Jason Bedell Online

So in light of a few different events going on, I took a few days to rethink why I blog in the first place. Our family has a blog about Chloe and her growth & journey as a child. We love it. My sister has a blog to catalog her adventures and life as a journalist in Northern VA. I keep up with 68 blogs on faith, culture, and leadership to keep myself fresh and aware of the trends happening in our world.

But why this blog?

Before I became the lead pastor of Forefront, this blog was solely about status. I wrote about tech & gadgets, ministry tools and newest trends at our church... all in the hopes that people would notice. I checked stats daily, visitor length, where are people from that check it out? I would look for comments every half hour, I would google my blog name to see how many people had linked back to me. I was/am fairly pathetic.

As I stepped into the lead pastor role- it just got worse. I thought about how many people across the country were watching Forefront. They knew about this "church for people who don't like church" who were ambitious enough to start a campus in a bar, and church planters from all over the country would come and visit to see "how we do what we do." That pressure began to mount.

Who would be reading my blog? Would they be important? Would they talk about me? Are they mega church leaders who would take notice? Would I get invited to speak at conferences and rub elbows with other uber bloggers who have acquired fame through writing their thoughts on the Internet machine just like me?

Well- I've had the privilege of speaking at conferences and I've had the chance to rub elbows with other big time bloggers- and I've realized in the process I've sinned against my God. Under the guise of being a pacesetter and wanting to share ideas...

I let technology become my master. I've had to apologize to my wife. We've discussed regulations on my computer/iPhone/blog/web 2.0 usage. But I needed to step back a bit. So, as you've noticed, I don't update everyday. And I won't.

This blog is an outlet of expression. When I have bad days, I'll rant and rave. When I have great days, I'll share my joys. The day my kid takes her first steps, you bet it will be here. When people come to Jesus, I'll share it. As our church moves in the community, I'll share our victories so we can celebrate together.

But, I ask you to do this one thing for you and for me. "If you and I spend more time blogging, twittering, youtube'n, facebooking, and all the way down the list- and just a few moments with our God and Saviour... I believe it breaks the heart of God."

Aiming to not break His heart.

Jason *over and out*