by 
Aren’t there enough of them already? Do I have anything truly meaningful to add to a world that’s already saturated with the rants, raves, ramblings, and reflections of people who, in many cases, are wiser, more interesting, more experienced and more articulate than I? Even if I do, will my voice be heard among the clamor of competing opinions, perspectives, and persuasions?
To be honest, I’m not sure. As a matter of fact, those questions have kept me from doing this for a long time.
So why start now?
I believe a conversation is taking place that is shaping the future of the church, at least in America. Important questions are being asked about important topics like the Bible, doctrine, discipleship, and the church. I certainly don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I do think that we need to engage with these questions honestly. If we want to be a part of God’s mission on earth we simply cannot afford to hunker down in our camps and remain divided over non-essential issues. Yes, I realize that is more difficult than it sounds. Yes, I realize that means that we actually have to decide what is essential and what isn’t. Yes, I realize that means that people from different camps need to sit down and talk with each other. Respectfully. And listen. Actually listen.
I digress.
I’m starting a blog because the public square has moved online along with everything else. People don’t interact with each other face-to-face the way that they used to. I think this is sad, but I don’t think protesting it is going to change it so I might as well get used to it if I want to participate in the conversation. There is an upside, however, in that the conversation is now more global than it ever has been. People from all over the world can share stories, experiences, and insights with one another instantaneously. That’s important because it helps me remember that my middle-class American Christianity is not the only perspective. There is value in conversation and shared ideas. I’ve done the Facebook discussions, and the have their place, but that format doesn’t really lend itself to the thoughtful reflection necessary to wrestle with the tough questions.
I’m also starting a blog because I believe following Jesus is a team sport. Yes, I know that there are elements of faith that are, and should be, intensely personal. I also know that I have no faith to share without a personal relationship with God. Having said that, the church is supposed to be a community. God called us to a body. We’re supposed to love each other, learn from each other, and challenge each other. We’re supposed to laugh together, cry together and experience life together. While an online community definitely does not take the place of a local church, online discussions can be a great way to stay engaged with and connected to a larger body of believers.
Finally, I’m starting a blog because following Jesus isn’t always easy and doing it right is a full-life commitment. There are tough questions that need to be wrestled with, tough decisions that need to be made, and tough actions that need to be taken. Putting my thoughts in writing will help me wrestle with some of these tough questions. Sharing my thoughts with you will, hopefully, strengthen, sharpen, and challenge you as well as allow you to respond and do the same for me.
To be honest, I’m not sure. As a matter of fact, those questions have kept me from doing this for a long time.
So why start now?
I believe a conversation is taking place that is shaping the future of the church, at least in America. Important questions are being asked about important topics like the Bible, doctrine, discipleship, and the church. I certainly don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I do think that we need to engage with these questions honestly. If we want to be a part of God’s mission on earth we simply cannot afford to hunker down in our camps and remain divided over non-essential issues. Yes, I realize that is more difficult than it sounds. Yes, I realize that means that we actually have to decide what is essential and what isn’t. Yes, I realize that means that people from different camps need to sit down and talk with each other. Respectfully. And listen. Actually listen.
I digress.
I’m starting a blog because the public square has moved online along with everything else. People don’t interact with each other face-to-face the way that they used to. I think this is sad, but I don’t think protesting it is going to change it so I might as well get used to it if I want to participate in the conversation. There is an upside, however, in that the conversation is now more global than it ever has been. People from all over the world can share stories, experiences, and insights with one another instantaneously. That’s important because it helps me remember that my middle-class American Christianity is not the only perspective. There is value in conversation and shared ideas. I’ve done the Facebook discussions, and the have their place, but that format doesn’t really lend itself to the thoughtful reflection necessary to wrestle with the tough questions.
I’m also starting a blog because I believe following Jesus is a team sport. Yes, I know that there are elements of faith that are, and should be, intensely personal. I also know that I have no faith to share without a personal relationship with God. Having said that, the church is supposed to be a community. God called us to a body. We’re supposed to love each other, learn from each other, and challenge each other. We’re supposed to laugh together, cry together and experience life together. While an online community definitely does not take the place of a local church, online discussions can be a great way to stay engaged with and connected to a larger body of believers.
Finally, I’m starting a blog because following Jesus isn’t always easy and doing it right is a full-life commitment. There are tough questions that need to be wrestled with, tough decisions that need to be made, and tough actions that need to be taken. Putting my thoughts in writing will help me wrestle with some of these tough questions. Sharing my thoughts with you will, hopefully, strengthen, sharpen, and challenge you as well as allow you to respond and do the same for me.
