Changes Coming to On the Jericho Road

Dear Readers,

When I started posting at On the Jericho Road in January 2007 my stated purpose, which has appeared at the top of the blog from Day 1, was that I wanted it to be "the place where Michael Ruffin asks questions, raises issues, makes observations and seeks help in trying to figure it all out so that together we can maybe, just maybe, do something about it."

Very quickly, though, the blog evolved into a home for my sermons and for essays on various subjects. I became aware early on that other sites might want to pick up my work (special thanks is due here to my friends at EthicsDaily.com who carried the third post I ever wrote and who have consistently used my work over the years) and so I felt it necessary to produce more polished and less open-ended items than I had at first envisioned.

I now want to return to my original vision for On the Jericho Road as a place where questions are asked, issues are raised, and observations are made, all with a view toward our working together to find ways to think about, talk about, write about, and even do something about the myriad difficulties facing our world.

I suspect that sometimes I will still post full essays here but my intention is regularly to post brief comments and questions that will hopefully generate discussion. The topics with which we will deal could be classified under such headings as theology, ethics, biblical interpretation, and moral/social issues.

Let me say a few things about the discussions I hope we will have.

First, I intend for this to be a safe place where anyone can express any opinion or ask any question.

Second, I do not have all the answers. I hope we will work at developing our thought processes and at having civil discourse about serious issues.

Third, our discussions will take place through the comments function of the blog. While the blog posts will be linked to Facebook, I will not discuss them there.

Fourth, in order to comment you must identify yourself. I have the comments function set not to allow anonymous commenting. We will own what we say.

Fifth, my sermons, as well as essays on preaching, will now appear on my blog This Preaching Thing.

Sixth, essays dealing with American politics, including the intersection between those politics and American Christians, will appear at my blog A View from the Hinterland.

I hope you will join me for the discussion of important matters here at On the Jericho Road...