Wow.  Call this one my 400th post.  I’ve never done any of the “blogaversary” milestones, but since we are about a week away from my 4th year in the blogosphere, and with this being my 400th post, I figured something must be said so we can all move on.

Blogging is a strange form of introspection and public disclosure.  There is a whole lot that we assume we know about ourselves, and until we write it up and publish it online, there is no way to really get feedback about our wacky perspectives or our off-our-rocker feelings.  Friends and family from around the world can comment on what would have otherwise remained trapped in one little cranium – thus creating a kind of honing and prodding that I believe has drastically and subtly affected my learning over the last 4 years.

Grad school made up years one through three.  And I actually started my blog only a semester into my grad school experience.  I opened a trusty Blogger account mainly as a way to process what I was learning in the classroom through a more conversational and reflective method.  My first post was on spiritual photosynthesis, and on the “organic” nature of our relationship with God.  I made mention that I was being confronted with this new buzz word at the grocery store, in my seminary classes, and in my prayers with God.  Without a doubt, this blog helped me to approach, analyze, and consider the incredible amount of mind-bending, worldview-shifting ideas being presented to me in grad school in a way I otherwise would have completely missed.  This blog put some traction on my learning and gave my feet something to run on.

An almost randomly chosen example of such “theo-blogical reflection” was pretty early on October 2005 – I had just read David Garrison’s Church Planting Movements, and was struck by some of the common elements of “church planting movements” he had studied in India, China, Africa, and even North America.  I began wondering if the early church had such characteristics as a church planting movement.  So instead of just leaving the thought alone, I sat down and did some searching, then posted my findings on this blog.

I never did any of the flashy blog stuff – live blogging, technorati promotions, or did much with group blogging…I never could get into blogging once a day like so many bloggers I admired seemed to have time in their day to do.  I couldn’t find a rhythm at all in my life for my web log.  But it was always seemingly present – an undercurrent of my consciousness, online for all to see.  While I never set out to write a blog exclusively on organic theology, mission, and spiritual formation – anything I wrote apart from those broad topics seemed to be the exception rather than the rule.

My categories section has much to be desired.  Organizing (and consolidating) my categories cloud is something I both want to do and dread.  I’d like to create a sort of “best of” playlist of blog posts – featured articles if you will – or maybe several “tomes” arranged around specific concepts.  I’d like to do some serious reflection on my own personal theological evolution over the last four years – hopefully finding it fairly obvious that God has continued to reveal his truth to me and shape me more into the image of Christ.  I hope to use a select few of these posts to invite others we’re training to consider some of the thoughts I’ve been confronted with in my own training.

So that’s enough reflecting for now.  I can’t tell you if I’ll still be blogging when I hit the 5th anniversary or not – and I beg to God that twitter won’t have completely wiped out the “macroblogging” (i.e. any post over 140 characters long) universe.  I can say that I am hooked on the cycle of (1) provoking theory, (2) radical action, and (3) deep reflection – and this blog has offered me a vehicle for doing just that.

Thanks for being with me on the journey friends.  Your comments, thoughts and push backs have kept me honest, opened me up to my own silliness, and provided a prism of perspectives that aim me toward the Person of Truth seeking after my heart.

We live in amazing times.  Technology is advancing in amazing ways, and it has profound implications for how we live our lives.  The very fact you are reading this is proof.  I really love keeping up with the latest news; new gadgets, widgets, social-technology in particular has been something that I find fascinating.  In some ways I suppose its a throwback to my geekdom, but maybe there is something more.

There are more ways for us to be and do the work of the church every day in this fast-paced world.  We seem to be moving toward a persistent connection, an “eternal communion” of the saints.

Let’s call this “eschatechnology.”

I’ve written on technology before, and recently I’ve been tossing around ideas regarding how faith communities can discover and collaborate with each other in ways never before thought possible.  Blogs of course have already become part of the strategy, as have social networks.  (We recently set ours up for the organic network we’re a part of in Chicago.)  Wikis have become the new church councils, where doctrine and theology are discussed and discoveries are made.

I was reminded of this as I was reading 1 Cor 16 this morning on YouVersion, an online bible and reader community.  Paul is suggesting a method for the Corinthian disciples to give generously to the Jerusalem church who was in need.  He mentioned sending off not only the donations but also some ambassadors from Corinth to greet and encourage the Jerusalem community.  Paul even mentioned that if schedules worked out, those Christians could come along with Paul for the journey.

Talk about a visual for the blood of Christ flowing through his body!  No amount of technology, blogs, online social presences, Second Life profiles, webcasts or whatever can take the place of flesh and blood relationship.  It’s a beautiful thing when disciples can connect together and share in true fellowship.  When a handfull of hard-earned cash can exchange hands rather than be sent through a Paypal account, when a full embrace replaces a “facebook poke,” when a fireside chat is chosen over a chatroom.

That said, let’s not drop the tools we have to connect throughout the rest of our lives.  I’m excited to see how Christians in our organic network begin to work together, creating events, serving the poor, training leaders, and sharing resources through technology.  I’ll be sure to report back here (on my blog) what we find!

Ever wonder where Christian Orthodoxy comes from?  I read a fascinating article on that over at Emergent Village.  It turns out that the pope and his cronies called the Magisterium (who were originally established to protect against gnosticism) had grown so powerful that they could actually broker truth to the masses exchanging loyalty (tithes) for protection (communion, citizenship).

Magisterium essentially withheld Scripture from the masses, thus keeping it out of their control.  They taught that the Word of God was too holy to be transcribed or spoken in any language other than Latin, a dying language.

By the 1450’s the Catholic Church needed money, and began selling indulgences (handwritten forgivenesses on pieces of paper).  Officiates would travel all throughout Europe selling these tickets out of middle hell by the hundreds.  When the printing press was invented they found they could print these indulgences literally by the millions, which was the equivalent of printing money.  That is why the printing press succeeded, and why the church became filthy rich, and kept the masses under their control.

Martin Luther, when he tagged his 95 Theses to the door of a Wittenburg church, he was complaining that the Catcholic Church was corrupt, in part because of its selling of indulgences.

We tend to think that the printing press was a noble invention used to advance biblical literacy.  Sorry!  We entered the golden age of the printed book through the heartless pursuit of filthy money by corrupted power.  Thankfully, God used that sorrowful time to print his Bible in German, the language of the people and started a revolution that continues to this day.

So, who will hold the keys to orthodoxy in an age of limitless voice?  In a world of blogs, podcasts, and internet watchdogs, Tony Jones suggests that “those committed to the social web will become the new Magisterium.”  Now we have access to God’s Word not only in printed form, but check out YouVersion, a collaborative online bible studying community.  Or BibleWiki.  Now we the people access to the halls of science, technology, medicine, and history like never before!  It may mean questioning long-held traditions and assumptions of truth, but the goal is Truth (as in, Way, Truth, Life = Jesus) not truth (being right and being mean about it).

Like the dream of Martin Luther, we can discover the truth on our own – and the people control the Orthodoxy!