As the year begins (OK, so I’m a little late with this post just like the Santa one, but at least I’m posting it), it is helpful to evaluate why we’re here. Not necessarily in the grand, scheme of the cosmos sense, although that is always appropriate (”To glorify God by enjoying Him forever . . . ), but more in the sense of why are we here, at http://www.colossiansthreesixteen.com. In other words, why do I blog?

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but I try to differentiate myself a bit from some of the other blogs that are out there. Some seem to exist for the sole purpose of providing you links to other stuff which is fine and I actually do once a week. Others seem to thrive on confrontation, and/or pride over a particular theological point (or set of theological points, say five of them?), serving simply as a means of propaganda for that particular point and the argument(s) surrounding it.

The original impetus for starting the blog was actually fairly self-serving. Since I was no longer in seminary, I was not being forced in any sort of formal sense to put my thoughts together on a wide variety of issues (not that pastoring isn’t challenging!). Since seminary I’ve retained the desire to pursue further theological training, and as such, I wanted a venue where I would be forced to think critically on a variety of topics and have those thoughts open for interaction and critique (I’m not necessarily asking to be graded though). Part of my personal learning process is interaction and talking through issues, so I thought that a blog would be a good place to pursue those things because blogs, by nature, invite interaction and feedback.

The idea of putting my thoughts out for interaction and feedback is honestly one of the most attractive things about blogging for me. I don’t write posts to tell you what you ought to think on particular issues. Instead, I try to formulate my own thoughts into (I hope) coherent ramblings and then put them out there for feedback and discussion. This is different from my work as a pastor when I’m often telling people specifically what the Scriptures say. Here at the blog, I’m struggling to discern what it is that the Gospel does in fact have to say on a wide variety of issues. I want to wrestle with how the Gospel applies to all of life.

Blogging for me has never been a priority. I make a point not to let it interfere with my church or home and when it looks like it might, I simply don’t blog. I typically write a few posts at once so that it remains in the background. This approach also means that I don’t have to write a post every single day, even when I’m busy. I’ve been blogging now for approximately a year-and-a-half, and as I have, I hope you’ve noticed a theme developing: that, though I intentionally try to write on a wide variety of topics, there is a unity to all that happens here. That unity is the Gospel. I sincerely believe that the Gospel is for all of life, not just part of life and that much of the Christian life is actually brining every area of life under the subjection of the Gospel and filtering everything through it. The Gospel is about more than just getting into heaven.

It breaks my heart to see that many professing Christians do not know how to think biblically on a wide variety of issues. The thought that the Gospel is about more than just the saving of souls is utterly foreign to a great many people. While I don’t claim to have all of the answers, I do claim to be a fellow traveller who is striving to bring all of life under the rule and reign of the Gospel, to understand everything through its light.

Naturally, any blog is going to reflect the character of its author, so many of the issues addressed here include music, popular culture and the arts because those are some of my personal interests. I don’t take an interest in those things merely for themselves. Instead, I see each one as a vital avenue for the expression of the Gospel. My sincere desire is that we will get rid of the notion that is so common among many, that we can somehow compartmentalize our lives and that there are areas in which we don’t have to think or act like Christians.

The Gospel is for all of life and I want to understand and practice all that that means. That is why I blog.

• Read The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like The Rest of the World? by Ronald J. Sider
• Read The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith by Alan Wolfe
• Read Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer
• Read Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
• Read Desiring God by John Piper
• Read Eyes Wide Open: Looking For God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski