What is Truth?

Jesus says he was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. Pilate’s reply sounds to me as if he had heard every lie in the book. And, he probably had.

“What is truth?” The same question is asked by many today. And like Pilate, many believe there is no
truth.

Our schools teach tolerance – everyone has the right to believe whatever they want. If I say, “My God is the only true God,” I’m labeled “intolerant.” Go ahead and label me.

My God IS the only true God. That is the truth. It doesn't matter what you believe. All that matters is what’s true.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Pilate did not understand he was staring Truth in the face. He’d become so skeptical, so jaded, he couldn't recognize truth.

Unfortunately, in a world were so many lies and so much deception have been plastered on headlines, it’s tough to trust anyone these days. Too often, those lies have come from the mouths of those claiming the name of Christ. But none of that changes the truth, only our receptiveness to it.

We, Jesus’ followers, must show the world the Truth. We must show them Jesus. “How can they believe in what they have not heard, and how can they hear unless someone tells them, and how can they go and tell them if they are not sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

Before Jesus left this world, he said, “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21). And he told his followers, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded them” (Matthew 28:19-20).

You have been sent.

Follow Him with me,
Darin

The Throne of Love

Romans 5:6-10

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.  But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

~~~~~

 “We venerate [honor] the cross as a safeguard of faith, as the strengthening of hop and the throne of love. It is the sign of mercy, the proof of forgiveness, the vehicle of grace and the banner of peace. We venerate the cross, because it has broken down our pride, shattered our envy, redeemed our sin and atoned for our punishment.

"The cross of Christ is the door to heaven, the key to paradise, the downfall of the devil, the uplifting of mankind, the consolation of our imprisonment, the  prize for our freedom. The cross was the hope of the patriarchs, the promise of the prophets, the triumph of kings and the ministry of priests. Tyrants are convicted by the cross and the mighty ones defeated, it lifts up the miserable and honors the poor. The cross is the end of darkness, the spreading of light, the flight of death, the ship of life and the kingdom of salvation.

"Whatever we accomplish for God, whatever we succeed and hope for, is the fruit of our veneration of  the cross. By the cross Christ draws everything to him. It is the kingdom of the Father, the scepter of the Son and the seal of the Holy Spirit, a witness to the total Trinity."

By Rupert, Abbot of Deutz, early 12^th century

Not My Will

In the garden, Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but yours be done."

Can you say that to God – say it and mean it? Not my will, God, but yours be done…in my life…my family…my job…my time. To truthfully say that to God means you are abandoning your will.

The dreams of your future which you hold so dear, you are willing to abandon them. The way you spend your time, the shows or sports you just have to watch, you are willing to totally abandon. All the stuff you've worked so hard to get, and all the stuff you so badly want, you are willing to abandon.

Can you truthfully say to God, “Not my will, but YOURS be done”? Most of us, if we are honest, know we wouldn't mean it, at least not in every area of our lives. But we are talking about giving our lives to our Creator.

Our lives are already his. Our future – no matter what we have planned – is totally in his hands. I may be dreaming of a vacation or retirement. He may have already decided I won’t be living out the week.

If we stopped worrying about this life, and started focusing on the one to come, we could more easily abandon our will to his. If we stopped focusing our thoughts on all the noise around us, and took time to be still and know He is God, our will would not seem so important. He is God, you know.

He is has been from eternity past. He will be forever in the future. He is greater than any thought we can have of him, and yet we still hold on to our lives as if these few years we have here on Earth are so important.

One day we will stand before him. Everyone in the Bible who did, fell down, terrified at his holiness and their own sinfulness – and these were great prophets and apostles. I promise you, not one of them thought, “Seeing God is really cutting into my plans. I wish he’d hurry and get this over with.”

No, they were in the presence of the Almighty. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was important. If you are a follower of God, his Holy Spirit lives in you now. You are in his presence. What else matters? Totally abandon your will to him today.

Desires and Fulfillment

Is it possible our desires stem, not from sin and the devil, but from the fact we are created in the image of God?

Let me explain. Our pride tells us we are worthy of honor. It says, “I AM important.” Our lusts, whether they be pride, flesh or eyes, are seeking fulfillment.

God has total fulfillment in himself. When He says, “I AM,” He can back that up, because He is! Having been created in his image, we have the desire for fulfillment, but our sin destroyed the capability of that fulfillment.

Adam and Eve had total fulfillment, a perfect relationship with God, a perfect relationship with each other and a perfect relationship with Earth itself. They didn't have any needs. They didn't have any wants…until…

Until Satan deceived Eve into thinking she was missing something. She believed him, and Adam just tagged along for the ride. And what a ride,

relationship with God – destroyed;

                        relationship with each other – destroyed;

                        relationship with the planet – destroyed…until…

Until Jesus stepped into human history to set things right. He makes us a new creation, children of God. And IN HIM we can have fulfillment once again.

