I have linked favorite blogs on the left column. They pick up graphics and links to the latest posts. The latest post is the top one, so there are advantages to being the latest to publish on one's blog.
The software always picks up the graphic at the top, if there is one. That is not necessary, but I have always favored at least one graphic for each post. A
captioned and linked graphic leads to more visibility on Google Images and Google. As WELS people complained years ago, "No matter what synod graphic we look up, it links to Ichabod!" That complaint happened with a small college, too - making me wonder about their grasp of communications.
So the image is a triple benefit:
- Graphics add interest to the post.
- The graphic will lead back to the blog on searches.
- The graphic, caption and link can connect to something important, such as another post, another item of interest for the blogger or reader.
Pastor Jordan Palangyos has already seized the moment in media, with his blog, Facebook pages, graphics, video, and now streaming video. He is literally reaching the world with free media, using
Facebook as a platform.
Pay Attention to the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly
KJV Mark 4
26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
I am watching the garden go to sleep, one plant after another. The Feverfew is especially interesting. The cold weather never hurt it last winter, but when the cold hit zero degrees, the plant took on the dead or dormant look of most plants. But with a little more sun and freezing weather, it perked up again and turned green. The plant was preparing its roots for spring, just as the winter bulbs were developing roots and pushing their stems up to the surface of the soil.
Once I have sown Borage, or planted herbs, or dug in roses, I can sleep at night, without worrying. The plants will disappoint me at times, but they grow beyond all I can hope, think, or imagine.
When pastors and laity worry about success, I tell them to broadcast the Word more. This media age means we can reach the world while spending almost no money. We can sleep at night, knowing the effective Word has the divine energy to grow and to accomplish God's will. The Word never returns empty, but always accomplishes His purpose and - most importantly - prospers His will.
That is how I think about the future when falling asleep. The question is not whether I am successful, but whether I have sown the living Seed with abandon.
Our next door neighbor, from a cult, began following our services and confessing Justification by Faith. She died a baptized Lutheran. Her husband banned her from having roses, so she shared them with a woman in hospice care, filling the home with fragrance and peace. That family - whom I never met - thanked me for the roses and what they contributed to their mother's last days.
The Word is very effective in fueling the hatred of some people, but also accomplishes such wonders that we could never imagine what was ahead. So many parishes offer synod worship, personality worship, history of the building worship, and programs worship, but they should exchange what is sterile and lifeless for what is imbued with divine power - The Word of God.
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| Our entire backyard is a pond, deeper than before, from over six inches of rain last night. The water makes me think of Luther's pond analogy. |
