Where Do We Go From Here?

I started this blog because I love writing, and wanted a platform that would allow me to do so regularly.  I am still trying to figure out what to focus on in my blog.  I know being “random” is the point of a lot of blogs these days, but I wanted mine to be cohesive.  I wanted to eventually develop a rhythm that all five readers would come to expect. :)  And I wanted to be disciplined to be thinking about and planning what I’m going to write, so I can contribute something to cyberspace worth reading.  As I brainstormed with my biggest supporter, my husband Dan, these are some of the ideas we came up with (many borrowed from other blogs):

Book Reviews: Biographies, Theology, etc.

Missions Mondays: Reflections on our Life in Senegal

Word of the Week

Songs/Hymns and their History

Quotes

Devotional Thoughts

On Motherhood and Domestic Life: Recipes, Frugal Tips, Isabella Stories, Lessons Learned

Stories to Amuse, Entertain, and Inspire: How I met Dan, How I ended up on my DTS with YWAM, My Odyssey from Tanzania to South Africa, Two Months Living in a Liberian Refugee Camp, Tales from the Barrio (Inner City Chicago Living), etc.

Theological Questions/Quandries/Trends: Contextualization, Creationism, Women’s Roles, God’s Sovereignty, the Miraculous Gifts, etc.

The last item is what spurred me on to start this blog.  I love studying and discussing theology.  After a few years hiatus, I've rediscovered that passion for studying the Word of God once again.  I'm starting to follow some theological bloggers, and I'm thinking maybe I could join them.  A part of me has been reluctant to jump into controversial issues.  I want people to like me!  I don’t want to offend anyone!  What if I start getting “unfriended” on Facebook? :)

Then, I read this quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon (a 19th century British pastor and theologian) and I knew that those questions don’t matter as much as the pursuit of truth.  If someone doesn’t like what I have to say, they can either respectfully interact with me on it, or remove me from their friends list and be done with it! 

It is very pretty, is it not, to read of Luther and his brave deeds? Of course, everybody admires Luther! Yes, yes; but you do not want any one else to do the same to-day. When you go to the Zoological Gardens you all admire the bear; but how would you like a bear at home, or a bear wandering loose about the street? You tell me that it would be unbearable, and no doubt you are right.

So, we admire a man who was firm in the faith, say four hundred years ago; the past ages are a sort of bear-pit or iron cage for him; but such a man to-day is a nuisance, and must be put down. Call him a narrow-minded bigot, or give him a worse name if you can think of one. Yet imagine that in those ages past, Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, and their compeers had said, "The world is out of order; but if we try to set it right we shall only make a great row, and get ourselves into disgrace. Let us go to our chambers, put on our night-caps, and sleep over the bad times, and perhaps when we wake up things will have grown better." Such conduct on their part would have entailed upon us a heritage of error. Age after age would have gone down into the infernal deeps, and the pestiferous bogs of error would have swallowed all. These men loved the faith and the name of Jesus too well to see them trampled on.

The inspiration I find from this bold assertion doesn’t entirely answer the question of what I’m going to write about in this blog.  Yes, I can address theological trends, but what else should I write about?  Feel free to give suggestions, whether it’s a vote for something from the list above, or something else.  I’d love to hear from you!

(I thought of inserting a picture of Charles Spurgeon here, but I think Isabella is way cuter.  Some may disagree!  Take the snap shot of this finger pointing, chocolate covered cutie as an invitation: "Hey You!  Come on over.  Let's talk theology!")