The End

It’s been a while in coming.

As I said before I left on summer holiday, my life is about to get very busy. So, instead of blogging, I’ll be working on resumes, networking and generally concentrating on all of the things that I need to do in order to repatriate to the States. I’m going to keep this WordPress account though. Perhaps, after a year or so, I can return to this blog and make it better in some ways. 

We’ll see…

Oh yeah, thanks to anyone and everyone who has visited AMTOG.

Bentley and His Brain

Summer, for me, is over.

The days of this blog are numbered.

While you’re waiting for the “farewell” post, may I recommend reading something by David Bentley Hart, like this and this. Over the summer, at the suggestion of Wonders for Oyarsa, I read his book The Doors of the Sea and I’ve taken an interest in his work. (I might even be learning to appreciate it.) Warning: DBH has a really big brain, thinks really deep thoughts and writes really long sentences that use really difficult words to talk about…stuff. His prose takes some getting used to if you’re used to reading…practically anything else, particularly blogs.

“Callooh! Callay!”

“He chortled in his joy.”

Shortly, I’ll be spiriting my family away for our summer vacation in the states. My access to the web will be infrequent and limited which is probably a good thing.  If I get the chance, I’ll put a few posts in the cue but I probably won’t be able to respond to comments until I’m back in the host country in mid-August.

“Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel. May the wind take your troubles away.”

AMTOG2K

Today I’m celebrating more than 2000 hits.

Thanks to the following for their comments:
Really Robin, Kyle, Anonymous, Joe Arant, Wonders for Oyarsa, Dave Carlson, Rereblabe, Lancey, Mike F., lionelwoods7, abdulmomin, Sukran, Bobby Goat GRUFF! and Bad (aren’t you two the same guy?), John Shore, eblack, Chermone, Manas, Teresa, -30-, Natasha, Mark, Gabriel Somoza, lovesleftovers, brahnamin, and Steve.

Thanks also to my wife, who reads but never comments…online.  Thanks to the visitors who have wandered by, yet have not commented. And finally, thanks to all the spammers and spambots who, despite filters, have helped to make 2000 plus hits possible.

What does the future hold for AMTOG? Retirement.

I don’t know when exactly. I just know that the coming year is going to be stressful and busy as I get ready to return to the states with my family. Without a loyal readership, there isn’t any pressure to post regularly and I understand that irregular posting is a really good way to kill a blog, so I’d rather euthanize the blog myself as opposed to leaving to die of neglect. But, that’s some time in the future. I’ve still got a least one “apology” post to publish and some other ideas to express before I turn in my keyboard.

Until next week…

Shameless Attempt at Traffic

I recently read that Ben Stein’s upcoming documentary Expelled was the biggest buzz in the blogosphere on a particular day in March…sorry, but after looking through my history folder in Explorer, I can’t find the website with the story that gives the exact date. I believe you can find out on Technorati…but I digress.

With so many folks being interested in this film about how “educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature” I figured I ought to jump on the bandwagon and write a post about it. The only problem is, I don’t really have anything to add to the conversation.

However, desperate for traffic to this blog as I am, I thought I would share something that those who are better informed than I am might have missed.  Scientific American’s 60-Second Science podcast recently devoted just over three minutes to a criticism of Stein’s film. Here’s what Steve Mersky had to say after seeing the film…twice.

If my shameless capitalization on a controversy to draw traffic to this blog works, would those of you who come by please leave your answer to the following questions:

Does Steve’s “rebuttal” effectively negate the filmmakers’ point? Does the rest of the quote really lead “to kind of the very opposite impression of Darwin that the filmmakers want you to take away”? Why do you think so?

The End

He’s right.

I quit.

You should too.

My Apologies

If you happen to be keeping up with my commitment to post once a week, then I owe you an apology.

It’s a long weekend here in the host country and I’m not in the office, which is where I usually post from. I accidentally left this week’s post on the office computer and since I won’t be in before next week…well, I don’t have a post this week.

I’ll make it up next time though…

Changes

Yep, even more of them.

Some of you might have noticed the new template, the revised name and even the revised About page. The explanation is simple: I’m having an identity crisis. At least as a blogger.

What kind of blogger am I? What kind of blogger do I want to become? You know, the standard questions that folks eventually ask before deleting a blog and going outside for a walk only to come home and start another blog all over again. (You know you’ve done it.) Well, this time I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to delete this blog. (Especially since I’ve managed to come up with a name that uses the letters A M T O G in my URL.) However, I would like to start again, if only mentally.

I know that I’m not a theologian or even a seminary student, but I do enjoy thinking, reading and writing about theology. I realize that I’m just educated enough to think that I’ve got something to say, when in fact I should probably just keep my blog shut and listen, however I tend to do my best learning through writing and discussion. So, I’ve decided to continue to post, but to do so less frequently. By allowing more time to pass between posts, I’ll be able to write longer pieces that I hope are better researched and thought-out. I’ll also be more conscientious about grammar and mechanics.

So, this is advanced notice for those few who check in from time to time: the next time I post will certainly not be two days from now. And when I do post again, I hope to have something more worth reading.

Post of Substance?

