Do you have enough faith to be an atheist?

 I seldom recommend books before I read the entire book, but I'm going to make an exception. I have started reading I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek. If you enjoy apologetics as much as I do, you need to read this book! The information found in this book makes it a must read for anyone who wants to be able to defend their faith when challenged or who have their own doubts about some aspects of Christianity.

The authors begin the book by examining the importance of truth and how absolute truth has taken a hit in our postmodern world. They address some of the early writings of skeptics who deny that absolute truth exists and show why their  beliefs were wrong. In our pluralistic society the demand of many is that we be tolerant of everyone's beliefs. The authors point out how intolerant these people are, especially towards anyone expressing Christian beliefs. For me, that one chapter was worth the cost of the book.

As they go into the next chapter, the authors begin to look at the beginning of our universe. The material they present here is incredible. I have many apologetical books in my library, but this is adding to my knowledge of the cosmological argument for the existence of God more than I would have imagined. The book points out that even many agnostic scientists now acknowledge that the beginning of the universe is more closely related to the biblical account than any other theory that has been advanced.

This is as far as I have read. Future chapters will examine the reality of miracles, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the problem of evil in the world and much more. I am excited to read what the authors say about these things.

One of the things I appreciate about this book is that, while it covers very important subjects, it is written so that anyone can follow along. Some books written by philosophers and theologians are so academic that they are not very readable to the average person. This book is not like that. At the same time, it is not so simplistic that it offers no meat to the reader. 

If you want a book that will help you defend your faith when challenged, I can not recommend a better book. If you want a book that may help answer some questions you have, this may be the book for you. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty excited about this book! I think it should be in every Christian's library.

Dealing with doubt

 Even the strongest of Christians may have times of doubt. Billy Graham tells the story of a period in his life when he began to question some things he was preaching. At a conference he was asked to lead early in his ministry he walked into the woods near the conference center and began to ask God if the Bible was really true. After a period of time he rose to his feet absolutely convinced that the Bible was true, his faith was true and his calling was to preach the truth. Perhaps his most famous line after that experience was "The Bible says...."

Studies find that nearly 60 percent of young people leave the Christian faith after their 15th birthday. A number of reasons have been identified, but one of the major ones is that no one is willing to answer their questions. They may have serious questions and doubts about Christianity, but they find their church is not a safe place to ask those questions or express their doubts. One 17-year-old girl told me that was the case in her youth group. She asks a lot of tough questions and spends much time reading her Bible, but she said when she asks questions in the youth group she is either ignored or given simplistic answers that really do not answer her questions. Unfortunately, this is too often the case.

Churches must be a safe place for people to ask their questions. No person should be made to feel ashamed for expressing doubts about their faith or for asking questions. In fact, questions should be encouraged for they show the person is thinking critically about Christianity, and answering the questions may help them solidify their faith.

There are two warnings when we attempt to answer people's questions or address their doubts. One, we don't want to make up answers when we don't know the answer. Young people are especially tuned to such answers and can see through them. It's far better to admit that we don't know and we will attempt to find the answer and respond to them at that time. There will also be some questions we will never be able to answer, and we need to honestly admit that. Here is where the faith factor of Christianity comes into play. But, we don't want to fall back on that response too often. There may well be an answer to the question that we can find with a little research.

The other warning is that we need to understand the purpose of the question. As someone has said, behind every question is a questioner. We need to know the questioner so we can understand what is behind the question. If a six-year-old child asks, "Who made God?" that is a much different question than if it is asked by a university biology professor. In the first case, the child is probably asking out of genuine interest. In the second case, the question may well be asked as a challenge to Christianity or being asked because the professor is honestly seeking God and needs answers to some of his questions. Our answer would be the same in both cases but would need to be framed differently. It's important to know the questioner and the reason behind the question before answering.

Jesus asked a lot of questions, and He was not afraid of questions. We need to be like Him. Don't be afraid of questions but respond to them truthfully, biblically and with grace.

Your greatest need in these unsettled times

No one can doubt that we live in very unsettled times. As a nation, America is divided as it has not been since the Civil War. We now question everything that comes from the mouths of our politicians, the media, advertisers and even the church. Truth has become hard to come by leading to conspiracy theories and a general suspicion of everything we hear. Violence is widespread with drug gangs even infiltrating smaller, rural communities. Crime is rampant with the police and courts seemingly powerless to do anything about it. Churches and entire denominations have abandoned the Word of God and now proclaim a spurious gospel that will appeal to a "woke" generation. Immorality is rampant with legislative bodies and the courts now legalizing behaviors that were considered immoral throughout recorded history. Our education system is in ruins. Parental rights are being taken away slowly but surely by the courts and schools. Children too young to vote, too young to drink alcohol, too young to have a driver's license, even too young to enter grade school are being allowed to choose their gender. We could fill an entire book with all that is wrong with today's society, but this should be enough to convince anyone that we live in very difficult times.

While I am not a conspiracy buff, I do not think this is all accidental. When you think of all the negative changes that have taken place in our world in the past few years, it's hard to not believe there is a power, a force, behind it all. I sometimes feel I am living in a magic show where the magician draws our attention elsewhere while he or she works his or her "magic." I can only wonder what's next as our nation, and world, moves even further from God.

There are some things we can do. Certainly, we can pray that God would send revival to turn our world back to Him. With elections coming up we can vote for persons who seem to support our values and moral beliefs. It is amazing to me that Congress has an approval rating of under 10 percent, and yet we keep electing the same people who have created much of this mess back into office. I would like to see every Christian vote in the next election and vote every incumbent running for office out. That would send a message to those who are not up for election that we are fed up with what they have done to our nation, and if changes are not made, they will be the next ones who will have to find an honest job outside of politics. BTW - this is not limited to national politics. We need to do the same thing with school boards, local politicians and anyone who is supposed to represent the people.

We can advocate for the truth of God's Word. There is One far above the President, Congress and the Supreme Court who has the final Word. It is His Word that must be followed and obeyed. The three Hebrew captives refused to bow down to the political powers and announced that even if they were cast into the fiery furnace, they would not deny their God. Instead of the church compromising the Word of God in order to get along in our current society, we need to be speaking truth to power.

