What Can I Believe?

November 6, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Man looking surprised

Photo by Ludovic Migneault

AS I SAT at the kitchen table before breakfast, reading an article in the Wall Street Journal, I was thoroughly baffled. The article debunked everything our culture had been telling us about what is nutritious and what is not nutritious for the past 30 or 40 years. Hadn’t this all been scientific certainty?  Everyone agreed on it.  There had been scientific studies. It came from the experts. How could I now be reading an article that said exactly the opposite from what we’ve all assumed to be right for all this time?

At breakfast, I reasserted my confusion. “I don’t know what to use in my cooking now,” I said to my husband. “I don’t know what is healthy and what is not.  What can I believe? They’ve always said . . . .”

“Who is they?” he said.  “They say this. They say that.  But then it all changes.”  “They change.” Even who we consider to be experts – that changes too. “

I said, “Yes, you’re right. I guess there’s only one thing that we can always count on as being true: God’s Word in the Bible. It doesn’t change.”

As I thought about his comment and my response, I realized how that applied to all of life. It’s so easy for us to rely on common beliefs, the current thinking about something, scientific findings, and “what they say . . . .”

When we scratch our heads in confusion over all the different opinions and ask “what can I believe,” there’s one place to go for truth. One thing we can always count on to be true is God and His Word. Some common practices in daily life like what to use in our cooking may not be found in the Bible, but when we dig down to see all that God’s Word has to say to us, we may be surprised at how many daily concerns are addressed, as well as the deeper issues of life. When we see one kind of truth coming from our culture and another truth coming from God’s Word, which one should we believe?

Through the ages people have disputed the Bible on all different levels, arguing different points of view on what is contained therein. But in the end, the Bible’s truth has been upheld and proven true. I found it interesting recently to come upon these words in Isaiah 40:21-22: “Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He [God] who sits above the circle of the earth.” At one time “experts” thought the world was flat. But the Bible already had the correct answer.

Even evidence in archaeological findings triumphs over doubters and attests to the truth of God’s Word. In the early 20th century, critics mistrusted the Bible’s historical reliability, regarding much of the Bible as myth. But little by little, archaeologists began to discover cities and artifacts that proved the existence of previously disputed biblical accounts and locations. The Hittite Empire, referenced 40 times in the Bible, was generally considered a myth by critics until 1906 when Hugo Winckler uncovered 10,000 clay tablets that documented the lost Hittite Empire. With each new revelation, critics have been forced to seriously reevaluate their criticism of the Bible’s historical reliability and admit its truth.

In a culture that is besieged with all kinds of different beliefs, theories, and practices, we need to continually test them against God’s Word–which we know is true–before embracing them as our own or advocating them for others. Whether it’s about morality, how to live life, who God is, history, politics, or even science, the Bible trumps the world’s wisdom.  The world with its changing theories, beliefs, histories, morals, and philosophies cannot be depended on. If we build our life on those alone, we may come to a point when we look back and see that we have built our life on sand and much of our life has been fruitless, and we might regret our choices.  But if we build our life on the rock of God’s truth, everything we build upon that rock will stand.

As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6:47-49).

May we all find certainty, security and peace in knowing and relying on the rock of God’s truth.

Going back to my beginning about what is nutritious and what is not though, I want to leave you with something to smile about. If you’re too young to have experienced the roller coaster of changes in the advice of experts in the past and still feel inclined to rely on what you hear from they . . .. let me leave you with an amusing recap of what many of us have experienced in years gone by.  Anytime we are tempted to start relying on the world’s experts to guide us through life, we can add a little levity to our perspective by watching the video below to remind ourselves of the unreliability of “they.”  What can I believe? Well, not always what “they” say . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ua-WVg1SsA

 

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If My Words Abide in You

August 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Open Bible with glasses lying on topIT’S SO INTERESTING TO ME that the more we allow God’s Word to abide within us, the more we begin to understand His words.  I remember a time when I thought, “Well, I’ve read through the Bible, and I’ve even read these books of the New Testament two or three times. I know what they say.”

I wondered why it was important for me to read them again . . . and again … and again, reading the Bible over and over each day throughout my life as a Christian.

But one day recently, after having spent considerably more time in the Bible, I found myself talking to someone and words of scripture were coming off my tongue as I tried to encourage her. And in my prayers I found myself praying with words of scripture.

All of a sudden I realized, this is what it means when Jesus says, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask what you desire and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). He truly, honestly wants His words to actually live in us so they roll off our tongues in prayer and in encouragement to others. He wants us to become so immersed in His Word that His words automatically come to our minds when we are worried or in fear. He wants us to read His Word over and over until His words are pressed into our soul and minds.

