Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock - Mathew 7:24
INTRODUCTION
On the surface one might see that this page was designed to answer the question of – why does this site exist? - Or - what was the driving motive for this site and the specific name and topics (Truth & Art)? - Which is correct and this might compel the obvious question of – why would anyone care? - And that's completely understandable – LOL! But, on a more serious note - for those reading, we appreciate your visit to the site and want you to enjoy this information which I believe will empower you BECAUSE it goes well beyond just explaining why this site exists.
In addition to answering why the site exists, this page offers insight involving the psychology of humanity and how it manifests with respect to who God is. This may sound a little strange (or weird) to some and that's understandable. While the title is admittedly quite broad, (“perspective” page) adding to the confusion for some, hopefully everyone will get something out of this.
Think of this as an attempt to merge psychology (of who we are), how art plays a role in human influence and how a sovereign God plays into the all of this. To begin here is a list of some general perspectives or viewpoints foundational to this project for your consideration.
SPIRITUAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Truth, when realized is transforming, liberating and empowering
2. Art is a gift from God to humanity which no other animals can appreciate
3. Art is also transforming and recognized with understanding of truth
4. There is only one path to truth, and that is through God's Son Jesus Christ!
5. God is sovereign, His ways are not our ways - there are many things we don't know about who (person, people, culture) God chooses to speak to or manifests Himself to – God is a mystery, He does not answer to anyone here on earth or is restricted by someone's limited understanding of Him.
6. Inseparable from truth are God's characteristics which include love and compassion for others. Jesus 'artfully' demonstrated this 'truthful' love and compassion for others, and today these characteristics remain as the litmus test of someone with God (spiritual fruit) in their lives
7. Truth and love are inseparable because God is love and God is truth.
Let's begin by expanding on points six and seven regarding the relationship between truth and love:
When you understand the truth about something and you see someone blindly walking in lies, you will associate the path that they are on with danger, and thus the person walking in that dangerous path as being IN danger. As in any rescue operation, for example a firefighter rescuing someone from a burning building, the rescuer has a selfless focus on helping the person in danger and they have an awareness that rescuing is their job. The drive to rescue has to do with the assignment and the knowledge of the truth of that danger.
Likewise, one cannot embark on a spiritual “rescue” operation until first you see and understand the truth of the danger, and the truth then triggers the love and compassion to initiate the act of rescuing. And seeing the beauty of this process and how the love and compassion changes lives is in itself is an art. i.e. Truth and Art!
TRUTH FOUNDATION PERSPECTIVE
Another important perspective is the foundational “value and reality screening” principle which is very useful for analyzing the authenticity of a process, and or movement, particularly political-cultural. The three principles help answer the question -”is this movement or cause true?” or “is there genuine truth in this?”
These 3 tools or concepts (below) also allow us to self-evaluate and reflect on what our values, identity, hopes, desires, paradigms and dreams are based on. Are they built on falsehoods? Or truth?
JUSTICE:
This first principle is a reminder of God's character as outlined throughout scripture and particularly throughout the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy where God reveals His nature and values to the people of Israel. God put forth His intended structure for the individual person and for nation states. A nation without justice is corrupt by default.
Romans 13:3 reminds us that the very purpose of government is to make the “bad guys” afraid (i.e. enforce justice and the rule of law).
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
This means that those who commit crimes, those who, for example, murder and rape children and commit cruel injustices are expected to be held accountable and judged harshly by government, not covered up. When this foundational justice is missing, that's a red flag for any movement or politician who claims to represent truth.
LOGIC:
This principle serves several reminders:
(a) - True knowledge comes from God, and
(b) - Sound logic is a tool and a skill God has given us to use wisely.
I would add the warning that partial or incomplete knowledge leads to erroneous logic
Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet. - Proverbs 19:2
Logic is a hidden element embedded in the collection of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. So hidden, it's hardly ever talked about in this context. Today, many people associate logic with the “wisdom of the world”, mathematics or science. But too often we forget that God owns science and medicine. It was He who put the rules in place and we are just the student observers of His creation!
