The Beginning

Blogging. I never thought in a million years, that I - Paul - would be ... a blogger. I have to suppress a slight shudder at the thought of jumping on the blog-wagon (hah, bandwagon/blogwagon, get it? ... nevermind... *sigh*). In any case, here I am, writing my very first blog entry.

So why blog? Many of you may be acquainted with the work of John Piper and the Desiring God Ministry. On their website, they list 6 reasons why pastors should blog. Though I am not a pastor, I believe that a blog for our church family could be extremely valuable. From the Desiring God website (www.desiringgod.org), here's why:

1. ...to write.
2. ...to teach.
3. ...to recommend.
4. ...to interact.
5. ...to develop an eye for what is meaningful.
6. ...to be known.

At the desiringgod.org website they go into more detail about these ideas, but in brief, we (the leaders at Westside) want to write - to encourage, to inspire, to be transparent, and to inform. We want to teach - to help our family grow in their faith and in their relationship with The Creator, The One True God. We want to recommend authors, musicians, podcasts and other media that will help you in your walk with God. We want to interact - to build community and to foster honest and meaningful relationships. We want to develop an eye for that which is meaningful - to be discerning and find truth. And finally, we want to be known - we want people in our family and community to know us - that they may know our Saviour through us.

My hope is that this blog will help, teach, convict, inspire and encourage us as we navigate our daily lives, trusting in Him.

Stay tuned... I encourage you to bookmark this site, and make it a part of your regular "internetting". More to come shortly...