List-Serves, iPods, Blogs, and all the Rest: Why Should I Bother With Them Anyway?

I’m actually not very savvy in the ever-expanding world of electronics. I’m a slow learner, usually far behind my peers in developing know-how with the latest electronic gadget. I only recently bought an off-brand MP3 player (the basic equivalent to an iPod Shuffle) and still do not own a digital camera. When I think about it, I’m not sure but that one reason why I haven’t rushed to get these things is because I’m just a little intimidated by them. I only barely know what a mega-pixel is and it took several hours of reading and comparing to get up the nerve to bid on an MP3 player on ebay!

So, for those of you who are not even sure what a blog is and are reading this because you know me, not because of any particular interest in the internet or blogging, I feel your pain. New electronic gizmos are thrown our way almost every day and the older you are, the harder it is to get excited about it. It is just one more thing to feel incompetent with! So, why bother?

Well, the simple answer is: God.

If all of life is for knowing God and making him known, then that includes the electronic parts of life as well. Not that every one of us need to have electronics in our lives. We don’t and if you read this blog totally unconvinced of its usefulness to your spiritual life, you will not hurt my feelings if you never log on again. There is nothing inherently satisfying about the internet. It is just one of many battlefields where affections for God can be increased or diminished.

But for myself, I have found the internet and MP3 audio files and list-serves and iPods (or at least my off-brand) and all the rest to be great aides to my capacity to know God and make him known. They help me know God better by giving me much more ready access to information (articles, essays, sermons, blogs, music, reviews, etc.) that can increase my knowledge of and love for God. And they help me make God known by giving me an outlet to publish and distribute information (articles, essays, sermons, blogs, reviews – but sorry, no music) to any one who is interested without having to go through the traditional channels (not to mention expenses) of editors, publishing companies, etc.

Whether that is persuasive enough for you to come back to this blog or not, I don’t know. But hopefully, if you do return, you’ll find your soul fed with a few crumbs from the Master’s table.

2 comments:

Tim said...

so is a blog casual web page or is it something more?

Brian G. Hedges said...

A blog is a web log, basically an online journal on whatever the person writing the blog wants to write about.

Some good blogs to check out are:

http://www.hughhewitt.com/

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php

http://www.worldmagblog.com/blog/

For some interesting stats on blogging, see:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1093&ncid=1093&e=4&u=/pcworld/20050811/tc_pcworld/122185