With fear and trembling...

Hello family and friends,

Today I'm launching out into the deep, so to speak, and starting something new. While this blog has existed for a while, in it's construction phase, I haven't been brave enough to tell anyone about it until now. Today I've sent out emails to let people know that we are officially "on the air," or whatever the heck it is blogs travel on :). So... TAH DAH!!!

For several months I've been thinking about starting a blog as a way of reaching out a little beyond my current arm's length in order to connect with younger folks in our community who are more in touch with what has been termed, "the new media." I'm hoping this will be a way to connect with new people, and also to relate in a deeper way to the folks I love and serve at the church where I am a pastor [Sellwood Baptist in Portland, OR].

A friend in Hawaii who has been coaching and helping me along sent me this cartoon about blogging. I thought it was worth sharing.












I can't guarantee the quality control of the things you will read on this blog. Like the heading advertises, these are the ravings of a lunatic, so "buyer beware." I will try my best, however, to share some good things along the way, too--funny things to make you laugh, devotional thoughts to help you grow in your walk with Christ, personal observations about life in general, and, of course, embarrassing facts about many of the people I know.

Just kidding! I was just putting you on about the personal observations about life in general.

Today is Thursday, and I have worship team practice tonight to get ready for Sunday. I always look forward to Thursday night practices because the group functions like a small group fellowship. For the first few minutes we share what has been going on in our lives and then we take some time for prayer--for ourselves, our families, friends who are going through trials, and people we want to see come to faith in Christ. I feel sorry for Christians who are not plugged into some kind of small group. It is there, more than in the Sunday morning setting, that we learn what it means to be a Christian in community.

You see, God never intended for us to live out our Christian lives in isolation from other believers. He intended for us to experience real family and friendship in a setting of genuine love and acceptance, but that can only happen where we allow people to know us in an intimate way. Loving, satisfying relationships require pushing past our fear of rejection and taking the risk of letting people know who we really are, behind the masks that we wear so much of the time.

If you are not part of a regular small group fellowship, I urge you to get plugged into one, soon. We have several at our church now and plan to start more in the near future. If you would like to host one or be a part of one give us a call and we'll help you get connected.

I've gotta run. Give me some feedback if you have helpful suggestions for this blog. On the other hand, if you are one of my moonbat friends or relatives who just likes to kibitz, stow it!

Still crazy, but I love you...
Mike

P.S. If you notise eny misspellinggs, you have my ful apollogies. This edittor doesn't havee a spelcheker and I fell so losht without won.