In my blogging newness, I am discovering that I fear one must write to appease the crowds. If you can come up with a catchy title to draw them in even if it has nothing to do with the blog then you get five invisible bonus points! Once people get on your page and begin to read your blog it is an automatic additional 4 points and when and if they get to the end you score six more! But wait! IF they leave a comment longer than the basic “Hey man good blog!” you receive 12 more points and your ratings skyrocket! Incredible isn’t it! (Eh? Oh.. you didn’t know you got invisible points? You must have forgotten to read the fine, fine print when you signed up! LOL!)

I wonder if I want to write for the approval of invisible ratings. I wonder if it matters if anyone really reads any of this. I wonder if this will become another social activity like many church activities that may distract me from my true journey. Will I waste time during the day and night trying to come up with things to blog about just for the hey of it? Will I become consumed with writing ‘anything’ for the sake of writing to get my invisible approval button? Will I ever be clever and artistic enough to come up with titles that are catchy enough? Wow! This could become a real hoop-jumper!

It almost reminds me of going to church with trying to jump through all the hoops of the week trying to make all the services, special services, events, classes, studies, prayer times, social clubs, potlucks, etc. On Sunday morning if you didn’t think that the sermon was completely biblical, forbid that you might share that with someone else because then you would be instantly backsliding or living in secret sin.

I remember one church that I attended about 20+ years ago. It took a while but I eventually began to see the cliques. If you sang just right or looked good when you sang then you could be part of one group. If you raised you hand with the proper inflection then you were given invisible points and were allowed in another crowd. In this particular church, there were very limited amounts of these elite. That was because you had to have many bonus points to even be considered. Other than that, you were just another spectator that went to the church for whatever your reasons might have been. I left. I didn’t want any of their bonus points. Forbid that I might have been included with them. Ug!

I do not much do cliques, special groups, hoop jumping, or ‘brown-nosing’ of pastors. I suppose I don’t really care about visible or invisible bonus points for catchy and creative titles and blogging. I do care about whether what I speak is truth or biblical. I care about the fact that too many folks are wearing the ‘invisible’ button called Christianity. I care that folks are being drawn away from Christ by all the silly things folks are doing in his name. It breaks my heart.

I constantly wonder… can God’s heart break?

But I guess that’s probably another blog.

For anyone that has read any of my blogs you will notice that I am a curious person. People’s actions fascinate me. I am curious about why some folks do some things while others do not. I understand a lot of it is upbringing.

In a conversation, the other day a friend was telling me about some website that is getting over 1000 hits a day. He said they have a poll on the page and it is estimated that a very low percentage of folks will actually take the poll. I wondered why. He wondered why. The site wondered why.

I know when I am on sites that have surveys to get free products I avoid them like the plague but usually because there is a catch. Most of the time in the process of the survey they ‘tell’ you that you must accept one ‘offer’. Well I don’t want a timeshare, or a life insurance quote, or a host of other somewhat useless time wasting products and services. I was willing to take their very long survey in hopes of getting my prize. It rarely happens. Actually, I haven’t gotten anything free yet because I usually get so frustrated before I get to the end of the survey.

That is a lengthy survey not a short poll. The cool part about a poll is that you can usually view the statistics to see what others think at the time. It is somewhat interactive. Interestingly enough many people won’t take the few seconds it might take to click on their answer.

I like polls. They are usually quick, easy and painless. I have some on my blog pages. Some have 10 possible answers and others only have 2 or 3 but yet folks will not answer them. Is it because I am not offering them a prize? Or is it because they might have to actually think about which answer to choose? Do folks not know what they believe or why they believe it? Do polls hurt? Are they invasive? Do people not know that they are quite anonymous? I wonder if I did a poll about why folks don’t answer polls if I would get anyone to answer? Such a dilemma and my thoughts run amuck at the possibilities.

It is one thing for folks to do things differently but I am seeing that most people do not really know why they do or don’t do things. They either do it that way because that is the way it has always been done. Or that is the way their friends do it or what the media says is popular. Few folks really know why they do. They don’t know the answers to even the simple questions of life. They haven’t settled it within themselves to know what they believe and why.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. ~1 Peter 3:15

I read other peoples blogs trying to figure out the concepts and purposes. I have noticed that there seem to be two different blog ‘camps’. I am sure there are more but in my short time of research, this is what I see for now.

Most people are either trying to maintain decorum, positive thinking, and bright flashy ‘writing’ or just write absolutely anything that comes to mind that... gee just came to mind.

This blogging seems to do with one’s own independent thoughts regardless of what anyone else thinks and that is fine. We have constitutional rights to say and write anything. I think they call it free speech.

Then there are those who are writing for points. They get invisible bonus points for how many comments they can solicit, how many visitors they can attract, or how many times someone else links to them as one of their favorite blogs. Creating artistic blogging titles helps is what I am noticing.

I see some folks writing in a specific fashion to generate answers and to create more flow. There are the one’s that are looking extremely popular because they have stuff on it that is getting folks attention like their sex life, their woes and their daily life rituals.

I know that when I go to the pages on Blogstream and view by popularity there really doesn’t seem to have any consistency. I would think that the ones with the most blogs would rate highest, followed by the ones with the most comments to their blogs or even the page visited the most often. I was listed on page four even though for about two pages before me most had seemed to only write 2-3 total blogs and fewer comments. So who knows?

