Carl Beech has just finished a four-part series entitled ‘Real Men Don’t Do Church’ over on the CVM Blog. Looking at why men might not find church in the UK appealing today, Carl analyses the problem before offering helpful advice on what to do about it.
Read more …
It’s been a while – too long – since I have blogged. Part of the reason is my new job with CVM. Another part is that I’ve been waiting to finish a few books which I haven’t done yet. And sometimes when I’m done with my day I decide that I’ve actually looked at a screen too much.
But my time with CVM has been great. Busy, sometimes long days but always full of fun and privilege. I’ve been up and down the country and been a part of those wonderful things called meetings again – something that my time in YWAM adequately prepared me for (YWAM: Youth With A Meeting). I haven’t stopped learning and find that I have many varied tasks on my agenda.
One of those is looking at our internet technologies. There will be lots that I will be involved with, starting with a new blog. So despite my blogging drought blogging has been on my brain. To get the project rolling I’ve started asking questions such as:
Over the next few day I hope to answer some of these questions (insights welcome) but to start things off I thought I’d just list a few of my daily reads. One of my morning routines is to open up NewsFire and browse through the headlines. Taking a look now these ones catch my eye (in no particular order).
1. Challies Dot Com
Maybe more popular in N. America than the UK (?) Mr Challies seems to set the bar for Christian blogging. As well as providing a strong model to imitate technically I happen to be of the same theological persuasion (more or less) so there’s plenty of happy reading here.
2. LICC
The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity publishes high-quality, relevant, thoughtful articles on how Christianity interacts with all ’spheres of life’. A clean, well-structured site that delivers crisp content. Subtle and a good case of the medium not getting in the way of the content.
3. TheResurgence
A collection of bloggers here, but of course, noted for one Mr. Mark Driscoll. Great concise content with plenty of relevant links.
4. The Blue Fish Project
Moving closer to home here … Maybe this could be said to be a blogger’s blog? Plenty of links to posts and interesting bits and bobs with fresh content on a regular basis.
5. Peter Hitchens
Old-fashioned columnist? Maybe. But he can write, and so I like to read what he has to say.
6. Pro-Existence
Mr Rick Pearcey (of the Pearcey Report) keeps a blog on current affairs. I perhaps don’t read this as much as I did when I was state-side but because I know the angle that the author is coming from I will always head here to gain another insight on a relevant topic.
7. Mac Rumors
I’m a Mac fan. So I follow Mac news. Enough said?
8. The Unofficial Apple Weblog
‘Ditto.’
And they’re just 8. Does anyone have any thoughts to offer? I attended the Band of Bloggers Conference (nice blog template) earlier this year and picked up a host ideas but I’m always looking to learn more. Over the next week I’ll look to share more of my findings and stay tuned for the new blog from CVM!
smokegecko Thoughts has moved from Blogger to Wordpress. This marks the final stage in transition. The reasons for moving it over are technical and boring, but let me say this: if you are thinking about blogging, before you start decide where you want to host your blog and why.
Sure, it’s easy and quick to set up with Blogger and jump right in, but will the service you start with be sufficient for your needs in the future? If you need to switch things up, the further down the road the more difficult it becomes and the more problems you’ll encounter.
There are many different arguments for differnt set ups out there, and a quick Google query will give many ideas. In short, I wanted to have my own solution that I had complete control over, that I could host on my own site. So, to that end, the best solution for me is Wordpress.
If you’re wondering how there are nifty pop-ups on my Scripture links, then wonder no more. The guys over at Logos have created a free tool called RefTagger which recognises Scripture quotes and then displays the passage in full in your bible version of choice.
RefTagger works with a variety of different platforms (I’m running Blogger in a subfolder here) all off of a snippet of code that you can easily paste at the end of your template. Once you’ve added the code to your template all you need to do is to cite a reference from Scripture and RefTagger does the rest, instantly attributing the correct passage to your citation.
For example, I can add any Scripture verse – say, 1 Peter 3:15 – and RefTagger will pick up on the use of Scripture and add provide the neat little overlay. Simple, easy and it adds value to the post!
I’ll be attending the Band of Bloggers conference in Chicago when I come into town for Entrusted With The Gospel in late April.
I’m looking forward to learning some things about this blogging gig.
I’ve moved this blog to my website. Over the next few weeks I’ll be looking to integrate the templates so that navigation is easier.
I’ll still be keeping this blog for my thoughts on teachings, current affairs, theology etc. and my website will be kept up to date with my general news.
I should say at the outset what really I aim to achieve with this blog. I’ve had blogs before, mostly to keep people updated with my life in YWAM in various parts of this world. Posts were personal and the only people who really looked at the site were friends and family.
With this blog I aim to attract a different user base. Last year the base director of YWAM Maui, Tom Osterhus, instigated the New Reformers Discipleship School (or, NeRDS) Reading Plan. This was for graduates of the School of Biblical Foundations and Missions (SBFM) and was designed as a tool to keep alive the discipline of discussion and study through a web-based distance learning plan. Tom led the school, setting the coursework and assignments etc. and a few of us become regular contributors both while we were on the island of Maui and while we elsewhere.
I benefited greatly from the insight of others and the discipline of the school (which I have to say on my behalf was poorer than it could/should have been). And here comes the reason for this blog. I thought that it would be good for me to share my thoughts and insights here for others to see and comment on and in this way exchange ideas and views with a wider group of people.
So my plan is to publish (fairly regularly) updates and points of discussion. The blog will serve as a tool of discipline for me, and will hopefully be of some insight to others. I look forward to seeing where this idea gos!
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