After hearing one too many of my opinions, my wife said, “You need a blog.” Thus on May 22, 2005, The Lutheran Zephyr was born.
The name of this blog comes from a famed Martin Luther quote in which he suggests that one way to banish the Devil is to break wind. “I resist the Devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away.”* Hence my Lutheran Zephyr (zephyr is a light wind) is a light Lutheran wind; or, a way to banish the devil.
My goal on this blog is simple: to offer semi-intelligent, heart-felt reflections on Christian ministry, faith, and life, as it happens. I use this blog for personal reflection and as a way to contribute to Christian conversation on various issues.
A lot has changed since I started this blog. In 2005 I wasn’t sure if I was going to become a pastor. In 2008, I was ordained. Since this blog began I have moved three times, served in five congregations (internship; congregations in VA, MN, and IN), been ordained, seen two of my three children born, run two marathons, seen the Phillies win a World Series, joined the Army, seen the Eagles win the Super Bowl, buried my father, and resigned my commission.
And a lot has changed with the internet since 2005, too. Facebook and Twitter emerged since then, and today many of the conversations that we once shared within the small but vibrant Lutheran blogosphere have now migrated to social media. My own posting on this blog declined rapidly around the time I joined Facebook, which is also around the time my family grew to three children and I was ordained. Life moved on, and technology advanced. Yet I keep this blog, even if it is used much less frequently than in the past.
Through this blog I have “met” many wonderful people whose thoughts, comments and reflections have often inspired me, kept me up late at times, annoyed the hell out of me, and made me laugh out loud. Thank you. And I am pleased that, sometimes years later, I have met some of these online friends in person.
Some history and permissions information
This blog began in May 2005 for free at lutheranzephyr.blogspot.com. In April 2006 I began paying for the privilege to blog (and for a few more features) when I migrated over to http://www.lutheranzephyr.com, hosted by Typepad. I lost all the comments from my original blogspot site in the transition. In June 2012 I migrated to WordPress.
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* This is a legitimate quote! It can be found in Martin Luther’s Table Talk, No. 122: Treatment of Melancholy, Despair, etc. November 30, 1531, in Luther’s Works vol 54, page 15.
The Lutheran Zephyr 