Welcome

A month ago I sent an email to the Enterprise-Dispatch just to let them know I was blogging. Now the newspaper is doing an article complete with the blog address. Though I see they put a slash instead of a dot between equalsharing and blogspot, expect a few new visitors. (Our church's intern, Paul Gustafson, procured the domain www.equalsharing.com for me, so that's another way in.)

What is "Sharing Ministry and Faith" about?

• It's a way for me to explore thoughts and topics that come up during typical days as a pastor.
• I use it to do some preliminary work on what I'll be preaching about soon.
• Mainly, and this is my real hope, it's a way to get feedback and comments from you.

I believe ministry is shared equally among hired hands such as myself and the great group of so-called "lay people" out in the community. No one is "above" another. We simply have different roles.

My role, as a pastor, as I see it, is mainly to equip people for ministry. One way to do that is to help people think and talk more about Christ-centered topics. Maybe sharing in this way, on the internet, will allow that to happen more often.

I hope, if I say something you appreciate, you'll let me know. Or, if I say something you think is crazy or not in line with God's truth, please come at me with how you see things.

I hope we will look to God's Word, centered in the Living Word, Jesus Christ, as the final arbiter and judge of all that is said. I will make mistakes. I hope we can continue to live together as brothers and sisters in Christ, forgiving each other and challenging each other, as equals under one Master and Lord.

I think it would be great if others in the Dassel-Cokato area would begin to "blog" in regard to the Christian life. God speaks to each of us through His Word and through His Spirit. Let's share!

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• In "Council Report" I listed some of the topics I've addressed over the past few months.
• There's more about why I write and why I think the internet is a good place to do it in "Internet First."