Things look different here, eh? Blogging has changed over the years, and I’ve been experiencing WordPress envy. I’m proud to roll out the biggest change since moving this blog from Blogger to TypePad in the summer of ’93: Blog One Another now runs on my own server, on WordPress, woot woot!

Why am I excited? Because everything has changed underneath. I plopped down some money for a hosting service (Dreamhost) and a WordPress theme (Standard Theme), and spent a chunk of time moving everything over from TypePad. You’ll experience a number of improvements, including:

• Speed: Pages load quickly. And I mean super-fast!
• Comment avatars: Just sign up at Gravatar, and your smiling face will make your comments more fun!
• Comment threading: Now more than a single level of replies! The threads of conversation will be clearer going forward.
• Comment subscriptions: No more need to check back manually! Just click the checkbox when you add a comment, and you’ll be notified when anyone adds something new.
• Easy sharing: Buttons float along the left side of each post. This makes it easy to share a post on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.

I want you to get the most out of the new setup! Here are things you can do to maximize your experience:

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I didn't know there was a book!

I did a little soul-searching recently. And I decided I could make the purpose and focus of this blog clearer.

…On the one hand, this is just a personal spiritual blog. There’s nothing necessarily focused about that.

…But on the other hand, this is my personal spiritual blog! What you get at Blog One Another is what I’m seeing and experiencing, that I want to pass on to you. So I had to ask myself, “What’s so unique about my perspective?”

Answer: I grew up in Japan, as an American. I’m used to being the child of two cultures, while not fully belonging to either. It colors everything about how I see culture, belonging, and what to do when cultures clash. I found myself sketching these ideas on a whiteboard:
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1.21 gigawatts?!

Back… back… back in time! Unless you go way back on Blog One Another, this will all be new.

It’s common for bloggers to wrap up the year with a “best of” summary. But that doesn’t work for me this year, since I only recently came back from a one-year hiatus. So instead, let’s stretch back to 2003. I give you classic posts from my first year of blogging!

• Postmodern Daydreaming — I brainstorm about what a “postmodern” worship service might look like. I don’t understand why these things are still so rare.
• Postmodernity Schooling — Cutting-edge classrooms have changed to adapt to a new way of thinking. Why haven’t churches?
• “The sick and demon-possessed” (Mark 1:32-34 Lectio) — In my lectio divina series, I meditate on how “You are a sinner” no longer works as a starting point for evangelism.
• Sunday Services Overrated? — Why do church plants often begin as small groups, but then pour 80% of their effort into a large weekly meeting?
• Heat and Light: An evangelistic conversation — A friend asks me if he is going to hell.
• “Stories” (Mark 4:1-20 Lectio) — Another lectio divina, in which I think about how my decision to stop evangelizing my friends has led to more conversations about spiritual things.
• Stop Inviting Friends to Church — I tried inviting my friends. Believe me, I tried.
• Ritual and Meaning — Kids respond to “all that pomo touchy-feely, multi-sensory stuff.”
• Adventures in Nametagging 2 — An experiment in wearing a nametag in public makes me a bolder servant.
• A Different Approach to Evangelism — What if we turn the tables? Not “I am helping you,” but “You are helping me.”

Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing Blog One Another with others! I’m looking forward to what the new year brings. (2012, that is.)

Photo by Team Tanenbaum (license)