Tag: faith

Posted in theology

Of toxic empathy, false zeal, and how satan’s demons masquerade to fool you

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Allie Beth Stuckey published a book that’s out this week, called Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion. The book is making waves and causing a hearty discussion on social media.

That’s good. Stuckey explores the concepts of the current cultural mantras, “love is love”, “trans women are women”, “abortion is health care”, “social justice is justice”, and pointedly, that empathy is not always empathy. Love, justice, empathy are good words, but they can and are appropriated by bad people who use those words to manipulate the people around them, especially Christians. Stuckey wrote in her introduction,

But empathy alone is a terrible guide. It may be part of what inspires us to do good, but it’s just an emotion and, like all emotions, is highly susceptible to manipulation. That’s exactly what’s happening today. Empathy has been hijacked for the purpose of conforming well-intentioned people to particular political agendas. Specifically, it’s been co-opted by the progressive wing of American society to convince people that the progressive position is exclusively the one of kindness and morality. I call it toxic empathy. Source: page xii)

Of course the culture will push back on a Christian re-redefining the words that the progressives have appropriated and redefined. Here we see one reaction-

Mason Mennenga @masonmennenga wrote on Twitter, “if you think empathy is toxic then you’re going to hate this guy named jesus christ“.

According to our own understanding of the word ’empathy’, of course the guy is right. But then again, this is a situation that calls for thought, not knee-jerk reactions such as “Yeah!” then press ‘like’.

The ever wise Ron Henzel @ronhenzel replied to Mennenga, (≠ means ‘does not equal’):

“toxic substance” ≠ “all substances are toxic”
“toxic waste” ≠ “all waste is toxic”
“toxic relationships” ≠ “all relationships are toxic”
“toxic empathy” ≠ “all empathy is toxic“

We must, MUST think things through. Christians are a thinking people, (Philippians 4:8). As Stuckey said, emotions can be manipulated.

Emotions are a part of life. But I bring this to your attention…what were the first emotions seen in the Bible? Shame, guilt, blame. Genesis 3. Satan manipulated Eve’s curiosity into a temptation and we know what happened from there.

Of ‘toxic empathy’, the American writer Flannery O’Connor said,

“If other ages felt less, they saw more, even though they saw with the blind, prophetical, unsentimental eye of faith. In the absence of this faith now, we govern by tenderness. It is a tenderness which, long cut off from the person of Christ, is wrapped in theory. When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.”

AI explains the quote-

This quote, by Flannery O’Connor, argues that modern society, lacking a strong religious faith, governs itself through a detached “tenderness” that, without the grounding of Christ, ultimately leads to horrific consequences like violence and oppression, symbolized by the gas chambers of concentration camps.

And haven’t we seen that? “Love thy neighbor” was the covid-flu mantra pressuring the populace to ingest untested or unwieldy vaccinations, to close down society against common sense, and to become isolated robots. What happened was the elderly were left to die alone and society’s children were impacted negatively for a generation to come. That’s just one example of how progressives used toxic empathy against the people in their society.

Moving away from toxic empathy to examining toxic zeal, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a 2 part series on true zeal versus false zeal.

There IS such a thing as false zeal. False Christians who seem so zealous for God are actually not zealous for God. It’s a manufactured zeal cloaking their zeal for themselves, or for satan. See this verse-

Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).

By this verse we see there is such a thing as a zeal that is not of God. There can be zeal, or fervor, or energy around religious things, but not according to what we know from the Bible. AKA knowledge.

Zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Synonyms: passion, fervor, enthusiasm.

Photo by Luan Cabral on Unsplash

They went across the world to make one proselyte, but wound up making him twice the sons of hell they were. (Matthew 23:15). That verse is the example of zeal without knowledge. You can be passionate, you can be busy making disciples, but a false zeal will make disciples who miss the mark completely and will wind up in hell as a son of hell. Zeal, no knowledge.

Beth Moore has been consistently described through the years as “energetic”, “charismatic”, “passionate”. She puts out an energy as zealous for God. But because we know she is a false teacher, her zeal is without knowledge. She is full of emotion but lacks the tether to the Rock via faith.

She was recently interviewed by Ed Stetzer at Church Leaders. He ended by asking Moore how she prepares for a lesson. I was struck by her answer.

Question: Can you encourage teachers and preachers, especially in this season when it is hard to speak truth and there is a lot of destructive forces that are trying to take down teachers and preachers?

