Truth

Is it true that we live in the year 2026? Yes. If you are an American, we are living in the two thousand and twenty-sixth year after the birth of Jesus Christ. Why is our calendar begun at the supposed birthday of one man? Could it be that His birth was an event of such importance because He changed, for all time, the way men and women live and conduct their lives? There was a moment in time, probably in the year 33 A.D. when Jesus was hauled before a Roman emperor to be judged for causing a disturbance among the people in the Roman province of Judea. The encounter went something like this: “Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to my accusers; but as it is, my kingdom is not of this of this realm.” Pilate said: “So. . . you are a king?” Jesus replied: “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truthhears my voice.” Pilate said to Jesus: “What is truth?” Well that’s a good question. Is the sky blue? Well, no, not at night. Do hardwood trees have leaves? Yes, they have leaves, beginning in the spring; but in the fall the leaves fall, and eventually they crumble and deteriorate into the soil; then they provide a basis for other trees to grow and extend roots into earth that is millions of years old. It’s a little bit like the humans. We live and move and have our being for awhile, maybe 70 years. . . 80, 100, whatever. But then each life expires and goes down into the ground. Is it true that a Christian will arise to eternal life in heaven? So a man comes along and picks up a leaf; he finds it to be interesting; he takes a He sets it down on the floor in his living room.

Is that a wooden floor?” Well, no, it just looks like one. That floor is a synthetic plastic that is manufactured to look like wood. All that to say, we live in a real world where some things are truly what they appear to be. But there are other things that appear to be something that they are not. Consider the person who was occupying the oval office on January 6, 2021, trying to convince his Christian vice-president to go along with the plan to take over the government of the United States, illegally, by force. Vice President Pence did not go along with the magamaniac plan. He was a Christian whose deepest allegiance had been given to the One who stood before a Roman official and said, “My kingdom is not of this realm.” All that to say: If you call yourself a Christian, will you go with the One who chose the cross, rather than the crown? Will you go with the One who said that His kingdom is not of this world? Will you go with the One who made best use of that crucifixion to demonstrate that life does indeed go on after death? If you believe that, we’ve got some real estate in heaven that we will share. And that’s the Truth. I’m not kidding. To believe in the One who survived death itself is the most important choice you will ever make. And that’s the Truth! I’m not making this up. Travelers’ Rest Yours truly, Carey Rowland