RussHutto.com

Today: Why I Blog (My Personal Blogging Experience)

I got started blogging several years ago.

I got involved with some online business ventures and used a blog as a way to track my progress and to share tips and tricks with the rest of the world. When that season was over I let that blog go.

During the same time I ran 2 other blogs. Both were worship ministry relates and I had a great time posting my thoughts, ideas, and comments on those blogs. Unfortunately, I also let those fall by the wayside, the weeds of busy-ness choked out my commitment to blogging regularly.

Which brings us to the beginning of last year, January 07. I decided to give it a go once more. We were kicking off the new year here at House of Joy with a series on honoring God with our bodies called “Body for God.” I decided that part of my contribution to blogdom would be a blog chronicling my journey to “get in shape” before I hit my 30th birthday (which was in April 07).

So for 4 months, I blogged at least twice a week on a nice wordpress blog and I loved it. I did manage to shed a few inches over the four months and had a great time charting my progress on the blog. But again after I hit 30, the blog kind of lost it’s luster for me and I, once again, let another blog fall by the wayside.

So here I am about a year later, with a blog I’ve been running since August of last year. The “ordinary-radical” or “the rad” as I like to call it. It’s a little bit ordinary, and a little bit radical.

But the question still remains: Why Blog?

Why do I blog?

Personally, I love blogging. I always have. But like a lot of things in my life I get on “kicks” where things are extremely engaging and interesting to me, and then sadly that fades. My wife thinks we could be millionaires If I’d just stick with my ideas for longer than a week or so. Maybe.

This go round I’ve decided to keep “the rad” running forever. Or at least for a really, really long time. I’ve really seen some neat stuff since starting this blog and I’ve really made some great connections with other bloggers through this blog.

1) I blog to journal. Everyone is on a journey. Everyone’s life is a story. Personally, I like the fact that I can invite you along for the ride. I love to let you in on the “backstage” of my life. My thoughts, my ideas, my rants, my dreams, my hopes, my sorrows…You get the picture.

My blog is my journal. It’s a window into my world. For me first, and then for anyone that might dare to journey with me. It’s an outlet. It’s the place where I can come and freely discuss what’s on my heart.

2) I blog to journey. Yep, that’s right. I want to hear YOUR story. I want to ride with on your journey through life. My blog is a portal to YOUR outlet. I can hear your songs, see your paintings, and feel your sculptures. I can dream with you. I can laugh and cry with you.

My blog is a window into YOUR world (your blog). Some blogs I regularly journey with are: Tall Skinny Kiwi, Ragamuffin Soul, and Fred McKinnon.

3) I blog to connect. This is definitely part of number 2, but in a different sense. I blog specifically to connect with like-minded individuals. With people who are traveling the same journey I am. In life, in love, in faith.

I’ve made some wonderful connections while blogging, and though I may never meet these people face to face, I would call some of them true friends. People like: Billy Chia, Joel Klampert, Mud Puppy, and such.

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I blog for me first. I really don’t care if I ever reach thousands of readers. It’s not about that. It’s definitely an outlet.

Then, if by some miraculous chance, you find yourself a reader of the rad, I do love the fact that I can share some of my creativity with you. Especially, if you’re a worship leader, creative type, or just someone who breathes.

Occasionally, I’ll share a worship confessional – which is a brief video about my involvement in our worship ministry at House of Joy that particular week. You might benefit from hearing how we did a song, or stage design, or what we did as a transition, etc.

Also, I love to share kitchen confessionals – this is almost the same as a worship confessional, except I just share about a specific dish I prepared and how it turned out. I’ll also list the recipe. If nobody ever cooks the dish, I’ll still be happy, because it’s all about just “sharing” it.

If I could boil down all of these reasons into ONE main reason for blogging it would probably be this:

I blog because it’s fun.

I don’t post when I don’t feel like it. I don’t post to accumulate readers. I don’t post when I have nothing to say. I blog for fun. It’s something I enjoy.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Tomorrow, I’ll continue the “Why Blog?” series with “Why Blog? Blogging As A Worship Leader”

Okay, after getting back into blogging pretty seriously over the last 3 months or so I’ve come across many a post on “Why I Blog” and have read many discussion forum topics about the positives and negatives of blogging. So, with that in mind for the last 2 weeks I’ve been really pondering the question, “Why Blog?”

I know that the few of you who actually read the “rad” on a somewhat regular basis will probably have already posted your thoughts in the last few months on this question, so I’m not posting this to really open up a can of worms again.

But if you’re ready to come along with me I’m going to dive into a multi-part blog series hi-lighting some of the reasons that we all blog. Some of the ideas and concepts I’ll cover are:

• My personal blog (why I do it)
• Blogging as a “worship leader”
• Social Networking and Blogging
• The dark side of blogging
• Blogging and stat tracking

Tomorrow, I’ll dive in head first. So, all aboard!

