It has been quite a while since I posted to this blog. I have never been the most consistent at this, but the past six months or so I've completely stopped posting. In fact I've rarely even thought about the blog. I simply haven't wanted to write.
Ever since my mother passed away I've had a very hard time engaging with God on a personal level. The primary thing my mother and I would talk about was God, Christ, and Scripture. When she passed opening the Bible was like opening a wound. I'd read a passage and all I could think about was the conversations she and I had about it. So I created a defense mechanism; I began to look at theology, Scripture, and everything related to it in a purely intellectual light.
Don't get me wrong; I firmly believe in the importance of scholarship. That is, after all, a big focus of my life and service to God and the Kingdom. What is not OK is reducing God to a mere intellectual exercise. That was what I was doing in an effort to avoid the pain. It was easy to do, since I already was exploring the intellectual aspects of the faith anyway.
This blog has always been an intellectual exercise. The breakdowns of the various books of the Bible have primarily focused on the critical scholarship and themes of the books. I only rarely have touched on application. This isn't a bad thing, except that I was avoiding it intentionally. I didn't want to face the pain. Fortunately for me, and for all of us, God works in our lives regardless.
When I stopped writing this blog back in June of last year it was because I realized what was going on. I was avoiding God, afraid of the pain. I suddenly stopped writing because I knew I wasn't doing it for the right reasons. Far from engaging meaningfully with Scripture I was keeping it at a distance.
What really helped me was reading the book of Job. My Wednesday night group was going to study it and I needed to prepare. While the series on Job didn't last long (we did a broad strokes overview in one night) the process of studying it helped.
So here I am, ready to resume writing the blog again. I won't make any promises about a consistent upload schedule (I never was real good at that anyway) but I will start writing again, this time for the right reason of bringing glory to God and serving his people. I will also be posting to my other blog about pop culture and movies (The Christian Geekly) again.
Thank you all for reading and supporting me in this. I hope and pray that these blogs have proven educational or helpful in some way.
Ever since my mother passed away I've had a very hard time engaging with God on a personal level. The primary thing my mother and I would talk about was God, Christ, and Scripture. When she passed opening the Bible was like opening a wound. I'd read a passage and all I could think about was the conversations she and I had about it. So I created a defense mechanism; I began to look at theology, Scripture, and everything related to it in a purely intellectual light.
Don't get me wrong; I firmly believe in the importance of scholarship. That is, after all, a big focus of my life and service to God and the Kingdom. What is not OK is reducing God to a mere intellectual exercise. That was what I was doing in an effort to avoid the pain. It was easy to do, since I already was exploring the intellectual aspects of the faith anyway.
This blog has always been an intellectual exercise. The breakdowns of the various books of the Bible have primarily focused on the critical scholarship and themes of the books. I only rarely have touched on application. This isn't a bad thing, except that I was avoiding it intentionally. I didn't want to face the pain. Fortunately for me, and for all of us, God works in our lives regardless.
When I stopped writing this blog back in June of last year it was because I realized what was going on. I was avoiding God, afraid of the pain. I suddenly stopped writing because I knew I wasn't doing it for the right reasons. Far from engaging meaningfully with Scripture I was keeping it at a distance.
What really helped me was reading the book of Job. My Wednesday night group was going to study it and I needed to prepare. While the series on Job didn't last long (we did a broad strokes overview in one night) the process of studying it helped.
So here I am, ready to resume writing the blog again. I won't make any promises about a consistent upload schedule (I never was real good at that anyway) but I will start writing again, this time for the right reason of bringing glory to God and serving his people. I will also be posting to my other blog about pop culture and movies (The Christian Geekly) again.
Thank you all for reading and supporting me in this. I hope and pray that these blogs have proven educational or helpful in some way.
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