Edie: Shouldn't everybody care about everybody else? Terry: Boy, what a fruitcake you are!
-- From "On the Waterfront"
Well, this may be the start of something beautiful. I can only hope.
This my third, or fourth (maybe my fifth) attempt at a blog. I've tried blogs that are basically me spouting off about whatever I want and I've tried to keep my blog focused on something particular. I think I like the general purpose blog, but I will try to focus on one thing, a big thing. Sticking to Scripture. I'm going to use this blog as a repository of thoughts on life and stuff, circling around the question of how do we live a life of significance as followers of Jesus Christ. But Scripture is going to be my anchor. There are a lot of preachers and websites and podcasts and books out there. But I find that a lot of Christians, even leaders, aren't very grounded in Scripture. So when I contemplate my navel, I hope to do it from a Scriptural point of view. I'm also hoping for some conversation with you, and you and you (yes, I'm pointing at you. You know who you are.) I find there's too little conversation in the Christian community. Too much certainty. Too little searching.
The name for this blog, "Snorting Horses," comes from, as you can see above, the prophet Jeremiah. (The Dan in this case refers to the tribe of Dan in the north of Israel and the snorting horses are those belonging to the invading armies coming to wreak judgment on Judah.) For me, it reminds me of being someone through whom God communicates both judgment and salvation. I want people who know me or meet me to hear God's horses snorting. As Paul said, to be a fragrance of life or of death:
"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
Typically, I suspect I am going to be sharing thoughts from my quiet times; notes from books I'm reading; posting links to articles and blogs etc. that I find personally interesting or that I think others may find interesting, especially in the context of a Christian living in a fallen world; and the struggles and challenges of trying to be an effective servant for the Lord.
A little bit about me to help you decide whether you and I might have something in common:
- I am a journalist by trade, with pretensions/hopes of being a real writer some day. Some of my favorite authors are E.B. White, Wendell Berry and James Joyce. My ambitions to do this are quickly slipping away as I age.
- I am a father of four and a husband of one.
- I help oversee my church's small group ministry. I don't really feel qualified but nobody has stepped up to take my place. Some of my favorite authors/preachers currently include John Piper, Mark Driscoll and Mark Galli.
- I love God's Word. There is very little that excites me more. It troubles me that it doesn't excite more people. I pray that God will raise up people who "tremble" at his Word (Ezra 9:4) and who will go first to God's Word for the issues they face rather than relying on their emotions or other humans such as preachers, radio squawkers and authors.
- I am interested in church planting and am convinced it is the strategy for reaching the world with the Gospel that is the most effective and most biblical. In my opinion, every church should start planting as many churches as quickly as possible regardless of location. The more churches the better. I currently am not involved in a church plant. But I hope to be and I am trying to prepare myself to be ready to help in one.
- I love baseball, especially the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres.
- When it comes to music, I'm currently crazy about U2, David Crowder, Chris Tomlinson and a few others.
- I love movies. Some of my all-time favorites include John Ford films, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, On the Waterfront. Current favorites include Apocalypto, Pan's Labyrinth and, as a sub-genre, Viking movies. These include The 13th Warrior, The Long Ships, The Viking and The Pathfinder. It is my theory that it is impossible to make a bad viking movie. If it is a bad Viking movie, then it's probably not a Viking movie.
So, feel free to comment. When you post a comment, you'll be asked to do a little exercise to prove that you are human, so no offense. As far as a schedule, I generally will post something fun or funny on Monday, Internet gleanings on Friday, and quiet time thoughts or reading notes or who knows what in between.
