Don't Freak Out

I just finished deleting and editing blogs in the blogroll, so now I am getting ready to wipe out all the feeds on the aggregator and readd those that are still in the blogroll. So, please don't freak out if you see your feed has disappeared. It will be back by the end of Thursday.

Thanks for understanding!

Slowly But Surely

I am back.

Now, the hard part. I just finished going thru the Christian Bloggers Webring and now I am cleaning up the blogroll and the aggregator. Once I am finished, I will start adding new members.

I do apologize for my extended absence. As many of you know, it couldn't be avoided. Now, it is time to get us back to where we belong. Please be patient during this process. It is slow and it is tedious, but it will be accomplished.

Thanks!

Join Christian Bloggers

Christian Bloggers is a community of Christian Bloggers who have come together with their brothers and sisters in Christ. We are Christians of varying doctrines but we all agree that Jesus was the Son of God, He died on the cross for our sins, He rose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven.

Criteria:

1. You must be a Christian.
2. You must have a blog.
3. Your blog should at least be one month old.
4. Your blog should be updated at least once a week, unless you are on a hiatus.
5. You must add the Christian Bloggers Blogroll to your blog. The more people that add the blogroll, the more exposure your site will get.
6. Members blogs are expected to be Christian in nature and reflect the Christian faith. You may blog about other things like your family, politics, and so on. But, it should be obvious that your blog is a Christian blog.

To Join:

1. Send us an email or comment to this post.
2. Include your name, email address, site name, URL, and RSS feed. Blogger users do not have to send me their RSS feed, unless they prefer using something other than their Atom feed. Blogger users should have Site Feed set to "yes" and their description set to "short" in their Settings. Also, under Publishing, choose "yes" for notifying Weblogs.
3. Include whether you want to be automatically added to the Christian Bloggers Group.
4. Set up your blog to ping http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 or use Blog Flux Pinger and make sure that Blogdigger is checked. If you find this too difficult, skip it.
5. If you need any help, let us know.

Back in business

Hello, my name is Scribe and I've been entrusted with managing this blogroll, at least for the time being, while Angel remains on hiatus, so that we could open up Christian Bloggers once again after a nine-month hiatus. I'll be working hard to bring everything up to date. This may take several weeks to get to everything as there are nearly 1100 requests and contacts to sift through. Part of the sifting process will also be a review of the current blogroll to remove sites that no longer function or no longer meet the blogroll criteria.

Even as I sift through older requests, we will now open up the blogroll for new member requests as well as updates and other requests. If you have previously requested to join the blogroll and have not yet been added, please send in a new request and these requests will receive prompt attention (within 24 to 48 hours).

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Peace!

— Scribe


UPDATE: I was able to spend more time on this over the past several days than I had expected and I was able to get a lot more done than I originally estimated. In short, I've been able to process through the backlog and we're back on track. Thanks again for everyone's patience.

.

From The Mind Of Dave

A Newbie's Solemn Pledge

When I got my own blog as a newbie back then,
(Said I to myself, said I),
I'll work on a new and original plan,
(Said I to myself, said I),
I'll do it for Jesus and nobody else,
I won't be conceited, exalting myself,
Unless I must quote every book on my shelf
(Said I to myself, said I).

Go here to read the rest!

Not Taking New Members

At this time, Christian Bloggers is unable to take on any new members. If you applied before todays date, I will get you added as soon as I can. If you apply after today, then your application will be discarded.

Until further notice, I am on official hiatus and will not be available. I will check in as I am able and update our services as needed.

Thank you.

CB Official Business

It has come to my attention that some of our members think that belonging to one specific political party not only makes them right, but it also gives them the right to harass members of another political party. I am not going to call names, but if I have one more member request to be removed from our blogroll because of such behavior ... I will start calling out the offenders or even possibly shutting down Christian Bloggers altogether.

There is no reason for this type of behavior and for all of you who are participating in it, I would suggest you turn off your TVs and stop gorging yourself on the things of this world. Instead, pick up your Bible and actually read what GOD says you should be doing ... not a man-made political party.

This is the only warning I will post.

Fishers of Men

Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

I have been reflecting on this verse recently. We sing it frequently in Honeybees, and my son loves the actions. We hold our rod and cast it out, reeling in those little fishies as quick as we can. I think most of us have similar images as we read this verse. It is how many of us evangelize. We bait out our hooks, cast it out and wait patiently, assuring ourselves that this is how Jesus planned evangelism to look. He did, after all, compare it to fishing.

But then I watched this video we have from Follow the Rabbi.. In one of the faith lessons, a man is depicting fishing just as fishermen in those days would have done it. He casts his net (quite an interesting sight in itself), and pulls in nothing. Also a common occurence, both in fishing and evangelism.

What strikes me is that there is no bait. You cast out the net; you pull it in. Cast it out; pull it in. There is no idleness. You do not sit back and wait to see what will take the bait. Net fishing is hard work. Once you throw out the net, you start pulling it in for another attempt. Finally, making a catch has more to do with knowing where and when to throw your net than what kinds of things the fish eat. Fish are in the shallows in the cool parts of the day and in the deep through the heat of the day. You row your boat out to where there are likely to be fish, and cast your nets.

(free picture from biblepicturegallery.com)

What does that have to do with how the church evangelizes? And how is that really any different from how we currently "fish?" I think fishing in the sense of today's rod-and-reel fishing effectively describes "seeker sensitive" evangelism. You throw out your bait: children's programs, accomplished author's and speakers as pastors, family life centers and the like.

I believe, however, God brings those to us who have hearts to hear His message. We need only to continue to cast out the nets. It is not so much about us and our skill at baiting the hook as it is about doing what we are called to do on a continual basis so when the fish are sent our way, we are not sunbathing in the boat with a pole resting on the edge.

Just my thoughts. Here is a link to some more information about fishing in Jesus' day.

Posted by Dana

My Apologies

I know that there are people waiting to be added to the Christian Bloggers blogroll and I will do what I can to get everyone added as soon as possible. Unfortunately, for me, I was bit by a spider and lost use of my left arm. I have a serious infection and have been running high temps. I have been too ill to even get online, let alone worry about the blogroll. I will see what I can do to rectify that later in the week.

Thank you for your patience.

Dare To Be A Daniel

I found this over at BGEA and wanted to pass it on ...

Dare to be a Daniel is a new training program from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) to help equip boys and girls to share their faith in Jesus with others. Through a printed booklet, a CD-ROM, a fun, interactive website--http://www.daretobeadaniel.com/--and other tools, they are given simple steps they can use when telling others about Christ.

Here are some ways you can be involved:

• Enroll. Are there youth in your life--children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or family friends--who could be raised up as the next generation of evangelists to be used by God in reaching others with His love? Contact BGEA today, and we will send you this evangelism starter kit free.


• Pray. Please lift up our nation’s youth and ask God to raise up a new generation of evangelists to boldly proclaim His Gospel.


• Give. If you would like to help us train young believers to stand for Christ, a gift of $15 can help provide the tools for one child. Donate securely online now!

Make sure you check out the site. It is totally awesome. This is one site that your kids can visit on the internet safely and it will give them valuable tools to share their faith.

Cross-posted at The Rogue Angel.