Posted in theology

Archer & Olive, meanness, and kindness

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I have always loved paper. I’m a writer, to comes with the territory! Especially since I spent half my life expressing myself on paper before computer screens were invented. When I was in Italy, I purposely made a trip to the town of Fabriano. That place is one of the earliest and most important places in the West that sparked the trade in paper. The tradesmen there in the 1200s invented vats with multiple hammers, shortening the pounding time necessary to grind fiber to a malleable state. They also invented the watermark.

With a love of paper naturally comes a love of journals. I recently discovered the paper-journal-site Archer & Olive. This is an upscale, super-beautifully designed journal site. Their mission statement says,

At Archer & Olive, we believe creativity and planning should feel inspiring not overwhelming. That’s why we create premium journaling tools designed to support your mental wellness and help you stay organized in a way that feels joyful.

Archer & Olive’s Stamp Collector Collection

Premium is right. They make stunningly beautiful designs for their journals, notebooks, washi tape, and so on. An especially exciting product is their Subscription box. Inside are a myriad of freshly designed items sent to the subscriber. Each box bundle, and each season’s release of new individual collections, is freshly and uniquely designed by the talent behind the scenes.

For subscribers, the anticipation quickens as the date nears for the quarterly subscription box’s contents to be previewed and then released to the subscribers. They sell out quickly, I understand, and no wonder. They are beautiful as well as practical for the journaler or crafter who likes to create art in such notebooks.

Archer & Olive’s Homespun Collection

Last week, on September 1, the Subscriber box was released to current subscribers, and a few days later, the opportunity for new quarterly subscribers to buy one was opened on their site.

I enjoyed seeing the glimpses and previews of the new designs, as well as viewing old “unboxings” on Youtube. These designers really know their craft.

Yesterday I read a statement from Archer & Olive that saddened me. Now, the state of social media is known to one and all. You can carve out a quiet corner for yourself by making intentional follows and relentless blocking… but still, the negativity, trolling, and downright hate will be present even when you make innocuous statements or put out a benign vibe. And so it was with A&O. They wrote:

In the past week, we have been getting an unprecedented number of comments questioning our design process. We will be honest, we were taken by surprise by the sudden influx. Our team have a longstanding history of gorgeous designs, long before generative Al developed to where it is now, and we naively believed those years of designs spoke for themselves. However, as more new people find us, we understand that we haven’t built your trust yet, so here’s what we’re doing going forward.

MAKING OUR STANCE CLEAR

Our team quickly put together this page to clearly state our stance against Al-art, as well as including some insights on our design process we have shared before:

NO AI-ART POLICY- https://www.archerandolive.com/pages/no-ai-policy

This page is not comprehensive, but we wanted to respond quickly to show we are actively engaged in the discussion, and working on ways to make our stance clear.

WHAT WE WILL BE DOING GOING FORWARD?

We have plans to continue to share more behind the scenes, and we are talking to our artists about sharing more of their process. However, we hope that everyone can understand that we will first and foremost be prioritizing the privacy and mental health of our staff. All our artists are in-house employees, and after being met with hostility when personally engaging with comments, many have become hesitant to have a public presence.

We do genuinely understand the vigilance when looking for Al, but our designs are created by real humans; real people who are seeing the unfounded comments and increased negativity towards their work. If you see an error, there was a real person behind that error. Our team are amazing, many who have been with us from the early days of Archer and Olive, and some newer faces who have allowed us to expand our designs and style over the years. We only hope going forward their work can be met with the praise it deserves.

How bad does society need to be that floods an innocent design site with trolls spewing hate! So sad. Here they are, making beautiful things, selling them, enjoying their own products, wanting to help people through journaling, and along come a flood of negative nellies who are skeptical that real, live designers have toiled hard to bring these pretty items to the public. Real, live designers whose work is not only not acknowledged positively, but denied at all!

How unkind.

You know that photo of all the men saluting Hitler in the Nazi salute and one guy rebelliously has his arms crossed?

By Unknown author – arastiralim.net, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20103197

In these days of unkindness, we can be that guy. Being kind in an unkind world will stand out. It will be a balm, a breath of fresh air, a sweet zephyr of repose for those around you.

To fellow Christians, Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32).

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Colossians 3:12).

