Let the record show that we are over 500 posts on the blog.  This brings a question to my mind.  Why write a blog?  There are blogs of all shapes on sizes out there now.  All you need is a computer to start your very own.  More than a few of these things started out small yet became very popular and profitable for a select few.  You may want to know this is not the case for this one.  Some political blogs turned their editors into media celebrities.  The same can be said for blogs in entertainment and sports.  Our religious world is not immune from this development.  My guess is you could "google" religious blogs to be overwhelmed with the response.  I have a few of these that are part of my regular reading.  We do live in a very different world than we once did.  Anyone is free to express their opinions on the Internet whether right or wrong.

It seems to me that most blogs begin not for information sake but to attack or argue some issue.  This is obviously going to be true in the political world.  Someone on either side of the political aisle will set out to defend their point of view without the usual restraints of journalism.  You may be surprised to know this is also a reason for more than a few religious blogs.  My denomination is riddled with men or women who take to this medium to put forth some point of view.  These writings can and do many times become mean spirited or even ugly.  Do not attempt to read some of these as they are not for the faint hearted.  Some begin to criticize churches, pastors or even whole sections of a denomination.  You will not have to read for long to understand why life seems so fractured today even in the church.  The world of the blog allows for people to express themselves rather than keeping it under wraps.

None of the above has anything to do with my writing.  My simple goal at the start was to use this tool as a means of putting things down that might offer some insight or even encouragement.  Some of the posts were going to be information oriented in terms of current church events.  I hoped to build or expand on sermons or studies beyond what is said on a Sunday.  I enjoy writing whether or not there is any talent here.  We started very slow with more than a few bumps along the way.  Even the best of intentions are not always met with the same level of response.  And so we took more than a little time away on a few occasions.  Life got very bumpy for awhile.  Perhaps it was just setting the stage for another and much larger hurdle to cross.

Being diagnosed with cancer was a jump start on using the blog for communicating about my journey.  We wrote more here since that day back in May, 2010 than at anytime before.  It really seemed a good idea to use this site to allow anyone interested to stay current with my illness.  We also used to to connect as to spiritual lessons being learned along the way.  Now we continue to write long after moving into remission from that disease.  The original question was why do the blog?  There is no single answer that comes to mind.  I can only hope that my few discoveries or expressions of faith can contribute to another person.  This is a reflection of where I am with God at any given moment.  Sometimes that can be a messy thing to put out for public view.  Maybe there are times when it expresses real hope as we move through life.  I still hope it will be an encouragement to how God works even in the messiest times of life. 

Bro. Trey