Music, Theology, Faith, & Gungor

I find myself surprised when Christians get surprised when certain musical icons leave the faith. Recently there has been a large interest in a recent post by Michael Gungor, founder of the Christian band Gungor, that he is leaving some of the basic tenants of the faith, particularly those of the veracity of scriptures. In his blog "What Do We Believe?" Michael Gungor wrote about his doubts concerning the scriptures. He made lots of comments about the stories of the Old Testament and their truth. The funny part is that he chooses to reject the belief in a flood, creation, and similar events due to his ability to observe. I find this interesting because Mr. Gungor has no such ability to truly observe events pertaining to these events, just the same as everyone else born after their occurrence.

He further explained that to him everything is a belief, and all beliefs are built upon assumptions. However, this is only partly true, because the assumptions are built upon beliefs. Our worldview informs our presuppositions, and those presuppositions in turn inform our worldview. It's not quite as simple a system as what Mr. Gungor purports. What truly seems to be happening here is that Mr. Gungor attempted to walk people through a quick overview of metaphysics and existentialism.

He then wrote a quick treatise on behavioralism, where people are a product of their environment. That his faith is the result of assumptions that were fed to him from his parents or prior events in his life. So, he is choosing to rejecting certain "(un)beliefs" that have formed his worldview, but he is only exchanging them for another set of assumptions based heavily in secular humanism.

Now let me be completely clear. I am not attacking Mr. Gungor in the slightest. In fact, I have not necessarily written this post for him to read, but for those people who are either attacking him or curious about these events. He has simply opened the door to some subjects that I would like to address.

First, It is absolutely alright for a Christian to deal with some doubts. If this is what he is dealing with in his personal life, then he has every right to deal with these things however he wants. Doubts are a normal part of life for a believer. Even John the Baptist had doubts to the person of Jesus, a guy he grew up with and knew better than most other people. So, as Christians let's not roast a man for dealing with these questions. I had a time in college dealing with these questions, and I found truth and real logic that helped me to a much more firm foundation in Christ.

Second, Mr Gungor relayed a conversation he had with someone who stated that he was no longer to be considered a Christian because of the beliefs he has rejected. Gungor claims that this is due to his loss of unconscious assumptions from his past, but the truth of his statement is earlier in the sentence when his friend commented that it has nothing to do with how much like Jesus he is acting but about his beliefs. Let's be absolutely clear minded about this. What makes us a Christian is not our actions, or how much we act like Jesus. No, our actions are the proof of us being Christians (see James 2:14-18 and Romans 4). Our faith is our beliefs, and the only true source we have about Jesus is the Scriptures. This is not me being an old school fundamentalist, this is just good research and logic. If you want to know the most accurate details about events, you go to the record of eye-witnesses. If everyone were able to determine their own stories, accounts, and truths about Jesus, then all you end up with is relativism. Relativism is worthless, because no truth can be known. People may argue that relativism results in everything being true, but to make everything true, then everything must be false as well.

For Christians we only have one source of real truth, and that is the account of prophets and apostles recorded in the Scriptures. When we begin to diverge from that truth we then become dependent upon other lesser sources, lesser accounts, and ultimately our own whims. I do not trust in my own ability to determine truth, because I am prone to be wrong...just ask my wife. Mr. Gungor concluded that he judges peoples' faith according to their actions. However, I would argue that their actions are built upon their faith/beliefs.

And as a caveat, I would argue that Christian means belief in Jesus as according to the scriptures. Salvation is through Christ alone, not Christ and belief in the flood of Noah. When in glory, everything will become clear, but Jesus is always constant.

Third and last, I would like to use this to encourage Christians to know what you believe, to know good theology by reading the Scriptures, and evaluating what you listen to. I still listen to Gungor. I love his music, and his creative composition is beautiful. As a musician and guitarist, myself I really enjoy his music. However, I never get my theology from his music. Not because it is his music, but because I get my theology from Scriptures and no where else. I evaluate the music according to their truth. If people had been listening to his music and evaluating his lyrics, they would not have been surprised by this blog. This blog is a more transparent version of what is in his music.

When a person gets all bent out of shape because of events like this, we can understand two things about them: they do not evaluate the lyrics of the music they listen to, and they do not know the scriptures well. They are casual Christians, whose faith truly is built upon the assumptions of others as Mr. Gungor states, because they have never dived into the depths of God through the study of His Word.

