How Congregator.net Got It's Name, Part 2
by Bobby Garner
August 1, 2004

Note: "How Congregator.net Got It's Name, Part 1" was written in April, but I got busy with other things and forgot about it until I tried to save this page with the same name. I thought they were both good enough to keep, so I'm posting both of them as they each contain valuable information.

As far as I can recall, No one has yet inquired about how I came to choose the name of this site. In case some of my readers have wondered about that, here is a little background.

A clue may be found at the top of my home page with the Bible scripture cited from Ecclesiastes. According to Webster's 10th Collegiate Dictionary, congregator is the noun for congregate, so a congregator is something/someone which/who congregates. Which means to collect into a group or crowd. It may be a group or crowd of anything from sea shells, and butterflies to people. A synonym is Gather which means to bring together: collect, pick, harvest. Or to affect the collection of; to summon up; to prepare by mustering strength; to reach a conclusion often intuitively from hints or through inferences; to bring together the parts of; to cluster around a focus or attraction. Synonyms Gather, Collect, Assemble, and Congregate mean to come or bring together into a group, mass, or unit. Congregate implies a spontaneous flocking together into a crowd or huddle (congregating under a shelter in a storm)

If you compare this to the definition of garner (my family name), there is a striking similarity. Garner may be something that is gathered, or to gather into storage; to deposit as if in a granary; to acquire by effort: earn. As a young boy, I often reflected on my name and it's meaning. I wondered if it had any special significance for me personally. After all my ancestors had all shared the same name, and to my knowledge nothing spectacular had ever been attributed to them. I concluded that I was no different than anyone else. We all feel special, and in deed are. Still, in the back of my mind, I found it impossible to shake off this feeling that there was something I should be doing. I could never quite put my finger on it, but it never completely went away.

I still do not know the answer to those perplexing questions, but I do know that it is very important for me to speak out on the situation mankind presently finds itself in. I began by trying to talk to friends and family. To my dismay, they did not want to hear of it, and frequently told me so in no uncertain terms.

When I decided to go public in June 2003, I began posting on a forum under the user name Congregator. I selected it rather quickly without doing any research. I was aware that the ancient King Solomon was called "the congregator" in some translations of Ecclesiastes. I have long held his writing in the highest esteem, and I admit that this fact had an influence on my decision. It wasn't until the forum administrator mentioned myself and some other members in the context of a congregation that I actually researched the meaning. I disavowed any implications of a congregation because that does have a specific meaning of an assembly of persons, especially an assembly met for worship and religious instruction. I do not feel that the world needs another religion, nor more of the formalism and ritual that goes along with it.

I realize that my particular outlook is quite different from anyone I know. That puts the onus on me alone to understand and be able to explain to others precisely what it is I represent or stand for. I feel that I do understand it, but I find that all the terminology that I might use to explain it has already be co-opted in a way that renders my explanations ineffective. For example: Worship — I can't use that word because people automatically try to associate it with a religion. Jesus said:

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such, the ones worshiping Him. God is a spirit, and the ones worshiping Him must worship in spirit and truth".

Neither spirit or truth are tangible objects. They are not buildings or congregations, or ceremony, or other ritual activity, like meeting at an agreed time and place. I know that sets off a lot of alarm bells which only serves to illustrate my point.

There is nothing wrong with any of those things. In fact I will grant that perhaps they should even be encouraged. It's our attitudes toward them that are hopelessly flawed, and I admit that I have no idea how to correct that. I feel there is no way to correct it among the people at large. What we need to do is develop new ways of thinking about spiritual matters. There is no way that can be done as long as people are under the influence of deception, and the vast majority of us are.

All religions have become established by the dedicated effort of certain determined individuals, many of whom were most sincere, but in one way or another sacrificed one too many of their principles along the way. They did this for the very same reasons as I have outlined above, they simply knew of no other way to do it. Persuasion was depended upon to the exclusion of all other possible methods, and as I have pointed out, Satan is THE master craftsman in that art. No human can compete with him in that arena. The result is that the audience invariably accepts the most believable of whatever options are offered, and Satan wins every time. For that reason which should be clear, I insist on accurate knowledge as the only possible method of determining the truth of any matter. Furthermore, and for the same reasons stated, true knowledge cannot be reliably propagated from one person to another in any manner shape nor form.

I have blazed a trail, and I am doing my best to mark it out clearly, but it remains to each individual who may be inclined to find his way along it's path. I cannot nor will I attempt to influence anyone to take any specific action as might be indicated by anyone. You want the truth? It will be yours only if you are willing to conduct the search and find it and claim it as your own. Jesus illustrated very clearly how it works. Solomon before him indicated the way at Proverbs 2. Jesus confirmed the method, and it's the one I advocate, but it remains your individual responsibility to execute the method for your own personal benefit.

