There is no gem more precious than Truth.  And, although I realize it’s been said of most ages in the past, today that gem seems even more rare.  For, without Truth, life is guesswork.  And that might not be so bad, except that the guesses with the most impact are cast by those who abuse their power at others’ expense.

Before reading this week’s article, consider these prompts.

• How do we see God emphasizing the importance of Truth and religious opinion in the following Old Testament passages? (Deuteronomy 13, 1 Kings 17,  Psalm 43, and most of Proverbs 12)
• In His sermon on the mount, five times Jesus clarifies or corrects His hearers’ understanding of God’s Word with “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” and six times “Truly I say to you…”  What does this tell us about our human understanding of God’s Truth?
• Read Pilate’s well-known question to Jesus, “What is truth?” in John 18:38 by the larger context.  Does Pilate want to know?  How should we understand Jesus’ responses to him?  Elaborate from the passage.
• One of the most quoted passages for Christian apologetics (explaining our reasons for believing) is 1 Peter 3:13-17.  In this context, what is the goal of telling them the Truth?  What responses are implied and why?
• Over and over in the New Testament, the Lord spoke the Truth and then said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15, 13:9 and 43, Mark 4:9 and 23, Luke 8:8, and 14:35)  What does this tell us about the role of the Spirit in opening our hearts to hear and embrace the Truth?

Now consider this week’s article.

Ramadan’s here – let the killing begin.

“The search for Truth”, by Chaplain Jeff Dillard (30 May 2017)

The title in the larger font is not mine.  It’s from a recent opinion piece for the Washington Times by Cheryl Chumley who writes, “It’s Ramadan, and for followers of Islam the world over, the monthlong (sic) celebration of their prophet’s unveiling of the Koran means fasting, spiritual introspection — and apparently, murder, mayhem and bloody attacks against infidels.  That’s not polite to say, of course. But it can’t help but be noticed.  Heck, the website The Religion of Peace even keeps a handy-dandy chart to keep a running count of terror attacks tied to Ramadan. It’s called the “Ramadan Bombathon 2017,” and as of Day 3 of the Islam holy month — which runs this year from May 26 through June 24, at least in America — adherents of the so-called religion of peace were already racking up the kills.  The pertinent lines read this way, at least so far: “Terror in the Name of ISLAM: Attacks, 12; Kills, 118. ALL Other Religions Combined: Attacks, 0; Kills, 0.”  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/30/ramadans-here-let-the-killing-begin/

The Times tends to relay events from a particular perspective.  But, then again, who doesn’t?  So if you struggle to discern between the Truth of a matter and others’ personal beliefs, you’re not alone.

In a closed social media page for my neighborhood someone recently posted that a convicted sex offender against a child had been released from prison and moved back into their house, less than ¼ mile from my house.  The post included an official notice of their offense under a general category and several specific crimes that fall under the category.  One of which was kidnapping a minor.  My first thought, however, was “Are we talking about an evil old man who kidnapped a child?  Or is this a young couple who agreed to elope, but one was a few months under the age of legal consent?”

I have a pretty sixteen year-old daughter who wants to jog our neighborhood.  Should I be worried?

And more times than I care to count, self-identified “Christians” have murdered people they viewed as enemies.  So I wonder, “Have they even read the Bible, especially what it says about loving others?”

The search for Truth is daily assaulted by heavy hits:  trusted authorities fall in public scandals; bookstores juxtapose opposing ideologies like flavors of ice cream; entertainment industries package plots of fantasy as alternate realities; and the daily demands of our lives leave little time to dig through the dung for any real Treasure.  I guess it’s no biggie…as long as it’s restricted to news about others.

If you’d like to read other articles from this series on current events, you can click here.

If you’d like to know more about who publishes the articles, videos, and other materials on tools4trenches, you can click on the picture of me and my wife.