Why do you blog?
I’m a writer, speaker, and educator, and blogging just naturally fits with that. I wrote for online publication before there was a world-wide web, beginning with an online bulletin board (1200 baud!) in the days of FidoNet. I was a late adopter of blogging, starting “Threads from Henry’s Web” in September of 2005, but I had already been posting “threads” essays on an ordinary web site since about 1997. I love the opportunity a blog gives to try things out, see reactions, and improve my own way of expressing things.
What has been your best blogging experience?
Watching the response to my first post to a blog over on The Panda’s Thumb (www.pandasthumb.org) where I was invited to be a member of a group blog. I was the first blogger in the group with a Biblical or theological background (mostly the first) and I was tempted to think the readers of a largely scientific blog, read by people known for their dedication to science, would receive me rather poorly just because of my field. The actual response was excellent. Of course one should note that I’m a pretty strong fan of science and the scientific method (in its place) myself. But the good part of the experience had to do with writing. Thinking about a difficult audience, designing a post to express what I wanted to express, and then seeing a strong response, including some criticism. That’s a writer’s high!
What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
Blog about things you are passionate about. I would say to choose a subject you are passionate about and stick to it, but then I’d also have to say to do as I say and not as I do. I’m interested in everything, and I often simply read through news stories until something jumps out at me and says, “You’ve gotta talk about me!” Don’t try to force yourself to write about things you think you ought to be concerned about; write about the things that you are. Then don’t let the fear of being wrong or feeling foolish stop you. You’ll be wrong sometimes and feel foolish sometimes, but that’s part of the fun.
If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what would they be?
That’s a tough one. I actually read more than three blogs per day, and have more than that in my RSS feeds. But the ones I really have to are The Panda’s Thumb (www.pandasthumb.org), where I’m a member of the team, but there are some really interesting people there whose posts I follow diligently, Wesley Daily, because Shane’s selections there help me keep up with the Methodist Blogosphere, and the Better Bibles Blog (englishbibles.blogspot.com), because that’s in my field. [I would note that I also read Locusts and Honey pretty much daily. The MBWR is a must read for me. I would have nowhere near the time to find the posts that interest me on my own, so I use that as a way to find other Methodist bloggers who are talking about subjects that interest me.]
Who are your spiritual heroes?
As a Christian, I really have to answer Jesus, but that’s something we all have in common. I’m a Methodist because I have found John Wesley to be a spiritual challenge. I think I struggle many times with the same things he did. My missionary parents Dr. Ray and Myrtle Neufeld, who taught me what discipleship could be, and one undergraduate theology professor, Dr. Alden Thompson. After twelve years out of contact with me his first question was “How are things between you and the Lord?” I wish there were more theology professors whose first concern was their students’ spiritual well-being.
What are you reading at the moment?
Robert T. Pennock, The Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism, Knowles, Holton, & Swanson _The Adult Learner_, and my current Bible study/reading of Isaiah alongside Brevard Childs’s commentary from the Old Testament Library series, and Hebrews with Craig Koester’s Anchor Bible commentary.
What is your favorite hymn and why?“Jesus, Lover of my Soul” because it has always been a personal expression of faith for me, as long as I can remember. I often hear people say the modern praise choruses are more personal than the hymns, but that one is, for me, as personal as it gets.
Can you name a major moral, political, or intellectual issue on which you've changed your mind?
Creation and evolution. I grew up young earth creationist, and can now be called a theistic evolutionist, though I prefer the clumsy “Christian who accepts the theory of evolution.”
What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?
The post-modern idea that texts do not have their own meaning, especially as it applies to Bible study. The phrase “that’s just your interpretation” only has a valid place in discussion when one is discussing competing interpretations of a passage, not to say that there really isn’t any right interpretation or that it doesn’t matter whether we get it right.
If you could effect one major change in the governing of your country, what would it be?
Increased genuine federalism. I would return the Senate to election by the state legislatures with the duty of representing their states as a political entity, and return the electoral college to performing its function, with electors not bound to vote for any particular person.
If you could effect one major policy change in the United Methodist Church, what would it be?
I’m tempted to say, “Get rid of Nashville.” But that would be immoderate of me, and I’m supposed to be a moderate.
I don’t know if it is a policy change as such, but I would like to see the church get back to committed and accountable discipleship at the local level. I think this would force changes throughout the church. When I first considered joining a UM congregation, I was told by a pastor that he didn’t care what I believed. If I wanted to join he’d accept me into membership. I joined a different congregation where the pastor cared. It’s more important to me than numbers.
As a church we’re concerned the numbers on our roles. We seem unconcerned with the spiritual health of those who are already there.
What would be your most important piece of advice about life?
Be faithful and honest in listening to the Holy Spirit. All other faults and failings can be corrected if God still has your ear.
What, if anything, do you worry about?
Way too much. I have to confess that I worry about the financial side of life, which Jesus told us not to do. That’s a place where I’m still “going on toward perfection” and am a long way from it.
If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything that you'd do differently?
I would wish that I had maintained my worship life while in seminary, and then not walked out the door of the church at the same time as I graduated. It took me 12 years to get back in place. At the same time God used those 12 years of wilderness wandering to teach me many useful things.
Where would you most like to live (other than where you do now)?
Anywhere in the Pacific northwest. I live in Florida. Anyone want to trade?
What do you like doing in your spare time?
Reading, tinkering with computers, and now that I have a stepson involved in baseball (John Webb, a pitcher with the Memphis Redbirds), watching baseball.
What is your most treasured possession?
Tough one. Stuff is so replaceable. Going with irreplaceable, my uncle’s old German Bible from when he was first ordained.
What talent would you most like to have?
Music. I lack the diligence to do it well the hard way, so a talent, hopefully just an overwhelming ability to do it without practice would be great!
If you could have any three guests, past or present to dinner, who would they be?
Ezra (I want to know how he got people to listen to the law for hours), Apollos (I want to know how he could remain friends with Paul), John the revelator (I want to discuss that vision).
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