DISCERN | JULY/AUGUST 2024

A Magazine of

Truth Is Fallen in the Street

DISCERN

A Magazine of

Discern magazine (ISSN 2372-1995 [print]; ISSN 2372-2010 [online]) is published every two months by the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, as a service to readers of its LifeHopeandTruth.com website. Discern’s home page is LifeHopeandTruth.com/Discern. Free electronic subscriptions can be obtained at LifeHopeandTruth. com/Discern. Contact us at info@DiscernMag.com

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Send address changes to P.O. Box 3490, McKinney, TX 75070-8189

© 2024 Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

Publisher:

Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc., P.O. Box 3490, McKinney, TX 75070-8189; phone 972-521-7777; fax 972-521-7770; info@cogwa.org; LifeHopeandTruth.com; cogwa.org

Ministerial Board of Directors:

David Baker, Arnold Hampton, Joel Meeker (chairman), Larry Salyer, Richard Thompson, Leon Walker and Lyle Welty

Staff:

President: Jim Franks; Editor: Clyde Kilough; Editorial content manager: Mike Bennett; Managing editor: David Hicks; Senior editor: David Treybig; Associate designer: Elena Salyer; Associate editors: Erik Jones, Jeremy Lallier; Assistant editor: Kendrick Diaz; Copy editor: Becky Bennett; Social media: Hailey Willoughby

Doctrinal reviewers:

John Foster, Bruce Gore, Peter Hawkins, Jack Hendren, Don Henson, Doug Johnson, Chad Messerly, Larry Neff

The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc. has congregations and ministers throughout the United States and many other countries. Visit cogwa.org/ congregations for information.

Donations to support Discern magazine and LifeHopeandTruth.com can be made online at LifeHopeandTruth.com/donate or by surface mail to Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc., P.O. Box 731480, Dallas, TX 75373-1480. The Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc. is organized and operated as a tax-exempt organization in the United States according to the requirements of IRS 501(c)(3). Contributions are gratefully acknowledged by receipt.

Unsolicited materials sent to Discern magazine will not be critiqued or returned. By submitting material, authors agree that their submissions become the property of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, Inc. to use as it sees fit.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version (© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This publication is not to be sold. Free educational material.

can make it controversial—and uncomfortable! 13 Lessons

From the First Lie

The first lie recorded in the Bible has had profound effects upon mankind. What can we learn from this seminal event? When will humans recognize truth?

The Family That Prays Together

“The family that prays together, stays together.” This saying is not in the Bible. But the need for parents to teach their children about God is biblical.

Thousands of years ago, a kingdom was unraveling because it stopped caring about the truth. Now our world is doing the same.

The Family That Plays Together

Hard work is a virtue, but God is not against family fun. In fact, He commands us to rejoice together!

Middle East Justice?

The Bible is a bestseller, and many look to it for encouragement. But it also gives correction, and that

Soon after Hamas’ evil terrorist attack from Gaza, the UN’s highest court accepted a case charging Israel with genocide. Where could it lead?

Truth or Consequences

Many travelers on I-25 in New Mexico have probably scratched their heads when approaching a little town with a peculiar name—Truth or Consequences. Why would a town bear such a strange name?

As it happens, one of the earliest and most popular radio and television game shows in the 1940s and ’50s was called Truth or Consequences . To promote its 10th anniversary, in 1950 the host of the show, Ralph Edwards, promised to air a program from a city or town willing to officially change its name to that of his show.

The citizens of Hot Springs, New Mexico, reasoning that many towns in the U.S. shared their same name and that this change would make their town unique, jumped at this opportunity. They overwhelmingly voted for the name change. Ever since, this little burg has been known as Truth or Consequences, or “T or C,” as its 6,000 residents like to call it.

The TV show itself was so named because participants were asked difficult questions. If they answered incorrectly, they were subjected to consequences—usually some funny or embarrassing stunt designed to amuse the audience.

Life is no game

If one wanted to portray humanity’s existence as a TV show, Truth or Consequences would be a great name for it. Except it wouldn’t be a game, and it wouldn’t be funny. The first question posed to the first participants on earth had lying in wait behind it the most extreme consequences possible—life or death!

Their fate depended on their choice: stand firmly on truth or be led down a pathway of deceitful and deadly reasoning. The article “Lessons From the First Lie” explains the penalties that followed, not only for Adam and Eve, but for all of us. The cover article, “Truth Is Fallen in the Street,” focuses on how well (or not so well) we’re dealing with the aftermath today.

Life is not a game!

Don’t just believe what we write

This magazine, along with our flagship website LifeHopeandTruth.com, is published by the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. We thought long and hard about naming our website, and settled on these

words because they represent three major themes in God’s Word—understanding life’s meaning and purpose, having hope in Christ, and living by truth.

And the magazine name, Discern, expresses our mission of trying to help our readers accurately sift through the mixture of facts and falsehoods swirling around us.

We hope you will read our articles, of course, but . . . don’t just believe what we write. Don’t take our word for anything! Take God’s Word for what is truth!

We want to lead you to God’s Word, but please, open your Bible and read it yourself. “Test all things,” God says, and “hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We urge you, our readers, to never assume that what you have been taught and believed about the things of God is necessarily true. Hundreds of thousands have been shocked to discover that some of the most common beliefs are not in the Bible!

Truth twisted is no longer truth!

Jesus Himself warned, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). What consequences have followed? He also said, “Those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

And the consequences if we don’t?

Truth’s consequences

On that old game show, participants who didn’t know or tell the truth might get smacked in the face with a pie or suffer some silly stunt. But this life we’re in is no game. Not knowing, telling or acknowledging God’s eternal truths is indeed a lifeand-death matter.

“You shall know the truth,” Jesus said, “and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Free from death, free from hopelessness, free from deceit— the consequences of truth!

Clyde Kilough Editor

Truth Is Fallen in the Street

Thousands of years ago, a kingdom was unraveling because it stopped caring about the truth. Now our world is doing the same.

At the tip of your index finger, there is a cell.

This cell is too small for you to see with your naked eye, although you could probably spot it under a microscope.

Within this cell are more than a dozen unique organelles, each with an incredibly important, specialized job to do.

These organelles are built from macromolecules, which are, in turn, composed of atoms, which you’ve probably heard called the building blocks of the universe.

You have, for reference, about 7 octillion—a seven followed by 27 zeroes— atoms in your body.

But we can zoom in further. Even atoms are made of smaller building blocks— subatomic particles bound together by the pull of strong nuclear force, dancing around each other in a precise but mysterious dance defined by quantum interactions that the brightest minds of our generation are still attempting to unravel.

In just that one cell at the tip of your finger, there are a staggering number of physical laws determining how a staggering number of building blocks behave every moment of every day.

A universe without truth

What do you think would happen if those physical laws ever stopped being true?

Nothing pleasant, that’s for sure.

If the forces governing those atomic and subatomic puzzle pieces were ever altered, all 7 octillion atoms in your body would come undone in a nanosecond. Every molecule in every organelle in every cell that composes your human frame would be fundamentally and irrevocably destroyed— in tandem with the entire physical universe as we know it.

The stars, the planets and every inconsequential fragment of debris floating through the vast expanse of

space—existence itself would blink out in a horrifying display of chaos.

If truth takes a day off, everything we know goes up in smoke.

Physical truths and moral truths

To put it another way: the universe we exist in continues existing specifically because truth exists. If the laws of physics were not consistently and dependably true, nothing physical could exist at all.

There aren’t a lot of people arguing that point. Gravity doesn’t treat different people differently; magnetic fields don’t fluctuate based on opinion or preference. The forces at work in our universe do what they do regardless of how we feel about them, and most of us implicitly accept this.

What we don’t all implicitly accept is the role truth plays outside of keeping planets and electrons spinning. When it comes to our own personal lives—to the thoughts we think and the words we say and the actions we take—what role should truth play there?

For that matter, there are an absurd number of competing religions, worldviews and philosophies. How are you supposed to even recognize truth? What does it look like? How can you be sure? Can more than one view of truth be right? Who decides?

Hovering over all these valid, important questions is another far more ominous—and perhaps far more important —question: Does truth even matter?

The 2016 Word of the Year

In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year was post-truth: “an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’”

A post-truth world isn’t one that denies the existence of truth. A post-truth world simply doesn’t care so much about truth.

