbeliever, they are searching and seeking to control all aspects of their life. This is the only life to them and they want to make it long and healthy. But I mean even if you are doing all the right things, some of the most healthy people in the world still get cancer. I mean even you could do all the healthy things in the world and still die in a car crash tomorrow. So there’s certain things that are just completely out of our control. And God has also given us blessings to enjoy in this life. Like if you enjoy going to Chipotle. I use Chipotle because I love Chipotle.

If you enjoy those things and you can sit down and enjoy that meal with joy…how we guard against perfectionism is realizing we’ll literally never be perfect in this life and the reason why you want to have good health and pursue good and healthy foods is to feel good today so you can serve the Lord later. It’s not about preserving your life. Our days are already numbered.

That rigidness rears its head. I’ve heard of women who won’t attend a dinner at someone’s house because their food is served from plastic containers, or their eggs are from a store. That’s perfectionism again, where your preference for something interferes with your ‘one another’.

ANGELA MITCHELL:

I think keeping in mind what stewardship looks like per family is going to be different. And now I’ve had people say that it’s more biblical to raise your own meat, to live on a farm. Kind of like a tradlife culture. Like, ‘you need to not buy eggs from the store’. I can’t do that. I live with an HOA. They won’t allow chickens. So we have to be really careful what we say is biblical and what we say is God-glorifying because we all have different circumstances.

The key word here is “preference”. Desiring to eat or feed your family farm fresh eggs, for example, or locally butchered meat, is a preference. Nothing in the New Testament commands you one way or another on that level of specificity of food or lifestyle.

ANGELA MITCHELL:

There there’s things with hospitality that we have to think- are my preferences ruling out love? I’m seeing a rise in eating disorders because of crunchy culture because it can just take over your mind. Everything becomes about what you’re putting in your body, and that can lead to idolatry. And anytime we create a disordered thinking where we’re thinking about all the time. It’s controlling our thoughts. It’s controlling our behaviors. It’s controlling our speech. We’ve created a functional God. And I would really caution women in crunchy culture to not do that to each other and to not do that to themselves.

Doreen asked about women who may be listening or watching to the video who are going through a health challenge and is becoming desperate. Many times when we go through an unexpected illness or health issue and prayer, patience, and standard medicine is not working, we become desperate. That is a risky time, because our decision making is clouded.

ANGELA MITCHELL:

I would also encourage women, if you have a woman in your life that’s suffering, she needs your prayers. She needs your friendship. She needs you to point her to God’s word before giving her crunchy advice.

I would say what do we believe about God? Do we believe that he actually means to do us good and not harm? Do we believe he’s in control? Do we believe we can trust him? Is he a good God?

I do like to ask questions. What is your desire for being crunchy? Is it a fear of death? Are do you think that you control can control getting cancer? Do you think you can control not getting disease? Do you think your good choices is going to somehow sway the hand of God even though he says you can’t add one hour to your life? I think sometimes we can have a real fear of death and crunchy culture kind of pacifies us with that. But as believers, we know where we’re going. We’re going to be with our God. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And to live is gain and to die is gain. And I just want my sisters in Christ to remember that that God loves you and he cares for you and he cares for your health.

It was a great conversation. I encourage you all to take a listen here Crunchy Christians Avoiding New Age Deception“. All three women are a good follow. They are consistent with encouragement and advice from a biblical worldview.

exaltation

Jesus, the name high over all

Posted on July 26, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,a with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” (Matthew 17:1-8)

I was listening to Drive By Pneumatology , and in lecture 10 by Emilio Ramos, I was struck by some insights by the lecturer.

The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to point to Christ (John 16:13-14). Christ is the pre-eminent Person in all the universe (Colossians 1:18). Peter, in his boundless and sometimes unthinking enthusiasm, wanted to make a tabernacle for all three of the glorified beings he saw before him. One for Moses, one for Elijah and one for Jesus. In verse 4 Peter makes it clear, he says it twice, ‘three tents’ and then explains, ‘one for you and you and you…’

WHILE He was speaking, God interrupted Peter. Peter was off on the wrong track. We cannot put anything or any one equal to Jesus. He is preeminent.

God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” God says it twice, ‘this is My Son,” and ‘listen to Him.’

Do we get the message?

Jesus is preeminent. He is counted to have more glory than Moses (Hebrews 3:3). he speaks with more authority than Elijah, the prophet, and all the prophets. (Hebrews 1:1-2).

My prayer for you is that you put Jesus at the highest exaltation point in your mind and heart. He is pre-eminent, better than our idols, our celebrities, our traditions, and better than any picture or shadow of anyone else in the bible.

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11).

Jesus, the Name High Over All, written by Charles Wesley