So I don’t want to blog without a purpose. I mean, it is always fun to just journal and that sort, but given how underdeveloped our field (college ministry) is, I really want to be intentional with my blogging and almost every other online front I have (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.).

With my blogging, I want to contribute to our field. There is so much unexplored territory out there, that we need to be keeping notes! To be a Trekkie for a moment, I want to keep a “Captain’s log” of sorts. In fact, when you think about it, Star Trek and college ministry have a lot in common… but that is a post for another time Suffice it to say that our field is relatively uncharted and the more we college ministry explorers record our notes and findings, the better off we and our field will be. My good friend Benson Hines’ blog, exploring college ministry, is a perfect example of what I am talking about. He has essentially built up an uber critical knowledge base that anyone remotely interested in college ministry needs to check out. But there needs to be more like this. To be sure, there are a number of other blogs out there devoted to our field but again, our field needs more intentional exploration. So here is how this applies to me: I have just about wrapped up my first year in a church-based college ministry. Thus, my ministry is essentially in its infancy. Additionally, I have at least two very unique colleges that I focus on- one is the Comet tribe of University of Texas at Dallas, a division 3 school of about 14,500 students and the other is the Thunderduck tribe of Richland College, a large community college pushing 20,000 students. It is this community college that deserves special focus. In fact, college ministry to community colleges is extremely uncharted, and that reason alone warrants blogging! Nevertheless, I want to blog about my experiences, my failures and successes, what works, what doesn’t work, and every other musing that stirs in my busy head so that perhaps others can learn… but I want to do this purposefully.

Yet another reason I want to blog is so that I can keep those outside of our field up-to-date. I think this aspect is especially critical. My buddy, Ben, compares college ministry with world missions, and he is right to do so. They are so very much alike. We college ministers are not unlike missionaries who would approach a unique people group in some distant country. We, like missionaries, have a tribe of our own, with a unique culture, language, and tradition. For example, the Aggie tribe of Texas A&M is quite different than the Red Raider tribe of Texas Tech in each of those categories. But it is this missionary analogy that I want to continue to run with here. Missionaries frequently blog to keep friends, families, and supporters up to date and inform them of needs and prayer requests. As a college minister, I want and need to do the same! My mentor, B.J. Ramon,  has done something really cool in this regard. He is the Baptist Student Ministry director at the University of Houston, a huge and diverse tribe! He has organized 20 or so of his closest brothers and sisters to pray for him via Facebook. He sends out a brief update and his prayer requests every Monday to his 20 supporters. What a brilliant and easy idea! This entire aspect of blogging deserves much more attention, but for now,  I want to be blogging like a missionary.

I think one other reason I want to blog is that it’s good for me. There  is something therapeutic about it, being able to journal about a cause that I want to devote my life to. Also, I geek out on this stuff. Maybe it is because I am a millennial (see previous post), but I love being able to voice my thoughts online and interact with others. Furthermore, it is simply exciting to be taking part of such an uber important cause, just like Star Trek!   Blogging also keeps me self aware. I can look back and see where I have come from and how I am progressing. It helps me keep my thoughts in order and reminds me of the lessons I have learned. I want to blog for me.

There are many other reasons for blogging, but I think this is a good start. So why do you blog? What are your goals? Any thoughts or ideas?