In February of 2008, I sat down at my computer and prepared to enter the world of blogging. Equipped with a few thoughts on the tip of my tongue (well… fingertips) and a heart wanting to communicate, I started typing. 16 months and 100 posts later, here I am. I suppose it’s taken me longer to get to 100 posts than most, but hey, I’m still here.

In this post, I’d like to do two things: (1) explain my reason for blogging, and (2) tease out a few upcoming ideas.

Let me attempt to paint a picture for you. Imagine a newlywed couple sitting down at dinner. The husband, so excited about what he’s learned at seminary during the day, begins to “dump” all his new-found information on his unsuspecting wife. His wife is brilliant, but the husband hasn’t thought through the material long enough, he hasn’t tried to package it in an easily understood format, he hasn’t taken the time to “translate” the words over four syllables into real English, and of course his wife wasn’t with him in class to hear the background.

Confusion ensues.

They say it takes the normal seminary student a while to “get over” their seminary education. The lingo, the expectations, and the intellectual distance between the “theologian” and the “parishioner” can be a bit hard to swallow. Well, it didn’t take too many confusion-erupting dinner conversations with my wife and too many words of encouragement from the “real people” of the world to help me realize I needed a place to process my thoughts before mass confusion (and before graduation).

And thus, Confessions of a Closet Academic was born. My goal is to “translate” what I’ve learned so that my wife (who is an excellent representative of all you out there) can understand. (Thanks Ben for the “translate” analogy.)

So that’s how I got here, how about where I’m going.

1. I still want to write a series on issues in Bible translation. It’s coming… I promise.

2. A friend of mine and I have started teaching an adult class at our church entitled “Jesus and the Gospels.” We’ve prepared a ton of material, and I’d like to share some of it.

3. I will also continue to write posts concerning my ongoing thesis research about the “Son of God” in Mark’s Gospel.

I hope you enjoy.