A New Chapter in Life

For those who are following my blog (1 person)...haha, you will notice that I missed my weekly post last week. That is because my son Elijah Scott Stanland was born last Tuesday. I decided to take last week and spend it with my family. I would like to thank everyone for your prayers in this matter first and foremost and for your continued prayers as Nicole and I attempt to raise our children in the admonition of the Lord.

This past week has made me reflect a lot on my life and the events that have transpired recently. It seems that life is a constant state of change for me, and I have had to adapt sometime what seems overnight. Just five years ago I wasn't even married. So much has changed from the time when I was a young man in college, single and had little to no responsibilities other than my studies. When I was 20, my greatest ambition was to make enough money to feed my hunting and fishing habit, but so much has changed lately.

When I married Nicole, my life changed in an instant. I wanted the change and was excited to share my life with her as she has done with me, but I immediately was thrust into the challenges of marriage. Bills, expenses, insurance, home life, toothpaste tubes, and laundry all changed overnight. We learned the idiosyncrasies of each other, and still tease each other about them to this day. I went from choosing my own wardrobe to a dependance on my wife to choose my Sunday morning suites, due to me being color blind. Together we have known great struggle and victory, and continue to grow as individuals and a couple in Christ through it all.

The next major change happened just shy of two years ago when my daughter Julia was born. She has been the delight of my life ever since. No one else has the ability to bring joy to my heart like my daughter, and I will forever cherish these days. Thus, I became a father and knew the true understanding of having someone completely dependent upon you, your love, and your leadership. In her childish love and affection, she would love me no matter what my decisions were to provide for her, but now it is my responsibility to do my very best to provide for my family. 

In the midst of all this, we have moved a few times seeking where God would have me as a minister. Slowly, he has crafted me into a minister of the church. As of now I am passionate about youth ministry and love my job, and could never see myself doing anything else. I have learned how to work in a staff setting with other pastoral leaders, and I have learned how to be a better leader towards the students and adult volunteers who work in the youth ministry. Not that I have attained any great level of skill or wisdom, but at least I am comforted by the fact, that I can see that God has grown and matured me.

Now, a week after my son, and second child is born I reflect on all that God has entrusted me with. First, is my family! I believe that if according to scripture that my family is evaluated in order to qualify me for ministry, then that shows where my priorities should be. Therefore, I believe that my first disciples should be my children, and my wife is my partner. Together we raise our children, expand the kingdom as missionaries, and teach our children to be the same. My goal is to raise children who will be missions minded and will know their scriptures. They will one day have to choose Jesus for themselves, but I will saturate their life with his presence as best I can.

Secondly, comes the church. I feel so privileged to be the student minister at Fellowship Baptist Church in Tallahassee, FL. I find it such a great opportunity for the kingdom to be in such a location with such a church. I enjoy teaching students and reading up new leaders for the church, I believe it is part of my calling to be a part of this. In this new chapter of my life, I will step further into parenthood as a discipler for the church.

Youth Ministry and Church Revitalization

I have noticed that in recent years, there has been a hard push by many pastors and leaders in the SBC for church planting. I myself am a southern baptist, and will be because of doctrine and methodology. However, I am not so sure that I am fully on the band wagon with this approach to church planting. I am certainly not against church planting, but see it as an important ministry of the local church. However, I am concerned that there is a desire to cast off some of the churches that are floundering for the sake of planting a new one. Agreed, that there is such a thing as a dead church. Some churches have not reached out to their community in a long time, and the result is devastating. No new people, means no growth, no growth, means a slow death. Slowly but surely the pastor of such a church will watch his congregation die as he buries them. Then, the church will close its doors. I am keenly aware that many churches are on this scary path, but to have the attitude of letting these churches die and just go plant a new one, that fits the model the modern pastors believe is correct doesn't seem right.

So many times, ministers don't want to deal with the struggles of a "traditional" church underneath the leadership of pastor Fred and the deacons. Many ministers feel stuck and stagnant in some churches, and so the solution is to let a plateaued church die and plant a new one without all the perceived "hinderances" that come from a traditional church. I hear the phrase all the time from aspiring church planters, many that I went to seminary with, "it's easier to give birth than raise the dead," but doesn't this fly in the face of our God, who by his own design is in the business of bringing the dead to life?