Why am I blogging? I am trying to compile the thoughts of my relearning. I am trying to put things in order. I have always written but I am finally making some of it public not necessarily for public promotion but possibly as a stepping-stone to future writing.

Mostly I am looking for like-minded folks. I am curious to see if I am the only one that God is taking through this journey. I know it is a different journey and I am being criticized by friends for not doing it the way they do. Nevertheless, I am not in this for approval ratings from anyone. If in the process, I find others that are also on the journey out of religion then that will be prize enough.

I recently received a prayer book in the mail… quite by accident. I clicked on a button on a web page that I thought was going to show me these prayers or give me something to read. Instead, about two days later a book shows up in the mail. (I must have put in my address via a quick click but not realizing why).

I was indoctrinated into the Pentecostal/Charismatic church a couple of decades ago. I got involved in all sorts of unbiblical and extra-biblical practices having to do with various styles of prayer. I used to have many books that would detail prayers to pray for any kind of ailment. Of course, there is the popular Prayers That Avail Much by Germaine Copeland. I think it introduced folks into being able to pray according to scripture. It was very helpful to me at the beginning of my walk with Christ.

The book I received in the mail reminded me of some of the books I previously used passionately. To give an example from this book, they have one called the ‘Comprehensive Daily Prayer.’ It reads: I ask You to forgive us for all our sins, iniquities, trespasses, transgressions, sins of commission, sins of omission and any other sins that are listed on page 25. Then it reads like an alphabetical laundry list of possible sins listing almost 100 possibilities! Wow!

I am so glad when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray he was very simple. In Luke 11:2-4 Jesus gives the example of prayer being: 'When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil'.

This prayer is repeated in Matthew 6:4 but interestingly enough it is quickly followed by these words in verses 5-8: 'And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him'.

How so very religious and righteous of me to think it was just the Catholics or Jews that prayed in vain repetitions. The Protestants are equally guilty.

Forgive us Lord for being so religious. Forgive us for adding and taking away from your words. Give us a heart to simply love you.

(Side note: As you can tell from the piece for art I created that I pegged only the Catholics of vain repetitions. Forgive me.)

For as long as I can remember I was taught from every Christian avenue possible that it was just shy of an unforgivable sin to not go to church. I mean the building that has a ‘worship’ service, many events, speakers, classes, teachings and so on. I think if you ask most ‘Christians’ today they would agree to what I am going to use as my text to back up that teaching.

The main scripture that is used, quoted… and sorely misused is this: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. ~ Hebrews 10:25

It has been used as a guilt device to make sure that the weekly church folk keep coming to church. In my estimation it is a form of an up sale so that they guarantee they have a captive audience to their somewhat stale sermon and of course the higher the numbers in the seats then the more money in the offerings. (None of which is biblical I might add.)

Just hold on before you get too righteously indignant. Hear me out and let the scripture and the Spirit bear if there is truth. The two verses I will use to make my point are Matthew 27:46 and 2 Timothy 4:10. They read like this: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ~ Matthew 27:46 and For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. ~ 2 Timothy 4:10.

The Greek word for ‘forsaken’ is egkataleipo and it means to abandon, desert, leave in straits, leave helpless, totally abandoned, utterly forsaken, to leave behind among, or to leave surviving. This word egkataleipo is used in all three scriptures mentioned so far.

While Jesus was on the cross about the die for all of humanity I do not think he was saying, Oh God why won’t you fellowship with me weekly. He was speaking of the unfathomable void of having him and his Father in a complete, total, indescribable separation. He was speaking of being utterly forsaken… even if but for a short time and for a great reason.

When Paul said Demas forsook him it did not mean that Demas just stopped fellowshipping with Paul but he loved the world more and parted ways. In James 4:4 it says, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a ‘friend’ of the world is the enemy of God. Therefore, for Demas to love the world, not just have a friendship with it meant that he was an enemy of God, thus having forsaken the faith.

Too many Christians misuse this scripture in Hebrews and unfortunately, it is being spilled out directly from the pulpits that we trust in. This verse is speaking of completely walking away from the faith, turning tail, and loving the world more than the gospel and has nothing to do with the guilt trips the churches place on the brethren to get them into the church every week.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ~ 2Timothy 2:15

I think the ‘church’ has taken dividing the word rightly as an enormous task that can only be sermonized by the super spiritual or folks with degrees. I have neither of those. I have a concordance and a computer with Internet service to do a Google search on just about anything that turns my fancy. I have a few bible programs installed on my computer that give me commentaries, different versions, Greek, Hebrew and a whole host of other options. One I purchased for $10 and the other I got free at www.e-sword.net... and I have basic common sense.

I do have one other thing that is necessary. I have the want-to to learn the truth and not be so gullible and weak kneed in believing every wind of doctrine that is being preached even if it is from your Sunday morning pulpit. It is sad and scary but true. Each of us independently will be held accountable for what we did with what we were told or not told. Our salvation, knowledge and growth in Christ are not solely dependant on someone else feeding us the milk.

Do me a favor, please? Download that program and do the research yourself. Get out your Strong’s or borrow one. Look up the verses I quoted to verify I am not just feeding you more junk. You will feel very liberated when you learn the truth. It is a bit disheartening and overwhelming if you have to come to grips with the fact that you may have been taught in error… and that you believed it. I have been there all too many times but I am learning how to handle the disappointment. Those teachers are still mere humans with grand faults… just like you and me. A bit more accountable for teaching false material to whole congregations but that is between them and God. In the meantime, your knowledge of truth is between you and your God alone.

Study on!!