When I started writing articles for the “Baytown Sun” almost three years ago, I had certain things that I wanted to accomplish and I made a commitment to write things that would encourage, uplift, build up and edify. I think I understand what the apostle Paul meant in First Corinthians chapter 14 when he over and over told them to edify and encourage each other, and then his conclusion in verse 26 was,” All of these things must be done for the strengthening of the church.” So we should never do, write or say anything that would in any way weaken or discourage anyone.
Another thing we would like to stress is that the eternal principles in the Bible that never change are more important than the rules and regulations that we try to bind on ourselves. Jesus made this very clear when He said in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” NIV
Of the many principles in the Bible, the principle of love is the greatest. Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40 and Matthew 7:12 and others make it plain that the law and the prophets are fulfilled by simply loving God and others. Yet another thing we would like to do is to challenge and encourage our thinking so that we can broaden our present horizons to consider new ideas and concepts. Our hope also is that as a result of the contents of our blog that some healing can occur in the rift of disagreement between sincere and honest folks that have come to different stages of faith and convictions as a result of their background and culture and the teaching they have received. While we should never change for the sake of change, however we should be open to change when change is needed.
We never want to write or post anything that is in anyway untactful or offensive. Since I have never had any experience with a blog, some understanding and patience will be necessary from the readers while I am learning. And as always I want to write things that will give us “something to think about!”
