I'd Rather Be Blogging

I still remember when I first started using the Internet as a ministry tool in 1995. There were quite a few people in the church I pastored asking me what I was talking about. “Inter-what?”, people would ask.

Over the years, I have been both greatly aided and terribly frustrated by technology. Sermon preparation looks very different for me today than it did 15 years ago, though I can’t say that the sermons have improved much. Email takes up a disproportionate amount of my time each day. While it sometimes makes it easier to conduct business, I’m not at all sure that it helps us to communicate any better.

At the rate that technology is advancing, I can send emails from my phone and show pictures on my computer. I can watch movies without a TV. I can program the DVR in my living room from the desk in my office. But I still can’t find my stapler.

You can “google” me and learn I am the pastor of Life Spring Church. You can keep up with my daily activities on “Twitter”. If I wanted to, I could update you through Facebook or MySpace. But alas, I don’t want to.

However, as a further concession to the 21st century, I am going to try my hand at blogging. At first I was resistant to this idea, mainly because it sounded so much like jogging, which I have managed to avoid for the better part of 47 years. But I was assured that I wouldn’t have to change my clothes or shower afterwards, though no one could promise that I might not get winded (I can type really fast). So here it is. My first official blog.

So here we go. Periodically (I can’t make any promises as to how often) I will share with you my thoughts. Not because they are interesting or meaningful. Not because you need to hear what I have to say. Not because I am profound. But mainly, just because I can. I live, therefore I blog. At least for now.

If I start to bore myself, or if I fail to keep up with it, then I’ll stop. But we’re going to give this blogging thing a try. And the neat thing is, you can share your thoughts as well. (See that button that says “comments”. Click it. No, really, try it. It won’t delete anything–at least not anything important.) We can dialogue this way. It’s called an “online community”. It’s the technological version of Koinonia.

The Apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22) I have always believed that Paul would be creative in using various means and methods to lead people to Christ (while never compromising the message one little bit). So I think the great Missionary would have used email and videos and powerpoints to spread the Gospel. And given how Paul loved to write, I think he would have been a blogger too. Especially if he could do it without working up a sweat.