Blogging... with purpose

This semester, I’m taking a class called “Capstone Seminar in Christian Life.” It’s pretty much the “capstone” course for every single person who graduates from JBU, reserved only for seniors. One of the main focuses in the class is to examine, study, practice, and hopefully cultivate spiritual disciplines in our own lives. Since my degree falls within the realm of the Bible division, I am required to do a little extra work as part of my degree. This extra work is a research paper on a particular spiritual discipline. Included in this assignment is the admonition to actually practice the spiritual discipline. Makes sense, doesn’t it? It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to learn about something that it a tool to help us grow in our faith and not actually put it into practice and find out about it ourselves.

The spiritual discipline that I am researching for my project this semester is that of writing. As far as I can tell, just about every single major figure in the history of Christianity has been a well-published author. Perhaps that is what makes them a major figure; regardless, writing has been at the bedrock of Christian doctrine and practice. It continues today with prominent pastors and theologians publishing works. It’s hard to find a pastor of a large church who has not published a work. So, I am going to research the spiritual discipline of writing throughout this semester and figure out what it is about this practice that so many influential Christians find worthwhile.

Additionally, I will be practicing my own spiritual discipline of writing through this blog. I hope to post about three times a week on a topic that has to do with Christianity, spirituality, or theology in some form or fashion. Perhaps I will post some of what I am finding in my research as I prepare my paper. Some posts will probably be commentary on scriptures. Others might focus on personal encounters and lessons I’ve learned recently. Chances are, I will comment on current events through a Christian worldview.

I pray that this will be a beneficial practice for me as well as for anyone who might stumble upon these words of mine.