Posts Tagged ‘truth’
Is Science the Source of Truth?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 1:18-31 I. Mankind has long fooled themselves into thinking they can accurately determine the truth A. We call this search for Truth “Science” 1. “Knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method.” – Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 2. “Science is a way…
Read MoreWhat Will You Do With the Truth?
by Dennis Strickland Down through the years, there has been a lot of discussion regarding truth. Some have questioned what truth is, as Pilate did in John 18:38. In Mark 12:32, the scribe stated the truth, yet we have no record that this man ever obeyed the gospel. He believed, as did the devils in…
Read MoreIs Everyone’s Opinion Equally True?
by Zeke Flores We live in a world that is permeated by pluralism, humanism, relativism, and every other “ism” one can think of. Everybody’s opinion is of equal value, more or less, and therefore equally true. For instance, have you ever heard someone say, “That may be true for you, but not for me”? This…
Read MoreWhat Is Truth?
by David A. Cox via Biblical Insights, Vol 15. No. 1, January 2015 Pilate asked the question in the trial of Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), which has been asked many times. Many believe that truth is relative. Relative truth means that each individual determines the truth and what they believe the truth to…
Read MorePropaganda Wars – The Use of the Education System
by Terry Wane Benton The propaganda that God does not exist unless He lets us see Him directly has always been treated as foolish propaganda, and rightly so. Psalms 14:1 says the “fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God.'” Just a few chapters later (Psalms 19:1), the Psalmist pointed out that “the…
Read MorePropaganda Wars – Manipulating the Truth
by Terry Wane Benton The devil engaged in a propaganda war with the first couple in the garden. He tried to convince them that God was bad and was holding them back from some great potential experience. God was in their way. The propaganda seemed valid. The fruit on the tree did look good for…
Read MorePropaganda Wars
by Terry Wane Benton Controlling the Narrative Rhetoric Unbelief Based on Propaganda When People Can’t or Won’t Hear Truth Manipulating the Truth The Use of the Education System
Read MorePropaganda Wars – Rhetoric
by Terry Wane Benton Interestingly, the rhetoric used in truth vs. propaganda often turns to prejudicial phrases. Elijah was called a “troubler” in Israel by the wicked king. Who really was the troubler? Was it not those who grew to accept immorality and idolatry? But Ahab used the word “troubler” to close minds against God’s…
Read MorePropaganda Wars – When People Can’t or Won’t Hear Truth
by Terry Wane Benton We have the book of Jeremiah only because truth wins in the end. But think of the propaganda that seemed to prevail when Jeremiah was trying to preach to the corrupt establishment. God had an important mission for Jeremiah, “to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw…
Read MoreTruth and Fellowship
by Terry Wane Benton Years ago, I heard a preacher encourage brethren not to worry so much about who to fellowship with as about what to preach and support from God’s word. He said, “Just focus on preaching the truth of God’s word, and fellowship issues will begin to take care of themselves.” What he…
Read MoreLove of the Truth
by Terry Wane Benton Everyone does not want to hear God’s word. Jesus lets each person determine their destiny and therefore lets each person pick his own interest in truth or error. He did not waste time “casting pearls before swine” (Matt.7:6). When a person reveals that they have no inclination to hear the truth…
Read MoreJesus, the Truth
by Terry Wane Benton “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the truth about everything. Do you want to know how this world began and how life, moral conscience, and intelligence began? Jesus is the…
Read MorePeace and Truth
by Doy Moyer There are people I genuinely like but with whom I have strong disagreements. Some are on opposite theological and political isles, yet I feel kindly disposed toward them. I cannot explain this. It’s just something that you either get or don’t. I suspect that this is true of most people. We have…
Read MoreIt Doesn’t Matter What You Believe
by Perry Hall This might surprise you, but I agree. I spoke with an agnostic whose family had been persecuted by so-called Christians. They fled from their homeland for American freedom, much like many others who believed in Jesus. Ironically, both pagans and believers fled from persecution, seeking religious freedom. The agnostic said she hoped…
Read MorePost-Truth?
by Doy Moyer If we cannot know truth, then we cannot know anything, for any knowledge claim is a truth claim. For the Christian, truth is as fundamental as it gets. It speaks to the heart of what is real, and without a sense of reality, we are indeed lost. Truth is everything, tied to…
Read MoreIn Spirit and in Truth
by Jon W. Quinn I cast a shadow if I were walking down the street and the sun was shining. Its size and shape mimic my own to some degree. It is a lot shorter than I really am at midday. It is a lot taller than I am when the sun is low on…
Read MoreExamine the Scriptures
by Doy Moyer We are familiar with the attitude of the Bereans in Acts 17:11: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” The primacy of Scripture is key to the noble-mindedness of the Bereans.…
Read MoreMistakes in Religion
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mistakes-in-Religion.mp3 Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 7:13-29 I. How do you find the truth? A. People use numerous ways, but usually they revolve around avoiding effort II. Following the Majority – Matthew 7:13-14 A. You see this in many areas of life. 1. If most people say something, then it is assumed to be true B. Religion…
Read MorePainful Truths
by Zeke Flores Sometimes, the truth hurts. You’re losing your hair. (Ouch!) You’re a little overweight. (Double ouch!) You’re in sin. (OOOWWW!) We’ve heard it said, “The truth hurts.” Who hasn’t been stung when the truth is critical to us personally or contradicts us in some way? The truth can tend to expose our deficiencies…
Read MoreTechnicalities and Taking Sides
by Andy Diestelkamp If we learn anything from what is revealed about many of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, it is that there is a human tendency to justify ourselves based on technicalities, which some imagine as justifying their beliefs or behaviors … and they were wrong. In their confrontations with Christ, we also…
Read MoreAm I Become Your Enemy?
