Bloggage

Bloggers who have nothing to say write about their cats. At least that is what I have observed. Today I am writing about my cat. Draw your conclusions as you will.

When we lived in the country, we always had cats. We had to. It was either cats or mice, and we chose cats. Those cats were not pets, they were livestock—not like cattle, because we didn’t eat them, but like horses, because they had a job to do. When we moved to town, we didn’t bring any cats with us.

Then, last week, a kitten walked into the house and decided to stay. This one, I guess, is a pet. Her name is Dagmar. She hasn’t done a lick of work since she arrived, and I doubt she ever will. She sleeps a lot. When she wakes up, two little girls harass her until she makes a break for my office, where she climbs up my leg and promptly falls asleep on my lap. Sometimes she climbs across my keyboard, typing in tongues. I will be reading Charismatic Chaos to her soon. At least she meows in English.

So, now I have blogged about my cat. Can I sink much lower? Well, yes, I suppose I could have posted pictures, but then I would never be able to look in the mirror again, regardless of how devastatingly handsome I am. Here is a cat picture for anyone who cares to see one. It’s not our cat—I wish it was.

I wonder if this is what they call jumping the shark.

Update: new, improved explanation.

I'm no computer tech nerd. My web skills are really quite basic, gained largely through trial & error and by clicking "view page source" on web pages with interesting features. But I'm a fiddler and a tinkerer, so I can seldom just leave a newly-discovered function alone without customizing it. That's not always a good thing. I've messed up a lot of perfectly good code by trying just one more modification. Sometimes though, I have a genuine "Eureka!" moment when I figure out something really good. Today, I want to share one of those "Eureka!" moments. The techies out there will be mostly unimpressed, but perhaps some of you will find this useful.

I don't like sending readers to sites with questionable content. For that reason, I prefer to embed YouTube videos rather than link to YouTube. However, embedded videos are one of the things that can cause your page to load slowly. Also, they clutter up the appearance of the page. I therefore wanted to make the video open alone in a popup window.

First, I scavenged the code from a page containing a popup image. In this case, it was from my own site. (Movable Type allows you to choose "popup" or "embedded" when uploading a file, and writes the code for you, so yes, I had done it before without knowing how.) Then I trimmed out the attributes I didn't need, such as scrollbars and the like. I then simply replaced the file URL with the YouTube video URL. This will not be the URL found in the address bar or to the right of the video on the YouTube page. It will be the URL found in the "embed" code directly below that, highlighted in red in this image. YouTube will not let you copy just the URL out of the "embed" code, so you will have to copy & paste the entire "embed" code and then copy the URL into your popup code. Just right-click on the "embed" code and click "copy." Then paste it into your blog post or any document. It will look like this:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yBsGFAXw6d4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yBsGFAXw6d4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

The URL is the part in red type, and is the only part you will keep. Delete the rest. The code you need, with the URL copied from the code above, looks like this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/yBsGFAXw6d4" onclick="window.open('http://www.youtube.com/v/yBsGFAXw6d4','popup', 'width=425, height=350'); return false">Where I learned My Computer Skills</a>

. . . and here's how it works:

Where I learned My Computer Skills

Now, here's another trick to give you further control over your content, this one thanks to the Desiring God blog. YouTube videos are automatically followed by a menu of related videos that you may or may not want appearing on your site. You can eliminate them by simply adding &rel=0 to the URL, like this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/yBsGFAXw6d4&rel=0

Finally, you can adjust the size of the video display by changing the width & height attributes, or go to full screen by simply omitting them. However, most YouTube videos are not of high enough resolution to display at full screen.

As I said, techies will be generally unimpressed with this, but my little brain thinks this is very cool. I hope someone finds it useful.

Dear fdsfds,

Sometime after midnight on Sunday, February 17th — or 10:00 PM on Saturday where you are in the vicinity of Astoria, Oregon — you ran a Google search for “thirstytheologian.” At 12:43:57, you entered my site, spent 34 minutes and 19 seconds here, and left without commenting. Then you went to another blog and left an obscene and particularly juvenile comment.

I don’t know if you’ll ever come back here. I don’t know why you would, if you really think I “[obscene verb] [direct object].” But you did come intentionally looking for me, so maybe you will.

What were you thinking? That it would bother me that someone out there doesn’t like me? That you used childish, obscene language against me? Am I supposed to be offended? Angry? What?

I’ll tell you what I do feel. I feel sorry that you have not matured beyond playground insults. I feel sorry that you can’t express yourself as an intelligent adult. I feel sorry that you don’t have the courage to address me directly, which you could certainly do. I feel sorry that you are so threatened by something I have written that you feel the need to strike back.

Most of all, though, I am sorry that you don’t know, as I do, the forgiveness of sins that you can have through faith in Jesus Christ. You see, I’m not angry with you, because I was born in the same sinful condition as you. I’ve done and said far worse things than you wrote in your little comment. I deserve the eternal condemnation of God just as you do. But I have no fear of God’s wrath because Christ has taken my sin to the cross and borne it upon himself, and his perfect righteousness has been credited to me — which is good, because I had absolutely nothing to offer for myself, and no hope.

So rather than being angry with you, I pray that God will soften your heart, that you may humble yourself under his mighty hand, and trust in him for your eternal salvation. I pray that you will receive the same mercy and grace that I have. If you’d like to know more about salvation in Jesus Christ, feel free to email me (find the Contact link in the sidebar). I would welcome the opportunity to share my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with you.

Watch this video of James White refuting Norman Geisler, especially if you are an Arminian (or one of those mythical “neither Calvinist nor Arminian” creatures). The first person to point out the glaring inconsistency — on Dr. White’s part, not Geisler’s — will receive a free copy of The Potter’s Freedom, compliments of the Thirsty Theologian.

