On blogging

"[Be] like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil 2:2b-4

Given what I would like to do with this blog, it has been difficult to decide what the first post should look like. I had been trying to decide if I should explain my purposes, or just jump into them without introduction. I don't think either are correct, given those purposes.

Athanatos! No death! I have decided to make this my slogan as a Christian. Not only for the literal aspect of having eternal life in Christ, and therefore will never die, but also for the daily reality of being free from the sins of my flesh that would otherwise cause me to die. In Christ, there is only life. Life that has been enabled by His saving grace. Thankfully, this life is not limited to the hereafter of Heaven, but is lived out in the hearts of ordinary, forgiven people like me every day. Hopefully you are one of them, too. This life is sustained by the knowledge of God as revealed in his word, and by relationship with Him through prayer. Herein lies the purpose of, and my struggle with, this blog.

Thanks to the nature of my job, I have quite a bit of time on my hands. With less consistency than I would like to claim, this time is spent in sustaining my life in Christ. This blog exists so that I might share what the Spirit decides to share with me in that time, so that others may be blessed. Not that I am claiming to be a wise man or scholar, but the Spirit most definitely is, and is infinitely able to bless more than just me with the illumination of the Word. Along with this purpose come two struggles in my heart. First, that my time in the word will turn into a search for things to post here instead of a pursuit of a closer walk with Christ. Just because I am not a wise man or scholar doesn't mean that I don't have the desire to be thought of as one, and the enemy of my soul would love nothing more than to flatter me with those thoughts as I read the Scriptures and write here. Second, that my thoughts will be filled with errors, and at best I am inundated with cruel responses of correction and condemnation, (not to judge you in advance). At worst, I may lead someone astray into a false doctrine for which I will be held accountable before my God and King. In these struggles is where I hope to receive blessings from you in the forms of prayer for protection against the first struggle and sin in general, and gentle correction and guidance in the case of the second. Of course, encouragement is always helpful, as is healthy debate on touchy subjects that I'm sure will come up from time to time.

So I suppose I have explained my purposes, but with more humility than I could have in my flesh alone. Consider this the expression of my desire to be one with you in Christ, united in mind and purpose to obey our King and grow together in the faith, to humbly exhort and challenge you with the Word as I am exhorted and challenged by the Spirit, and to receive your humble corrections, exhortations and challenges likewise. In the course, let's all put aside vain conceit, consider each other better than ourselves, and look to each others interests.

Thanks for reading, and welcome!
-J