You might’ve noticed that I took a little longer to resume Monday Morning Blogs after Memorial Day break. I came down with a distressfully messy cold over Memorial Day, then a scratch on my cornea so I was trying to limit screen time while it healed. As hard as we tried to protect Dave from the cold, a week later he started coughing and sneezing too. A summer cold is not fun, and we take so many preventative supplements and eat so clean and healthy, I don’t know how it snuck through, but we’re both on the road to recovery now.
As always, the Lord has put a message on my heart to share that cannot be ignored, especially as we’re living in times that seem to resemble Sodom and Gomorrah and yet few are pushing back. Even many Christians and churches have decided to take the “safe” stance of tolerance as our children are being taught to believe that sin is normal and acceptable.
I mentioned to you previously that Dave and I enjoy watching Flashpoint on the Victory Channel and have shared it with many who become followers of this program that addresses current events with a biblical view of how Christians should respond to and engage in the culture. A recent show caught my attention, and God grabbed me with the assignment to share it because I knew what was being said was so true. I took notes as fast as I could and will present some of them here for you to consider.
Why Must Every Christian Know and Honor Biblical Truth?
Brenda Keesee, the author of Fight Like Heaven: A Cultural Guide to Living on Guard, responded to the Flashpoint host Gene Baily’s question about what pastors can do to help fight the spiritual warfare now going after our children, specifically trying to indoctrinate them in the “LGBTQ” lifestyle. She pointed out that the last generation was indoctrinated with abortion and the “women’s movement” and now that the enemy’s socialist/Marxist agenda has successfully normalized the gay way of life, it is now accelerating efforts to normalize transgenderism and gender confusion. When you give Satan a successful foothold, he moves on to the next victory!
You might’ve seen the disgusting clips of parents in Texas actually taking their children to a drag bar for a “Pride event” and having the young kids participate in perverse acts. What kind of parent would do that? Maybe a parent thinking they need to raise their children to be “tolerant” of all lifestyles. That’s what the liberal agenda and media drill into us that we’re prejudiced and intolerant when we don’t accept perversion instead of protecting our children and telling them the truth. Not wanting to be called names like “intolerant” or “homophobic” or worse, we cave to an immoral culture. This can happen even among Christians who would rather be woke tolerant than bold truth tellers.
New York City has paid $200,000 of taxpayer money to bring drag queen story hours into 34 public schools for children as young as three-years old! The events involve cross-dressed drag performers reading to schoolchildren at public schools, libraries and other LGBTQ centers, but have expanded to include coloring activities. Photos show drag performers instructing children in classrooms how to apply drag makeup.
According to a reading list the non-profit shared online, performers read a variety of books ranging from classics like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “The Rainbow Fish,” which discuss topics like growth, acceptance and diversity, to others that more overtly discuss gender identity, such as “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish Swish Swish” and “The Dragtivity Book.”
Sometimes the parents were informed other times not.
Where is the outrage in the pulpit? Where are the pastors teaching the truth of what the Bible says about sinful living from the Bible not tolerance and acceptance from the culture?
Sadly, many are quiet and give the devil just the victory he’s celebrating today. You might have seen that abortion activists stood up in the middle of Joel Olsteen’s church while he was preaching and undressed shouting obscenities. That’s demonic. Something you would see demon-possessed women do in the Bible. But if Joel Olsteen has never spoken out against abortion, he left his door wide open for Satan. Even as this was occurring, he didn’t address it. He missed a perfect opportunity to say why abortion is biblically wrong and he didn’t take it.
Here are some shocking statistics:
1 out of 2 Christians don’t believe in absolute truth.
2 out of 3 Christians believe that absolute moral truth is determined by whether it furthers my beliefs.
There’s no definitive right and wrong. No moral consensus or compass. No reliance on biblical truth.
Does that shock you like it does me?!
Let’s Look at What the Bible Says About Truth Versus Tolerance
Before we look at God’s truth, it’s important we’re all understanding the terminology and definition of truth. I came across and amazing article and I’m going to share parts of it in this blog as well as next week when we look at the shocking realization that America is a Republic and NOT a Democracy, which the Democrats keep trying to tell us it is.
Let’s agree on some definitions of truth, fact, positive knowledge, and opinion.
Truth is defined as: “the body of real things, events, and facts.” Simply said, truth is something real, a fact.
Fact is defined as: “something that has actual existence,” or, “an actual occurrence.” It defines “in fact” as: “in truth.” Therefore, fact is truth, truth is fact, both are real, and one supports the other.
Positive is defined as: “real, unqualified, and incontestable.”
Knowledge is defined as: “the condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning.”
Therefore, positive knowledge would be real, unqualified, and incontestable truth or fact.
Incontestable means “indisputable” and “unquestionable.” In other words, BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF A DOUBT.
Contrast those with the definition of opinion: “a view formed in the mind,” and, “a belief stronger than impression and LESS STRONG than positive knowledge.” Opinion, then, is LESS STRONG than either truth or fact which are both positive knowledge, meaning, opinion is not only “in the mind,” it’s make-believe and fantasy.
Fact and truth are real. Opinion is make-believe.