Matt Gumm has condescended to enlighten us to how he writes, and has asked us to reciprocate. These are the questions he asks, and, for what they’re worth, my answers:

1. What blogging tools do you use?
   
   I type anything of any length in Word, because I’m fussy about stuff like smart quotes, and Word is the most convenient way to get that formatting. If I want to save a document to somewhere other than the blog, I use Google Docs. That way, I can access it from any computer. I don’t use Google Docs to edit html (though that would be very easy and convenient), because it adds a bunch of it’s own code that means nothing to me, and I must micromanage every jot and tittle. Anyway, the special formatting I do is easy enough to type in myself, or add in the blog editor (Movable Type).
   
   
2. How do you post?
   
   After #1 above, I select “Published” and click “Save.” Duh.
   
   
3. How do you get your ideas?
   
   Sporadically. Most of my posts are just bits of “what I’m reading.” Whenever I have an original thought(!), I write about it. Most of these are discarded as lame or useless. Sometimes, like now, I write in reaction to someone else; but I generally avoid doing so.
   
   
4. Who is your target audience?
   
   Me. That is, everything I post is the product of whatever I’ve taken in for my own benefit. I just post whatever is on my mind (see #3), and hope others will be edified thereby. Just lately I’ve begun using the blog as a discipline, à la Challies. I’ve blogged every day since June 1st. Forcing myself to put something out each day requires me to put something in first.
   
   
5. What do you hope to say or accomplish with your blog?
   
   Good question. I’m not really sure why I started blogging. I love to read, and I’m happy to take in all that I can even if I’m the only one who benefits from it; but if I can pass it along to others, that’s even better. If I have one goal, it might be that I’d like to be one small voice, tugging Christians away from all that is new, and back to the ancient truths of the Christian faith. Rather grandiose, I suppose, but I that’s my burden.

As regular readers may easily observe, this blog has become little more than a journal of “What I’m Reading Now.” I don’t really know why I started blogging, but it has become for me a stimulus to thought, and for the last six months, as I’ve posted every day, a means of disciplining myself to continue regular reading. I think this is a good purpose, and one I’d like to refine a bit.

Rather than simply rambling through one book after another, with no apparent rhyme or reason, I’m thinking of devoting each weekday to a theme. For example, I have several books I want to read on such subjects as the Canon of Scripture, textual criticism, hermeneutics, etc, so one day could be devoted to Bibliology. Church history could be one, and current issues another (for example, I still need to finish The Courage to be Protestant).

This is where you, gentle reader, come in. I will entertain your suggestions of possible categories or themes. What topics interest you? Leave your suggestions in the comments or email me here. Your input is appreciated.

Last Monday, I wrote a little about my intentions for the future of this blog. You offered some suggestions in the comments and via email, which I have considered, and I have decided on a schedule that I hope to stick to, more or less, for as long as it works. (How’s that for commitment?)

For a while now, I have been reserving Mondays for posting my own thoughts on whatever has been on my mind, or blog notes (such as this post). That will continue. I may take up the challenge to write a series on “How to Be a Christian.” Hopefully, I can come up with a less scary title.

Tuesday will be for Theology Proper, continuing with Knowing God for now.

Wednesday, I’ll tackle Bibliology, beginning, I think, with The Canon of Scripture by F. F. Bruce.

Thursday will Church History Day. I’ve got a couple church history sets I’d like to get into, as well as a few biographies and Iain Murray titles lined up, so we’ll have no shortage of material there.

Following the suggestion of “Good Fridays,” I’m going to dedicate Fridays to Gospel-centered material. Now, at least, I know what soteriology is.

Saturdays have been mostly frivolous to this point, and probably will still be at times, but I hope to give Saturdays to a mixture of other topics, such as current issues, and Church and Christian life.

Thanks for your input. It is, as always, welcome and appreciated. Now, I’ve got some reading to do.

These are just a few links to what I have done in past years.

2005
Lord’s Day 51, 2005
Christmas Eve
Lord’s Day 52, 2005

2006
We Don’t Even Have a Chimney
Lord’s Day 52, 2006
Saturday Stupidity: Christmas 2006

2007
Have Yourself a Mercenary Christmas
Infiltrated!

And better yet , a few things others have done this year:
Natural Law on Christmas Eve
What Christmas Is All About
The Christmas Story
Could Mary have said “no”?
The Death of Santa
Did the Magi Follow an Angel?
Is the Celebration of Christmas a Pagan Ritual?
Merry Christmas
Bad News: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Gloria, in Excelsis Deo (sung by, I believe, an eskimo choir)

I was checking my stats last night, wondering if anyone is coming here when they should be spending time with their families, and I was truly surprised at the amount of traffic that continues to flow through. Shame on all of you. As long as you're here, though, I'll give you something to read, and you will see that it was like so totally not worth it to come here.

These are some of the google searches that have led poor, lost souls to this site lately. These aren't even as interesting as they sometimes are.

dumb theology — What can I say?

stan and doug christmas songs — They're here.

why is rick warren overweight — Now, be nice. Everyone looks fat in a Hawaiian shirt.

Well, maybe not everyone.

As this is Monday, the day on which I endeavor to have something original to say for myself, I am here to say something original. Now, what shall I say? How about I mark the new year (right on time, as usual) with . . . a list! Lists! Yes, lists are a great way to start the year. Here are a few.

