Welcome to Blog One Another: Stretching between faith & culture… to find Jesus. Faith and culture often seem like colliding forces, whether you’re a Christian or an atheist. But I’m getting used to straddling the two.
I’m Jon Reid, a “third culture kid.” As an American missionary kid growing up in Japan, I was the child of two cultures, while not fully belonging to either. This gives me a sightly different view of the world.
Blog One Another is a diary of my spiritual journey, as I navigate between two forces:
- Why is most evangelism a horrible experience? Are we spreading “bad news” instead of “good news”?
- By mimicking culture, have we created self-centered, passive, Consumer Christianity? I, me, mine!
- Why are Christianity and politics in bed with each other? Are Christianity and science really at odds? What about gays?
- What does it look like to follow Jesus in our culture? Could you follow Jesus without becoming a “Christian”?
Instead of being locked in a wrestling match, can faith and culture come together in a divine dance?
Pick one:
I expect to post something new 1-2 times a week. To make sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe by email, or read by RSS. (But email subscribers get a special gift!)
What does “Blog One Another” mean?
The most common guess is that it’s a play on “love one another.” Ehh, nice try.
Or maybe you feel like the poor grey fellow in the banner, torn between the two orange guys. Flog one another?
…Actually, this blog dates back to the time before blogs exploded in number. I didn’t know how blogs worked, and started it as an experiment: Could blogging promote spiritual growth? The name comes from a verse in the New Testament:
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
Later, I started asking the same questions about Twitter when it came along. That’s why you’ll see me write an occasional post about the whys and hows of Twitter. Technology is a big part of our culture, and has a role to play in the dance with faith.
Some of my favorite posts
If you’re new to Blog One Another, let me highlight a few of my favorite posts to give you some starting points.
- 14 Reasons to Stop Evangelizing Your Friends — How’s it working for you? Not so good? Then cut it out!
- Welcome to Post-Christian America — America is becoming post-Christian. How should Jesus communities respond? (Includes exercises.)
- This I Used to Believe — “This American Life” featured a story on evangelism done well, and done poorly …by the same person.
- Listening as a Spiritual Act — Listening is the act of acknowledging another person’s life. (Includes exercises.)
- Prayer-Walk Your Mall — My meditation in the middle of a temple of consumerism.
You can also check my archives for every post I’ve written, or use the search function in the right sidebar to find other posts you might like.
Stay in touch
Interested? I’d love to interact with you about how we can discover Jesus for our context. Here are a few ways to stay in touch:
- Subscribe — Subscribe to be updated on the latest blog posts, without having to visit the blog.
- Comments — Whenever you leave a comment, I get an email letting me know.
- Twitter — Follow @jonmreid to join the conversation on Twitter.
- Email — Feel free to email me through my contact form.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Policies
Some of this gets dull, but is worth reviewing:
Photos by rocknrolldetox (license) and gwilmore (license)
Banner image by lumaxart from Free Stock Photos (license)
