Welcome to Renewed in Spirit!

Greetings!

Welcome to Renewed in Spirit!

My name is Ethan Longhenry, and I am the editor of Renewed in Spirit. On behalf of the other editors-- Nathan Ward, Brent Moody, along with the women's section editor Sarah Longhenry and the teenage section editor Nathan Quinn-- and myself, I would like to thank you for being a part of this exciting publication.

As we restart and "renew" Renewed in Spirit, I would like to take a moment to look back and then look forward to our intentions with this publication.

History

Renewed in Spirit was originally a project begun by Jason Hardin and T. Sean Sullivan in 2004, intended as an online publication with many different types of articles that would encourage and renew the spirit. For various reasons, the publication ceased for some time.

In the middle of 2005, Matt DeVore, who was involved with Renewed in Spirit as its technical director, approached me and asked if I would assist in restarting and refocusing the publication, and I agreed. I asked Nathan Ward and Brent Moody to assist me as associate editors, and as we developed a plan, Sarah Longhenry and Nathan Quinn were brought on as associate editors for the intended women's and teenage sections, respectively. We have spent much time in planning in the past year to present a publication that would be both relevant and not redundant. We hope that we will succeed in this!

Renewed in Spirit: An Interactive Online Spiritual Publication

Renewed in Spirit is restarting as an interactive online spiritual publication. Spiritual publications for a long time have been bound by the restraints of the printed page; therefore, spiritual publications have been a one way stream of communication. The development of the Internet, however, has broken down many of those restraints. Spiritual publications no longer must be a one way venue of communication– spiritual publications can now promote discussion that leads to further spiritual encouragement.

As from the beginning, we use the Scriptures as our guide, and as we strive to present material for discussion, we keep in mind the title of our publication and Paul's use of the idea in Ephesians 4:20-24:

But ye did not so learn Christ; if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

We hope that you will find Renewed in Spirit a publication that helps you in your walk with God, and a place where you can learn not only by the thoughts presented by others but also through interaction with your fellow believers.

How Renewed in Spirit Works

How will this "interactive online spiritual publication" work? As before, those who sign up to be a part of Renewed in Spirit will receive e-mail notices when articles are posted on the website. You will receive notice of the articles in the sections relevant for you-- the main section, the women's section, the teenage section, or a combination. As we begin, we intend to post two or three articles in the main section every other week, and one article in the women's and teenage sections each per month. The e-mail you receive will present the title of the article and a short abstract regarding the substance of the article, and you will be directed by a link to the website.

On the website, you will have the opportunity to sign in and to read and respond to the article. You also will have the opportunity to continue to monitor the articles and their discussions and you will hopefully have opportunities to have discussions with other Christians about the article material.

We also hope to have a news page on the website that will provide news of the brethren, along with pages for you to suggest topics upon which you would like to see articles written and for you to submit material that you have written, if you so desire. We also intend to post book reviews and welcome discussion on the book reviewed.

Possible Concerns

As with any new venture, there often will be many concerns about what is being done. Renewed in Spirit is a publication that receives no money and represents a "labor of love" by all those who participate. Renewed in Spirit is not the church, nor represents any local church or outreach of any local church; it represents individual Christians working together to promote the message of the Scriptures and to encourage brethren. Renewed in Spirit makes no pretense of making doctrinal determinations; all we wish to do is to provide a forum to speak about spiritual things.

We expect everyone who participates in Renewed in Spirit to maintain a profile with true information; we do not desire to have anonymous posters. Information that you wish to have private will remain private, and comments on articles will be accessible only by people who participate in Renewed in Spirit, as authors or fellow readers. Comments will not be out there for the entire world to see.

The articles from the women's section will be viewable by the public; we have the women's section clearly marked as such and set aside as such, and feel as if we are not placing a stumbling block in a man's way by having it as part of the publication. We are working to make sure, however, that men will not have the capability of signing in and reading the discussions going on in the women's section. The women's section is by women for women.

Please read the disclaimer and terms of use for more information.

Conclusion…for now

I would like to thank you again for your participation in Renewed in Spirit. Please remember that this is really an experiment; we are trying to merge the concepts of the spiritual publication and the interactive discussion community, and we are doing the best we can as we go along. We are beginning this publication on the basis of what we think will be beneficial and profitable; we want to know what you think! If you ever have any suggestions, comments, praise, or criticism, feel free to e-mail me and I will be more than welcome to discuss such matters with you. The more the suggestions, the better Renewed in Spirit can be.

Welcome to Renewed in Spirit-- we hope that you will be built up in the faith!

Ethan R. Longhenry
September 2006