Update: Band of Bloggers and the Gospel

In yesterday’s post over at the T4G blog, Mark Dever said the following statement:

I remember taking a walk with Don Carson once, and Don remarking something to the effect that the first generation has the Gospel, the second generation assumes the Gospel, the third generation loses the Gospel. I am concerned that too many people who have the Gospel are lazy with it, compassionless, and not sufficiently motivated to spread it. I fear that this is me.

Having this quote from Carson in my head all afternoon, I was reminded that I needed to update everyone about the Band of Bloggers website/blog. If you recall, about two months ago we had the Band of Bloggers Fellowship on the eve of the Together for the Gospel Conference. Between 70 & 80 bloggers attended the meeting, and one of the results of this meeting was the creation of a group blog engineered by James Thompson, a fellow Southern student and blogger. James and I have been working to get together to develop the vision of the website/blog, and we recently met and discussed some of the upcoming plans of the blog. I thought I would share with you some of the things I/we are working on (and to let you know that the blog is in the works and nearing completion). Here’s the recent work and plans in bullet form:

• The blog will deal exclusively with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each month will have a theme in which bloggers will write about that particular theme and discuss it for a sufficient period of time where interaction and edification can take place. If you would like a list of the projected monthly themes, leave a comment, and I will give you some examples (currently I am working on a 2-year plan).
• The goal behind this blog will be to engender as many bloggers to think, write, and display the gospel of Jesus Christ as possible. However, we understand that to do this, there must be some inherent contingency and confession to which bloggers are allowed to write. For instance, we cannot and will not allow someone who does not believe in the exclusivity of Jesus Christ to write about the gospel because his position forfeits the essence of the gospel. Therefore, and in light of the T4G Conference, we have chosen the T4G Statement to be the statement to which bloggers confessionally agree.
• Many bloggers have signed up to be on the Blog Directory over the past two months, and I have been working to gather all the names and blogs to put together a master list and blog directory for everyone who has signed onto the Band of Bloggers. One of the purposes of this directory is to point new bloggers to quality blogs and create a network of bloggers who are committed to the message of Jesus Christ in the blogosphere.
• Being that we are likely to have one of the largest group blogs on the Internet, we needed to have some way to moderate, facilitate, and administrate the blog so as pursue excellence in both what we say and how we say it. More than simply having a blog that centers on the gospel, we want the blog to be a demonstration of how the gospel affects the persons who contribute with what they write and how they write it. To do this, I have invited three pastors who have widely read blogs and are well-respected men who will act as “overseers” of sorts to moderate not only the comments but also the posts as well. I will explain more of this later.
• Access to the blog will be divided into three categories: administrator, editor, and contributor. Everyone who is a part of the group blog will have the “contributor” status; however, each category comes with different accessibility and options—some which are reserved for those responsible for the maintenance of the blog. Along these lines, we are looking to have multiple emails and an efficient submission system for comments, articles, and questions.
• Finally, we are currently developing a timeline for startup. We initially had planned the month of June to be the first month of the blog, but due to extenuating circumstances and an unpredictably busy schedule, we have been forced to push back the start date. As we continue to complete the tasks in preparation, the startup date will be announced.

The point of these bullets is to share with you some of the things I have been working on over the past 4-6 weeks. If you have not considered being a part of the Band of Bloggers and would like to be added to the Blog Directory, you can email me at gospelcentral [at] yahoo [dot] com. This whole idea was birthed from the conviction that the gospel of Jesus Christ should be what unites us, drives us in our writing, and compels us to love God and one another and see our world changed for the glory of God. I am looking forward to the potential impact the Band of Bloggers site can have as well as the opportunities to channel our thoughts and affections on our Savior Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished for us on the cross.

Together,

Timmy Brister