Love Truth Blog

September 23, 2016 There has been lots of unrest in Charlotte the last couple of days. Folks are angry, some are protesting, others are rioting. What sparked all of this was the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott on September 20, 2016. The forty-three-year old African American man was killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer, Brently Vinson, who is also African American. Police report Scott was armed, albeit the narrative that he was unarmed is being widely circulated. Complicating matters was the shooting death of twenty-six-year old Justin Carr. Authorities indicate this was a civilian on civilian murder. Now, I don’t know if I have all the facts straight. Neither do I claim to know all the answers. But, I do think that if we are going to make this right, then there needs to be some display of civility. Non-violent peaceful protest is something we can do. Agitating, disrupting peace, rioting, looting, such things can never be tolerated. They may be the exception...

The article "Putting Race in Biblical Perspective" by Jemar Tisby can be found in the Christian Research Journal volume 38, number 4 (2015) .

Here is something I read from What’s in the Bible: The Story of God through Time and Eternity by R.C. Sproul and Robert Wolgemuth, which I think has deep significance for January 18, 2016: But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream (Amos 5:24)  During the years of the civil rights movement in America, this was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite biblical passages. He knew what Amos knew: A nation that disregards the cries of the poor and the respectful treatment of all her citizenry is a nation in peril—a nation out of plumb. As with Dr. King’s upbraiding of complacent Americans, Amos got in the faces of the Jews. He warned them that their offerings and sacrifices were a stench to God’s nostrils because while they were outwardly performing their religious duties, they were treating one another with disregard. The poor were “sold for a pair of shoes” whole the women had “become like the fatted cows of Bashan.” Justice did n...

July 14, 2013, I was kicking back at home when the news flash came on that George Zimmerman was found not guilty for the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin. Backtrack to February 26, 2012, when George was on the neighborhood watch, saw Trayvon, perceived the lad was acting suspiciously, through a course of events the two got into a scuffle, with Trayvon dying of a fatal gunshot to the chest. Befuddlement is what I felt after hearing the verdict, as I was certain the accused was facing a guilty verdict. Yet, it is still surreal that this incident has sparked a national debate, with two sides calling the greater populace being defined by a story. Truth is really secondary to the whole debate. What the debaters are speaking about never really touches upon cardinal issues of American jurisprudence, such as a speedy trial by jury of one’s own peers, the principle of being innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and the like. These ideas are important, but the nationa...

The Book of Amos is one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament. [1] In the famous “I have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” [2]  These words directly allude to Amos 5:24. Dr. King connects with the manifold application of the prophet for today. The way this is drawn out ultimately comes from understanding the text within context from which the ancient prophet prophesied. Amos was a prophet of Yahweh from a place called Tekoa near Bethlehem in Judah, who made his living as a farmer and shepherd, as opposed to being a prophet-for-hire (7:14). [3]  He prophesied during the middle of the eight century B.C. and was a contemporary of Hosea and Jonah.[4] Scripture indicates he “envisioned ...

One day Jesus told a story about the kingdom of heaven. He tells of a farmer who sows some wheat, and finds out later that on one occasion, while everyone lay asleep, his enemy went into the fields and sown some darnels, which look similar to wheat in their early stages of growth, and can only be distinguished after they mature. The farmer’s plan was not to pull out the tares immediately, and risk destroying the wheat, but to wait until the harvest, which at that time they could easily separate the wheat from the tare, storing the former and burning the latter (Matt. 13:24-30). The story informs how life is like in God’s kingdom during this epic of time. Jesus explains, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are ...

Independence Day has always been a special occasion for me. More than just memories of fireworks and BBQs as a kid—and even an extended childhood with some “creative” pyrotechnics as an adult—it is also a time to be a little patriotic in commemoration of my country’s beginnings, and its formation out of a struggle against tyranny. Being “created equal” and “endowed with unalienable Rights,” such as “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” are cherished among Americans, whether understood or misunderstood. Yet, are these ideas really “self evident.” Maybe for the founders of this nation, but what seems to be the most self-evident truth is inequality. Distinctions between one ethnicity and another, slave and free, men and women is the perennial struggles of all history. Eastern Religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism rightly accepted the reality these inequalities, albeit they stumbled in concluding people are fatalistically consigned to their lot in life based upon karmic law wor...

