Real Live Preacher and the TallskinnyKiwi

Gordon

(This is from an old friend so be sure to read carefully)

For months now I have been reading Real Live Preacher. It has been an interesting experience. From my reading, I decided it was written by a famous preacher in Texas writing this because the number of hits he was getting was tremendous.

The ground even felt uneven as I read of his exploits, his musings with the hope that his congregation was not reading his blog, the exploits of raccoons when I myself was struggling with a mouse army about to devour me, and the story of his wife – an overworked Hospital Chaplain. Which, by the way, I certainly identified with since I am the only chaplain of a 600 plus bed hospital and am on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

But, I could never quite determine who the persona for this thing was. Such fame is amazing, THEN SOMETHING FANTASTIC HAPPENED:

I was searching blogrolling to see how many sites were tied to Andrew Jones, Tallskinnykiwi.com, and found only one, that of Jon Amos titled AMINOR. In reading his blog, I discovered a name I had not heard in a while, Gordon Atkinson. Now it was familiar because several years ago, when the internet was young, Gordon and I corresponded.

Now mind you, I was REALLY surprised to discover that Gordon Atkinson was THE REAL LIVE PREACHER. I almost fell out of my chair. How amazing !!! And I didn’t even know.

Well Gordon, I have my own blog now, MONASTIC SKETE, and was amazed to discover that your church website still had references to my web addresses. For instance you reference, Web Surfer Travel Journal, the adventures of Calvin Swine from my web book FOUR CORNERS-A Literary Excursion Across America, and How to Develop A Spiritual Journal.

So Gordon, I want to congratulate you a whole lot. I hope your book goes well. I am adding your link to my site, and now when I read Real Live Preacher, I am going to remember that you were awfully kind to me in my early internet enterprises many years ago. You linked to me when no one else would. Thanks!!

In closing, last year my wife of 36 years, took me on a surprise journey to your city for a special birthday. We had a fantastic time there. I wish I had looked you up then. I would like to meet you someday.

And in closing, it is interesting to see how Christian Blogging bounces around the universe. It is like the JEPD versions of the Bible. Your links rarely coincide with Tallskinnykiwi, yet both of your are within 2 years of age of each other, both were involved with the BGCT, both went to the same denominational seminaries, and both are advancing the cause of Christianity in our world. One as a real live preacher, the other as a founder of a Baptist monastery in Scotland. The Lord does surprise us all, right.

By the way, my Thomas Merton site is going great. You might check it out sometimes. And please don’t forget to read my blog sometimes:

Monastic Skete

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dan Phillips
Franklin, TN 37067