PIE

In defense of my family, friends, and the whole blog-writing community, I have to share what we talked about in my Sunday School class that I taught last Sunday.

Our discussion was on Moroni 7 where Mormon talks about the way to judge whether something is of God or of the devil.

"But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God" (Moroni 7:13).

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge: for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God" (Moroni 7:16).

"But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him" (Moroni 7:17).

We discussed an easy acronym to remember how to judge: PIE (Persuadeth, Inviteth, Enticeth). I asked one of the kids if his playing the cello invites him to think of Christ, and he said yes, definitely. We talked about how to judge music, books, DVDs. We talked about the ways we spend our time and how there needs to be a balance. Sometimes, even if something is good, it could lead us down the wrong path if we spend so much time doing it that we neglect our other responsibilities.

So then I brought up blogging. My co-teacher immediately jumped on it and said, "Now, what is a blog, really?" We all told her that a blog is like a journal online, a place for you to record and share your thoughts. She said, "What a complete waste of time!"

I told her that I wanted to share my family's and my experience with blogging that I promised would change her view.

I started off by asking, "Does blogging persuade, invite, and entice me to think of Christ? Yes it does, and I'll tell you why."

I then proceeded to explain how blogging has changed our family, how it has brought us closer together as a family. I told about the "Let Him In" challenge and how touched I have been as I have read my sisters' blogs and their experiences with letting Christ into their lives during the Christmas season. I told of the Gratitude posts and how it made everyone more grateful for their blessings. Did writing and reading those posts help us to think more of Christ? Yes. Did it ever entice us to not believe in Christ or to deny him or to not serve him? No.

I also explained how it has made me feel closer to my sisters and mom. Before blogging (BB), first of all, I hardly knew anything that was going on in the family, much less knew anyone's deep spiritual feelings. I felt sort of disconnected to the family, being the only one up here and everyone else down there. After blogging (AB), I feel a special closeness to everyone and am really getting to know my family in a more personal way.

Is this blogging technology from God?

Yes.

Does it encourage families to be closer?

Yes.

Does it persuade us to believe in Christ?

Yes.

Does it invite us to do good?

Yes.

Does it entice us to love God and serve him?

Yes.

And there you have it--

PIE!

So I just wanted to thank all of you who have risked puttng your feelings out there online, for your words that have inspired me, for all of your kind words in your comments, and most especially for your love.

Keep on blogging! PIE!