What is Truth?

John 18:38 (Pilate said to him) What is truth? Have you noticed how difficult it is to get the truth these days? The news is now filtered through world views to the extent that now even the weathermen have to include an agenda when describing why it is hot or cold, or even just right. We are constantly bombarded with information at a pace that has never been seen before, but how much of it is true? We've been trained that as long as the info fits our liking then it is a fact, because in America perception seems to trump reality. When is the last time you really stopped and asked "What is truth?". It is a great question and one that has huge implications for our lives and our souls. Pilate is asking this exact question to Jesus himself as they are discussing his kingship. Jesus tells him face to face that he is King and that His kingdom is from another world and that he is here to bear witness to the truth. That truth being that God has provided a way of salvation through the righteousness of Christ. Pilate makes a grave era in his quest for information though and stops receiving Truth from Christ and decides to go outside to see what the people's thoughts are about "the Truth of Jesus". They tell him to kill Jesus and release a criminal. He even declares that he finds no fault in Jesus multiple times. He declares him innocent of all counts. Pilate's wife even intervenes to tell Him that she has had a dream that warns about doing Jesus harm. Now Pilate has total authority over the situation (supposedly), declares Jesus innocent, is warned by his wife and has been confronted face to face by God about "the Truth" so he goes and digs deeper right? Wrong! he doesn't dig into the truth. The scriptures that prophesied about Christ were there for the reading in the temple down the road. Wouldn't it be wise to investigate the facts of someone claiming to be God, who walked around raising dead people who you knew was innocent but yet you were going to execute? A time out when have been handy. Yet Pilate caves to the pressure of the demands of the people and their threats to let someone else claiming to be King live in Caesars kingdom and orders Jesus to the Cross. Now I know that all of this had to occur to fulfill scripture, but there is a good word for us in this examination of Pilate. The same claims of Christ are in front of each of us to look into on a daily basis. The same Holy Scriptures and witness of the saints is available to profit us in either conversion of belief or sanctification of the believer. What do we do with it? Do we like Pilate turn to people for "the truth" or do we turn to Christ? The demands of the day, and the pressure of the world choked the spiritual life out of Pilate. Is it doing the same to you? Stop and realize how much senseless information we all digest that is not the Truth and grab hold of the Gospel and beauty of Jesus.

electric fence

Luke 8:22 "Repent therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. Pappaw and Gugga lived in the country, in the small cotton farming town called Tyler. Tyler,Alabama is not famous for anything, save its proximity to Selma, which was infamous for its civil rights struggles. As a young boy growing up in the suburbs, I loved spending summers with my grandparents filling the days fishing, hunting birds, playing sports and eating oreos. It was awesome having huge fields, bass ponds and horses to ride. There is something about having the freedom to roam through fields, and around ponds, that brings little boys to life, and man I loved it. My uncle Charlie had a horse pasture and a bass pond on the property behind Pappaw and Gugga's house that was surrounded by an electric fence. For those who don't know, an electric fence is a fence with steel wires that carry an electric current that brings a shocking jolt to who or whatever hits it, in order to send it back in the direction from which it came. I hated that thing! It was my primary obstical on the way to the bass pond, and it stung my back more than just a few times. The first time it got me it scared me so bad I didn't know what had happened. I soon learned to carefully squeeze through the two wires carrying the current and the boundary separating the cow pasture and my grandparents back yard was crossed, and the bass I was after were in trouble! The horses were not so lucky! I actually watched one horse new to pasture trot up to the fence looking for an escape and instead receive a jolt that rerouted its path back into the pasture. Repentance. A word used continually in the bible and talked about in Churches through the ages. But, what does it mean? It seems that many people now a days think repentance is feeling bad about something you have done, mulling in the guilt, having remorse and just trying harder. While those are some of the factors in repentance, true repentance is an inflection point of change from sin to faith, fueled by Grace. It is a trigger of a change in thought, deed and desire. Just like the electric fence changes the directional path of a horse (or little boys) who touch it, repentance shocks us into changing our lives for our satisfaction and God's glory. John the baptist testified "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance". Simply put, true faith led repentance will manifest itself in our life's actions. It is not a one time passing thought before lunch on Sunday that tugs at us a little. It is the gracious touch of Christ changing the desire of our hearts, which restores joy to the soul, peace to our minds which yields a sanctified follower eager to pass a passion for Christ on to others. So what happened to you the last time you heard a word from God that convicted you? Did you quickly run from your sin, to God? The easiest thing to do is to know it is wrong, talk about it and do nothing. I know as I have done that before! Be careful doing that! Uncle Charlie's fence is there to protect the horse from things that are beyond its comprehension. God's word and spirit are there to do the same for us. Dismissing those warnings of conviction harden our hearts to the Gospel of Christ and put us in harm's way.

