Prata Potpourri: When routines get boring, how to approach discernment, and THAT Twitter fight (plus more)
By Elizabeth Prata
If you can imagine the scene here at my apartment…It’s early hours, pre-dawn. I’ve got some hymns on Pandora playing and the coffeepot is hissing and sputtering. The fall weather has finally arrived here in Georgia, always an eagerly anticipated event after the brutal heat of a southern summer.
I am gathering links that I think will edify, sip some coffee, pause to look out the dark windows and just let mind mind free to think its thoughts and ramble over mountains of memories and hills of remembrance.
After a few moments, I turn back to the screen and place another link into the list, and write a summary to attach that explains it. And so it goes, my delight in writing the day’s blog. It’s never a chore and for the past almost 14 years the Holy Spirit has given me the strength and energy to complete the task.
Here is today’s blog, a roundup of links I think you may enjoy:
I don’t know Andrew Tate but I saw this clip on a trusted friend’s Twitter and I listened to the 56 second clip. I thought it was a fantastic summary of the future grief that feminists will feel at the end of their lives when they mull over the devastating choices they’ve made. It all goes back to contentment in our individual roles that God has outlined for us. Please take a listen-
In this next video, 7 minutes of scorching Christianity, Pastor-Teacher Dr. John MacArthur addresses his congregation about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s national campaign for abortion. Gov. Newsom has funded and promoted billboards that offer to perform abortions for any women in the US if they come to California. The billboards were erected nationally, not just in CA. Worse, the Governor used actual Bible scripture to support his position to make it seem as if Jesus Himself were saying that child murder is loving.
This was over the top for Dr. MacArthur, a California resident. MacArthur composed an Open Letter to the Governor, reminding the Governor of his God-given responsibilities as a public leader, warning of his judgment to come, and pleading with Newsom to repent.
I post this because I was both convicted and encouraged by MacArthur’s quiet earnestness. MacArthur has always been quiet when preaching, believing the words should issue forth and his personality retreat to the background. So no podium pounding, no screeching, just quietly letting the TRUTH of God’s word do the work.
After listening, I felt sorrow for the times I failed to pray for my leaders, and when I tut-tutted their probable eternal torment with a quick drive-by and nary a tear of grief. Friends, eternity matters. And no one is beyond salvation. Pray, pray, pray.
Here is the link to read the actual letter. It echoes John the Baptist’s preaching in tone and strength. Letter HERE.
DebbieLynne Kespert wrote about The Confusing Aspects of Contending for the Faith. She compares the positions of two good podcasts that suggest an approach to discernment, adds a third to the mix, then sorts them out into a balanced middle ground. How should a church or a ministry approach the teaching of discernment? Read her essay to find a measured consideration of the question.
Have you ever done a “Spiritual Gifts test?” I have, when I was a new believer and anxious about how and where to serve. But do they work? Here is Justin Jackson at For the Church on why The Local Church is Your Spiritual Gifts Test.
Barbara Lee Harper posted about what to do When Your Spiritual Routines Get Boring. Have you had this happen to you? I have. I think her suggestions are good.
This was a rough week on Twitter. A dear brother whom I respect made a stance against another brother whom I do not respect as much and in fact I have deep concerns about, but who is hugely popular. The twitter mob either-
- Bullied the brother into repentance, or
- Pressured him consistently enough so that he saw his sin and repented, or
- None of the above
I stayed out of it. I chose not to delve into the nuts and bolts of the fight, and it was a fight, a big one. So I make no statement on who was right or wrong, or both. The brother was spoken to by elders, his own and others. Subsequent to being addressed by elders, the brother put out a statement of repentance which seemed to me to be clear and honest. I read it and was encouraged by the humility displayed in it. I’m speaking of Costi Hinn and his statements about Doug Wilson and G3 Ministries.
I bring this up not just to refer to “the big fight,” but because as I was reading Costi’s letter of repentance, I was reminded of another hugely popular brother, a pastor, who recently was taken to task for a sin, (Matt Chandler). He seemingly came clean publicly in an emotional video taped before his congregation in a Sunday Service. His oral statement was not as clear or as humble- in my opinion. As I read Costi’s letter, I mentally compared it to Chandler’s, which was also issued recently. I believe it is a good comparison of two leaders of the faith being reined in by elders and the individual’s response to their sin being brought to light.
When you repent, it has to be ‘bare naked’, with no dissembling, precious clichés, or false humility. Costi’s was. Chandler’s wasn’t.
G3 Ministries and Statement Costi’s letter of repentance here.
I thought this gentleman’s parsing of Chandler’s ‘coming clean video’ in successive tweets in a thread was spot on. Twitter thread below or thread reader unroll here.
People in today’s world apparently need a lot of help realizing when they are being manipulated. Let me walk you thru the Matt Chandler situation and expose for you the con game.
🧵
— Joseph (@djos24) August 29, 2022
After another week of leaders publicly sinning, fights, twitter mobs, betrayals, evil abounding, government leaders wielding abusive power…how does one not become cynical? This was asked of a pastor with over 50 years in ministry, John MacArthur. His reply was encouraging! He always puts the center in the center and never drifts from it. Praise God for raising up men like MacArthur (and many others who are under the radar, like my friend James Bell, Allen Nelson, Darryl Dash, my own elders, and so many others). If you want 8 minutes of faith-filled encouragement, listen here
So that’s it for this week. I hope you enjoy the weekend, and the week ahead. The Lord is always in control, always loves His own, and will come again to bring us to eternity, where no sin will ever be present. What a day that will be.