I remember at various times in the past hearing someone praying whose petitions were punctuated with words from scripture. Their prayers were powerful and I could feel the Spirit of God as they prayed. So as I pondered this new truth God was revealing to me, I realized one of the reasons these people’s prayers were so powerful is that they have the Word of God living within them. They have become so familiar with God’s Word that the Spirit enables them to call it up when they need it.

In addition, over the years, prayer warriors I’ve known have impressed upon me the power of praying scripture back to God. I have even written about this because I’ve experienced the truth of it. Finding a scripture that pertains to our need and praying it back to God adds a powerful dimension to our prayers. Prayers are more powerful when we repeat God’s Word back to Him.

So the question becomes, how does this happen? How do we get to the place where God’s Word is “abiding” in us so we can recall it when we need it?

Some people recommend scripture memory. Memorizing basic passages like Psalm 23, John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 can deposit important truths into our spiritual bank account so they are readily available when needed. For me, however, whenever I attempted to memorize Bible verses or passages out of context, I felt like a dismal failure. While I might remember the first couple of verses, the endeavor seemed a bit too cerebral for me to put my heart into it

Now I think – was memorizing scripture the answer or is there more?

While memorizing scripture is a valuable spiritual exercise and plants life-giving truths into our minds for later reference, I believe there’s an even deeper dimension to this. When we regularly read the Bible for ourselves on a daily basis, soaking up God’s truth, we will gradually absorb God’s Word into our hearts and minds so that it lives within us. We can underline favorite verses or passages that stand out to us so we can go back later and be reminded of truths God has previously highlighted for us in the context of His larger message. Gradually, His words weave themselves into our thinking.

It’s a matter of just spending time with God each day—in prayer and in His Word, calling on Jesus to open our minds and hearts to enjoy a deeper experience with Him. Not only will our understanding of God’s ways become more meaningful, but our prayers will become more powerful. Then we will understand what it means when He says to us, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask what you desire and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

If you’re in the midst of heartache because of marital troubles, I’d like to share with you my own discoveries of how God can use this time to take you deeper into Him. You will find this and more in my book, Broken Heart on Hold, Surviving Separation.

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A Question about Judging Others

September 24, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm

Today I’m thinking. I’m not telling a story, and I’m not sure if I have a particular point to make. But I wanted to invite you into my reflections on a movie my husband and I recently watched. Maybe you have some thoughts you want to share on the subject too.  If so, I invite you to do so.

The movie we watched is “Green Book,” a true story about the relationship between a black concert pianist, Dr. Donald Shirley, and the rough and burly Italian driver he hired to drive him around the South for his performances back in the ’60s. His driver’s name was Tony Lip Vallelonga.

The movie was both eye-opening and thought provoking, providing a unique perspective of what it was like to be a black person in the South back in the early-middle part of the twentieth century and the humiliation so many of these people suffered simply because of the color of their skin. It is difficult for those of us of a different race to understand the humiliation they suffered simply because of the color of their skin.

But the movie went even deeper than that. When you peel away the layers of the story and the personalities involved, the significance and implications did not just revolve around race, but about the persona others see on the outside of a person versus the character within – whether that’s the skin color or the outer behavior and words.

The most obvious example of this was the refined, musical genius who happened to be black; but in a culture where people only saw the color of a person’s skin, the genius inside was invisible . . . until he was on the stage performing.

Then there were the refined and gentile concert goers who stood and gave the man a standing ovation when he played the piano, but refused to let him eat with them at the same restaurant where he performed for them. The people were refined in their speech and manners, but their hearts were toughened by their prejudices and lack of deeper insight.

And finally, the crusty, tough, rough-mannered Italian driver whose language and mannerisms were boorish and rude, but whose character and candor revealed an inner integrity and a kind and caring heart.

It made me wonder about the way we see people, the way we judge people. Do we judge people because of their skin color, their mannerisms, their dress, their speech, their age, their position in life?

I wonder how many of us mistakenly allow what we see on the outside to define what’s on the inside.  Or perhaps we let negative experiences make us cynical so we expect certain behaviors from people who look a certain way.

Do we sometimes judge someone for their crusty exterior only to discover at a later time they actually have a soft and giving heart? Tony, the Italian driver, was tough and crude on the outside, but his inner sensitivities gave him the ability to peel away the outer persona to find the real person of character within. I’ve seen some people like this – rough and even rude on the outside sometimes, but ready to jump in and help someone in trouble. They may be the first ones to stop and help someone with a flat tire on the highway while the “refined” drive on by.

