This TIB was written in 2008 after a particularly dramatic week.

This week in 2008 has been harsh on our resolve and our faith! For those who watch the God Channel and listen to contemporary Christian music (especially from Australia) the names Todd Bentley and Mike Guglielmucci will be familiar. Well, this week we received reports via e-mail and over the internet that these two men have been labelled as fakes.

How scary is that? Millions of Christians all over the world have built (at least part of their faith) on the teachings and testimonies of these two men. And then one morning you open your inbox, check your favourite blog-site, and WHAM! CRUSHED!

Where to from here? Well, I have no intention of getting involved in the detail of whether these men are or are not guilty of being "fake". The point is that even the rumour of them being fakes has crushed many young Christians. So how do we deal with this without getting cynical and reverting to clichés like “we all have feet of clay” or “yes, people are bound to disappoint”?

In fact, I’m in need of this advice right now too. So I’m not even going to quote the scriptures (or look them up in order to quote them). I know they’re there – you go find them.

We have to stay true!

Stay true to your calling.

Stay true to your confession.

Stay true to your first love.

Is this easy? No! But no-body ever said it would be. The problem is that we so easily elevate a man (or a woman) to position just this side of Jesus himself. Why do we do this? I have no idea? Maybe we want so much to be attached, identify, with something greater than us, that the whole hero-worship thing is just too easy to slip into.

But stay true. Stay TRUE! Don’t budge. Remember that first time you felt the conviction in your heart of what you absolutely KNEW to be true and hold onto that. That is the truth. The only truth worth remembering. I guess we do all have feet of clay and that many people will disappoint you. Are we going to dwell on that? No, just hold onto that truth that is rooted deep in your heart. You know what it is and where it is. You can find it. You WILL find it!

So this might seem to be founded on a fair amount of emotion. Well of course it is. This whole thing is an emotional issue. We have to understand that and unfortunately we can’t escape it. But at the end of the day when all becomes quiet around you, you can’t be thinking of a mere person.

Stay True!

22 August 2008