Airbags

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew in me a right spirit

Sitting in the plane getting ready to taxi away from the terminal always means one thing. The speech. You know the one that no one listens to. Exits here, life rafts here, stay calm when you are in the middle of crashing. Then comes the finale, in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will fall from above. If you are traveling with someone who needs assistance, please put your mask on before helping your child or needy travel partner. We have all heard it a million times and seen the video about half that many as we turn our eyes towards other people, books, gadgets, newspapers and just about anything else we can think of. Have you ever asked yourself, "Why should I put on my mask first?" It is an obvious answer, but pointed: if you have died of suffocation, you can't help the person relying on you for care.

Now this is a simple observation but a really good word for us all. I never cease to amaze myself at how good I am at critiquing others, but tend to leave myself unchecked. When you look at David's petition to God above, His desire was to be cleaned up and sanctified. Why is David praying this? He knew Himself well and He knew that the only way that he was going to be of any use to God was to let God have His way with him, and breathe Holy life into the recesses of his soul. David knew that once he had been polished up by the Holy Spirit's work in his heart, then he could help others enjoy God as well. Just like the airbag, David needed the breath of God to fill Him, before he could give any righteous oxygen to others.

If we are honest, most of us are so busy trying to strangle people jamming their oxygen mask on their head, that we don't even realize we are suffocating and need of air, a communion with God. We need a deep Holy breath of God that fills us up and empowers us to spread His Glory and be deeply satisfied along the way. We are always thinking to ourselves, “well if he would just do this, or if she would just pray more, then everything would be just fine”. And all the while they watch us franticly squirm under the pressures of the day, struggling and gasping for a peaceful breath while you ask them to be more like you. And we wonder why our ministry and efforts aren't more fruitful. So, put on your mask before you try and help others. Remember, if you don’t have any air in your lungs you can’t help others receive any either. Only clean hearts can help dirty ones change.

Suffer for Christ?

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books to take to the beach. My wife,Evie, and I are retroactively celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary with a four night stay in Blue Mountain Beach Florida and we are going to chill, exercise, read, pray and eat! By ourselves, I might add. Anyhow, as I browsed the Christianity section, I was struck by the titles and core messages of many of the books in the section. The books promised the Christian that every day they would feel good, get promotions, ride high on the hog, look good and feel great. About the only thing I didn't see was Abraham's 8 minute abs or Samuel's stock plan. Okay, maybe I am stretching it just a bit, but maybe not. The bible itself actually offers us one thing: To pick up our cross (an instrument of Death) and follow Christ. It offers us a love with commitment, and that commitment is to walk in the world as Christ did, with an anticipation of a Spiritual resurrection that brings us back to the Father's arms forever. If you look at the verse above it points us back to the truth that as Christ lived, he suffered for us, he didn't come to get rich, have every day feel like a Friday, or fuss over "spiritual gifts". He came to suffer as a sacrifice for the sins of men. Guess what? He calls us to do the same. "Bear others burdens" the bible says. Paul says it best in Philippians 3:10 "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death". What is Paul saying? He is saying that this world has nothing for Him, except an opportunity to build the Kingdom of Christ. He lives to die and suffer, just like Christ did, so that sinners can see the beauty of the sacrifice of the Cross. Suffering for the name of Christ is the primary avenue to know Christ. That is a stark contrast with the contemporary promises of God being more interested in your bank account and comfort than His name, or the lost. Now even as I type this, I am convicted of how easy it is to drift into a life in 2012 complacency. My flesh doesn't want to suffer and sacrifice, it wants to be made much of. That is the point, Christianity promises to put the flesh and the desires of this World to death, not inflate them, so that the spirit can blossom. That is the model of Christ and the driving purpose of Christianity- make much of Christ at all costs. Is that happening in your life, or are you trying to use Christianity to help you build your kingdom here on Earth? That is a razor thin line that only you and God can answer. Be careful thinking the sacrifice of the Son of God is solely for your advancement. It's primary purpose is that the whole world will give praise to the Son! This will not come with casual Church participation or focus on ourselves. It will come if we walk as Jesus did, willing to give our lives for the Father's love and will! The best way to see your righteousness may be to look inside your heart and see if there is a desire to suffer for the unrighteous, or unredeemed sinners. I am convinced the fuel for that will be our constant acknowledgement of our flesh's sinfulness, the Spirit's power in regenerating our Hearts to build the Kingdom and our delight in worshipping an unbelievable god.

