Truth Telling
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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025
What do you do when your finely tuned approach to Christianity and your faith is rocked? For sure it wipes out the whole idea that following Jesus is a walk in the park. “Biblical faith involves not just your mind; it also requires a commitment of our heart that radically changes the way you think.” (Everyday Gospel Devotional-Tripp-p. 114) What a shocking wake up call when one finds out the Christian life is not one of ease, but one filled with difficulty, experiences that rattle your cage. I will admit that I get upset when I hear of those shysters who simply want to take advantage of people to line their own pockets.
A recent incident/teaching has got me a little riled up. The teaching is by prosperity teacher (I refuse to call her a pastor) Paula White. It is called Paula White’s Passover Promises. Here it is in a nutshell:
Paula White, televangelist and spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump, has suggested to donors who give at least $1,000 to her ministry between April 12 and 20 that God will release seven supernatural blessings upon them. “[W]hen you honor God on Passover…you can receive these seven supernatural blessings, for you and your house, according to Exodus 23.”
The blessings she claims donors can release from God with their gift include:
- An angel assigned to them;
- God being an enemy to their enemies;
- Prosperity;
- Sickness removed from them;
- Long life;
- Increase and inheritance; and
- A special year of blessing.
She ties these blessings to a passage from Exodus 23 where God commands the Israelites to celebrate the Passover (verse 15).
Question: Can I throw up now or later?
I spent some time at the local hospital on Saturday, Sunday and Monday visiting a man who has really struggled with diabetes and an infection they say they can’t find. This is not the first time he has been in for the same thing. I went to the hospital yesterday (Tuesday) after receiving a text from his wife that he had passed away. He had gone from only moaning on Saturday, to sleeping (finally) on Sunday, to being fairly alert and able to take dialysis on Monday, to having a very talkative morning only to pass away just moments later. They were both godly people and had raised 6 children to love Jesus. So…please tell me Mrs White-Cain, where your spiel comes in at? Oh yeah, that’s right! They didn’t send you a $1000.
People, be on the lookout for hucksters and shysters like her and others of her ilk. Fortunately for Tim, his salvation was not determined by works, or giving money to shysters, or “naming it and claiming it.” He is now dancing on streets of gold (he had a leg removed to his knee due to complications with diabetes). And he is singing his country gospel at the top of his lungs-on key.
I’m grateful God is not tied to hucksters and shysters but is simply full of love and grace. (And yes I know this post is a bit snarky).
Posted in InTheShadow | 8 Responses »
Tags: Christian Living, False Teaching, God's Word, Health/wealth teaching, Jesus, Opinion, Reflection, Truth Telling
Friday, March 21st, 2025
A.W. Tozer once said, “Too much of contemporary Christianity is borrowed from the philosophies of the world and even other religions-phrases and mottos that on the surface look great but are not rooted in Scripture or that mostly bolster one’s self-image.” Alisa Childers, from whose book Live Your Truth and Other Lies was where I found that quote, goes on to say, “These happy little lies are pithy assertions that sound good, safe, optimistic, and constructive, look great stitched on a pillow or turned into a meme, but are lies.” (page 2)
The sad fact is that even though we might use statements like “I want to know the truth” or “I always try to tell the truth,” we often hedge our bets by being less that truthful. Even more disingenuous is how we react when we do hear the truth. This week’s message will simply ask the question, “What will you do with the truth?” I’m going to start with trying to answer the question Pilate asked Jesus: “What is truth?” Then I’m going to take each day’s reading from Everyday Gospel and see what they say about truth. It will be a different approach from previous weeks. I might even have a pop quiz at the end to see how many are keeping up with the reading! Just kidding. 🙂
I would love to have you join us in person either at 9:00 or 10:45. If you are unable to do so, please join us via the live stream. You can send a request to join our Facebook Group at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship or view our public page at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship-Spencer, In. Or you can watch via YouTube at Owen Valley Christian Fellowship. I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you online.
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Tags: Choices, God's Truth, Reflection, Sermon Series, Truth Telling
Thursday, March 13th, 2025
“Just follow your heart.”
