Why I Write

When blogging arrived on the scene, it spoke to me.

Previous to blogging, I was responsible for a weekly bulletin article. Usually limited to about 250-300 words. I did this for years in the various church bulletins I encountered during my ministry. One of the things I was sure of was that my parishioners would NOT read my weekly tomes.

After moving to California, my friend, Jon, started being my own private editor and mentor in all things journalistic. Jon was a columnist for the Sacramento Bee, and a very good one. He was once published on A-1 (above the fold) of the LA Times.

Jon, as much as anyone, whetted my appetite for writing. It became craft to me as he showed me how to make my perfunctory weekly bulletin articles much more readable and compelling. One week I titled one of my bulletin articles, “She kissed me on the lips.” Boy, did that get the readers!

Writing has become ministry to me. There is so much bad information, “alternative facts,” and other garbage in our world now, I feel responsible to provide a sane voice. Writing has also become, for me. a way to teach people with whom I get only tokens of their time. Here are the most important reasons I write.

• Someone has to underscore the importance of reading. I know that reading is on the wane, nevertheless the pastor/teacher is caught in a conundrum – “how do you teach people if they don’t make a habit of showing up?” Writing is what is left.
• Someone has to speak for God in this scrambled, insane world. I talked with my daughter recently about the rise of Nihilism in our nation. It is insidious and toxic, and it aggressively undermines the knowability of truth. How will we teach the gospel or any other important idea if there is no respect for truth. Kelly Ann Conway dared to speak of this heresy when she spoke of “alternative facts.”
• Someone has to ring the alarm. We are going to hell in an unbridled, unhindered way as a nation. Ezekiel warned that a sentinel who sees a threat coming and does not warn the people will be held accountable for the resulting carnage. I think that is the state of many pastors and religious leaders today. I write to ring the alarm.
• Someone has to teach the truth of the gospel. Like it or not, reading is the primary way we learn about God and what God wants from us.

I pray that LifeSpringers will be curious and hungry, two requirements for being a reader. Facebook and other social media devices are not good places to quench that hunger but only lead more deeply into the pit of lies that we currently struggle with.

Read.