Today i was asked "why do you blog"? the details of the conversation are not particularly relevant or for that matter wholesome, so we will leave that part of the conversation. It's something i have never been asked before and got me to thinking, and now as i have had a bit of time to think i guess it's time to reply. I'm going to post the text of my reply, but not the mail that came with it, because it is not great, and apparently i'm a disgrace to God, the Kingdom, my parents and the whole of Christendom. This all from a blog i wrote earlier this month.
Thank you for your question as to why i bother blogging, i'm going to attempt to answer it in order but that may not happen.
1. There probably is a bit of ego in everyones blog, the idea that something you want to say can help someone could be construed as egotistical, so you maybe right, i don't think you are but who knows.
2. As for being an all round embarrassment i guess you would have to speak to those people you mention, that i have embarrassed and see how they feel about it. You do appear to have a direct bat phone to God so ask him while you are at it, and let me know what he says on the matter. Because causing embarrasment to God is far away from why i do anything.
3. I'm always brutally honest in anything i do, whether that is preaching, or blogging and i will outline the reasons to you.
a) my hope is that by showing my failings, showing my humanity i can help break the myth that a rose garden exists if you are a Christian, i know your particular way of thought is that i am wrong, but i can actually back mine up with numerous scriptural passages, experience and tradition.
b) 90% of the people who read my blog are not looking for pat answers, they are looking for something from God that enables them and empowers them to do better in their lives. To see the face of God and get to know him better and intimately, and to know that God loves them despite the doubts and fears they possess.
c) Most of my readers are not Christian in any way that you would define it. But they appear to get help from what is written, and yes someone has given their life to Christ, not because of my blog (it was only a small part of the journey they are on) but because they actually met someone who said it was okay to doubt and struggle with questions of faith. You see the Bible never tells us that we have to understand everything before we make the jump into the arms of God, it actually affirms "come as you are" i'm more convinced of that than anything else in my life right now.
You see since i gave my life to Christ in the early 80's the only thing i have ever wanted to see happen is people come to faith in Christ, i'm not concerned with where they go to worship, how they worship or who they read to help them on their journey ( before you jump, i'm talking about Christian worship) what matters most is that someone is making that journey, someone is willing to trust and put their faith in God and his son Jesus. Never having understood the reasons denominations try and build walls instead of breaking them down, i'm more than happy to try and blow them away with an anti tank gun or DC10. People do not need to get to the right church to find faith, they need to find God, they need to dedicate their lives to him and see the greatness of himself working in their lives.
The reason i blog is i hope that those people who never go to church, never attend any form of Christian service, get to see something of what God has done in my life and is doing in my life. It's a lot easier to say what i say on the internet on my blog page, not because i think i'm better than anyone else, not because think my words are more important, but because if i had to see each person individually i would never get any sleep, never get any rest and never see my wife.
Genuinely i thank you for the time you took with your Mail, and i have tried to respond to it honestly, i hope you read mine in a similar way. God bless you on your journey and shine his light upon you.
Your blogs have a strange way of giving me a quiet place where I contemplate my own life, I enjoy reading them.
ReplyDeleteWe, you and I, have never brought up our own beliefs in company, don't know why, it's just been that way from when we met, So here's the thing, I was christened, many years ago, but brought up in a house of science and logic. I have been angry at the world simply for the reason of being born, and I was very angry at God for taking my brother and leaving his seven month pregnant wife without her husband. So God and I haven't been on talking terms for a while.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't believe, I do, but inside, I'm still angry 17 years after that fateful day.
I buried 23 brothers in arms, sat with their wives, children, parents and siblings while their sons were put in the ground. So God and I are not on speaking terms.
I read your blogs and do not believe for one second that you are an embarrassment to God, how can you be when your words on these pages stop me from sometimes going over "that" edge, into that world of insanity and seething hatred I visited years ago. So if I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. Thank you for your blog and thank you for my sanity, You are my friend, my brother and my guide. Keep writing, this is God's work through you. (My opinion on how I see your blog)
Thanks brother, all i can say really
ReplyDeleteThe comments people make (and the way they make them) always say at least as much about themas they do about you. Sometimes more. You say what you do because you talk straight - this is authentic testimony. If someone else is embarrassed by it, that's their problem. And they clearly DO have a problem - and it isn't you. Keep telling it as you see it.
ReplyDelete