Boy oh boy. It’s been 16 months since I last posted on here. At that time, I was driving truck for a nursery and working 12-16 hour days while studying for my LSAT’s and attempting to get into law school. Life was rather nuts and I wasn’t doing it that well…and then things got *actually* crazy. I’m not going to get into details about how my life has become a field, strewn with flaming cow pies from the Devil’s own satanic herd.
There are three reasons for that:
a. I don’t want to.
b. I can’t.
c. The people who need to know already know.
I’ve been gone from this blog (outside of responding to occasional comments), but I haven’t been totally gone from the web (though I’ve been gone from this for so long that it just took me several attempts and several minutes to insert the above picture…sigh). I have been somewhat on social media, but Twitter and Facebook have more or less been outlets for humor and low-grade trolling…purely distractions for me. I haven’t been blogging because I haven’t known what in the world to write about. Scandals have arisen that I normally would have weighed in on, but I didn’t say anything and that was most likely for the best. There was nothing I could have said that didn’t get said by someone smarter and more articulate than myself anyway. Issues have come and gone and though I may have listened to podcasts and read articles, I didn’t weigh in because I didn’t really need to.
I’ve also had many book reviews to do, mostly on books that (I suspect) aren’t the best books around, but I haven’t had time to dive into those books due to all the complications of life and time demands that I’ve had placed on me. Besides, I had to close down my office and all my books are now in a storage locker (and will remain there for what appears to be a rather long time). In as much as I’d love to toss some stuff online about some of the books I’ve run into that haven’t been addressed at all, I’m not that important to the kingdom. Other people won’t become heretics if I don’t write a specific book review…and if they do, they probably would have hated what I had to say anyway.
So I’ve not really been doing much online, but that’s also because I’ve not really been doing good personally either. For a long time I was experiencing Jeremiah’s cry in Jeremiah 8:18 – “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.” After a little while, I realized what was happening in my own heart and that I was certainly to blame for much of that sickness of heart and absence of joy. From there, the next step was to repent of the sins that led me to that place…but that’s sometimes easier said than done. I’m not an objective viewer of myself and my sin tends to lie to me about itself; where it is, what it’s doing, how large it has become, etc. That makes things less easy than I wish they were.
I also realized that I had failed to heed the warning of James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Oh how easy it is to fall into that trap of knowing much more than you do. In conservative circles, where right doctrine is so prized, our doctrine almost always exceeds our practice and we only do a fraction of what we know we should do. It’s also not a case of knowing the righteous things to do and instead doing evil things, but rather knowing the righteous things to do and not doing those righteous things when you can (and should). Inaction is a lot harder sin to see in yourself and a lot harder sin to address.
So, I’m not sure where this blog is going to go. I’ll likely post a few things that are on my mind (lessons I’m preparing to teach at church, dealing with indwelling sin, Christ-likeness, parenting, etc.). I also have 78 draft posts that are in various stages of development. Many of those drafts are an idea that needs to be fleshed out (i.e. a few sentences that need to become a full post), but a few of them are almost ready to go posts that may get finished up sometime. Either way, I need to fill my mind and time with studying the scripture and sharing my findings on here since I’ve discovered that my sinful flesh has no problem finding other complete wastes of time to fill my life. When you’re weighed down in heart and somewhat in shock, it’s easy to have a pity party and binge-watch Netflix. That being said, the Lord is good and has granted me a return to my senses…at least enough to see that it’s time to wash my face and move forward.
I will definitely covet general prayers for myself and my family; perseverance and wisdom, grace and a fresh revelation of “what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19). Pray that the Lord will grant rejoicing to the bones he has broken (Psalm 51:8) and that he would create in me a clean heart and renews a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). Pray that he would restore to me the joy of my salvation and renew a willing spirit within me (Psalm 51:12). Pray that I would repay no one evil for evil but rather that I would act honorably towards even my enemies (Romans 12:17) and pray that I would do everything I could to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). Pray that I would persevere in overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21). Pray that I would walk in a manner worthy of my calling (Ephesians 4:1), that I would walk in love (Ephesians 5:2), and that I would be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might (Ephesians 6:10).
If this blog has been a blessing to you in the past, I would like to ask for you to return that blessing upon me in the form of your prayers.
Until Next Time,
Lyndon “Mennoknight” Unger