Do we at other times believe someone is good and kind because of their smooth talk and pleasant face, but later hear cruel and cutting words, witness hypocritical attitudes, or discover dishonest manipulations happening when no one is looking?

And yet, many other times people are exactly what they appear to be on the outside. A refined, gracious person really is kind and sincere. A rough person actually is mean and thoughtless.

How do we discern? Or can we?

Maybe that’s why Jesus tells us not to judge. Often we only see the outer persona and miss the inner person inside with their longings, sin, and motivations, warts, and beauty. Only God sees the inner person. Only He knows their heart and motivations. When we try to judge people, we can easily miss the mark.

But Jesus also told us to love our neighbor. And He wasn’t just talking about the person we’d like to sit and have coffee with. Yes, He wants us to love that person too. But in His story about the good Samaritan, He made it clear He was talking about anyone who needs our love and care. And that is pretty much all of us, I guess. We all need love. We all need respect. And we all need grace –regardless of what we look like on the outside—or even how we behave and act. We all need the love of Jesus.

And as Christians, I guess that’s what we need to do—to do what Jesus told us to do – to love others, regardless of what we see on the exterior. If we could all really do that, it would be a wonderful world, wouldn’t it?

And if our world would learn what Jesus was trying to tell us, it would be even better.

Those are just my thoughts. What do you think?

 

Check out my books on marriage – Broken Heart on Hold, Surviving Separation and Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated.

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Hidden Things of the Heart

May 1, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.  See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23-224

After a couple of hard freezes one winter, the sun was finally shining. I stepped outside to see that the bed of impatiens in our front yard had disappeared, apparently killed by the frost. In their place was a variety of weeds that had been growing, hidden beneath the cover of flowers. Before today I’d been unaware of them, but now that the awning of red, white, and pink blooms had died away, the weeds were all too noticeable. The flowers had vanished, but the weeds had survived.

As spring approached, other weeds shot up too, lone innocuous ones—tall, thin and lacy, but hardly noticeable among the other plantings.  Because the more virulent and intrusive vines and runaway fern posed a more difficult challenge, I went after them, and ignored these delicate weeds, leaving them for later.  Eventually, they grew taller and multiplied all over the yard.  Realizing I had an escalating problem, I began yanking them from the ground, but as I jerked the stems, little seeds flew off and scattered everywhere.

The Deception of Innocuous Weeds

These weeds reminded me of some hidden things in the heart we might not want to think about. Jeremiah 17:9-10 tells us “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Unrecognized sin may lie in wait like the weeds hidden beneath my impatiens, unnoticed and seemingly innocuous. Negative effects of this sin may not surface for years as these hidden things of the heart fester and sprout beneath the cover of a pleasant personality.

Often these are not egregious seeming sins—the blatant sins we categorize as illegal, immoral, or cruel.  Some begin as a white lie, a puff of pride, a bitter reaction, a selfish thought, or a harsh word.  Inconspicuous sins like these can lurk beneath our false facade and seem innocuous like the delicate Florida Queen Anne’s lace that spawned throughout my flower beds.  When we hold them up beside the more intrusive, neon flashing sins of our neighbor, our co-worker, our parent or our mate, they seem to pale in comparison.  We shrug them off as merely a sign of being human.  We’re not expected to be perfect after all.

The time comes, however, when we find ourselves wrestling in our own willfulness – a constant veering off course to do things our own way instead of God’s. When we finally become aware of the severity of our sin, its persistence may have already caused havoc in our character, circumstances, or relationships. We cringe at the seeds of ugliness these hidden things of the heart have spawned.

This happened to me. When crisis stripped away the security and comfort in my life, the conviction of sin poked its ugly head through the frozen petals of my smiling exterior and hacked into my consciousness. There I saw the straggly vine of self-righteousness and pride and realized the hurtful consequences.

Recognizing the Hidden Things of the Heart

How do we recognize these hidden things of the heart since we are often blind to what is hidden so deep within our personalities? Psalm 19:12-14 says, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.

If we are truly sincere about wanting to address the weeds and blemishes in our character, the first thing we need is a teachable spirit. Instead of being defensive, we must open ourselves to hearing the truth even if it hurts—even to the point of asking those close to us if they see flaws we should address.  Most of all, it’s important that we pray and spend time in God’s Word, asking God to show us the hidden things in our hearts and changes He wants to make in us.

