Well, it's official: Google hates me. I probably shouldn't say anything because Google is always listening and recording (perhaps even hiding from plain sight) what I write. Over the years I have wondered if changing algorithms negatively affected search traffic to the blog, but recently I discovered something which leaves little doubt. Occasionally I will look up a keyword of an old post as a point of reference. I was pretty sure I've mentioned MacGuffin on the blog before" and tried to search it with the blog address. By the way, anyone who has watched movies would be familiar with MacGuffins (but maybe not the name), a device in film that drives the plot but has little significance otherwise.
When I searched on Google Chrome I was surprised to see only one page of results and none from marchforth2oz.blogspot.com. After navigating to the blog in the search bar I typed "MacGuffin" and bingo: the single mention of "MacGuffin" from 2017 was revealed! On a hunch I loaded the Bing search engine, typed in the same query as I first had in Chrome, and the first page was flooded with successful results. I'm not much of a conspiracy theory person, but the disparity between the Chrome and Bing search was notable. It's all a bit fishy, and this isn't the first time I have been unable to find blog posts outside the blog itself (using Google, that is). It leads me to conclude one does not need to live in a strict Communist regime to have Christian content quietly disappear.
The glorious truth for Christians is even IF all our words are suppressed or obscured, the Word of God endures forever. It is God's Word and will which drive the plot of our lives according to the Holy Spirit, and we do not need to fear anything. Worrying about declining traffic or algorithmic censorship is only one of many real-life MacGuffins people can obsess over and lose sight of the awesome God this blog is intended to glorify. God knows if a person does a good deed with the hope of being seen by men, and that person has their reward whatever the opinions may be. Those who do things with intent to glorify God, whether or not seen by men, will receive a reward from the LORD which cannot be corrupted or stolen. Praise the LORD!
1 Peter 1:22-25 provides a fitting conclusion: "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, 25 but the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you."
When I searched on Google Chrome I was surprised to see only one page of results and none from marchforth2oz.blogspot.com. After navigating to the blog in the search bar I typed "MacGuffin" and bingo: the single mention of "MacGuffin" from 2017 was revealed! On a hunch I loaded the Bing search engine, typed in the same query as I first had in Chrome, and the first page was flooded with successful results. I'm not much of a conspiracy theory person, but the disparity between the Chrome and Bing search was notable. It's all a bit fishy, and this isn't the first time I have been unable to find blog posts outside the blog itself (using Google, that is). It leads me to conclude one does not need to live in a strict Communist regime to have Christian content quietly disappear.
The glorious truth for Christians is even IF all our words are suppressed or obscured, the Word of God endures forever. It is God's Word and will which drive the plot of our lives according to the Holy Spirit, and we do not need to fear anything. Worrying about declining traffic or algorithmic censorship is only one of many real-life MacGuffins people can obsess over and lose sight of the awesome God this blog is intended to glorify. God knows if a person does a good deed with the hope of being seen by men, and that person has their reward whatever the opinions may be. Those who do things with intent to glorify God, whether or not seen by men, will receive a reward from the LORD which cannot be corrupted or stolen. Praise the LORD!
1 Peter 1:22-25 provides a fitting conclusion: "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, 25 but the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you."
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