My Last Blog Post … and Why
I’ve always enjoyed writing. I can go back to the second grade, when I gave Mrs. Breeden stories I wrote … just because. They were not assignments, just stories I wanted to write. And I was not that high school kid who fussed about writing a two-page essay. Even in my doctorial work, I didn’t mind the 25-page and 50-page papers. As a minister in the local church in the late 80s, I began writing magazine articles for Lifeway (er … back then it was the Baptist Sunday School Board). And that eventually led to an offer to become an editor.
I like to write.
That brings this short bio to 2015. I got a hankerin’ to write a blog. This blog. I was not asked to do this. It was not a task assigned to me by Lifeway management. I was not paid to do this. Even now, I receive no income. In fact, I pay a couple of annual fees to maintain this site. But that’s OK, because it’s something I wanted to do. It was something I was led to do.
There are a lot of blogs out there written to church leaders. It seems that every time a blog was recommended to me, it was a blog for pastors. Where were the blogs for normal people? [insert goofy smiley face.] I was motivated to write to the average Christian, which is why for ten years the heading for this site has been “Encouragement for your walk with Christ.”
Ten years! There are approximately 600 million blogs in the world (I counted), but the average life of a blog site is 1-2 months! Why so brief? Writing a blog sounds cool, but it takes work. People who measure these things say that, on average, it takes four hours to write a blog post.
The other factor that throws wannabe bloggers is that you must keep writing. Marty was a friend and a blogger who encouraged me to create this site when I was first considering it. He said the biggest challenge is that you’re got to continually “feed the beast.” So, I set a self-imposed deadline to submit every Monday and Thursday—and for ten years, I’ve never missed a Monday or a Thursday.
Ten years. That’s 1,090 blogs. Close to 1.1 million views. So why stop now?
It’s time.
A few years ago, the ten-year mark started looming in my little brain—and it kept growing (the thought, not the brain). Over the past year, I became convinced that the time had come to stop. I can’t give you a concrete reason like failing health, running for political office, or entering witness protection. I just sense that it’s time.
Thank you for all the kind remarks and encouragement I’ve received over the years. Even in recent weeks, as I made my plans known, many of you have expressed appreciation. And I appreciate your appreciation! But for those who wish I’d keep going, here’s one last story from history …
Ambrose of Milan was a rising star in the fourth century church, and he became a bishop. Another rising star in the church was his friend Satyrus, but when Ambrose became a bishop, Satyrus set aside his own rising ministry to serve Ambrose. And serve he did! Ambrose valued his friend and received great assistance from Satyrus. But then Satyrus up and died—quite unexpectedly when he was still young.
Had I been Ambrose, I might’ve bemoaned the loss of such a capable assistant. But Ambrose didn’t complain about what he would no longer receive. Instead, he thanked God for the time he had with Satyrus. He wrote:
“Nothing among things of earth, dearest brethren, was more precious to me, nothing more worthy of love, nothing more dear than such a brother…. I cannot be ungrateful to God, for I must rather rejoice that I had such a brother than grieve that I had lost a brother.”[1]
I hope you will be thankful for the time we had together. Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey. May God continue to strengthen you and encourage you as you walk with Him and walk alongside others in your local church.
Good night and God bless.
NOTE: This site will remain live. Although I will not be posting new content, thanks to Google and search engines, people are still discovering these blogs.
[1] Ambrose, “On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus,” bk 1, para. 2-4, in Ambrose: Selected Works and Letters, vol. 10. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 161.
Banner photo by Nicolas Thomas on Unsplash.