The most important thing we can do in these unsettled times is to be sure of our Christian faith. Let me ask the reader a very simple question, are you a Christian? If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven? This is important...you are not a Christian because you attend church sometimes, or that your parents were Christians, or you have been confirmed or even baptized. You are a Christian because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You are not a Christian because your good works outweigh your bad deeds. You are not a Christian because you belong to a church. It is by faith you are saved. Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life, and no one could come to God except through Him. There are no other roads that lead to God but through Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that even more difficult times are coming, and only those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation will be able to endure these times. Do you know that you know that you know that you are a Christian? If not, please contact me or a pastor of a Bible-believing church in your community. Eternity is at stake.

What is truth?

 During the trial of Jesus, Pilate asked one of the most important questions of our time: "What is truth? In the postmodern age in which we live, truth is whatever one chooses to believe. What's true for one person is true for them even if it is 180 degrees different from what is actually true. To tell someone their belief is wrong is one of the worst things anyone can do in our "woke" society.

As we enter into an election year we are presented with a lot truth claims. This is the time when the old adage of "Figures don't lie, but liars figure." becomes extremely apparent. Truth claims are spun to the point that it becomes difficult to determine what is true and what is not true. No political party has a claim on truth because both will spin every story to make themselves look good.

I grew up in a time when journalism was a respected profession. In our home we watched Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley and generally felt that we were getting a true perspective on what was happening in the world. For years, as an adult, I watched about three hours of news every night, both local and national. I often read three newspapers every day, one with a liberal bias and one with a more conservative bias, and our local paper. Today, I seldom watch any news and I've cancelled my newspaper subscriptions. I have found I cannot trust any of them to tell me the truth about anything. If you want to read a very interesting book on the news media in American today I would recommend Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy by James Fallows. Fallows was the editor of U. S. News and World Report so he is well qualified to report on the state of journalism in America today. As he explains in his book, the national news media no longer reports on the news of the day, but determines what news they will present to the public and how they will spin it to fit their agenda. It is one of the most eye-opening books I've ever read. 

There remains one bastion of truth in the world today, and that is the Bible. This inspired Word of God is God's revelation of Himself to mankind and His purpose for our lives. It teaches us how life is to be lived, and it points to a life beyond this one. It tells us how our sins can be forgiven and eternal life can be ours because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection three days later. It teaches us how families can thrive in the midst of a sinful world. It addresses every aspect of human life, and the principles it teaches will improve the life of every person who applies them. Contrary to the postmodern worldview, it contains absolute truth that leads to a better life here on earth and eternal life when this one has ended.

I encourage you to read it for yourselves and begin to apply its teachings. I believe your life will improve as mine did. Find a good Bible-believing church to help you better understand what you are reading. You'll be surprised at how your life will change.

Finding truth

When President Donald Trump first stated that Covid 19 came from a lab in Wuhan, China the news media among others attacked him for misleading the public and for using anti-Asian hate language. Today, The Department of Energy, the director of the FBI and other agencies have concluded that Covid 19 did in fact originate from that lab, and that China has done everything it can to prevent the investigative work that reached this conclusion.

When the pandemic began we were told that if everyone remained in place for two weeks the virus would go away. Much of the nation was shut down, but this proved to be a lie. We were told everyone had to wear a mask as that would prevent the spread of Covid 19. We were not allowed in public buildings, airports and other facilities unless we wore some type of mask, but this was later debunked when it was finally admitted that masks did little, if anything, to prevent the spread of Covid. Vaccines were rushed to the market under emergency approval that would supposedly protect one from the disease or cure those who already had it. Military personnel, doctors, nurses and others who refused the shots were fired from their positions. Then we were told the vaccines were not enough but that booster shots were also needed. Not surprisingly, many who received the vaccines and boosters continued to get Covid. President Biden has been faithful in getting the vaccines, boosters and wearing a mask. He's had Covid twice now that we know about. We have been told repeatedly to "follow the science," but it seems the science has consistently misled us.

The only things related to Covid-19 that we can know with certainty is that millions of people all over the world died from this disease. Families have suffered greatly. Some individuals and pharmaceutical companies have profited greatly.

Russell Blaylock, retired neurosurgeon, wrote a blistering paper titled "COVID UPDATE: What is the truth?, that was published in Surgical Neurological International journal. His article begins by stating:

"The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most manipulated infectious disease events in history, characterized by official lies in an unending stream lead by government bureaucracies, medical associations, medical boards, the media, and international agencies....We have witnessed a long list of unprecedented intrusions into medical practice, including attacks on medical experts, destruction of medical careers among doctors refusing to participate in killing their patients and a massive regimentation of health care, led by non-qualified individuals with enormous wealth, power and influence.

"For the first time in American history a president, governors, mayors, hospital administrators and federal bureaucrats are determining medical treatments based not on accurate scientifically based or even experience based information, but rather to force the acceptance of special forms of care and 'prevention' - including remdesivir, use of respirators and ultimately a series of essentially untested messenger RNA vaccines. For the first time in history medical treatment, protocols are not being formulated based on the experience of the physicians treating the largest number of patients successfully, but rather individuals and bureaucracies that have never treated a single patient...." (Blaylock RL. COVID UPDATE: What is the truth? Surg Neurol Int 2022;13:167.)

Actually, this post is not about Covid-19 and the lies we have been told since it first appeared on the scene. It is about truth. We live in a time where we struggle to believe anything we are told. We have been misled so often from so many people and organizations we thought we could believe that it is difficult to believe anything. Where do we find truth?

In John 17: 17 we find Jesus saying "Your word is truth." Earlier in the book of John Jesus tells His disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." I believe it was Leonard Sweet who once wrote that he was asked if he believed in truth. He responded that he not only believed in truth, he knew the One who was the truth, Jesus Christ.

I have lived nearly three-quarters of a century, and I have found that the only source of truth I can consistently believe is the Bible. For over 40 years I have preached the Word of God knowing that it is true. If you are a skeptic or non-believer who insists on believing that the Bible contains errors do not bother writing me trying to convince me I am wrong. You are wasting your time. I have found it to be true time and again. And the One the Bible points to from Genesis to Revelation, Jesus Christ, is the truth personified. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Deliverer, the one who made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins and be adopted into the forever family of God.