First, I realize that church planting is perceived as easy, when assuredly it is not. Second, church planting is most likely easier than church revitalization. What I am concerned with is that a minister chooses to be a church planter because he wants the easy way that is within his means. However, I believe that faith requires me to trust in something that only God can do - resurrect the dead. I want to see dead churches reimagined and "replanted" to become vibrant, life giving faith communities.

There are many ways that churches attempt to do this. Sometimes they feel like if they hire a young, trendy worship guy who revolutionizes the music ministry, then young people will come as if Sunday Morning Worship is the new Woodstock for Christian hipsters. Other times as church will hire some young guy with young kids, hoping this will draw in more young families with children, but I say that men will only be drawn to one man - Jesus not a young minister. There are many more ways in which churches attempt to revitalize itself, but I believe Jesus has a much easier plan.

I believe that the children's ministry and the youth ministry are the key to church revitalization. First, a church must recognize that revitalization is a process that will take a long time, and the larger the ship, the longer it will take to set a new course and make the turn. Ask yourself where does the church need to be in ten to fifteen years, because the leaders of that age are in the youth group. Second, church revitalization does not mean energy alone. Because a good ministry takes both wisdom and energy. This is why a church needs both youth and senior adults. Senior Adults who have money and wisdom, and youth who lack these traits but have time and energy. These two ministries are the two parts of a whole. Median aged adults who have young to teenage children have little of all the above because of the demands of that stage of life. In many plateaued churches they have senior adults, and some median adults, but little youth. So they lack the final element.

This then begs the question. How do you fill the gaping hole of youth and then implement them, and as a disclaimer this little blog post will not fully answer this question, but is designed to get readers thinking. An easy way to kill a youth group and render it ineffective in the integration of its youth into adulthood in the church is to build the ministry on games, food, and excitement. This will only provide immature adults who are not ready to accept the mantle of church leadership. Thus, the senior adults will not trust these young people, will keep the mantle, and the young adults will leave the church out of frustration, because it offers nothing for them.

The proper way to prepare students for this is through biblical preparation. They need to become leaders in the youth group who are capable of accepting the mantle of church leadership one day. I use what I call the 3 Marks of Ministry: Maturity, Mission, and Multiply. To accomplish Maturity I have implemented the Navigator's hand Illustration - Hear the Word, Read the Word, Study the Word, Memorize the Word, and Meditate on the Word - to give students the proper means to grow in their faith. Then they evangelize, plant ministries, and discover God's design for their life in mission, and use their spiritual maturity, gifts, talents, and missions to multiply the church. As students grow they will become quality leaders, and quality should always precede quantity. Then, as they accept the mantle of church leadership they will begin to enact these same principles into the church as a whole. Slowly but surely, the church will be revitalized.

To me this is the ultimate goal of all youth ministry, and the growth of the church as a whole is dependent upon what happens in the student ministry. The reason many youth ministers don't think of this, is because they never ask the question why youth ministry exists?

Pitfalls for youth ministers:

• Do not get frustrated with the church and senior adults. Frustration is a sign of impatience. Church revitalization is a long process that will not happen quickly.
• Be committed. Nothing can be accomplished in church revitalization short of 4-6 years. 10 is a better time span. Rome wasn't built in a day after all, and you need to be patient and wait.
• Your plan is always second to the pastor's. No matter what you are not the pastor, nor does the burden rest on you. You need to respect the anointed leader of your church and seek to serve him. He wants to see the church revitalized as badly as you more often than not.
• Be organized. No youth ministry program that is unstructured will succeed. This is a game of strategy, and you should have a war room. Make sure that what you are doing is wise and well timed.
• Don't do this alone. The other ministers at your church are your first line of support because of their wisdom and experience, especially if you are a young minister. Also, bring the parents in with your plans. It is important that you have many quality counselors in your ministry. No one goes to war without consulting his officers.