Truth takes a backseat to the things we feel and the things we believe.

But it’s more than that.

Worse than that.

In this worldview, feelings and beliefs become a sort of truth—and, in turn, truth becomes malleable. It becomes a uniquely personal and highly unstable quality, defined for me by what I believe and feel right now, in this moment.

If those beliefs and feelings change tomorrow, my truth changes along with them. And if you and I have different feelings and beliefs, well, that’s fine—it just means we each have different truths we must live our lives by.

Until, of course, those truths change. Again.

How a world gives up on truth

If truth—that is, the kind of truth defined by facts and reality, not feelings and beliefs—doesn’t matter, then the other questions don’t really matter either. There’s no need to worry about the right way to define truth if truth is simply a byproduct of how the world looks to you at any given moment.

One modern-day philosopher, Julian Baggini, argues that we fundamentally understand what truth means as a concept: “No witness need ask a judge which theory [of truth] she has in mind when asked to promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

He argues that the issue doesn’t stem from struggling to define what truth is as a concept, but rather that “there is major disagreement and uncertainty concerning what counts as a reliable source of truth. For most of human history, there was some stable combination of trust in religious texts and leaders, learned experts and the enduring folk wisdom called common sense. Now, it seems, virtually nothing is universally taken as an authority. This leaves us having to pick our own experts or simply to trust our guts” (“Truth? It’s Not Just About the Facts,” The Times Literary Supplement).

When so many so-called experts insist that their perspective is the right one and that other so-called experts are wrong—and when platforms exist for all of them to shout louder and louder, trying to drown out

any opposing voices—and when those platforms reward increasingly hyperbolic claims—the end result is a cacophony of conflicting statements that few people have the time, knowledge or stomach to wade through. Instead, it’s easier to just gravitate toward whatever feels right. If all of the so-called experts say they have the truth and there’s no clear way to separate the wheat from the chaff, what else can you do?

It turns out the most effective way to get people to give up on the truth isn’t by convincing them that the truth doesn’t exist, but by muddying the waters until it feels impossible to distinguish the truth from the falsehoods.

New words, old melodies

The word post-truth is a relatively new one, but the concept behind it is not. As “the Preacher” of Ecclesiastes lamented, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, English Standard Version).

Human history is a song that’s been playing for centuries. Each new stanza might introduce new words, but the melody behind them remains unchanged.

• The desire to explore has pushed us beyond mountain ranges and beyond the gravitational pull of the earth.

• The lust for power has started wars fought with swords and wars fought with ballistic missiles.

• The desire to create has produced engineering marvels like ancient aqueducts and modern hydroelectric dams.

• The disgust for those different from us has resulted in diasporas, pogroms and even outright genocide. Stanza after stanza, the song goes on. New words, but the same notes. And within those recurring notes, the refrain of post-truth is deeply entrenched.

The melody of post-truth

Those notes were playing 2,000 years ago, when Jesus Christ stood on trial before Pontius Pilate and asserted, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37).

Pilate’s response in verse 38 seems to me like a verbal shoulder shrug. He asked, “What is truth?”—but he didn’t wait for answer. He didn’t seem interested in finding an answer. He sounded, instead, like a man throwing up his hands, exasperated at the seemingly impossible task of separating fact from fiction. He sounded like a man resigned to living in a posttruth world.

Seven centuries before that, the post-truth melody was also playing—this time in the ancient kingdom of Israel. The prophet Isaiah was inspired by God to paint an unflattering picture of his countrymen. “For your hands are defiled with blood,” he told them, “and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies” (Isaiah 59:3).

But it was more than that. Worse than that.

“No one calls for justice,” he continued, “nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies” (verse 4).

The people of Israel had given up on pleading for truth. They had embraced a post-truth outlook. They trusted in their own empty words—words of falsehood and deceit. As a society, they were “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood” (verse 13, emphasis added throughout).

The final stages of a post-truth world

This total aversion to truth-seeking had transformed Israel into a living nightmare. The people pursued their own desires: “Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths” (verses 6-7).

Spiritually, the nation was in shambles. “We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places” (verses 9-10).

The end result experienced by ancient Israel will also be what our modern world will experience if current trends continue. There’s nothing new under the sun—it’s the same song, and we’re beginning to

live through the same notes. “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey” (verses 14-15).

Truth is fallen in the streets.

The New English Translation says, “Honesty stumbles in the city square and morality is not even able to enter.”

It’s a bleak picture with a domino effect.

Without truth and honesty, there can be no righteousness. There can be no justice. Remove them from the equation—cultivate a society that no longer seeks them out, no longer pleads for them—and you cultivate a society built around the seeds of its own destruction.

That’s how the song plays out. That’s how the song will always play out.

No civilization can survive the descent into post-truth.

Life and hope require truth

When the time came to give a name to the publicfacing branch of our church (the one that would focus on preaching Christ’s gospel message to the world), we gave it a tremendous amount of thought and prayer before settling on Life, Hope & Truth. And now, 10 years into publishing Discern, we’ve spent the last three issues of this magazine focusing on these core elements of our identity:

Discernment , life and hope .

They’re all important. They all play a key role in understanding God’s plan for the human race.

But you can’t have any of them without truth. Without truth, there is nothing to discern. Without truth, there is no life. Without truth, there is no hope.

That might sound as bleak as Isaiah’s lament, but in fact, it ought to be a source of comfort.

Why?

Because a society can reject truth, but it cannot destroy it. It can turn its back on truth, ignore it, shout over it, give up on it, misunderstand it, misrepresent it, even attempt to muzzle it—but no matter what mankind does, truth is truth.

The truth that binds subatomic quarks and gluons into the protons and neutrons at the core of an atom is harder to deny than the truth that dictates how

we ought to live our lives, but they were both set in place by the same God. The God who set the universe in motion is also the God with the wisdom and insight to show us the best way—the right way—to live our lives.

People can balk at that, but they can’t change it. They can scream at it, but they can’t make it go away. No matter how the world reacts to it, God’s truth is a safe haven that has always been and will always be.

Seeking for hidden treasures

How do you feel about truth?

Because that’s the only part of this equation you have any control over. The world will believe what it will believe, the song will play out the way it plays out, and truth itself will remain unchanged.

You’re the variable.

The Bible urges us to “buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23). The truth—as a reflection of reality and facts, not feelings and beliefs—is a thing that must be purchased. Pursued. And with it, wisdom and instruction and understanding.

It also tells us, “Incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding”—to “cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding”—to “seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures” (Proverbs 2:2-4).

Because, ultimately, feelings and beliefs are important. The trouble is that in a post-truth world, feelings and beliefs become a stand-in for truth when it should be the exact opposite. The truth—solid, unchanging truth—ought to be the thing that shapes our feelings and beliefs.

Not everyone wants to hear truth

Of course, when that’s your approach to truth, it’s going to set you at odds with people who don’t want to hear that their hand-picked experts and their gut feelings might be wrong.

It’s going to set you at odds with people who insist that biology plays a secondary role to the way we feel about ourselves.

It’s going to set you at odds with people who cast you as a villain for not subscribing to every core idea of their chosen political party.

It’s going to set you at odds with people who believe that facts can and should be bent, twisted and artfully reinterpreted when they get in the way of a deep-set belief.

But it’s also going to bring you closer to your Creator. The pursuit of truth inevitably brings us to the feet of

the One who is the source of all truth.

“Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright” (verses 5-7).

Inspecting is a part of understanding

When Pilate asked his question, he didn’t wait around for an answer—but there is an answer all the same.

In His final prayer before His arrest, Jesus spoke to God the Father about His disciples. He asked God to “sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

For most people, it’s quite a leap from believing that objective truth exists to believing that the Bible is a dependable repository of that truth.

If God’s Word is the truth, then it must hold up to our deepest scrutinies. There will always be questions we can’t fully answer, but before we can truly believe the Bible, we must scrutinize it. We must inspect it and study it, poke it and prod it until we understand what it is and the claims it makes.

That’s what we’ve done here at Life, Hope & Truth. And we’ve found, over and over again, that the words of the Bible prove themselves to be true and dependable.

We have tested them through repeated personal application over the course of multiple decades, only to become increasingly convinced of the same truth that Peter confessed to Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69).

