Truth...Reflection Or Reality?

A person witnesses an event. His mind calculates the elements of the event, and forms a story, if you will. The story is not objective, because the person has viewed the happening through the grid of his own belief system. Thus, the narrative which comes from his mind is slanted, opinionated.
The person states his narrative with all the authority of a Philadelphia Attorney. He proclaims it as truth. It must be truth. He saw it with his own eyes!

There is a problem in this sequence of events. There were other witnesses. Others saw it and created narratives from their own frame of reference. I think you are catching on. Each narrative is different from the other. Truth, for each individual, was a reflection of an event processed in the workshop of his mind.

Reality, in this particular realm, becomes dynamic. It is ever changing, spinning out of control. Man is forced to make snap judgments based on his tiny understanding of things as a whole. He fails at this, and must form new 'truth' to bolster his supposition.

It has really become quite a mess, wouldn't you say?

It is hard to imagine, that with an existence such as we have, with the beauty in nature, and the incredible miracle of human life, that truth would be the random, reflective, and subjective gatherings of partial-knowing intellects.
In reality, truth has been here longer than creation. It was present when man wasn't. It was settled before the world was formed. The astounding thing is that we have this absolute, defining truth preserved for us in a book. It is a book that has stood up to and met the demands of its learned critics. It has survived preternaturally, despite claims that it is invalid. This Book, The Bible, was prepared by God, using a tool, man, to inscribe it, as an everlasting record of His thoughts.
And thus, we have truth. Objective, absolute truth. Truth which defines life as a whole and our lives individually. Security, confidence, peace, and joy are born from an introduction to this truth. Partake, and see for yourself, without the distraction of reflection.

More to come on The Book...
Psalms 12:6; 33:4

Opinions, Thoughts, And Absolute Truth

In today’s society, it seems that many are obsessed with debating one opinion or another on the topic of life. Can we really debate opinions and at the same time decide to be in line with a worldview that is “correct”?
It is not uncommon for many different opinions to gather at the center of our thinking. Often the opinion formulator expects his or her opinion to be accepted without question. But, what determines whether the opinion is true or not? Is there evidence to back it up, or are we so shallow that we agree with the opinion no matter how outrageous it may be?
Then there’s the other side, not believing anything at all. For many, this is the obvious choice, and seemingly the safe one. But it begs the question, how can someone choose to believe nothing? Just by choosing this way of thinking, the person has already believed that nothing is true. If you follow these thoughts to conclusion, you see that this person is setting himself/herself up for failure. Why, if this person believes nothing, does this person believe that nothing is true? National studies conclude that people want an absolute truth that doesn’t waiver. All that results from the “I don’t believe anything” way of thinking is confusion and ineffectiveness. American Society, as we know it, makes abundantly clear that to be ineffective is not “cool” and to be confused is to be useless.
On the surface many people seem to have truth placed exactly as they want it, but is truth something that is a variable to be changed as you see fit? Is truth something that can be changed to fit my circumstances and my desires without the fear of confusion in the future?
Many religions offer a truth that is comfortable, a form of truth that is designed to appeal to as many people as possible. What form of truth successfully combats ineffectiveness and confusion? People want, whether they know it or not, a truth that is a personal and concise—an easy-to-understand truth that can be counted on, Man responds to the absolute truth that allows him to be effective in today’s society.
There are experts in sociology and psychology who claim to address the problems that are created from wrong thinking, but do they really have something that won’t lead to confusion later?
Look at the Christian’s worldview. The Christian believes that there are absolutes. The Christian’s biblical worldview addresses what people crave, an absolute truth that doesn’t waiver, truth that isn’t changed from person to person, but holds firm and says: “That is true , and that is false.” The Biblical worldview is liberating and gives a firm foundation on which to stand. A person who adopts a Christian worldview is set free to become effective, useful, and wise.
Man must find a belief system that is solid and proven. He longs for it in his soul. The Bible offers the only Worldview that the soul of man witnesses to.
More to come…

This Ship Has A Captain

We are exhorted to live life to the fullest. NO PROBLEM! Life is so full that at times it seems we can't breath. And it isn't like we manufacture this schedule. It unfolds before us.

We wake up, get out of bed, drag a comb across our head.
We find our way downstairs and drink a cup,
and looking up, we notice we are late.

Sorry about the old song lyrics there, but it is true, isn't it? For the most part we take no thought of it. We just struggle forward. And then it hits us again. We are driven. Driven to succeed, to perform, to compete, to over achieve. It feels as if we are in a controlled state of losing it!

A sailing ship in a storm is driven by the wind. There is nothing the captain can do but try to get the sails down and wait it out. Who knows where he will find himself when it is over? But he must not waver. He must captain the ship, using the few basic principles that he has learned in his years at sea. If he were to quit, or re-invent the fundamentals, the results could be disastrous.

Life has tossed us around like that ship. But there are fundamentals. And there is a Captain. There is One that knows how to ride the swells, and how to judge the severity of the storm. We do not have that wisdom. He does.

So we ask. We do not waver. We look at the Captain, and trust in Him. The storm subsides, or at least it seems to. But maybe it is simply that we are trusting in the One that can steer this thing called life. And now, we walk calmly and confidently, learning wisdom and faith with each step.

I encourage you to leap into faith in the storms of life. If you are not sure how to do so, we can help.

James 1:5-5 Matthew 7:7-8

Are There No Answers?

The poor 'question mark' would be deemed obsolete, along with the 8-track player, the Edsel, and the typewriter. But wait, we can get by without old things, but what if there were no questions? (Ooops, I just asked one...and some say there are no answers...shucks!!)

Well, fact is there are answers. Sometimes there are no easy answers, but there are answers. But, for many individuals, there is no sense of objective reality. Reality is subjective, often boiling down to 'whatever one can get away with'. Since the perception is subjective, it is then 'subject' to change at a moments notice. In that scenario, it is perceived that there are no answers. Whatever happens, happens. No explanation. If you think about it, though, the answer still comes, in the form of consequences, outcomes, if you will.

With subjectivity comes objectivity. Every subject has an object. What I mean is, every thought, action, idea, happening, has a purpose or a reason. If I take a glob of clay and make a primitive car with it, the objective was that I expressed myself in some measure through this creation. It is not particularly useful, and can be easily destroyed, but there remains an object to its being. Without the objective, nothing would exist that has any meaning. Of course, there would be no purpose, no cognisance. There would be no thought, no reason, and then, of course, no answers.

Our world has reason. Each of us has purpose. There is a Creator that designed us objectively for the life we have. We can determine right and wrong, good and evil, happy and sad. Our mind seeks for truth, our soul seeks for acceptance, our spirit seeks for God. Each can be satisfied in its quest if the correct answers are realized.
1 Peter 3:15 Psalms 138:14 Romans 8:28