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Frank Turk, who, unlike me, likes to argue and does it rather well, is taking on a defender of the Textus Receptus as the only preserved Word of God at his DebateBlog. I expect it to be an interesting and enlightening exchange on a topic that I have been on both sides of. That is, a topic both sides of which I have been on. No . . . a topic on which I have been on both sides. Curse you, prepositions!

Frank‘s opponent, Kent Brandenburg, will affirm that “The Greek Textus Receptus text of the New Testament is God‘s verbal, plenary preserved Word of God (of the New Testament).” Frank will take the “No, it ain‘t” position. I expect him to win handily.

The debate begins here.

Now that I‘ve plugged the debate, I‘m counting on Frank to not embarrass me by getting his butt* kicked.

Pray for Jonathan Moorhead as he teaches a seminar on Jonathan Edwards at Word of Grace Bible Church in Battle Ground WA today.

This is a Russian-speaking congregation, so he will be working with an interpreter. Pray also that he doesn‘t do this — or maybe that he does. A guy‘s got to have some fun, after all.

Matt Gumm has condescended to enlighten us to how he writes, and has asked us to reciprocate. These are the questions he asks, and, for what they’re worth, my answers:

1. What blogging tools do you use?
   
   I type anything of any length in Word, because I’m fussy about stuff like smart quotes, and Word is the most convenient way to get that formatting. If I want to save a document to somewhere other than the blog, I use Google Docs. That way, I can access it from any computer. I don’t use Google Docs to edit html (though that would be very easy and convenient), because it adds a bunch of it’s own code that means nothing to me, and I must micromanage every jot and tittle. Anyway, the special formatting I do is easy enough to type in myself, or add in the blog editor (Movable Type).
   
   
2. How do you post?
   
   After #1 above, I select “Published” and click “Save.” Duh.
   
   
3. How do you get your ideas?
   
   Sporadically. Most of my posts are just bits of “what I’m reading.” Whenever I have an original thought(!), I write about it. Most of these are discarded as lame or useless. Sometimes, like now, I write in reaction to someone else; but I generally avoid doing so.
   
   
4. Who is your target audience?
   
   Me. That is, everything I post is the product of whatever I’ve taken in for my own benefit. I just post whatever is on my mind (see #3), and hope others will be edified thereby. Just lately I’ve begun using the blog as a discipline, à la Challies. I’ve blogged every day since June 1st. Forcing myself to put something out each day requires me to put something in first.
   
   
5. What do you hope to say or accomplish with your blog?
   
   Good question. I’m not really sure why I started blogging. I love to read, and I’m happy to take in all that I can even if I’m the only one who benefits from it; but if I can pass it along to others, that’s even better. If I have one goal, it might be that I’d like to be one small voice, tugging Christians away from all that is new, and back to the ancient truths of the Christian faith. Rather grandiose, I suppose, but I that’s my burden.