Thursday, February 5, 2009

Why I Blog - 1 Year Mark


Today makes one year since I started blogging. Yep, I started February 6 last year. Here are some statistics about this blog site:
  • In one year I have posted 457 entries, (not counting the articles on Calvinism that I removed and saved to another file).
  • That’s an average of 38 writings per month
  • There have been more than 37,000 visits (or hits) to this site
  • That’s an average of 3,000 hits (or more) per month
  • Both friend and foe visit here frequently
  • Many people from out of town and out of state log on
  • Other pastors frequent this sight as well – so I am sometimes writing to them.


Why do I blog? I think all pastors should do so. Here’s why I do:

1. To develop my writing and thinking skills. Writing has great value for helping me develop new ideas and new insights. By striving to write well, I am also developing deeper thinking.

2. To teach. Here is where I get to say those things that I didn’t get to say on Sunday. In fact, I used to call this blog “My Other Pulpit” for that very reason. As a teacher, I have more to communicate than I can possibly offer in 30 minutes on a Sunday morning, so blogging gives me an outlet. Furthermore, I can address a wide range of topics.

3. To be known personally. The congregation of PCC hears me teach a lot on Sunday mornings, and is probably the main way most people know me. This is good – it’s my job. But it is NOT all of me. Not that anyone doesn’t already know this – but I am far more than the sermons I preach.

I am a husband and father. I have friends. I have enemies. I have some unusual quirks that make me unique. I have hobbies, likes and dislikes. These are the things that make me who I am, and that make me the person who leads your church. They are windows into my personality that may stay shuttered when I’m teaching the Bible.

I can’t be personally accessible to everyone – there’s just not enough of me to go around – but through this blog it’s another way for people to know me as a human being.

Letting people catch a glimpse of my personality is one way of adding authenticity to my teaching and depth to my ministry.