Skip to content ↓

Ups & Downs of Blogging

I love blogging. It really has changed my life. I have hesitated to say so before now, but believe I have been blogging long enough now to say so with some degree of certainty. It was November 1, 2003 that I decided I would commit to blogging on a daily basis. Since then I have written at least something on this site every day and have often written more than one thing. On occassion I have even written something good! This is the 202nd day since then and I haven’t missed a day yet. I’m kind of proud of that. I’m the type of person who picks things up for a week or two and then puts them down for months. I haven’t put down blogging yet and have not even been tempted. It is still a joy to write something every day.

It is interesting to browse through the archives and see how I seem to blog in a cyclical manner. For a few days or weeks I will post theological dissertations and then for the next few weeks focus on Bible studies. Then I may turn to writing about music before turning to reflections on life. Lately it seems I have been reflecting on life quite a bit and writing some thoughts about that. I suppose I will probably return to writing about theology again before long. The nice thing about having a blog is that I am free to write whatever I want, whenever I want. There is no need to follow a theme or cover a certain topic.

Interestingly, I find that I get more visitors to this site when I say things that are controversial. My articles about The Passion of the Christ drew tens of thousands of people to the site. Recently the numbers reading my reflections on life have dwindled to mere hundreds. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I’m sure there is a lesson about human nature in there somewhere! I think I prefer writing what I want to write and not succumbing to the temptation to post things that are controversial just to draw people here. That would be rather self-serving, wouldn’t it?

Author and pastor Ian Brown was kind enough to offer to send me a copy of his newest book which has just been published. Naturally I took him up on his offer as I make it a point never to refuse things that are free! It is entitled What You Need To Know About The Passion of the Christ. I will be reading and reviewing that in the next couple of days. Maybe that will stir up the pot a little bit and bring people running to this site ready for a fight! Just kidding, of course…


  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…

  • Ask Pastor John

    Ask Pastor John

    I admit it: I felt a little skeptical about Ask Pastor John. To be fair, I feel skeptical about most books that begin in one medium before making the leap to another. Books based on sermons, for example, can often be pretty disappointing—a powerful sermon at a conference can make a bland chapter in a…