If Rene Descartes Never Blogged...

Yes, I haven't posted since January although I vouched to fill you in on all the time-saving changes I have made. I am making progress, but have found that not blogging about everything frees me to do so much more. :-)

Besides, I haven't ironed it all out yet. Sometimes knowing what I don't want precedes knowing what I do want. So, before this post continues to confuse you (I do know that I don't want to waste your time), I will share a few verses and a great link, and then close this post by sharing a few of the changes.

Attention! I'm not trying to to make a mountain out of a mole hill or a sermon out of a few scattered verses that have convicted me to reassess my motives. They may not have the same effect on you, and I will live through it without blogging you over the head with it. (Wait, I just did.)

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 6:1

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5 

Of course, all of Matt 6 is a good reminder that seemingly good behaviors/words are not always good at all. It's the ‘being seen’ part that rubs me the hardest, and blogging is not the only platform that sparks this desire. (However, that's a topic for another day.)

Yes, of course, the time and space spanning wonders of cyberspace give us an enormous opportunity to spread the Good News...

"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ... that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Colossians 4:3-6

But there are snares (1 Peter 5:8). I won’t list them all, but here’s a big’n:

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." James 3:1

One of the things I have learned from looking back at some of my older posts is that I do not know it all. Far from it. I've been wrong before and I will be wrong again, and I thank God for that. He shows me again and again my dire need of Him, His wisdom, and His one and only flawless Teacher. But the blogging arena often drowns out humility and correction with its people/follower-pleasing lures. I must remember that the compliments and flatteries of my pears, even the most sincere, do not always guarantee that my judgments are correct, no matter how much I want or need them to be.

Yes, the blog and/or social networking arena can be a most edifying tool, but it is also chock full of traps (1 Peter 5:8). This great post contains some super excellent advice, whether it's for the novice or seasoned blogger.

And now...

Some changes I have made:

I've got RefTagger, meaning that anytime you hover your mouse over my scripture references, a little verse window pops up. Should you click on it, it will take you to Biblia.com, a neat online Bible study site. Isn't that cool?

I've also spent much time revamping all of my Pages (see tabs). But be forewarned, they might make you laugh, cry, and/or stomp your feet. :-)

Lastly, I plan to combine my two blogs but am still working out the kinks.

Wow, will you look at the length of this post already? I still don’t know when to stop.

More later…

The cartoons were found here. I almost used them all. :-)