sisters

By Elizabeth Prata

I was sitting here this early Saturday morning, thinking of the women who read The End Time Facebook page, my Twitter, the blog, and listen to the podcast. I thought about the comments and encouragements I’ve received lately. I recalled the prayers lifted up for me this week and all the previous weeks. Such kindness.

I thought about how happy it makes me when a sister messages me that they have tried out a book I recommended or a course at ICL or Ligonier, and enjoyed it. THAT is the biggest thrill, when I point sisters to credible ministries and it’s actually pursued. SOOO encouraging.

We really do have a global church, and the sisters who follow, comment, and engage with The End Time are extremely precious to me.

I wanted to let you all know my favorite time of the week, (after church services). I get up early on Saturdays, make coffee, and put on Pandora String Quartets or Mozart channel, softly. I crack my knuckles, hover my hands over the keyboard, take a deep breath, and begin to write. I spend all morning till about noon, writing the blogs for the week. I do them all at once so they are ready to post in the mornings before I go to work.

I truly love this time writing. It’s personally satisfying for me to be able to process my thoughts by scribing them onto paper, or these days, a screen. It’s the way I’d always figured out stuff; think, then write, then think some more.

After salvation, transferring this process to where I strive to understand the Bible more or Jesus more, is deeply fulfilling. And the ministry of doing so for like-minded ladies is personally rewarding.

I really do love your questions, they prompt me to pursue deeper answers. I love the engagement and encouragement, it prompts me to do the same for others. I don’t get tired of it. I think of how Jesus hung on the cross for me, a sinner, and absorbed all God’s wrath to the dregs, for me, it spurs me on to want to be busy for Him, proclaiming His excellencies. When a sister comes to me in life or online and says something that I wrote (thanks to the wisdom of the Spirit) helped them, I just about fall over in gratitude. There is nothing and no one better than Jesus, and learning that other women are growing closer to Him and that I might have been a part is a profoundly gratifying feeling.

I do it because I love Jesus and love you sisters in Jesus.

What’s been goin’ on in Christian spheres lately? Let’s take a peek. Here are some links for your interest and edification-

A lot of people are talking about this movie. Is the positive talk warranted? It seems that it is. The Story of a Song: Movie Review by The World

Anyone who’s been to church in the last decade probably knows or has sung it, but in a culture where un-Biblical heaven tourism books and movies abound, the song’s simple, sound reminder that no eye has seen what God has prepared for those who love Him is especially welcome.

Please remember our persecuted brethren.
Hindu-on-Christian Persecution
India: the 11th worst place on earth for Christians.

During this Lenten season when Christians are preparing themselves for Easter Sunday, those of us who are living in relative peace and affluence should remember and pray for those brothers and sisters in the faith whose circumstances are not as friendly.

Judge Not? A good, scriptural look by Bob Utley at the famous verses thrown at our faces when confronting sin or false teachers.

Answer this question – ‘Who removes the speck from his brother’s eye in verse 7’?

Jen Oshman has a bit about sisters helping sisters: The Power of Sisterhood: Women Spurring Women to Do Hard and Good Things

I am convinced the best way women can serve one another—and even the entire world—is to meet together and to encourage one another to love and good works.

Rebecca Stark with some good thoughts about contending. Would you stand idly by and watch your young son get mauled by a cougar?

Faced with a dangerous attack on a beloved child, would any mother simply stand and watch? No, a mother’s love for her child compels her to protect and defend—and fight to the death if necessary.

The lead article on a credible blog is about eschatology? I’m so there!

4 Reasons to Anticipate the Return of Jesus

As we go about daily routines, too often our lives become routine. It seems as if there is a missing purpose at times to simple conversations in the community and other less-than-glorious responsibilities like changing diapers or mopping the kitchen floor. Are you anxiously anticipating the return of King Jesus or do you find yourself reading your Bible and doing life disconnected from the precious promise that Jesus will return?

Are parables just simplistic stories teaching a moral lesson? No. For the Church has more. By the way, John MacArthur’s book Parables is fantastic.

The parables Jesus tells in the four Gospels are peculiar kinds of stories that too many readers read very wrongly. It’s important, then, to clear up some common misconceptions about these important stories. I want to share with you what the parables are, but first, it is helpful to establish what they are not.

DID YOU KNOW?

Spurgeon read The Pilgrim’s Progress at age 6 and went on to read it over 100 times.

DID YOU KNOW?
The collected sermons of Spurgeon during his ministry fill 63 volumes? Phil Johnson curates The Spurgeon Archives. Most of Spurgeon’s sermons are there, along with Morning & Evening, Sword & Trowel, and other material. The Spurgeon Center also has much material.

I have been enjoying Derek Thomas’ daily 22 minute videos at Ligonier.org going through John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Wonderful!

Thomas’ lectures on The Pilgrim’s Progress here (so far). The series began on March 13, 2018

The City of Destruction
The Wicket Gate
The Interpreter’s House
The Cross & the Sepulcher
The Hill Difficulty
The Palace Beautiful

This photo, just because I like it. Have a good day!

Tag: sisters

I love you ladies!

Prata Potpourri: Contending, Cougars, Spurgeon, Movie about a Song, more