I’m back…

First, I want to thank my web/blog designers Chris and Erin for designing an incredible site.  Thank you Chris for masterfully handling the coding and hacking.  Also, thanks Erin for the design work – especially the color selection.  My web designers, Chris and Erin of Arcane Palette Creative Design, spent the last two weeks porting my blog from TypePad (my previous blogging platform) to WordPress.  This has been a big project-much bigger than I expected.  Oh, I only wished I had started with WordPress when I began blogging two years ago.  You’ll notice several changes:

• The design is much different. Not everyone will like it, but I’m pleased.  I think it feels professional but also personal.  That was my goal.

• The photos of me rotate. Every time you refresh the page or move to a new page, you get a new photo of Shauntai and I.  “Big deal,” I know.   But I couldn’t just settle on one photo.   My life is too multi-faceted.  Plus I thought you might enjoy peering into the visual aspects of my life.

• The search engine is easy to find. People often email me, asking for links to articles they remember seeing but can’t find.  The WordPress search engine is very robust, and I think it’s placement and functionality will make it easier for you to find the stuff you are interested in.

• I will add additional pages. I get asked to speak a lot and in the very near future I will accept advertising.  However, I will only run ads for products or services that I personally use and can recommend.

There’s still more to come, so let me set your expectations:

• You will probably discover broken links. This was the biggest challenge in moving from TypePad to WordPress.   We did the best we could, but there will likely be problems.

• Not all my images are displaying properly. In fact, some images in older posts won’t display at all.   I am having to upload these to my new server and adjust the links.  The good news is that all the content is here.

• You will need to re-subscribe to my RSS feed. This is probably the worst part of the move.   TypePad just uses a completely different feed mechanism.  You can just click on the link in the right sidebar.  It only takes a couple of mouse clicks and you’re done.  I apologize for the inconvenience of this.

• We are going to do a major comment upgrade. We plan to install Intense Debate.   It is an extremely robust comment plugin.  It will allow for “threaded comments,” ratings, user profiles, etc.  I have wanted this for a very long time.  The bottom line: please be patient with me.  If you discover a problem, please email me.  We’ll try to get it fixed as soon as we can.   By the way, if you need a web designer/developer who specializes in WordPress blogs, I highly recommend Chris and Erin.  Not only do  they know everything there is to know about WordPress, they is also one of the most responsive vendors I have ever used.

Question:

What do you like about the new blog?  What don’t you like?  Tell it to me straight.  I can take it.  (I think.)

Don’t you wish blogger or typepad had been around 2,000 years ago. I wonder if Jesus would have blogged?  What an RSS feed that would have been!

I thought I would hit the pause button and share the top ten reasons why I decided to "professionally" blog:

1) I want to be a good steward of God’s ideas. God has given me so much…He has taught me so much…I would be wrong not to pass along what I’ve learned that might be able to help others. My blog is one way I "take my thoughts captive"–II Corinthians 10:5.

2) Too often we remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. My blog helps me remember what God doesn’t want me to forget.

3) Blogging is therapeutic. It helps me process thoughts and emotions. I believe blogging will make me a better leader.  It will make me accountable.  It will keep me humble.  Just as preaching keeps the preacher always learning, I believe blogging will keep me on the learning edge of leadership.

4) Habakkuk 2:2 says, "Write down the revelation." Blogging is one way I write down what God is revealing to me.

5) Blogging is a form of digital discipleship.  I can’t disciple a thousand people one-on-one or face-to-face.  Blogging is asynchronous discipleship.  It’s e-vangelism.

6) Blogging is marking my trail with breadcrumbs like Hansel and Gretel.  Jeremiah 31:21 says, "Set up road signs; put up guideposts.  Mark well the path by which you came."

7) I blog for my children’s children.  My grandkids will know what I was doing and thinking on February 19, 2008. They’ll be able to know my heart and read my mind.

Blogging is a form of autobiography. It helps me understand God’s storyline for my life.

9) Blogging makes Mars Hill Baptist Church an open-source church.  For better or for worse, my blog is the way I share what we’re doing at MHBC.

10) I enjoy blogging.  I don’t think it comes natural to everyone.  However, since I’ve always wanted to journal,  blogging fits the rhythm of my life and ministry.