June 12, 2008
Actually I'm exaggerating the importance of this, but why should I change my pattern now?
First, I want to quote three short Scriptures that directly apply to me and my website. Please bear with me.
This first Scripture is from 2 Peter Chapter 2:
10But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
And this from Acts 23:
2And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? 4And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? 5Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
And again from Romans Chapter 13:
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
I do a lot of criticizing of the Government and the direction this world is taking. Because of this I am treading upon ground that could well collapse under me: especially in light of the Scriptures I just quoted.
I have stated this previously, and I will restate my position here just to make sure my position is perfectly clear.
Government does not govern this country. As stated in the verses above, God is the one in charge of this country and of this world. No move by any one is made without His approval. Any power that anyone supposes themself to possess does not exist except that it be willed to him or her by God, and then only for His purposes.
I have nothing against any public official. In fact, any person who opposes me or tries to hinder me in any way I see as merely instruments of God for His purpose, and where that hindrance effects me personally, for my ultimate good. I say this in regards to myself, but I believe it to be so for all who diligently seek the Lord and His will for their life.
My concerns are not with the running, nor the functioning of the governments. In my opinion it makes no difference who is in any office, the result would be the same because it not that person who is in charge, but the One who created the one who thinks he (or she) is in charge.
I am concerned, not with the blindness of those in government, but rather the blindness and nearsightedness of all those who blindly follow the government's ruling, or those who blindly oppose the rulings and the rulers.
It's not the direction we are taking that concerns me, but rather the acceptance of the direction we are taking that I cry out against.
And finally, although government certainly has an important role to play in the scheme of things, I believe that its role is minor. It is the church, in my mind, that is of ultimate importance, especially in this day and age. And it is the blind following of the blind leadership of the churches that is my concern and the reason for this website.
I am not speaking against "Dignities." It's the indignity of the leaders of the nearly half million denominations of God's Church I raise my voice against.
If I have misjudged my footing and have tread over the line of Godly acceptance by criticizing the leaders of the churches, I am confident that I will have plenty of company in my fall as the leaders of those half million denominations who criticize the leaders of those not a part of their chosen belief follow close on my heels.
The second thing I would like to make known is a bit of information that I just learned recently. I have said, and even whimpered a bit, that no one is listening to me or reading what I have to say. In fact "Big Crybaby" might well fit the attitude I've presented. Well, once again I have been proven wrong. Recently I discovered a little file called a "log" on my website that I had ignored thinking it was something for the web host and not for me.
I peeked.
I found that it was for me, and that the log was a count of every "click" of my web pages. Further, I found by going to my web host, that the log also keeps track of where those "clicks" originated from, what kind of computer did the clicking, and what OS (like XP, Vista or ME, etc) was used, and what browser did the browsing. The only thing it didn't show me was the age, weight and gender of the "clicker," which sometimes I wonder if that record wasn't in fact recorded unbeknownst to me.
I would have been pleased to see that 18 people was checking out my web pages. That isn't the case however.
Wouldn't it be nice if 180 clicks were made to my pages? You bet. How about 1800? Far too many to even dream of. And, to tell you the truth, it wasn't 1800 clicks per month that was being recorded since the beginning of the year. Nope, it was 18 thousand clicks per month!
When I saw this my first reaction was total disbelief. I had to research it further, and found that number to correspond with what my web host had on record. My next reaction was almost shear panic. Such responsibility!
Why doesn't somebody tell me these things?
Well, some of the pressure has been lifted off me. The count is dropping significantly. It was only 14,000 clicks during the month of May (2008).
And finally, I have been very busy casting my criticism into new fields. I have created some blogs that "mirror" what I have here on my website. It is rather fun, actually. Instead of the simple designs and colors I use here, I get to play with many styles and colors and backgrounds. Anyone interested can check out what I have so far by clicking this link that will take you to my BLOG page.
Tumbleweed Blogs
There is one item I added to the blogs that I haven't included on this website. I would like to do so here. Printed below I have reproducedwhat is written on each commentary page of the blogs:
NOTICE:
I am an egotistic, uneducated know-it-all. I do not read the newspaper, watch TV or listen to radio. I know nothing whatever about current events.
All the opinions I express here in my blogs and on my websites come from a complete lack of understanding and knowledge.
If you agree with anything I say, that is an issue you must deal with yourself.
If you disagree with anything I have to say and think I am an ignorant, self-centered idiot who doesn't know what he is talking about; take no credit because I said it first.
Tumbleweed
Well, that's my news for today. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Hopefully not rain.