Why?

There are several reasons why I’m starting a blog. To start it all off, I want to mention them.

1. To consolidate information about my life for those concerned. I would be afraid of that sounding arrogant except for the fact that a lot of blogging is that anyway. I’m getting ready to move away from home, and this will be a place to keep up with me. Due to the nature of my plans, I believe there are enough interested in them to warrant a blog. Also, I’ve spent a lot of money on sending newsletters and a lot of time sending emails when blogging is more cost and time efficient. However, let it be known I have no intention of rambling on about a random day. If I update on life there will be a clear purpose. Even if that purpose is humor, it is going to be hilarious, not the “you had to be there” types.

2. I have ideas and I want good feedback. This has been one of best things I’ve seen from reading blogs. With the ability to approve or deny comments, blogs can be a great source of information for all participants. While being a student, reading a lot in general, being exposed to tons of information, and the endless conversations and podcasts and other blogs, having a place of my own to disseminate ideas and have others tie up loose ends will be practical for me. Sometimes I have ideas and talk about them at length, but have no reason to write them. This can be a reason. In light of that, if you end up commenting on my blog and I don’t allow it to post don’t cry about it, I just don’t feel that it helps the conversation. If it’s really dumb, I’ll let you know privately. One thing I hate about school is all the dumb statements that are taken into account in a classroom and waste valuable time. I’ve estimated, based on tuition costs, that I’ve spent roughly $3,000 on people’s stupid comments and questions. This is my chance to prevent that.

3. I feel the need to write a book eventually, but I don’t know what kind. My thinking is that perhaps this blog will help for several reasons: seeing what others like and don’t like about what I say, getting used to having a wider audience for things I write, getting better ideas from other people, possibly getting the notion that a book is a bad idea, and so on. 

4. To be a resource. I want my blog to be part of the networking I see and like on the internet these days. There are some who will read this without knowledge of the certain resources I find valuable and I want to share and expand on them.

5. There are certain topics I feel are absent from popular discussion that I would like to infuse into it, even if only for a moment. This is a nice way of saying I want to review and critique various things where I feel the need. Again, I would feel this to be arrogant if not an overarching reason for blogging anyway.

6. The purpose above all other purposes is that Christ may get glory through this blog. While I intend for this blog to be for Christian and non-Christian alike, a high view of Christ, and a relating of everything back to Him will be an intentional defining attribute of this blog. If nothing else, I hope after reading this blog one may respond in one of these various ways: “Because I read that, I want to read my Bible.” “For some reason, now that I’ve read this blog, I feel the need to pray to the God of Christian Scripture.” “Jesus Christ is awesome, and I would die for Him.” “Hey honey…I just read this blog and I was wondering, can we go risk martyrdom by taking the gospel to a closed Arab country?” “The Bible is officially better than Harry Potter, Purpose Driven Life, and all the books on Oprah’s book club list combined!” “I was going to sit down with my ‘Teen Vogue’ magazine and watch ‘America’s Next Top Model’, but now that I’ve just read this blog I realize how dumb that is and how dumb I am for wanting to do that. I think I’m going to read the Bible instead, or any number of other better things like jumping off a cliff.” “God created, loved, died for and speaks to me. Maybe I should analyze how much I really care based on how I live?” “Kiel is an absolute dingle berry, but his God must have been the greatest thing before sliced bread.”

I hope to write something worth reading soon.