Answer:
“Keep asking the Lord to give you fire in your bones, to teach and preach and communicate the Scriptures so that you can’t keep it to yourself. Ask him for it when it wanes, and it’s going to wane…Nobody just keeps that naturally on their own.“

It’s love for scripture, love for Jesus, that drives the Christian to search the scriptures and then the scriptures fire up that proper zeal.

“Is My word not like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29).

You get a ‘fire in the bones’ when you open up the scriptures!

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?(Luke 24:32).

But Moore said it is important that “we’re not just going to the scriptures to prepare a lesson.“

To be fair, she was talking of the teacher having a right relationship with Jesus as one prepares the lesson. I can intuit that she means not apathetic, in prayerful humility, regular church goer, etc But she didn’t say those things. She just muddily talked of the overflow (whatever that means). Consulting the scriptures is primary. But for the false zealer, it’s secondary. Emotions tops the list.

I was struck by what she said and what she did NOT say. Any thinking Christian must think of both- what is said and what is not said. Moore did not say it was crucial for the leader to pray for perseverance in staying in right doctrine. To ask for moral righteousness. Begging to rightly divide the scriptures. Her reply focused on emotion. ‘Fire in the bones’ (whatever that means) was most important to her because, as we know, she is driven by emotion. Zeal misapplied is false. Zeal untethered from the Rock will lead you nowhere good.

False teachers appear to be doing a religious effort, they look like they are on the right track, and part of that appearance is because of their fervent energy.

The Bible says that satan and his demons masquerade as angels of light. That means behavior, outward appearance. The thinking Christian must look deeper.

Do not fall for toxic empathy. Do not mistake toxic zeal for righteous fervor. Above, all, THINK!

Lloyd-Jones’ sermon can be heard here, for free: True Zeal and False Zeal: A Sermon on Romans 10:1-2. Or on Youtube with closed captions (which might help due to his accent).

Further Reading

Real Zeal vs. False Zeal part 1

Real Zeal vs. False zeal part 2

Here is a good article on turning information into knowledge by Rick Holland.

Here in this article What do you think about emotional sensationalism in the modern church? Stephen Nichols of Ligonier says there are valid emotions, but “especially in the American church, we seem to be very susceptible to this. There is a difference between emotion and emotionalism.”

Posted in theology

Spiritual accounting that counts for nothing

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I often take stock. Taking stock is something we do ‘to
review or make an overall assessment of a particular situation, typically as a prelude to making a decision‘ as it’s defined.

Sometimes the process is called “personal inventory,” when we go through some self-examination to reflect on one’s thoughts, actions, motivations, and other aspects of yourself. In other words, How’m I doing in life?

People go through a spiritual accounting as well. I used to do that before I was saved, and of course, after I was saved too. But though the process is the same, the outcome is totally different.

The main difference is the pronoun. Before salvation if one takes stock, every item in the spiritual inventory will begin with “I”, as in I did this or I did that. Afterwards, it focuses on “You” as in Jesus, the Redeemer. Let’s take a look at some examples from scripture.

The Rich Young Ruler. First of all, notice his emphasis even in the beginning, his question focused on himself:

“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Jesus answered, referencing the Commandments, and the Rich Young Ruler replied, And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.” (Luke 18:21).

EPrata photo

His was a spiritual accounting that was of no account.

Of course, we are all familiar with the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees. Let’s review the Pharisee at the Temple.

The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ (Luke 18:11-12)

Did you notice the verse in the NASB says the Pharisee prayed in regard to himself? The focus (and the pronoun) is I-I-I.

Saul before he was Paul, prior to salvation, thought he was earning his way to heaven with all his spiritual deeds,

If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. (Philippians 3:4-6).

Before salvation it was all about him, wasn’t it? But Paul found out different, didn’t he? His spiritual accounting was based on wind.

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; (Isaiah 64:6).

Boasting in one’s self displeases God, but relying on God does please Him.

Job’s spiritual accounting changed from the beginning of the book to the end, where Job, though spoken of as a righteous man by God, finally acknowledged his inadequacy.

Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes. (Job 42:6).

Humility. Focus is on God. Not self.

The Tax Collector near the Pharisee who was boasting in himself, had a total focus on God and a right view of himself. He knew he was a sinner, he knew he was unworthy.

But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!‘ (Luke 18:13).

In all of Paul’s post-conversion pleadings, his repentance and please were bundled into one word, CHRIST.

In our repentance, in our prayers, when we take stock or do a spiritual accounting, let us (me) be focused on our Good Savior, the only good, the only worthy, the only One who can receive our prayer AND do something about it- Jesus, The Trinitarian Godhead persons who delight in humility and penitence.