Fact and truth are undebatable. An opinion is debatable. A fact or truth is something that really happened and is shown with unbiased words. An opinion is a perception of something that is expressed with biased words. A fact or truth can change opinion, but opinion cannot change either fact or truth.
The only time fact or truth won’t change an opinion is when the person holding that opinion is either incapable of logical thought or behaving irrationally, or, in the case of a psychopathic mindset, lying, meaning, someone who might be mentally ill. Article IV Section 4 – Reclaim Our Republic Because Truth Matters
So when we speak biblical truth it is God’s irrefutable, undebatable, undeniable fact and not simply an opinion!
We determine truth by what does the Word of God say. Whether it’s popular or not, if God says it, we go with it! And that’s a fact. You can listen to different opinions, but we don’t tolerate or accept them as truth if they’re contrary to God’s Word, the Bible. The only infallible truth.
We’re not left to wonder and come up with our own definition of truth, Jesus is the Truth. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
The Belt of Truth is the absolute truth that holds all the other parts of the armor of God together. When we don’t operate out of God’s Truth, we’re conceding to losing the spiritual battle. Truth is more than information. God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit, but without the Belt of Truth, our sword falls at our side useless. (Eph. 6:10-18)
Love speaks God’s truth. Not in a mean-spirited argumentative way or beating someone over the head with the Scriptures, but when Satan in the desert or demons in His ministry confronted Jesus, the only response He gave was to quote Scripture.
God’s Word is a weapon that the Holy Spirit will use to give life to the world, but we must know our Bible to use it and live by it effectively. Polls show that there are 28 million less Bible readers than a year ago!! I pray that doesn’t include you.
72% of Pastors don’t think the Bible is absolute.
1 in 6 Christians can’t identify current events with Scripture.
Many Christians base their faith on soundbites like: God is love. God loves everyone. Love the sinner not the sin. They’ve let this misconception of “theology” slide into “tolerance of sin” without realizing that when someone chooses to keep on sinning and not separate from that behavior, it becomes who they are!
God hates sin. He sent His One and Only Son Jesus to the cross to provide a way out of sin not to live in sin.
Love without truth is not love. We hurt people when we don’t share the truth. If I love someone, I need to bring the truth to him or her so that they can be free from the wages of sin, eternal death.
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31
If there’s no truth, there’s no conviction, no repentance, no salvation.
You will never read in the Bible about God or Jesus tolerating sin and God was very specific in Romans 1:18-32 to outline exactly what is sin. He also said that for those who choose to keep on sinning, He will turn them over to the life they’ve chosen and the resulting consequences. He did NOT say it’s OK to keep on sinning and I’ll tolerate it.
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
There are six things the Lord hates—
no, seven things he detests:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
18 a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
19 a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family. Pr. 6:16-20 NLT
Jesus Is Love but He Never Compromises on the Truth!
Let me close with an example of how Jesus lovingly shared the truth with a Samaritan woman living in sin.
Jesus first found common ground with her in asking for a drink of water while she was at the well, even though He a male Jew traditionally wouldn’t be talking to a Samaritan woman.
Then He intrigued her curiosity by suggesting she ask Him for living water and an opportunity for eternal life.
Next, he tactfully, called out her sin of living with a man who wasn’t her husband, which she admitted. Then He told her . . .
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:4-42
Jesus didn’t tolerate her sin, He confronted it. He showed her love by leading her out of her sinful life. He offered her eternal life, and she shared her faith with others who became believers! Who do you know living in sin who needs to be loved with the Truth? Tolerance hurts, Truth loves.
Let the Word of God guide you, not the culture.
2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt. 18:2-4 NLT
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Janet,
Excellent blog on the decay of moral values here in the USA.
Loved your explanation of fact and truth, especially from the Word of God.
Hello Janet, and others who may be reading this.
I appreciate the time and energy put into shedding light on corruption, but I can’t help but feel something is slightly unbalanced. I read the verses sighted and understand where your passion comes from, but I can’t help but wonder what the motivation behind this passion is.
Jesus also says in Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” If you go on to read further I pray the Holy Spirit speaks directly to you, what he wants you to hear.
You mentioned how Jesus loving confronted the Samaritan woman. The result…. she was overjoyed and shared the good news. I only pray that we too, can so lovingly shed light in the darkness. God will handle the judgment.
Thank you for your service. I will pray that your ministry is guided by the Spirit of the living God, and that people who read your messages will also be touched by the Holy Spirit. I pray each reader can take what God has for them, in your words.
I had to smile when you questioned the motivation behind my passion for truth. It felt “judgmental.” If you reread the blog from the beginning, I plainly stated why I wrote this blog or any blog. You also missed a very important point of the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, he pointed out her sin to her so she could be free from it. That’s what love does; it helps people recognize their sin and the hold it has on their lives and turn from it.
The same reason Paul wrote Romans 1:18-32 and 1 and 2 Corinthians to the church there that had fallen into worldly sin of their culture. Not to judge them but to awaken them from their sinful slumber. Do you think John the Baptist was being judgmental when he told Herod he shouldn’t be married to his brother’s wife?
Tolerating sin, especially in the church, hurts people! I’m sorry you missed that point. I’m glad someone was passionate enough to help me recognize and turn from my sin, aren’t you?
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly[b] should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Gal 6:1 NLT
My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, 20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20