On Your Mark, Get Set... Blog!

Ok, so my goal here is to finally get to my first post (after setting up this blog account months ago!) before I have to leave for an appointment, probably in about a half hour. But what to write?

When I first decided to do this (as I said, months ago!) I had read a blog on the Desiring God blog site by Abraham Piper (John's son, I'm assuming?) in which he identified 6 reasons that pastors should blog. I'll condense his blog with simply his list and a couple brief comments of my own...

1. To write. Ergo, to reflect, hence to think. Writing is a great way to process thoughts you've been turning over in your mind.

2. To teach. Whether it be sermon prep material that got cut out and left on the floor, or things I'm learning in life and/or from my own devotional times with the Lord, this can be a great forum to point others to the Truth... and to ask others to reflect and think with me.

3. To recommend. This can be a great forum to suggest reading material, a movie, a ministry, a marriage- or life-skill, where to find help for a problem or addiction, an resource for your own ministry or evangelism efforts, etc.

4. To interact. As you the readers of this blog (is anyone out there?!) leave me your comments we can interact over the thoughts presented here. This in turn very may well lead to something I can/should address either here, or even in a sermon in the church I serve.

5. To develop an eye for what is meaningful. I look forward to looking at my life and surroundings with an eye toward, "Is there something in this that is worth writing about? Is there a lesson that can be learned that might be helpful to share with others?

6. To be known. No, to to be known in the sense of "Maybe someone will 'discover' me and I'll become famous." Rather, it's an opportunity for me to show another side of myself, to reveal a bit more of my heart, my likes/dislikes, etc. Like everyone else, I am a complex human being with many sides and many roles. I am a pastor, a husband, a father, a sports fan, a lover of good food, a struggler with my flesh, a friend (I hope), an enemy (perhaps, I hope not!), a home owner, a citizen of my country, member of my community... You get the idea. But most people only see a small handful of these many facets of who we are. Blogging can show, over time, many of these sides for people who care to know.

I'll add a personal #7: To develop greater self-discipline. Many who know me, know that while I'm a great visioner and see "the big picture" well, I often lack in follow-through with the details. (Yeah, remember I said I set this account up months ago!) I'm personally hoping that having a self-imposed goal of blogging at least once a week will help me improve in this area of discipline.

So the adventure begins. I'm fairly confident that most blogs will not be this long. (The best ones aren't, I believe!) I hope you'll join me, at least for the first few miles as you decide whether the journey will be worth it. But even if you don't, at least reasons #1, 5, and 7 will still personally apply!