How Often Should I Post On My Blog?

I’ve been asking myself that question recently.

I started with a few general thoughts. 5 to be exact:

1. Write daily
2. Don’t post everything I write
3. Post quality
4. Post frequently (enough that people don’t wonder if I’ve died)
5. Always keep people wanting more…

Then I charted posting frequency of some favorite blogs that are also widely read.

• Challies 16.3
• Ed Stetzer 12.8
• Trevin Wax 11.0
• 22 Words 65.6
• Zach Nielsen 30.8
• Desiring God 14.0
• Jared Wilson 4.7
• Justin Taylor 7.5
• The Gospel Coalition 14.9
• SBC Voices 14.2
• Kevin DeYoung 6.5
• David Murray 14.5
• Aaron Armstrong 13.3

I compared this with my blog: 15.2

I asked myself, “What type of blog do I want to be”?

Zach Nielsen and Abraham Piper post so much because they seldom right original material. Jared Wilson and Kevin DeYoung post so little because almost all that they post is original material. DG, SBC Voices, and TGC post a couple times per day because they are group blogs filled with original material. Challies posts 16 times per week because he’s Challies. Folks like David Murray, Stetzer, Trevin Wax, Aaron Armstrong and myself post 13-15 times per week because we share content and post original stuff.

Then I asked myself, “What do I want to accomplish with my blog”?

At core I want to write in such a way that Jesus is the only boast of this generation. I want to accomplish that goal by sharing Christ-exalting resources. I also want to accomplish that goal by writing quality Christ-exalting resources myself.

I have secondary goals, like having fun, making sports picks, creating a community, sharing humor, etc. But all of that is to ultimately point people back to Jesus.

I came to this conclusion:

My 15.2 article per week is too high. I cannot post at a high quality level by posting this much. Furthermore, I am not fulfilling my goal of keeping people wanting more. Therefore, my new goal is to post 12 times per week. This means no more than 14 and no less than 10.

I will share quality content M-F in my Today in Blogworld segment. That takes up 5 posts. On Saturdays I will attempt to compile a resource list. On Sundays I hope to pull something out of my archives. This leaves 5 original posts to be written Monday-Friday. I believe this will help me accomplish my goal and focus on better content.

A Word to Weary Pastors

“75% of pastors report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.” –Pastor Burnout

In the loneliness of the pastors office, with the walls closing in around him, the pastor mumbles to himself. “Why do I even do this?” With complaints and unhelpful criticism assaulting his fraying mind he stares at a stack of papers and books that cry for his attention. As he sits down on Friday afternoon to begin sermon preparation, his mind wanders to all of the ministers that are faltering, marriages crashing, teenagers rebelling. It’s no wonder that he asks the question—“Why am I doing this”.

Isaiah 50:4 tells this weary pastor why:

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary”.

Sustaining the weary with a word from Yahweh is why this weary pastor will press on. The labor of study, pouring over Greek texts, boring commentaries, and difficult verses has a purpose. The pastor sweats in his office so that he might have “the tongue of those who are taught”. He does this because he knows that weary sheep need fed.

But what does the pastor do when he is weary?

Sometimes a pastor simply needs to buck up, stop whining, and get to the business of feeding the sheep. At other times the darkness is too deep. In either case what the weary pastor needs is a word from the Suffering Servant.

Pastor, Isaiah 50 is not fundamentally your song. It is the song of Another, known as the Suffering Servant. You and I are the weary in this song. The one who sings this song has already given his beard to be plucked and his cheeks to be struck. He has already set his face like a flint and climbed upon a Roman cross. And He has already been vindicated by the Lord. You and I need the finished work of the Suffering Servant in order to be faithful servants that suffer well.

As weary pastors we can press on because Christ has secured not only His own vindication but ours as well. Because of His work we too can “set our face like a flint” and get about our work of “sustaining with a word him who is weary.”

Pastor, you can endure because He already has. You know weariness. So also do the sheep under your care. Heal them with the words that have healed you. “The tongue of those who are taught” is crafted in the kiln of affliction.

May he “awaken our ears to hear as those who are taught”.

Today in Blogworld 03.04.13

Raising Kids in a Pornified Culture

Pornography among children/teens is an ever-increasing problem. Zach Nielsen gives 8 suggestions to help us raise our kids in such a pornified culture.

It’s Time to Quit Your Job

Thom Rainer gives us 12 signs that it is time to quit your job. “Because you are a lazy bum and want to spend more time at home playing Xbox” did not make the list.

A Beginners Guide to Reading Over Your Head

If you want to read books that will make your brain smoke. And you probably should. Here is a list. 

Thinking Biblically About CJ Mahaney and SGM

He’s gotten some flack for this article, but I thought it was helpful. Tim Challies thinks about how those of us not directly involved in the situation ought to respond to the Mahaney-SGM situation. In my opinion those that have been critical of Tim’s post have missed his intention and are faulting him for points that he was not making.

 

@MLB NL West Preview

Because of my stellar NFL picks, I know that many of you are dying to hear my 2013 MLB predictions. Wait no longer. For the next couple of weeks I will roll out my predictions for the 2013 season. I will begin with the most boring division (the NL West) and end with the only one that really matters (the AL Central).

Final Standings

1. LA Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

Not enough pitching for the Rockies. The NL West always has a team that shouldn’t be a contender that ends up making a push for the division. It could be the Diamondbacks but I am going to go with the Padres. The Dodgers are stacked—barring injury they could win 100 games. I see the Giants going backwards.

So Crazy It Just Might Work:

• 30/100/.280 for Cody Ross
• 15 wins for Wade Miley
• Rockies score 800 runs…but give up 1000
• Tulo threatens 50 homers
• The Dodgers have the type of team that could woefully under perform—I think their batting doesn’t do as projected but their pitching gives them 90 plus wins.
• 40 SB’s and a .275 BA for Cameron Maybin
• Clayton Richard wins 18 games
• Lincecum bounces back but Cain falters

Rookies to Watch: Tyler Skaggs (SP, Arizona) and Adam Eaton (OF, Arizona)
Most Likely to Break a Bone: Todd Helton…dude’s like 50
Fantasy Stud: Troy Tulowitzki
Fantasy Dud: Adrian Gonzalez

4 Foundational Principles for Ministry

I have been reading Iain Murray’s book, A Scottish Christian Heritage. I have especially enjoyed the biography of Thomas Chalmers. In that section Murray looks at the “favorite ideas” of Chalmers concerning the work of ministry. I found them helpful:

1. The governing principle upon which the strength of all ministerial duties depends is regard for the approval of God.
2. Ministers should never rest satisfied without growth in personal holiness of life.
3. Ministers must give themselves wholly to their true work. (Not being entangled in civilian affairs).
4. A minister must deal directly with men concerning their need of salvation.

To simplify: make pleasing God your aim, pursue personal holiness, be dedicated, be intentional in evangelism.

What would you add?