Posted in theology

Culture of death/culture of life

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

There was a woman taking out trash in the early pre-dawn who was hit by an illegal alien. His car knocked out of her socks and her body was a hundred feet from her trash can. The DA decided not to press charges.

We read stories like this all the time these days. I’ve mentioned several times recently that we are living in a culture of death. That culture will climax in the moment when all the world rejoices that the Two Witnesses of the Tribulation are killed and lay putrefying in the street. They celebrate their deaths by giving gifts. As opposed to Christmas when we celebrate the life of Jesus birthed on earth in the flesh to live among us.

The dignity of life is nothing these days. The fact that humans are made in the image of God means nothing to an increasing amount of people.

We have become inured to death. There have been over 63Million abortions since it was legalized in 1973. Abortion is death. It kills a human being.

Movies and televisions shows today routinely show death, and as a culture, we are fascinated with seeing death, watching serial killers, true crime, and horror movies. Even TV show title covers and movie posters are literally dark.

I watch the Aussie TV show City Homicide which started in 2007. They begin every episode with this title card:

In today’s real world, there seems to be rare honor in preserving life, caring about life, bringing justice to a life cut short. Oh, I know it exists, but increasingly what we see in the news is that the loss of a human life just doesn’t have the same punch for people. Children raised on vicious and violent video games laugh when someone gets hurt, shot, or killed. They think it’s funny.

But God! We Christians are released from death to live life and live it abundantly! We have life eternal. We among all people know what Life IS, and what death really is. We can and should display the joy that comes with this sure knowledge.

When we are in Christ, we are In the Person who will never die. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind, (John 1:4).

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms on account of My name, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29).

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Matthew 25:46).

You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

You have put joy in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine are abundant. (Psalm 4:7).

So therefore let us be joyful, let our faces shine with peace and happiness that we are saved and entered into full life of joy with the savior. In a culture of death, this will stand out to those staggering under weight of sin and specter of death. As death gleefully chokes our culture with its maniacal joy, let true joy of eternal life flow out from us who know the savior.

Posted in theology

Is God speaking to you? Part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The biggest topic I used to receive pushback on was naming a false teacher. People got angry when their favorite pet teacher was outed as false, thus, out flowed their invective. But lately the most pushback I receive is when I say that God is not speaking to us audibly or personally in these days. People are REALLY defending that one!

It’s sad how embedded the notion of God still speaking directly and audibly to people has become in such a short time. It’s particularly crushing to see that Celebrity women with large platforms are promoting this, and have been for years. Almost an entire generation now.

Is He whispering? Sending signs or omens? Should we seek intuitions, feelings, nudgings, whispers, small voices, and promptings that we might sense inside of our brain? Or even hear audibly?

Does God give new revelation today? Did He tell Beth Moore to go to a zoo and watch a napping baby koala together or build a snowman with Him? Did He respond to Sarah Young’s yearning “for more” than scripture by giving her so many personal devotions? Did He awaken IF:Gathering’s founder Jennie Allen one night and tell her to gather and equip this generation? Did He walk with HGTV’s Fixer Upper Joanna Gaines in her garden and tell her that He has a calling for her and that one day she will have a platform taking Magnolia further than she ever dreamed? Did Priscilla Shirer write an entire Bible study to teach us how we can prepare to “hear God’s voice and receive wisdom from Him”? These women have all claimed to have heard from God, AND put His alleged words in quotes.

A short history of “God told me”

I mention these particular women because they are (or were) not fringe, not in a cult, and not outside the bounds of orthodoxy when they first began claiming direct revelation. Oh, for years false prophets had been claiming God spoke to them, but they were never taken seriously. From around 90 AD when the canon was completed in the Book of Revelation to the 20th century, it was a given that the mainline church believed God’s new revelations were concluded. His final word was THE Word.

So why is it so rampant now?

top row l-r: Jennie Allen, Priscilla Shirer. Bottom row, Beth Moore, Sarah Young of Jesus Calling

Justin Peters addressed this issue at the Truth Matters conference in 2019 (one of many tmes he has addressed the problem). The title of his talk was “Hearing from Heaven: How to Know the Voice of God” He said-

I would submit to you that the resource, the book that is singularly most responsible for introducing charismatic theology into at least theoretically non-charismatic churches is Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby that came out in 1991. If you go back before 1991, at least in non-charismatic churches, almost everyone would have understood that God speaks to us through the Bible, we speak to Him in prayer. Today hardly anybody understands that; and I believe experiencing God is singularly most responsible for introducing these notions into non-charismatic churches.