Follow Him with me,

Darin

Why Jesus?

Dear Church Member,

In a world filled with religions and deities, why choose Jesus? Some people say it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe something. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.”

Many people think his statement doesn't sound very loving, but let’s look at that a minute. If we compare the other gods to Jesus, you will find similarities. In most religions, the deity created humans, gave them some rules, and told them they would be punished if they rebelled.

You may say, “Wait, I haven’t rebelled. In fact, I’m a good person.” Let’s see. God has Ten Commandments that determine if you are a good person.

One commandment is: don’t steal. Have you ever stolen anything, no matter how small? Another commandment is: don’t lie.  Have you ever told a lie? One command is: don’t commit adultery. Jesus went on to say, if you look at someone and lust, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart.

If you have broken any of these commands, you are considered unrighteous. You have rebelled against God’s law. And now, you are guilty.

 But Jesus is the only deity, who loved the disobedient creatures he created so much, he was willing to come down to Earth and become one of them.  And he lived without breaking the rules. But on top of all that, on the cross, he took the punishment for the disobedience of all of humanity.

If there is a deity willing to sacrifice himself for the guilty, perhaps he is not unjust to say, “You have to come to God through me, because I’m the only deity who worked to make your forgiveness possible. I love you that much.” Go ahead and look for another god who will love you as much. You won’t find one. So, my question to you is:

Why NOT Jesus?

Maybe you could tell someone about him today.

Follow Him with me,

Darin

Can You Fix This?

Dear Church Member,

Broken dreams, broken promises, broken hearts – life is filled with them. If we are not careful, they can cripple us. For some, they can even destroy faith.

It happened to my older son, Josh. When he was little, he believed his dad was superman. But one day, a broken toy changed all that.

The toy was a cheap, little plastic thing we got from a restaurant’s kid’s meal. When it broke, it was BROKEN. But, at six years old, Josh didn’t get that.

He brought it to me. “Daddy, fix this.” There was no question, only certainty that I would do it.
I had to tell him I couldn’t fix it. Some toys couldn’t be fixed. Josh is my thinker, and I could see the wheels turning.

After a minute, his face completely changed. He realized the truth. His daddy wasn’t superman. His daddy couldn’t fix everything. After that day, he still brought his broken toys to me, but his attitude changed. He asked, “Daddy, can you fix this.”

You may have come to a place like that with your Heavenly Father. Your own dreams have been broken enough, you’re no longer sure He can fix them. He can!

But, He may not. He may want your dreams broken and crushed and swept out of the way. Not because He’s uncaring, but so He can begin to paint a new dream. A dream bigger and more beautiful than your mind could even imagine. A dream that could never exist, as long as, your little dot-to-dot dream was in the way.

Are you willing to open your heart to your loving Father? Are you willing to say, “Daddy, I love you so much I’ll give up my dreams”?  Will you say, “God, paint my life however You want”?

Follow Him with me,

Darin

Are You Afraid?

How can we believe in God, yet disbelieve in the devil? The same scriptures tell us about both. Can we really believe we are alone here on this planet, that evil doesn't exist, or only exists in us?

Perhaps we are afraid to believe in the devil, because believing would put us in a dangerous position. We would have to live in constant fear of a creature much more powerful than us, and totally evil. Or, we would have to submit to the authority and power of Jesus to protect us from such a creature. Fear or faith.

Instead, we just ignore, disbelieve, in the hope that the devil will not be real, will just go away, or won’t notice us. Believe me; the devil is truly happy with that decision. Oh, he would love it if you believed and lived in constant fear of him. But he’s just as happy if you ignore him.

He only has one fear, that you will believe and move under the authority of Jesus. You can choose to believe in him or not, but know he will do all he can to keep that from happening. If you have a relationship with God, the devil is your enemy!

When the devil rebelled against his creator, he was cast out of heaven. He was not cast out alone. When he was banished, one third of the angels were flung out with him (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, Revelation 12:3-4).

Where did they end up? People often think of Satan as in hell. You can probably picture him there; pitchfork in hand, flames dancing around him. But scripture paints a more sinister picture.

According to scripture, the devil is here. 1 John 5:19 says, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” The whole world, this world, your world. Satan has power over this world.

“Wait,” you might be thinking. “Jesus has power over the world.” It is true, Jesus said, “All authority is given to me.” But let’s look at some of the other things Jesus said and didn't say.

In Luke 4, we see Jesus being tempted by the devil. “And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I will give it to whom I will.’”(verses 5-6).

He was trying to get Jesus to worship him. Jesus merely quoted the scripture, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” But Jesus didn't call Satan out as a liar, because he wasn't lying. The devil does have authority and power here on earth. Later Jesus calls the devil “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30).

Why is it that evil people prosper? Why do bad things happen to good people? Because Satan has power here on Earth, and he can give it to whomever he chooses. Does that cartoon character they call the devil seem any scarier to you yet? If not, check your pulse. Even though Satan is scary, we are going to discuss why you don't have to be afraid in the next post.