ok, so, i go to sleep in guernsey (8 hours ahead of west coast US), and wake up to find some pretty strong things being said about me, in my own comments, and more so on another blog.

let me clarify something, where i may have misrepresented myself…

my “i’m dangerous” post was, in no way whatsoever, intended to be a smack on brett kunkle or stand to reason. truthfully, i thought the fact that he said my ideas were dangerous was kind of fun — i’d never been called dangerous before. my post was a (perhaps wrongheaded) attempt to lighten up a debate (yes, i am gonna stick with that concept) that was starting to get testy. it obviously backfired, and i am certainly sorry if i have offended mr kunkle (although this doesn’t seem to the case, as he and i have had a nice exchange), or anyone else. offense was absolutely not my intention (at least this time!). i also had no hint of “mockery” in me when i wrote that (which another post has accused me of). i’m sorry it was perceived that way. interesting how that same post that accused me of unchristian mockery makes fun of my truly well-intentioned invitation to mr kunkle to visit my home, which he has accepted.

and to those i so frustrate by not being jazzed about being drawn into a debate on the issues i post about — i’m sorry, i’m just not going to do it. you can call me every name in the book, blog nasty things about me, say “that’s the problem with those emerging church guys”, or whatever. yes, i want to toss out ideas i’m thinking about on my blog; and, again, i welcome comments. but in a couple years of following blogs and blog comments online, i have seen that — consistently — blog comments are not the place where differences are resolved. differences can be identified, sure; but things regularly get ugly when disagreeing parties try to convince each other online. it becomes massively time-consuming (and mind-consuming), and doesn’t really get us anywhere. this doesn’t make me “evasive”, nor does it mean i’m “side-stepping” questions. i am consciously choosing to find other — i believe more effective — forums for this kind of discussion, forums i’ve seen bring good results and understanding.

there are plenty of you out there who know me. and you know i do not shy away from a good dialogue — or discussion or debate or whatever you want to call it — certainly, there are differences, but for our purposes today, i’m not going to “debate” them :o). i have a great love and respect for many whom i have greatly divergent views from.

if all of this is just too frustrating to you, i kindly ask that you just not read my blog. while i hope my blog is occasionally a nudge to the church (as many other blogs are to me), i have no desire to drive people to write angry posts or exasperated comments. i’m sure you can find other blogs that do not frustrate you. i can tell you that i’m making this very choice about one blog i’ve previously occaisionally read, and recommended, because i can’t get sucked into that kind of stuff — it hurts my soul.

ok, speaking of my soul — i’m supposed to be on a spiritual retreat here; so i’m off to embrace a bit of mystery. i’m sure mr kunkle and i will both post about our meeting after it happens, and i’m highly expectant that we’ll get along swimmingly (pun possibly intended).