I agree with this perspective. I remember when the book came to my former church. There was a huge buzz about it and immediately groups were formed to go through the study. We were told that it was going to change our life, make a huge difference in our walk, and so on.

Southern Baptist Convention member Beth Moore soon latched onto this notion that God speaks to us directly and from her earliest days promoted the idea through constant sharing of anecdotes of what He was supposedly telling her. Her very first “Bible study” called A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place was published in 1995. Every page of the 200 page workbook (!) Moore asked the student to write on the blanks the answer to the following 2 questions: [underline mine]-

“At the conclusion of each lesson you will find two questions: 1) How did God speak directly to you today? 2) What is your response to Him?”

“By the conclusion of  each lesson you should be able to identify something in particular that you believe He was saying directly to you.”

Due to Moore’s large platform and general respect (back then) for the Southern Baptist Convention’s orthodoxy, her idea grew tentacles among women’s ministries and went everywhere from there.

In 2004 Sarah Young’s book Jesus Calling was published, where young outright said she heard from God. This book also made a huge impact and picking up the baton from Moore, the notion began forging new trails into the heart and mind of conservative women. It was no longer a fringe notion, since Blackaby and Moore were in conservative churches, not Charismatic nor Pentecostal…nor were either of them being chastised for their presumption that Jesus chooses special people to whom he gives special revelation directly and apart from the Bible. Sarah Young’s book became a brand and a cottage industry.

in 2014 Jennie Allen held her first IF:Gathering, in which she related to her audience that God woke her up one night to tell her, or whisper, or both, she couldn’t decide exactly, to gather and equip this generation, something not even Paul was charged with.

And now it’s 2024 and everyone and their sister seems to say, “God told me”. Luke Smallbone of the Christian musical group For King and Country said this month,

From Smallbone’s Instagram reel

It was actually a sweet moment. He was saying he had felt far from God, hadn’t dived into the Word in a while, and was repenting of that. Great. But he continued, “I felt God say to me, ‘Luke’, and I listened, and I felt him say, “I’ve missed you”.

While the sentiment is true, God does love us and wants us close to Him, it is unhelpful for Luke to claim that he heard God personally deliver the comfort. It is just plain wrong to put it in quotes. Even though Luke said ‘I felt God was saying’ it is still wrong. Luke didn’t say “I went to the scripture and the Holy Spirit, through the word, comforted me”. No he alleges he had a conversation. Tellingly, he did not turn to scripture for comfort nor did he advise his followers to do so. He just said “When life gets a little hectic, listen to what God is saying.”

A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. (Galatians 5:9).

And “God told me” IS leaven.

In the next part, what direct revelation is (leaven) and isn’t (happening now), and how to respond to people who claim to have heard from Jesus.

Further Resources

G3 is hosting the Cessationist Conference Oct 3-5, 2024. “Join us in October of 2024 as we carefully consider key biblical arguments for the cessation of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit.”

Ligonier: Does the Holy Spirit tell people things in their thoughts?

G3: Beware of lowercase r- revelation

Posted in theology

Billy Graham rule may not be a good idea for some (a different reason why)

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A very famous married elderly Reformed preacher was forced to confess he had been having a five-year-long affair with a woman almost 50 years younger than he. He was fired from his preaching position, ejected from the ministry he founded, and rejected in his many other ministry positions of authority and prestige.

The shock went around the world. Literally. The ensuing shock is still reverberating. Some insiders have said, “No one saw this coming.” Not that they disbelieved that anyone can sin into adultery, but no one saw it coming from this man in particular.

Al Mohler spoke about this situation, answering a question he’d been asked as to whether pastors falling due to adultery are happening more frequently these days. It seemed so to the questioner.

Moher said that he “doesn’t sense an increase in number but an increase in public damage to the church of Jesus Christ. The effect of the issue upon the church and the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so grievous“

Mohler also quoted advice given him by an elder honorable Christian man,

You will never have sex with a woman not your wife, if you are never alone with a woman not your wife.”

In the aftermath of this news, people have been discussing the background of Mohler’s quip, the Billy Graham Rule. (BGR)

The BGR is a rule that 20th century evangelist Bill Graham instituted for himself never to be alone with a woman not his wife. As a traveling evangelist, he was subject to gossip and speculation, particularly in the wake of traveling religious men before him who had been charlatans.

