Censoring Comments

The other day I commented on one of the blogs that I subscribe to. I disagreed with something that the author had said and wanted to give her a different perspective on her subject. The blog moderated comments, though, so I knew it would be a while before my comment showed up. I personally don't moderate comments, but I don't have the traffic that more professional blogs do, and most of the stuff I write about is far from inflammatory, although you might disagree with me on the adorability of my children.
Two days have passed, and my comment has still not appeared. Meanwhile, 4 other comments have been posted all praising the author's genius. If you're going to allow comments on you blog, and I think you should, then let people disagree with you. That's the beauty of blogging. Not only is it an online journal and idea repository, it is a dialogue between you and anybody else who happens to stop by your little corner of the internet. JM

Anniversary

I've had this blog for a little over a year now (10.04.06). I've really only been using it since January 1, but this is my 546th post. While you may not really get anything out of it, I really enjoy it. Not only is the discipline of journaling good, I like that I can look back at goals I've had, things I've experienced, and pictures of my family. So I guess it's accomplishing its purpose. We'll give it another year and see how it goes. Here's the text of my first post:

So what is the Ghost Of Mediocrity? Well, it's the spirit that haunts us, tempting us to do just enough to get by or all that is required. I'd like to make sure that he doesn't get me, so I wanted to create a spot where I could write down thoughts and to-do lists in a searchable format.
So why should anybody read this? While there's certainly no gun to your head, (or at least I hope not) this is mainly just for my own personal utility. If you can derive any form of meaning from it and apply it to your context, then more power to you. I hope it will help you avoid the GOM as well. JM

Blogging Grief

I read a lot of different blogs, 54 to be exact. Two that I find the most fascinating are bloggers who are going through a grieving process. This one is from a family that lost their infant daughter two weeks ago. This one lost their infant son 16 months ago. Both are fascinating to me because I cannot fathom the emotion that I would feel. The death of a child is the most traumatic thing that can happen to you as an adult. I love my kids so much and cannot imagine losing them. Reading these makes me appreciate them so much more. JM

LA Ink

I've never seen LA Ink before. I really have no interest in the show, but I'm about to watch it. The author of one of the blogs I read is about to be on there. I've never met the guy, but I feel like I know him through his blog. It's like I'll be seeing my friend on TV. I think that's kind of what's cool about blogging. It creates a community of interaction between people to where you really do take a genuine interest in the other. Maybe that's kind of an idealist look at it, but that's how I like to think of it. JM

Live Blogging From Buzz Conference

Ben Arment is live blogging from the buzz conference in DC right now. It's great to get a feel for what's going on, but also to see what's happening through the filter of somebody who has some amazing thoughts on ministry already.
He had a post earlier today that talked about how his mind races to personal points as an offshoot of what the speaker is talking about. It's a great read, as will be all the others from Buzz and his blog in general.
Best statement in the post was this:

The worst fate, in my opinion, that our church could suffer is not running out of money, not losing people... but being ignored by our community.

Man, that's an awesome thought. JM