August 10, 2010

Future Content Poll. Please Cast Your Vote!

As I make plans for the return of original content to the blog, I thought I’d take a little poll. I’m considering having one of the updates as a short video post.

Please, let me know your thoughts.

If you can’t see the poll, then click here to view it and cast your vote.

Don’t forget to join the discussion on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or add your thoughts in the comments below.

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August 3, 2010

Recalibrating…

Can you hear the sound of crickets in the background? I can. So why the silence of late here on the blog? I’m recalibrating my use of social media, including my blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

As part of this recalibration things on this blog will change slightly. After a long break from writing new content, Lord willing, in the coming weeks I will return with weekly content. You’ll have to stay tuned for more details. If you haven’t claimed your free subscription via RSS or Email Updates, be sure to claim it today.

Is this a break for me? No. I will still be as active as ever online, just not here on the blog while I’m preparing new content.

Where can you connect with me? Be sure to “Like” the new Facebook page to stay up-to-date, and follow me on Twitter for even more daily content. In fact, announcements regarding what’s coming up on the blog will be made on Facebook and Twitter before I post anything here.

If you’re presently friends with me on Facebook, I will be transitioning to my new Facebook page and reserving my Facebook profile for friends and family that I know in the offline world. Please don’t be upset if I “un-friend” you in the coming weeks, simply “Like” the new Facebook page so we can stay connected online.

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May 31, 2010

Which Type of Blog Comments Do You Leave?

Matthew Warner suggests there are 10 types of blog comments:

  1. Encouragers
  2. Non-contributors
  3. Contributors
  4. Destitutes
  5. Slackers
  6. Brawlers
  7. Angries
  8. Posers
  9. Self-promoters
  10. Aliens

Have a read of Matthew’s article (where he provides a description of each type) and ask yourself, which type of blog comments do I leave?

HT: Dan Phillips

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March 18, 2010

Top 100 Church Blogs (+ 30 bonus blogs)

Kent Shaffer from ChurchRelevance.com compiles and regularly updates his list of “Top 100 Church Blogs”. This time around his Spring update also included 30 bonus blogs. I was humbled and very surprised back in 2009 to read that my old blog made the list and I’m even more surprised now (and thankful) with this blog receiving a mention.

The blogs listed cover a very wide spectrum, but I’m very thankful that there are many blogs that made the list from the “Calvinistic” camp.

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March 13, 2010

WordPress, I’ve Come Home

WordPress LogoIn September 2009 I made a monumental leap (well, at least from my perspective!). I left the world of a WordPress self-hosted blog and opened a Posterous account to begin a “microblog.” I had various reasons for making the change in “format” (microblogging) but my reason for changing the “medium” (Posterous)  was largely due to the appeal of simplicity and ease of use.

But as of March 11th 2010, I’ve come home to WordPress.

But why?

Here are six reasons: I missed comments, I missed the Thesis Theme, I missed being able to use plugins, I missed having control over my posts, I missed having good SEO, and all that I did at Posterous I can do at WordPress. Let me explain.

1. I missed comments

Comments are key to building a community amongst a blog’s readership and especially between the blogger and his readership. Posterous simply lacked the features I wanted and was accustomed to in the WordPress commenting system. I couldn’t edit comments (they could only be deleted), I couldn’t moderate comments well, or make sure all the comments that needed it were responded to, etc.

WordPress, I’ve come home because of your comments!

2. I missed the Thesis Theme

Although I was happy to get away from the continual tinkering of themes as it can become a bit of an obsession, I missed the amazingly coded Thesis theme. I will, when time permits, resume using Thesis here.

Presently, I’m beginning the long process (for time restraint reasons) of developing a custom Thesis theme. I’m more than happy for any coders / designers out there to offer their services though. ;-)

Thesis has wonderful SEO options where Posterous lacked simple features like setting post descriptions, etc.

WordPress, I’ve come home because of the Thesis Theme.

3. I missed being able to use plugins

Unlike Posterous, WordPress allows you to install any number of plugins to achieve any number of purposes. The last 24-hours has only served to remind me how wonderful it is to have the ability to install plugins.

WordPress, I’ve come home because of plugins.

4. I missed having control over my posts

When using a “microblog” format there remains times you’d like to prepare a draft of a post, or maybe schedule a post to publish. This is especially true when I’ve launched a give away or prepared to post a book review. In the end, even though I thought I wouldn’t need these features when I first moved to Posterous…I did!

WordPress, I’ve come home because of the control you give me over posts.

5. I missed having good SEO

Posterous didn’t have very good SEO. It didn’t allow me to set custom “descriptions” for pages and therefore wasn’t Google or search engine friendly in my opinion. WordPress has good SEO, and with the help of the Thesis theme or a simple plugin, you can be Google friendly in no time.