Here’s a few of the top 5 links from my blog/reader perusal this week:

1) Spirit Filled Tee Shirts? (ht: holycowablog.com): Yep, you’re reading this right. Someone has gone and put “tongues” on a tee shirt. Check out holy cow’s take on this silly attempt to market yet another aspect of Christendom.
2) Collide Magazine Blog’s Links of the week: I enjoy this mag (print) and so I check the blog pretty frequently. I love when they post a list of links! Enjoy!
3) Church Marketing Lab over at flickr.com: This has been a n invaluable resource for me over the last few weeks. I know many of you have known about it for a while, but I’m pretty darn sure that my skills in graphics (and possibly my bowstaff skills) have increased just from perusing the pool and checking out the ongoing discussion board over there.
4) What Do You Wish You Had Done Differently? A great post over on Chris from Canada’s blog.
5) Nike+: Yep, I’ve gone over to the + side. Got a pair of nike+ shoes, an 8GB nano, and the nike+ sports kit. Now, I’ve just got to get running. This is a great site with a great community for runners of all levels (me=beginner). You can track your runs, compete in challenges, set personal milestones and goals, etc with people from all over! It should be fun.

also, check out my top 5 referrers for the month of december:

1) Mudpuppy
2) The Worship Community
3) Ragamuffin Soul
4) Fred McKinnon
5) Just A Girl (mandy thompson)

Hey, hey!

Wow, I just looked at my last post date and noticed it was Dec. 18. It’s been a busy holiday season!

I spoke this past Sunday at House of Joy. It was fun. We do 2 services so I gave the talk twice. Second one was definitely better. The talk I gave was titled, “Wired for Worship” – pretty self explanatory. Basically a talk about how:

• God created us with the desire to worship,
• We are always worshiping something,
• Worship is part of life,
• Worshiping God is more than singing,
• and some basic worship actions that REFLECT the worship from our heart.

It went over well.

We’ll be kicking off ’08 with a message series titled: Good to Great. It’ll cover 3 main areas:

• Good to Great Faith
• Good to Great Friends
• Good to Great Family

Each area is part of our “vision” imagery here at House of Joy. We’re set up similar to the Northpoint idea of foyer (faith), living room (friends), kitchen (family)…and all ministries of our church fall into one of those categories.

For example: our Sunday morning gathering is designed to build faith. It’s geared toward the outsider (while providing spiritual growth and servant opportunities for those who are Believers). It is a “foyer” environment.

Anyways, I’m excited about the series graphics I came up with. Took a while to move through the concepts and to truly capture something that says “Good to Great” – a tough assigment. I did get some great input from the folks over on the Church Marketing Lab on Flickr.com.

I hope this year is a great year for all!
God Bless,
Russ

So, last night my wife and I threw a “Media/Music” Open House type party. We invited all of our worship band/singers, lighting crew, a/v team, and a few of the MCs from our children’s ministry (my wife administrates and works with the MCs).

Anyhoo, it was a drop-by sort of Christmas Party from 6-8. We had a pretty big group come through, although I don’t have an official count.

I thought I’d share some of the appetizers and snacks I had out, just in case you decide to do something similar or have to go to a party and need something last minute, etc. etc.

I did throw down in the kitchen but the great thing about ALL of the appetizers I prepared is that they are quick and easy.

Here’s a rundown of the table:

1) Swiss Cheese Spread Topped with Almonds
2) Baked Cinnamon Popcorn
3) Cheesy Sausage Balls
4) Raspberry Mozzarella Cheese Spread
5) Apple Butter Swedish Meatballs
6) Cranberry Apple Cider

There were a few more items, but either my wife prepared them, or they were bought beforehand (dove chocolates, old-fashioned cokes).

All in all it turned out spectacular, and the spreads were the hit of the party, along with mucho kudos for the cider!

I’ll post the cider recipe and don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like any of the others.

Cranberry Apple Cider (in slow cooker)

2 Qts. Apple Cider (not apple juice)
6 Cups Cranberry Juice (not cocktail)
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
4 cinnamon Sticks
1 1/2 Teaspoons Whole Cloves

This recipe is pretty simple:

1. Pour cider, cranberry juice into large pot or slow cooker.
2. Mix in brown sugar (subtract or add according to your sweetness preference).
3. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves.
4. Let mull on low heat. I started ours at about noon and served the first cup at about 6:15 so the fragrant aroma of spiced cider filled the whole house. Very nice.

Serves about 20 (unless you use smaller cups)

You might also want to use a cheesecloth “spice bag” (think big tea bag) if you want to keep your spices out of your cups. Or use a slotted spoon to remove the cinnamon and cloves before you serve. Whatever floats your cider.

I recommend using the slow cooker because it’s easy to manage and you don’t have to have your stove on all day. Plus you can pick it up and move it where you need it. About an hour before guests arrived, we moved it into the living room, where we served from, and the aroma was very appropriate for our Christmas party.

What are YOU cooking/serving this Christmas?