“Graham tells the story of when he was walking along a quiet street with his 18-year-old daughter: the next day, the local paper printed the story that Graham was “again” seen with a beautiful, young woman, insinuating that Graham’s sexual exploits were beginning to be a problem,” explains Kurt Edwards in his dissertation “Billy Graham, Elmer Gantry, and the Performance Of A New American Revivalism“

.

In this June 27, 1954 file photo, Evangelist Billy Graham speaks to over 100,000 people at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany (AP)

Graham himself had said of the issue, “There is always the chance of misunderstanding. I remember walking down the street in New York with my beautiful blond daughter, Bunny. I was holding her hand. I heard somebody behind us say, ‘There goes Billy Graham with one of those blond girls.'” (Source).

These rumors bothered Graham, who wanted to maintain a pure reputation. He had recently read the devastating book Elmer Gantry, about the perseverance, rise, and ultimate success of a corrupt preacher who was in fact a false convert. This book spooked Graham. He was concerned enough with his reputation in light of the Gantry book and subsequent movie, that in 1948 “while in Modesto, California, he [Graham] gathered close advisers, including Grady and T.W. Wilson, Cliff Barrows, and Bev Shea” wrote Edwards, to discuss how to handle this kind of attention.

The issues they were concerned about were money, sexual
immorality, discord with local churches, and telling journalists the true numbers of attendees (not inflating the truth when speaking of publicity) – these “rules” were to help squash any issues with these 4 problems and became known as “The Modesto Manifesto”.

The rule Graham had about maintaining sexual purity was that he would never travel alone, nor would he meet with or eat alone with any woman other than his wife. But there is an interesting twist to that Rule many people do not know. More on that below.

It was a purposeful strategy to ignore the Elmer Gantry-ish excesses of the famous American evangelists who’d come before him. And it worked like magic. When scandals destroyed some of his imitators in the 1980s, like Jim and Tammy Bakker, Graham’s operation looked even more like a model of rectitude in comparison. (Rolling Stone, The Soul Crushing Legacy of Billy Graham).

BGR or BGR-ish Can Be Good

I have an issue with the Billy Graham Rule, and it is not what you think. I believe the wisdom behind the Rule is good. It is NOT wise for a man, clergy, pastor, counselor to meet alone with a woman. Not professionally and certainly not personally. Not even in public, as in a restaurant, mall, or park. I also believe it is not a good idea to frequently text or email or phone call a woman who is not his wife, an added caveat since new technology has been invented since Billy Graham was around.

It was not holiness that prompted Graham and his cohorts to formulate this rule. It was not to establish guardrails for the purpose of maintaining discipline so God gets the glory.

It was performance. It was to create an external appearance in order to glorify self.

Some may take issue with what I’m saying here. But I’ve done a lot of thinking about Billy Graham and even more study on his life and ministry. Much. I don’t say these things lightly or without reason or substantiation. I know some won’t like it because some idolize him. That’s fine. Their opinion. I have mine.

As a side note, I’ve read Stephen King’s The Mist, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Lovecraft…and Elmer Gantry. Let me say that Elmer Gantry out-horrored them all and was the most chilling, horrific book I ever read. It definitely leaves an impression.

Throughout Billy Graham’s career, the evangelist sought performative manners to ensure that he would not be perceived as another “Elmer Gantry”, or huckster preacher out to win money, fame, and favor. Graham’s intent was to grow a ministry that would form a new performance paradigm for American revivalism. Graham prepared as an actor to use his gifts, train his voice and body, to write a different style of script, to capitalize on celebrity, and to embrace new media forms that would bring his message around the world thus creating a “New” revivalism while at the same time distancing himself from being seen as the character in Sinclair Lewis’ novel Elmer Gantry…” ~Dr. Ronald E. Shields, Bowling Green State University.

Why I am suspicious about the BGR

Graham decided not to sup alone, be seen with, or in any way be tainted by the notion that he was alone with a woman not his wife in public, and this included his daughters.

This is my issue and it’s why I deem it performance, a whitewashed tomb rather than a God-glorifying pursuit of purity.

He sacrificed his girls on the altar of personal reputation. It wasn’t for the glory of God. It was so people would think he was a highly moral person. We see this conceptually in the Modesto discussions, and we see in reality at the abandonment of his daughters for the sake of being well thought of.

“From that point on, Graham would not to travel, meet, or dine alone with any woman other than his wife Ruth — even his very own daughters when they came of age.” ~Edwards

Evangelists were often separated from their families during long periods of time and could be tempted with immorality (at least to do things that were disparate with what they were preaching for or against). The team pledged to avoid even the appearance of compromise. From that day forward, Graham never traveled alone, nor did he meet or eat alone with any woman other than his wife (including his teenage daughters). ~paraphrasing William Martin’s book, “A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story.