For those of you who are pastors and preachers, you have the privilege every week of proclaiming truth to your people. In a world of lies and "mis-spokes" they are hungry for the truth. Preach the Word! Without apology. It is in the Scriptures where they will find the truth.

 

How do we defend Christian truth in today's culture?

 I believe the title of this post is one of the most critical questions we can ask today. In a postmodern society the idea of absolute truth is rejected. The only absolute truth that is acceptable is that there is no absolute truth! Paul Gould addresses this problem in his excellent book Cultural Apologetics. He first defines the problem by writing

"Today, religious claims generally and Christian claims specifically are viewed as subjective claims. The truth claims of Christianity are not understood as claims pointing to an objective, mind-independent reality. Rather they are viewed as private, subjective beliefs held by a few faithful individuals. As subjective beliefs, these claims are viewed as irrelevant to the so-called public marketplace of ideas. Christianity is marginalized and ignored since the claims Christians make are treated as personal preference, not as something publicly testable, and not as claims that can compete for the mantle of 'public truth,'"

Tony Dungy is one of the kindest, gentlest Christian men you will ever meet. He has come under tremendous criticism because he dared tweet that he and his wife would be attending a Right-to-Life rally. To the postmodern individual this was unacceptable. They alone know the truth, and the only truth acceptable to the "woke" generation is that abortion should be available to all persons. 

The same things happens when one makes the claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This is not acceptable in our pluralistic society that insists that all religions pray to the same God and that, if heaven even exists, that all persons will  go to "a better place" when they die. Anyone who studies world religions even briefly will note that all religions are not the same and that all gods are not the same. Jesus said He was the only way to God. This is a tough claim to make to today's culture, but it is one as Christians we must make. All roads may lead to Rome, but all religions do not lead to salvation.

We could address many other areas in which our modern culture has deviated from clear Christian teaching. The problem is that, while we may understand there is a problem, few churches are willing to address it. One reason we do not address the differences between Christian teaching and today's postmodern mindset may be fear of upsetting people. Another reason we do not is because we are not sure we know how to relate the Gospel to the various aspects of contemporary life.

I have found this book very helpful in that regard. Gould gives us direction that we as ministers can use to speak to the issues that divided the church and our culture. He writes, "The cultural apologist should help seekers overcome...barriers so that the seekers can genuinely consider the question of Jesus as an attractive possibility....What we cannot do, however, is to ignore them if we want others to see and understand Jesus as their only hope and greatest need."

Speaking the truth in love

 A number of years ago I attended the annual meeting of our denomination. In one session there was an opportunity for people to address issues that were important to them before a committee of our leadership to consider. Each person was allowed a brief time to state their concern and their suggestions for how it should be addressed. A lengthy line was formed of people who had signed up to speak. I noticed the more conservative speakers were lined up along one wall while the more liberal ones were lined up along another wall. Each line alternated speakers.

Many of the more conservative speakers appeared angry as they spoke. I even wrote in my notes "Why are we conservatives always so angry?" The other side seldom spoke harshly and simply presented their perspective on the issue. Even though I seldom agreed with them, I appreciated their tone.

Today it seems that neither side wants to calmly address our differences whether they be religious, cultural or political. Many appear to believe that the one who shouts the loudest wins the argument. In too many cases a discussion isn't even possible. In our cancel culture of today opposing voices are simply silenced by disinviting those who hold such views from the discussion. It's no wonder our nation, our government and our churches are in the shape they are in.

Colossians 4: 5-6 reminds us to "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outsiders, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, and that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Behind every question or statement there is a person. Paul is telling us to know that person so that we might be able to answer his or her question or respond to the statement. We sometimes become so focused on the question or statement that we forget we are dealing with an individual who has a reason for believing what they do.

He further writes that our speech should always be with grace. Sometimes in our desire to win the debate we harm the person. When someone feels attacked or disrespected they will not hear what we are saying. In our minds we may have presented the strongest argument, but that is of no value if we have driven a wedge in our relationship with the other individual. We are cautioned to not place a stumbling block before other people, and this is easily done when we do not respect the dignity of those who hold views different from us.

We are always called upon to stand for truth, especially the truth of God's Word, but we are also called upon to do so with love. Let's speak the truth in love to all people and let the Spirit of God reveal to them its truth. 

Don't believe the lie

 Truth has taken a beating in recent years. For the past few years we've heard more about fake news than any of us would want to hear. We've seen both political parties attack each other with outlandish claims. Postmodernism has denied the existence of absolute truth. We now call good evil and evil good because we can no longer tell the difference. However, these outward lies are not the focus of this post. Today, I am more interested in the lies we tell ourselves.

Many of us, including Christians, have a very low opinion of ourselves. We feel we don't measure up, that we are not good enough. I grew up in a time when we had a lot of choose-up baseball games. Two people would be named captain, and they would pick the players for their teams. The same kids were usually chosen last. I doubt that did anything for their self-esteem. For some, it might begin in high school as we doubt that anyone will go to the prom with us. Perhaps we begin to question our worth and our abilities when we see and hear how talented our brothers and sisters are and people start to question if we are really from the same gene pool.

Our thought life will determine the direction our lives will take. If we regularly struggle with negative thoughts about ourselves it will be hard to live a life of abundance and victory. It's hard to believe that God has a purpose for our lives when we see little value in ourselves. A healthy self-esteem is essential if we want to fulfill our purpose in life.

Satan knows this, and this is why he will work hard to fill our minds with negative thoughts. He wants us to doubt our worth and value to God. He wants us to question our abilities so as to limit what we attempt to do. The Bible is clear that his purpose is to "steal, kill and destroy," and he will use every weapon in his arsenal to achieve that. One of his most effective weapons is to control our minds and the thoughts we have about ourselves.

Some of us need to spend time reading the Scriptures to learn what God thinks about us. His Word says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." It tells us that we are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." The Scriptures remind us that even before we were formed in the womb that God had a purpose for our lives. It tells us that we "more than overcomers" and "have the mind of Christ." I could go on and on, but this should be enough to get you started thinking more positive thoughts about yourself.

