Dear Mt. Olive family and friends,
In this issue of the Olive Branch,
I’ve included two stories that I received via email. One is about a little boy named Billy and a Phoenix fireman named
Bob. The other is about another little
boy named Shay and his grand slam homerun.
I, like most of you, get a lot of email articles and stories
forwarded to me from family and friends.
Most of them make for good reading.
Unfortunately, many of them, while said to be “true” are, in fact,
totally false.
I’ve learned that I must check out the reliability of these
stories and articles before accepting them as truth or before passing them on
to others. The website www.snopes.com is a good place to do so.
This site is designed to help sift out truth from fiction, and to give
the historical trail of email stories.
The story about Billy is basically true although his real name
is Frank “Bopsy” Salazar, a 7-year-old dying of leukemia, who became the first
"wish child" helped by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Several details of the email version are
incorrect (for example, the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted the Phoenix Fire
Department not the boy's mother, as the email narrative states,) but much of
what is told in the email version did happen to some degree. The email version is, however, embellished
and contains several inaccuracies.
According to a Rabbi Paysach Krohn, the story about Shay is also
true and was told to him by Shay’s father.
The boy’s name was not Shay, though, but Shaya, and the email version
does include some inaccuracies.
It’s hard to know these days what is
truth and what is not. It seems, too,
that once a story or situation is reported in the media, trusting folks
immediately assume that it must be true and pass it on to others as truth. Likewise, reports that contain elements of
truth are quickly passed on as totally true.
Books and movies like “The Da Vinci
Code” and the so-called discovery of the “Gospel of Judas” are recent examples
of the confusion between truth and error.
What is even more alarming is that some people are choosing to reject
the truths of the Holy Bible for the lies of the “once-secret and now-revealed”
discoveries. Not only has this become a
huge moneymaking business, but it is tragically leading blood-bought souls to
hell.
But just as there are sources like scopes.com
to help us sift truth from fiction in email messages, there is a totally
reliable source to help us discern truth from fiction in matters of doctrine
and faith. That source has withstood
the test of turmoil, tempest, and time.
The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority because it is divinely inspired
and without error. The Holy Bible does
not “contain” truth; it “is” Truth. The
Holy Bible is not “an” authority but “the” final Authority of faith and
life. Just because many no longer trust
the reliability of the Bible does not make it any less credible.
According to the Bible Mary Magdalene was not Jesus’ wife or
lover, nor was Judas a hero. According
to the Bible, there will continue to be those who challenge its teachings and
reject its authority. Thankfully,
according to the Bible, there will also continue to be those who remain
faithful to the Lord and His Word. May
you and I always be counted among the later!
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word
Curb those who by deceit or sword
Would seek to overthrow Your Son
And to destroy what He has done.
Pastor Carl
Henkel
St. Paul, MN 55108
651.645.2575
Sunday Worship ~ 9:00am
Coming…
July 31 – August 4
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Call 651.645.2575 to register!