Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

We will be 'on air' at the top of the hour. Join us for a dynamic study into Truth, Justness, and the Kingdom of the Heavens.

Last night I heard a graduations speech that quite frankly was amazing, given to whom the speech was addressed, and the audience that was listening.  The speaker told the story of two young soldiers that were guards in front of a government building that applied taxes upon the population. A crowd gathered, and began taunting and threatening the soldiers. Seven other young soldiers came in support, but the crown grew to over 400 people that began to take up rocks and stick, crowding in on the nine soldiers that were just trying to do their jobs. During the attack, a gun shot occurred, and when the dust cleared three citizens were dead, and the soldier were accused of murder. This event happened in Boston in 1770 CE. Only one person came forward to defend these soldiers, and that person was one of the leaders of the insurrection that precipitated the tragic events of that day. His name was John Adams. In court, Adams opened with this sentence;  "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams, 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,' December 1770 US diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826)  The seven soldiers were acquitted in a colonial court, against the odds. Facts in evidence must trump the passion of the moment. Jake told his students that life would present to them many challenges to their current way of thinking, and that they must be able to discern fact from fiction to make good decisions. Jesus said the same thing when He said, "See to it that no one deceive you" (Matt. 24:4).

Inner Peace~ I was driving home today from errands, and as I passed a local Yoga studio I noticed a hand written sign hanging from the business marquis that said, "Peace? Inquire Within!" This prompted a thought that flew into my mind, given the central theme of our radio programs for the past few weeks. and that was, 'Is the meaning of this sign LITERAL, or SPIRITUAL?' Two years ago last March for my birthday my daughter gave me a one year membership to a high end yoga studio in the town in which she now lives with her husband. In fact, she and her husband met for the first time in that very studio, and a romance developed that led to their marriage a year ago April 1. I learned a lot during this year of yoga classes, not the least of which is that there is a definite mechanical relationship (Hatha yoga) between relaxed and deliberate breathing, called Ujjayi breathing, and becoming peaceful in the body. The art of Pranayama yoga is finding peace in the spirit. As I drove past the sign I wondered if the owners of the yoga business realized that there was a double meaning attached to what they were advertising; either finding peace by coming into their store, or finding peace from within the body and spirit. We have come to understand in our study of the words of Jesus that true peace come from an inner source, and that this peace is not derived from either a physical or mystical source. True peace is found by 'Abiding in' (living in) the words of Jesus, making them part of our very being. It is not a 'feeling' of peace imposed by an outside spirit, that may or may not be from God. It is peace that comes from 'Knowing our Master, and His will', because we know His words, because they are the words of the Father. The Spirit that Jesus breathed upon His disciples in John 20:19-23 is the same Spirit that will bring us true peace.

I was band teacher (grades 5-12) at a local private academy, and every year I had a new 5th grade class come to my band room, with the hopes that they would be able to learn to play an instrument well.  By all accounts I met with some success in this endeavor, and one of the reasons is that from the beginning of my students experience in my bands they learned the most important lesson that I could give them. I would begin my first class by asking a question of my students. I would say to them, "You have heard that practice makes perfect. Is this true?" Uniformly, their answer was yes, practice makes perfect.  Then I would surprise them with this response; that actually this is a lie, practice does not make perfect, practice makes PERMANENT. Only PERFECT practice makes perfect. Then I reassured them that I would teach them HOW to practice perfectly. Jesus finished His teaching session with Nicodemus by saying this: "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:19-21. If you decide to practice a lie you can never come to the light and learn the Truth. This decision is entirely up to you, and you will be held accountable for this, even though you did not realize that you believed a lie as if it was the truth. This is why it is so important to be humble, and admit that do not know the truth and need to learn it.

In looking through posts on FB this morning I was interedted to note that the memes and comments that were posted by Christian friends are tending toward highly emotional responses to cultural and political situations, rather than an attempt to come to a rational understanding of the causes of the underlying problems. One such post came from the associate pastor of the church I used to attend. His post was about a woman that 'converted' from being a Conservative to a Liberal Christian based on the perception that if Jesus were here on earth today He would be a Liberal, and a Social Activist. Her belief that this is true stems from the understanding that Christians should be willing to allow everyone to just 'be themselves', without the judgement of society influencing their behavior. There is 'no condemnation' in the message that Jesus brought to earth; He brought only love and comfort to the poor and downtrodden. He healed the sick and performed miracles that showed Gods love to the world. In her mind this exemplified the mindset of the Liberal of today, and not the cruel and judgemental attitude of the Conservative. Frankly, I don't know how Jesus would have reacted to the social and political environment of the world of today. Jesus spoke of the separation of the two kingdoms that exist in this world, by saying that we are to give to the governments of the world that which is demanded, and give to God that which He demands. And this means that we must figure out what each of those requirements are, before we can learn in which one we truly desire to live. Both Kingdoms have law, because without those rules there can be no kingdoms. What this woman did not understand is that Jesus came to earth to 'lay down the Law' of the Kingdom of the Heavens; to confirm that Law as just and right and good. To enter His Kingdom we must accept and practice that Law.

