Hat tip to Michael Davis for alerting me to this question posed over at Total Leadership: "Should Ministry Leaders Blog?" Here are my thoughts…

A blogger with a "why" beats one with only a "how"

Blogging can be a waste of a leader's time if he doesn't know what he's doing or why he's doing it. (Especially why.)

I would never suggest a leader start blogging (or podcasting) unless they've already been reading some choice blogs and are starting to get some idea of what value a blog can bring to a ministry or to one's life. Rushing into blogging without first experiencing it is like convincing someone to preach who's never heard a sermon in their life. Sure, it might be comical or even refreshing — once.

A

I love it when writers I enjoy get reflective and journal their process — when they slice open their artistic arteries and bleed out on the page, revealing what courses through their hearts. That's why I enjoy [reading] writing books like Stephen King's memoir on writing, as well as David Morrell's, Ray Bradbury's, Anne Lamott's, Frank McCourt's (though more about teaching than writing), Nancy Kress's, a collection of essays on writers and their public mortification and, of course, Orson Scott Card's excellent work.

These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.

(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )