thejakers

A friend sent over an interesting article published by Reformation 21 by Carl Trueman this morning in which he eviscerates bloggers and the way in which Christians use the web. Here’s a particularly poignant quip:

Let’s stop there a minute. This is madness. Is this where we have come to, with our Christian use of the web? Men who make careers in part out of bashing the complacency and arrogance of those with whose theology they disagree, yet who applaud themselves on blogs and twitters they have built solely for their own deification? Young men who are so humbled by flattering references that they just have to spread the word of their contribution all over the web like some dodgy rash they picked up in the tropics?  And established writers who are so insecure that they feel the need to direct others to places where they are puffed and pushed as the next big thing?  I repeat: this is madness, stark staring, conceited, smug, self-glorifying madness of the most pike-staffingly obvious and shameful variety.

At first I found myself agreeing with much of what Mr. Trueman said (I use a formal reference because part of Mr. Trueman’s rant is against those who try to create familiarity with famous people to make them seem a part of the theological elite. I’ve never heard of Mr. Trueman, and I’m certainly not part of the theological elite, but I’ll forsake familiarity just to be safe). The reason I was agreeing with Mr. Trueman had more to do however with some certain types of bloggers that I’ve been thinking about lately, the kind of bloggers that never seem to have anything better to do than to search out heresy in every corner…making controversy even when their arguably isn’t any.

Perhaps Mr. Trueman is thinking of those types of bloggers as well. Regardless, as I thought about it for more than a second, I realized Mr. Trueman was being woefully ungracious to those bloggers out there that not only deflect undue praise, but who continually use the platform God has so chosen to give them as a means to point others to Jesus (Christological blogging?).

Here’s something I’m worried about. A few bad apples are spoiling the whole bunch. Seems it’s in vogue to throw out the baby with the bath water when it comes to blogging these days. But then again, some camps of the reformed never seem to be lacking in witch hunts. (I wonder if I can fit one more cliche here…)

So here’s what I have to say. Keep blogging, but make Jesus the center of your blogging…not you.

To you, Carl…I mean Mr. Trueman, I have this to say: It’s a bit ironic that you use a blog to criticize bloggers. Yes, to be fair, your online post was listed under “articles”, but that only means we can’t comment back on the post itself. I get it, who wants dialogue when you can proselytize? You have some good points about gaurding against self-promotion and staying humble, but it is no solution to abandon the platform God has given. Should preachers stop preaching because some might self-proselytize? Should authors stop writing books?

Sure there are bad bloggers. But there are bad preachers and bad authors? Why attack just the lowly blogger?

Redemption is always preferable to destruction.

As you’ve probably noticed if you’ve been hanging around for a while, I’ve changed the look of the blog. While I loved the old format, as a magazine style grid it was too cumbersome for me to manage. With all the things that have been going on in our life (see The Busy Season) I wanted to still be able to blog, but didn’t want to deal with huge formatting and management issues. After an extensive search (this morning for a half hour), I’ve settle on this beautiful theme by Andrea Mignolo called Oulipo.

Things I love about this theme:

• It’s super clean and simple
• The typography is elegant, and perfect
• The sticky menu and information in the side bars
• Nested comments
• Beautiful spacing and a wide enough main column

This new look will make it much easier for me to blog on the fly, so to speak. After all, not everything has to be a production, right?

A collection of interesting and mostly unrelated content from my online explorations for the week of 9/27/09.

Justin Taylor explores the concept of God sanctioned genocide.

Starbucks introduces instant coffee…yuck.

The Resurgence is giving away free posters explaining theological terms.

“Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). A convicting post from Desiring God.

Steve Knight tackles a topic that I’ve been interested in as of late – the Internet and Theology. He also references my blog series you can read here.

Prophets and psalmists would probably say of us, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Great quote from John Stott via Tim Challies.

Russell Moore blogs about Michael Moore and Mammon. Great read.

Greed. A great little video posted by Joe Thorn.

I don’t normally like violence…but this sounds like just plain fun.

Perry Noble on when you should apologize as a leader.

Loneliness seems to be a theme in the blogosphere lately. Eugene Cho pitches in with some great words here.

Is a Deacon just a servant? Russell Moore explore the role of a Deacon.

For my freelance friends, best books for freelancers.

Kem Meyer posts a good one on integrating social media…and making it work.

Virtual church membership. Is it legit? Church Crunch discusses here. Ties in with my series on the internet and ministry here.

Neil Cole is blogging on multi-site churches. Leadership Network highlights his series.

Twitter is finally building lists into it’s own service. Read about it here.

A collection of interesting and mostly unrelated content from my online explorations for the week of 9/20/09.

Read an good review of William Fareley’s Gospel-Powered Parenting.