Kindness is a spiritual fruit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Galatians 5:22).

As in like manner, kindness will also stand out in a darkening world in our attitudes and behavior toward non-Christians, too.

So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10).

Even to those who are enemies! We should be kind. Luke 6:35 says, But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people.

It profits no one anything to be unkind. I know I have failed myself in this regard many times. I begin each day with an appeal to the Holy Spirit to help me be kind to one and all. Fading energy, irritation, illness, are some reasons why I fail to restrain the unkindness and it comes out. But to purposely troll a business with floods of unkind negativity is beyond appropriate.

Stand out by being kind, even in the face of unkindness. Paul quoted Proverbs 25:21–22 in Romans 12:20 (ESV), To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” As GotQuestions explains,

Verse 21 explains the idea of heaping burning coals on someone by saying, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Anyone can return evil for evil. But when a Christian does so, the watching world sees nothing different about our lives. It is not even clear who is right and who is wrong when we respond in kind to the one who wronged us. But, when we follow Jesus’ instruction to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43–44) and return good for evil, the contrast is stark. Our kind and gentle reaction to hatred spotlights the depravity of the one who treated us poorly and leaves the hurtful person alone in his or her hatefulness. Nothing pricks the conscience of a hateful person like a soft, forgiving spirit in the one he has wronged (Proverbs 15:1).

Posted in theology

A teaching on ‘Soul Ties’ has no business being in a Christian book: On Evangelical fads

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Fads exist of course in the secular world. I have seen so many ‘evangelical fads’ come and go. There are so many, and mainly they are all false. Most of them have emerged from a different religion and been adapted in some way to be made palatable to Christian ears and eyes.

Today is about one such unChristian fad I spotted in a well-known ‘Christian’ teacher’s book. When we are IN a fad, IN an era, we often do not realize it. It’s why many pastors say to ‘read the old dead guys’. We can see their foibles and emphases from the vantage point of hindsight. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

RESOURCE: Servants of Grace, Jason Garwood, Why Christians Should Read the Dead Guys

But we can still work hard to stick with scripture which is always truth, and check against whatever might be the fad of the day is. Will it pass away as shallow, or align with scripture?

Remember Prayer of Jabez? Prayer rugs? Seeker-sensitive? Purpose driven?

A fad is defined as “style, activity, product, or interest that becomes extremely popular for a short time and then fades away quickly”

Beth Moore is a false teacher. Today I focus on a little known and rarely spoken of reason: Moore frequently jumps on evangelical fads.

This post is not solely about Beth Moore, but I’m using her as an example to warn you that your discernment should be honed to alert you to any teacher who seems to be jumping on a fad.

Beth Moore’s past jumping on fads and then leaves them when they diminish in popularity, included fads such as saying mantras, family altars, Lectio Divina, Contemplative Spirituality, blue bracelets, Enneagram, and so on.

Today I’ll show you that another evangelical fad which was popular for a while but then passed away- “soul ties”.

Many of the fads that infiltrate Christendom have roots in Mysticism. Lectio Divina did, Enneagram did, Contemplative Spirituality did. So does ‘Soul Ties’. Sadly, it’s the women Bible teachers who tend to jump on these secular or New Age fads and re-brand them into Christianity. Remember circle-making? Popular around 2012.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss in 2012 leading other female Bible teachers in a wiccan-originated circle making prayer moment: source FMI

Soul ties are allegedly some kind of tie between people that connect them at a soul level. The connection is usually based on sexual union. It is some kind of intense connection that supposedly entwines one person with another. As this article explains,

In popular usage, a soul tie is a deep emotional or spiritual connection between two individuals. It is believed to bond people on a level that transcends ordinary relationships, often persisting long after a relationship ends. What sets a soul tie apart in popular belief is its intensity, longevity, and impact. … A key point is that a soul tie isn’t always positive or healthy; it can be uplifting or toxic, reflecting the nature of the relationship bond.

In Beth Moore’s book Praying God’s Word (published 2000) on p. 277-278 Moore is discussing sexual strongholds. She used the term soul ties as one of the reasons people sin sexually. This of course is a Mystical/New Age term and has no business in any Christian book. The only soul we are tied to is Jesus after salvation, as the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us. Even the marital union is one that makes the man and the woman “one flesh,” not ‘one soul’

Here are the screen shots from Moore’s book:

Do you see how an allegedly ‘Christian’ Bible teacher takes a New Age fad and then uses scripture around it to make it a candy coated nugget of garbage? The Corinthians verse is God’s word, but soul ties are Satan’s.

