Pilate To Jesus: "What Is Truth?"

Pilate, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the trial, his wife pleading with him to step away from it and have "nothing to do with that man," looked at "that man" and asked, "What is truth?"

While looking at Truth face to face, he did not understand or recognize it. Failure to recognize would happen again a few days later, after the Resurrection, on the road to Emmaus .

And it continues to happen today.

Barna Research has found that, sadly, 72% of those aged 18 to 25 believe, "There is no absolute truth."

It has been said that, "We drift on a tide of uncertainty into a sea of unknowing."

Marilyn Monroe defined it a generation ago when she said, "I believe in everything a little bit."

In today's culture, to suggest that you might be right about your beliefs and that others might be wrong is the greatest social offense a person can commit.

To hold beliefs in absolute truth and to express conviction about those beliefs makes one a bigot, a regressive extremist or simply out of touch. Some thought Jesus was mentally deranged---delusional.

Poet Steve Turner in his parody poem, "Creed" wrote, "I believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will adapt accordingly. The universe will re-adjust. History will alter. I believe that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth."

When relativism has given each person their own truth, they become like a ship without a rudder or compass, battered about by the stormy sea of thoughts and ideas. This is not truth at all. It creates a culture of confusion. And a broken life.

So what is truth?

Who is Jesus?

To know the Truth, we must know the Man.

Who is He?

In my book, "Building Your Life," I wrote, "His birthday is observed and celebrated around the world. His death day sets the gallows of a cross against every sky line. His Resurrection still inspires sunrise services, gatherings in great cathedrals and churches great and small. But more important than that, He actually gives life and freedom...He is the Son of God."

He is the Truth.

He is the Life.

He is the Way.

"What is truth?" was a common question of the "enlightened" time of His birth and death and resurrection.

It had become somewhat rhetorical to even ask. Pilate could have been mocking the Man on trial. Or despaired that he could not personally discover the truth, or simply ambivalent about it all. Maybe cynical. Certainly he was politically motivated.

One thing is certain, he didn't even wait for an answer. He asked. He walked away, washed his hands and believed he had put the issue of Truth behind him.

But then Sunday came.

Word spread from credible sources---the tomb was empty. The gardener wasn't the gardener after all.

One simply cannot dismiss Jesus, because He is God. And He is not dead.

This weekend remember His death. Celebrate His Resurrection. Embrace Him as Savior. He is the Truth and the Truth will make you free.

Live in the power of the resurrection.

A Courageous Mom Defends Marriage In WA

Thanks to all of you who are working with Faith and Freedom and others collecting signatures on petitions for I-1192 and R-74.

Everyday, I receive email from people on the "front line" in the defense of marriage. I appreciate hearing about your experiences and updates on your progress.

I received a message yesterday from a person who is working with Faith and Freedom, circulating petitions.

I thought you might enjoy reading it as much as I did. Every encounter while collecting signatures, positive or negative is important. It tells a story. It defines a time, a conviction and a belief.

Here is this person's story in their own words:

Gary,

While I was collecting signatures for the petitions to protect marriage in WA, I met a courageous mom. After a couple hours of collecting signatures, I was parched and tired from talking so I sat the petitions on a table then proceeded to pour myself a drink of water. I heard a woman behind me ask if the sheets were the marriage petitions. Upon turning around, I saw a woman with a baby in a front pack carrier. She told me that she had decided earlier not to sign them because of the harassment that she witnessed in California over Proposition 8 which provides that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Then with a moment of hesitation she said that she felt like she had to sign them. So with her son hanging upside down in his carrier and quite unaware what his mom was doing, she signed them both and thanked me for what I was doing. I thanked her for signing and she walked away. The whole exchange happened so quickly that it took me a few minutes to realize what I had witnessed, courage.

In Christ,

xxxx

If you have had an interesting or meaningful experience while gathering signatures please let me know, so we can share it with others who are out in the public square doing the same.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.

Thank you for your support of Faith and Freedom at this time.

King County Sheriff Strachan: "My Belief Evolved On Abortion"

Steve Strachan took office this week as King County sheriff.

