Tag: blogging
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A Blogging Milestone
Change creates opportunity for progress
I’m starting the New Year with a new blog theme (Twenty Seventeen). I really liked the old one (My Life), especially its three column format, so I kept it a while. But I’m following a principle that change is needed to keep things fresh. If we don’t plan positive change, our product becomes stale and stagnant. I have learned that staying with the comfortable keeps me in a rut and eliminates the opportunity for progress which change usually brings. I may change again if I am not satisfied with the result of my new theme. I’m hoping for a fresh look, more readable fonts, different menu locations, and increased ability to handle tables. Looks like I’m getting some new video capability thrown in. Perhaps that will challenge me to grow in a new area. The whole exercise caused me to reflect on the role of change in what I do.
Change can be confusing
I discovered again that there is a natural resistance to change. The old is familiar. Change creates work. In the case of a theme change, I have to manually reset the menu and widget structure of the blog. I need to choose pictures and backgrounds. There is always the hidden fear that the change will be for the worse. The wisdom of past experience lessens this risk immensely, but it can feel risky anyway.
Change has a logical side and a psychological side
“A good exercise when you face change is to make a list of the logical advantages and disadvantages that should result from the change, and then another list indicating the psychological impact. Just seeing this on a sheet of paper can be clarifying” (Bob Biehl in Increasing Your Leadership Confidence p. 46).
There are several up sides to my blog theme change. When I redo a theme, I learn in the process, sometimes reluctantly, but I learn. That’s a good thing. Usually the new theme has capabilities that the old one did not. A new theme presents the blog reader with a fresh look which hopefully creates new interest. For example, this one seems much cleaner in appearance. From the blogger’s standpoint, deficiencies in the old theme can be remedied. For example, this one handles tables much better. I’m excited about the opportunity for a video message provided by this theme.
Concerning creating change in an organization, here is a great resource to read; John Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, chapter 4 “Creating Positive Change.”
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New Sermon Plug-in Working
New Sermon Plug-in Working
I am happy to report that I have found a new plug-in called Sermon Manager to replace Sermon Browser. I am learning to use it and have now uploaded six new sermons into it, comprising together the sermon series for January and February. My immediate goal is to input sermons up to the current ones. Then I will see if I can put in some previous series for the benefit of those who use my sermons as a resource. I am glad for this and happy to be helpful to the family of God in some small way.
Unfortunately, I have not figured out a way to transfer old sermon files from Sermon Browser into the new plug-in. So the older files are stranded in cyber space for now.
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Sermon Texts Temporarily Unavailable
Please excuse the construction in the sermon area of my blog. I have used the plug-in Sermon Browser but for the last year I have been unable to easily post in it. It has become clear that it is no longer being supported. So I am searching for a new solution. So far I have not found a good one. I will be experimenting with theme changes too.
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Sermon Browser needs update
Just a note to let everyone know that I am aware that my sermons plug-in is not operating properly. My host upgraded to PHP 5.4 and the plug-in is not ready for that. However, the good news is that a major upgrade to my sermon browser has been in the alpha stage since late fall and should be ready soon.
I’ve been saying for many years that a church’s website has now become it’s primary way to get information to prospective attenders. Here’s an article by a blogger on Christian Post agreeing with my premise.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/seven-plus-one-deadly-sins-of-a-church-website-96661/
It can help us here in Kirkville to take the next step in our already developed website. It can also serve to guide those developing plans and capabilities for new websites such as my new friends in Copper Hill CT are now doing.
A new domain name
In preparation for my retirement from Community Wesleyan Church in a few months, Steven Sgroi, my web technical guru, and I are working to untangle my internet presence from the church’s internet site. As a part of that process, my blog will have a new location in the future. For now, if you try to access it from the old address it will redirect you to the new one just fine, but eventually, you will want to find me at the new address site—learntobewise.com.
Living wisely is the focus
I am excited about the possibilities of this name too. Just think about the fact that one whole section of the Old Testament is devoted to wisdom. I think also about the last words of Psalm 107 which might just be good mission statement for my blog at learntobewise.com. I should be writing in such a way that my reader would want to take the Psalm writer’s advice. “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord” (Ps 107:43 NIV). I have always felt that one of the jobs of a pastor is to live wisely and help others live wisely also. So I think this new domain name will be a great fit. I also like the idea in the name that we are not wise all at once. Rather, we are always learning and becoming wiser.
http://www.heathmullikin.com/4-reasons-every-pastor-should-blog/
I recently read the above blog article by Heath Mullikin about why pastors should be bloggers. I totally agree with him. I like his reasons but I think I would have listed different ones. Here are my four.
1. A blog makes studies, devotionals, book reviews, etc. available and accessible to people in the congregation who did not attend that particular study, to those connected more remotely with the congregation through a web of relationships either personal or electronic who may become interested in the studies, and to believers around the world, many of whom do not enjoy the resources that you do.
2. A blog helps the pastor to be real. As I occasionally share events from my own life–vacation accounts, hobbies, things that interest me–the people in the congregation see that I am not a one-dimensional “talking head.” I’m always amazed when people see me in gardening clothes, or dressed for fishing; they do not recognize me because they are so used to thinking of me in my Sunday morning role. When the congregation sees the pastor as a fellow traveler on the road to heaven, a person with human interests like their own, it is easier for them to make connection when you speak on Sunday morning.
3. A blog is a great place to take a stand on community and political issues. Often there are issues you feel compelled to speak to when they arise or come up in the news. Or perhaps there is something you want to talk about but don’t necessarily want to dedicate a whole worship service or message to it. A blog provides the perfect forum. It is also a great place to take part in the cyberspace dialogues about issues of our day. It is a way to be part of what is happening in the world rather than isolated within the four walls of your church and the confines of its cliques.
4. Reading a blog is a great way for people who are looking for a church to get to know the pastor before they actually meet him. By reading what you write, they can learn a lot about how you treat Scripture, how you treat those with whom you disagree, what you tend to focus on, the passions of your heart, your family life, and your vision for the church. There is no doubt that people today check out churches on the web before they ever darken the door. They choose churches to visit by perusing their webpages. The pastor’s blog may be your best online advertisement.
So now you have at least eight reasons. Have you started blogging yet?
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Practical help for the blogger
Recently I have not been able to spend as much time on blogging as I would like to spend, but I still have a great heart for it and enjoy it. I also have not seen the response in traffic that I want to see. Today I ran into an excellent article that I believe will help me do better. I think it will also be of great interest to other bloggers too. http://michaelhyatt.com/017-7-keys-to-writing-a-killer-blog-post-podcast.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TIYL+%28This+is+Your+Life%29. Have you found some resources you could share that have helped you make your blog more interesting and interactive?