Due to our limited perspective about God's creation and our sinful ignorant nature, we as humans always try to define science through OUR limited lens. We then (for example, atheists) attempt to subject the very existence of God and His creation to OUR very limited criteria and make statements like, “if God exists, then prove it”. This is profoundly illogical.
The tool of logic is powerful and a gift from God, but it cannot be used properly without proper knowledge and UNDERSTANDING of that knowledge (think this through). Only then can we appreciate true logical application of presented facts.
Logic ultimately is more than just a science and math tool, and a tool to understand creation and God's presence (see Romans 1:19-23), it is also a tool for understanding culture, politics and real-time unfolding events. Using logic (and reason) one can see when illogical sequences of events or conclusions are publicly declared as the truth. That is because lies are very often illogical at its core.
MORALITY:
The principle of morality is one of the core principle of this project because striving for it (or being partial to it) is a direct reflection of our devotion to God and what He wants. Like logic, morality only exists BECAUSE God exists.
Ever notice how atheists and secular humanists declare things that are “right” and “wrong”, but when you ask them what the basis of their moral construct is, they don't really have an answer? This demonstrates the 'logic' principle beautifully since we can reason that if there's no God, and we are alone in this universe, then there would be no reason to feel bad about murder, rape, lying, hatred, war, terrorism, suffering, selfishness, injustice etc, because someone could argue that murder or rape is “good” because (for example) it's proven mathematically that eliminating people is “good for the planet”.
Furthermore, in this Godless hypothetical world one could argue that “good” is just a state of mind or an artificial subjective feeling and maybe good is really bad, and bad is really good. Without morality there is no reliable success, there is no truth, only temporary pleasure and vanity because without God there is nothing.
Apply the moral principle to your life. Use it as a litmus test when evaluating what someone like a political leader or a movement is saying. Use the moral principle to evaluate and to see what the identity of the messenger is and what lies at the heart of an agenda. Ask yourself, if someone listens to you, will they be able to discern what your primary identity is in?
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. - Matthew 6:24
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER IS THE ART 👍
We said earlier that truth, when realized, is transforming liberating and empowering. But what does “realizing” look like? It's the glue of 'UNDERSTANDING' that brings it all together and which God gives to those who ask.
In the parable of the sower found in Mathew chapter 13, Jesus explains four different typological phenomenon (or psychological processes) that take place when a person hears the Word of God.
One can hear it and reject it, because of lack of understanding (seed #1). One can hear it and “receive it with joy” but endure only “for a while” until persecution and tribulation results (seed #2). One can hear it and initially receive it, but only until the deceitfulness of riches and cares of the world “choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (seed #3). Then there is the person who received seed on the good ground, and Jesus said this is the person who hears the word and UNDERSTANDS it, and who, because of this understanding “indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty“ (seed #4).
As you can see, understanding is the transforming element that determines your ultimate destination (eternal life) and success with God’s word. Seed #1 never understood at all. Seed #2 thought they understood, the emotion of the moment or season felt good and drew them to the message, but only until the emotion changed. Seed #3 also misunderstood the word because they interpreted it as something LESS valuable than the cares and pleasures of this world. Only the understanding seen with seed #4 allows the person to break through (if you would) to the other side and see the true riches of the Word, thus energizing the hearer to act and bear much fruit.
Therefore hear the parable of the sower… - Mathew 13:18
So when we put it all together we see that God is the ONLY path to truth and the author of art, logic, knowledge, understanding, goodness and morality. I would add, He's also the author and owner of joy, kindness, love, true happiness, success and sense of fulfillment.
In summary, we can say that it is logical to see how God owns all these things [TRUTH], and actually seeing this and understanding this entire process IS the beauty [ART] of it all!
Empower your life and learn to apply these timeless principles to your life. Defend simple truth and help others correctly categorize real-time events through the eyes of scripture and truth. Use and apply God's love and compassion within society, and with people around you, as you abide in truth and operate in a 'rescue worker' mentality that only God can provide.
Then pray for God's understanding and logic to act as a guide for navigating through cultural and political daily developments. When you do all of this you'll see that the principles discussed here: Truth, Art, Love, Compassion, Justice, Logic and Morality will always act as a shining light in the middle of the darkness!