That’s not a belief you can borrow from someone else. We can’t hand it to you, fully formed. It comes from a truth that you must personally examine—a truth that, ultimately, God Himself must lead you to (John 6:44).

If you haven’t already examined that truth—or if it’s just something you’re wanting to refresh yourself on—we’d love to help. We have a booklet called Is the Bible True? that examines evidence for the Bible’s validity in terms of archaeology, history and even the internal evidence of the Bible itself.

We have a seven-day Journey designed to walk you through “ The Problem of Evil ”—that is, why a good God would allow evil to exist (and what He’s doing about it).

We have two videos on “ Three Rational Proofs God Exists ” and “ Does Archaeology Support the Bible? ”

And you can always contact us directly through our Ask a Question form, and we’ll answer as best we can!

What we’ve found (and what we trust you’ll find too) is that the spiritual truths God established are every bit as important (and arguably far more important) than the physical truths that govern our universe.

There’s a reason the 7 octillion atoms of your body don’t just wander off without warning, and there’s a reason certain things are morally right and morally wrong. In both cases, the answer is something bigger than our own thoughts and opinions. We can’t escape the consequences of God’s truths any more than we can escape the consequences of the intricate physics holding our world together.

What we can do is pay attention to them and learn from them. No matter how deeply the world around us delves into post-truth, a life defined by God’s truth is always worth living.

—Jeremy Lallier

Does the Bible make you uncomfortable? It should. Surprised? Millions read the Scriptures for inspiration, encouragement, hope and comfort. They read it for solace in times of trouble. And that’s good. We need that.

But a big chunk of the Bible was written to correct us, and nobody likes to be corrected, right? There are things in the Bible that should convict us. Things we need to know and do, but that can be uncomfortable to hear.

The truth is, if we read the Bible, parts of it will make us uncomfortable.

Here’s why that’s actually a good thing—and why you should let it.

If we want to live a right and good life, then we obviously have to avoid doing evil. Yet within each of us there is the potential—even the tendency—toward selfishness, pride, corruption and evil. We have to exercise self-control over these tendencies. We have to resist evil and actively do good.

But what if we read what the Bible says about good and evil, and we don’t agree?

There are some standards, as defined in the Bible, that used to be almost universally accepted as good or evil. But that’s changed. What the Bible says is wrong, many today say is good and should even be celebrated.

So, hearing the Bible can make some people uncomfortable and even angry. Increasingly, this is causing some to marginalize and discredit the Bible. There’s an active attempt to muzzle the Bible.

Bible bans and disagreements about morality

The Bible has actually been making people uncomfortable for thousands of years.

Marxist, Fascist and Communist governments have tried to ban the Bible. They wanted to shield their people from what they thought were dangerous messages from Scripture— messages that threatened the government’s authority and secular ideology.

To be sure, there are some principles of biblical morality that nearly everyone agrees with, such as don’t murder or don’t steal (though some will make an exception even to those basic rules if they feel it is justified).

But what about other principles of biblical morality that many today don’t agree with?

A growing number of people say that the Bible is dangerous and even a threat to society. That it’s misogynistic, racist and homophobic, and that it teaches bigotry and prejudice.

Does the Make You Uncomfortable?

The Bible is a bestseller, and many look to it for encouragement. But it also gives correction, and that can make it controversial—and uncomfortable!

Bible You Uncomfortable?

It doesn’t, of course. It teaches morality, and that’s no threat to society! It’s an essential standard for society.

But that doesn’t stop those who take offense at the correction of Scripture.

Why we should listen to the Bible

The Bible tells people what’s right and wrong, what’s moral and what’s immoral, what’s sin and what isn’t sin.

Why should anyone listen to the Bible?

Why should you listen?

When God sent prophets to His people, to correct them and to warn them—words that made them uncomfortable—they tried to kill the prophets because they hated their message and didn’t want to listen.

Most of those of Christ’s generation refused to hear His words, and ended up having Him killed. They were offended by His teaching—especially when His teachings conflicted with their ideas and practices.

Jesus said of His generation, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37, emphasis added throughout).

What God wants

God didn’t send the prophets or give His law because He wanted to make people’s lives miserable. He wasn’t trying to oppress them. They were sinning—making their own lives miserable and bringing curses upon themselves. God was trying to call them back to the way of life that leads to peace and happiness. He wanted to bless them.

But He couldn’t bless them if they were living in sin. They needed to stop sinning, to repent, to do the right thing. They needed to start listening to God, who loved them and wanted to pour out His blessings on them.

Just as He wants to do for you.

Sadly, many wanted to continue in their sinful ways. They didn’t like being told they needed to change. Those were uncomfortable words that they weren’t willing to hear.

Two ways

Here’s what the Bible shows: Left to our own devices, we will choose the way of sin—of harmful actions that make our lives and the lives of others worse. God, though, wants something better for us, and He shows us a much better way—His way.

But we have to trust that God’s way is best and right in all circumstances. Why? Because “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25). In other words, when we rely on our own ideas and feelings to guide our path, the result is destruction.

We have 6,000 years of recorded human history that shows this to be true. It’s a record of wars and failures, of people thinking this way or that way is best, yet always ending in the same trouble.

Our Creator, though, does know the best way. Paul explained: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible is the only source that is fully and truly inspired by God and can be completely trusted to guide us in life. Other books can provide helpful information and be useful—but only the Bible is truly inspired by the Creator of life as the guide to life.

The human viewpoint

The problem is, that’s not the way everyone sees it. The Bible is often seen as the trouble.

But the real trouble is sin. People don’t like to be told that their ideas, thoughts, feelings or actions are wrong, even when the correction is for their own benefit and blessing.

So, we remain stuck, blinded in error, unwilling to consider that God is right. God is telling us the way that works. The way that is in our best interests, even if we don’t see it at first.

The bottom line

If the Bible isn’t the inspired Word of the Creator God, then it’s just a collection of myths and fairy tales.

But if it is the Word of God—if these pages are filled with the life-changing lessons and instructions of Almighty God—then it doesn’t matter how uncomfortable His instructions make us. They are truth—truth that we desperately need.

If you have wrestled with this question, we urge you to download our booklet Is the Bible True? You don’t have to wonder or doubt, and this booklet will show you why.

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). He doesn’t tell us things to hurt us. He tells us things to help us.

So when we read the Bible, sometimes we’re corrected for the things we do, and the bad or wrong attitudes we might have, and even for some ideas and beliefs we might hold that aren’t right. That can be uncomfortable, but it’s for our own good.

When a parent corrects a child, the child may not like it at first. The parent can lovingly explain and teach the child the right way to go. It’s what a parent does—and it’s what God does as our Father.

God’s challenge for you

God has a challenge for you. Is there something you think you don’t like about what the Bible has to say? Don’t just dismiss it. Give God’s Word a fair hearing, and you might be surprised.

If you come to the Bible with your mind already made up, based on what you think you know about God and the Bible, you’ll never see it honestly.

People can wrest and twist the Scripture “to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). If you want to make the Scripture seem to say something you want it to say, rather than what it really says, you probably can. But that’s not being honest, fair or reasonable.

God shows us the way that’s right—the way that works and produces right results in our lives today and, ultimately, in His family for eternity.

There is much in the Bible that is comforting, reassuring and uplifting. And we should read it for encouragement, inspiration, reassurance and hope. But we must also read it to be instructed, taught and corrected.

If we do, the Bible will challenge us and even make us uncomfortable as it shows us how to live and grow. If we take the Bible seriously, it will challenge us to change our motivations, beliefs and actions.

The question is, Will you let the Bible challenge you and change you? Or will you reject God’s Word when it makes you uncomfortable? Will you let God’s Word correct you, so that your life can be better?

Because it can be better.

Study this important subject further in our booklet Change Your Life .

—James Capo

The first lie recorded in the Bible has had profound effects upon mankind. What can we learn from this seminal event? When will humans recognize truth?

Lessons From the First Lie

The pursuit of truth is a challenging endeavor. Given today’s world of politically driven news, conflicting stories, misinformation and media bias, truth can be elusive.

Even when we think we know the truth, it’s not uncommon for us to later discover we didn’t really know it after all. As the old saying goes, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Much of the difficulty we humans have in ascertaining truth can be traced back to an interaction between Eve and Satan the devil in the Garden of Eden.

The infamous conversation is recorded for us in Genesis 3:1-5.

