Reflections on 9 Months of Blogging

I started this blog in February 15, 2005.  From time-to-time I’ve wondered about the value of doing this.  I don’t feel that I can post every day, and some weeks have gone by with only 1 or 2 posts.  But blogging has been a positive experience overall, for a number of reasons.  I thought I’d share some of those reasons.

• I’ve met some really fine people.  There are a couple of fellow-pastors with whom I have corresponded outside of the blog.  Though we’ve never met, these are people for whom I pray once or twice a week, especially on Sunday morning as we all share in the common task of feeding God’s flock.  I’ve benefited from some insights from more well-known speakers and pastors who have used blogging as an effective tool for edification and instruction.  I’ve been encouraged by the blogs of several women, and by the blog of one remarkable young lady ho is a freshman in college.  

• I have to admit that it is easy to be negative and focus on what is wrong – and there is a lot that troubles me in our generation – but I am encouraged by the faithfulness of many.  Not everyone has given in to the culturally-driven church.  There are a lot of people, plodding along (in a good sense) with their small-to-medium size congregations, which – to quote Howard Hendricks – is more than we are ever going to want to give an account for.  There are people who are concerned about the purity of the Gospel, about biblically-rooted Christian faith and life, and I have learned quite a bit from them.  

• I’ve been pointed to some outstanding resources.  Books, lectures, other blogs – all of these have been useful.  One of the reasons I began Stronger Church was to be able to recommend things that were helpful to me.  For as many links as I have pointed to, I have received far more from the insights of others.

• Blogging has sharpened my thinking.  Most of us who are in ministry are very busy and don’t have a lot of time to investigate every new idea that comes down the pike.  In fact, I am amazed at how often I talk to people who are really uniformed about what is happening in the Christian world.  I won’t compare reading other people’s blogs with going to school, but there is a benefit that comes from the reading and interacting.  It is in some ways like being in a classroom.

So to those of you who are represented in these paragraphs, I thank you.  You’ve left a mark on my life over the last nine months that has been significant.