L.L. Barkat tagged me with an interesting "meme" that she created.  The task is to write "Five Ways Blogging Has Changed My Life."

1.  Blogging has become a discipline that has helped me sharpen my thoughts and clarify my thinking.  This blog exists to provide encouragement to its readers from the perspective of a Christ-follower.  These posts must necessarily be brief which forces me to really think through what I choose to post.

2.  Blogging has given me the opportunity to learn from some very good bloggers.  I have been blessed immensely by reading Scot McKnight’s blog.  His tone, manner, and approach to various issues has greatly impacted me.  There are other very fine bloggers who I am also encouraged by. 

3.  Blogging has allowed me the opportunity to interact with numerous people who I otherwise would have no contact with.  I thought about listing some of these people but I am afraid that I might leave someone out.  Many of these people are bloggers themselves.  Others are good people who have reading this blog for several years.

4.  Blogging has allowed me the opportunity to hear numerous stories.  Since the beginning of this blog, I have received numerous e-mails from a variety of people asking questions, sharing their story, and communicating in some way the status of their lives.  I feel honored that people would entrust me with concerns that are so important and in some cases, so deeply personal.

5.  Blogging has been a discipline which helped me pay attention to what God has done in history (as recorded in Scripture) and what he has done and is doing in my life.  The discipline of blogging has helped to sharpen my awareness of the work of God that is right in front of me in ordinary life.

At the end of this post, I will tag a few people to hopefully participate.

Here are the rules (L.L. Barkat)

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post (I’m not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the meme so I can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns and interesting discoveries.)
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

Perhaps the following people may want to consider being a part of this:

Matt Dabbs

Tony Miles

Arlene Kasselman

Brother Maynard

John Dobbs