{"id":6828,"date":"2016-02-02T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T06:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=6828"},"modified":"2016-02-01T17:44:02","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T17:44:02","slug":"truth-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/truth-courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth &#038; Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Truth-Falsehood.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So this year I wanted to focus on something that would challenge me and keep me moving forward in my faith.<\/p>\n<p>I was thinking about what that could be, and on one day found myself between meetings so I went to\u00a0the V&amp;A museum.<\/p>\n<p>I came across a couple of sculptures, initially I just spent some time looking at them from a distance. When I went closer, I read all the info and it turns out these two sculptures depict two scenes, one was called Truth and Falsehood, and the other Courage and Cowardice.<\/p>\n<p>With truth and falsehood, truth was wrestling falsehood, had him by his forked tongue and was pushing his mask back to reveal\u2026.truth.<br \/>\nThe other had courage wrestling with cowardice, courage had her foot on a shield bringing cowardice into submission, I liked these!<\/p>\n<p>Courage is something we need, and it can take shape in so many ways, but what happens is that all around us is fear and despair, which can erode this courage and fight against our calling to be kingdom men.<\/p>\n<p>The fear of \u2018suppose\u2019 or the thoughts of \u2018what if\u2019 can rob us of this\u00a0courage and drive, that we start to question and query, we stop looking kingdom and start looking at the raging waters around us.<\/p>\n<p>Combine that with truth and you have something very potent! Truth, whenever I have spoken it or acted in it, or built my life around it pushes back the mask of falsehood. It grabs the tongue of lies and smashes a huge hole in the ability to control and contain us as Jesus men.<\/p>\n<p>On about 70+ occasions Jesus opens a conversation with \u2018I tell you the truth!\u2019 we need more of that! I want to advance into 2016 with Jesus Truth &amp; Holy Spirit Courage, how about you?<\/p>\n<p>Image credit: Photo by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dullhunk\/2900415169\" target=\"_blank\">Duncan Hull<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/truth-courage\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So this year I wanted to focus on something that would challenge me and keep me moving forward in my faith. I was thinking about what that could be, and on one day found myself between meetings so I went to\u00a0the V&amp;A museum. I came across a couple of sculptures, initially I just spent some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":6830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[439,1200,1201,287],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Truth-Falsehood.jpg?fit=300%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1M8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8749,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/courageous\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":0},"title":"COURAGEOUS","date":"26 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"For me I love nothing better than settling down to watch a movie to relax, there are so many wonderful movies, and yes, I know there are many not so good. As a man, we do tend to like the more action type of movies, war movies, dramatic battles scenes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/sport-climber-1428917-638x380.jpg?fit=638%2C381&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8391,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/on-courage-and-being-a-hero\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":1},"title":"On courage and being a hero","date":"13 March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I know a man who jumped into a raging river torrent. The river was raging over the waterfall and there was someone in the water being dragged into its undercurrent. This man didn\u2019t stop to have a conversation with anyone about what to do. He didn\u2019t ask himself or others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/erwan-hesry-195521-unsplash.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7420,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/10-seconds-of-courage\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":2},"title":"10 Seconds of Courage","date":"14 March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBe strong. Take courage. Don\u2019t be intimidated. Don\u2019t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He\u2019s right there with you. He won\u2019t let you down; he won\u2019t leave you.\u201d Deuteronomy 31:6 I was at a social event recently with Carl, the President of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/deuteronomy31v6.png?fit=565%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5448,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/confrontation-versus-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":3},"title":"Confrontation versus Love?","date":"21 August 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Confrontation is frequently seen in a negative light! We tend to respond differently when confrontation presents itself. This could be as follows: The goal is \u2018I\u2019m right and you\u2019re wrong\u2019! It\u2019s my duty to put you right! I\u2019m uncomfortable \u2013 so I\u2019ll withdraw; conflicts are hopeless, people cannot change! It\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;50 Plus&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/real-men-dont-do-church-part-three\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":4},"title":"Real Men Don&#039;t Do Church &#8211; Part Three","date":"12 August 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Let\u2019s think now about the more personal issues that a man faces.\u00a0 Sure, there will be a fa\u00e7ade that most men construct that says, \u201cHey, I\u2019m doing just great\u201d but behind that there is often a much more raw reality. \u00a0Many men are really wrestling with issues such as sexual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Carl Beech&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9736,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/the-way-the-truth-and-the-life-is-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":6828,"position":5},"title":"The way, the truth and the life is here!","date":"25 December 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"At CVM this year, like every year, we have focused on one person, we have written about, spoken about and shared the news of Jesus the Christ. Jesus answered, \u201cI am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201dJohn 14:6 Jesus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cvm-christmas-1920x1440-social1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6828"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6835,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6828\/revisions\/6835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}