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’

“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’

“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

Satan is the master deceiver

In this long-ago discourse, Satan deceived Eve on several points. The significance of his deception is reflected in Jesus’ statement that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

An important point for us to note in Christ’s words is that Satan didn’t mistakenly utter something false in his conversation with Eve. He outright lied. He made statements with a deliberate intent to deceive.

In the remainder of this article, let’s focus on three specific points Satan lied about in his conversation

with Eve. These untruths reverberate through time and continue to deceive people to this day.

Lie: God doesn’t care about humans

The devil didn’t waste words. His opening sentence laid the foundation for the distrust of God that he wanted Eve to adopt. Satan probably said his first words with incredulity, pretending disbelief as he asked, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).

After Eve confirmed that God had told them not to eat of a particular tree lest they die, the devil then uttered his famous lie: “You will not surely die” (verse 4). The father of lies accused God of not telling the truth.

This duplicitous being then continued, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (verse 5). Satan implied that God was purposely and unfairly prohibiting humans from making their own decisions.

With these words, Satan was trying to convince Eve that God was unfair and couldn’t be trusted. Distrust of God continues today on a massive scale. Many find it difficult to believe that God truly cares about humans. Many blame God when children die or when natural disasters and wars kill thousands of innocent people.

But a careful study of the Bible reveals a very different picture of God. He is the being who made us and offers blessings to those who obey Him. In demonstration of His awesome love, God the Father sent His Son to die for our sins so we might live with Him throughout eternity (John 3:16).

Many people today don’t want to obey God, but are quick to blame God for just about every instance where people are harmed or lose their lives.

Don’t fall for Satan’s lie that God doesn’t care about humans and that His instructions need not be heeded. God wants us to become spiritual sons (and daughters) of God (Romans 8:19). He has given us His good and beneficial laws that, if obeyed, will yield benefits in this life and the one to come (1 Timothy 4:8).

Lie: Humans don’t die

Some of the most successful lies contain elements of truth. This was true in Satan’s discussion with Eve.

Satan said Eve wouldn’t die if she ate of the forbidden tree. And Eve didn’t immediately die for her sin. Neither did Adam immediately die after he ate what God had forbidden.

What Satan said was true in the short term. But not in the long run.

From the beginning, God made humans physical, mortal beings. The tree of life in the Garden of Eden represented the opportunity for Adam and Eve to receive eternal life. But they lost access to this tree and what it represented when they sinned by disobeying God (Genesis 3:22-24).

The book of Romans explains that when we sin, we bring the death penalty upon ourselves. As Romans 6:23 states, “The wages of sin is death.” Since we all— every human since Adam and Eve—have sinned, we have all earned this penalty (Romans 3:23).

After Adam and Eve sinned and lost access to the tree of life, God explained it to them like this: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). They didn’t have immortal souls that would allow them to continue living in another state after they died.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel twice repeated this foundational truth: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

While both Adam and Eve continued to live for a while after they ate of the forbidden tree, they eventually died just as God had said.

Satan uttered the lie that human beings don’t die, and the majority of mankind continues to believe his deceptive delusion. In fact, nearly every religion on earth believes the soul is immortal and lives on after death. For further study, see “Do Humans Have an Immortal Soul? ” and the video “God says your soul can die? ”

Lie: Humans don’t need God’s guidance

Another deceptive half-truth is found in the devil’s words to Eve, implying that humans can discern good from evil on their own. While it is true that God has endowed us with amazing minds and abilities, surpassing those of any animal, the notion that we inherently possess all the correct answers apart from God is false.

Jeremiah plainly noted that “the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his

own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). He later added, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Returning to the example in the garden, we note that Eve used her own reasoning to decide whether to eat the fruit of the tree God had forbidden.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).

Using the mind God had given her was not wrong. Her mistake was in not letting God’s instructions guide her as she made her decision.

Instead of seeking guidance from God’s instructions on how to live found in the Bible, many people today believe they can independently decide their path without God. They consider their values to be superior and more enlightened than God’s. A growing number of people even believe the Bible contains hate speech and reject it as a source for moral guidance.

This mistaken thinking mirrors that of Adam and Eve and will likewise end in death. Don’t succumb to Satan’s lie that humans can successfully navigate life apart from God.

Ongoing effects of Satan’s lie

Satan’s falsehoods and insinuations in his conversation with Eve continue to adversely impact mankind today.

Many don’t trust God, which is just as Satan desired. Many think they have an immortal soul, just as Satan suggested. And many think they can make equally good or better decisions than God, just as Satan wanted Eve to believe.

The good news is that after allowing humans to experience the consequences of their choices, God will intervene. When He does, Christ will return to rule the earth. Satan will be imprisoned and unable to deceive mankind (Revelation 20:1-3). Then everyone will have the opportunity to understand the truth about the first lie (Isaiah 11:9), and those who live according to God commands will be offered eternal life (Revelation 22:14).

For further study on what will happen after Christ returns, see The World to Come: What It Will Be Like . —David Treybig

The Family That Prays Together

This slogan may have been developed to encourage praying memorized prayers, but it is even more important for parents in teaching and modeling the intimate, conversational prayers God desires.

Parents’ responsibility to teach

The Bible doesn’t say a lot about family prayer in particular, but parents are clearly to teach God’s ways:

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

And parents are to “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Prayer is an essential part of that. It is something that has to be taught, as John the Baptist and Jesus taught their disciples (Luke 11:1).

Praying before meals

Mealtime prayers can be short and may become formulaic if we aren’t careful, but they can have great benefits. Most of all, they remind us of the source of all our blessings. Jesus set us the example of blessing the food God provided (Matthew 14:19; Mark 8:6-7).

In addition, the attitude of gratitude, being together at the same time and perhaps holding hands builds family togetherness, something that is becoming lost in our hectic world.

“Family therapist Anne Fishel says only about 30% of families regularly eat dinner together, despite family meal time being hugely beneficial for kids” (Harvard Edcast).

As Erica Jackson Curran wrote: “Eating meals together just might be the ultimate parenting hack. What else can you do in an hour that will improve your kids’ academic performance, increase their self-esteem, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce their risk of substance misuse, depression, teen pregnancy, and obesity?” (“7 Science-Based Benefits of Eating Together as a Family ”).

Praying before bed

Praying together before bed can strengthen families in many ways. When children are very young, parents will do all the praying, with the child first learning to

“The family that prays together, stays together.” This saying is not in the Bible. But the need for parents to teach their children about God is biblical.

say “Amen,” then learning to add things he or she is thankful for as well as requests.

An added benefit of a bedtime routine is that many parents find their children are more talkative and open to sharing during this time. What may seem just a childish ploy to stay up later may pay dividends as the children grow more independent and often less communicative. Building time into the schedule for talking with God and each other can strengthen family bonds.

Other prayers

Depending on circumstances, there may be times to pray together as a family for safety while traveling, for healing for a family member, for help in making an important decision, for the needs of others, and many other things.

Prayers of repentance are generally private prayers, but we can teach our children about this essential type of prayer as well. If we are discussing David’s sins, we can share David’s heartfelt prayer in Psalm 51. If we are reading in the Bible about Judah’s captivity, we can also read Daniel’s prayer for his people in Daniel 9:1-19. What other benefits have you found in communicating with God as a family? Contact us and let us know!

—Mike Bennett

Hard work is a virtue, but God is not against family fun. In fact, He commands us to rejoice together!

What are your favorite memories of your growing-up years? What are your kids’ favorite memories?

Many of my best memories are of times when my family was having fun together.

My father loved the outdoors, and our family took many backpacking hikes to beautiful lakes in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. The scenery was breathtaking, and the sense of shared accomplishment was satisfying. It wasn’t all fun, of course. But the tired muscles, sore back and mosquito-bitten arms only added to the memories.

With my own children, I remember bike rides along the Little Miami Scenic Trail. We might stop to read a book together along the way, and later stop to get ice cream cones.

A command to rejoice

God is not against fun. In fact, He even commands us to rejoice with our families at His annual festivals:

“And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the

The Family That Plays Together

fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates” (Deuteronomy 16:14).

God wants young people to rejoice!

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment” (Ecclesiastes 11:9).

God includes the warning because so many ways that people seek to have fun are fun only for the moment, but then reap a world of hurt. Who better than parents to help their children learn to rejoice without regret?