Books completed in 2008

• John MacArthur, The Truth War
• John Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes
• Richard Phillips, Jesus the Evangelist
• John Grisham, The Innocent Man — Non-fiction, and a very sad story.
• Joel Beeke, Heirs with Christ — This is an excellent, easy-to-read treatment of a neglected doctrine.
• Paul Williams, If You Could Ask God One Question — This is a good little book covering some basic theological questions. My only criticism is that it is written at such a low level that the average reader might feel a bit insulted. Set your vanity aside before reading this otherwise useful book.
• Mark Dever, What Is a Healthy Church — Distribute this little book in your church as a vaccination against Hybels-Warren Syndrome.
• Bonar/Haykin/Brooker, Christ Is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar — I loved this book! Read it straight through in an afternoon, or use it as a daily devotional. (The same recommendation goes for this companion volume, Devoted to the Service of the Temple: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins.)
• David McCullough, 1776
• Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone
• Stephen King, Cell — Yes, I read an occasional creepy novel.
• Grudem/Ryken/Collins/Poythress/Winter, Translating Truth — Read this book, toss your NIV.
• C. John Miller, A Faith Worth Sharing — This is an excellent, practical book on personal evangelism, and a quick, easy read to boot.
• David McCullough, John Adams — John Adams is my favorite founding father. He would not like what we’ve done with the republic he loved.
• R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross — A great little primer on the atonement.
• Scott Smith, A Simple Plan — Published in 1994, this is not a new book. However, if you haven’t read it, and you like an occasional novel, I highly recommend this one. This is a parable, however unintended, of the doctrine of total depravity. Never has a secular novelist captured so well the potential of the sin that dwells within “good” men. This is fiction that could easily be true.
• Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency
• Daniel DeFoe, Robinson Crusoe — Okay, I’ll admit that I didn’t finish this one. I had read it as a kid, but this time it just didn’t seem as exciting. Once he got off the island, I lost interest. I had forgotten that the story goes on after that. Still, this is a good story of God’s sovereignty, and one that ought to be read once, at least.

Books began in 2008 (that were abandoned but will be completed eventually)

• Dever/Duncan/Mahaney/Mohler, Preaching the Cross — These are the conference sessions from Together for the Gospel 2006. I have watched them on DVD, so I have sort of finished this one. (You can download the mp3s here. Scroll down for 2006.)
• William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity
• Harold Greenlee, Introduction to Textual Criticism
• Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made — A brief scan of this book, as well as its companion volume The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept tells me that these are must-reads, and I seldom say that.

Books began in 2008 (that I am presently reading)

• J. I. Packer, Knowing God (blogged on Tuesdays) — I’ve never read this before, and I’m glad I finally am.
• F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (blogged on Wednesdays)
• Iain Murray, A Scottish Christian Heritage (blogged on Thursdays) — If I was stranded on a desert island with one author, I would choose Iain Murray. Then I would just sit there entranced while he rambled on.
• John Piper, God Is the Gospel (blogged on Fridays) — If you read only one book by John Piper, read this one. If you read only one gospel-related book this year, read this one.
• David Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant (blogged on Saturdays) — In a day when relevance is supposedly of premium value, this book ought to be read by every Christian. It is relevant in the truest sense of the word, and will be for quite some time to come.
• Stephen Ambrose, D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II — “Fascinating” is an overused adjective these days, but I’ll use it here: fascinating!

Some plans for 2009

• Tentative blogging schedule:
  • Tuesdays: Follow Knowing God with The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul.
  • Wednesdays: Follow The Canon of Scripture with How to Read the Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken.
  • Thursdays: Follow A Scottish Christian Heritage with The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Pastors by Thabiti Anyabwile.
  • Fridays: Follow God Is the Gospel with [?]
  • Saturdays: Follow The Courage to Be Protestant with [?]
  • Sundays: Finish blogging the Psalms in the Geneva Bible (Psalm 119 will be split up over the next several weeks) and begin blogging the Gospel of John (switching to the NASB), accompanied by J. C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels.
  • Mondays: Try to have something more clever to say than usual. Someone who shall remain nameless because marriage is difficult enough without dragging your dirty laundry out and blogging about it says I tend to be “dry.” I’m afraid this post is not contributing toward that end.
• Make more bulleted lists, and numbered lists whenever I can justify it.
• Meet last year’s goal (of which I fell woefully short) of averaging one book per week.
• Do more Bible study (vs. just reading).
• Read a lot of history, both church and world.
• Not go Calvin-crazy due to all the quincentenary exuberance all around the web. I will, however, be reading a Calvin biography and purchasing his commentaries and the Institutes, taking advantage of an excellent deal from Solid Ground Books.

As you can see, there are a couple of question marks in the future plans. That, as you may have surmised, is because I don’t know what I will do in those instances. I hope you can tolerate the suspense.

THANKS to everyone who contributed their captions. After much deliberation, a winner was chosen late last night. The winner is J. Eric Lewis, whose winning caption can be found where captions belong, directly below the picture. Eric, if you will email me your mailing address, I‘ll get the book out to you pronto.

I’ve got a stack of books I’ve been meaning to give away, but I keep forgetting to remember to not forget to do it; so today I’m giving one away. I’ve been trying, without much success, to think of creative and fun ways to select winners. I don’t know how well today’s contest qualifies in that way, but in the end, someone will get a book.

Here’s what you do: caption the following handsome image of yours truly. A panel of unbiased judges (seriously — not just me) will choose their favorite caption. The winner gets a book. And that book is The Truth of the Cross by R. C. Sproul. I’ll leave it open for a week, and update this post next Monday with the winner.

So here you go — caption me.

The winning caption:
“Good. Now, where is that bowl and those fiddlers?”
(I don‘t get it)

Mrs Thirsty Theologian’s entry:
Aren’t I pretentious?

Sorry, no real blogging going on here today. I just have one announcement. June 1st will mark two milestones for the Thirsty Theologian this year. It will mark the 4th anniversary of the blog, and the end of one year of daily blogging. I’m only making note of this today because that will also be time for my biennial facelift, and I’ve decided to go ahead with one of my planned changes today.

I’m doing away with the On the Web blog that you’ve seen in the sidebar, and replacing it with a bit of javascript that will bring you my “shared items” from my Google Reader. What that will mean to you is a simpler format, no excerpts or commentary from me, and no way for you to comment. The latter will make little difference, since few of you used that feature anyway. It will also mean that links will be limited to whatever comes through the RSS feeds I subscribe to. Speaking of RSS, those of you who have subscribed to On the Web through an RSS reader will want to subscribe to the new feed here (this will only effect On the Web subscribers. The Thirsty Theologian feed will remain the same). What this will mean to me is one-click linking, which means lots of time saved. I wish I had thought of this four years ago!

