So I was looking for a solution, and tried MacJournal, which I thankfully already owned a license for. So far it is working well. It is not really a blog client per se; it is intended as a journaling app, as the name suggests. But it can sync to a blog, so is serviceable in that way.

I currently working to sync MacJournal with this blog as well; but there are some technical issues at the moment. [Edit: It worked. There was a badly encoded em-dash character in one of my old posts. The free W3C Feed Validation Service helped me find it.]

Some people may believe it doesn’t matter all that much what they once thought. It is true that our current thinking defines who we are. But a blessing comes when we can identify patterns: Do we tend to get excited about things for short periods of time and then lose interest? (Matthew 13:20-21.) Do we focus on trivial things? (1 Corinthians 3:12-15.) Is our consecration slipping? (Hebrews 2:1—I’ve been told the original Greek for “let them slip” suggests “leaking out,” as with bag with holes in it.) Are we now kinder than we once were? (2 Peter 3:18.) These kinds of observations can help keep us on course towards improvement.

When we recognize patterns or trends in our thoughts, we are better equipped to deal with them. Of course, if we see mostly positive changes it would be foolish to let our guard down; better, we should resolve to continue on to new heights.

Just recently I was going back through old “Friends and Family” emails that I’ve written. I noted changes in length, style, and quality of writing. But more than that I saw how God led and how He provided for my needs, my need of understanding in particular, at just the right time. It is such a blessing to go back and see what things God revealed to you in the past. More often that not, I’ve found that the things God showed me long ago are the very things that I need to be reminded of now. God is always ahead of the game. (Example: Most of what you are now reading in this post was written about eight years ago, but never published. I just found it in my files.)

I have both a private personal blog, where I record both spiritual insights and general events, and obviously I also have this public blog that you are now reading. Both serve a useful place. Of course, someone doesn’t need a computer to journal; many people get along just fine with ink and paper, or a traditional diary. 

It seems that just about every eminent person over the last four or five centuries, including powerful religious figures, has kept a journal or diary. It is a time tested method, one used by the brightest and best. I highly recommend it.

I highly recommend subscribing to their RSS feed. And if you can, respond to the posts with comments. Commenting on blogs is a hugely underrated form of Christian ministry; I do it all the time, and sometimes it seems like only a small handful of my friends have an interest in it. I’m speaking particularly of community blogs, not personal ones; although both are channels where we can be salt and light. There are so many opportunities to share grains of truth and form new relationships with people outside your circle. It’s quick, it’s easy, and the rewards are all out of proportion with the effort required.

• All emails from me will say they are from MichaelPrewitt.com, not from FeedBlitz.
• Replies to emails will be delivered to me, and not to some stranger!
• It is no longer necessary to go through another third party to add comments to a blog post. There is also support for personal avatars; initially Gravatars are enabled (when you comment with the email address associated with a Gravatar), and later I plan to add user profiles for those who want them.

Previously I was using the third-party service called FeedBlitz. They monitored my blog, and whenever there was a new post they sent emails to to everyone who had subscribed. It worked reasonably well, except that some people were confused about the relationship between me and FeedBlitz, and some thought that FeedBlitz was the name of my blog! Now that there are no third parties, I hope things will run more smoothly.

Why did I switch? Here are some of the advantages of the new software:

• The old software, RapidWeaver, is client-based (it’s a Mac application that runs on your computer), whereas WordPress is server-based (it runs in a browser, and can be updated from anywhere where there is Web access). This means that when I’m away from home and I find something that I want to post on my blog, I don’t have to e-mail myself a reminder or send myself a file to post online later; I can do it right then. If I’m on location at a special event, I can post updates as events happen.
• RapidWeaver is commercial software, whereas WordPress is free. I’ve already been through two paid upgrades of RapidWeaver, and I’m ready for something free.
• WordPress is much more flexible and customizable than RapidWeaver. There are probably hundreds of plugins that extend the functionality of WordPress, as well as hundreds of user-developed design themes to use or adapt. There is a very robust user community to go to for help and support.
• Many standard blogging features such as comments and RSS are better handled by WordPress. 

On the flip side, WordPress is a bit more technical, and therefore more difficult for the average computer user to tackle; RapidWeaver is easy and fun to use, and well within the reach of average users. I was quite happy with RapidWeaver for a while, but now I’ve outgrown it.

