I’m really impressed with how our little experiment went this past weekend. I was particularly impressed with how many people responded and the insightful things they wrote. The Fanortner was twinkling every hour J We had a total of 52 comments and 550 views yesterday. Thank you so much for participating.
A few responses to individual posters and my own answers to the two questions I put forth:
* Mike, I think you may have skimmed over my preamble. There’s no way I could keep up with all of this on a regular basis. But I had some time this weekend to check the blog a few times a day so I thought we’d try this experiment. If a good number of people responded, which would show a high level of interest, I would open up the lines of commentary *periodically* — at those times when I’m able to manage them.
* Angela, “God’s Ultimate Passion” is temporarily out of print. A major Christian publisher picked the book up and I’m revising it now with the help of a professional editor. Some new material is being added as well. The new book will be much better than the original. It will release in March of 2009 under the title FROM ETERNITY TO HERE. (The title is a spin-off from the famous movie “From Here to Eternity.”)
* Donald, ”Reimagining Church” officially released August 1st. To our pleasant surprise, four days later, the publisher ran out of the first printing (10,000 copies) and Amazon ran out as well. The book is on its second printing now and Amazon should have a new supply in a week-or-so once the second printing is finished. You can pre-order the book from Amazon and they’ll ship it as soon as it comes in. Bulk discounts can be ordered from www.reimaginingchurch.org
* Grace, I’m honored that you posted on my blog. Thanks also for the all-too kind comment 
* To the rest: You’re a very bright bunch of folks. I really enjoyed reading all your comments, and I appreciate the many encouraging remarks.
Now, for whatever they’re worth, here are my own answers to the two questions in reverse order –
1. I really don’t have a favorite post. But I’m happy to get the kind of feedback that you all provided as it helps me to know what you’re finding helpful and edifying.
2. What perplexes me about the Christian life? Many things. And most of you addressed them in your comments. But what comes to mind at the moment is this: Why is it that if I hire a non-Christian to do some type of work for me (i.e., do home repairs), in most cases I will get (1) a better deal, (2) a more honest assessment of the problem, (3) much more competent work, and (4) a better guarantee than if I were to hire a Christian to do the exact same thing? Hmmm … perplexing.
***The Results of the Experiment***
Since our experiment went so well, here’s what we’re going to do. (Jon D. you read my mind.) From time to time, I will open up the lines of communication on this blog. On those days, “Comments will be turned ON.” I’m unsure when exactly or how often, as it will largely depend on my schedule. Perhaps once a week – I don’t know. We’ll play it by ear. But keep coming back to see what’s happening here.
When we have “open phones” . . . I’ll kick the day off with a specific question or a topic for conversation.
There are many directions we can go with this.
For example: When I taught high school, every Friday, 15-minutes before class ended, we would launch into a game I created called THE WHAT-IF GAME. I would ask a thought-provoking question that would begin with, “What would happen if …” or “What would you do if . . . ” and then the students would respond. This would always lead to great conversations peppered with some witty banter. It was profoundly fun.
I may resurrect that game for some of our “open line” days. Over the weekend, my mind has been sketching out some other scenarios that, to my knowledge, have never been tried before in the blogosphere. So we may try some of those as well.
So stay tuned . . .
In the meantime, if you find this blog to be helpful to your spiritual journey (or just plain fun), spread the word to your friends. Blog about it. Add it to your blogroll too if you like J The more people we have participating, the merrier.
Hint: We will have “open lines” again sometime this week.
