BBD 08.22.07 False Claims
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
Join the Burning Bush Prayer Group! Send and receive prayer requests and be
a part of a great ministry. More than 300 wonderful people make up this
group. To join send an email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Be a part of the Burning Bush Community! Share prayer requests,
inspirational material, find help for addictions, and help others. Find out
more at the Burning Bush Community webpage:
http://www.theburningbush.net/pages.asp?pageid=37647
Several devotional booklets are available for free download in PDF format at
the new site. Just click on the "Free Book Downloads" link.
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1170 new subscribers since January 1, 2007!!
08.22.07
False Claims
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the
truth. - 1 John 1:5-6.
Having a Medal of Honor winner speak to your church or to your church group
could be seen as a great thing to do. Some of the groups that Terry J.
Powell spoke at while wearing a Medal of Honor probably felt privileged to
have him at their meetings. However, that will no longer be the case for
those who know the truth that Powell's claims regarding the Medal of Honor
were false. Investigators believe that Powell's stories about winning the
medal, which vary, did not occur. The investigators also believe that
certificates that he has for his medals (Powell has medals in addition to
the Medal of Honor.) were altered. Powell is now facing a charge of
unlawfully wearing the Medal of Honor in public. The penalty for this crime
is up to a $100,000 fine and one year in prison. Terry J. Powell, however,
is still adamant that he is a winner of the Medal and says that he will take
a lie detector test to prove his claim.
Do you claim to be a Christian? Do you live like it? The little letter of
First John is a good place to go if you want to really examine your walk
with the Lord. John says, "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."
This means that there is no evil in God, only good, only light can be found
in God. Then, the comparison is with our lives. "If we say," meaning if we
say we are Christians but "walk in darkness" meaning walk or live with evil
in our lives than "we lie." Seems simple enough does it not?
It is easy for us to condemn the false claims of someone like Terry J.
Powell but it is a whole other thing to look at the possibility that we are
guilty of making false claims. Do we present ourselves to the world around
us as being perfect, as never sinning, as never being involved in anything
of any evil nature? First John can be a painful little letter to prayerfully
use to examine where you are in your Christian walk. Of course, we are not
perfect. Of course, we are not completely free of evil in and of ourselves.
John addresses this issue of sin and our imperfection in 1 John 1:8 where he
says very bluntly, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us." The apostle Paul says much the same thing in Romans
3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Most of us
will readily admit that we are not perfect and that we have sinned. Most of
us will also readily admit that we are an ongoing work of our Lord and that
sometimes we still "fall short" of the perfection of God. The problem here
is that so many of us present ourselves to the outside world as being
perfect always walking in the light. The result is that the church is then
seen as being filled with people who make false claims. Why would anyone
want to be a part of a group people who lie? Not many.
When we talk with non-believers and those outside of the church, we should
always be honest about our imperfections. We can then share what we do with
those imperfections as the apostle John tells us in 1 John 1:9, "If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Just to make sure we understand John
says it one more time in 1 John 1:10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we
make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." He says it one more time
because we need to remember it and that the world is watching not just what
we say but what we do.
Copyright © 2007. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for Malachi a young boy with cancer. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request
page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they will be
forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need
of prayer - please pray for me.).
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Streaming Videos of some of my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html
There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.