Welcome, Welcome Friends...

...to the show that never ends. (Extra points for everyone who can complete the obscure reference to ELP... and no fair Googling your answer.)

Well, at least I hope the "show" won't end any time soon. A number of people have been after me to start blogging (hi, Paul, hug Harrison & JuJuBee for me) and a recent article in Leadership Journal on "Pastoring By Blog" finally pushed me over the edge. (The article hasn't been posted there yet, but Leadership Journal has a web presence.)

So, I'm going to start slow. My goal is to post 3 times a week - one post on gaming (naturally!), one post on being a pastor, and one post on something else. (I'm thinking the "something else" topic may well be my attempt to prove I have a life.)

I really have 3 goals for "aka pastor guy":

1. Meta número uno: to sharpen my writing skills. Someday, I'm going to write something besides youth ministry curriculum and an offbeat website about board gaming. Blogging seems like a good way to hone my abilities.
2. Ziel Nr. zwei: to expand my ministry. Over the years, I've discovered that I "pastor" a whole lote more people than are in my congregation. (The e-newsletter I write on an almost weekly basis goes out to over 200 folks.) Blogging is just another way to continue doing what I do in that weekly newsletter.
3. but numéro trois: to have fun. Writing is fun - really. Being a smart aleck is fun. Talking about Jesus is fun. Being a minister is fun - well, most of the time. Sharing that with other folks is fun, too

So, "come inside, come inside"... and enjoy the show.

Oh, yeah - I forgot that I was going to explain the "aka pastor guy" name for the blog. It's not really a terribly great story (not like the time I got kicked out of Disneyland or the time we poured beer on burning bus brakes in Arkansas, but we'll get to those later.)

It's just that when I'm being lazy and don't want to type:

mark jackson
pastor
NewLife Community Church
Easton, CA

I type:

mark jackson
aka pastor guy

So, there you have it.