The Prodigal Blogger Returns

Hello.  How are you?  I hope all has gone well with you since I last posted.

A lot has gone on in my personal life since I last posted.  The reason for my break was due to some life changing news that I received.  Not to worry, no one is physically ill.  But the news I received did affect my family significantly and caused me to have a new perspective in my life.  Interestingly, God had already been working on preparing me for this news, so that when it came I could handle it without panicking. 

Since the beginning of the year, He has been drawing my eyes and heart directly to Him and away from others.  He has been teaching me to lean on Him only and not to depend on others for anything.  He has been teaching me to trust Him alone, despite what His children do, say or think of me.  And it has been quite freeing.  My spirit is much calmer and happier.  He has led me to people who consistently direct me towards Him and away from themselves (and others), who exhibit positive and encouraging behaviors, and who see the joy in serving and loving on others.

A received some testing yesterday (and a lesson) on what I’ve been learning from Him.  I was introduced to a blog post by a well known pastor.  I was forewarned that it could be controversial; that should have told me not to read it….but I did.  (Notice that I never said He had perfected me in what He’s been teaching me….::sigh::…I’m still a work in progress…)  I don’t want to get into details or name names, because I don’t want this post to be about the controversy.  I want it to be about the heart issue and what I learned.

When I started reading, it was clear to me that there was an agenda, right off the bat.  This pastor is in complete disagreement with another Christian and this post was the first of a series of posts.  As I read, I kept expecting to read something about what exactly was so wrong about this other Christian (please keep in mind that I know nothing about this other man and what the issue is), but I never did.  It was a post full of contempt and clearly meant to set people up for the posts to come.  This pastor was really priming his readers, he had a point he needed to prove.

Now, normally, I would either get right into what he was saying and read on, getting myself all wound up and jump on the bandwagon.  But that didn’t happen this time.  What happened is I became very disturbed by the way he was speaking.  And I was saddened to think he felt a full frontal attack was the way to handle what he sees as error and attempt to circle the wagons and protect his flock (and others, apparently, as this is posted on the internet).  I wasn’t in the least bit interested in reading further.  This first post wasn’t edifying in any way, so I certainly didn’t expect the rest to be.

Now, I understand that there are people out there that are easily led and misled by others who they view as an authority on a subject.  You can see it to the extreme when cults surface.  You see it to a lesser extent when a person follows a certain teacher and believes everyone else to be completely wrong.  But that’s what I see as the problem; they are following and allowing themselves to be led by a human being…in all their imperfectness.

I believe……we should all be following Jesus Christ and allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit.  I believe we should listen to people who have been Christians longer than we have; they have wisdom and insight that we may not have.  BUT, we should not listen to any one exclusively and we should always check what they are teaching against ALL of scripture, not just a verse here or there, just as the Berean’s did.  And most importantly, we should be trusting that God, the Creator of the Universe, is much bigger than any mislead, weak human being.  I wonder, do these overly critical pastors really believe that God is all powerful and able to overcome anything?  Do they really think that God needs their help to save the masses?  Do they ever recognize that it is possible that God sees all, knows all, and has it all under control?  Besides, isn’t error usually borne out in time?

Personally, I think my own little life is enough of a handful for me to manage.  I also believe that it is not a Christian’s duty in life to shout from the rooftops that he/she/they are heretics.  I believe it is our responsibility to go out and share the gospel, to serve others as Jesus served us, and be sure that our brothers and sisters are secure enough in the Truth that they are not easily misled by others.  And I believe that is done by pointing them towards Jesus, where all strength, knowledge and wisdom come from.

So what did I learn yesterday?  If someone posts something with the word “controversy” in it…don’t read it!  (Haha)

More importantly is what I learned today.  I opened up the Turning Points magazine this morning that I get every month.   It has daily devotions written by David Jeremiah.  Here’s today’s.  After reading this, be sure to read the recommended reading.  God used this to confirm for me what I was thinking yesterday; that He is God and that I can trust Him to have everything under control, that a positive and loving attitude will go further than a contemptful, self-righteous one, and that I just need to keep my eyes on Him and no one else.

Lord, if I ever begin to sound like a clanging cymbal, please correct me!  Help me to see others as you see them.  Make me more like Jesus.