Russell Moore discusses the 10 Best Novels by Southern writers. I’m reading Wise Blood right now coincidentally.

Brent Thomas and I are discussing the Church and our digital world at Holiday at the Sea.

Copyblogger encourages us not to be who we are – online. Read it here.

There is a lot of internet chatter about the 9 scientifically proven ways to get retweeted. I was never good at science.

Learn about churchrater.com over on Out of Ur. BTW – I think it’s a stupid idea for the record.

Justin Taylor runs a series on the historical reality of Adam here and here.

Want a job at Google? Crack this code.

Mark Driscoll continues his series on leadership being lonely, which I wrote about here.

“Ever since Adam and Eve took a bite into the deadly passion-fruit, we’ve been hiding…hiding from who we were truly meant to be, how we were truly made to live.” Great blog by Chuck Degroat here.

For you freelancers: 5 focus killers and how to deal with them.

“It’s important, we’re finding, to get beyond a token youth Sunday and start thinking about how to involve kids as ushers and greeters and readers and musicians in our services.” Interesting and enlightening interview on age segmentation in churches.

David Silverman waxes nostalgia about suits.

“Nothing on this earth is so closely attached to the gospel as good, godly sex in marriage-and Satan hates it.” Thoughts on sexual sin from Travel Blog.

One of the more amazing charts I’ve seen in a long while, courtesy of Brian McLaren.

Tim Schraeder continues some excellent thoughts on the role of the church Communications Director here.

Perry Noble offers some great, practical advice to pastors on getting recharged.

“In each case, the reason you wrote someone off had nothing to do with their product and everything to do with their lack of cultural wisdom.” A must read from Seth Godin.

So, we’re starting a regular blog rotation at Praxis Church. In anticipation, I wrote a primer on 10 tips that make for a great blog post. The following is the first draft, and I’m hoping for some feedback. Comment away.

Introduction

At Praxis Church, blogging is a key strategy for communicating our vision, values, thoughts, and ministries to our community. A simple definition of a blog would be an online post that communicates a message through some combination of words, pictures, and/or video. You can read a technical overview of a blog here.

As we gear up to launching an official blog rotation, I thought it would be appropriate to write a small primer on what makes a good blog post in the context of Praxis Church. The following are tips on how to write a great blog post that will engage our readers and further your ministry.

1. Be opinionated

It’s expected that a blog will express a strong opinion or thought. Strong opinions and thoughts generate reader interaction through comments, which furthers the possibility for an engaging conversation. Monitor the church blog, and feel free to engage our community in the comments section.

2. Clarity

Before you sit down to write, have your points thought out and logically ordered. Nothing loses a reader quicker than a lack of clarity in your writing. A blog that is written in a logical and efficient manner will increase its chance of being read.

3. Make it snappy

Most blog posts should hover around 500 words or so (you can see your word count on the bottom of most word processors). People don’t have time or patience to read much more than that online.

4. Layout is important

Reading on a computer is far more different than reading a printed document. Scanability is important. Try to order your blogs with sub-headlines, much like this document is laid out, and keep your paragraphs as lean as possible. Breaking up your post makes the blog more digestible for reading on a computer screen.

5. Bullet point lists

In the spirit of the last tip, whenever you make a list, use bullet points because:

• It makes it easier to read
• Creates better scanability
• Draws the reader’s attention
• Is a good practice

See how much better that is than: It makes it easier to read, creates better scanability, draws the reader’s attention, and is a good practice?

6. Edit your blog post

Make sure to edit your grammar and spelling. Taking the extra time and effort to ensure a well-written post will benefit our readers and show them that we care. Have someone proofread your post as well.

7. Keep it simple

While it may be fun to write in a flowery or academic style, no one wants to read that in a blog post. Keep your writing style simple and direct. Also, consider the jargon and lingo you use. Will someone who is not a Christian or a member at Praxis Church understand what you’re saying? Frame your words in the perspective of a person new to Christ and the church.

8. Make it personal

Readers respond well to stories that illustrate your points effectively and that communicate your personality and experiences. Part of our blog strategy is to provide a connection for our 1,000 plus members to get to know their ministers and ministries on a personal level. Don’t be afraid to be real and open up.

9. Write a killer headline

Believe it or not, the headline is the most important part of your blog post. It captures a person’s attention and draws them into the body of your post. Ideally, your headline should contain the elements of your entire blog in one succinct sentence. Here is a great blog post on the importance of headlines: http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines.

10. Link, and link some more.

Whenever possible, link to other articles and content on the Internet to create an interactive community and to allow readers to gain insight into your thought process. For instance I used this, this, and this to help write this document. If you need a tutorial on using hyperlinks, here is a great resource: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA101659291033.aspx

Final Note

Have fun! If you enjoy blogging, that will shine through in your writing.