Now that I’ve mentioned the upcoming facelift, don’t get too excited (yes, I heard your heart-rates increase). The new look will be dramatically different while remaining almost entirely the same. Now might be a good time to tell me what you don’t like about the current design. Maybe I’ll take your complaints into consideration. Or maybe not. It’s not like I get paid to do this, after all.

I also doubt I’ll continue the daily blogging regimen after day 365. We shall see.

Happy blogiversary to me . . .

Blogiversary is not really a word. I don’t really like the word blog, either, but there they are, proof that the internet is destroying the English language, and possibly the Canadian one, too. Anyway . . . yesterday marked the end of the 4th year, and the 365th consecutive day, of blogging here at the Thirsty Theologian. I was going to skip today and make a clean break at one year, but believe it or not, my wife said I shouldn’t. So if this turns into an addiction à la Challies, it’s her fault.

To celebrate, I’m rolling out my biennial blog facelift, which isn’t even a real redesign this time, but little more than a new color scheme — without color — demonstrating just how set in my ways I am. I don’t really change as I get older, I just see things more in black and white.

I know what you’re thinking. Because two other guys are already using Curmudgeon in their blog title, that’s why.

Considering yesterday’s topic, I suppose that might not be the best title. It’s just that I feel somewhat compromised today.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t think much of Twitter. I love brevity, but let’s not get stupid about it. Nevertheless, I have created a Twitter page. It’s only an experiment in blog promotion; we’ll see what it’s worth.

On my Twitter page you will not find:

• What I am eating.
• What I am drinking.
• What I am wearing.
• Where I am.
• Where I am going.
• Where I have been.
• What I am doing.
• What I just did.
• What I am about to do.
• How I am feeling.
• What I am thinking.
• [Fill in your own narcissistic category]
• Truncated words and sentences. Every sentence will have a correctly-spelled subject and verb, correctly punctuated and capitalized, guaranteed, or your money back (blog post titles not included).

The only item on the list above with any value (and that tenuous) is “what I’m thinking”; but any thought I can complete in 140 characters is not worth reading — not alone, anyway. That goes for you, too, by the way, even if your name is Mohler or Piper (I did get a kick out of fakejohnpiper, though).

I surfed around twitter a bit, looking for something redeeming. I expected hoped for some dignified Presbyterian profundity at Ligon Duncan’s page (I enjoyed him immensely at Together for the Gospel 2008, and expect to again in 2010). Nope. From there I clicked Phil Johnson’s rather juvenile-looking avatar. Now, I’m not a Phil Johnson fan-boy, but I can say I liked him even before he was blogging. I had listened to his sermons, visited his Spurgeon Archive, Hall of Church History, and Bookmarks, and of course, benefited from his work at Grace to You. So I clicked into his Twitter page with expectations a bit high, perhaps. Well . . . I never would have anticipated using this word in relation to Phil, but here it is:  b o r i n g.  Phil shouldn’t take it personally, though. Everyone is boring on Twitter, even my friends Tim and Daniel. (Tim and Daniel were my first two followers, until they read this post. They only followed me because I followed them first, anyway.*) It’s not like I’m any better; if I did like everyone else, I could out-boring Al Gore tweeting his backyard thermometer fluctuations on the hour, every hour.

I won’t be doing that. My page will look like John Macarthur’s (and who could be better to emulate?) most of the time. The rub is that I’m already subscribed to the Grace to You feed, so I have no need to follow him on Twitter. The same will be true here, if you already subscribe to this blog’s feed. So this will serve as just another feed to this blog, for the Twitter crowd. “The Thirsty Theologian: Going into the Highways and Byways . . .” I may occasionally rarely throw in a personal news item, but I will try to keep those in line with “soup questions.”†

So off I go, on a most likely useless experiment. Follow me here. Or don’t.

* If you choose to follow me, don’t get your feelings hurt if I don’t reciprocate. I don’t intend to actually follow anyone, including these guys. I do follow their blogs — you know, where they can actually say something. Maybe I’ll follow yours, too. Update: Now, this one, I will follow, at least until it gets boring.

† see Finding Forrester.

I realized late last night that, having completed Disputations on the Holy Scriptures last week, I had no post ready for today.

Wednesday has been bibliology day here since July last year. Since then I’ve read Translating Truth by Leland Ryken (ed.), The Canon of Scripture by F. F. Bruce, How to Read the Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken, Scripture Alone by R. C. Sproul, and now Disputations on the Holy Scriptures by William Whitaker. I’ll admit it: Disputations was a heavy volume, not just in its 718-page bulk, but in its content. Perhaps it was an ill-conceived idea to read it alongside Charnock’s The Existence and Attributes of God. I’m tired. I won’t be picking up anything too heavy for a while (did I mention I’m also presently reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1245 pages, small print?).

Eventually, I’m sure, I’ll want to pick up another book on The Book. Any suggestions?

Humble man that I am, I have my spam filter set to keep out any comments that might tend to puff me up. The following are examples:

“Very interesting tale”

“Best Site Good Work”

“perfect design thanks”

“Cool site good luck”

“good material thanks”

“very best job”

“Excellent work, Nice Design”

“I'm happy very good site”

“this post is fantastic”

You can see why I want to avoid all that flattery. Still, I’d like to thank all the kind readers who left those encouraging comments. Thanks also for the many links you provided. I don’t have time to check them out, but I’m sure they are all very useful.