Thomas L Horrocks 
Bookmarked your website. Looking forward to future discussions. I am in full agreement with everything you have said and for years I have been afraid to speak up with my questions, comments, and doubts, but I am learning little by little that God desires for me to ask those questions and search for answers instead of doing what I was for many years: absolutely nothing. I agree that it is time to reject the apathy that drowns so many “modern day Christians” and choose to participate in something bigger than ourselves. Thanks for doing this!
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Rebecca, thanks for the note, looking forward to hearing your thoughts 🙂
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All good reasons. As much as I miss face to face conversation and the refining it produces, online, blogs and twitter seem to be where it is at. I live in a very conservative town where most rely upon their “certainties” of the Gospel. It is only since stumbling into Twitterverse that I discovered I am not alone in this faith journey. Others like me are tired of talk and want to live the “salt and light” journey.
I look forward to hearing what you have to share.
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Rebecca, thanks for your comments 🙂
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Looks like your blog could be very interesting and fill a need.
I know I no longer call myself ‘Christian’. I call myself a follower of Jesus Christ.
Too much man made dogma in every group, church, fellowship or whatever word you want to label it with. Keeping life simple.
Thankful to be God’s daughter and have Jesus Christ as my brother.
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Donna,
Thanks for your comment 🙂
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I am too a ‘faithful follower of Jesus’! I too believe we are to be a body of believers & followers! I too believe we need to be engaged in the deeper things of God. I too believe it goes beyond a comment or post or tweet…though they have their place… Beyond is where I wish to venture!!! Thank you Thomas for inviting my thoughts to venture further, deeper, higher… To God be ALL the Glory-for ever& ever!
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David,
Thanks for you comment and encouragement!
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Brother I am excited to connect with another member of the true Church who seeks unity through truth and likewise understands the need to be a seeker of the truth for ourselves, rather than just take anothers word for it. Free Indeed Ministries is grateful for the passion and unique personal giftings coupled with a vision to see transformation in our nation starting right here at home!! So let’s put the elephant in the middle of the room and seek the truth, answer the tough questions, and all the while striving to establish unity rooted in Jesus, The Truth, The Light and The Way!!! Hallelujah!! He Is Risen!!! He’s Alive!!! The great News of this Gospel Is The Truth!!
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Brad,
Thanks for you comment and encouragement!
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Thomas my brother…I can’t put an exact number on how many times you have crossed my mind in the last couple of months; but it’s certainly enough to have arrested my attention and helped me to consider why. After reading this introduction to your new blog, I know in part why I’ve been thinkin of ya man. God works within us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and this blog, coupled with your efforts surrounding it, is proof that the very nature of God inspires us and moves us in specific directions to carry out His will. I enjoyed what you wrote and I look forward to exciting discussions in regards to all that God has for us to consider, ponder and learn together…Christ is King and Lord, so let’s keep following Him!!
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Tim,
Thanks for the note and the encouragement. God bless you 🙂
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God Bless, Thomas and all.
I see the opportunity here to both learn and give…more so great learning from wonderful men and women, but always ready to give as I receive too… and I gathered ‘global’ participation is welcomed (smiles), so figured ‘heyyy…’ As said, being a follower isn’t always easy and I see the opportunity to strengthen and steward the committment we have as followers, so to continue standing for God a lifetime. Having been blessed with an abundance of teaching and learning , I’d like to narrow in so much more on that practical side of application and experience, and seeing and understanding different perspectives, as you mentioned, helps broaden the scope and versatility of our heart, the seat of our personal lives, our premise and programmed outlook, so in need of diligent stewardship in these times. I’ve learned the greatest, most effective motivation of the heart is in the understanding and application of the love of God. Giving, sharing and serving are great learning and growing avenues and there’s much to learn ‘practically’ by asking and answering the ‘tough questions’. Being a true follower and disciple, the aim is to be a stronger leader and teacher in my own ‘ephesus’ and circle of influence, working from the inside out, living love…back to basics, beginning first at home, family and fellowship level. It helps to keep it simple, if ever we get lost in the muddle. It’s great to be a part of God’s Royal body and to hear of and from other functioning members in particular, the passionate vision of God for the one body.
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Keisha, Thanks for the thoughts!
