The Miami Herald has a an article on faith based blogs or god-blogs.

Midway through the Christian season of Lent, the faith-based blogosphere has erupted into a caffeine- and chocolate-deprived, self-abnegating frenzy. Christian online journals abound with suggestions for Lenten sacrifices, pleas for sympathy issued by shaky but penitent Lent observers and rampant self-flagellation by weak-willed Internet exhibitionists.

Some have even proposed the ultimate sacrifice: giving up blogs — Internet sites where individuals post their thoughts and arguments — for Lent. (Or trying: as one blogger quaked, “I’m not sure this is humanly possible but I’m going to give it a try! :-)”).

As religious Web logs have proliferated in recent years, blogs have started functioning as virtual congregations, providing a place for the faithful to voice political views, evangelize and meet like-minded adherents. This Lent, they’re also serving as a forum for Lenten reflections, where Christians debate the meaning of Lent — the 40-day period of purification preceding Easter — discussing Bible passages and trading ideas for Lenten observances.

A Catholic priest in Oklahoma posts Lenten homilies on his popular blog ragemon key.blogspot.com so that people in his parish and fans as far away as New Zealand can reflect on his sermons. On the group blog www.whatis church.com, a Protestant pastor in West Palm Beach promotes Lent as a way of getting closer to God rather than a period of self-denial. A recent convert to Catholicism blogs about experiencing Lent as a new Catholic. And now some churches have launched communal Lent blogs as a way of nudging their congregants toward daily spiritual reflections.

Jeff Sharlett of The Revealer gives an overview of faith blogs.

Veteran Christian bloggers, however, hail the Internet as an ideal place to connect with other Christians. And they find a ready audience — according to a study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly two-thirds of Americans who go online use the Internet for religious purposes.

Increasingly, pastors and lay people alike are using Web logs to share their views, said Jeff Sharlet, editor of the Revealer (therevealer.org), the blog of the Center for Religion and Media at New York University.

”They go online and suddenly they have a parish,” he said. With the growing popularity of Web logs in general, Christian blogs have also multiplied, ranging from the humorous and irreverent to the theologically orthodox. In 2002, Christian commentator Martin Roth compiled a semi-definitive list of Christian blogs, which numbered around 143. Now, the Web ring blogs4God.com includes 1,230 Christian blogs. And it’s not just Christians — the Jewish Web ring www.gavroche.org has 439 blogging members, while the humorous Muslim blog ring www.thinkhalal.com lists 353 blogs.

Besides spreading the Word on the Web, religious blogs have helped to create a ”perfect fusion of the public sphere and what used to be private,” Sharlet said.

”The idea is that church is not a Sunday thing anymore; it’s going to be something that permeates your life,” he said. “These blogs help you to suffuse your day with spirituality.”

The article looks at church blogs and group blogs.

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Many god-blogs don’t list at portals, chosing to use country listings, use aggregators; or decide not to list on blog registars at all.

via relapsed catholic

Leap blogging the quieter blogs
Stepping away from political blogs for more peaceful and thoughtful reads, check out Fragments From Floyd - a gentle, story telling and peaceful blog with stunning photographs.

Such Small Hands celebrated 2 years of blogging this week. Happy blogday!
There are some reflections for Lent.

After a long set of technical problems looking back…looking forward is back.

Le Sabot Post-Moderne is on haitus as time in the Ukraine is up and graduate work in the US awaits. The blog will be quiet for five weeks.

Wanderings of a Post Modern Pilgrim has reflections on not spiritualizing Jesus wept.

signposts posts a comment about what the living church is.

via Wanderings of a Post Modern Pilgrim

We are called to be fruitful - not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness. - Henri J. M. Nouwen