The 500th Post

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This is officially the 500th post on “Fear and Trembling.”  I just want to share some random thoughts on blogging and the Christian life.

Preparing blog posts has been a serious pastime, and the research and thought I have put into this blog have changed me for the better.  I have a deeper understanding of theology and apologetics than I had when I started. 

However, when I blog it is easy to think I have done my duty in evangelism / apologetics or teaching.  This is a dangerous thing.  It is much easier to sit in front of a computer and research and type than it is to be actively involved in the ministry of a local church as it confronts an increasingly pagan culture.  My blog has had some impact (over 42,000 page views since 2007 according to Google Analytics and Blogger), but that impact is not easily measurable because few people leave comments.  By contrast, I can clearly see the impact of personal relationships and personal involvement in the lives of others.

I have been able to revise and republish several blog posts as articles for our local newspaper, The Union City, Tennessee, “Daily Messenger.”    Several have commented to me in person about the impact of those articles.  Maybe blogging has been just preparation for something else.  I am considering writing a book based on the latest series of those newspaper articles and seeking publication.  Only God knows how that one will work out.  It may be a very humbling exercise.

I have not resolved the tension in my own mind between the differing schools of thought on Christian apologetics.  I have written from the evidential, classical, presuppositional and reformed epistemological perspectives at some point or another in this endeavor.  I still do not know where exactly I come out in all of that controversy.  I am aware of exactly what I do not know at this point, and if you think about it, that is a step in the right direction.  I will keep praying and studying as the Lord gives me opportunity.

“Fear and Trembling” has documented my struggle over which denomination to join.  I am happy that that has been a difficult choice.  Religious freedom in the USA has allowed me to have choices, and I am very thankful to God for that freedom.  I was Southern Baptist; I seriously considered the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod; and I am now PCA (Presbyterian Church in America).  A Christian can find the gospel in all of those places, but you see where I ended up.  The Westminster Standards won the day.

Lastly, sanctification is rough business.  Think of Aslan’s claws on Eustace in C. S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  My experience in the Christian life has not been the dramatic deliverance from besetting sins that some of my friends claim, but a slow process of little victories and all to frequent setbacks.  He loves much who has been forgiven much. 

What was it John Newton is credited with saying toward the end of his life?  “Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”  I need Christ to be my great Savior because I am a great sinner.

My posts have been infrequent lately, and I expect that to continue.  I am concentrating my effort on my local church, where I am a Ruling Elder, and my family, where I am a husband and father.  I will be back though, Lord willing, when I have something worth sharing.

May God bless you richly in Christ Jesus.

Comments

Brenda said…
We can only share our faith when we feel led to, there is a time for everything, and we do not have to worry about that as 'one plants, one waters, but it is God who adds the increase.' We are just the chess pieces, our wonderful God is the Master who moves us and wins the game.
God bless
April 08, 2015
J. K. Jones said…
Thanks, Brenda.
June 29, 2015
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