On his first day as sheriff, Strachan attended a news conference with Senators Murray and Cantwell, advocating federal programs to curb violence against women.

But it wasn't violence against women that the press was asking Strachan about---it was about his view on abortion---violence against the unborn of either gender.

It seems that Mr. Strachan, as a Republican Minnesota state legislator back in 2003 and 2004, sponsored 2 pieces of legislation that Publicola writer Erica Barnett calls, "defiantly anti-woman legislation."

The first was the "Women's Right To Know Act" which imposed a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking abortions and required doctors to provide a state-sanctioned list of information, including information about fetal pain, referrals to crisis pregnancy centers and detailed information about fetal information, including pictures.

That's going to go over swell with King County. And the Murray-Cantwell team.

Secondly, he sponsored a bill that banned state family planning grants from funding abortions or referring women to agencies that do provide abortions.

Barnett says that women under Strachan's law, "are directed to crisis pregnancy centers or doctors who provide neonatal or maternal care---but not abortions."

So King County has a pro-life Sheriff.

Well, not exactly. The sheriff says he didn't mention all this to the County because they didn't ask. But not to worry...

Sheriff Strachan, standing with Murray and Cantwell explained, "I've been on a personal journey," he said. "My personal opinion has evolved over time. I consider myself pro-choice."

I once was found, but now I'm lost, could see, but now I'm blind.

He better be convincing. No one has forgotten what happened to Komen For The Cure a month or so ago when they "evolved" to a belief that they would provide no future funding for Planned Parenthood.

It wasn't pretty. In fact, the founder of Komen issued yet another public apology this week.

Evolving values are very convenient. Particularly for politicians. Or people who want a job in King County.

Both Bill Clinton and Al Gore had written letters to National Right To Life affirming their pro-life beliefs before they evolved politically---and morally. I happen to have copies of those letters somewhere in my files.

Vice President Joe Biden has also confessed that once he was pro-life and opposed abortion, but when he became an elected official, he felt it was more "politically acceptable" to be pro-choice.

President Obama has recently signaled that his belief about marriage is "evolving."

Governor Gregoire confessed she was morally conflicted about supporting the movement to redefine marriage in Washington.

G.K. Chesterton once said, "Morality is always dreadfully complicated to a man who has lost his principles." While I do not agree with some of what Chesterton believed, he got this right.

Principles are moral absolutes.

Moral relativism is a philosophy that denies moral absolutes.

Moral relativism is the cause of America's crumbling cultural foundations.

It is said philosophy is just an idea---a thought.

But the thoughts of moral relativism have extinguished the light of excellence in the minds of educators, then their students, and eventually, if not reversed, will extinguish a civilization.

Sow a thought, reap an act.

Sow an act, reap a habit;

Sow a habit, reap character;

Sow character, reap a destiny.

President Lincoln said more than once that the philosophy in the classroom of one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next generation.

I am prayerfully and carefully considering how we can address this issue with this generation in meaningful and measurable ways.

Thank you for standing with us.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.

Planned Parenthood, NARAL Doing "God's Will"

While President Obama was renewing his vows to Planned Parenthood last week, a college group was thanking Planned Parenthood, NARAL and others for supporting their efforts to do "God's will."

I have linked a video message from the President to PPH, which affirms his continuing and undying support for them.

It's important to know that according to its latest annual report, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) received $487.4 million in tax dollars over a twelve-month period and performed 329,455 abortions.

When compared with previous annual reports, the latest one shows an almost steady increase in the number of abortions performed at its clinics: In 2006, Planned Parenthood did 289,750 abortions; in 2007, it did 305,310; in 2009, it did 331,796; and, in 2010, it did 329,445--a small decrease from the previous year.

Callie Otto heads up the "unofficial" student group "Catholic University Students for Choice" at Catholic University of America.

She says the mission and creed of her organization is to provide someone for students "to come to for free condoms, help find low cost birth control...and rides to Planned Parenthood for any reason."

She says, "The support that we have gotten from [these groups] has been vital to our group's existence."

"They've provided condoms, they've been sending support for distributing those condoms and have given us opportunities to be active in events, such as phone banks, leadership conferences and rallies."

