Pastor Ralph Diehl » truth http://www.ralphdiehl.com Thoughts on Life Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:00:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 TELL THE TRUTH http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/06/01/tell-the-truth/ http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/06/01/tell-the-truth/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000 pastordiehl http://www.ralphdiehl.com/?p=820 I heard of a 12-year old boy who was a key witness in a lawsuit. One of the lawyers, after intense questioning, asked, “Your father told you what to say, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” answered the boy.

“Now tell us,” pursued the lawyer, “what were his instructions?”

“Well,” replied the boy, “Father told me the lawyers would try to tangle me in my testimony; but if I would just be careful and tell the truth, I could say the same thing every time.”

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape” (Proverbs 19:5).

]]> http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/06/01/tell-the-truth/feed/ 2 THE SLIDE RULE http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/02/06/the-slide-rule/ http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/02/06/the-slide-rule/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:00:44 +0000 pastordiehl http://www.ralphdiehl.com/?p=495 Dr. Burt Nanus recalls that on his first day in engineering school in 1953, a professor advised the entering freshmen to buy the best slide rule they could afford. The professor told them, “You will be dependent on it all your professional life.” Nanus dutifully bought a slide rule. Yet after he graduated and went on to MIT, he never used it. The calculator had taken its place.

In a day when technology advances at an ever quickening rate, it seems that nothing remains the same. What was the style yesterday is already old fashioned. And yesterday’s technolgy is today’s junk. But there is one standard that has never changed because it has its root in truth: The Bible. Its stories may seem culturally irelevant in the King James Version, but the message is as fresh and relevant today as it ever was. Get a modern English version and learn about life. What have you read today?

]]> http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2009/02/06/the-slide-rule/feed/ 3 A GREAT EXAGGERATION http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2008/10/21/great-exaggeration/ http://www.ralphdiehl.com/2008/10/21/great-exaggeration/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:00:35 +0000 pastordiehl http://www.ralphdiehl.com/?p=107 As Mark Twain once said, “The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated”. I protected news of my prostate cancer until I announced it publicly two weeks ago, because I knew that if news leaked out, the truth would be perverted in all sorts of ways. And that has happened. People seem to think I’m dead and gone already.

According to one report I have TB. To another the surgery was already over (I wish it was, of course). Someone else asked me how long I had to live. Why do people feel a need to embellish the truth whenever they retell it? The truth is I’ll probably live another 25 years, and by then Anita will be sick and tired of me.

This week anticipation is beginning to build as I’m scheduled for surgery next week. That means I’ve got a whole month’s worth of work to get cleared off my desk. I’m really thankful for a great staff that will keep everything moving along while I’m healing, and keep the truth going forth.

When have you had someone tell a greatly exaggerated tale on you?

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