Tag: Truth

#43- Growth Reports

52 Reasons to Love the Church

By Kathy Pollard

We’re currently studying the book of Acts in our Sunday morning Bible class. Chris Young is doing a great job teaching and he recently pointed out that there are multiple “growth reports” throughout the book. That sent me on a little quest to find them all, and just reading them one after the other was thrilling!

  • Acts 2:41- “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
  • Acts 4:4- “But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.”
  • Acts 5:14- “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”
  • Acts 6:1- “Now is these days when the disciples were increasing in number…”
  • Acts 6:7- “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
  • Acts 14:1- “Now in Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.”
  • Acts 14:21-22- “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith.”
  • Acts 16:5- “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.”
  • Acts 17:3-4- “Explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.”
  • Acts 17:12- “Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.”
  • Acts 17:34- “But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”
  • Acts 18:8- “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”

These growth reports are exciting (and I probably missed some), but what’s even more exciting is the fact that it’s all still going on!

People still care. Peter, Stephen, Paul…these men and others cared more about the gospel than they did about their own personal safety. They were courageous enough to tell others about Jesus. They prayed for boldness and then acted on it (Acts 4:1-3, 13,29). Still today there are men and women who love souls enough to share the Truth with them. I could name names and I know you could, too.

People are still receptive. Think of conversions like Paul and Crispus. They were both ‘all in’ with what they already believed and practiced, yet their hearts were open and they became disciples of Christ. Amazing! 2000 years later we are still hearing “growth reports” because people are still searching. I could share recent conversion stories that are surprising because of the person’s religious background or current occupation and I know you could, too.

The Word of God is still powerful. God chose His disciples to be the conduit for getting the saving message to the world. They were imperfect humans but that didn’t matter because they only had to “speak the word of God” (Acts 4:31). The power is in the Word and that’s why conversion and transformation take place (Heb. 4:12). There’s nothing like the aha moment when the Truth is shared with someone who hears or understands it for the first time. It’s amazing to watch the Word go to work on tender hearts. I could share stories and I know you could, too.

Rejoice in the growth reports!

The book of Acts appropriately closes with these words:

“Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

(Acts 28:31)

What is Truth?

By Chelsea Pollard

The topic of truth has been on my mind a lot lately. Seeing where the world is, the confusion and how divided we are, it’s unsettling to me. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because – to a large number of people – there’s no objective truth. Did you know there’s a word for this? I learned this word from Hiram Kemp and it is “post-truth”. 

Oxford’s definition of post-truth: “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

Basically, feelings over fact. That’s your truth but it’s not my truth. I’ve got to speak my truth. We’ve all heard a variation of this and it’s troubling because we know the truth. 

  • “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me’” (Jn 14.6). 
  • “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, ‘You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (Jn 8.31,32). 
  • “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17.17). 
  • “For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth” (2 Cor 13:8). 
  • “Buy the truth and do not sell it – wisdom, instruction and insight as well” (Proverbs 23:23). 

We know the truth and we follow Him. Because of this truth, we have purpose and meaning in our lives! People may want to believe that they have their own truth, but they feel that hole in their lives. I believe that we are made with the desire to know the truth, it’s in our code to know our Creator. There are people out there seeking the truth and it’s up to us to show them. While I was looking for verses on truth, I came across Psalm 25. Please take a minute to read it. 

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust….Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” (Ps 25:1,5). 

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Perhaps the Most Important Thing We Must Teach Our Children

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the knowledge that Neal and I are responsible for the three precious souls with which God has blessed us.  Their physical care, their emotional well-being, and their spiritual training are daily being molded by our guidance and example.  Even after 20 years of parenting, I still shake my head with the sheer import of that truth.  But really, I think there is one significant thing that our children must know, must believe, must do in order to be set for life and for eternal life.  They must always turn to the Word of God.  No matter where my children end up or what circumstances they find themselves facing, I pray their knee-jerk reaction will be to open the Bible.  Here are a few reasons why I think dependence on the Bible is the most important thing to instill in our children:

  • The Bible, and only the Bible, gives them the plan of salvation.  It ultimately doesn’t matter what any professor, religious leader, parent or grandparent says…God is the only One who does the saving and so He is the only One who gets to tell us how that happens.  And He has done that for us in His Word (Mark 16:16).  The Bible teaches our children how to have a relationship with God, how to pray, how to be a genuine Christian (Matt. 7:21).
  • The Bible provides answers for their questions.  Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  What is our purpose?  Lots of people have lots of interesting ideas about these areas, but our Creator knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 33:13-15).  Any who seek answers to life’s questions will be satisfied if they turn to the Bible  (2 Peter 1:3).
  • The Bible helps them weather the storms.  My children may one day face job loss, health problems, disappointments, powerful temptations, painful experiences, or marital strife.  They will probably receive advice from well-meaning friends and loved ones or professionals, but only the Bible will enable them to survive.  It will comfort them when distraught (Psalm 119:107), arm them for spiritual battle (Eph. 6:10ff), and help them remain faithful till death (Heb. 10:23).
  • The Bible determines what is right and what is wrong.  Doesn’t that seem like an especially huge deal right now with social media, news anchors, outspoken celebrities and politicians all telling us what to believe and what to accept?  Many people are embracing their feelings as their guide instead of what’s right and logical.  If our children hear such convincing messages often enough from multiple avenues, they might question how so many could be so wrong.  The Bible will warn our children about that (Matt. 7:13,14).  If our children know to turn a deaf ear to the world and listen only to God, they will be able to discern the difference between Satan’s lies and God’s Truth (John 8:31,32).

Truly, there are many other reasons why it is so important for our children to feel dependent on the Bible.  Job success, physical health, and becoming an upstanding citizen are all good and important.  But the single most important thing I desire for my children is that they go to Heaven.  How can we teach them to rely on the Bible?  They must see us always turning to God’s Word in every situation.  They must hear us answer their questions with, “Let’s see what the Bible says about that.”  They must experience for themselves the genuine faith that comes from daily Bible study (Rom. 10:17).  And after it’s all said and done, and they face Christ on their own, they will be judged by His Word.

“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Prayer for Today:  Lord, I beg You, help me instill complete trust in Your Word in the hearts of my children.

*This post can also be found at:  http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2014/04/special-news-and-wise-woman-linkup.html