   In case you didn’t get this — and if you’re not a blogger,
   you probably won’t — this is completely sarcastic.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. —Inigo Montoya

You already know what I think of Twitter. I’ve already insulted a multitude of “tweeters” on that score. Yet I opened a Twitter account more than six months ago, and continue posting there for the reason given at the time. I consider myself a missionary to the grammatically impaired.

Well, today I’m here to tell you that slippery slopes really do exist, and one sin does lead to another. The proof? I joined Facebook yesterday. Now, I’m not going to beat around the bush: my opinion of Facebook is several fathoms below my opinion of Twitter. Twitter, as most people use it, is shallow, narcissistic, pointless, and generally lame. What Twitter does to communication, Facebook does to human relationships — and I despise that.

I actually had a much longer diatribe on Facebook prepared, but I think I’ll save it. Suffice it to say that everything I said about my use of Twitter will apply to Facebook as well, which means I probably won’t “friend” you*. Don’t take it personally, and don’t get me started about the abominable perversion of a word I hold precious. If you really are, or want to be, my friend, drop me an email, write me a letter, give me a call, stop by for a visit — you know, like a friend would.

I don’t know how profitable this venture will be. Honestly, the best way to follow this, or any other, blog is through an RSS reader. If you already do that, there is no reason to follow me on Twitter or Facebook. However, if this sort of thing interests you, I’ll tell you what you can expect from me on Facebook. First, links to this blog’s daily posts. Second, next to nothing. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday going through all the privacy settings, basically fixing it so no one can see anything but my posts, which, if I did it right, everyone can see, so you won’t have to be my “friend” to get everything I’ve made available to anyone.

So — for whatever it’s worth, here I am on Facebook.

*Update: Okay, so what do I know? It seems you can’t conveniently follow my Facebook posts unless you are my “friend,” so I guess I’ll have to loosen up on that. But I don’t like it!

*Update 2: A kind reader informed your clueless host that a Thirsty Theologian Fan Page would likely serve him better and solve the “friend” dilemma. That advice has been gratefully accepted, and the link above has been appropriately modified. He asks you to accept his apologies for the inconvenience, especially to those of you who so eagerly clicked the “friend” button.

*Update 3: I’m not feeling too bright presently. For now I’ll just say I goofed, and consequently, I’ve deactivated my Facebook account. I’ll explain later, and have it all straightened out soon. But now, I’m going to bed.

*Update 4: The Rest of the Story.

It’s official: I am an idiot. As you may know, I joined Facebook yesterday. You can read my thoughts and intents on that here. As it turns out, I didn’t know what I was doing.

I knew what I wanted. I just wanted a Facebook presence that would feed this blog. I didn’t want to go through all that phony phriend nonsense, so I declared right from the start that I wasn’t going to do that. Then, after setting up my page and seeing how things worked, I realized that, even though it was open to everyone, only “friends” could get my notifications. I therefore relented and began accepting “friends.” Then, a reader advised me that a “fan page” might suit me better. I looked into that and discovered that he was right; that was exactly what I wanted, so I set up a page for The Thirsty Theologian. It was perfect . . .

Except for one thing. See, when you create a fan page, you have to put it in a category according to its purpose. Looking over the available categories, the one that seemed to fit closest was “writer.” It was either that, or “religious organization.” Anyway, I thought, “blogger/writer, close enough.” But then, in the search results, I saw that I was listed as an author. “Writer” can mean a lot of things, but “author” implies legitimate published work. I’m no author, and I was embarrassed to have anyone catch me misrepresenting myself. Having already acquired a few “fans,” and having already apologized to my “friends” for dumping them in favor of a fan page, I looked for a way to change the category to anything that wouldn’t be a bald-faced lie, but to no avail. Someone will probably now inform me of an easy, obvious way to do that, but I couldn’t find it. In the process, I discovered the category I had overlooked: “website.” Duh. I decided I had to start over, but it was late, so I simply deactivated my account to avoid accumulating any more fans, and went to bed.

This morning (which, to my frustration, came at 3:15), I wiped the slate clean and started over. This time, I can say with a reasonable measure of confidence that I am finished, and that you can find my new Facebook page here.

Again, I want to apologize to everyone who paid me the compliment of becoming my “friend” or “fan,” and hope you will give me a chance to redeem myself.

Finally, I’m still uncomfortable with the idea of having “fans.” If there was a way to avoid it, I would, so please, if you know how that can be done, and it involves redoing anything, keep it to yourself.

Free RC!

I have recently come into possession of several copies of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, which I will be giving away over the next several weeks. Winners will be chosen by lottery, and all you need do to enter is send me an email that includes your name and — here is the catch — that you follow this blog by one of three methods: RSS, Twitter, or Facebook. (If you’re tempted to lie about it to win a copy, I won’t be checking up on you, but perhaps you should read this excerpt before entering.) Just make sure the subject of your email says “The Holiness of God Giveaway 1.” Entries will be accepted through next Friday (April 2), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, and the next . . .), so there will be multiple chances to win.

1. You must include your subscription information, i.e. RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.
2. If the subject line of your email does not say “The Holiness of God Giveaway 1,” I might miss it and it might not find its way into the drawing.

If you missed reading this on April 1, this is what you would have seen.

My biannual facelift wasn’t scheduled until June, but with Spring in the air, I’m in the mood for something fresh right now.

This upgrade is more than just a new look. It represents a whole new mindset, one that is more positive, upbeat, and optimistic. I’m sure I’ve benefited in some ways from the reading I’ve done to bring you the content to which you’ve become accustomed, but really, enough is enough. Those old, dead theologians were good, as are the living who follow in their footsteps, but there comes a time to move on and embrace the present, with a cheerful eye to the future.

So I’m leaving the past behind, and beginning a new journey. My traveling companions will be today’s prophets of hope. In the coming months, if you join me, we’ll be soaking up the optimistic wisdom of great contemporary thinkers like Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, and Joel Osteen.

I look forward to embarking on this new adventure, and sharing new insights with you daily. Will you join me?

