The big fat Intro.

So here I am with a blog, and as with any blog, a good thing to know would be what the point of this one is. 'After all,' the reader may be thinking, 'why should I give this one any attention with all the others hanging around the Internet?' This is a good question, and my honest first answer is 'I don't know.'

I did, however, reach a point in my life where I got sick of hearing about people calling themselves Christians doing things that go against the principles of Christianity. Abortion clinic bombing is a bit too obvious, so how about the Christian movement in America to establish a coup against the current government? 'But Bryce,' you may say, ' the current government is evil, anti-God, anti-family, blah, blah, blah.' I will reply with scripture, and I'm hoping that it becomes a common sight on this blog:

Rom 13:1-7 KJV Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (2) Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. (3) For 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: (4) For 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. (5) Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. (6) For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. (7) Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
(copied from the KJV via e-sword)

There are two major arguments I can see coming already: 1) These verses don't apply to our desperate times, and 2) I can't understand the King James version of that block of scripture.

For the second group, I do have my reasons for using KJV, which I will explain later. For now, you can look up the reference in your own bible, or you can look it up on Bible Gateway.

Now that i have addressed the second excuse, I can get on with this topic that is becoming a larger and larger rabbit trail by the minute.

Ok, consider the time and place these words were written, consider the people Paul is writing to when you read the above scripture. Considering that the book of the bible in question is Romans, you can probably guess that the audience of this epistle is the believers in Rome.

Now that the who and where are answered, let's consider the when. Without having to refer to any historical references, I can narrow down the date this book was written using common sense. The book of Romans was written by Paul, a man who was convicted by God after persecuting believers in Jesus Christ, shortly after His ascension. This places Pauls lifespan between A.D. 1 and A.D. 100.

In short, the governing authority of the people Paul was addressing in the above reference was the Roman Empire. A government that had outlawed Christianity and hunted believers down. Once caught, the believers were fed to the lions in the Colosseum, for the entertainment of the Roman citizens! And Paul is telling them to submit to that authority because God put that authority in place. Even worse, Paul called that same authority the "minister of God!"

I really don't care how ungodly the current administration is, because I am certainly thankful that I have not been driven underground because my belief system is outlawed, hiding who I really am for fear that the police, or the army will take me away and incarcerate me, or worse, feed me to wild animals so that it can be televised to the cheering masses watching ESPN. And if God told the ancient Roman believers to submit to an authority who did these things, then I can certainly submit to an authority who merely has a different belief system from mine.

"But how can God allow such a man into office?" you might say. "Maybe God wants him removed." Remember that God ordains the rulers in power. (Romans 13:1) So then the question becomes, why did God put this man in place as President? It's not my place to say why, again I do have my own thoughts on that, but I won't get into that. What I will say, is that if God put him there, God will remove him at the time of His choosing. It is not for us as imperfect humans to decide.

Back off that long rabbit trail/preview of what to expect, the purpose of this blog is to look at common beliefs pervading the Christian church and examine them with the reality of scripture.
The second purpose of this blog is to let my fellow believers know that the things we struggle with as Christians are normal, and it is irrational to think that perfection can be achieved in this lifetime. Just because I stumble now and then (or realistically, more often than I'd like to admit) does not make me a bad Christian, it makes me a Christian that still has to face the consequences of the fall through my imperfect, earthly body, and the powers of the air that try to lead me astray.
So don't beat yourselves up, its time we had a realistic view of Christianity, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. (hence the title of the blog)

Some Disclaimers:

I AM NOT PERFECT! I am an imperfect human being like all of you. As a human I do make mistakes, so if there is something I post that you think is not true, call me on it! I just ask that you provide the scripture necessary to back your dispute. If scriptural reference does not apply, (i.e. I screwed up a fact relating to current events) send the appropriate linkage or reference so I can verify them.

I AM NOT A MIND-READER! Just because I don't know about a topic relevant to the purpose of this blog, does not make the topic invalid. In short, SEND REQUESTS! I want to help you as fellow believers with the things that you struggle with. The problem is that if you don't tell me what they are, I won't know about it.

I AM STILL STRUGGLING WITH PERSEVERANCE! Basically, I have been known to start things (like this blog) without following through very well. If enough readers find this blog, I may be compelled to continue writing it. Again, part of my imperfection, which leads me to the next disclaimer...

I NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! This is one of the big reasons God designed His church as a family, so that we can make sure that we are practicing what we preach, and encourage each other when we stumble. So if I ever challenge you to do something, challenge me back! Hold me accountable to the things I say!

I AM NOT AN ENGLISH TEACHER! This blog is not a place to exercise your grammar-correcting skills. I will do my best to spell-check each post, but any comments noting a missed capital, or rewording my sentences, will be summarily ignored and deleted. Such posts are distracting and are not needed.