Chicken and Obedience

Jeremiah 6:19 Hear, oh Earth; behold. I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. Who would have ever thought that the battle over gay marriage would have apexed over fried chicken sandwiches? Shouldn't that be a topic for Oprah or something? Much has been made about profits and support for, or opposition against, Dan Cathy's position. What has been overlooked is his worldview as stated in his words in the interview that sparked the debate. Listen to them, "We are openly inviting judgment against our country when we shake our fist at God and say, "We know better than you what constitutes a marriage". If people could hit the pause button for a second and examine his words, they would find that he has a fear of God driving what he perceives (and I as well) as obedience to God and His word. It is not about profit or hatred or even much to do with man primarily, it has to do with God's will and obedience. In Cathy's worldview, God sets the rules and we simply either obey or disobey, it appears that simple. Throughout the bible, God pursues His created beings with provision and opportunity to overcome their rebellious nature and turn back to their Creator. In Jeremiah 6 written above, God's own words are pronouncing a coming judgment on His beloved nation of Israel and Mr. Cathy's are in-line with concerning why God is disciplining His people. They have not paid attention to what God has said and they have rejected God's law and have ignored His will. In other words, they have made their own rules and as a result they get to choose between death or deportation to Babylon to serve as slaves. Disobedience to God must will always be met with correction and discipline aimed at turning hearts bask towards the cosmic truth: God writes the rules of life, we either obey or ignore them. Reaction and commentary over the Chik Fil A issue has tried to make this about conservative vs. liberal and I even read a column suggesting a North vs. South war of arrogance. Its none of those things. The root cause that has triggered all the commotion is the spiritual war that started in the Garden when the serpent whispered, "Is that really what God said?" If our flesh can have its way with our mind and soul it will convince us that we get to weigh in with our own opinion about Holiness and what is or isn't sin. Our sin nature wants to blind people to the Glory of God and His majestic love seen so clearly in Christ. So where are you in the discussion of the topic of the day? Have you realized that truly there are only two sides, a holy God and a sinful man? Perhaps the greatest cause of grief that I feel in my soul is those who would consider themselves people who have submitted to Christ as King and Lord trying to rewrite his will in pulpits and newspapers across the country. A little time in Jeremiah 6 or basically any where else in the bible might save them much in the way of coming judgment and discipline. May God have mercy on us as our country drifts from Him and may he bring us more leaders like Mr. Cathy who will honor God before men.

Upon further review: Believe

Jude 1:5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. The once crazy crowd now waits silently and nervously. The referee’s head is buried under the hood of the review camera. The game stands still waiting for a decision. Did the quarterback’s arm start to go forward before the ball came out? If so, it isn’t a game changing fumble, but a harmless incompletion. Everyone waits for the words that trail the phrase: Upon further review… Every true fan has a memory of a call that didn’t go their way and a disdain for the referee who made the bad call. Video review was introduced in sports for one reason: to correct human error in judgment of a perceived event. In some cases it validates the call on the field or court, but in others a deeper, slower look uncovers a truth that was missed at full speed in the heat of battle. Jude 1:5 is a verse that makes me slow down and do a deep thorough examination of a critical word in Christianity: Believe. Consider what Jude is saying in terms of the Jews who he led out of Egypt but did not believe. To make it through the Exodus these non-believers: >Saw God visibly as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night >Tasted the miracle of God’s provision in manna >Felt his power as he divided the red sea and crushed the Egyptian army >Sensed his atoning mercy as a Passover lamb covered their sins >Knew the depth his wrathful judgment as they witnessed the plagues >Relished in Christ’s mercy as he provided water in the desert >Smelled the rot of death as the plagues swept through Egypt This list could go on for some time, but the point of fact is that these Jews that Jude refers to as non-believers unquestionably knew that there was a God-sized force at work in their midst, as miracles where on display literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They knew that something outside themselves, and this world had, a will and a purpose and the strength and power to accomplish its goals. They knew that this majestic and divine being wanted to have a relationship with them and purge them of sin and rebellion and bring them peace and blessings. Seriously, stop for a second and put yourself in their shoes as they walked around for forty years outside the promise land. Yahweh would have been impossible to miss as a God. So how could Jude refer to them as “those who did not believe” if they walked around in the factual reality of God’s miracles daily for decades? That demands some slow motion replay for each of us as we put our souls under scrutiny like a photo finish at the Kentucky derby. The presence of God was a complete reality to all of these non-believers, but what was missing was a belief in His promises and a doubt of their own strength and the result was no faith. God had promised delivery of the land of Canaan by His strength and they looked at their own lack of strength faithlessly (Numbers 13). The beginning of Faith exists where human ability ends. Even though the Israelites witnessed Yahweh first hand, they didn’t believe he would hold to His promises of deliverance, blessing and protection that he made to the Israelites starting in Genesis 12 with Abraham. They did not trust God as the God who sets the rules, rules the Earth and makes things unravel in such a way that only he can get glory. The barrier to their unbelief was their belief in themselves and things of this world in place of God’s promises. There are many who walk around with casual acknowledgement of God and count that as assurance of salvation. Some people are of the opinion that the Mercy of Christ comes without repentance, change, obedience and that they can rewrite the rules as long as they kind of include some parts and pieces of God in them somewhere. We should all freeze frame and review our faith at this point. If Jesus saved some out of Egypt who lived in a reality of God’s miracles, later destroyed those who didn’t fully live on His promises and Word, then we need to be careful not to do the same. In whose strength are you truly walking? The devil loves to confuse us at this point and there are many false teachers that are leading people astray on this very point: what it means to believe. If we don’t get that right, then we are dead wrong and there will not be any do-overs. The definition of belief that saves isn’t up for us to decide. God has already defined it for us.