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times. You can’t watch a Hallmark movie or Great American Family without hearing it. You can’t read a self-help book (I will leave them unnamed since I don’t want to publicize them) without hearing that phrase. You can’t go to a high school or college graduation without hearing those words somewhere in the speech. Without a doubt it may be one of the most popular phrases used in our culture.
Last night in my group I call Wednesday Night Conversations, we discussed this phrase. I shared some statistics with them that I thought were quite telling:
- 84% of Americans believe that the “highest goal in life is to enjoy it as much as possible.”
- 86% believe that to be fulfilled requires you to “pursue the things you desire most.”
- 91% affirm that “the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself.”
(Source: “Don’t Follow Your Heart by Thaddeus Williams-p.xiv)
But, in reality, following your heart is a really bad idea. To follow your heart implies that you take it as seriously as the Christian takes the Bible, the Muslim takes the Koran, or some cult follows its rule book/leader. You must redefine your identity and anything less than full obedience and expression of every subjective feeling of sexual attraction is unforgivable. Anyone who questions you is a bigot, a phobic, a hater, or worse, an “R.” Our ancestors got a lot wrong, like us. But the one thing they got right was that feelings were not the final authority of right and wrong. Why? Simple. Feelings cannot be trusted. You wake up one morning and you feel absolutely great. Your day goes well. You wake up the next morning with a headache to beat all headaches and you didn’t sleep very well. You day goes terribly. What was the difference? How. you. felt. The fallacy in all of this, the unalterable truth the “follower your heart-ers” want us to think, is that deep down we are all basically good. Aaaah yeah. I know myself. I know I rationalize, make excuses, point the finger of blame, and tend to dismiss criticism.
Word to the wise: don’t follow your heart. It is deceptive and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Instead, we need to align ourselves with God’s Word, whether it goes against our grain or not. The TRUTH is not up for grabs or auction. We need to pray that God will give us a new heart (Jer. 24:7), one that will follow His lead and not our own.
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Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Faith/Feelings, God's Word, Lifestyle, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Sin, Story, The Heart, Truth Telling
Thursday, December 19th, 2024
I have a laptop that I use quite a lot. Over a year ago someone in the church gave me a big monitor which I absolutely love. My laptop sits closed at the base of the monitor because I like using an external keyboard rather than trying to fit my big fingers on the small keyboard of the laptop. I have a Bible open to my favorite chapter in the Bible sitting on top of my closed laptop and a post-it “thingy” (it looks like an arrow that says, “Read me!”) pointed directly to my favorite verse. I have one pointing to Luke 24:32 since that verse is the theme for my 2025 year of preaching. When Jesus walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection, they realized who He was when He broke bread with them. Their words were “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” I want to keep that constantly in front of me as I study.
But hands down my favorite passage in Psalm 37. I have the post-it arrow focused on verse 5. Please allow me to share with you the words from Psalm 37:1-8 this morning. I can think of no better way to start the day than to read Scripture and focus on what it says. Maybe this will be just for you today.
“Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. (That was verse 5) He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm.” A little later in that chapter (verses 23-24) he writes, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (Scripture from NLT)
I wrote it without verse divisions because I wanted you to see its flawless reading. How it flows. But most importantly the meaning and encouragement this chapter gives. I hope and pray you might take some time today to meditate on these verses and then allow them to flood your heart and soul. Who knows? They just may become your favorite as well!
