We've heard plenty of health scares in recent weeks: doctors found a bacterium immune to all known antibiotics and are afraid it will pass along its immunity to other, more dangerous bacteria. There's the frightening news that the Zika virus is being carried by another kind of mosquito that hunts further north than the original mosquito. And now the killer bees are back.
One recent morning Alex Bestler, 23, decided to walk a trail near Mesa, Arizona, with a friend. They stuck to the trail but suddenly found themselves under attack. While the friend ran for help, thousands of bees swarmed around Bestler. When park employees arrived, they tried to rescue him to no avail; they couldn't get close before they too were driven off by the insects.
Finally, Maricopa County Sheriff Sergeant Allen Romer arrived at the park, jumped on a park utility task vehicle and raced to Bestler's location. Two rural metro fire fighters helped him load Bestler onto the UTV and remove him from the scene, still covered with bees, while the swarm pursued. They distanced themselves from the swarm and arrived at a waiting emergency vehicle where life-saving measures were begun. Unfortunately, Bestler died after arriving at Desert Vista Hospital. Medical staff and sheriff's detectives estimate he had over 1,000 stings.
Experts say the so-called "killer bees" have migrated from Brazil into the American Southwest. They are actually Africanized bees. They look like normal bees and are no more poisonous, but they're much more aggressive and more likely to attack in swarms which relentlessly pursue their target.
What gets me about these bee attacks is how they strike without warning. Construction workers and people mowing lawns have been attacked and killed by swarming bees as well.
Every morning when I wake up I take for granted my life will go like normal -- as will the lives of the people around me. But these stories remind me that my life -- or theirs -- can be altered or ended without warning, at any moment.
Every time we hear of a person killed in a car accident, a heart attack, or a violent crime, we need to stop and see ourselves, our loved ones, and the people around us at work and in our community. We need to live with more purpose, more understanding, and a greater sense of urgency in sharing our faith. They may not always be tomorrow. Today may be their last day -- or ours.
Thankfully, all of us who have been given faith in Jesus will be ready when our last hour arrives. But what about those who don't trust in Jesus? For their sake we need to remember the urgency of our Lord's call and get busy!
Whether it's killer bees, malicious viruses, or some other scourge, they're just subtle reminders that there are no lifetime guarantees when it comes to the number of our tomorrows.
What do you think about when something like killer bees make the headlines?
Visit the Men's NetWork blog and let us know. You can do this by clicking here.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
A Nation Remembers
As we approach this Memorial Day weekend, I wonder how many of you are like me. I never served in the military, nor did any of my brothers -- or my cousins, nephews or nieces. That was my parents' generation.
All but one of my mom's brothers served in the military (he had TB and couldn't serve); my dad and all his brothers served in WW II and Korea. We even lost one in battle. My dad's brother Roland died from wounds he suffered on Iwo Jima in February 1945. Dad learned about it the night before his confirmation.
I remember walking into my grandma's living room and seeing the row of pictures on her wall. All six of her sons in their dress uniforms. It made a huge impression on me. I also remember she had a kind of shrine in place for Roland. Looking at his picture as a kid, I thought he was so grown up and old. But in reality he was around 20 years old when he died: the same age my son is now.
That's why Memorial Day always makes me pause for a moment and remember how this special day has a somber edge to it. I can't think of it as just the weekend that kicks off summer.
If Memorial Day doesn't have that kind of personal connection to you, then just consider world events which show how important it is that young men and women are willing to answer the call to protect our country. In so doing they sacrifice their precious time, their strength, and sometimes even their lives to defend us.
It would be nice if it didn't have to be that way. It would be great if young men and women didn't have to leave their families to fight for us, to suffer physical, emotional and mental trauma that can last a lifetime. It would be wonderful if none of them had to give the final sacrifice and never come home. But evil is real, and there are definitely people who want to attack our way of life.
That's why this Memorial Day needs to hit home. We need to remember and honor those who made great sacrifices so we can live free. To honor them we need to make our lives count; we need to make sure their sacrifices weren't in vain.
Of course, this honor due is even more important in the case of our Savior: the One who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. The deaths of the men and women we will honor this coming Monday protected our earthly freedom, but Jesus laid down His life to protect our eternal liberty, to pay the price for our sins, to guarantee us eternal life in a perfect world where sin, crime and the ravages of war will be no more.
What's Memorial Day mean to you? Are there those you know who've paid heavily for their acceptance of the call to serve in the military? Are you one of them?
This coming Monday, Memorial Day, our nation honors the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. May God bless them richly.
Take a moment and join us on the Men's NetWork blog. You can do so by clicking here.
