My announcement yesterday of The Blog-out for the Kingdom (Nov. 20-26) has generated some interesting responses. I hope even more come along as I post further on this idea in the coming weeks before the Blog-out.

The Blog-out is intended to give us an opportunity to use the ideas and truth we have discussed in each other's blogs to

• Serve others in the name of Christ
• Encourage the brethren in a more personal way
• Forge relationships with others face-to-face
• Think outside the box when it comes to practical expressions of the Gospel
• Break out of our ministry comfort zones
• Grow our own spiritual lives
• Lift up the name of Jesus
• Redeem the time, for days are coming when no one can work
• Reflect our thankfulness for all that the Lord has done for us

The Blog-out is not intended to

• Condemn bloggers for "wasting time" blogging
• Burden others with one more thing to do
• Impose legalistic servitude
• Replace daily service to others in the name of Christ

I know that blogging can be a ministry—it is for me. Calling for a week without blogging will in no way compromise anyone's online ministry. What I hope for the Blog-out for the Kingdom to do is to get us all thinking about practical expressions of what we know and have learned, putting those things into practice to change ourselves, our neighborhoods, and ultimately, the world.

It is my prayer that everyone who comes to Cerulean Sanctum catch this vision, not just for that one week in November, but in all we do. The Gospel was never intended to be locked up inside our craniums, but to be lived out in the presence of real people starving to hear it and see it truly in action.

Yesterday, I mentioned some ideas for ministry during the Blog-out. Please comment and leave more ideas for others today! I know that one thing I want to do is to take that time away from blogging and use it to handwrite letters to those Christians who have been influential in my spiritual development over the course of my life, thanking them for what they poured into me that has led me to become the person I am today. Encouragement of our fellow members of the Body doesn't happen enough today. And when was the last time someone sat down and handwrote you a letter saying how much you had blessed his/her life?

Don't we all want to see the world changed for Christ? The Blog-out for the Kingdom is just one way to make that a reality.

Let's not just talk the talk.

The Blog-out for the Kingdom—November 20 through 26, 2005.

{Image: Henrik Stefan's The Good Samaritan, 1920}