What's My Motivation for Doing This?

Outreach to the Multitudes

by Minister Paul J. Bern

Before I begin my remarks, I wish to start by thanking everyone who reads this for visiting this site/blog. You are not here by accident. In some way, God has directed you here because you are looking for answers, sometimes whether one realizes it or not. So, why would I start an on-line church with its own blog/Vlog? I have no way to pass a collection basket around like regular churches do, so why spend money out of my own pocket to do this? The simple answer is to reach out to people who are hungry and thirsty for some real truth. Moreover, I have discovered that the Bible – minus all the religious interpretations – remains the best tool to use to accomplish such a goal.

The first group of people that I want to reach are those who are disenfranchised by traditional religion. I am one of these myself, having had some strongly negative experiences with churches in the past. Perhaps you are a former Catholic who was molested by a priest, or you know someone who was. There are countless cases of people actually getting ripped off by other church members, and I have witnessed this behavior once or twice in the past. I have also seen churches where there was a lot of internal politics going on, churches with memberships divided up into cliques, and sometimes with much financial impropriety at the top. I can only tell you that, based on my own experiences, if you run into one of these churches or any members thereof, turn and run like crazy for the nearest exit.

Due to situations such as these, organized religion in the early 21st century has a huge credibility problem. Is it any wonder that so many people have stopped going to church? I hope to address this problem, plus reach out to those who no longer attend church, by implementing this web site. There is a real God, and I'm writing this to confirm what you already suspect – which is that God is not usually found in brick-and-mortar churches. Churches today, by and large, have slid into apostasy.

If I had to think up one word to describe this new V-log, it would be non-denominational. I have a dual love/hate relationship with church denominations. I can't live with them because I simply don't believe in everything they believe, or I only believe parts of it but not the remainder of their faith. On the other hand, there are so many Godly people who do not go to church due to their own lack of confidence in organized religion. But those who do so practice their faith as best they can, and try to live by the golden rule, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” To discourage Christians from all faiths from coming to this website just because of where they go to church is not what I want to do at all. The simple solution for me is to emulate Christ as He would have me to do. I will embrace all people of all denominations as the Bible commands me to do, as it is written:

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I become like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I become like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I become like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but I am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I become weak to win the weak. I have become all things to all men (and women) so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the Gospel, that I might share in its blessings.” (I Cor. 9: 19-23) This exquisite quote is from the New Testament, and it sums up what my goal is with this new blog/V-log. I want to reach out to everyone and say, “That contact you had with that brick-and-mortar church did not represent the true Church. Why not meet online instead? You can come any time, it's always free, and I don't demand 10% of what you earn”.

The problem with church denominations is they all have a separate core of beliefs that all members are expected to pledge allegiance to. No two churches are alike. One denomination preaches against the other, and all insist that they are the only ones who are right. Various churches openly compete against each other, and they do this because they have lost their focus, which is Christ Jesus crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. For me, these three things are the central focus of my faith, and it is a faith that I gladly share with others.

This brings me to the second and equally good reason for this blog/V-log, and that is to make God available to web surfers who have no church background at all. I want to tell you that God is real. He is the only sure thing in this temporal world we live in. Everything else is merely a distraction. That's why He is the one thing we can all rely on in our times of need. Our lives are a free gift from God, and He wants us to be able to use this gift to the best of our abilities so we can have as good a life as possible while glorifying Him. That's His will for our lives. The Bible tells us that God seeks people's hearts whether they realize it or not, as it is written: “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me” (Isaiah 65: 1) This verse is addressed to all who read it, regardless of who you are, what you've done (or not), or where you've been. The publication of this website and this sermon have the same intent. It is my hope and my prayer that someone who reads this message will realize that God may be closer to them (and vice versa) than they thought.

My own experiences have opened my eyes to how broken and dysfunctional the current system truly is, particularly here in the US. Not only the religious system, but politically and economically too. I was forced into early retirement after getting sick and becoming disabled. My original plan was to get well so I could return to the workforce, but that's not how it worked out. After being out of the computer/IT profession for nearly 2 years, all attempts at obtaining employment – either as a contractor or an employee – proved fruitless. So I looked into reeducating myself and training for a new career, only to be told that I didn't qualify for financial aid because I had a poor credit rating (imagine that!). While all this was happening, the bottom fell out as far as wages are concerned within the IT industry. Technicians and support personnel like myself who used to make $20-35 dollars an hour are now being paid $11-14 dollars per hour for essentially the same work, and that's assuming you're lucky enough to have a job.

I said all that to simply say this: If America had a system in place to take better care of unemployed people, I could be an asset to society instead of a liability. For example, if we had a universal healthcare system in place, I would not have to be concerned about the cost of my prescriptions and my doctor visits because all that would have been taken care of. Instead, I find myself impoverished. For another example, if America had a system in place for retraining all American workers instead of only war veterans, I and the millions of others like me would have a way to train for new vocations and professions without cost. We can easily afford to do this because such a program is already in place.

After World War 2 Congress passed the GI Bill and sent hundreds of thousands of former soldiers back to school, paying big dividends to America in the form of tax revenues generated when these ex-GI's eventually went back to work. If we could do it for veterans then, why can't Congress do this for everyone else (at last check, this program is still in place)? Take all the long-term unemployed, beginning with veterans and older workers and branching out from there, and retrain them all. If I could have had a way to do this, I could have gone back to work or gotten retrained for a new profession and become a taxpayer again. Instead, I subsist on my tiny little disability check, living off the taxpayers when I would rather be contributing. So I write, I blog, I have 6 self-published books, with a 7th coming out this fall. For anyone interested, please visit my author page at https://www.authorrevpauljbern.com or at https://www.pcmatl.org/books-and-donations

In closing, this blog/V-log and the above websites are available 24x7 to anyone who wants to use them as a mentoring, life coaching, self-help or spiritual resource. The main point is that God is available 24x7 as well. He loves you whether you think so or not, and he cares about what happens to you. Trust God and He will prove himself trustworthy to you. Give your life to Him and He will give himself completely over to you. In the process, He will love you unconditionally and eternally. The key to life and successful living are summed up right here. Until next time then, keep Jesus in your heart and thank Him daily for the sacrifice He made for each of us. Each new day is a gift from God, so treat it as such. May the peace of Christ be with you all. Shalom....