For the past few months, I have been pondering the name of this blog, which is currently Honest Church. When I began blogging a year ago, I loved the name and it matched what I thought my purpose was in writing. As time has passed, though, I have become slowly disenfranchised with the name. Today, I want to let you all know why and prepare you for some changes here at the blog. I think there are three main reasons I have become dissatisfied with the title.

1. It no longer matches my purpose

In the beginning, the purpose of my blog was, broadly speaking, to give me an outlet for my writing. That was my main intention when I started blogging. I also wanted to encourage a more honest, open dialogue about common struggles that believers face. Oftentimes, I felt like I was the only one struggling to live a life that glorified God and felt pressured to have it all together. I still feel that way and still want to encourage others that feel the same way, because I think too many Christians give in to the temptation to put on a happy church face and pretend everything is okay when it isn’t.

But, as I began to write and publish last year, I felt increasingly detached from the title and its purpose. Not that I no longer felt passionate about it, but that most of my writing seemed to be centered around unpacking a verse of Scripture or laying out a particular theological doctrine. More and more, it seemed like the content on Honest Church did not match the name or the purpose.

More than that however,

2. It does not fit the definition of church

Church can be used in a number of ways. If we want to define the word Biblically, it just means assembly. Theologically, we speak of the universal church, or the catholic church, or even the invisible church. But usually, when we think of church, we think of a local congregation of believers gathered together in a common location to worship God. Honest Church is none of those things – it is a blog.

The more I thought about this, the more uncomfortable it made me. For somebody who loves theological precision, I thought to myself, I’m being awfully inconsistent with the name of my blog. So that’s another reason I started to dislike what I had chosen to name it.

3. It is too broad

This is a big one. Every time I write a blog post, I feel like I’m trying to write for everybody all at once. Which is a problem for two reasons. Number one, I can’t get to know my audience (you guys) very well and number two, you guys don’t get to know me very well. The title Honest Church tells you almost nothing about me.

These are the three main reasons I have chosen to undergo a name change here on the blog. If you are a regular reader, I want to extend a thank-you for your time and support. The world of blogs is a saturated one, so thank you for taking the time to read this one.

I also want to assure you that even though the name is going to change and even though the content will cover a narrower range of subjects in the future, it will still be based in the Word with the goal of helping God’s people learn more about him and about how to live lives that glorify him.

Finally, I want to ask for patience and understanding from those of you who have been regular readers here at Honest Church. The website will be undergoing changes in design, organization, and publication – so please, bear with me. I hope that in the long run, this will prove to be better for both me and my readers (that’s you!).

So, be on the lookout for changes here at the blog in the next few weeks! I hope you will stick around, even when things look different! If you have any thoughts, comments, or questions, leave them below! Or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter! And as always, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button below!