500

500 is a fat, round number. It isn't a prime, but it's a pretty cool number, just the same.

500 brings to mind the Indianapolis 500, an auto race that I never missed as a boy. The Indy 500 is way more exciting than NASCAR, though I'll admit that I enjoy the Daytona 500, too. Out West, the Indy is broadcast on Sunday morning over Memorial Day weekend, which means I usually miss it... though I confess that I've skipped church a time or two to see them roar down the brickyard live.

500 is also a card game that my grandmother, mother and their friends used to play whenever the extended family gathered. The games were always lively but strictly friendly. No money ever changed hands — at least, not that they admitted to.

But at this particular moment, 500 represents a milestone: I have just completed my 500th post here at AnotherThink since starting this project in April, 2003. 500 blog posts is nothing like curing cancer, but it seems like something to celebrate.

I began blogging for several reasons. I've always loved writing and I wanted to find a way to push myself to write more. Every writer wants an audience, and it occurred to me that blogging might be a way to get some feedback to help me improve my skill at stringing words together.

I also felt a strong desire to talk about my Christian faith. I started AnotherThink not just as a creative writing exercise, but to encourage a public discussion about faith that others might want to join. I think of blogging as a conversation, and over the years I have had some very interesting faith conversations with Christians, agnostics, Buddhists, Jews, and others.

I believe creedal Christianity is as relevant to our postmodern era as it was to Roman-occupied Israel during the time of Jesus. I believe Christianity was meant to govern our lives, not as a dictator governs, but as a guiding light that illuminates the way, through a relationship with the living God-man, Jesus Christ.

I also believe rigorous intellectualism is compatible with and good for Christianity. Therefore, I believe it is possible to apply Christianity to the problems of every age, including our own. My concept of God is that He delights in seeing us use our minds in the pursuit of discovering Him and knowing Him more fully.

Back when I first started writing here, when no one knew AnotherThink existed, a guy named Mark Ritter stumbled on me one day and began giving me encouragement. Mark runs a terrific apologetics website called Sword and Spirit. Mark was the first, but many others along the way became online friends and supporters, especially Mark Daniels of Better Living, Bonnie Lindblom at Intellectuelle and Matthew Lee Anderson at Mere Orthodoxy.

Besides these, there have been a great many others who have encouraged me with their emails, by linking to my posts, or by their own commitment to excellence in thinking and writing. I am constantly learning from and being challenged by others.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to read AnotherThink, and especially those who take a few moments to leave your comments. I greatly appreciate your feedback, whether you agree with what I have to say or not.

Grace and peace to you all in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Photo: The Fiat 500.