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Thursday, August 24, 2017
Several weeks ago we passed this church sign in the little town of Okay, Oklahoma. This seems to be a sign where they are more interested in the message than in advertising their church name! (We assume the church name on the sign was blown off in a recent storm.)
"The Good News Is Not Fake News!"
Message summary: The good news of the Gospel and the truths of the Bible are not fake news!
Listen to our
message on your
audio player.
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:1-4).
Many posted photos of the eclipse this last Monday, including some astounding official photos from NASA. I noticed that Ester had reposted an amazing photo of the eclipse with what appeared to be a cross overlay. It has become viral and has been reposted by many and includes an incredible number of comments and views. The original poster modestly identified the shot as "Best photo so far... Not sure anyone can top this one."
Now I have a characteristic that I like to think comes from my being from Missouri "the Show Me State". I am skeptical, a characteristic that can be good and bad if proper balance is not used. If one is too skeptical he is negative and questions everything. But if one is not skeptical/discerning enough he's likely to fall for about anything. So in regard to the marvelous eclipse photo reposted on Ester's Facebook page I did some study.
Turns out it's a photo taken years earlier, not an actual photo of Monday's eclipse. Furthermore the first poster in 2011 (who himself was perhaps not even the photographer) had photoshopped the design, although in a different orientation. Based on the comments and reposts it's neat to see people were blessed by the photo. But many were attributing it to being a God thing when in fact it wasn't, apart from the skills God gave the original designer to photoshop!
"Fake" has always been around since the original fall but it sure seems to be increasing in our age with the diminishment of honoring the Ten Commandments, specifically the one about "bearing false witness". Now photos are photoshopped and "news" stories are made up daily. Among the most sinister are the fake appeals for charity such as a supposed cancer patient using the internet to raise funds even though they don't have cancer.
Now social media increases this tendency toward the fake with millions (would it be billions by now?) having a platform to share with others.*
I have given some consideration to what motivates "fake":
When I read the Bible I consider the events to be real and genuine as they are presented. But what if people in the Bible age had social media and were prone to being fake!
Would they tweet out a made up juicy story just to get attention or embellish reality just to make the story more intriguing? Would they photoshop a picture in hopes of it becoming viral? Would they livestream on Facebook?
The prologue to both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts (both written by Luke) reveals his attention to the genuine. Let us note some features in the prologue to his Gospel which is used today as our daily verse.
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:1-4).
Indeed, the good news of the Gospel and the truths of the Bible are not fake news!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father
we thank You for the veracity of Your holy Scriptures that are able to
make us wise unto salvation. John, the disciple of Christ, warns us not
to believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are
from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Likewise we must be discerning rather than believing all we hear and
see on our computers, phones and the media or by the gossip spread
throughout our neighborhood, workplace or church. Just as gold goes
through a testing process to make sure it is genuine we too must be
careful to properly process that which we hear or see, to determine whether
it is accurate and if it is of benefit to others in our spreading such
information. For sure, the spreading of the Good News is a very good
thing and it is a historical truth that has changed lives for eternity.
Amen.
Yesterday we joined the Smucker Home Improvement and Smucker Laser Company in a Community workday at a city park near downtown Lancaster. On this day the companies suspend their normal business operations and serve the community.
I got a ride on a construction lift to take this overview photo. Some fifty were involved in the day's activities.
These men from the laser department painted park benches.
Workers painted the basketball courts and poles. Here they are reattaching the backboard.
This lady was pulling weeds near the children's wading pool.
These men installed soffit under the pavilion.
During a morning break we had a brief devotional and prayer.
The owners brought in the "Lancaster Burger" food truck for lunch. Great meal!
Painting the playground equipment and pavilion roof. They also spread fresh mulch on the playground.
A happy employee!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"It's Still The Cross" Video Gold City This coming Sunday evening "Gold City" will be at the final concert of the Lebanon Music in the Park summer series. For local readers info is here.
"I Must Tell Jesus" Video One of my favorite old hymns you rarely hear anymore.
Here's the photoshopped photo of the cross over the sun discussed in today's message.
Here's a page with fake eclipse photos and background research including the documentation for the "photo" mentioned on our message.
Fake photos, fake stories, fake news. Even on the comments section of the illustration used today many, when confronted with evidence that the photo was fake, were upset and didn't see why it made any difference or were just in denial in spite of the evidence.
* Facebook claims to have 2 billion monthly active users although of course this may be a fake statistic! See here.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
Several weeks ago we passed this church sign in the little town of Okay, Oklahoma. This seems to be a sign where they are more interested in the message than in advertising their church name! (We assume the church name on the sign was blown off in a recent storm.)
"The Good News Is Not Fake News!"
Message summary: The good news of the Gospel and the truths of the Bible are not fake news!
Listen to our
message on your
audio player."Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:1-4).
Many posted photos of the eclipse this last Monday, including some astounding official photos from NASA. I noticed that Ester had reposted an amazing photo of the eclipse with what appeared to be a cross overlay. It has become viral and has been reposted by many and includes an incredible number of comments and views. The original poster modestly identified the shot as "Best photo so far... Not sure anyone can top this one."
Now I have a characteristic that I like to think comes from my being from Missouri "the Show Me State". I am skeptical, a characteristic that can be good and bad if proper balance is not used. If one is too skeptical he is negative and questions everything. But if one is not skeptical/discerning enough he's likely to fall for about anything. So in regard to the marvelous eclipse photo reposted on Ester's Facebook page I did some study.
Turns out it's a photo taken years earlier, not an actual photo of Monday's eclipse. Furthermore the first poster in 2011 (who himself was perhaps not even the photographer) had photoshopped the design, although in a different orientation. Based on the comments and reposts it's neat to see people were blessed by the photo. But many were attributing it to being a God thing when in fact it wasn't, apart from the skills God gave the original designer to photoshop!
"Fake" has always been around since the original fall but it sure seems to be increasing in our age with the diminishment of honoring the Ten Commandments, specifically the one about "bearing false witness". Now photos are photoshopped and "news" stories are made up daily. Among the most sinister are the fake appeals for charity such as a supposed cancer patient using the internet to raise funds even though they don't have cancer.
Now social media increases this tendency toward the fake with millions (would it be billions by now?) having a platform to share with others.*
I have given some consideration to what motivates "fake":
1) Fake can be motivated by a desire to advance an ideology or belief.
I think we can see that right now on both sides of the ideological and
political spectrum. If a story fits to advance a narrative or cause many see the
ends justify the means even if it's partially or even fully fake. Yes,
there is "fake news". As Christians we want others to come to believe
as we do but sharing fake photos and fake stories, testimonies, etc. is not the way.
2) Fake can be motivated by a desire for fame and perceived importance, especially with social media where everyone can have a platform. It seems we have become a society of social media exhibitionists; with so many craving attention, views, becoming "viral", etc. We probably aren't the best at managing notifications on our phones but the other day we were awakened with a beep and notification that someone we didn't even know was now live on Facebook! We didn't bite.
2) Fake can be motivated by a desire for fame and perceived importance, especially with social media where everyone can have a platform. It seems we have become a society of social media exhibitionists; with so many craving attention, views, becoming "viral", etc. We probably aren't the best at managing notifications on our phones but the other day we were awakened with a beep and notification that someone we didn't even know was now live on Facebook! We didn't bite.
When I read the Bible I consider the events to be real and genuine as they are presented. But what if people in the Bible age had social media and were prone to being fake!
Would they tweet out a made up juicy story just to get attention or embellish reality just to make the story more intriguing? Would they photoshop a picture in hopes of it becoming viral? Would they livestream on Facebook?
The prologue to both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts (both written by Luke) reveals his attention to the genuine. Let us note some features in the prologue to his Gospel which is used today as our daily verse.
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:1-4).
1)
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account."
In the New Testament we have four accounts (the Gospels) of the life of
Jesus Christ. But not surprisingly, early in the church history, there
were many other accounts that in God's providence are not a part of the
Holy Scriptures.
2) "The things that have been fulfilled among us" Luke is writing of real historical events that were recently fulfilled.
3) "Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word." His sources were the original eyewitnesses.
4) "I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning." Luke was a careful investigative reporter which actually requires a certain amount of healthy skepticism. Today we need to carefully investigate the massive amounts of information coming our way each day.
5) "To write an orderly account for you." Luke's record certainly shares the miracles in the life of Christ including His miraculous conception, ministry miracles and His resurrection from the dead. An orderly account is foundational to genuine Christian faith.
6) "So that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." We like that word "certainty"!
2) "The things that have been fulfilled among us" Luke is writing of real historical events that were recently fulfilled.
3) "Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word." His sources were the original eyewitnesses.
4) "I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning." Luke was a careful investigative reporter which actually requires a certain amount of healthy skepticism. Today we need to carefully investigate the massive amounts of information coming our way each day.
5) "To write an orderly account for you." Luke's record certainly shares the miracles in the life of Christ including His miraculous conception, ministry miracles and His resurrection from the dead. An orderly account is foundational to genuine Christian faith.
6) "So that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." We like that word "certainty"!
Indeed, the good news of the Gospel and the truths of the Bible are not fake news!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father
we thank You for the veracity of Your holy Scriptures that are able to
make us wise unto salvation. John, the disciple of Christ, warns us not
to believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are
from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Likewise we must be discerning rather than believing all we hear and
see on our computers, phones and the media or by the gossip spread
throughout our neighborhood, workplace or church. Just as gold goes
through a testing process to make sure it is genuine we too must be
careful to properly process that which we hear or see, to determine whether
it is accurate and if it is of benefit to others in our spreading such
information. For sure, the spreading of the Good News is a very good
thing and it is a historical truth that has changed lives for eternity.
Amen.See I John 4:1
Yesterday we joined the Smucker Home Improvement and Smucker Laser Company in a Community workday at a city park near downtown Lancaster. On this day the companies suspend their normal business operations and serve the community.
I got a ride on a construction lift to take this overview photo. Some fifty were involved in the day's activities.
These men from the laser department painted park benches.
Workers painted the basketball courts and poles. Here they are reattaching the backboard.
This lady was pulling weeds near the children's wading pool.
These men installed soffit under the pavilion.
During a morning break we had a brief devotional and prayer.
The owners brought in the "Lancaster Burger" food truck for lunch. Great meal!
Painting the playground equipment and pavilion roof. They also spread fresh mulch on the playground.
A happy employee!
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"It's Still The Cross" Video Gold City This coming Sunday evening "Gold City" will be at the final concert of the Lebanon Music in the Park summer series. For local readers info is here.
"I Must Tell Jesus" Video One of my favorite old hymns you rarely hear anymore.
Here's the photoshopped photo of the cross over the sun discussed in today's message.
Here's a page with fake eclipse photos and background research including the documentation for the "photo" mentioned on our message.
Fake photos, fake stories, fake news. Even on the comments section of the illustration used today many, when confronted with evidence that the photo was fake, were upset and didn't see why it made any difference or were just in denial in spite of the evidence.
* Facebook claims to have 2 billion monthly active users although of course this may be a fake statistic! See here.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
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