So what’s next?

I need to bring over some of my posts from the old site to the new one, to give the content a little jump start. I haven’t decided whether I will go through the trouble of moving everything over. Then I need to move all of my subscribers over to the new blog.

FRIENDSHIP: Friendship is a funny thing. It is so desirable, yet in its purest form so unattainable. Most of my adult life I’ve tried so hard to cultivate friendships that I’ve suppressed my true personality, as well as my opinions and sometimes even convictions, believing that my true self is not sufficiently likable. But the result has been friendships that (with a few exceptions) barely exist, that are more illusion than reality — and there are not even many of those. I’m left believing that others like not the real me, but instead this limited and fine-tuned projection of me, if that. As a result, lately I have become a little more outspoken. So far it has neither helped nor hindered my relationships, but at least I feel more genuine. As much as I want to be likable, I feel even more compelled to be honest. Whether that will add or detract from my friendships remains to be seen, but either way I am willing to bear the consequences. This is partly because I have come to believe that a true friend will like me for who I am, and such a friendship will only blossom when who I am is outwardly apparent. (Of course, such a life must be lived in the context of who God wants me to be.)

CRUCIBLES: Recently my church denomination has been studying the subject of “crucibles” in the Christian life. The year 2007 was a crucible for me, in respect to my beliefs. A flood of hard questions came in on the one side, and my long-standing and deeply held convictions and beliefs were arrayed on the other. Many of these questions I still cannot answer. Many of them are my own questions, so I can’t quite throw them out. But on the other hand, I am not ready to say that perfectly good and reasonable answers do not exist. And against these questions are strong arguments and evidences that say something else, that testify to the truthfulness of what I have believed. So here I am, with unanswered questions still lingering, and also a faith that I’m not willing to relinquish as long as it proves true. It is not an enviable position, but I am not sure it is a bad one either. Again, my desire is to be honest with myself and with truth. I realize we now “see through a glass darkly,” and that one of the greatest lessons we can learn is meekness and trust. We cannot expect answers to everything. A world of answers would be a world that would not need faith.

OUTREACH: I have become very weary of an in-grown church life. Lately I have decided to participate in just about every outreach opportunity that comes along, whether it is finding Bible study interests (such as at GYC), passing out door hangers (what a group of us did recently in Benton), singing to residents at an assisted living center (what I joined on a recent Sabbath), or cleaning up thousands of mouse droppings and other filth from an infested home (something a small group of us did a number of months ago). Anything that I feel competent to do, I want to do. I think some of my friends are tired of hearing me play this one string, but I really believe the church in the Western world is dying for lack of outreach. Every time I hear about another church program, another social, another series, I want to say, “Enough! Let’s focus a little more on output instead.” I know the church needs regular study. I’m a teacher of an adult class at my church, and I think it’s important to study. But I am also persuaded that input without output results in bloat and corruption. The true Christian faith has always been a religion of action, with a sense of responsibilty towards God for its influence and accomplishments in the world.

BLOGGING: One of my reasons for blogging has been to increase output. I came to realize that I have a wealth of knowledge and insight about all kinds of things. But I also came to see that I am like a book that is seldom read. Few ask me what I think about this or that. As for the others who never ask, maybe they don’t care; or maybe they don’t think I’m competent; or maybe they think I may know something, but I am not qualified enough, or humble enough, or interesting enough, or spiritual enough, or likable enough that they want to hear it from me. For whatever reasons, the information is not getting out. So I decided to do something about it. The fruit of this has not really been seen yet, since most of my blogs are about personal news. However, I have begun to dish up some spiritual content from time to time over on my Xanga blog. I had hoped that more people would “bite,” but it hasn’t happened. Initially I was a bit discouraged, but then I developed this attitude that, no matter if not one single person read or responded to what I wrote, I would still write, because I think my ideas need to be shared. I’m not sure anyone else feels this way about my beliefs, but I am convicted that my beliefs are my most valuable asset, even more valuable than my creativity or my skills as a graphic designer or computer tech person. I don’t want to be held culpable of neglecting the light that I have. It may be that these beliefs do not amount to much. But I cannot judge that. All I know is that sharing them is important to me, and apparently important to God who I believe is the source of all truth. I have not yet found or developed a suitable venue for most of what I want to share, but I am working on it.