I want you to see yourself as God sees you, not as the devil wants you to see yourself. You are so valuable that God sent His Son to the cross to die for your sins. God desires to adopt you into His family so you can spend all eternity with Him in heaven. You are not a loser, a mistake, an accident, a misfit. Stop giving the devil access into your mind and reject every attempt he makes to fill your mind with poisonous lies. Accept what God says about you and believe it. Doing so will change your life.

Staying true to biblical teaching

The church faces many challenges in the coming years, but I believe one of the biggest challenge will be to stay true to biblical teaching. In our PC dominated world today anything that doesn't fit with the beliefs and values of the majority are challenged and often resisted. We regularly see conservative speakers uninvited to speaking engagements because a vocal minority rise up in protest. Business owners who do not toe the PC line are threatened with boycotts and worse. GOYA is only the latest to feel the wrath of liberal politicians, celebrities and other left-wing radicals who want to destroy this Hispanic-owned food company.

Some denominations and churches abandoned biblical teaching years ago in an effort to appease the PC crowd. Those who continue to hold to biblical authority can expect pressure to conform its teachings and values to that of the unchurched community. We must resist that pressure even though there may be a price to pay in doing so.

The Bible is the Word of God. It is authoritative in everything it says. No church, no denomination, no individual has the right to change its message. Rather than changing the message to match the lifestyle, we need to change our lifestyles to match the Scriptures.

One of the reasons we see the chaos and difficulties in our nation today is that we have drifted far away from those biblical teachings. Without absolute truth and absolute morality everyone is free to do whatever they please, and as we have seen in recent months that can only lead to chaos, division and lawlessness.

Our pulpits must be faithful to preach the truth of God's Word without apology. Not everyone will like that, and that may include some of our strongest leaders in our churches. For me, if I am given the choice of offending God or the chairman of the deacons with my preaching, I'm going to offend that deacon. The worst he can do to me is cause me to be fired, but I would rather experience that than have to stand before God and explain why I failed to stay faithful to His Word. We must love people enough to teach them the truths contained in the Scriptures.

The church stands in a unique circumstance right now. Many churches who began to broadcast their worship services during the pandemic reported that their viewership exceeded their normal worship attendance. That tells me that our current situation has caused some people to seek answers to their questions about what is happening in our world. These are individuals who hunger for truth and want something solid upon which they can base their lives. The Gospel provides that firm foundation, but they will only know that if we are faithful to proclaim it to them. If all we can offer is spiritual mush that comes from some denominational office or a concoction that contains a lot of humanistic philosophy and personal opinion that is hooked to a Bible verse to give it credibility, they will not hear what they need most.

Pastors, commit yourself to boldly preaching the infallible Word of God. Lay leaders, encourage your pastors to do so even if it makes you uncomfortable at times. The Word of God has been silent too long in too many churches. It's time to change that.

Top 10 Books for 2019 1-5

Yesterday I listed the first half of my favorite reads for 2019 6-10. Today I'll give you my top five.

5. In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton. As a Navy veteran and a resident of Indiana I thought this would be an interesting read, especially since I picked it up for a couple of dollars at an auction. It turned out to be an incredible read. The ship was returning from dropping off Little Boy, the first atomic bomb used in warfare, when it was sank by a submarine. Because of the secrecy of its mission few people knew where it was supposed to be and that it was sunk. It is an extraordinary tale of courage on the part of those who survived.

4. DARK AGENDA: The War to Destroy Christian America by David Horowitz. I enjoy everything I read written by Horowitz, a Jewish agnostic. He takes on the new Atheists and all those who want to remove Christianity from the American landscape. He exposes their hatred and intolerance for Christianity and points out the shallowness of their arguments. He is one of the leading conservative writers in America today and deserves to be read by all who are concerned about the direction of our nation.

3. Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World by Abdu Murray.  The author points out that in our post-truth world people prefer their preferences to objective truth. Logic and evidence mean nothing to such people if they contradict their preferences. If you wonder if post-truth is actually a word or a mindset, Oxford Dictionary selected post-truth as its word of the year in 2016. With such a mindset it is no wonder that we have such confusion around sexual issues, ethics, freedom and human dignity. Not only does this book sound a warning about the post-truth mindset it offers practical ways to respond. It was a very good read.

2. Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology by J. P. Moreland. The author is a respected professor of philosophy at Biola University, a Christian and the author of a number of books. He defines scientism as "the view that the hard sciences alone have the intellectual authority to give us knowledge of reality." He writes that scientism in fact distorts science. Science has never claimed to be the only way to understand reality. Throughout the book he shows how scientism is impacting the church, harming our children, and making it difficult to share our faith. I really enjoyed this book.

1. The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity by Os Guinness. This was actually the last book I read in 2019 but easily became my top book of the year. Guinness points out how divided our world is today and rightly points out the way to overcome this division is to practice soul freedom for all people. He writes that "Soul freedom is the inviolable freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief that alone does full justice to the dictates of our humanity...It best expresses human dignity and agency; it promotes freedom and justice for all; it fosters healthy giving, caring, peaceful and stable societies; and it acts as a bulwark against the countless current abuses of power and the equally countless brutal oppressions of human dignity." This was on page 14, and the remainder of the book fleshes out his thoughts on religious freedom for all. I couldn't help but think that it should be required reading for every college student and should be on everyone's reading list who are concerned about the divisions affecting our nation today.

These are my top 10 books for 2019. In my next post I'll share with you what I'm currently reading.

Happy New Year everyone!

Public opinion vs moral truth

In a democratic society everyone has a voice. Many states just held elections to select those who would serve in office for the next four years. Some who won election did so by the slimmest of margins proving that it is important that people vote for the candidates of their choice. Cases taken before the Supreme Court are often decided by a 5-4 majority giving these justices enormous power to set the direction of our nation, but the Founding Fathers set up our system of government to function in just this way.

The real problem comes when we make decisions about moral issues and truth based on popular vote. Some politicians do not form an opinion on any issue without finding out what the polls tell them their opinion should be.

