Welcome to My Blog
If you are reading this, chances are you already know how to answer my daughter’s question. She walked into my room a few minutes ago, saw me working on my laptop and asked, “Daddy, what is a blog?” My daughter is 10 and knows her way around Webkinz, Club Penguin, and anything Disney on the web. However, she knows as much about a blogger’s world as you and I might know about her favorite place in cyberspace where she can actually care for her virtual pet named Butterscotch.
According to Wikipedia, “A blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, description of events, or other materials such as graphics or video.” The term itself is a contraction of the words “Web log.”
I’ve been reading other people’s blogs to get an idea of what to do and say. Many of them seem like self-aggrandizing personal showcases that shout, “Look at me!” Like who really cares about some of that stuff they write about themselves? And the voyeur videos? Give me a break!
Others read more like a diary and are full of trivial pursuits. Still others give TMI (too much information). One blog entry I read began this way, “After 12 days, 39 cups of tea and 11 changes of underwear (yes, I had to double up one day due to bad packing) . . . I’m home!” Did he really have to share the underwear part?
Some of what makes blogging a unique communication platform is the opportunity to respond and provide comments. This is where you come in. A blog invites an interactive dialogue in cyberspace between the blogger and the reader. It’s an opportunity to experience digital community, if there is such a thing.
I encourage, ask, implore and beg you to make comments on RonJonesBlog.com; otherwise I’m just blogging to myself. Of course, the world as it is today makes it necessary for me to filter all comments in case you decide to share TMI.
For my part in the world of blogging, I hope to share insights from God’s amazing Word, the Bible, and relate them to our ever-changing culture. There’s no reason for me to clutter the World Wide Web with my puny thoughts and opinions. Besides, who really cares if I changed my underwear today or not?
So, what you can expect to find on my blog, more often than not, is an excerpt from a recent sermon I preached from the pulpit of Immanuel Bible Church, where I have the privilege of serving as senior pastor to some of the kindest and most fascinating people on the planet. Disclaimer: the thoughts, musings, links and associations contained in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
For what it’s worth, I blog from our Nation’s Capitol in Washington D.C., which sometimes gives me a back stage pass to POIs (persons of interest) and world events, like the time I was invited to attend a breakfast at the National Press Club to hear the Rev. Jeremiah Wright spew his controversial worldviews colored by Black Liberation Theology. Following the event I joined a vigorous roundtable discussion in the Truman Library with other religious, media and cultural leaders, including Frederick Douglas IV.
And so, would you like to subscribe to my blog? Like God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, it’s free! I’ll do my best to make it worth your time to occasionally stop by and chat. And in case you’re wondering, I promise not to talk about my underwear if you don’t talk about yours.
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