Today I’ve got a new batch of letters to the editor. Some weeks I get many and some weeks I get few. This week was somewhere right in the middle, I think. Here we go!
Comments on A Call for Plodding Bloggers
There was quite a response to my call for plodding bloggers which showed me just how many bloggers there are who feel discouraged by the response to their writing which, in turn, tells me how important it is for all of us to encourage people whose work benefits us. Here is a sampling of some of the letters I received:
Just wanted to say a brief word of thanks for this article. It might be one of those articles you consider small or insignificant, but it was very encouraging to me. Which, I guess, proves your point.
—Michelle L, Baton Rouge LA
I appreciated the article about plodding bloggers. I have been blogging since 2004, and I’ve watched my own blog grow in readership only to fall to a mere handful. I’ve been guided for a desire to get attention and a desire to just write well. I have found the latter to be a better motivation. A personal trial helped me realize that blogging can skew one’s priorities. I have found that when I write less from an acute awareness of the audience and more for the joy of writing, I am more content. I agree with you that we ought to plod on, and our efforts must be guided less by a desire for attention than a desire to be good communicators, sincere Christians, and people of integrity. Thanks for your thoughts on the subject.
—Kim S, Simcoe ON
Your words on blogging are so very appropriate for pastors, especially those of us who have served decades in small churches, not just those relatively few who have planted a church. After so many years we have to be regularly reminded to focus on the Lord and leave the results in His hands, and keep on doing the work, plodding on.
—Robin S, Gambrills MD
I am writing because I oh so enjoyed reading your article “A Call for Plodding Bloggers.” Reading it brought much joy to my heart, as that is exactly what I do. I blog more for my own enjoyment than I do for others. I don’t blog as frequently as I aspire to, however that is alright in my book. Maybe one day I will get there and have the time (and energy!) to blog on a more regular basis. But, as for now, I seek to Glorify God in all that I do, including my Plodding Blogging. So, once again, thank you for your words of encouragement!
—Jonathan B, North Fort Myers, FL
Thank you for this recent article. I write a small, obscure blog for the church that God has called me to serve at. When I started the blog, I viewed it as an opportunity to further the ministry of the Word to the body. Like you said, I quickly found little or no response. The result? Discouragement and the laying down of the pen. But recently (and thankfully), the Lord prompted me to get over my own pride and get back to the grind of producing a weekly blog for the church. Whether or not the Lord chooses to use these little nuggets (am I assuming they have value?), I have found the process both beneficial to my own soul and to my preaching as well. So, thank you for consistently plodding. May we plod on and not hit too many difficult stones in the process!
—Dave T, Connoquenessing, PA
Comments on Why I Am Not Atheist
Thank you for the article. I also grew up in the Christian faith and hold to the Reformed belief. Thank you for highlighting the sovereignty of God, that we believe because he designated that we believe, not because we choose too. However, my issue with this article is that it seems to state that you only believe because you simply grew up in the faith, and this is just what you were taught, and so you believed. Then what about someone who didn’t grow up in the faith? What about someone who doesn’t believe in the bible? The article seems to state that it was merely by chance that you believe, because you simply grew up that way. I hope I am making sense, but when I think about it from a non-believer stand point, the reasoning does not sound compelling because it is strictly from a Christian standpoint. It’s like saying I believe in the Bible because the Bible says I believe. What if you don’t believe at all? Personally, I agree completely with the article since I am too a believer, but thinking about it from a non-believer stand point, it seems like it could easily be said, I believe in Islam because that’s just how I grew up; I had no choice.
—Sam H, San Jose, CA
Tim: I said from the beginning that my purpose was not to write apologetics but to write from my own experience. To some degree the two are the same, but I do not intend to write “Why you should not be Roman Catholic” as much as “Why I am not Roman Catholic.” That is quite a different emphasis.
So you wrote an article talking about why you aren’t an atheist and then you attack almost every other Christian and deist faith in the world? You lessen the Koran and Book of Mormon which both testify of God. That gives more evidence thy God doesn’t exist. The more phony books of scripture that are out there, the less credible the Bible becomes. Also, NOTHING is more human than the Bible. It has so many obvious errors and interpolations of men that it’s barely legible at times. No book has been tampered with more. You really need to educate yourself a little more on not only religion, but basic writing and argument development before you write more articles.
—Alister F, Jackson, TN
Tim: There were surprisingly few responses of this nature which is unusual for when I write about atheism.
Comments on Fathers (and Mothers), Do Not Provoke Your Children!
Thank you so much for writing on this topic, and for clearly stating that it is indeed possible for a child’s anger to be more righteous than a parent’s treatment of them. My husband and I have been reminding each other of this admonition frequently as we have 3 children ages 6-11 (prime time)! However, I would love to see you write on the topic of parents who provoke their adult children. There are basic scriptural principles (honor your mother and father, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, etc.) that I feel can be applied. But very little specifics in evangelical, biblical circles about the way to handle/set boundaries with difficult adult parents. Thanks so much for your ministry!
—Sarah R, Newberg, OR
Tim: I have actually noticed that there is very little material written about the relationship with parents and adult children and seems to represent quite a gap in the Christian literature right now. I believe Christians would benefit from some guidance in how to respect and care for their aging parents and, of course, how to properly care for especially difficult ones.