Then the righteous will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one having ears to hear, let him hear. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to treasure being hidden in the field, which finding, a man hid; and for the joy of it, he goes and sells all things, as many as he has, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a man, a merchant seeking excellent pearls; who finding one very precious pearl, going away has sold all things, as many as he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a drag net thrown into the sea, and gathering together of every kind; which, when it was filled, drawing it up on the shore, and sitting down, they gathered the good into containers, and they threw out the rotten. So it will be in the completion of the age: the angels will go out and will separate the evil from the midst of the righteous, — Matthew 13: 43-49

If you are paying attention, you will have noticed that not a single one of these examples indicated holding up what you have found and announcing it to the world, offering to share it with them for a price! Rather the finder claims it as his very own exclusive property. Do you think for a moment that Jesus may have made a minor mistake here? Good luck with that! No, it is priceless, worth more than all of ones possessions. It is not for sale!

I am not the first to notice this. The great Victorian thinker John Ruskin said: "Without seeking, truth cannot be known at all. It can neither be declared from pulpits, nor set down in articles, nor in any wise prepared and sold in packages ready for use. Truth must be ground for every man by itself out of it such, with such help as he can get, indeed, but not without stern labor of his own."

Wisdom cries aloud outside; she gives her voice in the square; she calls at the head of places of commotion; in the opening of the gates, in the city she utters her words: Until when will you love to be simple, you simple ones? And will scorners desire scorn for themselves? And will fools hate knowledge? Turn back at my warning; behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you; I will make My Words known to you. — Proverbs 1:20-23.

"Truth, If in fact there exist 'Truth', Then there is no such thing as 'Mystery'. Only 'Knowledge' yet to be discovered!" — Daniel B. Johnson Jr.
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures puts it this way:

20 True wisdom itself keeps crying aloud in the very street. In the public squares it keeps giving forth its voice. 21 At the upper end of the noisy streets it calls out. At the entrances of the gates into the city it says its own sayings:
22 "How long will YOU inexperienced ones keep loving inexperience, and [how long] must YOU ridiculers desire for yourselves outright ridicule, and [how long] will YOU stupid ones keep hating knowledge? 23 Turn back at my reproof. Then to YOU I will cause my spirit to bubble forth; I will make my words known to YOU. 24 Because I have called out but YOU keep refusing, I have stretched out my hand but there is no one paying attention, 25 and YOU keep neglecting all my counsel, and my reproof YOU have not accepted, 26 I also, for my part, shall laugh at YOUR own disaster, I shall mock when what YOU dread comes, 27 when what YOU dread comes just like a storm, and YOUR own disaster gets here just like a storm wind, when distress and hard times come upon YOU. 28 At that time they will keep calling me, but I shall not answer; they will keep looking for me, but they will not find me, 29 for the reason that they hated knowledge, and the fear of Jehovah they did not choose. 30 They did not consent to my counsel; they disrespected all my reproof. 31 So they will eat from the fruitage of their way, and they will be glutted with their own counsels. 32 For the renegading of the inexperienced ones is what will kill them, and the easygoingness of the stupid is what will destroy them. 33 As for the one listening to me, he will reside in security and be undisturbed from dread of calamity."

Please don't send me E-mails alerting me that this is a translation by Jehovah's Witnesses. I have no time for such ridicule. If the truth is unbearable for you, then I don't even know why you are here.

I am fully confident that this alone provides the answer to the question that some of you may be wondering about; "Who is that man, and where did he get all this stuff?". These scriptures have been my guiding principles since the moment I discovered them. Without them nothing else is going to make any sense. Can there be any doubt that Jesus was making a connection with Solomon's advise? I think not. These scriptures are all mis-applied or ignored by Christendom. However anyone reading this page will likely not be much surprised at that. Christianity has earned for itself a very bad name in the world, and that is why I am inclined to distance myself as far from it as possible.

The paradox which my position presents to the senses, cannot be solved within the paradigm under which it exists and was created. It must be solved by removing oneself from that system and viewing it as an unbiased spectator in another frame of reference. We all have that capability, some are willing to use it and some aren't. It requires that you set aside all your preconceived notions, ideas, and beliefs, and consider it honestly with the innocence and curiosity of a child.

And He said, Truly I say to you, Unless you convert and become as the little children, not at all can you enter into the kingdom of Heaven. — Matthew 18: 3

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men. For they will betray you to sanhedrins, and they will flog you in their synagogues. And also you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you should say, for it is given to you in that hour what you should say. For you are not the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. But brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child. And children will rise up against parents and will put them to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but the one enduring to the end shall be kept safe. — Matthew 10: 16-22

If you are confused by the teachings of the many religions, try this: "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." — James 1: 27. Why would you want to complicate that simple statement. My thought is that if this statement is not true, then neither is any of the rest of it.

The scriptures say that "the truth will set you free" (John 8: 32) and that is precisely what it means. Truth and freedom are universal and their meanings do not change.