All but one of my mom's brothers served in the military (he had TB and couldn't serve); my dad and all his brothers served in WW II and Korea. We even lost one in battle. My dad's brother Roland died from wounds he suffered on Iwo Jima in February 1945. Dad learned about it the night before his confirmation.
I remember walking into my grandma's living room and seeing the row of pictures on her wall. All six of her sons in their dress uniforms. It made a huge impression on me. I also remember she had a kind of shrine in place for Roland. Looking at his picture as a kid, I thought he was so grown up and old. But in reality he was around 20 years old when he died: the same age my son is now.
That's why Memorial Day always makes me pause for a moment and remember how this special day has a somber edge to it. I can't think of it as just the weekend that kicks off summer.
If Memorial Day doesn't have that kind of personal connection to you, then just consider world events which show how important it is that young men and women are willing to answer the call to protect our country. In so doing they sacrifice their precious time, their strength, and sometimes even their lives to defend us.
It would be nice if it didn't have to be that way. It would be great if young men and women didn't have to leave their families to fight for us, to suffer physical, emotional and mental trauma that can last a lifetime. It would be wonderful if none of them had to give the final sacrifice and never come home. But evil is real, and there are definitely people who want to attack our way of life.
That's why this Memorial Day needs to hit home. We need to remember and honor those who made great sacrifices so we can live free. To honor them we need to make our lives count; we need to make sure their sacrifices weren't in vain.
Of course, this honor due is even more important in the case of our Savior: the One who made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. The deaths of the men and women we will honor this coming Monday protected our earthly freedom, but Jesus laid down His life to protect our eternal liberty, to pay the price for our sins, to guarantee us eternal life in a perfect world where sin, crime and the ravages of war will be no more.
What's Memorial Day mean to you? Are there those you know who've paid heavily for their acceptance of the call to serve in the military? Are you one of them?
This coming Monday, Memorial Day, our nation honors the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. May God bless them richly.
Take a moment and join us on the Men's NetWork blog. You can do so by clicking here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
A Compassionate Judge
Twenty-five hearings ago the defendant had been charged with driving under the influence. Now he stands before Judge Lou Olivera as he confesses he had lied about a recent urine test. This same judge has been tracking this man's progress in a veteran's treatment court program. Up to now he has been lenient, but now he has no choice.
The sentence is 24 hours in jail. But this isn't just an ordinary defendant. He is Sgt. Joseph Serna, a former Special Forces soldier who served four combat tours in Afghanistan. He was almost killed three times. One was a roadside bomb; another was suicide bomber. In 2008 his armored truck left a narrow dirt road and ended up in a canal.
As his vehicle filled with water Serna struggled to free himself but was unable. He recalls: "I felt a hand come down and unfasten my seat belt and release my body armor. Sgt. James Treber picked me up and moved me to a small pocket of air. He knew there was not enough room for both of us to breathe so he went under water to find another pocket of air." Sgt. Treber was unable to find that air pocket. Serna was the sole survivor.
A decorated Green Beret, Sgt. Serna was awarded three Purple Hearts and numerous military awards, but found adjusting to civilian life difficult. He turned to alcohol and now, in addition to battling PTSD, he struggles to stay sober.
After the hearing Sgt. Serna is led to a waiting car. To his surprise the driver is Judge Olivera himself. Afraid the night and day in jail will trigger Sgt. Serna's PTSD, the judge personally drives him to the jail, comes into his cell, and sits down on his cot. The whole night they sit together, talking about their experiences in the military. Later, Sgt. Serna described it as "more of a father-son conversation. It was personal."
Judge Olivera commented about Sgt. Serna and the veterans in his program: "They have worn the uniform, and we know they can be contributing members of society. We just want to get them back there."
Reminds me of our divine Judge who set aside His royal robes, came into our world, and spent a lifetime with us. He accepted our verdict as His own and took our place on the cross. Jesus' blood has purified us from our sins and He sent His Spirit to restore us, to make us contributing members of His church, to be a blessing to the people into whose lives He sends us. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20b).
I wonder, remembering the compassion of our merciful Judge, how can we not find courage and motivation to keep up the good fight against sin? And in wonder and gratitude for His great sacrifice, how can we but spread the story of His love to our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances?
We have been given so much. Yet we often pay only the slightest attention to what we possess, to what He's done, to who we are supposed to be in Him. Perhaps we value God's grace too lightly. Maybe we don't value it at all. Would it do us good to remember the sentence we were under, and how we are saved only because of the willing Substitute we have in Jesus, who took our place for us.