Doreen Virtue was a deeply committed New Ager who blessedly was shown the true faith and she repented. She has renounced all her previous dark teachings and now focuses on the Light of Jesus and His Word. Here on Facebook she mentions ‘soul ties’. I’ll link it but if you don’t have Facebook here is what she said:

The concept of “soul ties” is a new age, not Biblical, belief. Soul ties are NOT in the Bible! Jonathan and David’s friendship and “shall become one flesh” are not about “soul ties.” I should know, because when I was a new age teacher before I was saved, I taught and wrote extensively about soul ties, twin flames, cord connections, etc. I repent and apologize for these false teachings that have now seeped into the church.”

Doreen has a 15 minute video explaining why ‘soul ties’ are not biblical, here.

Soul ties have New Age roots. In the early 1980s many New Age metaphysical books came out. They became influential and propelled ideas from New Age into the mainstream American consciousness. Shirley MacLaine’s Out on a Limb was one of these that became hugely influential, as well as Richard Bach’s metaphysical musings on soul mates in The Bridge Across Forever. From that we morphed into the notion that soul ties are cords of energy linking two people on the planet and even after death linking auras across lifetimes in the cosmos.

GotQuestions has a good essay on soul ties, which they call soul links: What is a soul link?

Fads come and go, but the word of God remains forever.

Phil Johnson, The Flaws of a fad-driven church, part 2: “But that’s how all these fads are crafted. They are deliberately dumbed down, made soft and generic and nonthreatening, so that they don’t rebuke anyone’s sin; they don’t endanger anyone’s shallowness; they don’t threaten anyone’s comfort zone; and they don’t challenge anyone’s worldliness. That’s the way both the publishers and the people want it.“

Friends, when you work in honing your discernment, pray to the Spirit to help you detect if the teacher you are following is properly presenting eternal truths, or teaching passing unbiblical fads wrapped in Christianese talk. They may even (mis)use scripture to do it. Fads are almost always from a different religion. These ideas enter in and try to pollute the faithful, alter the doctrines of God, and sway you from the path of righteousness.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, (Ephesians 4:14-15).

Do not be misled by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. (Hebrews 13:9)

Further Resources

Trying to Understand why Evangelicals quickly chase fads and what actually works

The Flaws of a fad-driven church, part 1

Posted in glory, arminianism, prosperity gospel, sovereignty

Predestination: God chooses us. We don’t choose Him

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

There is one doctrine, or, a teaching, that incites rebuttal, refusals, and even anger. It’s the Doctrine of Election. It is also known as the doctrine of Predestination.

This teaching in the Bible says that no one chooses God for themselves. God chooses who will be saved. Further, this teaching states that God does not choose who will be saved based on His foreknowledge of who will choose Him. God decided before anyone was ever born who goes and who doesn’t.

He determines who goes to heaven and that person avoids His wrath. Heaven’s citizens are there due to God’s own will and purpose, not due to any choice or decision the individual person makes.

There is another aspect to this. Some say that while God chooses whom He will save and allow to enter His heaven, the unchosen are passed over and defaulted to hell, while others say God not only chooses those people He desires to go to heaven, He also chooses on purpose those who will enter hell. In other words, God predestines some for heaven and predestines others for hell.

John Piper answered that question with scripture, here in his short essay Does God Predestine People to Hell?

It is very hard for us to consider these things. Our heart hurts to think of hell, never mind a God who either allows to default or directly chooses some to experience conscious torment for all eternity.

The Bible says we are dead in our sins.

Colossians 2:13 says “When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,”

Romans 6:11 says before Christ saves us, we are dead, dead IN sin. “So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 15:22 says anyone who is in Adam, is dead.
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

How can someone who is spiritually dead choose Christ? Scales are upon our eyes, our minds are futile, our heart is stone (Ezekiel 36:26. We CANNOT choose Jesus. We CANNOT repent. How can someone who is blind even see their sins in order to repent? We cannot.

