I had great time at the World Journalism Institute Conference this past weekend at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

It was truly an honor to be named among a group of working journalists who paid their dues in the newsroom. While I’ve sometimes expressed animosity toward mainstream media (MSM) on this blog, I tend to forget that Christians and conservatives work in MSM.

The lady on your left is Lisa Jones-Townsel, fashion editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She shared her inspiring testimony and interesting aspects of her journalism career. From a five-year stint at Ebony magazine to her current position at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, this prolific writer is a witness to Christ’s work in her life. She told us that she was in New York City covering a fashion show in September 2001, when the unimaginable happened: the murder of thousands in the World Trade Center towers. Lisa was the only Dispatch reporter available on the ground to cover the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Lisa filed stories, saw the ruins, spoke with the people, and tried to come to terms with what happened.

Karima Haynes (right), formerly of the Los Angeles Times, also wrote for Ebony. This fall she’ll teach journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park while her husband toils at the Washington Post.

Anthony Bradley (left) is a seminary student and blogger who shared a powerful and convicting message on embracing a Christian worldview as followers of Christ. We have a tendency to compartmentalize, reserving God for Sundays while we live like the world Monday through Saturday. Christians are to be set apart from the world, being in it but not of it.

John Fountain (right) has quite an amazing testimony, life and career. He grew up poor and existed on welfare, heading down a well-worn path of social pathology. John’s book, True Vine, is the story of how his faith in Christ saved him not only from an eternity separated from God, but how that same faith rescued him from poverty. His story reminds me of Star Parker’s.

Lawrence Smith is a fellow political conservative and Christian who gave a memorable presentation on mainstream media, Christian journalists, and how to apply the lessons taught in the Book of Luke to our careers and all we do.

Gracie Bonds Staples is an award-winning journalist and columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The only columnist there whose work I was familiar with was liberal Cynthia Tucker. (See Righteous Indignation and Liberal Op-Ed Pages.) Gracie also writes features, and she shared interviewing techniques with the students. She is “old school” and prefers to conduct interviews face to face instead of on the telephone or via e-mail. And she doesn’t use a tape recorder. The students had so many questions after her presentation. Gracie’s career serves as a model for would-be journalists.

I found myself in the presence of professionals who have a lot to teach me, and I learned as much, if not more, than the students. It was a privilege.

My presentation last Saturday was much better than the one at Conservative University 2004 last summer. I was on a discussion panel with Star Parker, who is a natural public speaker. I was fine until I got to the podium, and I was suddenly nervous. I read from notes and may have looked up a few times. When I’m really nervous, but my voice shakes. That didn’t happen this time. I had notes in front of me, but I spoke mostly from memory and maintained eye contact with the audience. I talked briefly about my faith, former addiction, why and when I started writing, and why I’m blogging.

When I first looked at the conference schedule and noticed I wasn’t on until 5:00 p.m., I thought I’d be a wreck by then. But the anticipation of a thing is usually worse than the thing itself (unless you’re going to the electric chair), I always say.

It actually worked to the students’ advantage and my own. Learning about careers in traditional journalism before listening to a presentation on blogging/alternative journalism was more beneficial, I think, than the other way around. And I’d spent so much time with some of the students, I was comfortable with the entire group. When my turn came, it was as if I was continuing a conversation I’d been having all day.

I was excited about my topic — Christians, journalism and blogging — and my enthusiasm was obvious. After the obligatory bio, I shared my blogging experience and opportunities this blog has brought my way, including a guest spot on MSNBC. Many had heard the word “blog” before, some read blogs and few were bloggers themselves.

Blogs as a new medium is one of my favorite topics. I highlighted various media-related scandals, including “Rathergate” and “Easongate.” I analogized the profound impact that the Protestant Reformation had on the Roman Catholic Church with blogs’ impact on MSM. I told the students that blogs are also tools of evangelism, doing for ordinary people what the printing press did for Martin Luther during the Reformation. My passion for this subject may have influenced a few attendees, including a working journalist or two, to start blogging.

The best part came after the presentation. The Q&A was wonderful. Both students and journalists had a lot of questions about blogging. For a while I forgot that I was standing before a room full of people, and I simply talked about what I know and what I love to do.

Ready or not, BlogNashville, here I come.