Our regularly scheduled posts will be at least partially suspended for the next few days. We’ve had a death in our extended family, and will most likely be traveling to a funeral in Wisconsin on Monday. I will still be announcing another The Holiness of God drawing tomorrow, but I will most likely not be updating Twitter or Facebook until things get back to normal next week.

There are some unusually difficult circumstances involved in this situation, so your prayers are appreciated.

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, or Facebook
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 2” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (April 9), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, and the next . . .), so there will be multiple chances to win.

I want to thank those who offered prayers on our behalf in the last few days. We are back home safe and sound from a trip that went fairly well, all things considered. God continues to perform above my expectations.

I should be getting back to my Gospel of John commentary reading program today, but we’re trying to get our ducks in a row so we can hit the road to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday for the 2010 Together for the Gospel Conference. So I might as well face it: I’m not going to get much meaningful reading or blogging done between now and then.

I do intend to blog from Louisville, but I don’t yet know what that will look like. It won’t be anything like live-blogging à la Challies. I’m sure it will be something very new and exciting. Or not. Try not to fall off the edge of your seats in anticipation.

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or Kindle
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 3” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (April 16), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, and the next . . .), so there will be multiple chances to win.

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, or Kindle
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 4” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (April 23), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, and the next . . .), so there will be multiple chances to win.

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time for the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 5” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (April 30), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, until I run out), so there will be multiple chances to win.

Freedom Friday is on hiatus until I come across something that inspires me or puts a burr under my saddle in that area.

I have recently made a few comments about people who pay to read blogs, this one in particular, that are available free of charge. In spite of my insinuation that it is silly to do so, I realize that convenience and other factors of which I am ignorant might make it desirable to pay 99¢.month to read via Kindle. The question behind my raised eyebrow was not so much “why pay to read a blog?” as “why pay to read this blog?” So you Kindle readers can relax and stop emailing me (about this); I don’t really think you’re foolish.

Anyway, I recently exchanged a few words with a friend on things related, including “tip jars,” i.e. PayPal buttons by which readers may make donations. Now, I want to state one thing loud and clear; it’s important, so pay attention: I have no intention of setting that up here. I am not now putting out feelers in advance of such an enterprise. However, I am curious. If I did do that, would you

1. ignore it,
2. leave a token pittance and forget it thereafter,
3. donate regularly (or at least semi-regularly),
4. or give me a piece of your mind?

Please be brutally honest. My answer, if I was in your shoes, would be a, and that is no faux humility. What I’m really trying to learn by this is not whether or not I could make any money, nor am I fishing for compliments. I really just want to know if I’m right about what I think your answer will be.

Earlier this week, when my wife answered my “What’s for supper?” with “Asian meatballs,” I couldn’t help think of the recent cookbook goof calling for “salt and freshly ground black people.” [sigh . . .] I’ll never think of Italian sausage and Swedish meatballs the same. Anyway . . .

It’s time for another Holiness of God drawing.

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time for the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 6” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (May 7), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday (and the next, until I run out), so there will be multiple chances to win.

I would normally be posting something from John Calvin on the Gospel of John from John Calvin, but I was irresistibly drawn to do other things. I intend to persevere until I am finished. I don’t even have time to figure out how to fit the whole tulip into this lame excuse. See you tomorrow, unless I’m otherwise predestined.

Because I’m so busy . . .

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time for the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 7” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (May 14), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday. There are still several copies remaining, so if you haven’t won, keep trying.

Update: NGM Planet has been shut down. The ngmen.net domain was sold on eBay for $.06 on May 23.

I was surprised yesterday to be one of several victims of content theft. It all began Sunday night when I posted Monday morning’s entry before going to bed. Since my post referenced a post at Between Two Worlds, I left a trackback there as well before turning in. That, my friends, is a big deal, because, as any blogger who watches stats and has ever had a link from that site knows, there is a Justin Taylor effect. That is, rather than the usual traffic, you will get approximately thirty-seven jillion hits. Taylor moderates his feedback, so I checked back in the morning to see if my trackback had been published. It had (I thought), but it looked . .  different. So I clicked through.

To my dismay, I found my full post, image included, just like I expected to see it, but on a different site. (Check it for yourself. The only way you would ever know who the author was would be to click the “Previous/Next post” links at the bottom of the page (there is a blogroll-style list of “contributors” in the sidebar, also). Otherwise, the reader is left, intentionally or not, to assume that the site owner is the author of the post (the only exception being someone like Phil Johnson, who includes his name, along with multiple branded graphics, within each post). Consequently, my thirty-seven jillion hits are being hijacked by this aggregator site. Though the site owner claims to be “push[ing] viewers back to the original sites,” his URL (site address) has never, to my recollection, turned up in my stats.

So I shot off a polite, if annoyed, email:

To Whom It May Concern:

Last night (May 9) I posted an article on my site (Prayer for the Unknown on The Thirsty Theologian). I then posted a trackback at Justin Taylor’s blog, Between Two Worlds. Imagine my surprise when, this morning, I discovered not my trackback to my site, but one to NGM Planet where I found my full post and The Thirsty Theologian listed as a “contributor” in the sidebar. What is the meaning of this? I have no wish to judge your motives in this; I’m sure you mean nothing untoward. However, I must ask that you discontinue hijacking my content. If you wish, you are welcome to post short excerpts with links back to my site. That is a normally accepted practice.

Thank you,

David Kjos
The Thirsty Theologian

. . . and the following exchange ensued:

Mr Kjos:

If you would note on the about page (http://ngmen.net/?page_id=2), we do not "hijack" anyone's content, we aggregate and point to the originals for proper attribution of the authors. We do not collect comments/etc there, but push viewers back to the original sites for further discussion, etc.

Perhaps you are familiar with other "planet" sites (using either the FeedWordPress plugin we use or the python-based Planet tool (http://www.planetplanet.org/)) which also aggregate RSS feeds into one central source, linking back out to the originals for conversation, etc.

