BitterSweetLife

Not in a messy, smash-mouth way, but splitting up nevertheless. Something I've thought a lot about recently is the way the content here tends to fall into one of two contrasting categories. Here's how I would describe them, roughly.

Category 1
arts & culture news--movies, music, tv
mainstream books
coffee discussion
NCAA basketball
random family anecdotes

Category 2
Christian spirituality thoughts
emerging church news
church planting
Christian books
personal, spiritual reflection

When I started this blog almost four years ago, I decided to try and write for a strange, hybrid Christian/outsider audience by making no assumptions about where people were coming from. My theological convictions were either implicit, "smuggled in" (C.S. Lewis) or presented in an explanatory way--and it worked, to the extent that I had readers who were very much on a spiritual journey, one that hadn't reached Jesus yet. As I got immersed in seminary, I started writing more frequently about explicitly Christian topics and reviewing a bunch of Christian books, which was a different approach, but also good.

As of this week, I'm launching a blog where I will think out loud about knowing Jesus, living out my theology, and making risky plans, so it will have a personal, sometimes confessional flavor.

However, to the extent that I try to do both things at once, this blog takes on a split personality and becomes more "eclectic" than I really want it to be. I've concluded that I want to write in both "genres," and be able to both: 1) talk overtly about church planting and Bible verses--you know, insider Christian stuff, or, 2) post a dozen NCAA hoops pieces in a row without baffling some people who were looking for spiritual content (if you know what I mean).

As of this week, I'm launching a blog where I will think out loud about knowing Jesus, living out my theology, and making risky plans, so it will have a personal, sometimes confessional flavor. (That "Category 2" above.) This is where I'll write about stuff like emerging church and Christian books and tell you outright what's going on with our church planting plans. Go take a look. (Hint: If you refresh the page, you'll get different pictures in the header.) There's not a ton of content yet, but you can check out permanent links like "Our Story," "My Theology," etc. If you feel so inclined, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed over there. :) I won't be switching anyone over automatically, because...

For the time being, BitterSweetLife will become a dedicated arts and culture blog ("Category 1") where my Christianity will be implicit, not at the forefront. Eventually, I intent to relaunch BitterSweetLife as well, but one thing at a time.

This leaves you with some options. If you like the spiritual content you've found here, you can head over to the new blog and subscribe. If you like the cultural content here, you can stick around. If you like both, make sure you're subscribed to both blogs. Fair enough?

Thanks for bearing with me as I sort this out.

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