Here’s what I’ve learned.   Porter’s First Law of Theology survives: God is smart.  Everywhere I turn in the Scriptures, watching people live, or observing His natural world, I see evidence that my God is smart.  His earthquakes vent the tectonic plates.  His influence on people’s lives strains reasoned belief.  His Scripture explains the ultimate purpose for living, a purpose worthy of living.

Porter’s First Law of Human Behavior also appears to be intact—people still understand, believe, remember, and do what they want to understand, believe, remember, and do.  You see, during the last five years I’ve learned why squirrels are squirrely: they eat the lead on our roof’s sewer vent pipes.  No wonder.  But, what are spiritually squirrely people ingesting?  Perhaps it is not what we ingest, but Who we avoid.  Holy Spirit is an amazing catalyst for sentience.

These last five years have also taught me to be careful about telling people what to do, especially when they know what I’ve told them to do is the right thing to do.  I’ve noticed the greatest resistance to the Truth has always been when the Truth conflicts with the truth.  I worship the Truth; but, I remain skeptical about all things true (see Porter’s first Law of Human Behavior).  When we find what we believe is useful, it is often just true.  That’s when we must unfailingly focus on the evidence—without evidence, there is no Truth, only truth.

That’s why I affirm the Scriptures as Truth.  Sure, my perception of what Holy Spirit has written continues to remind me that my perceptions are often just true.  But ever so often, He teaches me from His evidence—not my preconceptions—what I’ve just learned is not true, but True.  Εγω ειμι η αληθεiα (”I am … the truth,” John 14:6).