OK, I am late to this thread, the contents of which are masked by the particular forum (Welcome) and thread name (New and question). Just goes to show that you never know what ground these online discussions will traverse.
As to the question of how BL.Com started, David's account is on target. If there is a deeper story therein, it is that when the plug was pulled on SBCNet, I felt a need to try and provide an online space where genuine Baptist dialogue could take place, without having to conform to any party line. But I just provided the space; David and Ed get the credit for making the concept work (although David suffered in the process when he was fired from his DOM position, much to my chagrin). And if this site has made any contribution to Baptist life, the credit goes to the "openness" of the discussion and the dedication of the moderators.
As to my own journey, I taught at a Montana Baptist college (not an SBC affiliated college) while also serving as a Southern Baptist associational employee (campus ministry) in Montana. Montana Baptists have refused (to this day) to automatically toe the SBC party line, of which I am (and remain) grateful and proud. But when we moved South for me to go back to school, I left Southern Baptist life, and since then have not supported SBC causes. Yet the church we attended in Macon, GA, like every other moderate Baptist church in that town that I am aware of, gives token support to the SBC because some older members are still "attached" to the SBC. I yet remain friends and on good terms with Montana Southern Baptists, but we are now attending a nearby American Baptist church.
As to the future, expect to see CBF-related developments in Montana in 2008.