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Christian Living, God's Word, Lifestyle, Ministry, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Quiet Time, Reflection, Scripture look, Truth Telling
Monday, December 16th, 2024
For 2025 I have asked the church I pastor (Owen Valley Christian Fellowship in Spencer, IN) to accept a challenge. The challenge was to use Everyday Gospel, a daily devotional written by Paul David Tripp as their go-to this coming year. Thanks to the generosity of Crossway Publishing, who offered the opportunity to buy them in bulk for $10 each (order at least 10), our folks were able to get on board for the challenge. To date we have had to order…wait for it…120 copies of the book!! That means there will be at least 120 people who will be reading the devotional each day plus the Scripture corresponding to it. By the end of the year, we will have read through the whole Bible. But I did something even crazier, which really put a target on my forehead. I told them that instead of preaching a series or a book of the Bible or even topics in 2025, that I would base all my sermons on the Scriptures read the previous week (Sunday through Saturday). For example, on January 5th, the first Sunday of 2025, I will preach on Genesis 1-15, the Scripture passages we are to read for January 1-4. In all of my 50+ years of ministry, I have never-read that NEVER- preached on the whole Bible from the first Sunday of the year to the last. I’m not kidding you when I say I come with a bit of fear after I opened my mouth and made that statement. I wonder now if it was what drove people to sign up for the book.
But I also have to admit to a ton of excitement and cautious optimism for the task in front of me. As I stated earlier, I have NEVER taken on this task before. It will require some serious study and preparation as I weed through some great parts of the Bible but also some tough parts (how does one preach through parts of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers and make it exciting?). It has also required me reading the Devotional ahead of time, then I will go back and read it again on its planned day, along with the Scripture passage. Last night I read the devotions for January 26 & 27 in preparation for the sermon on February 2nd. My thoughts today are taken from the January 26th devotion.
We hear a lot during this time of the year about love, joy, and hope. My daughter Tami’s favorite Christmas song has the lyrics “The thrill of hope the weary world rejoices.” (O Holy Night). I know how this whole scenario ends (Jesus wins) but even with that belief/truth, it is hard not to feel like many others do: where is the hope? We sure don’t live in a hopeful society do we? I’m not even talking politics here. I’m talking about life. Before I went to my ManCave last night to focus my thoughts and heart and to sit with an ice pack on my new knee and a hot pad on sore places from the needles of that surgery, I heard about Syria, the death of the United HealthCare CEO, the pardons, the rhetoric which seemed to say murder was wrong “but,” the immigration crisis, etc. You get the picture. So, tell me, where is the hope? I have an 18 year old, soon-to-be a high school graduate grandson, who will be attending THE Ohio State University this fall. What kind of world will he grow up in? One without truth? One without boundaries? One without knowing right from wrong? One without HOPE! I pray not. I pray that Braden’s generation says, “Enough is enough!” and claws its way back to truth and the hope that comes with it. In his January 26th devotion, Paul David Tripp writes, “True and lasting hope is found in these words: “I will dwell in the midst of my people.”
May Tripp’s words be a signpost for my grandson’s generation. Really, for every generation still living and will soon be living. “May you dwell in the midst of your people, Lord.”
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Choices, Christian Living, Church, God, God's Presence, God's Word, Opinion, Reflection, Truth Telling
Wednesday, December 4th, 2024
Learning Journal #5: WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE…
…is dying
…has died
…has a long-term illness
…has dementia or Alzheimer’s
…turns his/her back on their faith
…comes out of the closet sexually
…disowns you or turns against you
…makes bad decisions
As one can imagine, the scenarios would never stop. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.
Funny thing (not ha-ha funny) is that many are either too hard to answer or really have no answer. The hard truth is that sometimes there is no answer, or at least, an easy one. But there are people who think they have the answer. But, generally, they don’t have answers. They have cliches.
- “God is good all the time; all the time God is good.” I cannot even begin to tell you how annoying that is. Let me use one word: REAL. It’s not that it isn’t true. It is to an extent. But you just don’t go spouting that cliche off to a parent whose child announced he/she is leaving the faith or is seeking gender surgery or cancer has been found. Or a man’s wife stares back at him with no recollection of who he is. Yeah…not good words to say carelessly.
- “Praise the Lord anyhow!” No. Curse Him is what we really feel like doing. The last thing God wants for us to do is pretend all is well. He will be there as we continue soothing our heart and working through our pain and seeking His will.
You get my drift. Sometimes we are just better off keeping our words and cliches to ourselves. Sometimes all that other person needs is for someone to just show up. Galatians 6:2 says, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (NLT) Doesn’t get much plainer than that.
And you don’t even need to use words.