Spending time, building memories, strengthening families

Consider some good advice from several authors of parenting books:

• “Parents wind up being unavailable to their kids because they are too busy,” write Josh McDowell and Dick Day. But, “Love Is Spelled T-I-M-E. You spell acceptance and appreciation the same way” (How to Be a Hero to Your Kids, 1991, p. 147).

• “One secret to remember is that the psychological defenses of moody teenagers are very high, and it takes time for them to be slowly lowered to where they are able to genuinely communicate and share with you what is really on their mind. Did you catch that magic word? Time” (D. Ross Campbell, How to Really Love Your Teen, 2003, p. 39).

• “In today’s world our children have schedules as filled as ours. When are they children, with time to relax, time to talk, time to play?” (Edythe Denkin, Why Can’t You Catch Me Being Good? 2000, p. 73).

God lends us His children for just a few years. Love them, teach them, build good memories and enjoy your time together!

Learn more in the “Parenting ” section of Life, Hope & Truth.

—Mike Bennett

Soon after Hamas’ evil terrorist attack from Gaza, the UN’s highest court accepted a case charging Israel with genocide. Where could it lead?

Middle East Peace, War, Lies, Justice?

“The worst demonization of the Jewish state,” noted a Wall Street Journal editorial, “has typically followed the worst atrocities against it” (Oct. 20, 2023).

As fires still burned in kibbutzim near Gaza, massive crowds of protesters turned out in major cities around the world chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Likely some protesters didn’t realize the slogan implies wiping the State of Israel off the map, but many did.

In the United Kingdom, marchers angrily called for an “intifada from London to Gaza.” Berlin saw homes marked with the Star of David. The sheer scale of the demonstrations and anti-Jewish rhetoric had sinister echoes of the 1930s.

As time has gone on, many American universities have seen pro-Palestinian mobs set up encampments, terrorize students and vandalize buildings.

Accusations of genocide

Only a short time after Hamas’ spectacle of maniacal violence on Oct. 7, South Africa dropped a bombshell on the international community. It was bringing charges of genocide against Israel—a nation that had just suffered an almost unimaginably brutal attack— before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest judicial body.

Amid the ongoing bloodshed of the war in Gaza, the trial is likely to be the most watched international case in years, potentially having significant implications for Israel and for the future of international relations.

The International Court of Justice

The ICJ was created after World War II under the founding charter of the UN. Located in The Hague, the ICJ rules on disputes between nations and on alleged crimes perpetrated by state governments.

However, the ICJ—like the United Nations itself—has numerous limitations. It lacks enforcement power and cannot prosecute individuals for crimes (though the separate International Criminal Court can). As well, several nations have ignored its decisions.

The court will not make a final determination on South Africa’s genocide allegations until it hears the merits of the case, which will likely take years. But its opinions carry weight with the UN and other international institutions.

Since its creation, the ICJ has heard an average of fewer than three, often obscure, cases a year. This marks the first time that its judges have been tasked to determine a nation’s guilt in genocide.

Opening arguments

The United States has been one of the few countries to defend Israel at the ICJ. Lining up behind South

Africa is a cast of more than 50 developing countries and organizations such as the African Union, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

“Justice has been long delayed,” said Ma Xinmin, an official from China’s foreign ministry, “but it must not be denied.”

Of course, the Bible calls for justice. But it also shows that mankind is often incapable of rendering true justice because we’re usually unable to get past our biases and limited viewpoints (Isaiah 59:9-15; Romans 3:10-18).

Twisting the word genocide

The Holocaust is an incontrovertibly unique event in world history, with the death of 6 million Jews. Eight decades later, the Jewish population still hasn’t recovered to pre-Holocaust levels.

It is not surprising that Israel has fiercely rejected these accusations of genocide. It was in 1948, in response to the Holocaust, that genocide was codified as a crime, putting specific legal meaning to the ultimate form of national atrocity—the attempt to utterly exterminate a people.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the ICJ case “atrocious and preposterous,” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted Israel’s tremendous efforts to avoid civilian casualties and the irony that those charges weren’t brought against Hamas. He added, “No,

South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas. It would murder all of us if it could.”

From optimism to despair

There was a point in the 1970s when the predominantly Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza were considered the fourth fastest-growing economy in the world, ahead of Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, and far outpacing Israel. That period of optimism is gone. Unfortunately, radicals have destabilized the Middle East each time Arabs have tried to normalize relations with Israel and have started to see economic success.

Palestinians in Gaza have been permanent refugees now for over five generations, sequestered in a tiny strip of land with one of the highest population densities in the world. Unwelcome in Arab nations that claim to support them, the Palestinians in Gaza have been exploited by their leaders as cannon fodder for public relations purposes. They have endured economic ruin in their 17 years under Hamas misrule and injustice.

In the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Gaza has been turned into apocalyptic rubble, with a rising death toll and nearly 2 million people uprooted from their homes.

Unsurprisingly, in their enduring desire for some type of justice, many Palestinians were elated by scenes of Israel being charged at the ICJ after what they

consider decades of impunity for its conduct in the occupied territories.

Again, justice is important, but will any decision the court makes consider the entire context of Israel’s recent actions in Gaza? Will it bring peace or lower the temperature in the region?

The cause that binds nations together

The ICJ referral is actually not the first time South Africa has led the diplomatic fight against Israel. In 2001, South Africa hosted the fractious UN Durban Anti-Racism Conference that aimed to combat racism, but instead erupted into a shocking festival of hate against Jews.

South Africa’s charges against Israel are also a symbolic challenge to the U.S.-dominated international order that it sees as unfair to African and non-Western interests.

“David Monyae, the director of the Center for AfricaChina Studies at the University of Johannesburg, said that by bringing a genocide case against Israel, South Africa was not just putting Israel’s government on trial, but also challenging the post-World War II global order led by Israel’s chief ally, the United States” (The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2024).

If the accusation against Israel is more about challenging the West than bringing justice to the Palestinian people, then is true justice even the real goal? Or is it merely a smoke screen obscuring a bigger issue?

Does the Court of Justice matter?

Though a final ICJ ruling on the genocide case might take years, on May 24, 2024, the court called on Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah. Although officially binding, this is unlikely to end the war. (The court ordered Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to no effect.)

But both this most recent call and the genocide case could, in the court of public opinion, give momentum to international pressure on Israel and potentially lead to sanctions and further impact America’s critical backing of the Israeli military.

The genocide case could also put Israel in the bitter bind of having to renounce the Genocide Convention it signed in 1949.

The new face of anti-Semitism

Jews have usually been few in number, culturally and religiously distinct, highly industrious and successful

at a rate out of proportion with the general population. Historically, this often made them easy targets, especially as scapegoats in times of social or economic turbulence.

The vile rhetoric that activists trumpet is of Jews as genocidal usurpers who oppress helpless indigenous victims, Palestinians represented by Hamas.

This is just the latest mutation of the virulent disease of anti-Semitism, cloaked behind the term antiZionism and a hatred of the State of Israel. It equates Israelis with European settlers and colonizers. This view justifies violence against Jews by framing it in the context of an enduring anticolonial struggle.

Anti-Semitism is a moral evil that creates a bridge between some in both the far right and far left. Despite Jews making up less than a quarter of 1 percent of the global population, this depraved ideology never seems to disappear.

A time of fear and loathing

These new genocide charges coincide with an alarming recurrence of anti-Semitism around the globe:

Anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S., including vandalism, harassment and assault, are up roughly 400 percent since the terror attacks. Almost two-thirds of religious hate crimes reported are directed against Jews—a group representing just 2.4 percent of the U.S. population.

In France, anti-Semitic acts nearly quadrupled in 2023 compared to 2022.

Germany reported anti-Semitic incidents rising 320 percent after the Hamas terror attacks, while Denmark reported its highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since World War II.

London’s police force said there had been a staggering 14-fold increase in incidents of antiSemitism since the Oct. 7 attacks.

The source of anti-Semitism

Many, if not most, of the key figures of the Bible were Jews by birth. King David, Solomon, Daniel and many of the Old Testament prophets were Jews, as were Jesus Christ, Peter and many of the Church leaders in the New Testament.

God powerfully used the Jewish people to faithfully preserve the Holy Scriptures (Romans 3:1-2). Our Creator God has a special love for the Jewish people

(Psalm 78:68), and the Bible refers to all converted Christians as spiritual Jews (Romans 2:28-29).