So: the entire point about me cautioning with regard to the Billy Graham Rule is —

MOTIVE

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures.
(James 4:3)

All the ways of a person are clean in his own sight, But the LORD examines the motives. (Proverbs 16:2)

The Pharisees were ALL ABOUT performance. Jesus called them out on it. He said they stand on corners (busy location) so they would be seen They didn’t wash, so they would be seen. They pulled long faces at fasting, so they would be seen. When they tithed they sounded trumpets. They sought the chief seats at banquets. All so they would be praised and glorified.

Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, (Isaiah 29:13).

Practicing righteousness to heap glory onto one’s self is a worthless endeavor.

Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)

CAUTION

As you think about the BGR, ponder your motives. And sin being what it is, even if you’ve instituted such a rule for yourself at the start based on wanting to give glory to God through a holy lifestyle, over time it can become hardened and rigid, and become one of many rules that are void of worship and instead by now are just a performance. A rule for the sake of a rule.

For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10).

That question should always be utmost in our minds. WHY do we do the things we do? Is what I am doing out of love and submission to the Savior? Am I pursuing holiness for the sake of God getting glory, or for myself so as to be well thought of? Has it become rote, and devoid of meaning and worship?

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

Posted in chantry, discernment, megapastor, prophecy

What are the signs of a believer?

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

If people would simply stop accepting at face value the proclamations of celebrity pastors and lady ‘Bible’ teachers, that they are Christians, the faith would be stronger.

When a megapastor, such as the types like Mr Furtick, Mr Driscoll, or Mr Stanley, or a lady ‘Bible’ teacher like Beth Moore or Jennie Allen or Joyce Meyer teach something that isn’t in the Bible, or otherwise make an outrageous statement, the thinking goes something like this:

“What?! How could Pastor So-and-So say that? He says s/he’s a Christian, so how can s/he not know that isn’t the truth?! Since s/he says they are a Christian, we have to find out what s/he really meant. It must be a mistake, or s/he said it because s/he must be temporarily under the influence of NyQuil. Of course s/he is a Christian (because Pastor So-and-So says he is) and Christians would know better than to teach that.”

Complex rhetorical pretzel-logic ensues.

You know, most people who say they’re saved, are not saved. Am I pessimistic? Am I “judging the heart”? Am I “judging their motives”? No. Jesus said that many go on the broad way to destruction and few find the way to salvation. (Matthew 7:14). Jesus followed that statement immediately in the next verse, saying

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15). Further on we read the devastating verses in Matthew 7:21-23 where many are unveiled to not have been a Christian all along. Jesus says ‘Depart from me, yu worker of iniquity, I never knew you.’

In the New Testament ‘false prophets’ are pastors, a word we’re more familiar with today. Or they are teachers.

If someone in real life says to me that they are saved, I don’t dismiss their statement, of course. But I do not accept it at face value, either. I listen to testimony, I watch for fruit, I reserve comment or opinion on their self-proclamation until I see one way or another which way their wind blows. That takes time.

But if someone is a pastor or teacher at the highest levels with a following or influence, and thus a body of work to examine and compare to the Bible (Acts 17:11), and they say something incontrovertibly against a foundational doctrine, (like when Billy Graham says we can go to heaven without knowing Jesus; or the wild abuses against the Spirit of Benny Hinn or Joyce Meyer, or the greed with which a Joel Osteen bows to Mammon), then it’s understood in my mind that someone with the Holy Spirit in them would never teach that or behave that way. Ever.

There are some simple items to help people begin to understand whether to call someone a brother. Here are a few-

1. True believers will understand, confess, and defend the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. (See Corinthians 15:1-5.) 

2. Actual Christians will discerningly spot counterfeit gospels and conclusively reject all of them. (See Galatians 1:6-9).

3. Believers, while not morally perfect until glorification, will care about holiness and will strive to live according to God’s commands. If pointed out to be teaching falsity or to be in sin, they will hasten to correct (See I Corinthians 6:9-11).

Remember, the Holy Spirit indwells a true believer. He will not allow decades of falsity to spew from the pastor’s or teacher’s mouth. He will not allow decades of behavioral abuse to continue. If an actual believer teaching something falls into sin, after a short while it will be resolved through repentance, or even in the case of the Corinthians they were disciplined with sickness or even death for abusing the Lord’s Table, or the Thyatirans who followed metaphorical Jezebel, Jesus threatened to kill them. The Spirit’s ministry is to point to Jesus, not allow falsity from one of His sheep to confuse the unwary and pollute the faith. We must see Jesus with clear eyes. Many, believe it or not, do not profess the true Jesus, but sadly, many do not know that the foundation of their faith is sand and not the Rock. (see Matthew 7:21-23).