For my devotional reading right now I am re-reading Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times by Os Guinness. Anytime I read something he has written I am blown away by his scholarship and his understanding of our culture and the church's role in it. On this subject he writes

"In America," Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the 1830s, "the majority builds an impregnable wall around the process of thinking." Novelist James Fennimore Cooper, an American himself, wrote, "It is a besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law." The philosopher John Stuart Mill warned that "the price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind." Kierkegaard wrote in his journal, "The trend today is in the direction of mathematical equality."...For the Hebrew prophets, "Thus says the Lord" was decisive, not the opinions of the people. And in fact, the pursuit of truth, beauty, excellence, whether in art, science or spiritual growth, has rarely taken its cue from John Q. Public or from Mr. and Mrs. Average."

As we have seen our nation slide further and further away from the teachings of Scripture it has happened as we have allowed personal opinions and preferences replace those teachings. Laws have been enacted to legalize behaviors and lifestyles that a few generations ago were rightly seen as immoral and harmful to individuals and society. When lawmakers refused to pass such laws, judges were found who would find a Constitutional right to such activities. End of discussion, and anyone who objected were immediately vilified as bigoted, ignorant and worse.

Unfortunately, we have seen the same thing happen in too many of our churches. Scriptural truth has been replaced by church councils, denominational leaders who are trying to keep the peace until they can retire, deep-pocketed parishioners, liberal seminaries, and others who have more opinions than biblical knowledge. Weak pastors yield to these loud voices in an effort to keep their jobs. They forget that they don't have a job; they have a calling, and that calling is to proclaim the Word of God and do the work God has called them to do.

Guinness later wrote, "'Thus says the Lord' should always trump '51 percent now believe,' but the current idolatry of metrics renders Christians vulnerable to the mob-masters of the virtual age, the high-tech wizards who can corral the opinions of millions within minutes. (This is a crucial factor in the cataclysmic suddenness of the triumph of the sexual revolution over the Jewish and Christian faiths that have shaped Western civilization for two thousand years.) The result is a church befuddled over the difference between success and faithfulness, hesitant to buck the going trends, fearful to stick her neck out and find herself in the minority, and reluctant to risk the loneliness of pursuing the true and excellent regardless of all outcomes - in short, a church fatally weakened because worldly."

The church in America is at a pivotal point. It is truly at a crossroads and must decide whether it will stand for biblical truth, however unpopular, or follow public opinion. Sadly, many have already chosen public opinion and are merrily skipping along with the "in-crowd." The Bible tells us that there is a wide path that many follow that ultimately leads to their destruction. The narrow path is one that is often challenging, but it leads to eternal life. Which path will your church choose?

Truth in a world of untruth

I understand why many people have abandoned their telephone landlines. I would guess that 90 percent of the calls I get on our home phone are from telemarketers. Most of these are recorded messages so I don't even get the enjoyment of messing with them. The same is true of the majority of emails I get. Most of them are scams. I used to have most of them go immediately in my deleted folder, but when I had to get a new computer a couple of months ago I've had to start over again marking the junk. Since Apple doesn't care about scam emails and does not give a means to automatically mark them, even the ones I avoid on my computer show up on my I-Pad, and I have to delete them again. When I got a new phone a few months ago that is one reason I didn't get another I-Phone. Most of the junk emails I get do not show up on my Samsung.

Add to this the dishonesty we see in the media. During the last presidential campaign Trump kept pointing out the dishonesty in the press. Few people had the courage to say the things he kept saying, but as people began watching the news they soon could see the way news stories were being spun to reflect the liberal bias many in the news organizations had. The same could be said of conservative news organizations. The American public were not being given the news; we were being given the slant on the stories the news media wanted to present. This is not a recent phenomenon that began in the last presidential election. In 1996 James Fallows, then editor of U.S. News and World Report, wrote a fascinating book titled Breaking The News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy in which he showed how the media doesn't report the news; it makes the news by deciding what's newsworthy and what's not. Doing this controls the information the American public receives and what it never hears about. This is not a book written by some conspiracy buff but one written by a person who has had the inside seat in national news reporting for many years. It's a book I highly recommend.

We all know the dishonesty that exists in advertising. All you have to do is watch an advertisement for any fast food place and compare the sandwiches you see in the ad with the ones you actually get when you eat there!

We are bombarded with dishonesty and untruth every day. It's no wonder why many people wonder if what they hear from the church and its leadership is true or not. We have created a culture of disbelief, and that culture exists even within the church. Many people look at sermons the same way they look at advertisements. They assume we are spinning the message to make our brand look good, and many are not buying it.

As preachers of the Gospel we have to speak with absolute integrity and honesty. It's essential that we begin our messages upon the foundation of the infallibility of the Word of God. In a world that spins every message we cannot begin our message by casting doubt on what the Scripture says. I shudder every time I hear a so-called Christian leader say that we have advanced beyond what was known in biblical times, and our messages need to change to reflect that advanced understanding. These false prophets only THINK they have advanced. The Bible we hold in our hands came to us from God, and no one has advanced beyond Him! His words are eternally true.

When I began as the Transitional Pastor at one church about two years ago I told the congregation in my first message that every sermon they would hear from me would be based on the belief that the Bible was the infallible Word of God. If I don't believe that then I have nothing to preach because my opinions are no more valid than anyone else's. It's only when I stand upon the integrity of God's Word that I have anything of value to say.

In a world of spin, in a world in which we are surrounded by untruth, it is imperative that the preacher boldly proclaim the Word of God as truth. It is only when we do that can the Holy Spirit take those words and begin to change the hearts of people.

Don't apologize for speaking the truth

It seems many in the church today struggle speaking truth. Many seminaries and churches discount the truth of the Scriptures and spend enormous amounts of time trying to make it more politically correct for those who want it that way. The clear teachings of Scripture are ignored while we practice exegetical gymnastics with the texts so no one is offended. I've sometimes referred to such preaching as an easy-greasy gospel that goes down smooth, but in the end it is poison resulting in the spiritual death of those who believe it.

A friend of mine recently requested prayer as he was dealing with a difficult passage of Scripture in a recent worship service. Although he would have preferred avoiding preaching from that text the Lord would not let him do so. I know how he felt because I've been there. It's never a pleasant thing to preach from a text you know has the potential to upset people, but we've been mandated to preach the whole Gospel. This was one reason I always preached through an entire book of the Bible each year. I had to deal with the hard passages as well as the more comfortable ones.

