Welcome!

Welcome to everyone who has come to this blog. With this first post I will introduce you to myself, giving few reasons as to why I am starting a blog and what to expect.

Whoever so wishes can view my profile to know more about my wife and me. Here, however, I will simply provide the basics. By day I am a senior year at Northwestern College in Roseville, MN, majoring in Biblical and Theological Studies. By night, I greatly enjoy relaxing next to my stunningly beautiful wife, Emily Anne Tarter, who is currently 5 months pregnant with our first child (David Benjamin Tarter). I also wash windows part-time, love watching the Dallas Mavericks win basketball games, and am the quarterback on my college’s football team. Above all, I am a sinner who was dead in sins, but have been redeemed by the beautiful, albeit dreadful, death of Jesus.

That being said, I have started this blog for numerous reasons, many of which can be summed up by saying, “I just wanted to.” To give more concrete reasons I give the following:
1) There are many thoughts and ideas that come into my head (as with all of us) that I would often like to share with people but often fade away with time never being said…blogging helps to fix this.
2) I enjoy writing—particularly about theology—but rarely have a venue to present theology to any sort of an audience.
3) I have come to see the benefits of maintaining a practice of consistent writing. Such writing can help one to think through key issues with all their struggles, and prove very God-glorifying in conforming one to His image.
4) This third point is also true in terms of preparation for future ministry. I am currently pursuing the call to the ministry in some way, shape, or form, and believe that blogging can be a very useful tool in thinking through issues and how to best communicate them in the same way one might prepare and think through a sermon, etc.
5) I would be lying to neglect the hint of selfishness in this blog. As with most, if not all blogs, I would like for people to get to know and read of me and how I tackle such issues. To a certain degree I think this may not be too bad of a thing (I could be wrong, in which I appeal to grace), as long as such desires have the right foundation. That is, for example, I would like for people to appreciate how I uphold the name of God. Above all, I want my God to be presented rightly on this blog, and I would like for others to see that and be blessed by it. In blogging then, I will pray that the Lord make more of Himself and less of me while not shirking the element of wanting to be read as I write. To do so would be dishonest.

On this blog there will be a variety of topics addressed. I love the words of God contained in the Bible and one can therefore anticipate a good deal of theology in the forthcoming posts. I also love my wife and baby, and so, will also write quite a bit about my home life. As mentioned above, I also love the Dallas Mavericks, so I may likely track some of their road to the 2009 NBA Championship. Other specifics could be cited, but it should suffice for now to say that there is not a topic outside the range of this blog. One can, however, expect the content to directly flow from all that the Lord is doing in and around me at the moment of writing.

Before ending, my wife thought it would be suitable to make note of the blog’s title. It comes from Luke 19:40 where Jesus is entering Jerusalem the Sunday before the Passover (and His crucifixion). As many give praise to Jesus, the Pharisees, likely quite uncomfortable, express to Jesus that He ought to silence those praising Him. Jesus then says, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (ESV). The point here is that Jesus will be praised! Thus, I pray that I may magnify God through this blog and forevermore because He is so worthy of praise that rocks would not keep silent if human beings do. So let us praise Him, giving the rocks no reason to speak in our place!

With all this being said…welcome yet again to my blog. I hope that you enjoy the forthcoming posts and appreciate your stopping by.