Why Blog?

Before I begin I would like to define the purpose of this blog. The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3: 17 "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." and in the 23rd verse of that same chapter, "Whatever do you, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." So as I begin, I am thankful to God for this very story that I will attempt to tell and I will do my very best to bring Glory to Him!

This blog has three purposes:

• to speak God's truth
• to serve as an encouragement to Christians as they share the truth with others
• to serve myself and those close to me as a journal of my spiritual growth and understanding of God's Word

I want to share my story of how I came to understand the Gospel Truth as it is written in God's Word. To begin with my story you should know that I was a lifetime church attender and thought that I was on the right path for most of my 43 years. I know a lot of scripture and most all of the bible stories because I loved learning about God, Jesus and the bible as a child, teen, and all the way through my adulthood. I 'accepted' Jesus as my savior at age 9 at the very first occasion of understanding and was baptized at 13 because adults in my life thought it would be best to wait and 'make sure I knew what I was doing'. Well... little did they know that it would be another thirty years before that would happen!

*Disclaimer* I do not wish to anger any of my Baptist friends! That is NOT the intent of this blog! I wish only to tell my story and share my understanding. I do hope that you continue to read... this is partially for you!

Our little family was just as happy as we could be serving the Lord in the Baptist Church for almost twenty years. Within the Baptist Church you are free to interpret the bible as you think best, but there were certain things that were 'understood' within the church. Just a couple of the really important ones are "saved by faith, not of works" and "Once saved always saved". As a pastor's wife I struggled with the "once saved always saved" portion, but I never really let it bother me deeply. The "saved by faith" thing never really bothered me until we came across a Baptist brother that was vehemently against the church of Christ doctrine of baptism. The more he spoke against "salvation through water baptism" the more I realized that I believed it! But.. I did nothing about it. I try not to cause trouble. I'm pretty quiet and keep most of my thoughts to myself... so I did as Mary and 'pondered things in my heart' for a couple of years.

In 2007 things started to change for our family. Actually, 2007 was a breaking point for us. The church where my husband was pastor had a change in leadership (in committees and in deacon reign of power through death).  That year there were just a few older, die hard baptist men that decided that my husband was not baptist enough for them and began to make our lives within the church miserable. Now... we were very comfortable there. We had a great salary, free housing and paid utilities! I was able to finish my college education and just started my teaching career that same year. But... everything fell apart. We ended up jobless, homeless, and hopeless. We did have a circle of dear friends that loved us enough to hold our hands through this process. They left the church when we did and reorganized themselves into a fresh little fellowship and asked my husband to lead them as pastor. I don't think that they realized just how broken we were. We were shaken to the core! We limped along, with my husband still jobless (the new pastorate did not have funds to pay anyone) for a couple of years until we decided it was time to 'come home'. Home was only an hour away, but in reality it was a completely different place all together. Our social circle was no more. My husband and I clung together and moved home, humbled and down trodden. In the process of the last couple of years our three children had reached adulthood. They had witnessed our despair as older teens and I will never get over how I failed them, as a mother, during that crucial time of their lives.

In the summer of 2010 the Lord blessed us with two good jobs and a home in our old hometown. My parents were wonderful encouragers to us. We began to look for a church to go along with our new life. Now 'empty nesters' we thought that we were ready to move on. A small country Baptist Church was pastorless and soon called my husband to be their pastor. It wasn't long before I realized that I just wasn't ready for that. He kept that position for a short time and resigned. We tried a few churches here and there.... but it just never seemed right. For the first time in our married life, we didn't attend church on Sunday! It was very weird!

Last Christmas (2013) my dad asked my husband to do him a 'favor' and handed him a book and told him to "read it all the way through, even if it makes you mad. It will make you mad.... just read the whole thing for me." My husband agreed and after a little 'church of Christ' talk it was time for us to leave their house for the day. On the way home my husband told me, "I'll read it for your dad, because he asked me too, but don't expect me to change my beliefs." I was in agreement with him and, honestly, a little relieved that I wasn't part of that little exchange. I was free not to read.... or so I thought. :)

He read quietly for the next few post-Christmas, pre-New Year days. I periodically asked him what he was thinking about it but he just gave me noncommittal sounds. One night he plopped it my lap and announced, "We'll talk about it after you read it all the way through." Ugh! I was caught. I had to read the blasted book if I wanted to know what he was thinking.

So... I read.

If you aren't aware of the book I'm referring to, it's entitled "Muscle and Shovel" and is authored by Michael Shank. Only 359 pages long and written in an easy narration, it's probably the most difficult book a Baptist will ever get through!

My highlight of learning was that the sinner's prayer was nowhere to be found in the 66 books of the Holy Bible! That 'profession of faith' that I founded my eternal salvation on at age 9 was not in the bible! I was appalled! Furthermore it made me question my baptism because I knew that 'remission of sins' was no part of it. My world had been rocked, again! My husband and I began to attend church with my parents but spent weeks debating our baptisms with one another until we decided that we should be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 10:48, Gal 3:27) On February 23 we did just that! Not a day has gone by that I have regretted it or even second guessed it!

We are in the process of learning... to really know the Word of God in it's simplicity, without a denominational agenda or teaching. I have been more in the Word in the past few months than I have in my entire life! If you know me personally, and you are not church of Christ, you might be upset with my words. I do not write this to anger you, but to attempt to share the light that I have been blessed with seeing for myself. If you continue to read out of curiosity that is more than fine with me!

To my baptist friends, I want you to know that I love you deeply and I pray that you are able to take the word for what it says one day.

To my church of Christ friends, I hope you find encouragement in my posts for your own evangelism. I know that most of you have loved ones that don't know the truth.

This blog is to share the truths as I learn them. I have a few more posts to make before I am current with what I am learning now.