Brethren, are you up to the task?
Have you ever been put in a situation where you quite couldn’t figure out why you were there and what God was doing in your life? After time goes on, a small light appears, then it gets bigger but fuzzy. That’s how I feel right now. The picture is still fuzzy, and I’m straining to focus so I can see the entire picture instead of fuzzy blobs.
I have shared before a little about myself , why I created this blog about the Church of God and its teachings and why I moved it to Blogger. It started as a way for me to organize my own thoughts and study notes from a Church of God perspective, and I thought I’d share them with those who may wish to read something other than the mainstream Christian perspective. Someone who is truly looking for the truth from the Bible might stumble upon it or someone who has known the truth for years alike might appreciate reading about what the Bible says instead of human traditions.
Why did I feel such an urge to share this information? Honestly, I had only a vague notion at first. Somehow, I felt it was something I was supposed to do. At the time, I didn’t know of any other COG blogs. I didn’t realize COG Writer was still active, and I’ve since learned there are other lesser known blogs out there as well. My objective was and is not to “compete” with the official websites, although I still don’t know that any of them have blogs.
It seemed like a nice niche. The blog is unofficial, not tied to any one organization and is something the official COG sites are not doing. Yet, as time went on, I discovered that there are efforts from quite a few COG members here and there doing unofficial things. Not all of them are blogs, but I had to consider: Why should any view this blog? There are tons of other websites doing various things, so why should you the read even scan the Church of God Perspective blog?
- It is unofficial. Reading the official sites are fine, but so many of them tend to be like exclusive clubs. This is truly more of a grassroots effort.
- It is a blog. I’m not aware of any official COG site that has one. The closest thing to that would be the YouTube videos where anyone can give feedback.
- Everyone is welcome. There are no requirements for reading the posts, and all that is required for commenting is either a Google account or an OpenID account. As long as you keep it civil and within the rules, all viewpoints are welcome. That’s something the big boys probably aren’t ready to handle.
- This is another level to get the truth out there. This is another medium by which people may hear the true Gospel.
That was my original list. Every blogger at some point asks their self, “Why am I doing this? What’s in it for the reader?” In this case, even more important, “What does God want out of this?”
Yes, there are a lot of sites out there. Yes, there are even a lot of blogs, it turns out. That’s actually part of the problem. One person has over 40 blogs that are related to the Church of God. There is a false prophet that has at least 3 websites. There is an entire organization that puts a man in Christ’s place.
Brethren, I don’t claim to speak for God. I don’t literally hear His voice. Yet, when I found the Church, I knew I was home. I not only knew the doctrines were correct, but I could feel God’s presence. I believe God’s Spirit does move people at times they do not even understand to fulfill His will.
I want you to consider Jeremiah. How many false prophets were around in his day? From his account, there must have been more than a few. I want you to consider as well the days of the Judges. What we sometimes miss is that the judges often served simultaneously in different locations. The judges were the voice of reason in a cacophony of rebelliousness. We view history from a lens that leaves out the periphery. How many self-proclaimed messiahs existed in Jesus’ day? God did not squelch the voice of dissent, but instead He raised up others to oppose those voices.
The Babylon of confusion has invaded the Body of Christ, with over 400 different ideas about how to do things. Brethren, we need to discuss matters and prove things from the Bible. We need to have civil discussions on Church of God doctrine. We need to prove what the Bible says. You need to prove what the Bible says to yourself. Iron does indeed sharpen iron. The more traditional and Biblical viewpoint of the COG needs to be out there. It needs to be a grass roots effort that will persuade those God is working with to bring them into the folds of the Church.
The voices of reason, just as in the days of the judges, need to drown out the fringe elements so that people find the truth rather than the falsehood offered by the self-proclaimed Elishas, pastor generals, prophets and witnesses that have invaded, twisted and deceived our brothers and sisters.
Brethren, are you up to the task?