Few people seem to realize that anti-Semitism is ultimately a rejection of Jesus Christ. To have an indiscriminate hate for the Jewish people is to also hate the Son of God, who was born a Jew. But, beyond that, we should remember that targeting any group with hatred and violence is sinful and unbiblical.

Justice at the UN?

The Palestinians and South Africans are demanding a ruling they consider overdue. Israel views a “justice” imposed by the United Nations as twisted and politicized.

While genuine justice seems increasingly unrecognizable and out of reach, others feel the international justice system is the only option remaining.

“International courts,” according to Chile EboeOsuji, a former president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), “now seem to be the last hope for humanity in a world where the possibilities of science have been harnessed by states to maximize destruction, while the U.N.’s ability to curb the scourge of war has largely failed” (ForeignPolicy.com).

How will justice be achieved?

Because mankind does not understand peace, justice

or mercy, the international courts will inevitably fail to bring true justice or lasting peace.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with its deep historical roots and multifaceted dimensions, has always been deeply contentious and polarizing. Both sides have suffered greatly, and empathy or justice for either side is often misconstrued as antagonism and injustice by the other.

The Abraham Accords attempted to at least remind Arabs and Israelis that they have a shared lineage back to the respected patriarch known for seeking justice. But mankind rarely learns from history yet never forgets historical grievances, so it will take the risen Jesus Christ—who Himself was wrongly judged guilty by the legal system—to step in.

The Creator of Jews and Arabs understands and loves genuine justice (Jeremiah 9:24; Isaiah 30:18). Only He will be able to restore justice and an enduring peace in the Middle East.

Upon His triumphant second coming, Jesus Christ will be “exalted in judgment” (Isaiah 5:16) and bring justice for the powerless (Psalms 10:16-18; 97:2; 99:4; 146:7; Isaiah 2:4). Only under His leadership will the perpetual IsraeliPalestinian quagmire be resolved for the benefit of all.

Read more about this in our booklet The World to Come: What It Will Be Like.

—Neal Hogberg

ICC ALSO GETTING INVOLVED

The International Criminal Court prosecutor made news May 20, 2024, by announcing he would be seeking arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and defense minister, as well as three Hamas leaders. Usually arrest warrants have not been announced until after a pretrial chamber gave approval.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu decried “a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas. This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler,” reported The Jerusalem Post

U.S. President Joe Biden, though he has criticized Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza, called the warrants “outrageous.” He continued, “There is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas.”

The ICC, established in 2002, is often confused with the ICJ.

“The ICC differs from the International Court of Justice—the top UN court, which settles disputes between states and is also located in The Hague—in that it prosecutes individuals” (cfr.org).

Israel is not party to the ICC, and such legal processes often take years.

How do you quit porn?

It is good that you recognize pornography is harmful, and we commend your desire to quit this habit.

Our article “Is Watching Porn a Sin? ” looks at not only what research has shown—that “it is a major threat to marriage, to family, to children and to individual happiness”—but also what the Bible says about this subject—that it is a sin. It is a sin because it involves breaking God’s laws.

In 1 John 3:4 sin is defined as “lawlessness.” The 10 Commandments reveal God’s laws that were designed for our good. They describe how to have a healthy relationship with both God and our neighbor. The Seventh Commandment , in particular, deals with sexual behavior.

It may help you strengthen your resolve to quit porn if you consider the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Thus, sexual sin can be committed not only via the physical act of adultery or fornication, but also within the mind by not controlling one’s lust.

However, the good news is that with God’s help, it is possible to overcome an addiction to pornography. An important first step is earnest, daily prayer. Ask God for help and strength each day to resist the temptation to view pornography.

Also, reading the Bible daily is vital in order to fill your mind with God’s instructions about how to live

to please Him. We have some excellent resources about prayer and Bible study in the “Prayer ” and “Bible Study ” sections of our website.

In addition to the practical, specific suggestions in “Is Watching Porn a Sin?” our article “Pornography ” also describes a four-step program that can help you to overcome this sin. The four steps are:

1. Stop rationalizing and call the addiction sin.

2. Learn to hate the sin as much as God hates it and understand why.

3. Make whatever sacrifice is necessary.

4. Replace the addiction behavior with positive behaviors.

The article describes each step in detail. Again, we encourage you to go to God each day in prayer to seek His help in implementing these steps.

For additional ways to get started in fighting any addiction, including pornography, please read our articles “Freedom From Addiction” and “ The First Month of Recovery: What to Expect .”

I have been part of an evangelical church my whole life. The past several years, I have been convicted to begin to take commands in the Bible more literally, namely in regards to the Sabbath and the feasts. I have been doing the feasts at home with my family, but when it comes to the Feast of Tabernacles, I am not sure how I can observe it. Are your services for the Feast of Tabernacles only for members of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, or would my family and I be able to attend?

We find it encouraging that you would like to observe the Feast of Tabernacles at one of our Feast sites this year! If you have not attended any of our services before, we suggest you contact

If you have questions, submit them at LifeHopeandTruth.com/ask-a-question/

our pastor nearest to you (see members.cogwa.org/ congregations/ for contact information). As well, we invite you to learn more about the Church by reading Welcome to the Church of God, a Worldwide Association . You can learn more about our observance of the Feast of Tabernacles at feast.cogwa.org. There you will find the locations and descriptions of our sites around the world.

I believe this will give you the information you need to get started. If you have further questions, please let us know.

and in singing. See our article “Praise God ” for an explanation of this form of worship.

Another article that you will find helpful is “ Private Worship Toward God .” This article discusses three acts of private worship toward God as instructed by Jesus Christ.

Q:

What does it mean to fear God? And how do I know that I fear Him?

Q: A:

Does worship mean to bow down to God according to the Bible?

A:Since worship isn’t a word we use in common speech, perhaps it would help to start by examining what the Bible means by worship.

The New Bible Dictionary notes that “the essential concept in Scripture is ‘service.’” The words translated “worship” can also carry the meaning of bowing or showing “reverential fear and adoring awe and wonder” (second edition, 1982, p. 1262).

If you look through the Bible, you will find that many times worship is the natural reaction of people coming into the presence of God or seeing the wonders of God (see, for example, Joshua 5:14; Psalm 138:2; Matthew 2:2).

Other uses of the word show that people have a proclivity to worship something—if they don’t worship the true God, then they often worship false gods. The Bible includes many warnings against worshipping the works of one’s own hands.

Another aspect of worship is praise. Some wonder why God would want us to praise Him in prayer

The Scriptures reveal that the fear of God certainly may refer to fear itself, but more often to a sense of awe and reverence for and submission to the One who gives life.

True fear of the Lord causes believers to place their faith and trust in Him alone.

The psalmist encourages all who fear the Lord to “trust in the Lord; He is their help and shield” (Psalm 115:11).

So fearing God produces confidence, hope and trust in Him, which are necessary when we are looking to God for mercy (Luke 1:50; Psalm 103:11), forgiveness (Psalm 130:4) and salvation (Psalm 85:9). Here, fearing God means to be moved to belief and trust.

Our article “ What Does the Fear of the Lord Mean? ” explains, “So, rather than a paralyzing terror, the positive fear of the Lord taught in the Bible is a key element in change. It helps us have a proper, humble perspective of ourselves in relation to our awesome God; it helps us in times of temptation when we need to remember the serious consequences of disobeying God; and it motivates us to become more like our loving Creator.”

You may also be interested in our article “How to Please God .”

Deception Detection: 3 Questions to Ask

Satan the devil makes a habit of spreading lies. It’s easy to get caught up in his tricks. Use these questions to keep your guard up.

In our always online world, it’s incredibly easy to create and (even accidentally) spread falsehoods. As Christians in progress, we know that God desires “truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6).

Satan, on the other hand, seeks to erode the foundation of truth by bombarding it with twisted words and misconceptions. The father of lies is active with deceptions big and small—even in your social media news feed.

Jesus identified Satan as “a liar and the father of it”—a wicked being who “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). In “Lessons From the First Lie,” we looked at the devastating impact of his most enduring lie, but Satan seems to revel in helping to spread falsehoods of all kinds.

How can we guard against his tactics?

The foundation , of course, is to ask for God’s help and to consider how the information fits with Scripture.

