The Good News & Not-So-Good News

At times I find it incredibility hard not to take a recent news article off the Internet and type an opinionated diatribe about it. Okay, it is just about impossible and sometimes I barely restrain myself from hitting the "PUBLISH" button on the blog's dashboard. Usually I hit delete. I try desperately to obey an agreement I made with the Lord. It has become so hard to avoid political and cultural commentary because of the absurdity of our culture. It seems nowadays that very few can actually discern the difference between right and wrong, ney, righteous and sin (lets call it what it is for once). The Lord knows there is plenty of fodder out there to rip on. If it wasn't for the fact that some of the garbage out there is a direct affront to Christian faith I wouldn't give a rip about it anyway.

So why don't I comment on the political nonsense? First, people need a break from it and I wanted to make my blog a space for edification, education and evangelism not politics, pundits and polemics. I also had a long time to think about how I wanted to present God's message through my blog long before I started it and I did not want to do it in an attacking negative manner that I have seen from so many Christian blogs. This does nothing to improve relations with the ones we are suppose to be trying to reach.

1 Peter 2:12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

I made a covenant with the Lord to stay positive and be a bolstering force for a Christian (although it sometimes kills me to keep my silence on some current societal issues). I told myself when I started this blog in February that I would not fall victim to taking sides in things non-doctrinal or non-salvational. I would not throw myself into the fray in non-Biblical/non-Christian polemics unless they directly attack the body of Christ.

Where Christians or Christianity has been attacked I have been nearly merciless in pinpointing the point of attack, making a critical assessment, isolate it and then spared little righteous anger at their expense. There is no room for mamby-pamby oscillation when confronting sin no matter what mask it wears today (or tomorrow).

Although my posts are often laced with contemporary topics people would consider divisive (Christians do not live in a sinless vacuum), I try to address the divisive topics with surgical precision and tact. If readers look closely at the posts, they will see that all have a Biblical bend or are comparatively matched up against God's Word. Many times there are actual Biblical precedents if people look close enough. If there is a suitable comparison that I am aware of I will outline it so readers can see the contrast or similarities. The good thing about history repeating itself means we already have an answer to the problem in the Bible. The bad news is the mankind has learned nothing, Jew and Gentile alike. When you think about this it is quite sad. Man's nature has always been the same and continues to be into the future. Sinful. The cultural issues that bombard Christians at every turn in our world are addressed here at SoulJournaler. What I will not be sucked into is the Hegelian Dialectic of politics in the United States or abroad. I will speak to them when I need to as Jesus did when referring to Caesar or as Paul did in Romans 13 but outside of this I tread like a man with clown shoes in a minefield, gently trying to avoid hitting a mine. It is not my place. Let the professional politicians do that job. Let the pundits be pundits getting people all fired up. I'll preach and spread the Word since I consider it vastly more important and more valuable to mankind than spreading mostly godless political ideologies in all quadrants of the political spectrum. Yuck...

I do not believe my call is to be a pundit for this side or that side. I will not waste the tools God has given me to promote the idolization of a man or men unless that man or men are promoting God as defined in the Holy Bible. That is a short list by the way. Also, I will not compromise the message of God. I will not smooth the edges of the Gospel so not to offend the seeker sensitive types with weak stomachs. If you want a church of ministry with the edges taken off...look elsewhere because you are not going to get it here. I give it to people straight. There are plenty of posts on this blog clearly stating my positions and watered-down Gospel is not my forte. Some of my posts have already been deemed hateful, intolerant or polarizing by my more liberal-minded brethren. I seriously doubt they fully grasp the full detrimental impact of the words that they misuse when they say "hater" or "intolerant" anyway. I wish them well in their ministries but they are teaching heresy and apostasy if they do not teach the Bible or if they add to the Bible.

Conversely, I will not split non-salvational hairs. Too many...TOO MANY of our brethren are ready to be critical of one another because they will not walk under our banner or banner and the only difference has to do with form and and not substance. Conversely, I am not ecumenical in my approach, I am just not willing to shut down a legitimate conversation because I think someone is wrong. As a matter of fact I purposely maintain a conversation with someone because I believe they're wrong. How can I try and rectify what I believe is wrong if I immediately shut them down? Makes no sense to me. Does that make sense to you?

Wow, boy have I gone down a rabbit trail...

Anyway, back to the news. Over the last year I have avoided almost all public political commentary and have not spoke to these type of issues, even on Facebook. I have diverged from the culture to immerse myself in my studies and the world seems slightly more distant than it use to. This allows me more time for what is important. God, family, studies, peace. I am waging my own little battles against the encroaching enemy and the sin that is pervading society at all levels on all continents. I will stand my ground and plant my pike in the bedrock of the Word to fend off threatening aggressors out to do harm to the Body or myself.

I have always believed I am pursuing truth. This quest will lead me to glory in the Lord as truth IS the Lord. I will kindly disseminate the Good News (εὐαγγέλιον / euangelion) out to the world but I need to filter and discern the so-called good news from the world coming in trying to pollute me since it is often corrupting and twisted by its very nature. If we do let things in from the outside culture they need to be let in with a heavy filter to strain out the dregs that come with the messages.