Sunday, February 8, 2009

Why Blog?

So here it is, my first blog entry. I am now officially a “blogger”. I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. A big part of me likes the fact that the Internet allows anyone to say anything at any time to anyone who feels like listening. As an American, the whole freedom of speech thing is ingrained in me pretty deeply. However there’s also something a little disturbing about the access that the Internet allows to the common man. Gone are the days when certain credentials were necessary to be “published”. Now we can just publish ourselves, free of charge. So the question to be answered here is “Why?” Why have I decided to blog? Well, the answer is NOT that I feel like I have vast amounts of wisdom to share with the world. I do hope that my ramblings might help somebody out every now and then. And I hope that as the years go by, I have more and more to offer. But there is no shortage of great reading material available, and my own words would probably serve everyone best by just pointing folks toward the great writers (and especially back to the Scriptures) and keeping my own opinions to myself. I’m also not blogging just for fun. I do enjoy writing, but not enough to do it for pleasure alone. No, my main motive is this: I hope that by practicing and honing the craft, I might one day indeed produce something that “is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen”. Back in July, a professor and friend of mine encouraged me to practice “the discipline of writing”. He said that when you are forced to write something and turn it in, then you have no other choice but to learn how to write, and write well. That is why I’ve decided to blog. Consider it a new spiritual discipline in my life, and an investment in the future of my ministry. Plus, it’s another way to share stories, lessons, newsletters, sermons, photos, and other tidbits of our life here in Mexico with our far-flung friends and family. So thanks for reading, and please join me in praying God’s blessing on this whole experiment!

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