God darkens people’s hearts, He lightenes them too. In ROmans 1 we read that God gave them over to their sinful passions after stubbornly refusing Him. He darkened Pharaoh’s heart after multiple offerings and displays of His power. Thus, God lightens hearts and minds as well. He is fully in control of His creation, all of it. From the planets and the earth to us humans. We are created beings living in God’s universe.

But what about foreknowledge? Did God who saw down the halls of time see that so-and-so will choose Him, and then He elected the person to salvation? No, what a ghastly thought! That would make God subservient to man’s decisions. It is God who decides. Spurgeon had this to say about election and foreknowledge:

“But,” say others, “God elected them on the foresight of their faith.” Now, God gives faith, therefore he could not have elected them on account of faith, which he foresaw. There shall be twenty beggars in the street, and I determine to give one of them a shilling; but will any one say that I determined to give that one a shilling, that I elected him to have the shilling, because I foresaw that he would have it? That would be talking nonsense. In like manner to say that God elected men because he foresaw they would have faith, which is salvation in the germ, would be too absurd for us to listen to for a moment. Faith is the gift of God. Every virtue comes from him. Therefore it cannot have caused him to elect men, because it is his gift. ~Charles Spurgeon, sermon “Election” No. 41-42.

Here are some verses in support of the Bible’s teaching on predestination:

Jude 1:4a- For certain people have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation

Proverbs 16:4– The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.

Ephesians 1:11– In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will.

Man’s pride (due to our sin nature) wants to say I did this, I chose, I am in charge of my faith. But we aren’t. We are dead in sins and trespasses. (Spiritually) dead people cannot do anything except lay dead.

God is not ‘a gentleman’. He doesn’t stand aside and hope or wish or plead with us to follow Him. That song “I have decided, to follow Jesus” is doctrinally incorrect. He smashed S/Paul to the ground, blinded him, charged him with persecuting God’s people, and sent him to a Gentile’s home to think about it. He burst into Abram’s life unexpected and told Abram to go to another country.

Humans are appointed to eternal life by God since before the beginning of the world.

When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48).

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love / He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, (Ephesians 1:4-5)

The Doctrine of Predestination AKA the Doctrine of Election is a humbling one. Once the Lord instills in us the knowledge of Him and lets the scales fall from our eyes, we truly see who we are. Who are we? Sinners in need of a transcendent, holy God who forgives. He sent His Son to teach, live a holy life as the spotless Lamb, be killed in the cross as the sacrifice for sin, rise again, and ascend. All for us, who need Him desperately but would otherwise never know it unless He intervened and saved us first.

What a blessing! It’s all HIM! If I was in charge of my salvation for sure I would lose it. I can trust and rely on Him who saves to keep me and bring me home in His timing. What a relief and a joy.

Further Resources

The Cripplegate: Pick me, pick me: Unconditional Election

9Marks: A Softer Prosperity Gospel: More Common Than You Think

Grace to you article: What is the Doctrine of Election?

GotQuestions: Is the doctrine of Election biblical?

Posted in hail, prophecy

A little known prophecy in Job

Posted on 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.

EPrata photo

“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.

Posted in theology

The Gospel and prophecy are intertwined

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest GOOD NEWS ever delivered to men and to a man or woman. Jesus Christ is the greatest Person ever to walk the earth. His message of sin, judgment, atonement, repentance, and peace is the best news a person could ever hear.

Most people on earth do not believe this.

The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS of Jesus. Is judgment good news? No, but is a necessary part of the PRE-good news. We must understand our condition from the moment of birth to the moment of death, with the knowledge that we are born sinners. (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Sinners cannot live with a holy God. In fact, our sin enrages Him. (Psalm 7:11). We are transgressors on His earth, (James 2:9) His wrath abides on us, and our end will be a just punishment in hell.

But God.

Continue reading “The Gospel and prophecy are intertwined” →
Posted in theology

When Jesus returns…

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

One of my top favorite verses in the Bible is Acts 1:11. It says,

and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

That one verse does so much! It finalizes Jesus’ work on earth- His ministry, His death His resurrection, and His ascension, an important part of the Gospel. He resumes His exaltation in glory. His ascension physically proves His departure from earth, where not long after, Stephen saw Him standing beside the Father. Finally, the verse makes the promise that He will return.