Various studies have recently found that people are drawn to those churches that are not afraid to preach the truth. A study of formerly unchurched people found they sought churches that stood for something, that believed something and preached their beliefs. Another study of young people found the same thing. They were seeking something solid to build their lives upon. They were leaving those churches and denominations that had abandoned the truth of the Scriptures for those not afraid to preach truth. Those who claim they must water down the Scriptures or avoid the hard passages in order to reach people could not be more wrong.

A minister once accused me of targeting certain people because of my beliefs. I explained that I was not targeting them. In fact, I was demonstrating more love and concern for them than this minister because I was willing to warn them of the dangers they were facing due to the life choices they were making. I often hear that the church should show more compassion for people as Jesus did, but I noticed that Jesus always spoke truth to those He encountered. When He offered forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery He also told her to go and sin no more. When Peter rebuked Jesus for saying He was going to Jerusalem to be killed Jesus was quick to rebuke Peter in return for not understanding this was God's plan. When Jesus began to speak hard truths to those who followed Him we read that many turned away and followed after Him no more. Nowhere do we read that Jesus went running after them begging them to come back. Rather He turned to the twelve and asked if they also wanted to leave. Again, genuine compassion for others compels us to speak truth to them if we want to help them transform their lives.

I will be the first to admit that such truth must be spoken in love, and not all churches and ministers demonstrate much love through their teachings. The Scriptures were never meant to be used as a weapon to beat up on people. I once sat through a sermon in which the pastor ripped the people for over 30 minutes. I visited the church that day because I had heard from people I respected that this was a weekly occurance. He thought he was preaching the truth. In reality, he was being a jerk, and the church lost some very wonderful, hard-working Christian people. Speaking the truth isn't about beating up people with legalistic prooftexts and trying to pound them into submission.

Speaking the truth in love is done when we love people where they are in life, walk with them through their lives and answer their questions honestly and clearly without apology. If we have developed a relationship with them in which they trust us enough to ask why we believe the things we do they will be willing to listen. We can then point to the Scriptures as we explain why we believe what we do and trust the Holy Spirit to take that Gospel seed to begin a transforming work in their lives.

The church of the future

I recently read an interesting article on how the church is moving towards significant change. The author used the recent United Methodist Church vote on LGBTQ issues as a backdrop to his thoughts. Last week the UMC voted 461-384 to adopt the proposed "Traditional Plan" going forward. This plan would forbid ordaining homosexual persons to the ministry and also ban same-sex marriages by UMC clergy. Ministers and churches that violate these bans could be removed from the denomination.

A number of churches are already discussing whether or not they will remain in the UMC over this issue. A lot of people are angry and hurt by the decision. Although a number of older UMC clergy and members supported a more tolerant policy, many of the ones advocating for different policies were younger. A Pew Research Center study found that 54 percent of American Christians say homosexuality should be accepted. Much of this is driven by younger Christians' acceptance of homosexuality, although this study also found the number of Boomer Christians who approved of homosexuality was also increasing. When one considers the size of the UMC and realizes that this measure passed by only 54 votes it's not too difficult to see that in another ten years this vote may be overturned.

The author asked a lot of good questions about what even having this discussion says about the future of the church. Will traditional perspectives on church and religion be replaced by new ways of thinking?

A number of people have been speaking about how the church seems to go through a major shift about every 500 years. About 500 years ago the church experienced the Great Reformation which brought about significant changes in the church. Roughly 500 years before that the church divided between the East and West, and roughly 500 years before that the church came out of the Dark Ages. Are we about to see another seismic shift in the church? If so, what will the church look like when this occurs? Although it is impossible for anyone to know specifically the author, and many others, speculates on what some of those changes might look like.

Some of those changes may be very appealing and may bring new life into the church. However, one possible change concerns me a great deal. We may well see the church move away from biblical truth in order to place a greater emphasis on relationships. Justice issues will become more important than truth and biblical teaching. Our current culture is saturated with people wanting to make everyone feel good about themselves. No one is allowed to judge another person's choices. Even asking about someone's choices is seen by some as bullying and threatening. This mindset seems to be rapidly creeping into the church, and if it's allowed to exist it will destroy any chance the church has of being salt and light to this world.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not opposed to the church working for justice issues. I just don't understand why some people think it has to be either/or. A church can stand for biblical doctrine and still be engaged in justice issues. A church can be evangelistic in the traditional sense and still meet the social and justice needs of its community.

I've written much about truth in this blog lately because I'm concerned that too many churches and their leaders are willing to sacrifice biblical truth on the altar of political correctness. Once we deny the truths found in Scripture we have nothing to offer our society. If that is the change that is coming to the church it will become just another social club in the community. Ichabod will be written across its doors because the glory of God will have departed.

How the post-truth culture impacts the church

Many now say we have moved from a postmodern society to a post-truth society. Postmodernism believes that there is no absolute truth. According to postmodern thinkers you can have your truth and they can have their truth, and both can be true even if they contradict each other. Elementary logic teaches that cannot be correct, but why let logical thinking stand in the way of a worldview?

But now we have slid into becoming a post-truth society. This philosophy doesn't necessarily discount absolute truth, but makes it less important than one's personal preferences. If the facts supports one's preferences and opinions, good, but if not then thost facts are considered offensive. This mindset has become so pervasive in today's culture that in 2016 a major dictionary named "post-truth" as its word of the year.

We certainly see plenty of evidences of post-truth thinking in today's political arena. One freshman House member was recently called out for her factual mistakes. She responded that moral truth was more important than factual truth. To her, and countless others of her generation, facts are not important if they get in the way of their preferences. Unfortunately, this is only one example of this type of thinking coming out of Washington today.

Post-truth thinking is also seen in much of the discussion around gender issues, sexual issues, the latest decisions regarding abortion, and many other topics impacting our nation today. In each of these issues many refuse to let facts stand in the way of their preferences, and anyone who dares talk about the facts will be accused of offensive language and attitudes.

Unfortunately, we find this same mindset in too many churches. To preach the Word of God is to offend many people. These people do not go to church to hear what God has to say about how we live our lives; they go to have their preferences approved. How many times have you heard someone say, "Well, I know the Bible says..., but I THINK or I BELIEVE...?" At that point you know they don't really care what God's Word has to say on any topic because if it contradicts their preferences they are going to reject it anyway.

