Author Archives: MzEllen

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What do you all think of this quote?

“People of prayer like Daniel are those that are pursuing intimacy with God – Intimacy that is possible through Jesus Christ and only through a yielding to the Holy Spirit. What comes out of this intimacy is a trust in the authorities that God puts in our lives. Sometimes these authorities act and talk in ways that don't represent us, yet to trust God is to submit to their leadership.

If you rebel against this prayer thought…ask God about it, he put the authorities in place.”

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I'll be meeting with my pastor (and his wife) on Wednesday at 5:00 (eastern). I'd sure appreciate prayers. This pastor's wife is the one that the "prophet" "imparted" the gift of prophecy to.

- that my personality would disappear and that anything that is not of God remain unsaid.
- that only God's Word would be used
- that only God would be glorified
- that I would remain unflustered and calm so that God can work in me and through me.

I'm working on "talking points" and a paper to leave with him.

Please feel free to tell a bit of the story and pass the word. I don't feel worried or concerned - but I am working on being prepped.

thanks...

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I’ve been pondering the final message of the book “Paedofaith” by Rich Lusk.

Two songs come to mind: “Faith of Our Fathers” and “Jesus Loves Me” (see the bottom of the post).

In an Arminian church, a parent “knows” that their children are “born saved” – because of the “age of accountability” – and at some point they lose that coverage and are as lost as the pagan’s kids next door. Parents are in the position of raising children to be young Christians, while simultaneously trying to get them to become young Christians. Do we disciple them or convert them?

Now, with a better sense of what a “covenant family” should be, I realize that the promises of God, like His promise to Abraham, are for our children. It is right and proper for us to baptize our babies into the family of God.

But the implications of this are “interesting” if you follow the trail.

Do I believe that baptism is what saves us? No.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says:

Q. 94. What is baptism?
A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,[193] doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.[194]

Here are the questions:

What benefits of the covenant of grace does baptism allow our children to partake of?
Do we baptize our babies to welcome them into the covenant and then keep them in some sort of stasis until they are able to understand the rest?

Are our babies in the covenant or out of the covenant? Are they part of the covenant, or are they anathema?
There are two spiritual “places”. You are either anathema or you are in the covenant of God. If our children are in the covenant, do we allow them the benefits? If they are not in the covenant, on what basis can we baptize them?

How do we provide spiritual nourishment to those in the covenant?

Q. 96. What is the Lord’s Supper?
A. The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, his death is showed forth;[197] and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.[198]

If we do not give our children this spiritual nourishment, are we sending the message that they’re part of the family, but they can’t eat at the table with us?
We (on one hand) baptize babies through the parents’ covenantal faith – but that same faith doesn’t cover the nourishment. Would we adopt a child but not let him or her eat with us?

If we believe the Bible when it says that we must have the faith of a child, how can we then say that children don’t have enough faith to eat at the same table as we do?
When I bought “Paedofaith”, I didn’t realize that it would open yet another can of worms for me. And this can of worms has been around in the Christian Reformed Church.

The final question is "Are we bringing our children fully into the covenant, or into a “halfway house” where they are “sort of in, but not all the way”?

“FAITH OF OUR FATHERS”
Frederick W. Faber

Faith of our fathers, living still,In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;O how our hearts beat high with joyWhenever we hear that glorious Word!
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!We will be true to thee till death.

“JESUS LOVES ME”
Words by Anna B. WarnerMusic by Wm. B. Bradbury

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

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When I thought about the next Carnival of Beauty I thought and thought. I don't have a specific ministry in my church - what I feeled called to do, they don't have a place for. I asked, "How do I serve?"

But I'm thinking that there is another question that is just as important: WHO do you serve?

My job involves working with kids that don't know "thank you". But if we believe that those who cannot understand (infants, unborn or mentally impaired) are elect and will go to heaven if they die - the children I work with belong to God.

By serving His children, I serve Him.

I work with very low functioning students with autism. This year I've cleaned up all sorts of body fluids and come away feeling like it's just part of my job. But it isn't just part of my job - I should keep in mind (in the front of my mind) that what I'm doing, I'm doing for the Lord and I should be doing it as unto the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Service isn't only about what I do for other people, it's about whether or not I'm doing it for the glory of God. That I need to work on.

Mark 10:14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God beongs to such as these.

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I picked my daughter up from her Wednesday night youth group and they covered (drumroll....) TULIP.

She has a pretty good grasp - limited atonement sort of eludes her and she doesn't really like the doctrine of election. Then again, neither do I, but I accept it as truth.

I'm glad that they're covering these issues - but it makes it very frustrating to know that on one hand, the youth are covering Reformed doctrine - and on the other hand, there are "apostolic oneness" prophets and apostles invited into our pulpit. What is the message that we are sending?

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Ok, so I got a little irritated at my co-worker. Let's call it "righteous indignation".

I work with a woman who is a minister's wife (Pentacostal church). I was on a short break one day last week (it's taken me this long to post about it) and when I walked back into the classroom, this woman was saying something about "single women". With her being a minister's wife and all, I thought she would be (silly me) talking about ministering to singles. So I asked.

She said (this is very close to a direct quote): "I just don't think that...you know...single women should be hanging out with married people."

You know - if you stick in any other demographic it would be appalling - sinful. If you deliberately exclude any other demographic...well, let's try.

If you heard, "I just don't think it's appropriate for black people to hang out with white people" - how would you feel?

Or "I just don't think it's appropriate for mentally impaired (old, young, empty-nesters, blind, fat, short) people to be hanging out with (people like me).

Do I just hear this more often because my ears are more attuned because I feel this is where God is calling me? Or does anybody else get this feeling?