In his Handout Church History Lecture series, John Gerstner said in 1990,

How goes the Gospel in the world at the end of the twentieth century? There is no way of getting full or accurate statistics (though there are many useful attempts). One can only make educated guesses. Mine is that the vast majority—maybe 90 percent—of professing Christendom does not profess Christianity. Or rather, it does not understand the Christianity it professes.

Most of the people who profess Christ do not believe the essential doctrines that set one apart as a regenerated, saved Christian. I have seen this up close. A Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Teacher/Director laughingly said to me once, “Oh, I just take most of the Old Testament with a grain of salt.”

Here is Got Questions with 12 verses answering What are some of the signs of genuine saving faith?

Here is John MacArthur with an essay on “What kind of things do and do not prove the genuineness of saving faith?” Do not be caught by the conditions observed in a person that do not prove OR disprove genuine saving faith, such as: Visible Morality, Intellectual Knowledge, Religious Involvement, Active Ministry, Conviction of Sin, The Feeling of Assurance, A Time of Decision. Then MacArthur continues in showing Nine conditions that DO prove genuine saving faith. Here is the link.

Ever since the beginning of my walk with the Lord, I have been concerned with the notion of false professions, false Christians, and polluted faith. I work at not contributing to the problem by examining myself, confessing sin when necessary, and keeping my eyes on “This Same Jesus” who departed in Acts 1:11 and will return the same way.

I dread the day when Matthew 7:21-23 comes true, when many (hopefully not me!) will be unmasked as false believers and sent to hell. However, that will be one way that Jesus’ glory will be shown to be even more glorious than we ever could imagine. These things must be pondered.

Posted in encouragement, faith

The faith of Adam

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

When Adam and Eve trusted the words of the serpent instead of GOD and stepped out into disobedience, they fell from grace.

To the woman God said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bear children; Your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” ” (Genesis 3:16).

Then God made His prophetic pronouncements to Adam (the ground is cursed because of you, labor will be painful, you’ll sweat and toil, the serpent will be bruised under the heel of the woman’s offspring)

When God was finished speaking, the man called his wife’s name Eve, “because she was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20)

God Judging Adam, cropped, by Wm. Blake, 1795

Was Eve a mother yet? No. Adam’s naming of Eve was a step into faith based on the future promises of God.

If Adam’s faith was so great based on such little revelation, how much more faith should we have based on the incarnation of Christ, the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, and the completed revelation of God?

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)

Are you living in faith? (am I?) With the great revelation we have in our complete Bible, revelation wisdom that we can turn to at any time, freely, let us today and forever live by the promises of God. His word will never fail. Whatever happens today is for our good (which is good) and His glory (which is best!)

Posted in encouragement, theology

How to obtain faith

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

This post first appeared on The End Time in September 2011. It’s been slightly edited.

————————————–

Many people believe in a god. If, as people say, ‘a god’ does exist, then it stands to reason He is far above us in ways and thoughts. And if He is far above us in ways and thoughts it stands to reason that He is perfectly holy, just, and wise. For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2:14).

It also stands to reason that if He is so far above us, then we are below Him in ways and thoughts and wisdom. We are not equals, that is for sure.

Now, the standout attribute of our God (not ‘a god,’ because He is the only one, of course) is that He is holy. Holiness is described as “A quality of perfection, sinlessness, and inability to sin that is possessed by God alone.”

What is it that makes Him holy and us not holy? Our sin. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that displeases God. It is cosmic treason, as RC Sproul said. It is disobeying His holy Law.

Since we cannot go through life perfect, then we sin, and we displease God. Our sins keep us from having a relationship with Him because He is holy and we are not. Every sin we commit is a brick in a wall between us and Him. If we die with that wall there, it stays there for eternity and we will go to hell and be separated from Him forever. There.we are punished for those sins we had committed while alive on earth.

But He made a way for us, sinful though we are, to have a relationship with Him. He desires communion with His people. The way He made, is through His son Jesus. He said to His Son, (Hebrews 5:5; Psalm 2:7) in effect, ‘I am going to ask you to set aside your divinity, pour yourself into human flesh, and live a life on earth, be accused though you are sinless, and die a terrible death on the cross. You will exhaust all My wrath for sin, being the sacrificial Lamb in the people’s stead.  Once your blood is shed, it will pay the debt humanity owes me for their sins and they will be covered.’ Jesus said ‘OK.’