This is why it is so difficult to help our church members grow as disciples. It's why so many churches and denominations cannot take a biblical stand on the issues of the day. Too many of their members elevate their personal preferences over the clear teaching of the Scriptures.

What do we do in the midst of a post-truth culture? In the political and social arena we must refuse to allow people to ignore the facts. Just because someone says they believe one thing doesn't mean the discussion has ended. We need to keep insisting that the truth be heard whether people want to hear it or not. We also need to stop electing people to office who want to pass laws based on their preferences while ignoring the facts of the matter.

In the church we need to keep preaching and teaching the truth. We need to be clear about what the Scriptures say about the social issues of the day. Some won't like it because it will violate their preferences, and some may even leave. But, if the church cannot take a biblical stand for truth what organization will? The church has been called to be a light in the midst of darkness. I don't think anyone can deny our society is growing darker. It's time we let the light of truth begin to shine.

Christians and social media posts

Once again the media jumped to conclusions based on inaccurate information when they began reporting on a group of high school students who supposedly disrespected a native American in Washington DC. The media was quick to attack these Catholic high school kids wearing MAGA caps, but as if often the case, they based their stories on incomplete information. When the longer video clips appeared the story was quite different, It's sad that our major news sources seem to have lost their journalistic integrity and want to report news before they actually investigate if it is true.

As might be expected, many in the entertainment industry jumped on the bandwagon joining in attacking these students. So did some in Congress. Even after the story had been debunked by the facts one recently elected member to the House of Representatives continued to attack these young people. Apparently, facts do not matter to people with an agenda. Such people are infected with an ailment known as confirmation bias. They seek anything that would confirm what they already believe regardless of whether it is true or not.

Unfortunately, in the times in which we live we can expect more of this in the future. As one member of Congress has recently said, moral truth is more important than factual truth. Attack, attack, attack until people believe what you're saying is true.

It is even more unfortunate that Christians are not immune from confirmation bias. I read a lot of social media posts from Christian people that make me shudder. We are as guilty of reporting fake news as anyone. Christians post articles that were long ago proven false giving the critics of Christianity more ammunition to use against the Gospel. We share articles written by others without verifying the truthfulness of the articles because they confirm what we believe. We share articles with profane language in the headline or in the article. Sometimes there is a disclaimer warning of profanity, but usually there is not. Regardless, why share it with such language? I have unfriended more than one person because they constantly were sharing articles with such language. I don't need that on my page.

Not only do we share information that isn't true, we are just as guilty of attacking our opponents as the media does. We vilify those with whom we disagree. We characterize them in an attempt to discredit their views. Rather than debate the issues we portray them as evil people thinking somehow this will win the discussion for our side. This doesn't win arguments; it just makes us look petty and ill-equipped to engage in a serious discussion of the issues.

Many people today view Christians as mean-spirited people who believe they are better than others and have all the answers. From some of the social media posts I read it's not hard to see where they get that idea. It's time to tone down the rhetoric, validate the facts before we post something, and stop attacking those with whom we disagree. If we can't do that then perhaps we should limit our social media to posting pictures of our cats.

What is truth?

When Pilate asked Jesus Christ, "What is truth?" he was asking the most important question he had ever asked. Unfortunately, he didn't stay long enough to hear Jesus' answer.

This is a question that is being asked a lot today. The media is called out for its fake news. The White House is often challenged by statements coming from the spokespeople there. People in Congress, from the leadership to its incoming freshmen, struggle to understand truth and its importance to a society.

Perhaps no one elected to office in recent history has generated more interest that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an incoming freshman from New York elected to the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, much of the interest surrounding her has been the fact that she is a Democrat Socialist who struggles with the truth and with how the American system works.

During a 60 Minutes interview she was challenged by a statement that she had made that earned her four Pinocchios from the Washington Post. She responded that being morally right was more important than being factually right. What? Even CNN criticized her reasoning. Perhaps she doesn't know that one can be both morally right and factually right. In fact, I would argue that you can't be morally right if you are not factually right. The ends do not justify the means. Let me quickly state that anyone can make mistakes and say things that later prove to be not true, and to be fair, the same thing happens from Republican speakers as well. The problem is that she makes such errors on a fairly regular basis, and it doesn't seem to bother her.

Perhaps she just enjoys the attention. More than one person in the public eye has said that the only thing worse than bad press is no press at all. Or maybe she just doesn't know the truth because, like many of her generation, she has been misinformed.

In a 2016 article in The Washington Times it was noted that one-third of millennials believe that during his time in office George W. Bush killed more people than Joseph Stalin. Although exact numbers are not available, most historians believe Stalin was responsible for the deaths of 20-60 million people. The article also stated that one-third of millennials had never heard of Vladimir Lenin, and another 25 percent of them viewed Lenin favorably. A stunning 42 percent had never heard of Mao Zedong.

When one stops to realize that American Civics is no longer taught in most schools anymore and, evidently, neither is world history we can see one reason why this nation is in the trouble it's in today. We have a nation of young people who do not understand what makes this nation unique and how it functions. These are now being elected to the highest offices in the country by voters who evidently do not care if they are qualified for those offices or not.

As upsetting as this is, the same thing is happening in many of our churches today as well. Every study of persons identified as Evangelical Christians find that many are uninformed of basic biblical teaching and principles. Many seldom, if ever, read their Bibles, pray, or do anything that would help them grow as a disciple. Younger people in particular are ill prepared to defend their faith when they leave home for college or the work force.  We have failed to pass the faith on to young people in a way that will enrich their lives and prepare them to live in a world that rejects that faith.

It's time that the church becomes serious about teaching truth to our people. The Bible is the truth. It is the Word of God. Preach it. Teach it. Without apology. Without compromise. We don't need to know what some pop psychologist says about life's issues. We need to hear what the Bible says about them. Teach the morals and ethics found in Scripture. You will run into people who don't like the truth. Preach it anyway! You will run into snowflakes who will have their feelings hurt. Love them, but preach the truth anyway! If ever there was a time the church needed to stop playing games and standing for the truth it is now.

What is truth?

Apologist Ravi Zacharias says that we now live in a post-truth culture. The media today has replaced journalists who sought the truth with spin doctors who want their listeners to believe their version of the truth. This is true of both liberal and conservative news organizations. News reports today are more editorials than actual reporting of the news. In the last presidential election we had numerous fake stories appear in social media such as Facebook planted there by organizations trying to influence the election.