Secrets

Romans 2:16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares (NIV) The Mueller's were a family that we grew up with in the 70's. Peter, the father, was one of the funniest men you have ever bumped into. I can still vividly remember his husky laugh and the way he would make his wife, Lucy, smile. Their three kids were always fun to play with and my first crush was on Mindy, their youngest at the ripe old age of six. My dad and Phillip knew each other from work and they instantly had enjoyed each other's company launching a friendship that lasted for over two decades. The Mueller's seemed like the average white collar family who was doing well and had all the things the American dream had to offer. Until one of Peter's secrets was exposed. Through a course of events, Lucy uncovered the fact that Peter had a second family. In fact, he had been living a double life for decades and hiding that dirty little secret from everyone. This shocking secret hurt many not the least of which was his family whom God had entrusted him to lead. Secrets. Since the first sin was committed in the Garden, the desire to sin and then run and hide from God when he comes looking for us is strong. In the depths of our souls, it is usually our first reaction when an authority figure is present to enforce their laws upon us. It is why we slam on the brakes and look innocent when we see the cop in the median with the radar detector. It is why my kids run and jump back in their beds late at night when I walk up the stairs to make sure that they are asleep when and where they are supposed to be. It is why we are all so good at self-denial and rationalization when we get caught. It is part of the nasty web of deceit of sin. We are tempted, we fall, and then we are tempted to hide the sin so we aren't exposed. This cycle is deadly and our natural course of action. The ramifications are huge. Not only are we separated form God by our sin, but our refusal to admit guilt and confess our wickedness keeps us from experiencing divine atonement and buries us in guilt. If the adversary can keep us hiding from God in secret sin he has us in the palms of his hands. The reality is clear in Paul's word to the Roman church: there are no secrets that are kept from God and our attempts to bury sin away in a distant field will be thwarted and openly exposed for proper judgment. Now our secrets may not be as glaring as Mr. Mueller's, but we are all tempted to have them and then try and hide them from God so we can appear righteous. What thoughts do you have that you know aren't Godly? What desires do you have that you know are wrong? What are the secret temptations tugging at your soul that are strong and have power? Confess them before they destroy you. The devil will use every trick in the book to get you to focus on your own self-image and the damage it will do if you confess your weaknesses. Christ offers us an opportunity to focus on His image and admit what we all really know anyhow: we are all messed up sinners in our flesh. When we do this at the feet of Jesus in an appeal to His righteous rule over our life, he spiritually biopsies not only the effects of sin, but he will replace the temptation with the sweet satisfaction of His own Glory. What are you fruitlessly trying to hide from God today? We must see those efforts as fruitless if we ever want to see the fruitfulness of Christ in our lives. Thanks be to God who sent Jesus to unveil and cover the sins of those who love and enjoy Him as Lord, Savior and Treasure!