Shrewd Managers of Christ

Something that has always eluded my full comprehension is the "Parable of the Shrewd Manager" found in Luke 16. A synopsis of this passage is as follows: There was a rich man, who had employed a manager to be steward over his assets. The manager, however, was not very good or very honest at his job. His fault wasn't embezzlement or using funds for his own pleasures, but that he was mismanaging resources. The rich man discovered this and of course required an account from the manager. What is interesting is the manager does not attempt to alter the books, nor does he attempt to contrive a defense for his actions (all things I would have done). Instead, he seeks out the people who owe debts to his employer. With each debtor he cuts their debts and provides a settlement for them that is a great deal, but again at the cost of the owner. What confounds me is when the owner discovers what the manager has done, he commends him, because now the manager has friends in the former debtors of the owner. It is understood that he is likely still going to get fired and loose his job and the protection it provided, but now he has options.

After telling this story, Jesus makes a confusing commentary: "For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings."

This has always confused me, partly because I am such a "black and white" kind of guy. First, off why would Jesus commend his fictitious character for extorting money. Moreover, if I were the owner, I would have been furious. Not only did the manager mismanage resources, but then he in effect stole from the owner by cutting the debts of the others. The owner lost his initial investment due to mismanagement, and he lost even more due to the shrewd thinking of the manager. I would have thrown him in jail for trying to be slick willy.

Jesus' comment is what confuses me even more. How can sinners be better at using their funds than saved people? We tithe, give to offerings, and support volunteers efforts and disaster relief. How can Jesus say that they are better than us? We are giving our money to him and his church to be used for his kingdom.

So, I began pondering this passage, trying to piece together what Jesus is saying. First, I noticed what a brilliant story-teller Jesus was, because I get lost in the characters and the plot of a short few lines. Then, I began to notice that Jesus said unrighteous wealth, but it turns out he only meant temporary, earthly wealth or money. This was to contrast his uses of eternal dwellings. I understand that I am to leverage my temporary earthly assets, resources, and money to attract people to the gospel that they might get saved, but how are the lost people better at using their wealth than saved people? And to be honest, the meaning of this still eludes me.

Then today I saw this story on Fox News "Pilot Buys Pizzas for Delayed Passengers." I don't know what the spiritual status of this pilot is with Frontier Airlines, but the fact that a pilot, took pity on his disgruntled passengers and ordered Domino's for them astounds me. He might have a family, bills to pay, a mortgage, all the things that the rest of us Americans have to deal with today, especially in this downward economy, but he took it upon himself to buy 35 pizzas for his passengers at his own expense.

I begin to question myself and wonder, would I have been willing to buy 35 pizzas? Would I have taken the initiative to sacrifice what I had been wanting or even saving my money to feed these people in a random act of kindness. I do believe that it is these kind of actions that can lead to amazing opportunities to share the gospel. I wonder if this is what Jesus meant, that the world is better at compassion and leveraging their resources for the sake of others than Christians. I wonder what would happen if we got better?

I also find it intriguing that I just wrote a blog about this, when I am a youth minister, and the bulk of my audience, doesn't even have a job. Whatever, they have is their parents'. Nonetheless, this is something that God is working in me about.

Preaching to Students

There has been a movement in recent years by many youth ministers to not preach in youth ministry. Granted, I understand that not every youth minister will do ministry the exact same way, because we all have different styles of leadership, but some youth ministers have disregarded the necessity of a sermon for the students they are entrusted. Each youth ministry will be driven by different means of ministry, but I believe it is absolutely imperative to preach to students. To be transparent I am a youth ministry who is writing a Masters thesis on preaching, and have focused the majority of my masters on this topic....just so you know I am biased.

Dr. Alvin Reid in one of his blogs this past year made an argument for the need of revolution in student ministry in America. http://alvinreid.com/?p=3330 Dr. Reid is no newbie to youth ministry, but more importantly his priorities are right according to good theology. His first supporting argument was to present students, their families, and millennials with the Word of God, because that is the best we can offer. He quoted a great book by Kenda Dean, Almost Christian, and Dean's argument is the same that the church continues to offer good moralistic truths to students in a topical fashion, but good morals does not lead to salvation, life-change, or revival. The only clear source of such things is the possessor of life, Jesus, and his "memoirs" have been recorded in the Scriptures.

