it's a major award

Henry Neufeld of Threads from Henry's Web has randomly tagged me with Thinking Blogger award.



The hardest part for me is narrowing it down to just five blogs. Fortunately, a number of my favorites have already been nominated by others: Monk-in-Training's Monastic Mumblings (also tagged by Henry), Questing Parson, and [rhymes with kerouac]'s Today at the Mission (both tagged by Lorna at see-through faith). I'm glad to see these blogs get the recognition they deserve.

Here are my five picks, in no particular order:

• PamBG describes her theology as "liberal in process and orthodox in doctrine". She sees details that I would have overlooked, and is able to explain why they matter.


• I suspect John the Methodist at Locusts and Honey has already been tagged, but I didn't see mention of it in his archives. I don't always agree with his assumptions, but he often forces me to re-examine my own assumptions.


• I would probably tag truevyne even if she didn't have a blog. Her comments, both here and on other blogs I read, are thought-provoking enough to earn her this award. And her writing style breathes life into even the most routine details of everyday life.


• Wes Magruder is a missionary in Cameroon. He provides a fascinating window on life in a vastly different part of the world. His blog, Preach Peace, is a welcome antidote to the self-centeredness and materialism of much of Western Christianity.


• eddie{F} at Edge of Faith is, quite simply, one of the most open and honest bloggers I've found. He has wrestled with questions and issues many of us will never face, and he's not afraid to share his struggles. As an ex-Christian, he challenges my faith by asking questions I may not be able to answer.

I'll say, along with Art Ruch: "If any of you have already been nominated, let me know - I’ve already thought of 5 more."

I've not included any of the fine blogs I have discovered since the beginning of this year, mostly through the growing Moderate Christians Blogroll and the Christian Peace Bloggers. I've also not included any of several high-quality blogs that are updated infrequently.

The rules are:

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).