He will return! We Christians cling to that promise of a sure future with Jesus. It is a joy to think on.

Acts 1:9 says He was taken up in a cloud, and in verse 11 He will return the same way. But there is more to His return than the simple vertical up and down.

By my count, He actually makes three stops.

First he returns with his witnesses (us). He is on His horse and leads us down from heaven. The armies of all the world are assembled ready to make war against Him who is called Faithful and True. This is at Armageddon.

Armageddon: Revelation 19:19, And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army.

Zechariah 14:3-5
Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

Revelation 17:14, They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.

Next, He rescues the huddled Jews who had fled across the wilderness at the start of the Tribulation (perhaps) to Bozrah/Petra.

Remember in Matthew 24:15–16 when Jesus is answering the disciples’ question about ‘when will these things be?’ and Jesus replied, known as the Olivet Discourse? He said that when the “abomination of desolation” occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation, those in Jerusalem should flee Judea into the surrounding wilderness areas to the east, which is in the direction of Edom where Bozrah/Petra are. He protects them-

Revelation 12:6, Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days.

In that verse, we learn that there is a specific location God had prepared, to which they flee. At some certain place, the Jews run to and are secured for the duration of the Great Tribulation. It’s not unreasonable to think that ‘place’ they flee and remain is at Petra throughout the Tribulation. God nourished the fleeing Hebrews in the Exodus with manna and quail andwate from the rock. He could do it again for the remnant at Petra, or if not Petra, whatever place it is that they hide.

On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. 9And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:8-9)

Many people interpret that the place where they are protected and nourished is Petra, the rose red city carved into the rock. It’s also interesting to note that in Daniel 11:41, there is one region in the entire world that never falls under the Antichrist-

He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.

Edom, Moab, and sons of Ammon are the lands to the east (where Jesus said to flee to) and the southern end is Petra. We do not know for sure but it makes sense that when Jesus said flee to the mountains, knowing Petra is such a protected enclave, that they would go there.

Richardprins / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

When Jesus returns, Isaiah notes in his future prophecy that Jesus’ clothes are bloodstained. Perhaps from slaying those assembled at Armageddon. Then He rescues His hiding remnant at Petra.

Isaiah 63:1-3
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.” / Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress? / “I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.

Revelation 19:13– He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Revelation 14:20- And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

Finally, after those two things are accomplished, Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives, His physical presence once more touching earth.

Zechariah 14:4-5,

Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. 5And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

So to sum up, return and slay those at Armageddon, rescue the remnant at (perhaps) Petra, and stand on the Mount of Olives. There are a variety of verses scattered across many of the Old Testament and New Testament books, which makes it hard to interpret, but that to me is the general sequence.

Whatever the details, the Lord Jesus will return. Zechariah 14:9 makes this glorious prediction!

And the LORD will be King over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.

What a day that will be!

Posted in genesis 3, prophecy, satan

Prophecy: satan’s defeat

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I can’t wait for the day when satan and his demons howl in pain and anguish, knowing they are finally, completely defeated.

They know what’s ahead. The demons in the man from Gadara begged not to be put into the abyss. (Luke 8:31). In Mark 1:24 the man with a demon in the synagogue shouted to Jesus asking if He had come to destroy them. (Mark 1:24).

Be encouraged by the future prophecy of satan and his demons’ defeat!

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10).

Sin, death, and hell will be no more. Take comfort, friends!

Posted in theology

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

Posted on 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.

A foreboding sky. EPrata photo

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.

Posted in theology

Think of home on Sunday- and every day!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The devotional is from GraceGems, a site stuffed with goodies from the past. Much to read and be edified by there.

Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day. I pray you have a good church to attend. Gather with the saints in fellowship to worship, pray, sing, learn. This world wearies us, this is where we go to drink the Living Water, be refreshed, and go on in the week proclaiming His excellencies. Sunday is a day of rest, and don’t you feel rested after resting in Him? And just think of the eternal rest we will be given by our gracious Savior. DO think of home more often!