So how is this doing God's will?

"Well," Otto says, "We have learned from Catholic teachings the importance of caring for others and carrying out God's will, and in that mind set, we will continue our mission."

So performing abortions as a form of birth control and generally enabling a complete moral sexual collapse---sex with anyone, anytime, anywhere is suddenly not wrong, but okay. And those who enable are "ministering" to the needs.

And if there is sin or wrong in this, it's the sin of those who attempt to withhold these "rights" from the students.

Remember Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student who became famous a few weeks ago for telling Congress that law school students were suffering because their birth control costs were not covered in the insurance plans?

Well, yes, there is a connection.

Otto and Fluke were on a panel recently, one of those "opportunities" Otto spoke of, at an event titled, "Bishops, Politicians, and the War On Women's Health."

We've learned 2 things from this:

• There is now a "ministry" to distribute condoms and give people free rides to Planned Parenthood, for "any reason."

• President Obama is not one of those Politicians who have declared war on women's health. In fact he has promised to stand with and for them as long as "I am privileged to be your president."

I'm reminded how Paul responded to this kind of conflicted thinking---"Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." Romans 1: 21.

Millions of kids sit captive in classrooms every day that are intellectually baptized in this kind of thinking. Pray for them.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to share the God's Truth.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.

"If The Foundations are Destroyed, What Can The Righteous Do?"

This past week, the Supreme Court listened to the arguments on the constitutionality of Obamacare. The outcome of this case will define our nation for generations to come.

Should it be allowed to stand, it will mandate all employers, including religious organizations, to provide certain drugs that cause early abortions---a violation of belief and conscience for many people of faith. And it will also push our country toward a form of socialism we have not previously known.

It will, as President Obama promised to do on his 100th day in office, "remake America."

Atheists held their first ever atheist's rally at Fort Bragg Military Base this past Saturday.

It was modeled after a Billy Graham crusade, with a different message. One of the spokespeople said, "This just might be the turning point in the foxhole atheist community's struggle for acceptance, tolerance and respect. It's an amazing time to be a nonbeliever in the U.S." And, "The military is on the cusp of a major breakthrough."

Marriage hangs in the balance here in Washington State, and elsewhere.

When the campaign to redefine marriage in Washington State kicked off in Bellevue on November 14, 2011, Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson asked the activists why, when they already had essentially all the rights of marriage, were they now demanding "marriage".

The answer? "The effort is about erasing the stigma..." they told him.

The foundations are crumbling. David was experiencing a similar time when he wrote in Psalms 11:3, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

He asked, should we "flee as a bird to your mountain" because "the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart?"

Every Christian truth and principle is targeted by the "drawn bows and ready arrow." And often the messengers themselves are targeted.

This is a time when every biblical believer must not flee to the mountain or elsewhere, but stand firm and strong for righteousness. Be bold. Be active. Be prayerful. Be very discerning. Be vigilant.

And thanks to all of you who are doing just that. I am blessed and encouraged by the personal email I receive from many of you every day, sharing your experiences while you are circulating petitions for both R-74 and I-1192. You are a model of the answer to David's question.

What should the righteous do if the foundations are destroyed?

First, address the immediate assaults on biblical principles and values. And we are. And will continue to do so with your help and support. We can be effective as we stand together.

Secondly, I feel that while we address the immediate, we must also take a longer look at how to address the "failing foundations" as we go forward. We must provide a trusted stream of information and message that educates, informs and inspires people to action.

I am personally praying about something that I feel would significantly address the longer look, rather than only being on the defense regarding life, marriage, family and education.

I have shared my thoughts with a couple of trusted friends. I would appreciate your prayers, asking that God give us wisdom and clarity.

I know you know that we are circulating thousands of petitions across the state because many of you are involved in this effort. You also know that we only continue with your financial support. We need your help this month.

We feel we have a sense of what we should do in response to the failing foundations of our culture. If you believe our efforts are worthy, I ask that you support this ministry, click here to contribute online or mail a check to Faith and Freedom, Box 399, Bellevue, WA. 98009.

Thank you and God bless you.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.