WordPress, I’ve come home because of SEO.

6. All that I did at Posterous I can do at WordPress

I didn’t use the Posterous “email”  feature. When I did all the formatting would break and I’d have to go in and manually fix it anyway. Even if I did use that feature, WordPress allow you to “email” posts.

I did use the Posterous bookmarklet tool, and although it’s probably not as good yet, WordPress does have one called “Press This”.

WordPress, I’ve come home as Posterous didn’t offer me anything extra.

So, am I asking all you Posterous users to install a self-hosted WordPress blog? No. Posterous may very well serve your purposes perfectly. But for me, WordPress, I’ve come home!

How did I do it?

To put it as succinctly as possible:

I created a WordPress.com blog and imported my Posterous database. I then exported the database and imported it into my self-hosted WordPress blog. That was it!

Most of the old posts redirected perfectly thanks to the way WordPress is setup, but for the few difficult posts that gave a 404-error I implemented a simple “Redirect 301″ in the .htaccess file. Some of the embedded images and videos needed a little tidying up, but I’ll do that as I find the time.

While I’m waiting to launch my new theme I installed the Minimous theme. It looks just like Posterous and I hoped it would prevent any shock for my frequent visitors. It must have worked as no one seemed to notice the move back home. I’ll launch a Thesis theme when time permits.

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December 28, 2009

The State of my "Microblog" and the Blogosphere

Since moving to this new format several months ago I’ve learned many things (some of which I may post about another time). I’ve slowly moved the sites focus and attempted to align it more centrally with what I’m thinking, doing, reading, and experiencing. I’ve not done this because I believe there is anything particularly interesting about “me” but more so to encourage transparency. I’m not using this domain to manipulate readership growth, or supplement an income, so I don’t see the need to force my writing and microblogging to a particular niche.

That said, I’m also convinced more and more each day that I am unworthy of offering comment yet alone writing full articles. There is so much God glorifying, theological rich, Bible saturated and history attested material, that I’d rather post a quote from a book and pray the Lord blesses you instead of attempting to “re-invent the wheel.”

This move has cost me readers. A lot of those readers were “dead” anyway and had only subscribed to enter give-aways. Some were not. It has brought along new readers and new commenters. You’ve had a chance to see a fuller picture of who I am. My workload has been reduced “online” and has allowed me to do more where I am needed most…”offline.” The biggest downside I’ve seen since the move is interaction on comments; my intereaction. Posterous is not the best in that area nor is it anything like WordPress was.

So that’s a quick update on the state of my “microblog” (from my perspective anyway) and now you may be interested in Trevin Wax’s thoughts on the state of the “blogosphere” in general. He has some interesting thoughts and has made some interesting observations.

I look forward to seeing what happens in 2010. As always, there are a lot of ideas ticking over inside my head.

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November 5, 2009

Be Humble Blogmeisters! That Includes Me Too.

I get nervous when I blog, and I’m very cautious when I comment. Am I in the minority in the blogosphere? According to Carl Trueman I might be. Over at Creed:or:Chaos, Joshua paraphrases Carl Trueman’s thoughts on blogging when he says:

Do not pretend like you are a scholar when you are not, and do not perpetuate the democratization of ignorance. If you do, do not expect anybody to listen to your blogic. Be humble. Think twice (no thrice) before you type. Just because you have the right to speak, does not mean that you have a right to be heard.

This charge is fair. I laughed as I read the above paragraph as you’ll often hear me saying very similar things to my wife in response to blog posts and comments I read online.

Believe me, I’m not an authority and I’ve been guilty as charged! I take this as a humble reminder; maybe you should too?

Update: “Blogmeisters” was a label supplied by Carl Trueman.

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November 2, 2009

Tim Challies, Reading and 10MillionWords


Tim Challies made the big announcement today. He is launching a new blog entitled 10MillionWords. What will the blog be? Where will Tim get 10 million words? Tim states:

In 2010 I intend to read all of the New York Times bestsellers.

Now that’s a mammoth task! You know I desire to be able to read faster and more effectively, so I’d love to be able to read 10 million words in 2010. This project of Tim’s should provide for some very interesting reflections on modern culture.

Praying for you Tim!

You can visit 10MillionWords and/or follow the blog on Twitter.

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September 20, 2009

Banner of Truth: Biblical Christianity Through What?

I’m pleased to inform you that Banner of Truth is not only “Biblical Christianity Through Literature.” Banner of Truth have just launched a blog, and can also be found on Twitter “tweeting” some edifying quotes.

Be built up in your faith by reading their blog, following them on Twitter and most importantly through buying and reading their books.

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