After Jesus died on the cross and was buried, on the third day God made Him come to life again. He ascended and dwells with God in heaven. He welcomes believers home to Him when they die! (Hebrews 1:3) It is simultaneously a beautiful and a horrific plan.

What I just said is re-stated from Ephesians 2.

What a person has to do to find faith is to believe that Jesus was and is the son of God, died for our sins, and rose to life again. If you believe that then by default you also believe that you know you’re a sinner and you ask Him to forgive the sins. Because His blood covers you, your confession and belief will enact your pardon. The brick wall will come down. We are justified and regenerated.

Jesus says that once you believe, THEN He makes all the truths of the Bible come alive in your brain. The Bible will no longer be a dry, dusty, incomprehensible book but the Living Word from a Living God who loves us. You know what else He does for us after a you believe? He sends the Holy Spirit to be inside us to help us resist sin and temptation. Oh, we still sin, we’re human after all. But the more we submit to the Spirit’s leading, the less we WANT to sin, and the more He helps us resist it. Like I said, it is a relationship.

For that relationship to begin, you must first understand that you sin. Do you believe this?

How can a person obtain faith? “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.“—Romans 10:17. Charles Spurgeon preached on this topic, “How can I obtain faith?“. Click the link to read the whole sermon. He began with saying this:

It is difficult to make men understand that the salvation of the gospel is not by works but entirely by grace, that it is not presented to men as the reward of their own endeavors, but is given to them freely upon their accepting it by an act of simple faith or trust in Jesus Christ.

That is all there is. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We obtain faith by grace. It is all His grace given to us.

Faith comes by hearing the Word. “For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility.” (Ephesians 2:14).

wall verse

Posted in discernment, Uncategorized

What lurks within…

Posted on by elizabethprata

We read in Job that-

His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. (Job 1:4-5).

What a sweet picture of Job, in these pre-Patriarchal times, performing his function as priest over his family. His ten children certainly had a father upright in integrity and faith in the one true God. Job was concerned not just with their behavior in terms of moral vs. sin, but their thought life. Have they cursed God in their hearts? Are they holding on to some sin for which they have not repented? Have they cursed God inwardly? Job continuously sacrificed to God as a cover for them.

As we know from so many biblical examples, people can appear as moral but inside, in their mind or heart, they can be holding on to many sins. The Rich Young Ruler claimed to have obeyed the commandments, yet he was revealed to be holding on to greed and materialism. The Pharisees tried to appear holy on the outside, but inside they were raging hypocrites, uncaring for widows and sinners and their fellow man in general!

The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are hidden inside a person’s mind and heart. The bottom line is, people are good actors. There are some we will never know if they are truly saved or not, until the Day. (Matthew 7:21-23).

We can surmise that perhaps Job’s ten children were indeed faithful to Yahweh. They loved each other, didn’t seem to have in-fighting, liked to spend time with each other. They lived near by enough to partake of family doings on a regular basis. No prodigals, in other words.

We know Job was a righteous man. Ezekiel 14:14 declares Job one of three most righteous men (along with Daniel and Noah).

It’s Mrs Job that was a problem.

Job spent time covering his children’s sins with daily sacrifices…but what of Mrs Job? When the pressure became unbearable and the grief too deep, she showed her true colors. Rather than a gentle help-meet who encourages and supports her husband, she suggested to Job that he curse God and then die (by his own hand).

An excellent wife, who can find? (Proverbs 31:10). As Matthew Henry says of an excellent wife,

She can be trusted, and he will leave such a wife to manage for him. He is happy in her. And she makes it her constant business to do him good. … Above all, she fears the Lord.

Inward sin will not reveal itself until or unless there is pressure. Whether it is the pressure of too much unrepentant sin, or the pressure of circumstances, the sin will eventually be revealed. Mrs Job, and indeed Mrs Lot too, showed that despite living with biblically-declared righteous men, they had sin inside lurking within them. Their disdain for the Holy One, Yahweh was fatally revealed for Mrs Lot when she turned to look back at her life in Sodom, and in Mrs Job when her excellent husband needed her most.

What lurks within is ugly. We should take care of sin daily, by picking up our cross, slaying our sin, and repenting. (Matthew 6:12, 2 Corinthians 7:10).

Don’t be a Mrs Job or a Mrs Lot. Deal with what lurks within. Your husband and children need you.
mrs job
Illustration by William Blake