This is a message to my readers, mostly, but if you’re new, I like your face, too!

A few things are going to change about my blog and I wanted to share with why. It was actually quite the revelation!

I’ve been thinking for a while about the duality of my blog. Half Christian blog, half secular blog. I do posts about God every now and then, but I also do posts about general stuff, like my last post about Manly McBeard. The duality bothered me a little bit.

For one thing, it’s hard to find an audience! Oh, what a lovely Christian blog…but what’s this about anime?! Or, Oh, this blog is kind of funny…but what’s with all the God crap? Yeah, creating lines of division will do that to you.

I’d thought about breaking the blog into two separate blogs, one specifically about Christianity and one about general writing. But then I spoke to my pastor about something that resonated back to this blog and decided that, instead of trying to avoid the duality of my blog, I’d embrace it!

My pastor pointed out that there should be no division between Christian and secular. Christian and sinful, yes, but not secular. I had been worried about the implications of writing something that didn’t have the “Christian” banner, something that wasn’t directly saying “God is good” and such, but I need not have been worried.

A.W. Tozer said that “It’s not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it’s why he does it. Motive is everything.”

So what is my motive? I believe God gave me the gift of writing, but it has not yet manifested itself. But a Christian cannot be lazy with their gifts. So, I created this blog to practice writing. I wanted to keep my gift sharp to be faithful with it, so that when God calls upon it, I will be ready. How did David know how to use a sling to kill Goliath in 1 Samuel? He practiced on lions and bears while he was tending sheep. So, I will practice writing, honing my craft while I am waiting.

But that writing was general writing. Writing whatever comes to mind, whatever seems good. Not just Christian inspiration or theology. I have a broad taste in writing and like I said, I don’t yet specifically feel called to write about one particular thing. I’m a fiction writer before a non-fiction writer anyway! And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” This means that any work can be Godly if your motives are right. Notice I said “Godly” work, not “Evangelical” work. 

If a farmer is diligent in his duties, honest in his business, good to the land and the animals, and generally following a Godly attitude towards his work, that is a Godly work. He doesn’t have to sell all his crops to the poor; the work is already Godly! If a politician decides to work for God, he must represent his district/state/country in honesty and integrity with love for his people and a determination to secure their freedoms and protections. He doesn’t have to try and cram a “Thou-must-pray” bill through the Senate.

Now, selling your goods to the poor and working toward a Christian nation are not bad things, in fact they’re fantastic. I’m saying they’re not  necessary things to be a Godly worker. If you want to be a Godly worker, work in a Godly fashion. Work as though God was your boss.

So why should art be any different? A Christian songwriter doesn’t have to write a song about how great God is for it to be a Godly work. A Christian singer can sing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and still be a Christian artist as much as when he or she sings “Amazing Grace.” As long as the work does not dishonor God in anyway, “secular” art can be just as Godly as “Christian” art.

Writing is no different. If I am disciplined in my writing, if I do not dishonor God with my words, if I’m not saying “evil is good and good is evil,” then my general writings are no less Christian than my Christian Living pieces.

What does that have to do with my blog? Well, I’m not changing the format, but I am changing my goal. I want this blog to be what it started out to be: a place to practice writing, any kind of writing. I do what to write Christian Living pieces and musings on the Bible and stuff like that because I believe these things need to be said and done. But I will not have any shame anymore in writing humor pieces, movie reviews, general opinions, or even fiction or poetry.

This is going to be a Godly blog, that is my goal, but not an Evangelical one. I will have Evangelical pieces, I’m sure, but this is my mission to please my God through my work, and I will do it in every facet.

That’s why I’m changing my name. Crosslenz is, first of all, kind of lame. But it’s also misleading. Even I had questions when I wrote secular stuff! In a week or so I’ll be officially changing the Blog’s name to “Fencing with Ink.” I’ll probably have a little “formerly known as Crosslenz” blurb for a little bit just in case.

There will also be a few visual changes. This has nothing to do with a revelation from God. My blog is boring and I want to spice it up a bit. I’m already implementing a few small changes and hope to tweak a few more. Nothing huge, just something to give it a little more oomph.

So what’s REALLY changing? Honestly, not a ton. Just the look and the name, really. But for me, the focus is much clearer: I want to write. So the variety might be a little stronger and I might touch on a few new areas of writing, but that’s about it.

So to my Christian readers, I have not shed the faith, I’m not going to denounce God, and I invite you to correct me if I do. I don’t want to dishonor God and if you think I’m wrong in something, I encourage constructive criticism. I’m just pressing towards the goal of honoring God even when I’m not talking about Him.

And to my Non-Christian readers, you may not believe in any of this God crap. But I hope you can appreciate a little shakeup for the sake of a better focus and, I think, a better blog.

So that’s my piece, those are the changes and they should be taking place in a week or so. I just don’t want my followers to be baffled when they see someone new on their of people they follow.