Now so far I have only made an argument pertaining to the necessity of scripture in the youth ministry, and to be honest I intend to make sure that ministry is saturated in scripture. (Side Note: The  navigator's model of grasping Scripture has given me a great foundation for methods of teaching students Scripture). Nonetheless, this has not made for an argument for preaching in youth ministry. The argument for preaching is that it has the potential to teach students how to study the Word and teach it to others. I will explain this through way of anecdote.

I have developed as far as I am aware a new homiletic method I call Inductive Exposition. I love inductive sermons because you save all your punch to the end. In a deductive sermon you give your conclusion and then support it. In an inductive sermon you walk the audience through the questions of your study and how you went about to answer these questions. For someone who teaches postmoderns I thought this was a great solution to the cynical students I work with who question everything. However, inductive was not enough for me, because I wanted to keep the expositional model found in many deductive homiletics. So I merged the two and created a method of preaching that walks the audience expositionaly through the Scriptures towards the conclusion of the scriptures. And all of this is preceded by good exegesis.

What I did not anticipate was the students began to mimic my method of teaching. I went through a season in my ministry where I had a large number of upper class leaders, particularly guys. They were such impressive leaders, and many of them had a firm grasp on the scriptures that I thought it was time they learn to teach. This was true especially since a few of them were considering going into vocational ministry. So, we began our series, and the first student preached a sermon that sounded very similar to mine, and he did a good job at teaching the scriptures. I thought that was interesting, but then the second student spoke in similar fashion. All eight students preached in a similar fashion to me, where they started by asking questions of the text, and then studied using some free online resources I gave them to find the answer. Then they formatted their sermons to explain their questions, the text, and how they came to their conclusions. They were communicating the scriptures effectively. What sealed this in my mind was when one of the students offered an invitation after his sermon, something that I don't regularly do in youth ministry, and one of his peers accepted Christ.

As I reviewed what had happened I realized that my preaching had inadvertently caused the outcome of their preaching methods. My preaching method taught students how to ask proper questions about Scripture and then how to find out the answers. It was a basic way of teaching students how to study the Bible. Then, after the students stumbled upon their own realization that they had effectively grasped God's Word, they were emboldened to teach its truths to others. Now, I structure my sermons, applications, and illustrations, with more thought going towards the students mimicking me and learning the principles of Bible Study.

So, I ask the question of youth ministers out there: What would your youth group begin to look like if you began to teach them the scriptures, which are the power of God, in such a way that they begin to study the scriptures for themselves and are able to teach them to others. Just let your imaginations wander and dream of the possibilities. I personally, will never do anything different, and preaching the Word of God has become the foundation of my ministry.

In view of this I resound Dr. Reid's argument that not only will this produce a biblical youth group but biblical disciples who then stand on the precipice of a great awakening. History has affirmed this, and I believe the Spirit has revealed this vision to many youth leaders that it is coming again.

BTW: I would really appreciate some comments on this if anyone feels like adding to this discussion.

Integration vs. Assimilation: A Great Whole

Often it seems that church leaders tend to argue over semantics. I have witnessed to Christian leaders argue that same argument but from a different angle only because of the vocabulary chosen by the two men. In the beginnings of my ministry I would often not pick up on things like semantics, instead I would simply support whichever speaker I tended to prefer anyways. However, over the years I have begun to thing about the importance vocabulary choice. As I study through the epistles of Paul, it is quite apparent that he was very strict about his vocabulary. The Apostle Paul was certainly a great mind, particularly in the fields of theology and philosophy, both Jewish and Greek.

The topic of discussion today is that of assimilation and integration of people into the church. Some of the larger churches in America have the luxury of employing a large ministerial staff, and sometimes one of those people is the associate pastor of assimilation. The purpose of this position is to give thought and guidance to the people who visit a church, new converts, and/or new members who then need to become part of the church body at large.

The first real question pertaining to assimilation is its importance. Is it truly necessary to ensure that people are becoming part of the church. While this may appear as an obvious answer, it is clouded by generational and cultural worldviews. For example, a senior adult who has been in church all their life and believes that what is wrong with America today is that so few people go to church any more on Sunday mornings will undoubtedly believe that a person should become part of a local church body. However, a millennial or person of the young adult and college age generation like to church shop. David Kinnaman has argued in his book UnChristian that many of these young adults like to go to the church that will offer them what they are wanting. Certainly the argument is valid from Hebrew 10:25 that Christians should not neglect the assembly of the saints, because this is encouraging, but I believe that this question needs further thought.

