Introducing Jon Towey

A good friend of mine has started blogging recently. I’ve been bugging him about it for a long time, and now that he has finally entered the blog-o-sphere I’m digging it. His blog is a collection of political, social, psychological, and personal commentary.

One of his more recent posts is on the idea of happiness. Here’s a sampling,

One of my interests and pursuits in life is happiness. This will be another ongoing topic you will find me writing about. It is something that eludes many of us on a regular basis. It requires work, intentionality, and choice. Read more…

Welcome Jon Towey. You’re now officially on the sidebar Blogroll!

(Man, I’m a nerd!)

A Letter to the Blogger Developers

Dear Blogger masterminds,

I have two requests for you. Please allow me to edit my category labels. I would like to change the spelling and capitalization of some of them. Also, I would like to be able to add/remove labels from my previous posts without having to open each entry. How about allowing me to add/remove labels from the ‘Edit Posts’ screen? That would be great.

Thank you,

Brenton Balvin

Loyal Blogspot user since 2005

Facebook and MySpace Highlight American Social Class Divisions

I have never really got into the whole MySpace thing. There is something I don’t like about the customization and wallpaper pieces. I think MySpace’s generally end up messy and disorganized and ugly. Plus, I always felt the majority of people who use MySpace are somewhat different than me.

This morning I read an article in Newsweek that reiterated and somewhat validated the thoughts I had.

A few weeks ago, [Danah] Boyd—who has done extensive ethnographic work on online behavior, blog-posted an essay tentatively sharing her (admittedly nonscientific) findings after months of interviews, field observations and profile analysis. Generally, she contended, “The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes and other ‘good’ kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college.” MySpace is still home for “kids whose parents didn’t go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school.”

Boyd’s ideas about the two online social networking sites have come under heavy criticism with critics pointing out that many people use both MySpace and Facebook, and in a society that vehemently hates the idea of labeling people groups and classes, Boyd’s findings are risky to document. But I agree with Boyd and my own experience, albiet very non-scientific, confirms what she writes. “What I was doing was showing the caricature, not arguing that everything boils down to one versus the other.”

I have not yet read Ms. Boyd’s entire post but you can access it here.

Good Post

Here is a very heartfelt and insightful post worth reading.

Top Ten Signs You are a Blogging Addict

Top Ten Signs You are a Blogging Addict (HT: Acts 29 Blog)

1. You technorati yourself daily (No)
2. You prefer blog commenting over actually talking to people (Sometimes)
3. You have thought about live blogging your “interactive marital event” (Never!)
4. You call other bloggers by their blog names, “Hey Tall Skinny Kiwi” (No)
5. You think about blog subjects while on the toilet (Yes)
6. You have more than ten RSS Feeds in which you subscribe (Yes)
7. You have commented on your own blog with a pseudonym (No way, maybe)
8. You tell friends you could quit blogging anytime you want (I could, honest)
9. You have blogged from your cell phone (I wish)
10. You are not satisfied with blogging. Now you are a twitter (Nope)

Twin Cities Churches Fighting Homelessness

A friend from seminary, who is pioneering some great work in the West Bank area of Minneapolis, posted this satirical news article. Read it though and consider how plausible something like this really is and how much of an impact churches could have if they worked it out.

A network of large Christian churches in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has announced a multi-point plan to fight homelessness. The announcement of the “Twin Cities Open Door Campaign” comes in response to what leaders are calling a “crisis of conscience” and contains many bold measures, most notably, plans to make church building spaces available to overnight guests that will be bussed to and from city centers.

Rest the rest…

(HT: Church Marketing Sucks)

John Piper book deal

Attention John Piper fans. Found this amazing deal on Steve’s blog. This is a deal that you don’t want to miss out on. Just ordered my copy tonight.

From Abraham Piper at the Desiring God Blog…

We would like to offer the book What Jesus Demands from the World for $2.97 to our readers. (It retails for $19.99 and we usually sell it for $12.49.)

This may be the first post you’ve seen here at the DG Blog or you may be a regular reader. Either way, we appreciate your interest and we would be very happy for you to take advantage of this special.

To get the discount, add the book to your cart in our store. Proceed through the checkout and on the payment page there will be a field to enter a coupon code. Enter the word blog and then click on “Apply Code.”

Small print: This special is only available online. One discounted book per order. We’ve set aside 500 books for this, so it is a while-supplies-last kind of deal.

I also ought to add that you can always download this book for free (PDF) along with a bunch of our other books if you don’t mind reading a couple hundred pages on your computer screen.

Biblical Manhood

Read this verse from this blog. Can’t forget this verse when I get back into pastoral ministry.

Mark Driscoll is preaching through Nehemiah right now. It is a can’t miss podcast when he comes to this verse.

1,000 Posts and 5 Things I’ve Learned About Blogging

This is blog post #1,000. Wow.

2 and half years ago I started blogging. Mostly because of this guy. I remember checking his blog on every available computer. That was back before I knew about the beauty of this.

I’ve learned a lot about blogging over the last couple years. Here are just five examples:

1. You will NEVER please everyone with what you write – especially if you blog with some conviction.
2. Blogging is a great way to steward and spread God’s creative ideas around.
3. Writing about something personal is more interesting than pontificating on someone else’s platform.
4. This gig can be addicting so be careful.
5. Blogging can be a wonderful tool for uniting people and helping one another grow – -it can also be a terribly nasty tool for spreading criticism, gossip and lies.

I’m glad I began a blogging journey.

Blogging has helped my clarify my convictions. It has provided me with an outlet for my creative energy. It is a place for me to gather my thoughts, dreams, experiences and hopes, and where the memories my family and I are creating will be chronicled forever. Blogging has forced me to think critically, write concisely and reason coherently. I have learned how my words can be used for edification or defamation. And I have made friends all over the country in ways that would not have been possible otherwise.

Here’s to 1,000 posts. Lord willing I will have 1,000 more.

Furtick and Elevation

Here is a pretty sweet blog by a pastor whose church is rockin’ it. Check out his posts Nice is Overrated and I Promised You a Good Comeback. Read the second one first, they go together.

Here is a video that his church (Elevation Church) recently used to make a major announcement. Using videos like this is a great idea. Video causes people to tune in during a time when they usually turn out.

Find out more at the church blog.