Awake, oh sleeper, awake and stretch! Girl in a Copper Dress 3, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed open edition print at Great Big Canvas and iCanvasART.

The Bible talks a lot about being awake, and all Christians like to think that they are so:

“Oh, yes — I’m awake all right to the evils of the world around me!”

Quite honestly, as much as we would like to think that Christians, more than anyone, are awake to the evil of mankind and all of its systems, few of us are, my dear brothers and sisters.

“Now while (Jesus) was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.

“But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” (John 2:  23-25)

Does this describe you? Do you know what is in a man?

Please read the rest at Are You Awake? at BeliefNet’s Commonsense Christianity. I am an ordinary Christian, not affiliated with any form of pastoral leadership at all, who speaks up because I believe that ordinary Christians are ignored, overlooked, and used by an increasingly corporate religious establishment.

How odd that Christians, who are misfits in the world of men, so frequently feel that way among other Christians. Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

My goal in writing is to encourage other ordinary Christians, not affiliated with any form of pastoral leadership, to believe in God enough to actually trust Him, to read His Scripture for themselves, and to stop relying upon books, tapes, seminars, gurus, and large Christian business establishments to do their thinking for them.

This article is linked to A Mama’s Story, Nourishing Joy, Moms the Word, Thoughtful Spot, Motivation Monday, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Paradise of Praise, Kathe with an E, Oh My Heartsie Girl, The Shady Porch, This Mommas Ramblings, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Wholehearted Home, We Are That Family, Homemaking Link Up, The Mom club, True Aim, My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars,