One Year This month marks the one year anniversary of my first post on this blog. To date I have posted 86 articles advocating unity among all whom God has adopted as his children. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul wrote that we should "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Explaining my purpose in starting this blog, I stated in the first post:

I am beginning this blog as a part of "every effort". Today it is no more than a handful of sand hurled at a giant. Perhaps with the help of God and others it can grow to the size of a small stone. And perhaps God will use that small stone to slay the giant.

From the beginning, the message on my heart has been that Christians need to find a way to be unified. That was Jesus' prayer on the night he was betrayed. It seemed to me that I needed to do something to promote that cause.

When I began this blog, one of the subjects burning on my heart was the plea of the original Restoration Movement pioneers for unity. The Restoration Movement has a rich history. I wanted to see what I could learn from that history, in the hope that something could be learned that would contribute toward the unity for which Jesus prayed. I wanted to explore the thirteen propositions of Thomas Campbell's Declaration and Address, to learn what went right and what went wrong in the years that followed. I also wanted to explore the hermeneutics that emerged from this beginning, to see what role those have played in the divisions that followed. And I wanted to explore the events at Sand Creek that led to the major divisions in the movement in the late 1800's.

Along the way, some posts have addressed current events such as the ICOC unity proposal, the various unity discussions at conferences related to the 100 year anniversary of the 1906 split, and various other topics, mainly related to unity in God's church.

People continue to find this blog through various search engines as they look for information on Restoration Movement historical topics and hermeneutics. I am encouraged that people are searching for those things. I would love to see more communication among those who are searching for the causes, and the solutions, for our divisions.

I want to thank all who have commented and offered support over the past year, especially to the faithful regular visitors who have encouraged me regularly. I also appreciate the many visitors who have dropped by occasionally to see what is going on here.

This blog has been the launching point for several email conversations with others interested in Christian unity from various points of view. I think all respectful communication on this subject has the potential to improve relations among God's people, and I appreciate every opportunity that has presented itself for that to happen.

I want to continue to blog and to encourage communication on these topics. I pray that this blog may have some kind of positive effect for unity, and that God will multiply that effect to His glory.  ¶ 7:29 PM