This post is different from most posts that I do. Normally, as I prepare my Sunday school lessons or do my daily Bible study, the Holy Spirit will lay on my heart what I need to share with the regular audience. There are times I wish I could share with you the number of unfinished posts that sit and wait for the day when the Holy Spirit will give me the peace I need to finish and share them with you. This morning is no different from any other morning; I posted some items to the Facebook page that ties to this site and was sorting through the various junk emails that the page generates when I came across an email received through the prayer list contact page. This person simply asked why do I share what I do, what blessings do I get out of it, and if I say I am doing it for God, why does the site accept PayPal donations. I figure that those are fair enough questions and believed the answer was important enough to share with regular readers.
Why do I have a PayPal link?
I want to begin by sharing a scripture about this very thing: 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). As a Christian, I believe I do owe those that will ask questions an honest answer about my faith. I want to begin with the PayPal question first. This blog is not done for generating revenue. I do not share what I do for building wealth or taking advantage of others. About three years ago, when this site was in its infancy, I had a reader who wanted to financially contribute to the annual hosting plan and was angry that I didn’t have the page set up to accept love offerings. I had never thought of it before as I do this site to be a blessing to others and never put any thought to it. The person said that my ingratitude towards their desire to give was creating a stumbling block in their faith. Knowing that the apostle Paul wrote, Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way (Romans 14:13), and after much prayer, I came to the decision to add the ability to accept donations on this site (by that point, the person who had made it an issue no longer followed this site). I do not solicit donations nor is any financial contribution expected from those who regularly read this blog.
I do not need donations to keep this site going and will gladly, as I have each year, continue to pay for the hosting plan out of my pocket. However, if the Lord does lead you in the direction of helping with the cost of hosting this site, I will honor your donation’s intent. This site will never charge a membership fee nor will it ever have a “subscriber only” section. The scriptures teach: But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life (Romans 5:15-18) and since that very grace is what brings salvation to humanity, I do feel that this blog, a public forum, should also remain free.
Why I share what I do
This question is a little more difficult to answer because I am not sure exactly what the person asking the question meant. I will say this – the reason that I blog about the topics I do is because 1) I feel that I have been led to that particular topic by the Holy Spirit, 2) basic discipleship and sharing what I have learned about my faith in the Lord are meant to be shared [Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:1-2)], and 3) if I can help one person to grow in their relationship with the Lord, then this work that Christ has called me to do has been successful. I wasn’t raised in a Christian home and in late September of 1988, I had an emotional experience where I thought I had been led to the Lord. The problem was that all I gained was head knowledge but my heart remained unchanged. From 1988 to 2006, I lived a deceived life. I was deceived in believing I was saved and was content in claiming Jesus Christ as my Savior while still pursuing the pleasures of sin. I realize now that it was not until 2006 that I truly accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior; before (and in earlier blog entries) I would hold on to the deception that I had been saved in 1988 and simply rededicated my life to Christ.
And that is the simple purpose of what I share here. A lot of time has passed since those college days and the blinding deceit that Satan was able to hold me under. In fact, even asking for the Lord’s forgiveness and surrendering my life completely to Him, I still held onto the belief that I was saved in 1988 and simply rededicated my life to Him in 2006. After promising the Lord Jesus that I would study His word as seriously as I was my academic pursuits, a few verses called out to me and changed my relationship with my Lord and Savior forever: Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6), One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple (Psalms 27:4), and The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing (Psalms 34:10). From that moment forward, the Lord has blessed me tremendously.