Truth also takes a beating on many university campuses today. We are told there is no such thing as absolute truth, which by the way is a self-refuting statement. If there is no absolute truth how can a statement saying there is no absolute truth be true? BTW - If this is true my high school math teachers owe me an apology because I thought my answers were true so why did they mark them wrong?

Even in the church we sometimes struggle to know what's true and what's not. Too many pastors are willing to preach to people who have itching ears telling them what they want to hear instead of what Scripture teaches. Some have watered down the gospel so much in an effort to bring more people into their churches that the gospel is unrecognizable. Still others have substituted man's philosophies and preferences for the clear teaching of Scripture that they have abandoned any pretense of presenting biblical truth to their congregations. Such false teachers will one day be held accountable.

When we stand before our people on Sunday morning we must not be afraid to preach the Word of God boldly and with confidence. Our Bible is not a book about God; it's is God's revelation of Himself to us. Holy men of old wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit giving us a Bible is that infallible in all it teaches. While some modern day pastors want to limit the use of Scripture for more "relevant" sources I will join Billy Graham and countless others reminding my listeners "The Bible says...."

I admit I do not understand everything I read in the Scriptures, but I have absolute faith in its trustworthiness. Some people want to point out all the mistakes and contradictions found in the Bible. The next time someone wants to make that argument ask them to show you one. Most are just repeating what they've heard others say and have no personal knowledge of any error.

In a time when people are tired of fake news and spin doctors pretending to be journalists, at a time when people are fed up with robocalls and scams on their phones, the church must be a place where people can hear the truth proclaimed. That will only happen if the pastor has a high view of Scripture and is committed to preaching what it says rather than giving his or her personal opinions. God's Word is true. Preach it like you believe it.

What is truth?

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias tells of a time when he met with a number of Russian generals and political leaders. After their meeting one of the leaders came to him and admitted that he believed that what Zacharias had said to them was true. But then he added, But, it’s very difficult to change after 70 years of believing a lie." We in America are facing the same dilemma. We are lied to so much anymore than we don't know what to believe.

When Jesus had been brought before Pilate the Roman official asked Jesus, "What is truth?" That question is even more pertinent today than it was when Pilate asked it.

Every day we hear one group or another make claims of "fake news." Since the last presidential election such claims have been even more pronounced. Listen to the same news story told on two different programs and you'll wonder if they are about the same story. Each puts a different spin on their version of the story to promote the cause they most believe in. Maybe the truth is to be found in the middle, but today I'm not sure one can even find it there.

Politicians make statements they know are not true but hope enough people will believe them that they will take on the character of truth. If those statements are challenged their colleagues will rush in to defend them and leak false information about the ones who dared challenge them.

Manufacturers make claims about their products that they know are not true. They pay high profile people millions of dollars to support those claims hoping to make enough money off the product before the public learns the truth.

The bottom line is that the average American is lied to everyday by people we should be able to trust. There used to be such a thing as integrity in this nation where we trusted one another to tell the truth, but that day is long past. Frankly, the average American finds it hard to believe anyone any more.

There is really only one source of truth today, and that is found in the Scriptures. A Christian speaker said one time that someone asked if he believed in absolute truth. He responded, "Of course I believe in absolute truth. In fact, I know Him."

The media cannot be trusted to tell us the truth. Politicians cannot be trusted to tell us the truth. The manufacturers cannot be trusted to be honest. Only God's Word is true. It doesn't change to reflect the latest poll. It doesn't seek popularity nor does it appeal to people for their votes.

What it does do is offer hope to all who believe it. It offers forgiveness. It offers both an abundant life now and eternal life for the future. It offers us a relationship with the God who created us, and it offers us an anchor in the midst of a chaotic and wicked world. Stay in the Word, my friends, because it is there that you will find ultimate truth.

Preaching truth

Christian apologist, Ravi Zacharias, tells of being invited to speak to a gathering of six Russian generals in Moscow. At the end of their discussion a general shook his hand and said, "Dr. Zacharias, I believe what you have brought us is the truth. But it is so hard to change after seventy years of believing a lie."

Pilate asked "What is truth?" and many today would be hard-pressed to answer that question. We have all but eliminated the concept of absolute truth in America, and, unfortunately, this includes the church. Zacharias writes in his book Can Man Live Without God that 67 percent of Americans deny that there is such a thing as truth.

The church wasn't paying attention in 1984 when Francis Schaeffer wrote The Great Evangelical Disaster. In that book he said that the great evangelical disaster was accommodation to the world seen by refusing to stand for biblical truth. Let me quote one passage from this important book.

“Here is the great evangelical disaster – the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this – namely accommodation: the evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches – truth not only in religious matters but in the areas of science and history and morality. As part of this, many evangelicals are now accepting the higher critical methods in the study of the Bible. Remember, it was these same methods which destroyed the authority of the Bible for the Protestant church in Germany in the last century, and which have destroyed the Bible for the liberal in our own country from the beginning of this century. And second, there has been accommodation on the issues, with no clear stand being taken even on matter of life and death.”

He went on to discuss some of the results from this accommodation, which we have seen played out in our lifetimes. What was true in 1984 is even more prevalent in many of our churches today. Many of our congregations sit under watered-down preaching that denies the fundamentals of the faith including the authority of the Scriptures. Pastors are afraid of offending someone or being seen as intolerant or exclusive so they tickle the ears of their listeners. Their preaching is guided by the latest opinion poll or survey rather than by the Scriptures.

Many of our congregations are like the Russian generals. They have been taught and believed a lie for so long it will be hard for them to hear the truth. It will be even harder for them to believe that truth and begin to change the way they live their lives.

But, preach the truth we must. Jesus said His words have life, and this life is what we must preach. In a world where many people are looking for ways to be offended, preaching the truth will not always make you the most popular person in town. Like someone recently said, if you want to be popular, sell ice cream. But, if God has called you into the ministry then a significant part of that calling is to proclaim the truth of God's Word from the pulpit, in the classroom, and wherever you speak. Only then will you be able to point the way where your listeners can find the life that Jesus Christ came to give them.