by Robert F. Turner Paul had done some straight talking to the Galatian churches. He had said, “I am afraid of (for) you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain” (Galatians 4:11). Then, in Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Paul knew how people often…
Read MoreFear of Truth
by James W. Adams (1914-2013) in Words Fitly Spoken, p. 60 My daughter’s friend expressed great interest in the doctrine of “Premillennialism.” It so happened that I was at that time engaged in a series of studies involving the subject on a television program. My daughter suggested to her friend that she might tune in,…
Read MoreI Have a Closed Mind
by Fanning Yater Tant, Vanguard Magazine, January 25, 1979 This editorial is being written on my birthday (December 30). I have now attained my three score and ten, and have reached a point in life where I am neither ashamed nor afraid to say some things which would have been ranked heresy at a younger…
Read MoreHiding Behind the Truth
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Hiding-Behind-the-Truth.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 4:1-6 I. One basic principle of logic is that if you start with a false idea, you can prove anything A. False doctrine could be justified if you started with a false idea as evidence 1. Premise: Presidents of the United States must be younger than 35 2. Premise: Joe…
Read MoreWhat Is Your Standard?
by Doy Moyer What is your standard of what is true? How do you determine what is good? Remove God from any answer and what will you have? Personal preferences? Whatever society says? Human experience? What other options are there? Once God is taken out of the answers, no other standard suffices to provide us…
Read MoreBlind to the Truth
by Matthew W. Bassford Upton Sinclair once said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Few better illustrations of this truth exist than the behavior of the craftsmen of Ephesus in Acts 19. They, along with everyone else in the city, are familiar…
Read MoreThe Freedom of Truth
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Freedom-of-Truth.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:30-59 I. Many began to believe on Jesus – John 8:30-31 A. Jesus said that if they would live in the words of Jesus, then they would truly be his disciples – John 8:32 1. Obedience to his teaching would cause them to know the truth. 2. Obedience leads to greater…
Read MoreThe Bible Is Right
by Terry Wane Benton It is right because it not only claims to be the word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17) but because it proves to be the word of God. How? It is the only book that was written over a 1500-year period by 40 different writers of various backgrounds, but who wrote about…
Read MoreWhy does an accusation against an elder require two or more witnesses?
Question: Could you explain I Timothy 5:19? “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.” I was studying this chapter with another Christian and we both have been confused about what exactly is prohibited in verse 19. Must any and all concerns about an elder be…
Read MoreJust Telling What I Feel
by Doy Moyer That our culture has been trained to act more on feelings than objective truth and reality is evident in so many ways that it hardly needs proving. The outbursts of anger, the murders, the sexual abuses, the lack of civility, the completely irrational denials of reality, and more are ever before us…
Read MoreTruth About Truth
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Truth-About-Truth.mp3 by Doy Moyer Seeking God
Read MoreThe Pilate Philosophy
by Terry Wane Benton Pilate washes his hands of killing Jesus Matthew 27:24 The Pilate Philosophy is to wash your hands of responsibility and to pretend there is no way to know the truth. “What is truth?” (John 18:38), he asked Jesus. There was also a “cancel-culture” mentality in his presence in the Jews wanting…
Read MoreSetting Your Mind on the Things of God
by Doy Moyer What we are trained to think about truth will be determined by whether we are thinking the things of God or the things of man. Recall that in Jesus’ rebuke of Peter’s reaction to Jesus talking about His own death, Jesus said, “For you are not setting your mind on the things…
Read MoreFacing Reality
by George Slover “Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). Although the above request was most likely in jest, it is nonetheless an interesting one. How often does anyone really desire straight-talk? In our day…
Read MoreLet God Be True
by Terry Wane Benton Romans 3:4 gives us this principle: “Let God be true but every man a liar.” What does this mean? It means that God is always far more dependable than man. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:12). Man often lies, misunderstands, gets things mixed up, is easily deceived, etc. Therefore, when it comes…
Read MoreTruth and Law
by Terry W. Benton Today there is lawlessness going on at elevated proportions. Even churches that have claimed to be “of Christ” have been divided by a spirit of lawlessness. Some misuse “we are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:15) to give the undiscerning a scripture on which to justify their rebellion against…
Read MoreGood News, Bad News
by Mark Chatfield Sentry Magazine, December 1999 What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news? Since we want to end this article on a positive note, let’s do it this way … Bad News Lately, the news has been making the news. It seems that CNN became so enamored…
Read MoreThere Must Needs be Heresies
by David Edwin Harrell, Jr. Vanguard, Volume 1, #1 January 1975, pp. 21-22 After a few weeks of study at St. John’s University and Abbey, I am impressed by the perceptive Roman Catholic analysis of the weaknesses of Protestantism. They insist that Protestants are pressed between two unacceptable extremes. One extreme grows out of the…
Read MoreThe Elephant in the Room
by Jefferson David Tant People use many devices to mitigate or cancel out plain Bible teaching. This ancient practice can be traced to the Old Testament. Seven hundred years before Christ, Isaiah was dealing with a rebellious people. God told him: “Now go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a…
Read MorePropaganda Wars – Controlling the Narrative
by Terry Wane Benton There was the truth that Jesus was, in fact, raised from the dead, and then there were the opposition forces who needed to keep the nation from converting to Jesus. They wanted to stay in control of the crowds and keep their wealthy pockets padded. To lose control to Jesus would mean that…
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