Worshipping God makes a difference. Not just singing inspirational songs, but when life imitates art, and one’s makes it “all about You, Lord,” universal change becomes reality. All the people will see God’s glory shine in the place of worship and they will sing “He is good, and His love endures forever!” 2 Chronicles 7 illustrates for us why worship matters. Here we find that Solomon’s newly built temple is filled with the glory of the Lord, fire from heaven consumes the burnt offering, the people outside the temple witness the divine manifestation of fire, and they fall down, declaring, “Truly He is good, truly His loving kindness is everlasting” (vv. 1-3). The king and the priest offered animal sacrifices and songs of praise to God, places were consecrated (i.e. set apart solely for use in worship), and sacred meals were eaten (vv. 4-10). Once all ceremonies were completed, God speaks to Solomon. He says, I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a hous...

Glenn Beck is a popular author, media personality on the FOX News Channel, brainchild of the 9/12 Project, 1 and a devout Mormon. In an interview with Deseret News , Beck stated, “I presently serve as a ward missionary, elder’s quorum teacher and serve with my wife in the stake’s addiction-recovery program.” 2 Beck’s views on faith and politics appeals to many conservatives; however, Christians are encouraged to use discernment. Mormons typically take Christian terminology, such as “Jesus,” “God,” and “The Bible,” and redefine them with their own cultic meanings, and the result is the “skin of the truth stuffed with a lie.” Mormonism, therefore, teaches “Jesus” is the spirit brother of Lucifer, “God” was once a man who became a god, and “The Bible” is old divine revelation but new divine revelation can be found in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. These beliefs make Mormonism a cult of Christianity. Christians are to use discernment with Glenn ...

On March 2, 2010, Glenn Beck said, I beg you, look for the words “social justice” or “economic justice” on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now…the idea…am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! If I’m going to Jeremiah’s Wright’s church? Yes! Leave your church. Social justice and economic justice. They are code words. If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop and tell them, “Excuse me are you down with this whole social justice thing?” I don’t care what the church is. If it’s my church, I’m alerting the church authorities: “Excuse me, what’s this social justice thing?” And if they say, “Yeah, we’re all in that social justice thing,” I’m in the wrong place. Beck’s statement generated heated debate from various social media venues, and rightly so, since his statement appears to communicate that the criteria for leaving a church in this day...

I’m not one to watch a whole lot of cable television news entertainment, but Glenn Beck, popular media personality on the FOX News Channel, is a name that keeps popping up in social media circles and elsewhere, especially on issues related to faith and social justice. I even recently caught a few minutes of Beck’s interview with evangelicals Jerry Falwell Jr., chancellor or Liberty University, and Peter Lillback, president of Westminster Theological Seminary, on this subject. Seeing this, I wondered, just what do these two evangelical leaders, who are entrusted with training up the pastors of tomorrow, have in common with a cultist in the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints? Glenn Beck has openly shared about his journey into Mormonism, and there’s even a YouTube video of him sharing his testimony. [1] Moreover, in an interview with Deseret News , he stated, “I presently serve as a ward missionary, elder’s quorum teacher and serve with my wife in the stake’s addiction-recovery pro...

The following is a well done op ed piece from CT on the recent arrest of the Christians who were attempting to take some Haitian children into the Dominican Republic (see text below). The American Christians may have erred in ignoring certain protocols, but they are not the only relief teams that have made mistakes in providing foreign aid to children. Medefind also observes that other Christian organizations were in Haiti long before the earthquake providing relief service, and these groups have become crucial in addressing the current situation. Moreover, he rightly finds that once all the hype about the Haitian quake is over, the cameras turned to the next "big story," the poverty shall still remain, and this reality must not be forgotten. "Strong on Zeal, Thin in Knowledge: Lessons from Haiti's arrest of American Christians trying to take children out of the country." Jedd Medefind Newswires buzzed recently with reports that a group of ten Americans from an ...

A hot newsflash item of late has been a series of controversial videos posted on biggoverment.com created by activist filmmaker James O’Keefe, which allegedly unveil corruption within the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). [1] The videos have O’Keefe and Hannah Giles (a college student) poising as a pimp and prostitute, and entering into select ACORN offices to receive aid in purchasing a house for the purposes of running a brothel with undocumented alien child prostitutes, and ACORN workers apparently offering advise in how they should go about doing it. O’Keefe’s exposé did reach the eyes and ears of lawmakers, and the House and Senate voted to de-fund ACORN. (For many of my conservative Republican friends, in a serendipitous way this proven that every grey cloud has a silver lining, as the decision to cut funds to ACORN is a plus for those who don’t like big government—not necessarily my politics, but I’m just saying….) ACORN’s response was multifa...