{Note: if you get a chance check out this post I read the other day. It says it much better than I can}
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Tags: Christian Living, Cliches, God's Plan, Hurting, Kindness, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Story, Suffering, Sympathy, Truth Telling
Thursday, November 21st, 2024
In the previous post (November 20) I referenced Erwin Lutzer’s book, The Eclipse of God, where he stated there were 3 gravediggers who built a coffin for God. A quick recap:
Gravedigger #1- Karl Marx: An Attack on God as Ruler.
Gravedigger #2- Charles Darwin: An Attack on God as Creator.
And today’s- Gravedigger #3-Sigmund Freud:An Attack Against God as Lawgiver. Freud saw a belief in God as a fantasy. Freud made his own rules. His real fantasy was sex, sex, and more sex. No holds-barred sex. Sex of all kinds. One of his disciples was Alfred Kinsey, a bisexual who interviewed sex offenders, child molesters, and sexual assaulters for his “Kinsey Report.” I remember hearing about that as a young pastor but was clueless as to its meaning or impact. This man is S.I.C.K. He even believed child rape poses no problem for children! SICK and WRONG! So very wrong.
The satanic spawn of the gravediggers attempts to destroy God can be found in 3 philosophies. I’m sure you have heard of: Communism, Nazism, and Fascism. We have certainly seen the children of those beliefs.
What does this all mean for we who are Christ-followers? We need to stop play-acting. We need to stop posing as Christians. We need to become real Christ-followers. For the record: I see a distinct difference between calling oneself a Christian and one being a Christ-follower. More than anything else, this world needs to see genuine followers of Jesus.
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Tags: Culture, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Story, Truth Telling
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
I wrote this and after finishing realized it was way too long for a one-off post. So this will actually be Part 1 and tomorrow I will post Part 2.
During my rehab (which is still ongoing), I finished reading The Eclipse of God by Erwin Lutzer. Mr. Lutzer is a retired pastor and at the age of 83 I am not sure if I know anyone who has his finger on the pulse of our culture more than him. I have NEVER been disappointed in any of his books (I have about 5-6 of them). They are insightful, thought-provoking, and IMHO spot on. This one is no exception.
However, this is not a book review. The basic premise of this book is “our nation’s disastrous search for a more inclusive deity (and what we must do about it)”. {Note: front cover subtitle}
What I found especially beneficial-and it sets the foundation for his analysis-is that he lists 3 gravediggers who prepared a coffin for God and we are paying that price today. Those 3 gravediggers are Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud. With the limited space I have, I’m just going to give Pastor Lutzer’s main points and add a few thoughts of my own.
Gravedigger #1: The Theology of Karl Marx-At Attack on God as Ruler. To Marx, religion was worthless. He believed religion arose because men needed a purpose, and so he created the idea of God. There is much more to his philosophy, but let’s just ask this question: How is his system working out? Let me give you common thoughts and words that illustrate his philosophy: “Defund the police.” DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). CRT. Abolishing the importance of family (including taking decisions out of the hands of parents). At the core is a hatred for religion. A disciple of Marx’s philosophy is Nietzche (“God is dead”).
Gravedigger #2: The Theology of Charles Darwin-An Attack on God as Creator. Darwin said, “Science has nothing to do with Christ.” One bitter fruit from his philosophy is the more one applies Darwinism, the more racist one becomes. His theory led to eugenics (you decide characteristics, appearance, get rid of the “undesirables,” etc) which leads to his beliefs that there are “doubtful species.” Talk about racism! Darwinism spawned Mein Kampf, written by the ultimate racist, Adolph Hitler.
You can see the outcome of these first two gravediggers. Just look at the disciples. Look at the resulting, more common thoughts we have been dealing with over the past few years. Gravedigger #3 will post tomorrow.
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Tags: Culture, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Truth Telling
Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
In my daily Bible reading, I began this morning in the book of Romans. Considered Paul’s magnum opus, it is chalk full of truth. All kinds of truth. The purpose of this devotion today is not to give an overview of the whole book, but to give a glimpse into chapter 1.
