the Good Question

Since my laptop fried, it's been a little difficult to get everything done that I've wanted to do. Nevertheless, here are some of the MP3 messages to expect in the Audio Archives in the future: a seven-message series from Alan Hirsch on "The Forgotten Ways", another series, featuring Wolfgang Simson, on organic church, a message on suffering and character development from Graham Cooke, Larry Crabb on developing spiritual community, and Dennis McCallum on cultivating a tender heart. You will enjoy these messages greatly.

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com

No doubt that many of you have noticed that there has been a major overhaul of the design and function of theGoodQuestion.com. My blog and the Audio Archives are already up in the current format. The other blogs may be ported as well, but they will no longer be a main focus of the site, mainly because none of them have been maintained and I haven't heard back from any of the new blogger candidates. The survey and evangelism section will likely be made available at a later date, when I have the time.

This new format is much simpler for me to maintain, which means that I don't have to worry about spending as much time with making sure everything operates correctly. That applies directly to you, the reader, because one of the main reasons I haven't posted very frequently thus-far is due to all the extraneous maintenance that the old format required of me. Just thinking about it sucked dry all my enthusiasm, like a Dementor hovering over my lifeless, twitching corpse. (Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad.) Anyway, now I can focus much more on writing.

Plus, I think this new design is more pleasing to the eye. There are some small style and readability issues that I will be addressing shortly, but all-in-all the port of theGoodQuestion.com to a new template was very successful.

Kudos to Phu Ly and Gecko & Fly for designing and providing this nice template, so I didn't have to.

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com

Hey all. I just wanted you to know that I have just updated the Audio Archives section of theGoodQuestion.com. I added 23 posts, including 46—yes fourty-six—individuals audio messages (there are several series). Be sure to check them out. And for a quick search through the Archives, you can click on "Categories" on the menu to your left and select the subject of the message you would like to find.

The messages include sermons from Tim Keller, John Piper, Floyd McClung, and more, as well as an entire 20-part podcast series from David Garrison on Church Planting Movements.

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com

Why did the Jewish religious establishment kill Jesus? They didn't like Him. And why didn't they like Him? Because they didn't like what He had to say.

How frequently do you dislike what others say—whether you disagree with their beliefs or opinions, or you disapprove of their tone or lack of tact?

One of the chiefest differences between the followers of Christ and all other people must be in how we handle disagreement, criticism, opposition, antagonism, and persecution. Love your enemies. Bless your enemies. Pray for your enemies. Show patience and longsuffering, like God has shown you. Forgive with no end, as God has forgiven you. Return their venom and spit with humility and respect. This is a basic tenant of the lifestyle of Jesus of Nazareth. Any other response to resistance and confrontation is not of the Spirit of Christ, but of the same spirit as that of the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day: a spirit antithetical to Christ—a spirit of "antichrist."

So, now you must question yourself: "How do I respond when I am criticized? How do I react when my beliefs or opinions are challenged? Do I feel like a "champion of the faith" when I cheapen another who disagrees with my beliefs? How do I respond when I don't think that someone is giving me the respect I feel I deserve? Am I displaying the Spirit of Christ, or a spirit inversed to the lifestyle of Jesus? Who have I disagreed with recently? Did I convey genuine love in my effort to convey what I believe to be the truth? When I don't like what someone has to say, does my heart respond any differently than the Pharisees'?"

Jesus taught them the truth, and they disagreed with Him because they weren't willing to humbly question what they were taught. They couldn't even admit that they could be wrong. They were totally convinced that what they were taught was "the faith once delivered to the saints." But it wasn't. So, they disposed of the truth-teller.

How did Jesus respond to their criticism and disagreement? He did what He could do to communicate the essence of His message, then He allowed them to torture and execute Him publically. He then tore Himself from the grip of death and walked among them one more time.

If what you believe to be true is indeed the truth, then there must come a time when you stop talking about it and show it to be true. Jesus' ultimate proof of what He said was what He did.

Let our lips proclaim the glory of Jesus Christ. But let our actions proclaim it more thoroughly.

