Admittedly, I am no great writer. I can’t spell very well (thank you spell check), I do not form complete sentences sometimes and often the structure of my sentences and choice of words may be off by a little or even off greatly. I know I can’t write well (good?) and I will never claim that distinction. I know many people that are a lot more articulate than I am, that can punctuate with the best of them, but that is not my calling. I hope that no one that reads my blog posts take them in the same vein they would a writing of John Piper, John Macarthur or
Michael Durham.
My desire in writing is to just let my thoughts flow. I try to convey where the Lord has me at any particular time, what He is showing me and relay how that impacts me. I pray that it adds a little more understanding to its readers, but that too is not my purpose in writing.
When I sit down to the keyboard, it is to bring glory to my Savior. He has given all that I may live and in that I want to glorify Him in whatever fashion I can. I was not gifted to be a speaker, not that I am terrified to be in front of a crowd, but I just do not hold that quality. I am fine with that, I actually think of it as a blessing rather than a curse, it keeps me from inserting my foot into my big mouth sometimes. I also do not have the gift of a singing voice or ability to play an instrument. Oh, how I tried to learn to play the guitar, but my patience was very lacking, that or lack of coordination.
What I believe God has given me is the gift to interact with others on a personal level and not in a superficial way. Being like that makes me want to explain things, probably more than anyone wants to hear about, but I tend to meander and change course a lot. If you have read my other posts you will be quite aware of that. But what it really boils down to is obedience. Since I am not a speaker, I do not have a large audience around me and I do not have the typical giftings that people notice, I do feel like I am supposed to just write. Good or bad, correct punctuation or not, just write about what God has done, is doing and might do in my life. I try to obey.
In that I may write a blog about “Where is Todd Bentley” or even Glenn Beck’s false religion of Mormonism. Who knows what will strike up the urge to clank on the keyboard? Actually it is peck on the keyboard, since I have taught myself to type with a 4/1 method, 4 fingers on my left hand and 1 on my right. It would probably be quite humorous to watch if I weren’t the one doing it, but it gets the job done. What I want to do is glorify my God. If He chooses to use my meager words to help a brother or sister out I will be just as content if someone reads the first sentence of a post and clicks the little red X at the top right of their browser, because I have been obedient.
Obedience is the key to everything. Whether it’s to write a little blog in the corner of cyberspace or preach in front of 20,000 people at a time, it comes down to obeying what God has told you to do and to do it without bellyaching and doing it with the sole purpose of glorifying God. I think of writing like I do sowing seeds, like God speaks of spreading His Word in scripture. My writing is my testimony and my view of what God is doing around me, small or large, it is all in God’s plan. In me posting a blog God may have its words for one person 10 years down the road that may “accidentally” come across that post. With those words that have been there in the dirt for years, He may choose to then water and bring that seed to fruition in that single person. Who knows what will happen to anything they do? Should we even think about “what might be”? Shouldn’t we just live our lives for the one purpose of being obedient and leaving the rest to God? Sow the seed of His Word wide and broad, throw it on the beaten path, throw it on the thorn bushes, throw it on the rocks and throw it on the cultivated and prepared soil, but just throw the seed consistently and leave the germination to God. Be obedient.
In my posts I usually do have a purpose and that is to share the biblical gospel of Christ. To tell how someone can be born again. I may get worked up sometimes and go on for a while, but it is really a simple thing to do. Simple that is when God is in it; otherwise someone will become deceived in what “I did” or put faith in his or her prayer or even faith in his or her faith. The ONLY way a person can be saved, born again, is to accept that they are in dire need of a savior. See that their lives have been nothing but pure rebellion against a Holy God, which all they want to do and are capable of is sin and defilement of the Creator of the universe. Sin is anything that does not glorify God, not just lying, stealing or fornication, but even eating a cheeseburger without being thankful to the One that allowed them to wake up that morning, that gave them the job to have that couple of dollars to be able to eat that cheeseburger. Sin is our nature, we are born in it and we are born with it. You never have to teach a child to lie, it comes natural to them, as does all the other desires to sin. Sin is a heart condition and however that manifests itself is irrelevant, be it stealing a candy bar from Wal Mart or cheating on your spouse, it all comes from leadership of your heart. This was addressed by Jesus to the rich young ruler and also in Matthew 5:28 by saying “Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in their heart”. Now that is radical in today’s society, huh? So sin is a heart condition, but also is transgression of God’s Laws. Anytime there is transgression of law there has to be a payment rendered in turn. Most often times we see this in courtrooms. A law has been broken, someone is found guilty and the judge demands payment for that transgression. This, in American society, usually takes the form of a jail sentence and/ or a fine or restitution, a repayment for what has been unlawfully happened. No matter how much you tell that judge the “good” things you have done, it will not influence his decision on what you have committed. If you kill someone while drunk driving you will not get off with a warning for having volunteered every day for the past 20 years cooking and handing out food to the homeless across your city, it is not a weighted scale, it will be justice carried out.
This is just an earthly example of God’s courtroom on judgment day. You will stand before Him alone, you will have His books opened and you will have to answer for every sin you committed against His laws. You may think, “Yeah, I’m a good person. I’ve never killed anyone or anything that harsh, I’ve done a lot more good than I have bad” and that may be true, in a man centered sense. But then Jesus Christ will stand up and the Father will ask how you compare to Him. The sinless and spotless Lamb that lived a perfect life on this Earth, tempted in all ways we are, but remained sin free. He then was slain on a cross for your sins, you may have said a prayer when you were a kid, but no prayer will have saved you, no walk down an aisle, not being baptized, not living a good life. The question will be did you repent of your sins and trust in Him, the Lamb of God. Did you see your life as vile and rebellious to Him? Did you see that you had no hope at all in and of yourself? Did you cry out to God to forgive you of all that you had done to defile His Holy Name? Did you turn from that filthiness and turn to the God you hated in your words and lifestyle, casting all your sin upon the Lamb, giving your life to the One that came to willingly take your sins upon Himself? Because that is the only way Jesus will step up in the Father’s courtroom, stand beside you and say “I paid his debt Father” and show His pierced palms that still hold the marks that you put there. He will be your Advocate in God’s courtroom and that will be the only way you can be forgiven. To place all your hope in Christ, which also entails placing all your sins upon Him and all of His righteousness will be counted as yours. WOW! That is good news.
So, that is my purpose. Not to entertain, not to write a good read, not to drive the hi counter up on the bottom of the page, but to glorify my Savior, tell of what He has done for me (and you) and to sow bountifully and let the Lord reap bountifully. I’m just being obedient. However small I see this page, however small you see this page, God sees it the same as John Piper standing before the congregation at Bethlehem Church on a Sunday morning, He sees them both as obedience. How about you? Are you being obedient? Do you sow sparingly or bountifully? Do you just do what the Lord says and go and make disciples of men or do you sit back and expect everyone else with their gifts of speaking and music do what He commanded you to do as well? You are either the missionary or you are the mission field.