A friend of mine and I were corresponding a while back about blogging. He passed along some things for me to read about what constitutes good blogging, which I’ve tried to incorporate ever since. Some of the advice that I’ve tried to follow since reading it is to post concisely and frequently. A quick look through the archives will show that I don’t tend to have long posts and they come about every other day. Consequently, the quality of the posts is not always consistently good. Perhaps that would make AMTOG a good candidate for “Blog Euthanasia”, a term that comes from a lecture given at a recent Godblogger Convention in the states.

 

I learned about both the convention and the lecture over at Scriptorium Daily. Several of the writers associated with that site presented at the conference, but the one who spoke about “Trafficking in Substance: The Case for Blog Euthanasia” was Dr. Paul Spears. I’ve listened to the lecture twice now and I have conflicting feelings.

 

Spears has a high-view of blogging. He says toward the end of the lecture that  “Our job (as Christian bloggers) is to articulate the majesty of God in a way that’s properly evoking to our readers.” (italics mine) Everything up to that quote explained by analogy how to go about articulating the majesty of God and I agreed with and saw the good sense of all of it. The conflict arises when I think about where this person posts.

 

To me, Scriptorium Daily is not a blog. While it may use a blogging software to publish, I don’t consider it to be a blog because the comments are disabled. As I understand it, the key feature that transforms a static webpage into a dynamic blog is the comment utility. If readers cannot comment upon what they read and engage in a public discussion with the writer (and other readers), then the website in question is something other than a blog. So here is someone who lectures for nearly an hour about how to craft (a word that was used often) a blog of substance yet writes for a blog that, to me, isn’t a blog. I feel an important disconnect here.

 

I recommend that Godbloggers listen to the lecture. Despite my conflicting feelings, I am considering acting on some of Dr. Spears’ points. Particularly, I’m thinking about posting less frequently in order to have time to think more deeply and write more reflectively and to edit more conscientiously.

Same Blog, New Name

As I said recently, I’ve never been completely satisfied with the name of this blog, so I’ve decided to try on this new moniker.

Since I’m not trained or educated in the discipline of Theology, I think the new name is a more accurate reflection of who I am (today) as a blogger…and it allows me to continue using amtog in my URL for a little longer, which will avoid confusion among my myriad readers.

Speaking of old bloggers with new names, my wife discovered that Lionel of Black and Reformed is now blogging with two other folks over here. I’m glad he’s not entirely gone.

It’s About Time

When I decided to start this blog, I thought that “All My Thoughts on God” was a clever title. I thought that it had a sort of pop-culture vibe as a result of being lifted from a popular song by a group that, honestly, I never cared all that much about. (I just liked the one song, and really I only liked the music and that one bit of verse since I didn’t understand any of the other words…but I’m getting off topic.)

A quick run through the archives will show that I actually don’t write about God. Not really. In fact, the section at the top of the right column called “AMTOG is…” sums up this blog far more accurately than the title. However things are about to change. I think it’s time that I have a post that is about God. So here it is.

Sort of.

I’m not actually going to write my thoughts on God. Instead, I’m going to link to some other posts about God for you to enjoy while I try to put the baby to sleep. Once she’s snoozing away in her swing, I’m going to kick back and watch a movie while the wife is at a farewell party for a friend. Later, when I’m able to fully digest these two posts, I may take a stab at writing some commentary of my own about them or I may go fix myself a cup of tea (with milk, sugar and pinch of masla!) and see what interesting podcasts I can download on iTunes.

So, here are two posts filled with (someone else’s) thoughts about God.

One

Two

I should probably think about changing the name of the blog…

Confession

I confess that I covet my neighbors’ blog traffic.

I’ve known for a long time that if I want readers for this blog, I’ve got to be a reader (and commenter) on other blogs. It’s hard to do simply because I feel like I have to scrabble for time just to post every other day on my blog, which I understand is a way to keep readers once you have them. But, I do try to visit the blogs on my blogroll and leave a comment or even post my thoughts here with a link to them. However, there are times when reading other peoples’ blogs and seeing the volume of comments that they get just brings me down.

Yesterday I visited Suddenly Christian for the first time in a while and enjoyed this funny post. Then I saw that there are 44 comments and I thought, “My blog sucks.” Last week, I visited the iMonk and again I saw the massive amount of comments that he tends to get on his rather long posts and again I was discouraged.

That’s the thing about coveting; it saps me of my drive. I tend to covet other people’s lives more than their possessions.  When I look at other folks and see their exciting careers, formidable intellects, and genuine talents, I tend to say to myself “Why bother?” and want to quit doing the things that I do. Especially when they are similar to the one’s that I covet.

This probably comes across as rather lame and perhaps I would be more embarrassed than I am for posting it if I thought more than 10 people would see it. Then again, do I really need 44 comments from folks saying, “Yeah, you’re right. You are lame.”

By the way, that’s a rhetorical question…but I leave the comments open just the same.

New Blogroll Addition

It’s listed on the right.

 Check it out.

http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/

And for some edgier (perhaps less redemptive) religious humor, here’s the Colbert Report: http://www.ifilm.com/episode/22853 . Look at #2 on Rabbi Fish.

Taking a Break

Since I injured my back recently, I won’t be able to sit and blog for a bit. I should be back in a few more days.

Coming…

I’m still setting up house here. I’m playing with themes, headers and widgets, trying to figure some new things out.

I’m not sure when I’ll make the move…probably this week.