Are you emancipated? We hope so. You can share your thoughts on the Men's NetWork blog by clicking here.
The sentence is 24 hours in jail. But this isn't just an ordinary defendant. He is Sgt. Joseph Serna, a former Special Forces soldier who served four combat tours in Afghanistan. He was almost killed three times. One was a roadside bomb; another was suicide bomber. In 2008 his armored truck left a narrow dirt road and ended up in a canal.
As his vehicle filled with water Serna struggled to free himself but was unable. He recalls: "I felt a hand come down and unfasten my seat belt and release my body armor. Sgt. James Treber picked me up and moved me to a small pocket of air. He knew there was not enough room for both of us to breathe so he went under water to find another pocket of air." Sgt. Treber was unable to find that air pocket. Serna was the sole survivor.
A decorated Green Beret, Sgt. Serna was awarded three Purple Hearts and numerous military awards, but found adjusting to civilian life difficult. He turned to alcohol and now, in addition to battling PTSD, he struggles to stay sober.
After the hearing Sgt. Serna is led to a waiting car. To his surprise the driver is Judge Olivera himself. Afraid the night and day in jail will trigger Sgt. Serna's PTSD, the judge personally drives him to the jail, comes into his cell, and sits down on his cot. The whole night they sit together, talking about their experiences in the military. Later, Sgt. Serna described it as "more of a father-son conversation. It was personal."
Judge Olivera commented about Sgt. Serna and the veterans in his program: "They have worn the uniform, and we know they can be contributing members of society. We just want to get them back there."
Reminds me of our divine Judge who set aside His royal robes, came into our world, and spent a lifetime with us. He accepted our verdict as His own and took our place on the cross. Jesus' blood has purified us from our sins and He sent His Spirit to restore us, to make us contributing members of His church, to be a blessing to the people into whose lives He sends us. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20b).
I wonder, remembering the compassion of our merciful Judge, how can we not find courage and motivation to keep up the good fight against sin? And in wonder and gratitude for His great sacrifice, how can we but spread the story of His love to our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances?
We have been given so much. Yet we often pay only the slightest attention to what we possess, to what He's done, to who we are supposed to be in Him. Perhaps we value God's grace too lightly. Maybe we don't value it at all. Would it do us good to remember the sentence we were under, and how we are saved only because of the willing Substitute we have in Jesus, who took our place for us.
Are you emancipated? We hope so. You can share your thoughts on the Men's NetWork blog by clicking here.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Changes
Last week our son finished his first year in college. The experience has changed him. He's more independent, more mature, more articulate -- and as my wife and I discovered when helping clear out his dorm room -- a little more determined that cleanliness is not next to godliness.
But his first year of college definitely changed him just as his high school years changed him, and grade school before that, and preschool before that. But I have to confess his year at college changed me too. It made me realize how precious my time is with him and my wife; it made me revisit my past -- and reexamine where I am today -- and where I am going. It made me more resolute to do more to serve the Lord and the people He has brought to me.
Looking back over my life, I realize every situation and every person I've encountered has changed something about me: my perspective, my understanding, and my empathy towards what other people go through. Hopefully, each experience has drawn me closer to the Lord and made me a little wiser. But part of that wisdom is grasping how little I really know and understand.
Come to think of it, this process of changing is basic to being human. But God describes Himself in a very different way:
* "I the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6a).
* "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19).
* "You remain the same, and Your years will never end" (Psalm 102:27).
* "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).
I find this very humbling. I change because I am a lowly, limited creature. I am surrounded by great mysteries that I seek to grasp, but the harder I try the more I realize how much is beyond my puny mind's abilities. But there are no mysteries for God. He knows all things, perceives all things, understands all things. What a vast difference between God and mankind. When it comes to intelligence, perception and foresight, I'm a whole lot closer to a chimpanzee, a sheep, or a dog than I am to God.
Yet most of the time I don't keep that healthy perspective about my true place in the universe. Instead, I'm terribly arrogant. I think I know what is best for me and for the people around me. I'm still reaching for the forbidden fruit like Eve, my mother. I'm trying to be like God -- instead of being content to be the creature He made me be -- a creature made to trust Him with all his heart, soul, mind and strength!
That's what I see around me: people who dare to sit in judgment on God and condemn Him to justify themselves. Listen to this quote from Richard Dawkins; it's from his book The God Delusion:
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously, malevolent bully."
How arrogant and foolish! But that's the same thing Job did throughout his book. He thought he had his problems all figured out. If he could just have a face-to-face with God, he would be able to enlighten the Lord, and God would quickly see His mistake and make things right. It was only when Job glimpsed a tiny bit of God's vast wisdom in the whirlwind that he got snapped back down into his place as a lowly creature.
