Introspection

In our sermon today, our pastor made the point that all peoples desire to worship corporately, alongside and along with other people. This is true whether we're talking about true, Christian worship or secular "worship." He gave the example of two friends going to see a fantastic movie. When they leave the theatre, they begin to talk excitedly and share what they liked about the film. They share a common experience and it binds them together, so to speak. Now, let's say that later in the same week, one of the guys is having dinner with friends and the movie comes up in conversation. Remember, this guy loved this movie; you wouldn't expect him to sit idly by and listen while others discuss it, would you? No! He's going to enter in and join the conversation with excitement, telling about the parts he especially liked, urging those who hadn't yet seen it to be sure to go, saying that he'd like to see it again, asking if anyone wants to go see it again with him!

It's the same way with sports fans. If you're a fan of any team, you're always ready to join in on a conversation with other fans, even if you don't know them! You hear a couple of strangers at the bus stop discussing yesterday's game and if they're talking about your team, you tend to jump right in.

That's because we all like to talk about and share with others those things that we care about, the things that get us excited, the things that are important to us. We want to share them with other people. We hope that they love ( or will love) them as much as we do. We want to be able to talk with them, to tell them what they mean to us, to find a common experience.

Now, this morning my pastor was talking about corporate worship, the idea that our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever and that we enjoy Him best in the context of worship. It was a great sermon.

But, as I've been thinking about it today, it got me thinking about my blog. I took a little vacation not long ago in order to sort of think through why I do this blogging thing every day and what I want my blog to be and to accomplish--what it is that I am excited about and want to share with others. And I realized that what I most want to share here is my Christian faith, my love for Christ, and by extension my love for some of the writings that have taught me so much and have influenced how I think, how I read, and how I worship.

You've probably noticed that the content of my blog has changed somewhat. In some ways there is less of me (less memes and quizzes, at any rate!) and more of folks like Thomas Watson, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Hooker, and others. That's because I want to share with you the things that have informed my Christian life and my worship. They are the things that matter most to me.

And I've noticed something interesting. The number of daily "hits" on my sitemeter has gone waaaaay down. I have fewer people reading my humble blog. And yet at the same time, I've noticed that I have added a few more regular, faithful, daily readers and subscribers. That tells me that there are folks out there like me, that care about the same things that I do, and want to experience the same things that I do.

I realize that I could boost my "stats" by playing along more often or writing personal entries more often, but in the final analysis, the "stats" mean less to me than accomplishing what I have set out to do: share with you the things that teach me, that challenge me, that cause me to sit in awe before God and His Word. ( I also realize that this may, indeed, be the most personal entry I have ever posted)

I hope that from time to time you will read something here excites you, too.