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.