Thoughts Magazine – Blogging Article

Blogging

Blogs are surely one of the fastest growing forms of media in the world, and blogging is an increasingly popular hobby. Cyberspace is now teeming with news reporters and cultural/social/political commentators, sharing their thoughts and opinions about anything and everything.

The word ‘blog’ is short for ‘web log’, which is whatever you want it to be: an online diary/journal, links to your favourite sites on the Internet, comments on the latest news and events, or thoughts and reviews about recent book/film/music releases. When it comes to blogging, there’s massive potential for anyone to write about anything and share it with the world.

Why blog?

There are many reasons why people might blog – let me share with you why I decided to blog, why I still blog, and how I try and use blogging to glorify God – my kind of worship if you like.

When I started at University three years ago I started meeting lots of new people, doing exciting things and learning lots. I thought that I really should write some of it down, and being a bit of a computer geek the best place to have this ‘diary’ had to be on a website!

My blog developed beyond just stuff about my life. I started blogging about God stuff too, I’d blog about things that God was teaching me or about difficult theological issues. I wasn’t coming up with all the answers, a lot of the time it was just more questions, but it was a helpful place to think through some big issues and it turned out that others found it helpful too and enjoyed reading along.

So how can you glorify God through blogging? Talking and writing about the good news of Jesus gives God glory! We can worship Him by writing words that will encourage and build up other Christians and will help those who are not yet Christians to understand more of who Jesus is. Those are simple things, and we may use simple words, but who knows how God might use our words?

What to blog?

Blog about what you know and like. Don’t fake an interest or knowledge about a subject just to put it on your blog, anyone can do that and it’s not going to be worth reading. Lots of people have been blogging about the American election recently, but there’s no point in me doing that, I know nothing about American politics!

I’ve found that blogging can be a good tool for evangelism. It’s not an excuse to not actually talk to people about Jesus but a lot of people will read what you write! I started importing my blog posts into Facebook and pretty soon this lead to conversations about Jesus with a friend, which wouldn’t have happened without those posts! So write about Jesus, write about things that you learn, stuff God teaches you, books or people that have encouraged you.

How to blog?

Find a blogging site to host your blog for you. Best places to try are either wordpress.com or blogger.com, it’s really easy to get set up. Then start writing! It’s really that easy.

Add pictures to your posts, they make it look more interesting to read. Remember to read what you’ve written before you post it! Don’t write something that you wouldn’t say in public – the Internet offers a certain amount of anonymity, but don’t be ungodly in what you say. Add some links to your favourite websites and blogs, that’s often how you find good blogs to read

Where to read?

Now reading blogs can be quite time consuming, and while they can be very thoughtful and encouraging always remember that you’re better off reading a good book, and it’s no substitute for getting down to just read the Bible! Having said that here’s a couple of good blogs to whet your appetite and maybe they’ll give you the inspiration to start blogging yourself…

Emily Woods  - http://unfurlingflower.blogspot.com/

Hugh Bourne (that’s me)  -  http://www.hughbourne.co.uk

Last month I won the Young Christian Blogger of 2008 award, Emily Woods won it in 2007 – next year it could be you!