Truth

Truth - The true or actual state of a matter.

Over the Holidays I received an email from another Pastor accusing me of trying to take people from his church to come be a part of URBAN. The email was written in a very accusatory manor and as if everything he stated actually happened.

This email totally caught me off guard and I was confused because not only had I not talked with him in along time I had not talked to anyone from that church or even area in a long time. I do not really like confrontation much but when it needs to be done I prefer to do it by phone rather than by email because then you can hear the persons voice and really discover what is taking place.

Within a few short hours we were on the phone talking with one another. I did not want to belabor the point of the conversation so I asked who and what he was talking about. He told me of a phone conversation he believed me to have had with one of his leaders. Once he finished he then asked me in an accusatory tone, "you mean to tell me this didn't happen?" I assured him that in fact it did not happen and at that his reply was,"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, YOUR A LIAR"!

I stated the truth (true or actual state of a matter) and was accused of being a liar. It hurt a bit, but more than that I was left confused once again. After the confusion subsided I took it to God in prayer and he spoke to me these two things.

1) When people react in an overt accusatory fashion without having all the facts they themselves are actually guilty of doing the thing they are accusing you of. This happens because everything is filtered through our own frame of reference. In this case the person accusing me of trying to take people is either guilty of this exact thing himself or there frame of reference of me has been tainted by others so that the first thing he assumed was, I must be guilty of stealing people and if I don't admit to it I am a liar. Once God showed this to me I released it to Him and I felt a complete peace come over me.

2) He then directed me to Isaiah 59:14-15. He said, "Ben as you continue to do what is right and you continue to live according to the truth you are setting yourself up to be prey and people will attack you for living and declaring the truth. Ben keep reading the truth (God's Word) and living it and they shall see the truth and know the truth and the truth shall set them free." As I read on in this passage that He directed me to I got to verse 19 that states, "when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him."

This encouraged me and the next time you find yourself in a similar situation I pray that it encourages you. Keep reading the truth, keep living the truth and keep speaking the truth. Whatever you do stand firm in God's word and do not back down.

Dream Big
Ben