I believe that it is absolutely imperative that a Christian becomes part of a church in a particular process. First, the person must be saved. Conversion is the first step for any person wanting to have a relationship with God and other Christians that transcends the physical; however, conversion is not the key to church membership - baptism is. Therefore, for a person to join a church he or she must be baptized. (There is much more theology to this, that I will perhaps discuss in a future blog). Once a person has been baptized, the public testament of faith to both Christians for accountability and to nonChristians as a witness, then they should begin to grow in their faith. This growth should be marked through their personal growth, their growth as evangelists, and ultimately in their reproduction of more disciples. This process is completed upon spiritual parenthood. There is one key factor that makes a person a parent - children (new converts); furthermore, a Christians should make spiritual children, who then become disciples and produce more disciples. Thus, the truth of Proverbs 17:6 is true that the 'children's children are the crown of the aged, and the glory of the children is their fathers.'

For this process to be completed in a Christians life, he or she must become part of the church where other Christians can mentor them according to the fashion found in Titus 2 for the growth of the church and the individual. Where I begin to differ in semantic from some other Christians leaders is the terminology of assimilation.

Assimilation is defined as "to take in and incorporate as one's own, absorb." It is further defined as "to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., or a group, nation, or the like.." Source This language is disconcerting, because it reverberates with that of Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed but the renewal of your mind..." The world uses the mechanism of conformity to augment people to fit within their mold. The word for "conform" in the Greek her is "syschematizo," which is where we draw the English word "schematic." To me, this is the altering of one's worldview to match that of the world's, or the sinful, unholy, antithesis of godliness. While the world's mechanism of change is conformity (perhaps assimilation), the Holy Spirit's mechanism is transformation. The word for transformation in the Greek is "metamorphoo," and it carries the meaning of being changed into a completely new creation. It holds to the theology found in II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." While this mechanism is not at the whim of the church, we can act the representatives of the Holy Spirit who has already taught us lessons that can be passed on to younger Christians. As the Holy Spirit reveals himself and illuminates the scriptures, the transformation often termed the process of sanctification is made more complete.

The other option is integration, which is defined as "to bring together or incorporate (parts) into a whole; to make up combine, or complete to produce a whole or a ledger unit, as parts do." Source This term seems to follow in accord with the scriptures closer to me than assimilation. In the process of integration the new convert maintains their individuality. Their essence is transformed by the power of Christ, and now in the redeemed state offer an intrinsic piece to the local body of believers to produce a greater whole than what was before. I particularly prefer the concept of completion inherent to integration. As we seek to further the Kingdom of God, we invite new Christians into this grand mission as their particular talents and gifts are being crafted by the Holy Spirit.

As the process of integration unfolds in the life of a new believer, it seems to me that there should be a process, similar to one stated above but now through a new lens. Introduction (baptism) should lead to a time of personal growth and mentoring that will guide them through what I term the three marks of ministry: maturity, mission, and multiplication. (This is an adaptation from Roger Glidewell's Three E's of Ministry found in his book Youth Ministry by the Book). As the person begins to advance in spiritual maturity they begin to look desperately for their mission or way to use their spiritual gifts and talents for the Kingdom of God, it is the church's responsibility offer ministries to act as conduits for their members through acts of service, and as a result their service will result in more converts (the literal conquest of the Kingdom of God). This process will continue until the ultimate result of becoming the likeness of Jesus Christ.

My prayer that I enable students and Christians to become integrated into the body of Christ, where they maintain their individuality as a child of God with specific talents, gifts, and creativity that the Church may become a greater whole.

Grand Reopening

So, I haven't been much of a blogger in my life, mostly because I don't think anyone would really care to read what an insignificant youth minister would have to say. However, lately God has placed it on my heart to begin writing. I wish he had been more specific, perhaps with a prompt and word count like my professors, but I pray that this will be something I can grow through.

For now I will be writing on youth ministry, church ministry, family, doctrine, philosophy of ministry, and preaching. The last of these topics is something I am incredibly passionate about since, this is what I intend to finish my Masters. If no one reads this, then that will be ok, because I am writing these blogs more to record my thoughts, especially if it is a topic that God is teaching me about.