I will happily delink you from our aggregator if you prefer.

-Warren Myers

Mr, Myers:

Really, now, who do you think you're fooling? Surely, you must see that few people will ever find their way to the sites from whom you re-appropriate (to be kindly euphemistic) your content. Why would they? And what indication is there that they should? The plain fact is that I have never, to my knowledge, ever received any traffic from your site. No one who has read my work on NGM Planet knows who wrote it. I checked with another, much more popular blogger whose work you siphon, and he has never heard of NGM Planet. None of us are benefiting from your use of our content. As it now stands, your trackback at Between Two Worlds is depriving me of considerable traffic. The links you provide are inconspicuous and unnecessary to the reader. Each post is, to all appearances, original to your site.

De-linking me from your aggregator is not enough. Nothing short of a public statement giving credit where credit is due, and a cessation of current practices, will do. If you are, indeed, a follower of Christ, you will take this bit of correction and mend your ways.

David Kjos

Following that, wondering who this “Warren Myers” was, I investigated his personal blog. Searches for words like Jesus, gospel, grace, faith, and scripture produced little to indicate even a nominal religion, so maybe I was presumptuous in appealing to his conscience. Time passed, and I found myself happily de-linked from his aggregator. I expected no further communication, which was fine with me. But what followed later was not fine.

Mr Kjol,

The trackback you reference should not be pointing to ngmen.net - it should be going directly to "The Thirsty Theologian". I am unaware as to why it would show our aggregator rather than the original site - I am investigating that behavior with other blogs we aggregate to see if it does that with them as well. It should not, as you point out. (If you did click that link however, you would see that the "Next" and "Previous" links go straight to you, as it is merely importing data from the RSS feed made publicly-available from your blog. I presume you will also ask that people who follow your blog via RSS will cease, as that is also depriving you of traffic.)

We do have public statements indicating we do not write anything, but rather aggregate from other places. Kindly note the top of the page that reads "Christian blogs of interest" and, as already pointed-out in my previous email, our "About" page: http://ngmen.net/?page_id=2 -

"Welcome to NGM Planet, a service of ngmen.net.

This is an aggregation point for a variety of Christian blogs we’ve found to be of interest. If you would like you blog to be considered, please email the site admin at ngmen[at]ngmen[dot]net with your site’s name, your name, and we’ll review it.

Thanks for stopping by!

-the ngm team"

We are an aggregation point and nothing more. I am sorry this has upset you, as certainly that is not our goal.

I will have your syndication removed from our site shortly, and will no longer link others to it. There is nothing on our site which makes it look like we have written everything - if for no other reason than the volume per day of newly-syndicated entries going back to the original posters, along with, of course, the linked authors for each post and the RSS feed linking back to the original sites as well.

Again, I am sorry you are upset we are aggregating from your site. Have a good day.

Regards,
-Warren Myers

I can tolerate stupidity and, in its place, ignorance. But the intentionally obtuse are beyond excuse. At this point, I stop arguing. Psychoquacks call that passive-aggressive (a nonsensical term if ever there was one); I call it recognizing the difference between conversing with a human being and a brick wall. Of course I will not “also ask that people who follow [my] blog via RSS will cease.” They intentionally subscribed to my feed, and know who I am. The readers of NGM Planet may or may not. I say, most likely they do not; the previously-stated fact that I have received no resulting traffic ought to be proof enough of that.

I began the day without any assumption of unethical motives. Now, I am not so sure. I can’t imagine that the few ads on the aggregator site yield enough to make that the purpose of the site, but who knows? Or maybe he really just wants to share content he likes, but is too lazy or uncaring to do it right. Either way, it’s got to stop.

As I told Mr. Myers at the outset, if he wanted to post short excerpts with proper, conspicuous, credit and links to the source, that would be fine. We all do that; in fact, we hope others will do that for us. But to lift whole posts, removing the need to visit the source, and leaving it unlikely that anyone would ever be aware of the source, is theft. And to stubbornly continue when you are offered an ethical alternative exposes a willful disregard for anything but your own will. Don’t be that way; don’t do that. And if you do, don’t pretend to be a disciple of Christ.

Other “contributors” to NGM Planet are:

• 10 Million Words
• 20 Times Around the Block
• adrianwarnock.com
• AlbertMohler.com – Blog
• ali’s african adventures
• Answers in Genesis Articles
• antipaucity
• Atheist Central — Ray Comfort’s Blog
• Blog entries
• Capitol Hill Baptist Church
• Cerulean Sanctum
• Challies Dot Com – Informing the Reforming
• Church Matters: The 9Marks Blog
• Desiring God Blog
• ESV Bible Blog
• Eternal Perspectives (Randy Alcorn’s blog)
• Feed Your Faith
• GalatiansC4V16
• Grace to You Blog
• Grace to You: Drawing Near Daily Devotional
• Head Heart Hand
• J. Mark Fox’s Blog
• Journey Deeper Into God’s Word
• kerux noemata
• Ligonier Ministries Blog
• Next Gen Men
• Parchment and Pen
• Practical Shepherding
• Pyromaniacs
• Reformation21 Blog
• Samaritan’sPurse.tv – Featured
• Shepherds’ Pie
• Take Your Vitamin Z
• The Blazing Center
• The Fishermen
• The Gospel Coalition Blog
• The Walker Report
• Together for the Gospel (T4G)
• Toronto Pastors Fellowship
• Veritas Aequitas
• Wrestling with an Angel

Free RC!

Last week’s winner has been drawn and notified, and now it’s time for the next round. The rules are the same as last week. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 8” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (May 21), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday. There are still several copies remaining, so if you haven’t won, keep trying.

. . . and I win the prize for Most Deceptive Title on a Blog Post.

