Christian Bloggers

Today we are shining the blog beam on ...

Now go read ...

There will not be a Blog Beam this week. I am dealing with some issues on my personal blog and I have been devoting my time to working on it today. There will be one next week. :)

Also, if you have a post ... or have read one on one of our blogs ... that you would like to see featured, just give me a holla.

For anyone familiar with 12 Step recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, listening in on a conversation between members of such a fellowship eventually will hear something about 12^th Step work (“Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”) and the various aspects of recovery that one notices when working with others. Years ago, in just such a conversation with another recovering friend, the particular variation on the theme was who (as in what demographic) do you like working with the most, who do you like working with the least, and why. For both of us, the answers we gave - though apparently quite different - were remarkably similar, and continue to be made manifest in our lives.

Dan said he preferred to work with young people in recovery - folks in their mid to late teens and early twenties - because they seemed to him to be a more malleable group; his least favorite group was the elderly, because they seemed so set in their ways. I think my answer startled him - it certainly was not something I felt I needed to think about long and hard. I said, in far less polite words than I’ve recorded here, that I preferred to work with people of any age who had had the snot kicked out of them by life and their addiction, because then they were already softened up and ready to hear a message that could save their sorry donkeys (I wasn’t very tactful, but I made up for it by being colorful.) Further, I said that age was less a determining factor for me than the HOW factor - honesty, openness, and willingness - and the only thing that would prevent me from working with someone would be their attitude. That is as true today as it ever was - maybe even more so in light of what I’ve seen online on some blogs recently.

One of the starting points in both of the programs named is a phrase similar to the one above - if you want what we have, then you are ready to act - and this difference in starting points for some followers of Jesus and others makes all the difference in the world. Chasing after people to hit them over the head with a fear-based tract is not a relational act (unless you consider assault a relationship); for all those who have been brought to Christ by such behavior, I suggest He had already been working hard on you. I never was able to help anyone get cleaned up (AA prefers the term sober, NA prefers the term clean. Believers use a wide variety of terms, all of which begin with the process of repentance.) or become a believer by chasing them and hitting them over the head with a text on recovery, or by pushing fear of hell - but once I stopped chasing them and simply started to focus on living out what I was learning, the most amazing things started to happen, almost all of them based on the principle of attraction rather than promotion. The one of greatest import for the kingdom of Christ is that of relationship-building, and that based solely upon learning to love people as Christ first loved me.

It is hard to build real, lasting relationships. That is a starting point that cannot be overemphasized - it is relatively easy to find a drug dealer in any city, or a hookup for casual sex online, but to build real relationships - whether they begin online or off - takes time and exposure, risk and self-disclosure. I can’t be casually involved in someone’s life if I am working on adding to Christ’s kingdom - and my family! - anymore than I could consider going backwards in time to active addiction without having to count the costs. The most delicate time in relationship building is the moment of first contact - will this person see Christ in me with the unaided eye? If I am promoting Christ, how will people be attracted to Him, since their focus will, truthfully, be on me as the promoter? If, on the other hand, I am simply living my life in front of men, it is far easier for me to answer why I have this smile on my face and the hope of glory in my heart - my potential new family member will be drawn towards me by Christ, and the conversation will be natural.

-cross-posted from Concept 53

Today we are shining the blog beam on ...

Now go take a look ...

Today we are shining the blog beam on ...

Now go check them out ...

I love the new feature Blogger has so that you can follow a blog, and in doing so, be shown as a follower of a blog. I know that some of you have your blogs on Blogger, like we do, and I am going to go through the blogroll and become a follower of your blog. In return, I hope you do the same for this blog. I think it is an awesome way for us to show support for our fellow bloggers in the Christian Bloggers Blogroll.

Update 1:47 PM: In your Blogger Dashboard you can add any blog as a "Blog I'm Following." It doesn't even have to be a blog on Blogger.

Don't forget it is opening this Friday!

Tags: Billy Graham

I want to take some time every now and again to highlight posts around the Christian Bloggers Sphere. Hopefully, you will find some posts and blogs that interest you along the way.

Today we are shining the blog beam on ...

Now go check them out ...

Please remember the Stauffer Family in your prayers. Their 14 year old daughter was taken from them abruptly yesterday. She was attacked and killed while out for a walk.

Your prayers are appreciated.

More of us need to use this guideline for blogging politics ...

Cross-posted at The Rogue Angel.

Just wanted to let you know that Christian Bloggers is now on Facebook! Won't you please be a fan and promote us? Just click here and join us today. :)

Just remember: the more exposure we get ... the more you get!

Since the aggregator is still giving me issues for the moment (it doesn't want to take Feedburner of Blogger feeds), I have created a page for us at Netvibes. You can view every member feed there. That makes for some easy blog catchup.

It also makes for more exposure for your site. :)

We are accepting new members again! That is right. Christian Bloggers is back and will be better than ever. We have made it through the backlog. All sites have been processed. The blogroll has been cleaned up. We are working on the aggregator. You can now subscribe to this site to find out what is going on instead of joining a group. Things are changing fast and getting better and better.

So, if you want to join ... click here and read through the post, follow the instructions, and we will get you on the blogroll!

Feel free to check out the latest posts as well. You will see just how much has changed around here in just a short period of time!

Tags: Christian Bloggers Blogroll

One of the biggest problems I have managing the blogroll is getting people to add the blogroll code. They may not understand they have to add it to be a member of the blogroll ... or they may not even know how to add it. Either way, you have to have the blogroll code to add the blogroll to your site.

Something to remember before adding the blogroll: You have to be able to edit your blog sidebar. Some blogs do not allow you to do this. If you cannot, you cannot join. Sorry!

If you would like to add an image to the blogroll, we have plenty of them here and here.

Here is the blogroll code. Please add a header or image that designates it as the Christian Bloggers blogroll. Thank you!



For Blogger users: If you have converted your blog to the new layout, then you would go to your Layout tab, click on Add a Gadget, select the HTML/Javascript gadget, add the blogroll code in the content area, and Christian Bloggers in the Title area. Save and you are done.

If you have not converted your blog to the new layout, then you would need to go to the Template tab and Edit HTML. Find your sidebar code within the HTML and add the following:

Christian Bloggers

Okay, you are ready!

Tags: Christian Bloggers Blogroll

I decided to go ahead and make some new graphics for the blogroll that match the ones made for the webring. Please feel free to use them as the header for the blogroll or even just to advertise Christian Bloggers. There are two sizes to choose from and five color combinations. Also, you are still welcome to use the old graphics.

Make sure to link the graphics to the aggregator. Thanks!

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If you would like to make your own image, that is fine. Just please share it with the rest of us. :)

Tags: Christian Bloggers Blogroll