Blogging and Social Media

I've written a short piece for The Institute of Evangelism in Toronto on how and why you should consider starting a blog. Here's an excerpt:

One of the best ways to maintain an online presence is through a blog. Mohler says that we used to think that bloggers were all “twentysomethings in their pyjamas writing online rants.” But blogs are now “one of the most significant platforms for our cultural conversation.” It’s one of history’s “most cost-efficient way of communicating big ideas and solid content. If you are not writing a blog, you should be.”

I agree. Here are four reasons why you should blog...

Read the rest here.

Speaking of web stuff, I was interested to read about how astronaut Chris Hadfield made it onto Twitter:

He initially balked when his sons began preaching the merits of Twitter and Facebook more than three years ago...

During a family Christmas get-together in 2009 his son Evan, who now lives in Germany, and Kyle, who's in China, pointed out that they relied on the Internet to find out what's going on.

They got on his case again when his five-month mission was announced in early September 2010. It was then that they decided to set up his two social-media sites...

Upon his return to Earth this week, Hadfield was hovering around one million Twitter followers and more than 325,000 "Likes" on Facebook.

I'm sure glad his sons got on his case. I'm glad the same thing happened to Tim Keller (except, of course, the part about going into space or singing a David Bowie song). What I should say is that I'm glad his son pushed him onto Twitter.

I agree with Al Mohler.  If you’re not active online, you’re limited in your ministry to those who aren’t online. “That population is shrinking every moment. The clock is ticking.”

RSS for the Top 200 Ministry Blogs

I'm grateful for the list of the Top 200 Ministry Blogs compiled by ChurchRelevance.com. I always learn a lot from that list every time it's updated.

I've often wished that someone would do the tedious work of taking that list of 200 or so blogs and converting them to a file that I could import into my RSS reader. That would save the work of going through each of the blogs and adding them manually. I finally gave up waiting for someone else to do the work, and did it myself, with a little help.

So here are the files. You can download the complete list, or just the top 100 or 50, or a compressed file with all of these options:

• Top 200+ Ministry Blogs
• Top 100 Ministry Blogs
• Top 50 Ministry Blogs
• Top Ministry Blogs (compressed)

What can you do with these files? Download them by clicking on the link (or right-clicking and saving the file). Import them into your preferred RSS reader like Feedly or Google Reader (while it lasts). Most blog readers support importing a list of blogs in this format. You can also import them into a program like Fever, which is what I plan to do.

Enjoy!

The Best of 2012

This is a little late, but I thought I'd share the top nine posts from last year as selected by Angela, my virtual assistant with eaHelp. Thanks to Angela for reading over last year's posts and picking out her favorites. Don't miss the bonus quote at the end. That one is my pick, and it's a good one.

You'll notice that a lot of the posts have to do with patience and perseverance. It was that kind of year for me. This year, so far, is much different.

Don't Put the Bibles Away

I've noticed something. People in our churches are used to opening their Bibles during the sermon. I assume that many of them are reading their Bibles during the week at home. But, except for during the sermon, and maybe small groups and Bible studies, Bibles remain closed…

I am wondering what church would look like if we didn't put the Bibles away so quickly.

Vision Delayed

Whatever you're facing today, take heart. Wilberforce persevered for 46 years. Hang in there.

Wait for the Lord

I'm good at some things. Waiting isn't one of them. "Nothing is more difficult than to give God the honor of relying upon him, when he hides himself from us, or delays his assistance," writes Calvin. This is a something I'm finding to be true.

The Other Side of the Boundary

It's not like I'm giving up my boundaries. But I'm continuing to learn from brothers and sisters on the other side of these boundaries. I'm continually humbled by what I see every time I do so.

Keep Pumping

With a great little quote from Seth Godin on not giving up.

Watering Mud

I spent a lot of time watering mud last week. Nothing seemed to be happening. I felt a little foolish, actually.

That all changed on Saturday when I went outside and saw this…

Disrupt Yourself

The way to avoid stagnation, individually and as churches, is to confront our fears and idols. Disrupt yourself.

Redeem the Commute

Early last year, Ryan Sim put his house in Toronto for sale and moved an hour east to Ajax to start a new church, Redeemer Church. I'm excited to ask Ryan about his church planting efforts in this short interview.

Relentless

Relentless. Not a bad word for anyone who’s been gripped by the gospel, not to mention church planters.

Bonus

My favorite quote from last year comes from an interview with Scotty Ward Smith:

Live as close to Jesus as you can. Constantly preach the gospel to yourself. Walk closely with a “gospel posse”. Risk or rust for the rest of your life. Love one spouse well the rest of your life. Never be surprised to discover how broken the bride of Jesus is; how immature and selfish you can be; or how much God loves you in Jesus. Ache for heaven and serve in this moment.

I've Changed My Feed

Just a small bit of housekeeping.

If you subscribe to this blog using RSS and some service like Google Reader, please take a few minutes to update the RSS. It has now changed to:

http://feeds.dashhouse.com/dashhouse

If you've been receiving these posts by email, you shouldn't need to do anything. You will continue to receive these posts just like you did before.

This should significantly improve how things run around here. Thanks for your help in doing this!

Reader Survey

I've been at this blogging thing a while now. Last year I reached the point at which I had to choose: either I was going to post more regularly here, or I would shut this blog down. Obviously, I've decided to keep blogging and to be more intentional in what I'm doing.

Last month I outlined what I'd be trying to do with this blog. In short, I've tried to think about what I appreciate most in other blogs and incorporate those elements here. The bloggers I enjoy post regularly and consistently provide thoughtful content. It seems to take both: a regular schedule and a good, consistent supply of solid content. Not an easy combination!

I've had some good feedback, but I'm open to your thoughts. I'd like to offer you a chance to give me some feedback on this blog. Please take a minute or two to answer a brief survey. I'll randomly pick one person who completes the survey (and leaves an email address) to win a copy of The Essential Edwards Collection: Set of 5 Books. The survey (and contest) closes this Friday.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Ken Davis. The books are on their way.

One more thing. This week I'm changing the schedule a little. Rather than posting interviews on Friday, I'm moving them to Wednesday instead. I have an interview with Steve Mathewson (author of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative) lined up this week on how to preach Christ from all of Scripture. It's a good one.

Thanks for reading!