TRUTH. A fundamental concept that seems to have lost funding in our society. People pay big money these days to get lied to and fantasize. Eventually many of us wise up and get tired of being being taken for a ride or subjected to another media driven spin cycle. Are you ready for some Truth? Click the Play button below and keep reading.

Not long ago a pastor in a major city of the US, let's call him Greg, decided that he'd had enough of his congregation coming in beat down, tired and broken. So as any good pastor would do, he decided he needed to come up with something to fix it. Sunday came and he announced from the pulpit "Today... Today we're going to have a healing service. All of you who need to get healed something, get down here to the altar." Most of the congregation got up and came to the altar and 30 minutes into praying, speaking and laying on hands the pastor knew he had accomplished his goal.

As you can imagine, he was quite proud of his accomplishment, what with having healed even the most infirmed person in his congregation. His pride lasted until he peeked into the sanctuary the next Sunday morning and found the most pitiful looking group sitting before him that he'd ever seen. His first thought was "Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into." He stood out in the hallway before service thinking the matter over. Soon it dawned on him "maybe these people needed deliverance instead of healing." So, he approached the podium and said "I can see ya'll need deliverance today. Today... today we're going to have a deliverance service." With that he proceeded to call them down to the altar again and an hour later he declared that they had all been delivered.

Now with two tremendous weeks under his belt, Pastor Greg was expecting to see totally new faces on his flock the following Sunday, so you can imagine his shock when he peered through the sanctuary doors before the service to find even more sour faces in the congregation than there were last week. He could even hear several people mumbling "that deliverance stuff didn't work." "What to do," he thought. Just then one of the teenagers in his congregation passed by on her way to the bathroom. He stopped her and asked her opinion of situation. Her reply was simple and to the point, "I think they need the spirit sir." With that she continued onward to the bathroom and Pastor Greg walked into the sanctuary to grumbles.

"Last week we were all delivered," he began, "and the week before we were all healed. So I guess what we all need now is to be filled with the spirit." Again he called everyone down to the altar and after 2 hours of praying, laying hands and speaking in tongues, Pastor Greg just knew he had each and every person filled with the spirit.

Sunday rolled around again and as expected, Pastor Greg was pretty sure of himself. He'd had 3 miraculous Sundays in a row after all. On the way to church that morning Pastor Greg had even told his wife to be sure to sit on the front row so he could call her up during the service to talk about all the great things that had happened. That thought quickly left his mind when he opened the door to the sanctuary and found the complete opposite of what he was expecting. Instead of happy, joyful people, he walked in to 2 of his elders wives pulling at each other's hair like school-children.

He stood in the pulpit for several minutes without saying a word. He was too dumbfounded for words and the words he was thinking weren't exactly church worthy. His wife, sensing a storm brewing in the congregation, flipped open her Bible, walked up to the pulpit, handed it to her hubby and pointed to a verse. Pastor Greg slid his readers on and began to read "Jesus said to the people who believed in him, 'You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' John 8:31-32."

In an instant he knew where he had gone wrong. His people hadn't needed all those other things. They had needed Truth and Freedom... Freedom that comes from knowing what Jesus taught and living those words.

As the morning continued, no altar call was necessary. The Truth was being revealed in the minds and hearts of those who were present.

If you're in need of some Truth, join us this week at Integrity. We're studying through the book of Ephesians (Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus). You can download the study guide right here. At Integrity you won't find mumbo jumbo but you will find real Truth and real Worship.

Give us each Sunday for a year... It'll change your life. We guarantee it. Go ahead... prove us wrong.

Last week we began our study through the book of Ephesians, a book of mystery in which Paul begins to reveal some previously undisclosed truths to the early church. 

Paul's letter, now known to us as the book of Ephesians, is one of the greatest statements of the need for faith that we will ever see.  It sets forth many things, particularly in the first 3 chapters, that defy human reasoning.  It is a book that reminds us of truths like:

• “God is God and I am not.”
• “If I could understand God, then He would be reduced to my level, and why would I worship someone like that?”
  

As Bud mentioned this past Sunday, he has compiled a study guide to help you prepare for the upcoming material. Attached below is a PDF copy that you can print and have for yourself.

 study-guide-ephesians

(If you don't have Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it free here.)