If we humbly search our hearts and honestly look at our actions, what will we find? Are we envious? Or covetous of another’s success?  Do we use witty remarks that reek of sarcasm and may unwittingly drive a knife into another’s self-esteem? Do we harbor unforgiveness, which starts out as a little grudge, but takes root as a bitter cancer to our soul?  Do we feel self-righteous in the face of another’s weakness? Do we glory in the pride of our accomplishments that are actually gifts from God?  Do we convince ourselves that a crafty manipulation of money or goods isn’t stealing—although it is?  Are we caught up in the flirtatious verbal tinkering with another person’s reputation that scripture condemns as gossip?  Or deep within our hearts are we guilty of the shortcoming shared by us all—the tug of selfishness that pulls us back into ourselves and keeps us imprisoned in a mind alien to God?

When Nathan confronted David about his sexual sin, David did not hesitate to admit his culpability. With a humble and teachable spirit, David immediately repented and accepted the punishment the Lord had for him.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” David cried out in Psalm 51: 4, 7 & 8.  “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”

When we walk with God, we don’t have to fear condemnation. He knows our weaknesses. He will gently reveal to us the dark spots in our character and the hidden things of the heart.  When we honestly acknowledge the weeds that hover menacingly within our lives and seek God’s forgiveness, He will lead us in the way everlasting.

 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

©Linda Rooks 2019

Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated now available on Amazon and all your favorite online retailers.

 

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Seedbed of Discovery

April 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  (Psalm 51:10 KJV)

Dressed in jean shorts and an old shirt, I pull on my gardening gloves, grab the Folgers coffee can where I keep my gardening tools and head to the patch of dirt by the screen porch. Winter has now passed, and my Florida spring garden needs refreshing. With the annuals from last year gone, invasive ferns have already encroached on the area, and a number of weeds have popped up.

I crouch on my knees beside the bed and dive into my work. Weeds need pulling, dirt needs loosening and holes need digging. As I work, I think about the beauty that will take place once I’m done. For it is here I create a seedbed of discovery where the flowers I bought at the nursery can begin to grow and bloom.

But first I need to dig into the dirt. When peat and fertilizer get mixed into the soil and dust flies everywhere, I’m in the midst of it. I ruthlessly pull weeds, dig holes for planting, scoop up soil and pat it down around the new plants. Although I wear gloves, dirt manages to find thin places and tears in the fabric, and the powdery Florida sand works its way beneath my fingernails. Fine grains have even seeped through the canvas of my tennis shoes. At the end of my labor, the flower bed looks pretty, but I don’t. I’m a mess. I’m covered with dirt.

But I really don’t mind the dirt. Strangely, when the dirt and I intermingle in the garden, I feel closer to God and the outdoors I love. It’s here pulling weeds and digging in the dirt, that God often whispers His words of wisdom to me, life changing truths written through the analogies of nature. It often becomes the seedbed of my own discovery.

Like digging in the garden to make things beautiful, life sometimes means getting down into the dirt and feeling a little dirty in order to find the truth. Cleaning up our lives means conquering avoidance. Overcoming problems means facing things we don’t like, plunging forward, grappling with the unlovely things in our relationships or our own natures. We can’t pretend they’re not there. We can’t turn our head. We can’t stay on our gardening pillow. Sifting through the dirt can lead us to the seedbed of our discovery.

“If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless” (Proverbs 2:3-8).

Although I like the pursuit of gardening and don’t even mind getting dirty, my reward at the end is a lovely, refreshing shower. The flow of cool water spilling over my sweaty and dusty body cleanses and renews me, and I am ready for the rest of the day.

When we honestly look at ourselves in this seedbed of discovery and allow God to show us the changes we need to make, He is so amazingly gracious. He doesn’t leave us there in our sin or make us wallow in our past even though we may fear He will.  For when we focus our gaze on Him and allow His word to refresh our souls, His Spirit washes through us and makes us clean. He renews our hearts and minds and sets us on a path to a future of grace and goodness so we are ready for what comes next.

But sometimes it begins by digging down into our own seedbed of discovery so we can learn the truths God has waiting for us.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

What do you need to face right now?  How can God’s Holy Spirit refresh you and make you clean?

©Linda Rooks 2019

Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated is now available at your favorite online retailers.

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After Winter, Comes the Spring – Nature’s Message of Hope

April 3, 2019 by 1 Comment

Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. (Song of Solomon 2: 11-13)

As I watch new life springing up from the cold harshness of winter, I think of you, my readers, and the stories you have continually been sharing with me recently – story after story of new life breathed into marriages that once appeared to be dead.

It’s the same, familiar story God brings to us when the world seems dark and hope seems gone. For just when we think the winter will never end, we see a small sprig of green pushing up from the earth, and we realize hope has not disappeared but lies dormant beneath the soil of our dreams, waiting for the sun to shine—waiting for the light to bring it forth.

For after winter, we know the spring will eventually come.

