April 7, 2011

Reading for April 4-8 Acts 23:12 - 24:21 Thursday "I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will riase both the righteous and the unrighteous." Acts 24:14-15 (NLT) No Spin is Needed Pastor's Relfection Straightforwardness is the best way to go. In a world of spin, word massaging, talking points, euphemism, political correctness, fear of offending and manipulating communication to get results, it seems to me that it is becoming rarer and rarer to find those who speak simply, honestly, with gentleness and respect but not mincing the truth. Personally I find this really, really hard to do myself. I find myself never wanting to offend so I go out of my way to not to. Therefore one way I've learned to cut through all these manipulative language barriers is to do what Paul did. When accused of something, the best thing to do, if it's true, is to just admit it. "I admit I am a follower of the Way". And I then add my version of what Paul added, "which they call a cult. . . . . . . . " He took advantage of the opportunity to just simply and plainly say what he believed. Very, very cool I think.