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I was reading a few things on the situation between the International Missions Board (Southern Baptist Church) and Wade Burleson. I’m not going to get into the controversy – if anybody wants to read about it, it’s easy enough to find. This post is really just kicking around a couple of thoughts that a friend and I talked about – in relation to modern technology.

What I want to hone in on is this paragraph from Mr. Burleson’s blog

(3). Most trustees are fifty or older. Some are in their seventies. I am not sure how many have ever read my blog, but some think a blog is like "computer pornography" (an actual quote). I really think if the trustees took time to hear my motives, communicate with me, and recognize that even though I am "new," effectual work could be accomplished.

Mr. Burleson has been vocal (on his blog) about his disagreement with a policy of the board. There is a certain type of person who will not even listen to any defense for the sole reason that they might have to sit down in front of a computer.

There are a lot of folks in the church (and church leadership) who are behind the times – technically speaking. I suppose we could call them “techno-phobes”.

The “prophet” at our church last Sunday – I found out all I needed to know just by poking around their website a little bit. I believe I remember that one of our pastor’s is not exactly computer-savvy – is this why these folks could slip by? I need to find out (from Pastor Brian’s mouth) if he knew what these people are – or if he just didn’t know enough to find out.

That’s kind of what Mr. Burleson is saying about the age 50+ trustees. They sure don’t appear to have a very good comprehension about what a blog is – much less how Mr. Burleson was using his.

Did their lack of computer knowledge have an effect on the decisions that have been made? If so, what kind of effect? Can a person who does not even know what a blog is (and who has never read one) really make an informed decision about what a man wrote on his blog?

If some of the trustees have not read Mr. Burleson’s blog – how can they come to a truly informed decision about what he wrote there?

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I just posted on hope - and how knowing the future can interfere with it.

It's Wednesday now and I've had a little more "processing time" after seeing the "prophet" at my church. I've been waiting on a call from my pastor since Monday (sometimes it takes a while to get through his assistant, who was out of the office).

I've led a sheltered life. This is the first time that I've seen (in person) a "modern day prophet" in action.

I didn't trust her. Here's what happened. The "apostle's" wife (the prophet) came up on the stage at the end of the service and offered a prophecy to the pastors and their wives. She had talked about the time they had all spent together and the prophecy didn't seem like anything that she would not have gleaned just from being with these people for several hours over dinner. Then she "prophesied" over the church. Basically, follow your leaders. (I think there might be a reason for that.)

Then, after the congregation was released, she stayed on the stage and "prophesied" over individuals. Some things I'm pretty sure that she could not have known, others she might have asked a question or two and found out something.

But there was a crowd of people who wanted to know what was in their future. Is this what God wants for us - really?

Does He really want us chasing after the Christian equivalent of fortune tellers, or does He want us leaning on Him; trusting in His goodness?

God didn't send His prophets to tell His people that they (as individuals) were going to marry this man or that woman; that they were going to move to a different city, that they were going to change jobs or that their future was rosy.

No.

When God sent His prophets, they told the people exactly what they did not want to hear.

The woman I saw on Sunday told people only good things. And vague things. And things that will be forgotten in a short time.

We laugh at the "prophet" on the street corner. You know - the one that doesn't look the way we think a prophet should look. The one that probably looks the way John the Baptist looked after living in the desert and eating grasshoppers for a few months. The one that tells us that the end is near. Yeah. That one.

But the pretty one in the nice suit, we flock to. You know - the one that tells us that everything is going to be good. The one that tells us we're going to lose weight. Or that we're not going to be alone. Yeah. That one.

It brings doubts to my mind when we only embrace the "prophet" that tells us the pretty things.

thought?

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I have days when I feel like I have no future. It’s not that it’s not there…it’s just that I can’t see it. And that’s a good thing. Not so long ago I thought that I knew what my future would be. It might not have been great, but it was at least consistent.

Now – not so. I don’t know what the future holds – it’s hidden from me. And that’s a good thing.

We had a “prophet” at our church on Sunday. It disturbed me. A lot.

I sat in the sanctuary for the time that she was speaking (after the service) and just watched. I’d really like to be able to look into the future and see how a couple of different things turn out – but I didn’t want to ask a “prophet”. There were other reasons, but my spirit just wouldn’t let me.

It dawned on me yesterday. It’s hope.

If you already know what is ahead of you on this earth – there is no reason to hope.

Romans 8:24 “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?”

We run around like mice worrying about the future.

Matthew 6:27 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?”

Planning this way and that way.

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Planning our own plans, going our own way, but we just don’t get it.

Proverbs 20:24 “A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?”

Who do you (I) trust?

Psalm 52:8 “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.”

Do we really trust God?

Psalm 91:2 “I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Are you (am I) in a hurry, or do we rest (wait) in the promised of God?

Psalm 130:5 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

How do you (I) get this hope? It is through the trials of life.

Romans 5:3-4 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint… “

Is it really worth it – all this “hope”?

Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

A long time ago, I had a friend whose brother died at age 29 of a heart attack. She went with her sister to consult a psychic. He told them what they wanted to hear and he sent them away with hope.

On Sunday, I went to church and saw people crowd around a “prophet”, who told them largely what they wanted to hear and she sent them away with hope.

But that is not where our hope should be. We don’t need to know the future – in fact, if we do know the future, we are less dependent on God’s promises!

People can (and will) disappoint us. The “prophets” of today can (and will) disappoint us. Ecclesiastes 8:7 “Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?”

But hope will never disappoint us.

Read that last verse again – “Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”

Today, I do not have my future. God does. My hope lies in Him.

I don’t need a prophet to tell me that God holds my future in His hands. That’s what I’d really like to sink in (for me).

I don’t know what lies ahead for me – but my trust is in God.

Psalm 13:5 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.”