Tag: thoughts

how then shall we blog?

It seems that I’m reading more and more thoughts from followers of Christ (and maybe those who aren’t) who are looking at the proper etiquette and attitude we should have towards blogging.

Brian McLaren said in a recent interview:

It’s way easier to talk than to actually do, and the people I respect the most spend less and less time critiquing and more and more time serving, loving, showing hospitality, listening, visiting, solving, caring, worshiping, praying, and so on.

I know for myself, I hope my blog shares more good than bad. I hope I’m writing for the common good rather than casting judgment or slinging arrows from afar. I hope my writing is amusing for some and causes others to think. I hope that the stories and thoughts I share preach good news to the poor, free the prisoners, give sight to the blind, release oppression and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. I know this isn’t a hard and fast creed of mine. I don’t double check what I write by these standards (probably even less so when it comes to politics) but I hope that some of these thoughts/standards/ideas become more fast and true when it comes to what I share here on my blog.

I started my blog back in 2005 originally as a way to share some of my thoughts/columns/writings I had after the death of my sister. The blog then developed into a cross between a place to share my weekly newspaper column with friends and family as well as a “link dump” in which I shared things I came across that I might have formerly e-mailed to a mass group in my address book (wish more people would take that route). Of course like all things, it’s evolved from that somewhat over the last 3 years.

It’s still a link dump at times (especially thanks to the automatic delicious link posts), its still commentary on how I see life and its a place where from time to time I share what’s going on in my world (although Twitter and Flickr have become the primary aggregates for that information.

Anyways….

I hope that this blog does more to show the good in people and ideas rather than the bad. I hope it holds to a generous orthodoxy. And I hope you still enjoy it regardless and you often walk away seeing things in a different light.

On that note, Tall Skinny Kiwi shares a poem he wrote back in 2005. (still trying to get back in touch with him for a podcast interview).

how shall we then blog?

with smile we publish glad tidings daily
with giggle we reveal our mundane humanity
with sigh we mirror the tragedies of broken people
with shout we send healing words through a keyboard
with bitten lip we offer more cheek to those who despise us
with double-take we acknowledge the publisher on the screen
with mumbling we paint mysteries with strange palette
with softened voice we offer answer from ourselves
with whisper we speak beyond ourselves
with twinkle we welcome past friends

to reawaken childhood dreams
to publish our journeys
to record our stories
to be noticed
to be heard
to point to
others
who
must
be heard also.

what standards do you try to uphold when blogging? what attitudes do you try to follow? what is challenging about it for you?

related ::
duncan mcfadzean :: blogging is not the solution
jesus manifesto :: brian mclaren – a new kind of ancient
tall skinny kiwi :: how then shall we blog
SSL :: first blog post
my links on delicious
my micro-blogging on twitter
my photos on flickr

Quote/idea/challenge for the day

“We tend… whenever we’re in an argument… I will argue the strongest part of my argument and I will direct it against the weakest part of your argument. You will in turn take the strongest part of your argument and attack the weakest part of my argument. And what I really want to do is to enter into dialogs where I can talk about the weakest part of my argument and you can talk about the weakest part of your argument and I can accept and celebrate the strongest part of yours and vice-versa.”

Dr. Peter Rollins
Interviewed on The Nick and Josh Podcast

Re: Things in the fire

Well the Dallas Stars lost — another Dallas team fell short of the championship after making it to the playoffs. I should say I’m mortified, saddened, in a state of disbelief – but I think I’ve lost some of my competitive nature and/or just lost interest in most professional sports. In fact I’ve probably lost any real interest in just about every professional sport other than the Dallas Cowboys and maybe the Green Bay Packers (although that’s now diminished a lot since Brett Favre retired).

Thought I’d go back and check up on my “things in the fire list from last week.”

Let’s see…

* …finally finished uploading over 1700 photos to Flickr for the CWF. – CHECK
* …added several new videos to GodTube as well. – CHECK
* …plan to add several more videos to GodTube and probably YouTube. – FAILED
* …hope to build a new light box for our lights at encounter. – “DELEGATED” TO ANOTHER VOLUNTEER – CHECK
* …hope to finish a keepsake box I started for Laurie as a wedding gift (long story there…) – CHECK
* …plan to launch the new encounterthis.com around midnight tonight if not before. – CHECK
* …tomorrow is a men’s event for SniperInstinct – a cool blending of outdoor paintball and laser tag. – CHECK
* …finish updating the HTML files for various degree plans for work. – CHECK

New things on my plate…

I think we finally decided on a name for the pending podcast that Thomas and I are working on. I think we’re going with “Something Beautiful – conversations with ordinary radicals.” Now we just have to figure out some of the logistics in setting up interviews and such with a six hour time difference between us. The name comes from Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change:

If we believe, we can be transformed into agents of something beautiful that is trying to be born in our world. We can be caught up in the unfolding, emergent, spiraling process of God giving birth to a beautiful whole, the Kingdom of God.

Thoughts? Our idea for the podcast is a unique blend of This American Life & All Things Considered on NPR with a focus on “ordinary radicals” and those finding ways to live their life based on the Third Way of Jesus. We’ll primarily focus on those ordinary folks who as Acts says, “have been with Jesus.” Maybe we’ll get lucky and get a few “celebrities” along the way but we’re really interested in hearing and seeing how the Jones’ are putting the teachings of Jesus into real life application. So if you have ideas for a topic or show, let us know.

Also, I finally ordered a couple new books from Amazon today – Pagan Christianity? and A Christianity Worth Believing. I wish I had been one of the lucky ones to get a PDF copy of Doug Pagitt’s A Christianity Worth Believing, so I could blog about the book and review it right away – but then again folks may have gotten upset when I printed the entire book out on my home or work printer.

I’m looking forward to starting both reads – now I just have to figure out which to start with.

Well that’s about it. I thought I’d wait up a bit to see if Thomas wakes up in time for us to do a little pre-podcast Skyping/recording. If not – no biggie we’ll catch each other on the flipside.