Beyond that, we can ask these three questions:

1. Do I want this to be true?

You have a collection of beliefs about the world. I do too.

We all do—and when we encounter information that appears to challenge those beliefs, most of us tend to do one of two things. We either choose to ignore the information or choose to carefully inspect the information, looking to expose some problem with it.

But when we encounter information that appears to support our beliefs, most of us tend to be much less critical. It confirms our preexisting ideas about the world, so we don’t examine it quite as closely.

We might not even examine it at all.

This little quirk of human nature is called “confirmation bias,” and it’s well-documented. Confirmation bias also prompts us to actively seek out evidence that supports our beliefs (while actively avoiding evidence that might force us to reevaluate them).

It’s a hard thing to avoid, even when we know we’re capable of falling for it. But one thing we can do is to ask ourselves a simple question every time we come across a claim that catches our attention:

Do I want this to be true?

Because if the answer is yes—yes, I want this to be true; yes, I want to share this with other people; yes, this is excellent support for the way I look at the world— then that’s our cue to take a good, solid look at the claim in question. When we want something to be true, we’re much less inclined to examine it with any kind of intellectual rigor. Because it tells us what we expect to hear, it’s easy to simply believe it.

That’s dangerous.

Equally dangerous is rejecting something simply because it conflicts with how we see the world. We can (and must!) reject ideas and concepts that don’t hold

up to a careful inspection, but we must also be careful not to substitute our own vague sense of discomfort for real inspection.

If we can’t articulate why we’re rejecting an idea, we run the risk of tossing out the truth instead of a lie.

Example: The Internet is filled with impactful quotes from history’s greatest luminaries.

The trouble is that a sizable chunk of those quotes came from someone else.

Sometimes this is because of carelessness. But the fact remains—if Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill said something, people tend to pay more attention. And if you have an idea you’d like to spread, well, it’s not terribly difficult to add one of those famous names to the end of it. You can even make up a whole story that never happened and make one of them the star.

As Yogi Berra once (allegedly) told his fans, “I really didn’t say everything I said.” It’s nice when we can

point to a towering intellect who agrees with our views—we want those words to be true—but that’s all the more reason to approach those quotes with caution.

2. What do I know about this subject?

This second question is an opportunity for selfassessment.

None of us can know everything about any particular subject. It’s important to be honest with ourselves about the limits of our knowledge.

News outlets, in a rush to capitalize on a breaking story, will often misrepresent (or grossly exaggerate) both current events and the findings of scientific studies. Memes and video snippets can make convincing, clever arguments by oversimplifying a complicated issue. AI-powered tools make realistic forgeries a simple job.

Before we accept something as true—and certainly before we share it with others—we should be careful to

make sure we actually understand what we’re talking about. Taking the time to learn where our blind spots are (and attempting to shore them up when possible) can prevent us from blindly accepting a lie we don’t have the knowledge to debunk.

Example: Years ago, a series of claims were circulating online about the health benefits of linen—specifically, that scientists had discovered how to measure the “signature frequencies” of different fabrics.

Very low frequencies were tied to chronic disease and even cancer, while linen and wool were said to have a frequency of 5,000. However, worn together, the linen and wool frequencies would cancel out, making the human body sicker and weaker, according to these claims.

This sounds like a great example of science supporting the Bible (mixing linen and wool is forbidden in Leviticus 19:19), but it’s actually riddled with problems that aren’t obvious unless you ask more questions.

For example: 5,000 what? Frequency is a measure of how often something happens. It requires a unit of measure. The number “5,000” doesn’t tell us anything. But even with a unit of measure, it’s not clear why the number matters.

What does it mean to measure the signature frequency of a disease? What verifiable evidence is there that the frequency of a fabric (however it’s measured) has an impact on our health?

There are no tables of data, no charts suggesting correlation, no mentions of statistical significance or probability values—just very dogmatic claims that are impossible to verify in any meaningful way.

That’s why it’s so important to ask ourselves whether we know enough about the subject at hand (or at the very least, about what red flags to look for) before we start believing and sharing what we’re reading.

3. What needs to be verified?

It’s an exhausting business to view everything everywhere as a potential lie, so having dependable people and sources who have proved themselves to be trustworthy is helpful. Still, before we start sharing something as truth, it falls to us to make sure it is truth. In other words, “Trust but verify.”

It’s impossible to verify everything, everywhere, every time. But it’s usually possible to verify the important things.

Does it really matter whether Mark Twain actually said some quote? Not particularly—unless we’re planning on telling other people that he did.

For quotes, it’s good to try and track the words back to their source when possible.

For the results of scientific studies, it’s worth looking at the actual study.

Generally, as much as possible, it helps to cut out the middleman. Sometimes it’s impossible, but the best way to verify something is to see if you can track down the book, the speech, the photograph, the video, the document, the whatever-it-is that’s in question and see what it has to say— not what other people have to say about it. That’s harder and takes more time, but the effort can be worth it.

Example: In order to prove that the media reported on studies without fully understanding them, Dr. John Bohannon released a deliberately (and obviously) flawed study titled “Chocolate with high cocoa content as a weight-loss accelerator.” Instead of carefully inspecting the study, many news outlets rushed to publish articles with titles like “Lose 10% More Weight by Eating a Chocolate Bar Every Day . . . No Joke.”

Bohannon later revealed and documented his hoax , leaving us with a powerful warning about the need to verify claims before we accept them as truth.

Staying alert to Satan’s tactics

Satan has been actively spreading lies and deceit for thousands of years. He does it in big ways, like in the Garden of Eden, and he does it in little ways, like in your Facebook news feed.

He’ll attack the truth at every opportunity he’s given—but if we make a habit of asking these three questions, we’ll be better suited to identify and avoid the misinformation around us.

Suggestions welcome

This article was written at a reader’s suggestion. If you’d like to suggest a topic for future editions of “Christianity in Progress,” you can do so anonymously at lifehopeandtruth.com/ideas . We look forward to hearing from you!

—Jeremy Lallier

Wonders of GOD’S Creation

Float Like a Jellyfish, Sting Like a Jellyfish

A single jellyfish could have replaced Dorothy’s entire entourage in The Wizard of Oz. These strange underwater creatures have no brain, no heart and, presumably, no capacity for courage.

They don’t have bones either. In fact, jellyfish are 95 percent water—a baglike body outfitted with a nervous system and an array of stinging tentacles.

So what makes them a wonder of God’s creation?

They’re a carefully designed bag of heartless, brainless, boneless stinging tentacles.

They don’t need lungs, since God designed them to absorb oxygen through their incredibly thin, often translucent skin. Their nervous system includes both gyroscopelike sensory organs designed to keep them oriented skyward and pacemaker neurons to coordinate “swimming” movements. Their digestive system allows them to process meals quickly, preventing them from sinking under the weight of their own snacking.

A sting from a Pacific sea nettle jellyfish is usually just painful to humans, but it is effective for stunning or paralyzing their prey before they gobble them up. Sea turtles aren’t bothered by jellyfish stings, however, and find the jellies delicious.

Jellyfish come in a staggering range of sizes. The smallest ones are so small it’s hard to see them without a magnifying glass. The largest ones can weigh up to 440 pounds with a 6-foot-wide dome-shaped body; the longest ones can grow tentacles measuring 120 feet.

See more “ Wonders of God’s Creation” online.

Pictured: Pacific sea nettle jellyfish ( Chrysaora fuscescens )

Photo by James Capo

Text by James Capo and Jeremy Lallier

Walk as He Walked

Jesus Preaches the Sermon on the Mount

Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount rank among the most important ever spoken. What did He teach, and why is it so important for us today?

In this “ Walk as He Walked ” series, we now come to the most famous of Jesus’ recorded messages—the Sermon on the Mount. Yet despite its widespread recognition, it is perhaps the least-applied set of moral teachings in history.

Both Matthew and Luke included the sermon in their Gospels, but Matthew’s account is much more detailed and spans three chapters (Matthew 5-7). Luke’s account condenses the sermon to only 30 verses in a single chapter (Luke 6:20-49).

This difference in length reflects the different styles and approaches of the Gospel writers. Matthew was one of the 12 apostles who heard the sermon live. Luke was called years later and learned about the sermon by interviewing primary sources.

For the purposes of this short article, we’ll primarily rely on Luke’s account. We’ll examine some of the highlights, how Jesus applied them and how they apply today.

