This isn’t going to be smooth, it might be bumpy. It might even be confusing, but its a rant, more than a rant, rolling around in my head now for weeks….

Trust, such a powerful word. The simple definition of “trust” is: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. More powerful words; truth, reliability. It is obvious that “trust” is very important and when it is “broken or lost” it creates a whole other level of issues. Our world, not just here in USA, but the world is struggling with this word. World leaders in China, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Britain and Iraq are consistently in the headlines these days. Especially with a war happening in Ukraine. These leaders rarely trust their counterparts and in some cases that is most likely a good thing. Russia has invaded Ukraine, a country that definitely didn’t have much trust already in Russia, now that trust is gone. China has threatened Taiwan for decades with invasion, do you think there is any trust there? Do we really think Iraq or Iran or trustworthy? What about here in “land of the free?” Do we have trust in our leadership?

It would seem that our world is in a fragile state from arguments about peace, environment, conflicts and wars. Leaders are under the gun so to speak, being investigated by any and all who may not trust them. Even the media as a whole has their bias very much at hand. Leaving the mass populations to wonder, think, panic, cry out, search and analyze, create stories and more.

I’ll just stay here in America, as I can speak to my own country. What do you think? When it comes to leadership / politics – who do you / who do WE trust here? Do you trust the local government and its leaders? Do trust the state level? What about the federal level? Hah! Made myself giggle just thinking about those three “categories;” local, state and federal. Locally as in my immediate community I do feel like the mayor is doing a good job, others within the city, I am not really sure, maybe 50% trust. Our county, well I don’t trust too many here. It is a county with a history of corruption and saying one thing and doing the other. My state? Hah! More giggles here. I live in Illinois …yes please have sympathy! I am sure there are some politicians leading somewhere in this state, not our governor though. Then, we have our government. Do I trust them? Well…. so much could be written and spoken, but let’s just say – I am praying for our government because they continuously show just us poor decisions, poor speeches, etc.

Now of course – trust and such are personal. I have friends and acquaintances on social media and in person that are busy every day pushing out “information” from this source or that source. Never truly quoting / naming those sources as they are to remain anonymous. So that is a trusted source? Someone who wishes to remain unknown? Trusting someone like this is not wise for sure!

Here are some “trusted” things that have been over the years spoken from “leaders” that were supposedly trustworthy / intelligent / unwavering.

• Pope Innocent III (1284) predicted the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam in 618.
• Martin Luther (1600) Luther, a German priest and professor of theology known for starting the Protestant Reformation, predicted the end of the world would occur no later than 1600.
• John Wesley (1836) Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, foresaw the Millennium beginning this year. He wrote that Revelation 12:14 referred to 1058 to 1836, “when Christ should come”.
• Jim Jones (1967) The founder of the People’s Temple stated he had visions that a nuclear holocaust was to take place in 1967.
• Aum Shinrikyo (2003) This Japanese cult, which carried out the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995, predicted the world would be destroyed by a nuclear war between 30 October and 29 November 2003.
• X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” – Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883.
• I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea.” – HG Wells, 1901
• The invention of aircraft will make war impossible in the future.” – George Gissing, 1903.
• TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.” – unknown, from The New York Times, 1939.
• Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” – Dick Cheney August 26, 2002.
• White Star Line Vice President P.A.S. Franklin announced ” We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe the boat is unsinkable.”

Now I don’t have to over the above list with you, you get the point. First off -no one is perfect, no one is going to 100% correct all of the time. But knowing this, who will you trust? What each of us believes to be true is either because it came from us, or the source sharing it must be very trustworthy to us – correct?! Do you remember hearing things like “stop being sheep,” “you are sheep if you follow…” during the pandemic? Those can be applied to almost any situation: “don’t be sheep, elect …., stop being a sheep and be a leader.”

Well as a pastor I like the word “sheep” in the correct context: In the Gospel of Luke, the parable is as follows: He told them this parable. “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And if I am going to be called “sheep” well that is GREAT with me – I am a follower. I am a follower of the ONE I know and trust 100% I follow my God! Without any hesitation I can say this and mean it. Life so far has been an amazing quirky journey and HE has been there for me the entire time.

What about you? Who will you trust? What do you trust? Are you really going to trust the media, false prophets, people that want to remain anonymous? People that say they have sources, but you don’t know who they are, simply cannot be a great guiding light. Sounds like being led in the darkness by a firefly that is fading away.

Trust – it’s a thing we all deal with. One last thought about it. My first pastor was an amazing man to sit under. His teaching was solid, he was solid. But, he always said to not “trust his word” check out what he was saying in THE Word of God. Talk about “fact checking!” (That word is for a whole different day!) As a Christian, I believe that the Word of God was written by men who were inspired by and filled by God to have this precious book done, so I do trust this source. To have the truth, we have to know what we are dealing with. Don’t be misled by false information, misshaped information or totally unknown information. Don’t allow yourself to fall prey to those that post consistently in social media that things are going to change, the church is dying, the president isn’t real and so much more garbage! Yes, things will change – regardless of who is in charge or where you are in life. Why? Things are always changing! We are growing, evolving, discovering and more. Be wise, trust in what you know. Trust in what you can seek information on. But remember this; when people predict change, change will indeed occur, but when they get specific ask yourself this – “who is writing the playbook and can those people be trusted?”

I told you it wouldn’t be smooth!

Thanks for stopping by the fire,

Pastor Dennis