Springtime brings us a wonderful reminder that God is not through with us or our story. For just as He is always at work beneath the surface of the soil, He is always at work beneath the surface of our lives to burst through the crust of disillusionment to bring beauty when we least expect it.

If we can plant even that tiny seed of faith into the soil of our heart and turn our face to God, He will help us grow it into something beautiful.  He promises to bring “beauty from ashes” and hope from the dreariness of our pain.

Doing A New Thing in the Wilderness

I love the words of Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

This was a scripture God gave to me—no, I should say this was a promise God gave to me—even at a time when I saw little hope for my marriage to survive the separation that had torn my marriage apart.

I was sitting in a church service and an elderly missionary was speaking. He began reading from the Bible, and when he spoke these words, they jumped out at me and lodged in my heart. I knew these words were for me, and I wrote them down. It was one of the turning points that brought me hope. Although nothing had changed between my husband and me, God gave me a promise that nourished my heart. God was at work behind the scenes. Beneath the hard winter of my days, God was preparing the soil for springtime.

God’s Stories Woven through Nature

Just as God uses analogies from nature to speak to us in the Bible, He often does the same when we gaze into the wonders of the creation He gave us – even simple expressions of nature we find in our own backyards. Often, when I spend time digging in the dirt, trimming the bushes, or planting flowers—even when I’m pulling weeds—God whispers His truths into my heart, weaving them through nature and bringing them to me as gifts. Once unwrapped, they open my mind and heart to a new hope borne from God. For the stories in my garden also weave through the stories in my life until they sprout into something promising that lifts me higher than I was before and gives me something to ponder.

Perhaps you’ve seen some of these gifts unfold in your own garden or maybe you will discover them on a day when you least expect it—amongst the weeds, in a wilted flower, or a broken branch. For if you look close enough and deep enough, you can see hope emerging from places where you don’t expect to find it. When disappointments weigh us down, God can surprise us with a burst of wonder, the gift of story, and the shining rays of hope.

For the next few weeks on Heart Talk, let’s celebrate spring together. I’d like to invite you to join me in the garden as we take a walk and explore the truths God weaves through the simple things of nature. For when we do, I believe you may be surprised to discover how often you can find hope in unexpected places.

© Linda Rooks 2019

Join the conversation: When have you found hope in unexpected places? Comment below.

Read Linda’s new book, Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated – available now

 

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They Say . . . “What?”

February 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Not long ago I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that debunked everything we’ve all believed about what is nutritious and what is not for the past 30 or 40 years.  I was appalled. This was scientific certainty.  Everyone agreed on it.  There had been scientific studies.  How could I now be reading an article that said exactly the opposite from what we’ve all assumed to be right for all this time?

At breakfast, I reasserted my confusion. “I don’t know what to use in my cooking now,” I said to my husband. “I don’t know what is healthy and what is not.  They’ve always said . . . .”

“Who is they?” he said.  “They say this. They say that.  But then it all changes.”  “They change.” Even who we consider to be experts – that changes too. “

I said, “Yes, I guess there’s only one thing that we can always count on as being true: God’s Word in the Bible. It doesn’t change.”

As I thought about his comment and my response, I realized how that applied to all of life. It’s so easy for us to rely on common beliefs, the current thinking about something, scientific findings, and “what they say . . . .”

But there is only one thing we can always count on as being true, and that is God and His Word.  When we see one kind of truth coming from the world and another truth coming from God’s Word, which one should we believe?

Even the evidence in archaeological findings triumphs over doubters and attests to the truth of God’s Word. In the early 20th century, critics mistrusted the Bible’s historical reliability, regarding much of the Bible as myth. But little by little, archaeologists began to discover cities and artifacts that proved the existence of previously disputed biblical accounts and locations. The Hittite Empire, referenced 40 times in the Bible, was generally considered a myth by critics until 1906 when Hugo Winckler uncovered 10,000 clay tablets that documented the lost Hittite Empire. With each new revelation, critics were forced to seriously reevaluate their criticism of the Bible’s historical reliability.

Whether it is about morality, how to live life, who God is, history, or even science, the Bible trumps the world’s wisdom.  The world with its changing theories, beliefs, histories, morals, and philosophies cannot be depended on. If we build our life on those alone, we may come to a point when we look back and see that we have built our life on sand and much of our life has been fruitless.  But if we build our life on the rock of God’s truth, everything we build upon that rock will stand, and when we enter the kingdom of God one day, we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6:47-49).

Anytime we are tempted to start relying on the world’s experts to guide us through life, we can add a little levity to our perspective by watching the video below to remind ourselves of the unreliability of “they.”  Sometimes we just need to laugh at ourselves and what we rely on as truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ua-WVg1SsA

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