Tim Challies posted this from Dan Doriani:

Now on to James Smith’s devotional-

James Smith, (1802—1862) “A Devotional Glimpse at Psalm 23“

“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” Psalm 23:6

Notice, David’s expectation for eternity. Not in the sheepfold in the wilderness, but in the house of the Lord! The dwelling-place of God, the family residence of the Father of mercies and His beloved children. In that house, we shall have . . .
  all our desires gratified,
  all our prayers answered, and
  our highest expectations more than realized!

There we shall dwell in peace, united to all the saints, and enjoying the society of all the ransomed brethren! All friendship will be unchangeable, and fellowship perpetual and pure.

There we shall dwell and worship–and our worship will be spiritual, pure, and perfect!

There we shall dwell and enjoy–and our enjoyments will be dignified, delightful, and eternal.

There we shall dwell and obey–and our obedience will be perfect, hearty, and perpetual.

There, we shall dwell and rest–and our rest will be sweet, refreshing, and satisfying.
There will be no wilderness storms there.
There will be no cruel, crafty, malignant foes there.

O glorious prospect! O sweet anticipation!

In our Father’s house are many mansions; and all those mansions will be occupied, for . . .
  every one beloved and chosen by the Father,
  every one for whom Jesus became a substitute and sacrifice,
  every one ever born of the Spirit, will be there!

All God’s children shall be there–not one of them lost!
All God’s sheep shall be there–not one hoof left behind!

There the Eternal Father will be surrounded by, and enjoy the society of all His happy family.
There the glorious Savior will see of the travail of His soul, and be fully and forever satisfied.
There the Holy Spirit will fill all His temples, and enjoy His divine workmanship, and the presence of all whom He has prepared for glory.
There, Jehovah, at home with His people–will manifest forth His glory, and pour floods of light, love, and blessing upon them forever!

Well then may the Psalmist say, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures!”

Let us often think of home!
This vain world is not our rest.
Here on earth, we have no continuing city.
Home, the home of the believer’s heart, is in the skies . . .
  where Jesus is,
  where Jesus reigns,
  where love is perfect,
  where there is always a full tide of joy,
  where God displays all his glory,
  where grace satisfies the utmost desires of every renewed soul!

Posted in theology

This week we saw the power of deception, the power of God, the power of sin (Dolly, G3, Nepal)

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The week of August 21-28, 2026 was an incredible week. It was chock full. We had a death of a uniformly beloved, long-term celebrity, a ministry scandal and fall of leaders that shook the reformed world, and a horrifying natural disaster.

Since God is sovereignly in control, and allows or directly causes all things to happen, and for the Christians, for their good to those who love Him, let’s see what we can learn from these incredible events. We never want to just say “goodness that’s awful” move on without thinking of the heaven above, salvation of others, and our own lesson we can learn. Jesus above all.

Dolly

Southern singer, movie actress, and icon to drag queens Dolly Parton died this week. She was 80 years old. She often spoke of “my faith”, “God”, and ‘living out my beliefs’. To that end, she was consistently kind to all, generous to many, and loving as a state of being. She was gracious under fire, humble, and never put a foot wrong. Never said a wrong thing (in the world’s eyes), and did so while being witty and charming- all for over 60 years in the public eye.

But was she a Christian? It’s heartbreaking to even have to ask. We don’t want to know. We want to say ‘of course she was’ but the evidence of her lived-life says otherwise. Unless she had a change of heart in the end, of course, the evidence over her life in her words and actions, while kind and loving, were not based on the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but of a God she made up in her heart and a spirituality that doesn’t match His.

It’s easy to say, “Sure, Hitler wasn’t saved” but it is very hard to look at a nice person and say “Well, maybe not.” Because there are only 2 camps, God’s, and satan’s, we shrink back to think Dolly maybe was in satan’s camp. But remember, only two roads.

Dolly was self-deceived that the God she clung to was the God of the Bible. People claiming her as a sister in Christ are deceived by substituting kindness and generosity for repentance and faith. Let’s take a look-

In 2005, Dolly wrote a song called “Travelin’ Thru” for the movie Transamerica (about a male who wants to change genders to a female, and his heretofore unknown son who turns into a gay porn star). She said her motivation for writing the song was to change minds, “Some people are blind or ignorant, and you can’t be that prejudiced and hateful and go through this world and still be happy. One thing about this movie is that I think art can change minds. It’s alright to be who you are.” (Source).

