Not "Know it Alls", but "Know Some things"

**A coffee cup and a T-shirt snagged my imagination recently. My sister had on the shirt. The cup was from that chic coffee franchise we'll call "Stellar-dollars."

The T-shirt said on the front: "I know that I know that I know that I know." With this being my sister,* I didn't know* where that shirt was going. Did I dare ask?

Reading her back (the shirt, not a tattoo) I saw what she knew. It was a quote from a Nicole C. Mullins song: "...that my redeemer lives. I talked to Him this morning." A great song which quotes in part from Job.

I never doubted you Kara. Thanks for the reminder! Hallelujah, we can know our risen Savior lives - even if we neglected to talk with Him this morning. Even if we never talk to Him - He lives.

So that was the shirt. Now, the coffee cup was immediate preacher fodder (i.e. sermon supplement). I drained the cup Saturday PM (decaf, mind you) and used it Sunday AM. For the record: not that I was desperate for material - this time. It genuinely fit my sermon.

Despite my "cool-because-she's-college-aged" daughter's teasing, I feel very hip in getting such a great quote from Stellar-dollars. They are an international company that celebrates multiculturalism (all cultures and their "truths" are equal) and total tolerance (again, all truths are equal). Later, go Google "postmodernism."

The cup read in part: "This is what we know to be true: We opened our very first store in (insert city and state), in (insert year). We still roast our coffee ourselves... We served the best cup of coffee 37 years ago... "

Did you see what got me juiced? Read their simple, wonderful assertion again: "This is what we know to be true." Wow! Truth that can be known, verified, legally, historically documented and even printed on a 10% post-consumer recycled fiber cup!

They know that they know that they know. And they want us to know what can be known with certainty as well. They point us to a place, a time, a process, a history. They even tell us they make the best coffee - daring us to taste and see that they are good.

It thrills me to see in a day of doubt which questions all truth claims that someone still uses such language. Alas, some sensible sanity! Verifiable data and historical reliability exists!

They rightfully expect that most cup-readers will understand this narrative of their origins is a clear, sensible, provable statement. No deconstruction or cultural reinterpretation needed.

This perky little cup holds its truth claims to be more than self-evident. It gives us enough facts to investigate and see if it will stand-up under scrutiny.

Were we to research this truth claim without bias - say, a preference for someone else's coffee - we could prove or disprove their truth claims. We too could say: This is what WE now know to be true! We too would know that what they know that they know.

Assuming their claims are valid, they are true even if I do not believe them. It does not need my faith to make it true. It can hold it own truth-grounds even if we did not drink a cup this morning.

The Bible gives us truth-claims about our living Redeemer. It asks - almost dares us - to verify them. The Apostle Paul set forth 500 eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection. The Corinthians were invited to investigate if these multitudes had in fact seen Jesus alive again (1 Corinthians 15).

Dr. Luke tells us he investigated thoroughly what he wrote in his gospel account (see Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1). He spoke with eyewitnesses who heard Jesus teach, saw Him perform miracles, watched Him die a hideous death and then come back alive. Luke gives us names, places, times.

The Apostle John tells us he too was an eyewitness. He writes of what he heard, saw, touched and carefully observed (1 John 1). In an historical place, in a specific time, Jesus lived, died, rose again, ascended back to heaven and now offers salvation to all who obey Him by believing (John 1:1-18; 3:14-17; 21:24, 25).

Don't kid yourself: seeing ain't always believing. Many saw and did not believe. They had - as we do - heart issues, not intellectual difficulties.

Jesus graciously let Doubting Thomas see Him after His resurrection. He then blessed those who do not see yet still believe (John 20:24-31). Jesus left behind enough witnesses for us to be held responsible for making the right faith-choice concerning Him (John 1:12; 3:36; 5:24).

Jesus equates belief with obedience, not brain-deadness. We do not believe despite lacking facts. We believe because it is true, He is truth and the evidence is more than sufficient, reliable and compelling. Disbelief is disobedience.

Why will we take at face value what a hot beverage cup says? Simple: it makes no moral demands on my life, other than to recycle. Jesus, the Creator of the stars, is not one you should buck. You can talk to Him any part of the day. He lives and shall once again take His stand on the earth.

Some books for further investigation. First, the Bible! Then, mull over The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, currently on the New York Times bestseller list. Also just out is Choosing Your Faith by Mark Mittelberg, a unique approach that helps you see why you believe what you believe and if your faith-choice is solid.

I also recommended two classics by Josh McDowell: More than a Carpenter and Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Most importantly, I commend you to Jesus, who invites us to taste and see that He is good - Truth that you can know.

*Kerry S. Doyal* - Pastor *Grace Bible Church (an EFCA)* *Kingsport, TN*