Tag: truth

Standing up for Truth and Loving our Enemies | In My Father’s House

Hands of many colors holding up a cross.
~ wzippler

  Standing up for Truth and Loving our EnemiesPosted on May 13, 2021, by Mel WildEvangelist

     Reinhard Bonnke once said, “The devil is just a mouse with a microphone.” Jesus stripped him of his power on the cross. Now, the only authority he has is what we give him through the lies we believe. The same is true for tyranny. Oppressive regimes only have power when the people allow them to have it. And we allow it through ignorance and fear. But we also know what was meant for evil can be for our good (Gen.50:20), and that God works all things together for our good (Rom.8:28). So, in that hopeful light, I will share an op-ed piece from the Epoch Times that exposes what’s bringing us to the brink of tyranny, and then add my own insights on how we should respond. This article is titled, “The American Oligarchy is being Exposed” by Brian Cates. I don’t think you have to be a subscriber to read it for yourself, but I will put some of the main points here, just in case. Here’s how the article begins:“One of the biggest impacts Trump has had on the country both as president and as a private citizen has been awakening millions of Americans to the very real danger of a media and political elite class that has been subverting Constitutional and legal processes in the states to increase their own power and control.”*

Read more at: Standing up for Truth and Loving our Enemies | In My Father’s House

Christians believe that they are right and others are wrong.

~ wzippler

books-girl-library-love-favim-com-2649300

If Christians were simply saying that they like Christianity, the way that some people like chocolate and some prefer vanilla, this objection would be spot on. It would be silly to argue about what your favorite flavor is. One person is free to get chocolate, and the other person is free to dig into the vanilla. That is not what we are claiming, however. Christianity isn’t built around choices it is built on a moment of history. If Jesus Christ is a real person who died, and then was resurrected Christianity is true. If as the Bible itself says that if Christ is still in the ground we should be the most miserable.

Our own faith claims that it is either based on a historical fact, or it is a lie.

It turns out that most if not all religions make exclusive claims, They believe that their leader is right, and as a consequence anyone who thinks differently is wrong, and many of those claims are contradictory, so they can’t all be true. Depending on who you talk to when you die you either cease to exist, go to Heaven or Hell, get to populate another planet with spirit babies as God, get reincarnated and there are probably other opinions about what happens after we die, but they can’t all be true. You can’t both cease to exist, and go to Heaven.  Serious believers in every worldview would argue with you if you disagreed with major points in their doctrine.  I have had this discussion with people who thought that all religions are true, only to have them go ballistic when I say that mine is true, and someone else’s isn’t. Their mind was made up that despite their claims that everyone’s religion is right, that mine was wrong.

Truth is exclusive. One plus one is two, it isn’t three, four or five. it is two, and anyone who disagrees is wrong, no matter how sincerely you may believe that one plus one is six.

Listen

~ wzippler

 

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When we answer before listening, we prove to others that we are both stupid and rude.
Dallas and Nancy Demmitt Can You Hear Me Now? (2003)

According to God, we are supposed to love everyone, even our enemies. Yet half the time we won’t even listen to our friendly acquaintances, much less our enemies.  When we tune people out, we are being very unloving. Yes, it can be hard to listen to your enemies, but how can we ever attempt to make peace if we don’t?

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.”
― Winston S. Churchill

No one knows everything, and everyone knows something.
I have to admit that I have from time to time tuned certain people out, assuming that they were either uninformed or misinformed. Which can be the case, but it is wrong to tune them out. There is one politician for example that has become famous precisely because she is under-informed and often seems to make up answers on the fly when she has no idea what she is talking about. Yet the other day she made a comment that was wildly intelligent, while I still believe she meant for her comment to be taken differently, she proved that she can be right. I even saw a video yesterday posted by a five-time felon who gave many people a lesson on tolerance. You never know where the truth will come from, but you have to keep your eyes and ears open to find it.

Proverbs 18:17
The first to state his case seems right
until another comes and cross-examines him.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Yes, we are to listen to others, but we should be discerning while we listen. No one is perfect but God. When anyone else tells you something it is proper to ask questions. Look into it for yourselves.

One of the best debate tactics is to find common ground with the person you are debating, and built on that common ground. Something like: Can we both agree that already born children are valuable? Can be a good foundation to build a discussion on abortion. If you are unwilling to listen to people who oppose your ideas, you will not be able to find common ground.

Sometimes we use phrases like “fake news” to shut people down. Do you really know that it is fake news, or do you like the opposing view so much that you just hope it is fake news? If you don’t know for sure, find out.  While some stories are fake, it isn’t the fact that we don’t like the story that makes it fake, it’s twisting the truth, one-sided bias, and it’s total failure to match reality.

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Colossians 2:8 is Philosophy bad?

~ wzippler

A photo of The Thinker by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris

Colossians 2:8

8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.   (HCSB)

Many people assume that this verse is warning Christians away from philosophy, but this passage talks about a particular kind of philosophy, the kind that is based on what human tradition says. Philosophy based on Christ is a good thing.

Philosophy is a method of discovering truth. Many people claim that science is the only way to truth, but  I ask “What scientific study did you do to discover that truth?”, “How much does that “truth” weigh?”. There are several other questions I could ask to point out that not all truth is scientific.

In Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm says ” Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should. ”

The reason that they did not stop to think about that question is that should and ought are in the realm of philosophy, science can inform moral truth, but it can not discover it.
Philosophy is the love of wisdom, and true wisdom flows from God’s truth.
Wisdom is mentioned many times in the Bible, and most of the time it is in a good light. The wisdom of Solomon was at one time famous all over the then known world, and his wisdom came from God.

A good book that is filled with Christian Philosophy, that debunks the most common bad philosophy today, the “everyone is right but the Christians view” is
Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Greg Koukl
If you have ever been told not to judge, or that truth is relative, and did not know what to say,  you need this book.
                        

Renew your Mind

~ wzippler

Some people seem to think that we have to turn our brains off before we do anything religious, but that is not what God wants of us. As John Piper said “the brain God gave you is intended to throw fuel on the fire of your affections for God. It’s really good at it if you let it.” . Exploring the world and theology are related if your mind is open. One is the study of God, the other is the study of what God created. If you can interpret the facts with an open mind, they both blend together quite beautifully.

When I exercise my mind I get excited. The more I know about him, and his creation, the closer, and more in awe of his majesty I am.
It is like exercise of the body at first, and difficult to do at first, if you haven’t done it in awhile, but with prayer God will get you through it.
This also has the benefit of catching those who believe that Christians are unintelligent off guard.  I remember one time that I was talking to a group of people on X-box. Somehow the subject of Christians being stupid came up, and that was my chance to shine. For 45 minutes these teenagers who wanted to play a racing game shut up and listened to me talk about God! They had never heard anything like I was saying. God was certainly with me that day to enable me to draw teenage boys away from a game, to hear about God.
If I had not been a book reader, I don’t think that conversation would have been possible.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The Apologetics Study Bible