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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Thursday, January 8, 2009 9:52 PM CST
CLERGY VIEWS: What would God write if He were a blogger?

By CAPTAIN MATT OSBORN, The Salvation Army

I enjoy reading this newspaper’s editorial page. I don’t always agree with what I read. In fact, it seems I rarely do. I must be getting to be a bit of a curmudgeon as I get older.

But I do like the free exchange of ideas and the reasoning and thought processes behind them. I am usually a little hesitant to speak my mind in a public forum. I would hate for readers to mistake my lowly opinions for Salvation Army policy.

However, I have given some thought to the “blog” column. Apparently one doesn’t have to sign their real name there. There is some freedom in anonymity. But even then, I suppose if you know a blogger, you would probably know his writing.

What if God blogged? Would we be able to pick out His words? (Even if He didn’t write in King James English?)

The Salvation Army, as a Christian church, holds in common a number of beliefs that we share with a majority of other churches. One of these is the inspiration of Scripture.

“We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” Scripture informs us that creation declares God’s glory and from it, man and women are informed of God’s existence.

I know there are some curmudgeons out there who certainly would not agree with me, (and I use that word as a term of endearment), but I believe that in our heart of hearts we all know that to be true — that in the beauty and complexity of creation, even if we didn’t know God, we would know His handiwork.

So how do we get God from the expanse of the universe to between the covers of a Book?

All I can do is encourage you to find out for yourself. Read it! Find a good contemporary translation of the Bible and dig in. If you need to make it a New Year’s resolution — well that’s OK.

I would suggest reading it slowly, thoughtfully and prayerfully. And if you have trouble understanding, call your clergyman or clergywoman — or call me.

We don’t have all of the answers but we know someone who does! My mind was wandering a little bit while my wife was preaching last Sunday. (I can say that safely because she doesn’t read the editorial page.) I came across this Bible verse from the book of Proverbs — Chapter 13 Verse 31.

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

As a pastor and a preacher, I could probably work that into a sermon. As a Salvation Army captain and a humanitarian, perhaps it was just a little blog from God — His way of reminding me to be a little less curmudgeonly for a day.

Has God blogged you lately?

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illinoisbound wrote on Jan 12, 2009 7:54 AM:

" Good article...thanks! "

cd wrote on Jan 12, 2009 8:09 AM:

" He would have plenty to say to both sides of the isle. And I don't believe either side would like it as well. "