GOING PUBLIC

Well, I have taken the plunge. I am about to go public and see what happens! Here is my article that will launch my career as a blogger!!!

I have started something new, well new for me. For a while now I have wanted to start a blog and now I have done it. It doesn’t cost anything other than some time and, to be honest, I am enjoying the experience. Trouble is I have not yet shared the experience with anyone else because no one else knows about it – until now!

From a technical perspective, a blog is a contraction of the term "web log" and is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. By the way, "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. I expect most of you knew that.

My blog is more like an on-line personal diary, reflecting on events I have been to, things I have seen, heard or read. I guess it’s more for my sake than anyone else but it feels like I am leaving something. It feels permanent as it is saved somewhere and is accessible to anyone who wants to log on and read it. If they knew about it.

On the particular host I am using I am one of 110,738,193 unique bloggers. I have joined over 110 million other people who are doing what I’m doing! What’s the point? Ego? I think I’ve got something to say! Discipline? Reflecting on what is happening in my life and creating a permanent reminder of it to look back on. Everybody’s doing it? Helps me feel like I am up with the times? I’ve got too much time on my hands? I might be able to reach someone with the good news about Jesus? To be honest, I’m not sure. My motives may not all be pure and holy but it feels good to write something, make it public and think that someone, somewhere, sometime might read it – perhaps it is just ego after all!

Well, I’ve done it now and who knows. I thought it would be a good thing to do when I go on my Sabbatical, an on-line diary of what I am doing, a good discipline to record and remember what each day brings, what God is teaching me, the people I meet, and the moments that matter.

It is good to remember. Every day to stop and remember all that God has done. You don’t have to blog to remember. The children of Israel would build an altar when they encountered God and he had done an amazing thing amongst them. The Jews still remember through the Passover Meal the time when God rescued them from captivity. Jesus asked us to remember his broken body and shed blood whenever we ate, to remember the cross, his love for the whole world, his sacrifice that would lead to freedom.

Remembering isn’t about getting stuck in the past, it is about providing a platform for the future, to be aware that God has been with you and will be with you. To learn lessons form what has happened and grow and deepen your relationship with God. Then, in those days when you feel alone, afraid or uncertain you can look back and remember with thanks and move forward with confidence that the One whose Presence had been with you, the One who gave His life for you, loves you enough to be with you again.

That’s why I am a blogger now. If nobody reads it, it really doesn’t matter because I will be able to remember and give thanks.