Presenting Truth in Love

By Brannon Howse

Dear Worldview Weekend & Christian Worldview Network Friends,

Titus 3:2 says, "to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating once another."

Recently we made the decision to remove a few columnists from our website because we believe that a Christian spirit of love and reverence for all men was missing from their articles. Now, these people are upset and are spreading e-mails claiming that Worldview Weekend and Christian Worldview Network are compromising Biblical truth. I expect these men to soon publish their articles for all to read.

Please know that just because we refuse to be flamethrowers by publishing columns that are not written in a manner that honors the Lord does not mean we are compromising. To the contrary, we would be compromising if we were to keep such writers on our site. While we may agree with their doctrinal positions, we cannot agree with the manner in which they present their material.

The Bible commands us to defend truth but to do so with love and reverence. Scripture also tells us that the world will know we are Christians by our love. Columns that present truth without love, respect, and a deep concern for those who are in error is not edifying to the body of Christ, and it is a poor testimony to the world.

For myself, I take this opportunity to sincerely apologize if any of my past columns have crossed the line. If I have done so, that was not my intent, and I hope you will forgive me. While I, and all my columnists, will continue to take a stand for truth, we will redouble our efforts to do it in a manner pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.

I do know that some people will never be happy no matter how loving we are because they agree with false teachings and liberal theology so popular in our culture and-sadly-the church. I only pray that, as we defend truth in a Christ-like manner, individuals and churches will be drawn away from the lie and drawn to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Word. Let me give you a couple of examples of how this works.

Jason Carlson, my friend, columnist, and Worldview Weekend speaker, was in the Emergent Church at the time it was formed. However, today, Jason speaks and writes for us because the truth of God's Word that had been instilled in him by his parents and grandparents did not return void.

Or consider the story of one user of our website. A few months ago, I received an e-mail from an individual that at one time did not like our website at all. Over time, he was dramatically changed by the influence of our loving stand for Biblical truth. Please read the e-mail this young man recently sent to me (quoted below) and join me in thanking the Lord Jesus for him and his new life. And please pray for him as he is studying his Bible, reading some wonderful Christian books, watching Biblically sound DVDs and taking a Greek class so he can learn to study the Bible in Greek:

Brannon I took your worldview test a few years ago and ranked as a secular humanist worldview thinker. At the time, I got mad at it and mad at your organization. I took the test again just a few weeks ago and ranked as a strong Biblical worldview thinker. I knew I'd changed vastly in recent times, but never how much. I've become a new man since those few years back, and I'm happy for it.

In any case, I just wanted to let you know how much I've changed and how much more Biblical I've become. Praise the Lord for that.

I'd always been a strong believer in God's existence and the salvation found in Christ. However, I realize now that I never really understood it during all of those years. Even though I accepted the Bible as truth, looking back I realize how much I twisted meaning to find what I wanted to see instead of what was there. This "liberal theology" is due a lot, I believe, to the media and societal structure in which we live. I have seen many, many others fall victim to it, as well as false doctrines such as theistic evolutionism. Thankfully, those misinterpretations are in my past and I now stand with the real truth in hand.

As I silently observe my college contemporaries, I see that they are like I once was-having a terribly skewed interpretation of God's Word, or in many cases, even worse-they deny the Lord outright. Watching this, along with an even greater passion for the lost, inspired me to begin studying for the ministry. I'd spent about 12 years of my life preparing for and gearing towards becoming an attorney. Now, all I want to do is spread the message of our Lord.

The rest of my life is now dedicated to telling people the truth about the universe's Creator, the fall, and our salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Praise God! Today, this young man writes to me often. It is only because most of my writings and columns have been loving and kind that this young man felt the freedom to approach me via e-mail to tell of the change that has taken place in his life. As our exchange of e-mails continues, I seek to encourage him as he grows in his faith, but I often find he encourages me more than I encourage him!

We must not allow people to convince us that to be loving is to compromise truth. Harsh, unloving words do not strengthen truth but merely reveals an attitude of arrogance and pride that compromises Christian testimony and causes us to lose credibility with people that may otherwise have listened to us.

In closing, let me thank each of you for coming to our site, reading our articles, purchasing our materials and attending our conferences. I pray that Worldview Weekend and Christian Worldview Network can continue to be a godly influence on many lives as we have been in the life of the young man who once held a Secular Humanist worldview.

Please continue to tell your friends about our fall conferences as well as our April 2007, Branson Worldview Weekend. I have posted below links to these conferences. I would also be very grateful if you would take a moment to offer feedback on this message.

Sincerely,
Brannon S. Howse
President & Founder
Worldview Weekend
Christian Worldview Network

October 6 & 7, 2006
Collierville, TN (a suburb of Memphis)

October 6 & 7, 2006
Okeechobee, FL

October 27 & 28, 2006
Springhill, FL

October 27 & 28, 2006
St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN

November 10 & 11, 2006
Franklin, PA

November 10 & 11, 2006
McPherson, KS

November 17, 18, 2006
Rockford, IL

November 17 & 18, 2006
Dayton, OH

April 27, 28 & 29, 2007
Branson, MO