It has been a long time in the making
I have been considering writing a blog for a long time, actually for a couple of years. I have always had some excuse as to why I could not do it: “I am too busy”, “I am not a good writer”, “I don’t feel like it”.
From time to time people say to me, “you should write something” or “if you wrote a book, I would read it.” I am not ready for a book yet, but I do have somethings “in me” that I would love to share, thus the creation of mikebellanti.com: At the Intersection of Real Life and the Mystery of Faith.
This blog is also the result of an online course I took called Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt | Your Virtual Mentor. This course helped me to establish ten goals for 2016, one of them was the creation of this blog. You can check out the course here: 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever!
At the intersection of real life and the mystery of faith
An intersection is a point where two or more things intersect. Each day when I wake up, I am confronted with this thing called my real life. Much like yours, my real life is filled with ups and downs, joy and sorrow, gain and loss. I have bills to pay, kids to feed and a job (that I love) to go each morning all while trying to maintain my health, both physical and mental, have quality time with my family and stay vibrant spiritually…its a tall order. Intersect all of that with the mystery of this thing called “faith.”
Trickey
Faith is a tricky thing. As a follower of Jesus, I work very hard to model my life after him and his teaching, particularly the sermon on the mount, thus, there is a very practical and applicable side of faith. But there is also a very difficult side to God, a mysterious side to faith, and Christianity. The Apostle Paul writes to the church gathered in Rome “For who can know the LORD’s thoughts”? On one hand, faith can be practically applied and lived. On the contrary, it is filled with mystery, questions and sometimes confusion.
A Safe Place
This blog is a dedicated safe place. A safe place to talk about hard things, the issues of life and the practice of applying this mystery of faith to everyday living. I welcome honest, wholesome, kind and respectful conversation. A conversation that respects opinions and convictions. Let the journey begin, for we are all real people, with real problems and real questions.
I hope you will read this blog, subscribe to it and share it with your friends!
Looking forward to reading more!
Nice job Mike. Very proud of you and glad your our Pastor. 🙂
Glad to see that you are writing a blog!
I am excited for what is to come!
I’m here waiting excitedly for the next installment. …uhhhh, blog. 🙂
Good for you!!!!!
Your blog is a gift of god. bless you and your posts !
Goals are good. Glad you got one accomplished for 2016!
So awesome, Mike!! Thank you!
..could be an interesting corner (intersection) to hang out on…look forward to hearing more
I love that you continue to stress that the Northbrook community needs to be a safe place- where we can ask the hard and honest questions, gather alongside each other, pick each other up when we fall and applaud and encourage each other as we do life together. I fully agree with you in ideaology. Not sure that we are all that trusting of each other. I believe you are taking us in the right direction but on a challenging path. Can’t wait to hear your navigation plan. My prayer for you is to stay on this course, stay courageous and close your ears to those who tell you it can’t be done.
Nice job. Looking forward to reading more. I’m so glad we chose North room Church. And very thankful you are our Pastor.
Oops. Sorry for the typo. Have to love auto correct. *Northbrook Church. *?
I love how your messages at Northbrook “keep it real”. I am looking forward to your blogs!
Thanks for being faithful to step out in doing this blog. It may inspire me to do the same someday. I look forward to the additional thoughts the Lord gives you to share beyond what you already do in services. You are willing to do more and be more wherever God leads and that is a blessing and inspiration to us all.
Great job! You always have been a great conversationalist.
Can’t wait to read what you have to say
Looking forward to future articles. Congratulations on actually “doing it”! (starting the blog you’ve been wanting to do for a long time)
Walking the faith road and glad to have a safe place to talk about hard things.
Looking forward to reading the posts, Mike.
Enjoying the Can Of Worms Series.
Hard topics covered well.
Enjoying the kindness challenge as well.
Will check the blog regularly…..