One of the greatest lines in one of the greatest movies by Tom Hanks, one of the greatest character actors in film, that he said in the movie Forest Gump, was this; "Life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get!".  This statement was made by a completely innocent mentally challenged man, that saw life in the most simple of ways, and reacted to the challenges of life in a straightforward and guiless manner. Yet as we all know, life may be like that box of chocolates, but it is not simple, nor is it straight forward. One of the stark realities that was present in the movie Forest Gump was that Forest believed whatever was said to him, in complete trust that what he had been told was the truth. The sad fact was that much of what Forest was told was a lie that he 'believed' was true. Forest indeed was without guile, an innocent; but he also had no filters that would allow him to separate truth from lies. The disciples of Jesus were in some ways as was Forest Gump, in that they before they met Jesus they trusted what they had been taught by their religion, family, and cultural traditions was the truth. Under the instruction of their Master they found that for the most part what they 'thought' was true was lies. Jesus taught and trained His disciples that it was up to them to discern Truth from lies, and to not be deceived (Matt. 24:4). This is a difficult lesson for all of us to learn, because it means the before we learn this lesson and take it to heart, ALL of us have been deceived. We have been taught that salvation comes not by learning and practicing the truth (John 3:19-21), but by believing that we are saved by grace through faith; and by having more faith we will not have to actually know the truth, we can simply BELIEVE that we know the truth, as did Forest Gump.

I think that we can all agree that there is something drastically different between the society in which we live today that the society of 50 years ago. Then, your word was your bond; if someone said they would do something for you, they would do it without fail. If someone asked you to take care of their animals for a weekend while they went away, you would make sure those animals were safe and sound when your friends returned. You would not leave their pets to die because you became too  busy with your own life to fulfill your promise. In today's society there are many people that feel that they are owed  a living, simply because they refuse to accept the responsibility for their own living. Many people feel the they should not be held accountable for their actions, because what is required of them is too much trouble. We have seen young people that feel ostracised from classmates in school, or bullied, take up firearms and kill their classmates because they want others to feel the same pain they feel; they have no self worth, so they feel no one else is worth anything either. This 'cultureal identity' stems in part because many of these people were reared in a religious culture that stated that they were not personally liable for their own actions, rather someone else would pay the price for their deficiencies. Their religion stated (in their minds) that they have no accountability or responsibility for their own eternal life, and this has been transferred into how they deal with trials and tribulations in their own personal lives. Jesus teaches that we are to be held accountable and responsible for out actions in the final judgement; we WILL BE rewarded for our actions here on earth when Jesus comes again, and it does matter that we 'keep the commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 12:17).

Join us at 10AM Pacific Time for our program. We will continue to show the differences between the Gospel of the Kingdom as defined by Jesus to His own eyewitness disciples, and the gospel of God, as defined by someone that never knew Jesus while He was here on earth in the flesh.

Years ago my good friend Rich Humple loved to get on various religious blog sites and challenge the shoddy thinking of some of the contributors. Rich was a (as he put it) a 'research lawyer', who would not leave any stone unturned in order to get the the truth. He specialized in Constitutional Law and Practice, and was instrumental in putting Spirit of Truth Ministry 'ON AIR' on Blog Talk Radio. In this regard, when he registered as a participant in several on line blogs he used the 'nom-de-plume' ROCKROLLER, because he would leave no stone unturned in order to find the truth. He would often purposely challenge the status quo of a religious system or a traditional way of thinking about a religious subject, which would engender significant anger from some of those whom he challenged. When they couldn't refute his assertions, these people would start to call him names, and personally attack him rather than come up with an argument that could support their own views. When this happened Rich new he had done his job. Several times he was banned from one 'forum' or another because the moderator of that particular thread accused him of heresy against an specific church. The Truth will anger people that are afraid of finding it. Challenging tradition, dogma, catachism, or fundamental doctrine of any church or political organization often leads to making enemies of those that are confronted with TRUTH. Jesus experienced this while He was on earth. We will experience it when we follow His words and teachings, instead of those of the 'world'.  "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you". John 15:18.

Join us at 10AM Pacific Time for an inspiring and unique study and method of learning the Truth. Truth is not what you think it is, especially if you are a Christian. We have all been deceived, and if you say you have not been deceived is proof that you have. So how do you know 'What is Truth'? You find truth in the words of Jesus as He gave them to His own eyewitness disciples, and are recorded in Matthew and John. Jesus confirmed this in the book of Revelation: So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Rev. 12:17.