Thinking Blogger Award

Thanks to Every Square Inch, I'm the recipient of a Thinking Blog Award. Thanks, ESI for your gracious and kind words about this blog. It's a simple gift I have to share that really probably ends up being more for my own benefit than for anyone else's. Though I certainly hope and pray the Lord will use it since we're blessed to be a blessing, of course.

Here are five blogs I tap for the award:
1. Jesus Creed: Scot McKnight, writer extraordinaire, New Testament scholar and professor really is the one who got my interest going on blogging. And one can receive a theological education by working on his blog. Read his posts and if you are able, follow the threads. He is weekly working through a book, and works exegetically through Scripture as well as on some (often hot button) theological issue of our time.

2. Allan R. Bevere: Allan is a pastor and professor who keeps up well on the times and knows what "Israel" ought to do. There is helpful insight for us all from this brother.

3. Vanguard Church: When Bob Robinson is blogging he helpfully challenges our thinking theologically both in our understanding and practice of the faith with reference to the kingdom of God come in Jesus. Bob is the CCO Area Director of Northern Ohio, a campus ministry.

4. Wide Open Spaces: Charity Singleton has a thoughtful and warm way of blogging. She challenges us in thinking through how we might better live out our faith. And nice photos as well.

5. Faith Dance: Dan Brennan challenges us with a paradigm in Christ for cross-gender relationships. This is a blog that would do us all good to read and think through with him from Scripture, from his own thoughts and experience as well as from the books of others.

There are a number of others who really deserve to be put on my five. ESI would fit right in. And others like Alan Knox, Jamie-Arpin Ricci, L.L. Barkat, Michael Kruse, Jazz Theologian, John Frye and Susan Arnold. Really all the blogs I have linked on the side are worthy of this reward (besides others I run into). There are a number of blogs on my site worth special mention for mind-stretching; just to name three: LeRon Shults, Mark Galli and Mark Roberts. And I'm excited about John Michael Talbot joining the blog world.

Here are the rules as originally laid out to be passed on:

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.