The Beatitudes—spiritual blessings for righteous character

Jesus began the sermon with a series of statements about spiritual blessings. Luke recorded four, while Matthew recorded nine.

Jesus pronounced blessings on His faithful followers who now suffer physically and spiritually for His sake (Luke 6:20-23; see also Matthew 5:3-11).

Poor. Being “poor in spirit” describes someone with the humility to always view himself or herself as poor and powerless compared to God. Despite preexisting

for all eternity, Jesus viewed Himself as powerless in comparison to His Father: “I can of Myself do nothing . I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30).

If the Son of God said He could “do nothing” by Himself, how much more should we view ourselves as impoverished compared to God?

Hungry. When Jesus blessed those who hunger, He was also referring to hungering for God’s righteousness. Jesus exemplified this mindset: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4:34). Just as food energizes us physically, God’s will must energize and sustain us spiritually.

Weeping. Christians will suffer and experience hardships. The blessings of the Beatitudes aren’t about living a life free of suffering. On the contrary, just like Jesus, true Christians “will have tribulation” (John 16:33). But, also like Christ, we must endure and stay faithful to receive the ultimate blessing of the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

Hated. When Jesus said we would be blessed when others hate, exclude and revile us, He was describing a willingness to be disliked and persecuted for obeying God. Jesus endured mistreatment throughout His life, especially at the end.

When baseless accusations were hurled at Him during His trial before Pilate, He “answered him not one word” (Matthew 27:14). When Christians face mistreatment for doing what’s right, they should emulate Jesus’ example by not compromising or retaliating.

A life characterized by love—even toward our enemies

Jesus also addressed interpersonal relations— specifically how we respond to those who mistreat us.

Our human nature

doesn’t typically struggle with being kind to our friends and family. But when it comes to those who make themselves our enemies, it’s natural to respond in kind—not to be kind.

However, Jesus taught a much more challenging way to respond: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:2728). This is one of the highest and hardest ethical standards ever taught.

We could point to many examples of how Jesus treated His enemies with love and kindness, but one of the most striking occurred on the night He was betrayed.

When a group of officers came to arrest Jesus, although He had broken no law, Jesus did not argue or resist.

Peter, on the other hand, hadn’t entirely internalized Jesus’ teaching. He drew his sword and aimed it at the head of the servant of the high priest, slicing off his ear. Instead of endorsing Peter’s resistance, Jesus mercifully healed the man’s ear (Luke 22:51). Even though this man was part of a group seeking to take His life violently, Jesus did good to him.

Though showing love and kindness to an enemy goes against every fiber of our being, Jesus’ example demonstrated that it’s not impossible. He did it, and we can too.

Be harder on ourselves than others

Jesus also tackled the issue of judging. Judging is usually defined as evaluating and rendering a verdict on another person’s behavior. Jesus, however, turned the lens of judgment around 180 degrees. He taught that we should be more concerned with judging ourselves than others. It’s counterintuitive to human nature to think of serving as a one-person jury in our own trial. First, Jesus made the

oft-quoted statement, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged” (Luke 6:37). It is essential to note that Jesus didn’t forbid all moral judgments Throughout His ministry, He denounced sin and wrong when it was presented to Him. His emphasis here was to teach us not to fixate our attention on the moral failings of others. Instead, He taught us to use the moral microscope on ourselves.

He made this point through one of His most creative analogies. In verses 41-42, He shared a humorous scenario where someone nitpicked about a tiny splinter stuck in another person’s eye while ignoring a large beam wedged in his or her own eye.

Jesus’s point was crystal clear: Before worrying about anyone else’s issues, “remove the plank from your own eye” (verse 42)—make yourself your target of judgment.

Jesus taught us to be self-reflective by honestly analyzing ourselves for failings and growth needs. The apostle Paul would later teach the same principle: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Focusing our judgment lens on others can make us comfortable with or ignorant of our shortcomings. On the other hand, self-examination helps us grow and make frequent course corrections to stay on the straight and narrow path.

The necessity of outward change

Along with teaching the importance of self-judgment, Jesus explained the intended outcome: change. Tackling the problems on the inside will lead to change on the outside. Jesus compared conduct to fruit on a tree: “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit” (Luke 6:43-44).

In other words, inward growth must be reflected externally through good conduct and excellent speech (verse 45).

Some religious traditions deemphasize outward conduct by claiming that God is only concerned with the heart, not outward actions. That’s a mortally dangerous half-truth.

According to Jesus, God is equally interested in both.

James would later explain the need for both when he wrote: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have

works, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith, a matter of the mind, must be demonstrated by works—what we do on the outside (verse 18).

Throughout His life, Jesus demonstrated perfect thinking and blameless conduct. True Christianity is endeavoring to walk as He walked both in our thoughts and in our conduct.

Life built on the proper foundation

Luke closed his account of the sermon with Jesus’ words on foundations.

A truly successful Christian must build his or her life on the right foundation. In our world, people build their lives on many different foundations—money, pleasure, careers, leisure—or they live aimlessly without any foundation.

Jesus’ words and teachings must be the foundation of our life. He said that whoever “hears My sayings and does them . . . is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:47-48).

As we noted earlier in this series , from a very early age, Jesus built His life on a rock-solid spiritual foundation (Luke 2:40, 52).

To be true Christians, we must make Christ’s teachings— especially in this sermon—the foundation of our lives.

Go deeper

Due to space, this article focused on Luke’s condensed account of Christ’s sermon. However, to grasp the full depth of Jesus’ teachings in this epic message, one must closely study Matthew’s more detailed account.

To build our lives on these words, we must study and understand them. That’s why we’ve prepared an in-depth, 91-page booklet covering the Sermon on the Mount. You can download your free copy of The Sermon on the Mount from our website.

We recommend you first read Matthew’s account in your Bible, using a notebook to jot down questions and the main points. Then read the booklet, which will answer many of your questions and crystallize the points Jesus made.

It is essential that we both understand and apply Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount so we can . . . Walk as He walked.

—Erik Jones

Distant Citizens

I’m writing this column 41,000 feet above the Indian Ocean. My wife and I have been making a pastoral trip through several French-speaking African countries. This morning we took off from Kigali, Rwanda, after almost three weeks of travel. We’re on a flight to the island of Mauritius, where we’ll connect to a flight to the island of Reunion about 160 miles to the west.

Both tropical islands are visions of paradise. Reunion is famous for its giant active volcano, as well as its cirques, extinct calderas, left from ancient eruptions.

France’s overseas departments

Mauritius gained its independence from the U.K. in 1968, but Reunion is still part of France. Out in the Indian Ocean live French citizens, who speak French, attend French schools, watch French television channels, are protected by gendarmes and use the euro as currency. There is some local government, of course, but Reunion is ultimately governed from Paris on the other side of the planet.

France has overseas territories and departments scattered around the world, a legacy of its colonial history. For example, the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon are 12 miles from the Atlantic coast of Canada. French Polynesia is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin (the French half; the other half is Dutch) are in the Caribbean Sea.

The privileges of French citizenship

Sometimes these distant citizens chafe under the arrangement; all politics are local, it is said. But in my experience, most of them appreciate and cherish the privileges of French citizenship.

In the case of Reunion, the standard of living is higher, and the corruption level lower, than in most Indian Ocean islands that are independent.

The citizenship of Christians

As I visit French territory in various oceans and seas, I sometimes think of the precious status of Christians all around the world.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Though we live in countries around the world and have secondary citizenships we respect and love, as Christians, we know our primary citizenship is of the Kingdom of God, to which we belong. It now has its capital in heaven at the throne of God.

This was a concept the Philippians would have understood well. They were citizens of Rome, though most of them had never seen the city. Our kingdom and our King are far away, not even in the same realm as we are in, yet they represent our most important identity.

Ambassadors for Christ

Paul wrote of our being “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). During one of his imprisonments, Paul called himself “an ambassador in chains” (Ephesians 6:20). Wherever we go, we are to represent Christ to the world around us, setting a positive example and living the values of our far-off kingdom. Our homes should be embassies of the Kingdom of God, not legally but spiritually.

It is important to remember where our eternal citizenship resides now. The Bible tells us one day the capital will be Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). All other nationalities will eventually disappear, but never the one of which we are, for a short time, distant citizens.

Joel Meeker

Proven Strategies For Beating Hopelessness.