‘Who we are’ are sinners deserving of God’s wrath.

Al Mohler on Dolly and the movie Transamerica, The Duchess of Dollywood Speaks — The Very, Very Open Mind of Dolly Parton

Ken Ham: Where will I (and Dolly Parton) spend eternity?

Justin Peters: What is a Christian? (Was Dolly Parton a Christian?)

Pastor Grant: What did Dolly Parton believe about The Bible?

Dolly publicly stood as an ally for gay and transgender people, which is against God’s standards. She was also immodest, posing for the cover of Playboy Magazine, and wore revealing clothes often.

Do not be deceived and do not fall under the power of deception. Be clear-eyed about what faith is and isn’t. Measure a person’s words and actions against the Bible in God’s words, not against our fallible human standards of love, kindness, or generosity.

G3

Oh, G3 Ministries, you break my heart. I attended the G3 Conference twice and I loved both times. I met wonderful people, had great conversations, and was wowed by the quality of the teaching and preaching. I was thrilled at seeing 5000 the first time then nearly 8000 people the second time come from all over the nation to worship God. I was struck to tears when singing with thousands of others to Jesus. I was mainly happy to see what God can do, raising up so many for His name.

What I didn’t know was that at the center of it was sin. The edges were good, but the center was rotten. “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” to quote the famous line from “The Second Coming,” a 1919 poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. And the center did not hold.

Last year the president of the conference and lead pastor of the church that organized it was outed as a hypocritical sinner. He was forced to step down. This was last year. But then last week, his peers at the church and the Conference were outed as maliciously divisive accusers and liars. The main people behind the church that put on the conference, were sinning unrepentantly and maliciously. Be careful, your sin will find you out. Sadly, when it’s a bunch of pastors who were on one side of their mouths speaking in Jesus’ name and for His glory, and on the other side of their mouths reviling & slandering a brother pastor in Christ anonymously, it’s worse when it’s found out. Titus 2:5, 1 Timothy 6:1, Romans 2:24, 1 Peter 2:15 all are warnings to do right, so the name of God will not be blasphemed or reviled.

Measure a person’s words and actions against the Bible. As we have seen with G3 leaders and their church pastors, sin is deceptive. And it’s everywhere, even where you least expect it.

Nepal flood

Far away across the world and atop the earth’s highest mountains, villagers dwell in vertical lives. Their mountainous buildings and constructions amid the heights with no horizontal ground are amazing achievements. Carving out lives and thriving where the air is thin and the borders are close takes human ingenuity.

And it was all washed away in seconds. A glacier collapsed high above them and its meltwater rushing down the unsuspecting villagers in its wrath and speed astounded those who survived and filmed the spectacle. We watched as it was happening, amazing in itself. Boulders the size of buildings tumbled down amid rushing waters with the speed of a jet as if they were a mere matchstick. Mountainsides were re-shaped in an instant. Solid buildings of concrete and sturdy structure collapsed like a house of cards.

People recorded the disaster and the commonest refrain on social media as we watched horror unfold with mouths agape was: “We are nothing before the power of nature.”

Imagine the global Flood. Imagine the coming Tribulation!

We are puny humans, worms in the dust. We are at the mercy of powers of ‘nature’ and ultimately the power of God which we cannot understand. We get a glimpse when building-sized boulders tumble down as a feather, with the rushing waters defying our comprehension, carving our new channels despite all the endeavors of man to have held it back.

video here

To my mind this week was about power. It made me think of the power of God, the power of deception, and the power of sin.

In The Attributes of God by AW Pink, we read in chapter 9 about the Power of God

WE CANNOT have a right conception of God unless we think of Him as all-powerful, as well as all-wise. He who cannot do what he will and perform all his pleasure cannot be God. As God hath a will to resolve what He deems good, so has He power to execute His will.

“The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of His will may resolve…As holiness is the beauty of all God’s attributes, so power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of the divine nature. How vain would be the eternal counsels, if power did not step in to execute them. Without power His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises an empty sound, His threatenings a mere scarecrow. God’s power is like Himself: infinite, eternal, incomprehensible; it can neither be checked, restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.” (Stephen Charnock).

The only safe spot on earth is in the arms of Jesus, after repenting of our sin and believing in his death, burial, and resurrection.