Hello Reader,
We all want to be noticed. It’s no secret. We live our lives—particularly our online lives—hoping that people will notice us. We aspire to have Facebook likes, Twitter hearts, and shares populate the versions of our existence we present to the world. All in order be noticed.
This week’s slate of articles at GCD points us in a different direction, a more counter-cultural way; living not to be noticed.
It might seem like a contradiction for a publication to send you a newsletter asking you to read their articles about not being noticed, but we wanted to re-introduce our weekly newsletter. Since we’ve moved to a new delivery platform for this newsletter we thought it would be good to change up our format as well. In the each edition you’ll be able to connect with our recently published articles, interact with us, and find curated resources we believe will help you make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus. I hope you enjoy, and interact with us through this new platform.
This Week at GCDiscipleship.com
Brianna Lambert’s (@look_to_harvest) article this week causes us to think about how our stories, and particularly our suffering, may be the very experiences God wants to use to bring comfort to specific needs instead of putting on us a big platform. It may not sound appealing, but The World May Not Need Your Story.
Bob Stevenson (@bobstevenson) challenges our view of wealth distribution by critiquing cultural approaches such as Marxism and presents a distinctly gospel-centered way forward. You’ll be challenged and inspired by his Gospel-Shaped Vision For Wealth Distribution.
Jeff Iorg (@Jeff_Iorg) has a new book out and shared an excerpt with us demonstrating how Christ leads us in modeling care for sick and hurting children. His article Shadow Christians and the Care of Hurting Children points us to the hope, and leading we have in Christ to care for the least and most vulnerable among us.
Letters the Editor
One of the unique features of a blog, at least in its earlier days, was the ability for readers to comment almost immediately on the content at hand. With a few clicks and some well-chosen words, a dialog could be started up. More and more, however, commenters became critics and the enjoyment of engagement dissipated. While I don’t in any way miss the comment section of a blog, I do miss the interaction with readers that came through that form of online publication.
We’d be short-sighted to think that this was the first and only time reader interaction with a publication occurred. As I was meandering through a few magazines and newspapers this week I discovered a forgotten forum for response, the “letters to the editor.” It dawned on me that this could be the vehicle for interacting with our readers in a way that believes the best and causes interaction to flourish. It allows you to speak about what we’ve written, and give us opportunity to consider your input on our writing.
With that in mind, we’d love to hear from you about how our articles have impacted your thinking and life. Furthermore, we’d love to know what you’re interested in reading. What topics would you like for us to write about at GCDiscipleship.com?
Feel free to email me with the subject “Letter to the Editor” and the article you are referring to. We’ll do our best to respond and include your interactions in this space each week.
A Community For Writers
Speaking of community, we’ve created an online network to help writers connect with and encourage each other. We call it the GCD Writers’ Guild. It’s a place for you to share your work, receive feedback, be encouraged, and support other writers. It’s become a unique community where friendships have been formed and developed. If you’re a writer, editor, wordsmith, or have an interest in all things related to the folks above, we’d love to have you join us!
With that, I’ll wrap up this week’s edition of our new Weekly Newsletter. If you have a suggestion for a name for this weekly periodical, or any comments, I’d love to hear them. For now, let me leave you with the words about being noticed by Count Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian Brethren movement:
Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.
Jeremy Writebol (@jwritebol)
Executive Director | GCD