Labels: blogging, conflict, Heart, love, The Upside-Down Way

Well, this is the first post that is to be posted on both the Radical Obedience blog and my theGoodQuestion.com blog at same time!! I have set up my blog system so that it posts automatically on Xanga, for the benefit of all my subscribers over there. Hopefully, there will be no kinks to work out (almost always are). By the way, to you Xangans, I apologize for the scarcity of my blogging in the past few months. I want you to know that I'm not finished. In fact, there is much more coming. The variety of issues that I'll be covering will broaden somewhat, but I hope that the reason you subscribed to Radical Obedience will not be disappointed as RadicalO is now also theGoodQuestion.

For those of all my readers on Xanga and theGoodQuestion.com, you can now subscribe to theGoodQuestion blog for email, and for RSS, as well. Look for the feed icon and the links under the post titles at theGoodQuestion.

TheGoodQuestion has expanded into a community! You'll now find three new blogs on theGoodQuestion.com, as my friends Heath Loftis, Brandan Thomas, and Joseph Witcher have joined me! For those who enjoy my writings, I expect you will enjoy theirs at least as much.

I wanted to expand theGoodQuestion.com with the hearts and visions of other men who are likeminded. Well, there are few people in this world with whom I have connected any more quickly or strongly than with these three fellas. We are brothers from other mothers, and I am very excited about sharing their insights with you. For you Xangans, you will have to visit their blogs, now hosted on theGoodQuestion.com, if you would like to read what Heath, Brandan, and Joe have to say.

We are currently in that transition period, but expect some great things to come. The content available on theGoodQuestion.com will expand quickly as these three new voices are added to the mix. So, join in the conversation, post your comments, and become a regular in theGoodQuestion community.

In the future, more friends may join the roster of bloggers at theGoodQuestion.com. My sincere hope is that each one will provide his own unique perspectives, as we all strive to serve our Master and seek His truth.

-dave

p.s. For Xangans who want to comment on a post, please do so at theGoodQuestion.com, not at xanga.com/radicalo. There are two reasons for this: (1) There has been a problem, which I have not been able to rectify, for the past several months on my Xanga blog. Many people may be unable to post a comment there. In fact, some browsers may even crash for trying. (2) The main site is now theGoodQuestion.com, and I would prefer that comment discussions not be split between two sites. It is very easy to comment using the blog system at theGoodQuestion, and Xangans can still use their Xanga usernames to identify themselves—they can even leave a link to their blog at Xanga.com, which will provide them with greater exposure. Whatever you do, I strongly encourage you to leave your thoughts! I intend for theGoodQuestion blogs to become forums for discussion on important issues.

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com

Well, I've pretty well finished editing the code necessary to get Blogger working on my website. I eventually just abandoned the Blogger template entirely and just copied the most basic elements into the existing theGoodQuestion.com layout. I ran into a couple of problems with compatibility, because my site is based upon a very specific CSS and HTML layering system. I don't use any tables in the base design. I make use of DIVs. For any webdesigners out there who actually understand what I'm talking about... I did this because I just plain hate working with tables. Never have. So, I took the road less travelled. Anyway, I had to do some tweaking with my default CSS setup, and with the Blogger code. Everything works great now! I will continue to add links to the Featured Links and Blogroll sections on the right.

Expect more content soon. Until then, be sure to check out the links. There's plenty to enjoy until I get back to content (rather than design). In the next day or two, I will posting on RadicalO, to notify everybody that I'm migrating my blog to theGoodQuestion.com. I've got quite a lot of subscribers, so I will be looking into setting up an automated email system to forward my blog posts to their email boxes (as is typically done on Xanga). I may just resort to using RSS. We'll see.

About my photography gallery, the setup process has been running smoothly ...until just now. I've got a problem on my hands, so there will be a delay. If I can't find a solution, I'll be looking into something else.

-dave

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com

Don't I know you from somewhere? Well, probably... that is, if you're reading this, it's probably because I know you in person or from my blog at Xanga (http://www.xanga.com/radicalo/). I've decided to move my blog here, for the sake of having everything in one place. I don't know if I'm going to discontinue my Xanga account, or just update it alongside this one, and I'm still trying to set up a photogallery here on theGoodQuestion.com. The gallery on Xanga (http://photo.xanga.com/radicalo/) is good, but not very. I'll try to update this more frequently than Radical Obedience. I also have plans to make this blog more personal than RadicalO has been—which has mostly been articles that I've written. And, if you are wondering: I do plan on customizing this page—the color scheme, if nothing else. I've just got to get around to it. Expect it to match the rest of theGoodQuestion.com

-dave

Labels: blogging, theGoodQuestion.com