* "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ... therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3, 6).
Job was reminded of his origins -- something God had to remind Adam of when he ate the forbidden fruit: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19b).
The wonder is that God still cares about arrogant lowly creatures like us. He loved us enough to send His Son as our Savior.
Yes, I am changing. I find great peace when I quiet my mind and realize I am God's humble creature, and He is my magnificent Lord, Creator, God, and Father. It is changing my prayers too. Instead of thinking I'm smart enough to know exactly what God needs to do to straighten out my life and the lives of the people I care about, I admit I don't have a clue what is best. I can present our challenges and struggles to Him, and thank Him for His promise to love us, provide for us, heal us, and guide all things for our good.
Yes, change is good for us humans. And it's even better for us that God doesn't need to change.
You can share your thoughts on the Men's NetWork blog by clicking here.
But his first year of college definitely changed him just as his high school years changed him, and grade school before that, and preschool before that. But I have to confess his year at college changed me too. It made me realize how precious my time is with him and my wife; it made me revisit my past -- and reexamine where I am today -- and where I am going. It made me more resolute to do more to serve the Lord and the people He has brought to me.
Looking back over my life, I realize every situation and every person I've encountered has changed something about me: my perspective, my understanding, and my empathy towards what other people go through. Hopefully, each experience has drawn me closer to the Lord and made me a little wiser. But part of that wisdom is grasping how little I really know and understand.
Come to think of it, this process of changing is basic to being human. But God describes Himself in a very different way:
* "I the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6a).
* "God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19).
* "You remain the same, and Your years will never end" (Psalm 102:27).
* "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).
I find this very humbling. I change because I am a lowly, limited creature. I am surrounded by great mysteries that I seek to grasp, but the harder I try the more I realize how much is beyond my puny mind's abilities. But there are no mysteries for God. He knows all things, perceives all things, understands all things. What a vast difference between God and mankind. When it comes to intelligence, perception and foresight, I'm a whole lot closer to a chimpanzee, a sheep, or a dog than I am to God.
Yet most of the time I don't keep that healthy perspective about my true place in the universe. Instead, I'm terribly arrogant. I think I know what is best for me and for the people around me. I'm still reaching for the forbidden fruit like Eve, my mother. I'm trying to be like God -- instead of being content to be the creature He made me be -- a creature made to trust Him with all his heart, soul, mind and strength!
That's what I see around me: people who dare to sit in judgment on God and condemn Him to justify themselves. Listen to this quote from Richard Dawkins; it's from his book The God Delusion:
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously, malevolent bully."
How arrogant and foolish! But that's the same thing Job did throughout his book. He thought he had his problems all figured out. If he could just have a face-to-face with God, he would be able to enlighten the Lord, and God would quickly see His mistake and make things right. It was only when Job glimpsed a tiny bit of God's vast wisdom in the whirlwind that he got snapped back down into his place as a lowly creature.
* "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ... therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3, 6).
Job was reminded of his origins -- something God had to remind Adam of when he ate the forbidden fruit: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19b).
The wonder is that God still cares about arrogant lowly creatures like us. He loved us enough to send His Son as our Savior.
Yes, I am changing. I find great peace when I quiet my mind and realize I am God's humble creature, and He is my magnificent Lord, Creator, God, and Father. It is changing my prayers too. Instead of thinking I'm smart enough to know exactly what God needs to do to straighten out my life and the lives of the people I care about, I admit I don't have a clue what is best. I can present our challenges and struggles to Him, and thank Him for His promise to love us, provide for us, heal us, and guide all things for our good.
Yes, change is good for us humans. And it's even better for us that God doesn't need to change.
You can share your thoughts on the Men's NetWork blog by clicking here.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Our Truth and God's Truth
Thanks to Christina Aguilera, I finally figured out one possible way to bridge the generation gap between my generation and the next.
Monday night on The Voice she told two of her singers, "You need to find a way to bring out 'your truth.'" In our culture, truth is relative, personal and individual. Like Aguilera says, each person has their own truth. Maybe that helps explain our cultural confusion over things that seem so obvious to me, especially what to do with public restrooms and transgender people.
And that is where the generation gap comes in for me. I have to admit this relative truth makes no sense to a dinosaur like me. I'm a Boomer, and I picked up the "modern" perspective of my parents. For me right and wrong is absolute, it doesn't change because a number of years have gone by and our culture has blurred the lines on what is truth and what is falsehood.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that Jesus claimed pretty much the same thing, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6a). If He is the Truth, then anything different than what He says is falsehood. Again, in the Sermon on the Mount He asserted, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19).
