My Blog

It is hard to imagine, but in 2004 very few Christians had ever heard of a blog, let alone Christian blogging. After being encouraged by talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, I promoted and organized the first-ever Christian Bloggers Conference on my then-active blog at SmartChristian.com. I now blog on my personal site at www.DrAndrewJackson.com. I’m busy redesigning SmartChristian.com as an extensive online Christian resource directory that will be launched in March 2011.

The first Christian Bloggers Conference, called GodBlogCon 2005, took place on October 13-15, 2005 at the campus of Biola University in California under the leadership of Dr. John Mark Reynolds, the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute. About 135 Christian bloggers gathered to get to know one another, and discuss new media blogging as an emerging Christian communication vehicle. GodBlogCon 2006 was also held on the campus of Biola University. Then the big move to Las Vegas took place. Yep, Las Vegas. GodBlogCon 2007 and GodBlogCon 2008 convened in conjunction with the BlogWorldExpo & New Media Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

After two interesting years in Las Vegas, GodBlogCon was re-branded the Christian Web Conference, and it returned to Biola as a “mini-conference” in September 2009. Christian Web Conference 2011 is coming up.

I must confess, I really miss the dynamic GodBlogCon days. Meeting together with all the pioneer Christian bloggers was always a great time.

Since the first Christian Bloggers conference in 2005, the number of quality Christian bloggers have continued to increase and expand. Unfortunately, they are scattered throughout cyberspace, and there is no central portal site where one can go and have direct access to them. In a sense, there is no one-stop shopping for Christian blogs. A few years ago, I launched a Facebook page called Christian Bloggers Network as a possible solution. Today, there are over 1,300 members.

Well, I’m taking one more step forward. After the launch of SmartChristian.com in March 2011, I’ll be designing a central portal site for Christian bloggers at www.ChristianBloggersCentral.com. This will be quite an undertaking. I would appreciate you cheering me on. Like back in 2005 when I initiated the first Christian Bloggers conference, I’ll try to launch the first central portal site for Christian bloggers that I believe will be a great resource for the global church.

One of the my greatest concerns about the Egyptian uprising is I see very few women on the streets protesting, when I do they are covered. Why is that? If it was a true democratic uprising then we would expect to see covered and uncovered women active and out in front of the crowds. Even, women spokespeople. I consider any uprising led by women to be much more healthy then wild acting men, especially Islamic men, dominating the scene. If we don’t begin to see more women, especially uncovered women, out-in-front then my concerns about a positive outcome of Egypt’s uprising declines.

The uprising in Arab Egypt can either be Obama’s 9/11 or his Iran. Initially anyway, 9/11 was a window of international opportunity for President Bush to play a significant role in helping to shape the new emerging future of the 21st century. The situation in Egypt is also an international opportunity for President Obama to play a dicisive role in assisting to push and guide the entire Arab world toward the globalized freedom of the 21st century. However, if President Obama allows Egypt to fall into chaos and under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood, and fails to assure a long-term orderly change in Egypt, than it will become his Iran, ask Jimmy Carter the outcome of his failure.  A one-term presidency.

The historical status quo in the Middle East is ending. It is a new historical period in world history. We are now living in a globalized, new media world within which the dictatorship and Islamic control of nations is crumbling. The real i…ssue is not primarily about Israel (the old paradigm), but it is about the Arab Islamic world themselves. What everyone needs is a transitional change to the future among nation-states, not a immediate collapse of nation-states. An instant collapse of dictatorships in Arab nations would provide a significant opportunity for radical Islamic powers to rise, like the Muslim Brotherhood etc. I believe this transitional historical change in the Arab world is a positive change when the advancement of the kingdom of God will increase. Don’t get caught up in the immediacy of protests, get focussed on the new wave of awakening that will lead us toward the future.

When Christians speak about the mission of the kingdom of God, we aren’t simply speaking about a verbal message, but a human transformation. One way of defining human transformation is to identify it as “Total Health” or “Shalom.”  What is Total Health? Here is a good definition: Total Health is the capacity of individuals, families and communities to work together to transform the conditions that promote, in a sustainable way, their physical, emotional, economic, social, environmental and spiritual well being.