TIME: Time passes so quickly. Recently I went to a clinic for a checkup. I joked with the doctor that I was coming for a routine checkup, just six months late. She looked at me quizzically, and replied, “You haven’t been here for almost two years.” For a moment I thought she must be mistaken. But no, she was right. My life goes by in such a blur. Not only does time pass quickly, but once gone, it is gone for good. I think we’ve all had the experience of thinking back to events in the past, and wishing we could alter this or that. Rash actions, foolish choices, wasted opportunities, and stretches of life lost to fear or passivity are strewn across my memory. How I would love to flutter back through time and try another path (though doubtless it would be disposed to a whole different class of mistakes and follies). But one truth that has been firmly rooted in my mind in the past several years is the permanence of our choices. Every brick in the road of time is laid forever. Every choice is eternal. What I do today can never be undone. And this — is good news! Because it also means that every lesson learned is forever, and every grief endured, every trial overcome, every bad habit corrected is a fact that cannot be altered. Mistakes are tragic, but also essential, because once overcome they are the foundation on which firmer resolutions and deeper resolves are built. Furthermore, what happens now is anchored in time, but what happens hereafter is loosed from time. Time as we know it, with all of its baggage, will one day be gone. But, if we are saved, who we are lasts forever.

INEVITABILITY: A while back I had a discussion with a friend about time, divine foreknowledge, predestination, free will — and quantum physics. I know: Philosophers, theologians, and skeptics have been batting these ideas around for centuries. Who are we, my friend and I, to resolve it all in a brief chit chat one Friday evening? It’s a fascinating pursuit for me, opinionated amateur philosopher-theologian that I am. For my part, I believe in all three doctrines: God’s omniscience (including the future in detail), our predestination, and freedom of the will. I tried to explain this apparent paradox to my friend, who takes a very different (and, in his mind, more liberating) view. I think we found some common ground, but whether we found substantial agreement is not yet clear. At a point the conversation became a little heated, which I regretted — but was that inevitable? In a certain sense yes, in another sense no — such is the freedom my paradoxical beliefs afford me. But the kind of inevitability I’m aiming for in this paragraph is really a different kind than any of that. I sense a certain kinship with God, who knowing the Fall of humankind nevertheless created them. He loved them enough to will Himself to be hurt by them. Have you ever had the sense that what you were about to say or do would not be understood by those around you, and would backfire on you in such a way as to hurt you profoundly — and yet you knew you had to go ahead and say or do this thing anyway? This seems to be the story of my life lately. I feel like I’m my own worst enemy. But … it’s for the greater good. Actually it’s for my own good, and everyone else’s. But it still hurts to choose the path that breaks a friendship, when breaking the friendship is the last thing I wanted. I saw it coming … and chose it anyway — inevitable as my own free will.

Additionally, I have added a new category to my blog, “Books and Music.” This category simply summarizes the book and music reviews I occasionally post. Of course they are also included in the main blog; this is just a more convenient way to access them. Formerly they were part of the “Cool Stuff” category. At the moment there are only a few reviews, but I intend to add more.

Also in the news: Community websites seem to be the new big thing online (MySpace, etc.). I’ve joined a number of them, and formerly had links to all of the ones I’ve joined in my Links section (see Links button in the upper right). However, Xanga and MySpace have become my personal favorites, mainly because those are the ones most of my friends are on. In the interest of simplicity, I’ve decided to remove the links to the other community sites, although I am still part of them. For the record, I am also on Window Live, Multiply, Friendster, and Ringo. However, of those four, only Multiply shows much promise, and at this time only a very small group of my friends have accounts with any of them. If you are looking to join a community website, I highly recommend Xanga (lots of cool people, lots of neat SDA groups), and then MySpace (many more people, more features … but uglier in more ways than one).

At the moment WordPress seems one of the better options. I don’t want a remote hosted blogging service (like Blogger), nor do I want a gargantuan content management system (like Drupal). I just want something simple and easy to use, with a pretty GUI, that I can host on my own site, and that is preferably free, open source, standards compliant, and actively developed. There are a few other interesting options besides WordPress, but I’ve heard so many good things about that one that I’m leaning heavily towards it.

I am eager to see how my website will hold up in RapidWeaver as the pages increases in number and complexity. If nothing else, it is getting me off to a good start.