That's why I find myself getting so aggravated when I hear people try to legislate a new morality -- in direct contradiction to the morality God has laid out in the Bible. But that's my generation gap. And it won't help me witness to my child's generation if I stubbornly hold to my absolute truth and try to convince them of their absolute mistake.
Aguilera helped me realize something. She is right. Everyone has his or her own truth: she does, I do, and God does. If there is any such thing as "absolute truth," it is only a valid concept because it is God's truth, and He is the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of this universe who never changes. And that is where I was mistaken in my understanding of absolute truth. For some reason I thought I could separate absolute right and wrong from God. But apart from God, there is no truth. His unchanging truth is determinative of what actual truth and falsehood is. He created us humans in incredible wisdom and undeniable love. He knows how we tick. He knows what is good for us and what will harm us. He did not set forth His Commandments, or rules, or guidelines to limit our self-expression, but rather to protect us from self-delusion and self-destruction.
I can acknowledge that each person has his or her own definition of truth and falsehood. But the only real question is this: Whose truth really matters in the end? I can tell you it isn't the opinion of a group of people, or a generation. It isn't the thinking of a circuit court of appeals, or a state supreme court, or even the United States Supreme Court. It is the will of the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the entire universe. We will all have to stand before Him one day and give an account of our lives. And then our own simplistic thoughts of right and wrong will all melt away, and only His will stand supreme over all creatures.
But there I go with my absolutes again.
Maybe I don't have to force the next generation to admit my viewpoint is right and theirs is wrong. Instead, I can talk about individual truth in a nonjudgmental way, then share God's truth with them.
Truth. Do you find truth to be a moving target in your life? What's your basis for determining if something is true or not? Does it require physical evidence, some sort of verification? Is taking God at His Word sufficient -- the old "God said it. I believe it. That settles it" frame of mind.
Any thoughts on the matter? You can share them by clicking here and letting us know.
Monday night on The Voice she told two of her singers, "You need to find a way to bring out 'your truth.'" In our culture, truth is relative, personal and individual. Like Aguilera says, each person has their own truth. Maybe that helps explain our cultural confusion over things that seem so obvious to me, especially what to do with public restrooms and transgender people.
And that is where the generation gap comes in for me. I have to admit this relative truth makes no sense to a dinosaur like me. I'm a Boomer, and I picked up the "modern" perspective of my parents. For me right and wrong is absolute, it doesn't change because a number of years have gone by and our culture has blurred the lines on what is truth and what is falsehood.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that Jesus claimed pretty much the same thing, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6a). If He is the Truth, then anything different than what He says is falsehood. Again, in the Sermon on the Mount He asserted, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19).
That's why I find myself getting so aggravated when I hear people try to legislate a new morality -- in direct contradiction to the morality God has laid out in the Bible. But that's my generation gap. And it won't help me witness to my child's generation if I stubbornly hold to my absolute truth and try to convince them of their absolute mistake.
Aguilera helped me realize something. She is right. Everyone has his or her own truth: she does, I do, and God does. If there is any such thing as "absolute truth," it is only a valid concept because it is God's truth, and He is the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of this universe who never changes. And that is where I was mistaken in my understanding of absolute truth. For some reason I thought I could separate absolute right and wrong from God. But apart from God, there is no truth. His unchanging truth is determinative of what actual truth and falsehood is. He created us humans in incredible wisdom and undeniable love. He knows how we tick. He knows what is good for us and what will harm us. He did not set forth His Commandments, or rules, or guidelines to limit our self-expression, but rather to protect us from self-delusion and self-destruction.
I can acknowledge that each person has his or her own definition of truth and falsehood. But the only real question is this: Whose truth really matters in the end? I can tell you it isn't the opinion of a group of people, or a generation. It isn't the thinking of a circuit court of appeals, or a state supreme court, or even the United States Supreme Court. It is the will of the Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the entire universe. We will all have to stand before Him one day and give an account of our lives. And then our own simplistic thoughts of right and wrong will all melt away, and only His will stand supreme over all creatures.
But there I go with my absolutes again.
Maybe I don't have to force the next generation to admit my viewpoint is right and theirs is wrong. Instead, I can talk about individual truth in a nonjudgmental way, then share God's truth with them.
Truth. Do you find truth to be a moving target in your life? What's your basis for determining if something is true or not? Does it require physical evidence, some sort of verification? Is taking God at His Word sufficient -- the old "God said it. I believe it. That settles it" frame of mind.
Any thoughts on the matter? You can share them by clicking here and letting us know.
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