- Verses 1-7 has Paul greeting the Roman followers of Christ. He gives some serious doctrinal truth as to who Jesus is.
- Verses 8-17 has Paul grateful for the Roman followers of Jesus because the love they have for Jesus has spread and others have heard about their love. He gives, perhaps, the most succinct purpose of the Gospel in verses 16-17: “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'” (NLT)
But then he lowers the boom. He writes about God’s displeasure with sin-all sin. His approach is multi-pronged:
- There are those who disregard God Himself. They deny His existence. I would put them in the “We can’t see Him so He is not real” camp. Paul says they are without excuse. (v.20). He says those who want to think that way are fools. Instead of worshiping a real God, they worship a fake god (images of people, birds, animals and reptiles).
- Then comes a very distinct and very confrontational passage: verses 24-27. These are called “clobber verses” because they are used as clubs to confront, judge, condemn and beat people over the head who struggle with SSA. In all honesty, only those who want to justify theirs-or someone else’s actions-can overlook this. BUT…
- I am stopped dead in my tracks by verses 28-32. Lest I get arrogant and stand on a self-righteous soapbox, there is a laundry list of sin that condemns us all. We may say, “SSA? Not me!” and feel good about ourselves. But hold on! Look at the list: every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. Then Paul writes, “They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.” As each one is leveled, we start hopping around lest His divine foot stomp nail our feet to the floor and expose our sinful heart.
Short recap I know. There is so much more to say. I simply say: investigate on your own. Read this chapter slowly, all the while asking God to speak to your heart. The message will not only be clear; it is one you cannot escape. I think we all need the message of Romans 1, but I especially am grateful for the simple words about Good News in verses 16-17 (see above).
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Choices, Christian Living, God's Word, Jesus, Lifestyle, Love, Ministry, Opinion, Quiet Time, Reflection, Scripture look, Sin, Story, Truth Telling
Tuesday, September 24th, 2024
“Becoming a Christian doesn’t make one sinless, but it ought to make one sin less.“ (Conway-p.35)
I’ve been reading a book the past few days entitled Does Christianity Still Make Sense? by Bobby Conway. Conway was a pastor, a host of the YouTube podcast One Minute Apologist (now called Christianity Still Makes Sense) who went through a crisis of faith-a dark night of the soul-where he questioned his Christian faith. He came out on the other side and has written a book looking at objections to Christianity. One of those is answering the question “Why are there so many scandals in the Church?” The follow-up question is the next chapter, the oft-used “Aren’t Christians just a bunch of hypocrites?”
No doubt those are two questions that crop up again and again. I’ve been asked them and I’m sure if you are a pastor or a Christ-follower, you have also. Maybe you have even asked them yourself.
I’ve often been tongue-tied trying to answer those questions because I know I struggle with that. I know I’m a sinner and sometimes exhibit that truth way too much and find myself a very poor representative of Jesus. But I’ve also come to the conclusion that the saying I started out with depicts me. While “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” can be flippantly tossed out to justify sin, I’m not trying to do that here. Exact opposite actually. Just because I have been forgiven doesn’t mean I won’t sin. I’m not sinless, but I should sin less.
Does my sin discredit Christianity? No. Just because a batter strikes out, he doesn’t represent the whole team. Just because I fail (sin) does not mean Christianity is a failure. The ultimate example-Jesus-never sinned. My trying to be like Him won’t make me sinless, but as I have said, it should make me sin less. My ultimate goal-any Christ-followers goal-should be to represent Jesus as close as we can. I will never do that perfectly.
Christianity doesn’t rise and fall on me. My sin brings a stain, but doesn’t undermine the rock solid truth of Jesus as the perfect and firm foundation. Is sin a problem? Yes. Is hypocrisy a problem? It can be. But Jesus offers the solution to the problem. If you or someone you know keeps using these excuses, stop making excuses by pointing fingers at fallible people and start looking at an infallible Christ.
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Tags: Christian Living, God, Hypocrisy, Jesus, Lifestyle, Opinion, Reflection, Sin, Story, Truth Telling
