To Tell the Truth

People have often heard that if a lie is told often enough, people believe it; they take it as truth. In the age of social media, we are finding the discussion of “fake news” to be a daily concern.

Increasingly, from across the political spectrum, claims are asserted as facts and accepted because of their constant repetition.

Christians have a responsibility to seek and embrace truth and to avoid error. This responsibility directs our thoughts as we engage others in casual conversation. We should not be guilty of spreading lies, especially when a few moments of research would disclose the truth.

In the church, especially, we should be aware of the sinister power of a repeated lie.

Much error has come into religion when an attractive lie has been repeated and expanded over time.

In recent decades for example, many in the religious world in the U.S. have been repeating the false way of salvation commonly identified as the “sinner’s prayer”, and continual repetition of this doctrine by many at services has given it a veneer of truth.

Falsehoods, repeated enough, will be accepted as facts.

Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 15:13 where He said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.” He was speaking of defilement of the human heart, and that what comes out of a man defiles him, not what goes into a man. Falsehood that is present today will eventually be removed and dispelled, but we must not wait for judgement, we must search the scriptures daily as the Bereans to see if what is said on Sunday morning it true!

While indeed, no individual Christian, congregation or institution is without shortcomings, we must understand that part of our faith includes continually searching for truth in much the same way we continue to feed our physical bodies. Jesus spoke frequently about being the bread from heaven, and we clearly see the parallel.

Harsh criticisms of the faithful, however, are repeated without evidence, and with sheer force of repetition, they are accepted as true. When outrageous claims are made against the Lord’s church, we should remember that Jesus warns us these things would happen. Hopefully, we have a feeling of responsibility to do something about it to dispel the falsehood, either on our own or with the help of brother or sister to try and proclaim truth and counter the lie. God forbid that we should let it pass without a word!

God’s people are called to wisdom, and wisdom entails seeing things as they really are. We must be neither cynical or gullible.

Sometimes, following the truth may fly in the face of conventional opinion. But God has called us to the narrow way of truth, not the broad way of error.

Let’s be giving our soul it’s daily meal.

Grace and peace,

Tony

Praying scriptures

Have you ever tried praying the scriptures? It is so much more than just repeating God’s word. It is a way of inserting yourself into the words of God and expressing your deepest feelings in prayer. Please understand, praying the scriptures is not rote recitation or rearranging God’s word to fit your will or situation. Praying the scriptures is pleasing to God, encouraging to others, and faith building for ourselves.

Repeating scripture back to God is pleasing to Him because it shows Him we are in agreement with His will. It deepens our unity with Him and gets us “on the same page.” It is just like how parents feel when they overhear their child repeating something they have taught that child over and over. The parents are delighted because they see their child has finally “gotten it”! For example we can pray “Lord, please help me to be humble and gentle; teach me to be patient, bearing with others in love. As far as it is in my control, help me to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2). This prayer pleases God because we are asking Him to create in us the exact characteristics Paul recorded in his letter to the Ephesians. And He will answer because we know it is His will!

These types of prayers are also encouraging to others when we let them know what we are praying for them. I received a note card once from an elder’s wife and she wrote, “This is what I am praying for you. . .” and then she inserted a scripture but included my name. I felt so encouraged to know she was bringing me before the throne of God and using His word to reinforce it! I often used this method to pray for my children, especially as teenagers. For example from 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Lord, please keep my children from anything that could contaminate their spirit and help them not be drawn to those things that would destroy their relationship with You.” I also sent prayers like this one based on Psalm 4:6-8 to my mother after my father died to help her during that time of grief. “Let the light of Your face shine upon Mama, O Lord. Return Your joy to her heart and let her lie down and sleep in peace.”

Not only do these prayers encourage others but also they are faith building to the one who prays, because these prayers are activating God’s will on this earth. These are things He has said—in His own words—that He wants to do, but we just need to ask. So when we pray things like, “But you, O LORD, are not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help” (Psalm 22:19), we can be assured He will help!

If you are interested in learning more about this, please let me know. I have adapted many scriptures into prayers on a variety of topics and would be happy to share!

Praying with you,

Holly

Out Walking

I was never one for big family get-togethers. Though there were twenty of us cousins, there was none who I was really close to. There were a couple of guys a few years older who didn’t pay me much attention, and then a few years younger who were girls, and well, I wasn’t at the age that I wanted to hang around them. It probably didn’t help that my dad was not close to his family, so we didn’t hang out all that much. So, you can see why these family events weren’t on my top ten list!

There was this one uncle, however, that I kinda liked hanging out with. I’m not sure why he liked to do this, but he would always go for walks and just get away from everything. For a half hour, maybe two hours he would walk around the lake, around the woods, or just down the road, depending on where the family get-together was. He would let any of us kids who wanted to walk, go along with him. One of these get-togethers would take place at either Christmas or Thanksgiving each year, so I made sure I packed my snow boots, gloves and a warm coat. I just knew we would go out for a walk, and we usually did.

It was great hanging out with that uncle. Along with the food, it was the highlight of the family get-together. I don’t really remember him teaching us anything as we would walk along, as kids following the piped piper, but I’m sure he did. But it didn’t matter whether he taught, just talked, or we would just walk, we were away from everyone else. We were out of the house, away from the crowd, and I felt important. Being with him made me feel special and valued, as opposed to just sitting in a corner by myself or trying to fit in with others. He took any of us who were willing to keep up with his brisk pace and we just walked and spent time together. He obviously had an impact on me as fifty years later I still remember very fondly this uncle who I would walk with.

When we walk along side someone, we can’t help but learn from them. It may not be like a classroom or a lecture hall, but just by being with them, we learn. The apostles learned so much from Jesus as He taught them and the crowds, but also as they just walked along with Him. They saw how He interacted with others, they observed how He dealt with tense situations, they learned what was important to Him, and they became intimately acquainted with Him simply by walking alongside Him. It is amazing what can happen, what you can learn, when you take the time to just walk alongside someone.

We don’t have the privilege of walking the surrounding roads with Jesus as the apostles did. We do have the opportunity to walk with Him through their eyes as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write their journeys down for us. Matthew the tax collector writes for us from his Jewish perspective, and how Jesus was a fulfillment of what was written about in what we call the Old Testament. John the fisherman, tells it from a slightly different perspective, with a lot of emphasis on the last week of Jesus’ life. Mark though not an apostle, had the privilege to walk with Jesus at times as a young lad (check out Mark 14:51-52). His gospel is shorter and more succinct. Luke who is also a doctor, did not walk along with Jesus at all, but investigated as he states in Luke 1:3 and writes from a Gentile perspective. So, though we didn’t walk with Jesus, we can feel and understand what it was like for those who did.

Easter is only four weeks away, and I encourage you to take a walk with Jesus. If you don’t already have a reading schedule, I encourage you to choose one of the gospels and read it--or should I say walk along with Jesus through it--over the next few weeks. It will impact you for years to come.

Walking through reading,

Randy