Have you ever wondered, Dear Readers, “Where does this guy come up with some his weird ideas?” Well, here’s your answer: a brain that runs open-source software and short-circuits every now and then. Here’s a small window into the mind that is mine.

When this article came through my RSS reader, the headline read More women earning more than hubby. Scanning quickly as usual, I read Women earning more than one hubby. I thought, earning? Like, say, earning a trip to the woodshed? Naturally, I was then reminded of the Addams Family episode in which Morticia (one of the hottest babes ever to grace the small screen, if you ask me) asks, “Gomez, do you know what the penalty is for bigamy?” to which Gomez replies, “Of course — two wives.”

Speaking of two wives (not really, but I have to segue somehow), it is time for another The Holiness of God giveaway. The rules remain the same. To win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, just send me an email that includes

Free RC!

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 9” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (May 28), and the winner will be notified by email. Another giveaway will be announced next Saturday. There are still a few copies remaining, so if you haven’t won, keep trying.

Our Fridays are (usually) dedicated to the promotion of liberty.

It just occurred to me this morning that I passed a couple of blog anniversary dates this week. Tuesday, June 1st, was the fifth anniversary of this blog. It also marked two years of daily blogging. That’s 730 days straight without skipping, or 733 through today. That’s nothing compared to 2,408 days, but it’s a moderately big deal to me.

So how is this “sort of” a Freedom Friday post? It’s like this: I began daily blogging as a kind of discipline to push me to read more and better, and it served that purpose quite well. But I’ve gotten tired. What used to be a good thing has become a burden, and it’s not really working any more. Consequently, I’m thinking — only thinking at this point — of liberating myself from the obligation. If I can’t put my heart into my blogging so that it once again becomes a sharpening tool, you may see a cessation of daily activity here. Don’t worry, it won’t mean I’m dead.

Then again, maybe it will. You never know.

I was also supposed to have my biennial facelift up this week. I started work on it several weeks ago, and then completely forgot about it. I’ll get it done eventually. Or maybe I’ll just go with this one.

. . . and that’s how I combine another The Holiness of God drawing with this:

I have delivered babies. Six of our children were born at home, two with a midwife, and four without, so I know a bit about childbirth. I’m also a pretty good inventor. If I need something that isn’t readily available, I’ll usually figure something out and create it. If it sounds like I’m going somewhere scary with this, you’re right. But you have no idea how scary. Just so there’s no mistake, this isn’t my invention; crazy as my Mrs. thinks I am, I never would have thought of Birth by Centrifugal Force (those currently with child might want to brace themselves before clicking).

Alright, then! Everybody still with me?

Now it’s time to give away the penultimate copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul. To enter, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 11” in the subject line

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (June 11), and the winner will be notified by email. Another drawing, the final one this time, will be announced next Saturday.

Today brings your last chance to win a copy of The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul. To enter, just send me an email that includes

• Your name
• How you follow this blog, i.e. RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Kindle, link from your blog, bookmark, etc.
• “The Holiness of God Giveaway 12” in the subject line

Due to the fact that international shipping rates are about twice the value of the book, I won’t be shipping outside the U.S.

Entries will be accepted through next Friday (June 18), and the winner will be notified by email.

After pursuing one method of fixing the “internal server error” problem, and having no success, I am breaking down and doing the job I’ve been avoiding for some time: rebuilding. For the first time, pressed by necessity rather than desire, I’m starting with no clear idea of how I want it to look when I’m done. The comments below will accept your complaints and suggestions; who knows, I might even consider them.

This may take me a while, so expect some (more) odd behavior in days to come. Thanks for your patience (if, indeed, you are being patient).

I used to have a list of links to those of you who linked to this blog. I had compiled it by watching my stats and adding any site that put a permanent link to this blog on their home page. I no longer keep very close tabs on my stats anymore, so I'm not likely to notice any new links. I still want to recognize those of you who are kind enough to link in, so I've opened the comments of this post for you to link to yourself. I've put a permanent link to this post on my front page.

Here is how you should do it:

1. Don't put your name in the “name” field. Enter your site or blog title instead.
2. As usual, enter your URL in the URL field.
3. Provide a very brief description (1–3 lines should be plenty) of your site in the comment field. This is your ad space.

If you like, you may use one of the following banner images. These are transparent png images, so they should look good on any color background.

400×81

300×61

200×133

200×47

I am not a fan of open letters, but when the intended recipient hides behind layers of so-called “Help” forums, what can be done?

Dear Google,

I wish I could contact you directly, but you don’t seem to want any direct feedback from your users. If you did, you would post a conspicuous “contact us” link somewhere. No thanks, I’m not interested in going to user’s forum and complaining to strangers who are not the cause of my problem and can do nothing for me. I want you, because you threw the monkey wrench in the works. I want you to fix it.

Google+ is a good idea. The circles make it what Facebook is not, a social medium that recognizes that not everyone I know is my friend, that friends and family do not share exactly the same space, and there are things I would like to share with one group (or individual) that I wouldn’t share with everyone else. But you’ve really screwed up with your attempt to herd your users into the Google+ corral and close the gate. I refer to the removal of the “share” button from Google Reader. Now, I’m supposed to “+1” links I want to share, to be seen only by Google+ users. That doesn’t work for me.

Since the beginning of this blog, I have shared links in the sidebar (front page). This has been a key feature of this site. About two and a half years ago, I discovered a widget that allowed me to put my Google Reader Shared Items there. That was a great discovery, because it allowed one-click sharing and saved a lot of valuable time. I won’t be going back to the old way of manually linking. It’s just too time-consuming. So, unless I can find another way to do what you used to do, that part of this site is dead.

Thanks a lot.

David Kjos

Now, if any of you smart folks know of any solutions to this problem, I’m all ears.

I got involved in a project that took my entire day. Plans for the blog went like this. The rest of yours will, too, if you click that link.

(Thanks: @CruciformPress)