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This is great. I am looking forward to joining in the conversation. 🙂
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Hey Thomas,
You have already been a great conversation partner in biblical studies for me and I count it a great privilege to be able to enter into dialogue over the “sticky” issues of the faith with you. I posit that our faith cannot grow if we back away from what we do not feel comfortable questioning or investigating when it comes to matter of faith. It is only when we venture outside our false sense of security with contemporary paradigms of Christianity that we will ever reach a true understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
Anselm of Canterbury (AD 1033–1109), the renowned Christian philosopher and theologian, had a motto that I believe holds a paramount concept for how we should approach faith. When it comes to asking questions of faith, doctrine, and the church, Anselm lived by the motto: “Faith Seeking Understanding.” For Anselm faith was not just something that a person passively possesses, nor is understanding mean to supplant faith in a person’s life. What Anselm opposed was a faith that “merely believes what it ought to believe.” To Anselm, that faith is “dead.”
I agree.
Rather, what faith needs to be is active and alive, it needs to be searching ever-deeper for answers, and it should drive a person to act as God wills. In other words, what Anselm’s motto means is for the follower of Christ to have an active love for God that is constantly seeking a deeper knowledge of God and driving them further to an even more assured faith in him.
To simply believe the status quo. To simply believe the church. To simply believe your family and friends. To simply believe what you heard last week in the pastor’s sermon. To simply believe because you think you ought to: IS NOT FAITH. Please don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to be cynical of these avenues to learn about God and grow in faith. What I am attacking is using them as the sole basis for faith. If one believes only what they hear through human channels, their faith is grounded in their identity with those channels.
A person who follows the Lord Jesus lives by the words of the Lord. How can we call ourselves followers of Christ if we do not seek to personally know his teachings and those of his apostles? “Faith seeking understanding” has raised my eyes from the murky waters that I have known for so long. It has inflamed my soul to carve out the substance upon which I place my trust and upon which I stake my life.
Love is not a corporate entity, but a personal one; so is faith. Faith does not come because we choose to adhere to a body of doctrine from this church or that. Faith comes from one’s heart being touch by the life-giving message of the gospel and is then spurned on by a passion to relentlessly seek the Lord as though the knowledge of him be the greatest wealth one can acquire. To count all other things as but loss… (Phil 3:8).
Of course, maybe you disagree. I might be a little too radical for you brother. I doubt you will, though. 😉
Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”
P.S. Recently at the encouragement of a dear friend, I have been implored to take up a blog as well on specific issues of faith and Scripture that I have come to take great interest in. So, I will be joining you soon in the new “public square.” Woe to me for being another voice among the clamor, right?….lol.
You inspire greater things than what can be seen through your eyes, my friend. Keep living for the one who we owe it all to.
All praise and glory be to Jesus Messiah and God our Father. Amen.
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Jerry, that was quite a response, thanks for your heart, insight, and encouragement. I’ve liked the phrase “faith seeking understanding” from the first time I heard it. I think it’s a great mindset that keeps first things first. God bless you man.
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Looking forward to future posts, Thomas.
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I especially appreciate the thought that there is a growing interest in the scriptures and what they offer. More and more I personally am beginning to see we could really be on the verge of big change culturally. And as some have commented here and certainly in other arenas there is a plethora of folks full of knowledge about the bible while lean on the practice of it’s principles.
I do sense along with others who’ve said it in various forum that, wow, if we think it’s good now. ..well just wait! Things could go way more awesome with and for the Lord and won’t it be a blast to be on the cutting edge.
But I don’t think it’s going to happen with head knowledge. The oft quoted love chapter also points out the worthlessness of actions without love as the motivator.
I’m excited to see people rising up to face the hard questions that many scoff Christians can’t do (Ravi Zacharias and such ).
I’m tired of Christians bemoaning the state or the world and moping about longing for Christ to gather us so we can avoid this whole messy affair. I am happy, more than happy for the man to return anytime! But I absolutely believe we can have another immense shift as history shows and wow I get so excited just considering all the amazing things that could happen and if Christ is coming back let him find me hard at work in the pursuit of him! And if we have another thousand or two thousand years before his return, goodness let’s leave a legacy they’ll still be talking about then!
And as far as why should I add a blog. I’d say it’s on your heart and if it’s on your heart well I know you’re only being modest to not say, cuz God said so, so y’all listen. Hee hee. You’re very tactful, but of course in your heart I hope the answer sounded something like Lord, is this your idea or mine ? I do appreciate your modesty and probably in school you are trained in the art of the gentle approach which is good, as long as you don’t forget it really does all come down to what the Lord annoints. Because there are certainly those moments, oh so many moments , when upon threat of death we can produce no other cause save, We ought to obey God.
Good on ya Thomas. 🙂
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