Two Truths

During the month of January our church was in revival for three weeks.  Our evangelist, Bro. Bone, spoke about the demoniac of the Gadarenes found in Mark chapter 5 and Luke chapter 8.  This is a familiar story, but it also reminded me of a fictionalized account I read about six years ago.  I blogged about it here.

Since it had been so long, I decided to re-read the book and I'm so glad I did.  The book description says this: 

If there is a way into madness, logic says there is a way out. Logic says.

Tallis, a philosopher's servant, is sent to a Greek academy in Palestine only to discover that it has silently, ominously disappeared. No one will tell him what happened, but he learns what has become of four of its scholars. One was murdered. One committed suicide. One worships in the temple of Dionysus. And one is a madman.

There was a conversation about halfway into the book between Tallis and a slave named Samir.  They were talking about choices and fate.  Samir said this:

My tribe teaches this, that there are two truths.
The first truth:  You can choose.
The second truth:  You cannot choose for another.

I think the second truth is harder to take than the first.  We see people bound in sin and want to help them find deliverance.  But they have to choose.  We see people turn their backs on what is right and good and we want to bring them back, we can't choose for them.

I'm thankful for that first truth.  While I can't choose for another, I can choose to live a life that is pleasing to my Maker.  I can choose holiness, integrity, redemption, joy, grace and mercy. 

What happens around us is largely outside our control, 
but how we choose to react to it is inside our control. 
We can throw our hands up in defeat 
or we can choose to trust God for His solution.
- Mom's Bible

Pants on Fire

What was the last lie you told? Why did you tell it?

I thought this was an interesting writing prompt because it makes the assumption that we make a habit of telling lies!  There are times we think it would be easier to tell a "white" lie - perhaps we want to spare someone's feelings.  "Does this dress make me look fat?" is a dangerous question, but to not give an honest answer it to set your friend/spouse up for future embarrassment.  If the dress really does make me look fat (and I probably already know the answer if I'm asking) then please don't let me leave the house!  Telling someone "you're almost there" at mile 5 of a marathon is not only a lie, but anyone who has run 26.2 miles knows it!

One of my favorite stories to hear Les tell is from his high school band teacher.  I blogged about it on August 22, 2008:

Les attended White's Creek High School in Nashville, Tennessee. His band instructor was Mr. Robert S. Churchwell, Jr. Mr. Churchwell had high expectations of every student in his class and didn't let anyone get away with sloppiness. Lateness or coming to class without all the necessary materials was cause for the following:

Mr. C: Boy, why are you late?
Student: Aww, Mr. Churchwell...
Mr. C: Boy, you're lying to me!
and if you'll lie, you'll cheat!
and if you cheat, you'll steal!
and if you steal, you'll kill!
I don't want no murderers in my band class! Get out now!!!

I'm pretty sure Mr. Churchwell understood the words of Jesus from John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Our fallen nature wants to lie, cheat, steal and kill, but when we put on the whole armor of God that includes girding ourselves with truth.  Tell the truth!  It's easier to remember. 

Of course the biggest danger is when we lie to ourselves...

And Beheld Your Devotions

(St. Mark's Basilica in Venice)

While on our trip we had the opportunity to visit some of the world's most famous churches. St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is the largest basilica in the world. We also saw St. Mark's Basilica in Venice and many, many other cathedrals. There was one in Venice that left my spirit so disturbed, the paintings and sculptures were a mix of religious, mystical and mythical characters.

Now before I get in trouble for bashing sincere people who follow the teachings of the Catholic church, that is not the point of this post. I felt like Paul as he stood on Mars hill in Acts chapter 17. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions..." He continues his message by saying, "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." 95% of the population of Italy is Catholic. They are sincere in their devotion to the teachings of the Catholic church. The problem is how far the teachings are from the Word of God.

(St. Peter's Basilica in Rome)

Our guide in Rome gave us some history about the sculpture of Peter shown below. He is holding keys in his hand. Those keys represent the keys that Jesus gave to him in Matthew chapter 16 "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."


I thought how true that is, Peter did have the keys, but how far they've strayed from the message that Peter preached! Acts 2:38 says, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Peter also said in Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

In Acts chapter 10, when Peter went in to Cornelius' house "...Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man." Peter knew that there was only One worthy to be worshiped!

On the back of a "Welcome to the Vatican" pamphlet are words from Pope Benedict - "Let Us pray to Mary, Mother of the Lord, so that she will enable us to feel her love as a woman and mother, in which we can understand all the depth of Christ's mystery. The Lord bless you all!" I wonder how Mary would feel if she could see how she is worshiped today. Her response to the angel's prophecy was simply "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." Would she who became a willing vessel be appalled at the number of churches that are named for her?

(Front of a church in Tindari, Sicily)

We don't see that kind of worship as much in America. Our idols aren't saints or disciples, ours play on football fields and in movie theaters. We're devoted to People magazine and American Idol. More and more our gods are ourselves. The first of the ten commandments is still "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" followed by the second, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

So my spirit has been stirred. I want to check my own heart to make sure the only One on the throne, the only One I worship, is Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the One Who came to save His people from their sins.

30 Days of Thanks - Day #22

I am thankful that His TRUTH is Marching On!

On Friday night of West Coast Conference, Elder Morton preached from Ecclesiastes 1:4 "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh." Elder Morton is now 70 years old, he talked about being part of the generation that is passing away. I am not ready for that AT ALL. I want to see him around and hear him preach for many, many more years. But I don't want what he has preached - the message of Acts 2:38, holiness, separation from the world, and reaching the lost - to end with his generation. I want to be a part of the continuation.

The Sunday morning following WCC, Les taught our Sunday school class "Generation to Generation." Yep, right along the same lines! He talked about generational cycles, how the first generation has the relationship with God, the second has a responsibility to their father's God, and the third generation only has a form of religion. A great Biblical of example of this is King David, his son Solomon, his grandson Rehoboam. But hope came in the life of David's great grandson, Abijah, who returned to the ways of the Lord.

On the heels of that lesson, Bro. Tommy Johnson made an incredible statement. He said he has been told, "No one can fill your shoes." His response, "Follow in my footsteps, but walk in your own shoes." There can never be another Elder Morton or Elder Paul Price or Elder C.M. Becton, but we can follow the path they have set before us, wearing our own shoes.

Finally, the passing of Bro. Becton has brought many conversations between Les and I, reminiscing of those years that Bro. Becton was his pastor. The ways that God used this great man in the lives of many. His funeral, attended by hundreds, carried a theme - this was a man who was a friend of God.

With the passing of one generation, the Truth lies in the hands of my generation and the generations to follow. Elder Becton was 82, Elder Morton is 70, Pastor White is 55, Les and I are in our 40s, and there were four young men in their 30s who preached at WCC. The Truth WILL March On! It didn't stop with the Apostles and it's not going to stop with me!