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My Blog Has Moved!
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, April 26, 2010
As of today, my blog will “live” at a new address:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/markdroberts/.
My website, markdroberts.com, will continue to exist, with all the resources it contains (more than six years of blogging, plus sermons, etc.). But my daily blogging will now be found at Beliefnet.
Why have I made this change? Simply stated, moving my blog to Beliefnet allows me to participate in a much larger conversation in a much more public setting. It would be a little like if I were writing a column for the Boerne Star, my local newspaper, and then had the chance to write for the Washington Post. Beliefnet is perhaps the premier Internet site for things religious. It engages people from a wide range of belief (and unbelief) in a discussion of that which matters most in life. I look forward to being part of this dialogue.
Practically speaking, if you want to continue to read my blog, you’ll need to change your bookmarks or RSS links to http://blog.beliefnet.com/markdroberts/. Of course, if you visit this site, you’ll be encouraged to move to my new one.
There are pluses and minuses for you, my reader, as I move my blog. The pluses include:
- Easy access to all that I have written in the last three years.
- An automated daily update, which enables you to receive an email every day I add a new post to my blog.
- Links to some interesting and worthwhile products. (Yes, those links are usually called advertisements.)
- Quick access to the vast resources of Beliefnet.
- The possibility of joining me in a larger conversation (if you make comments, which I hope you do).
- The continued freedom for you to use my blog posts and series for Christian church and ministry purposes, free of charge.
The minuses include:
- Some inconvenience for you as you change bookmarks and get used to my new blog setup.
- Advertisements! I must confess that moving my blog to a commercial site with ads was the hardest part of the move-or-not-move decision. Now I have no problem whatsover with the fact that Beliefnet is a for-profit business that supports its effort by selling ads. But I always prided myself on the lack of ads on my site. Now there will be ads. Some of them are for products that I use and appreciate (Holiday Inn Express, Overstock.com, etc.). Some of them are not my favorite. But I recognize that the ads provide the financial base upon which Beliefnet is built. When I have written articles for magazines, I accept the fact of ads. Now I will do the same with my blog. It’s the price of admission to the larger conversation.
If you’ve been a faithful reader of my blog for some time (I recently met a man who has been reading faithfully for six years!) or if you’re relatively new, I hope you’ll move on over to Beliefnet with me. And I hope you’ll participate in the conversation I expect to have there.
Thanks for being my readers! I hope to see you at my new home, starting today.
Topics: Beliefnet |
9 Responses to “My Blog Has Moved!”
Comments
Thanks for your willingness to make a comment. Note: I do not moderate comments before they are posted, though they are automatically screened for profanities, spam, etc., and sometimes the screening program holds comments for moderation even though they're not offensive. I encourage open dialogue and serious disagreement, and am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I will not delete comments unless they are extraordinarily rude or irrelevant to the topic at hand. You do need to login in order to make a comment, because this cuts down on spam. You are free to use a nickname if you wish. Finally, I will eventually read all comments, but I don't have the time to respond to them on a consistent basis because I've got a few other demands on my time, like my "day job," my family, sleep, etc.
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April 26th, 2010 at 4:55 am
Congrats on the move. I hope this doesn’t mean your posts will now be exclusively “official,” and that we’ll no longer see wildflowers, vacation highlights, family brags, the Boerne blotter, and the like.
April 26th, 2010 at 5:25 am
Echoing what Don B noted, it would be a sad day if there were no further musings about topics like Grackles.
In a more serious vein, I hope you will continue to address topics that are on the forefront of faith and practice. You have written critiques of articles and programs in the major media, discussed the impact of the way sexual sins are viewed in denominations and shared your New Testament scholarship skills regarding the trustworthiness of the Gospels. I certainly hope that will continue.
I imagine you would not have made the move if you thought you would be constrained, so I hope the only change is the web address.
April 26th, 2010 at 6:06 am
So I go to this site and there is a flashing neon ad saying I’m the 1,000,000 visitor and it keeps flashing and I can’t turn it off. So how am I suppose to read your blog with this going on? Sorry - I think you sold out to the advertising dollar. Thought you were of more character than that! I am very disappointed…
April 26th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Bummer–I’m a faithful follower of just a few blogs. I love that fact that your blog always popped up right away with no ads and that my responses required no captcha-type gyrations. The other blog that i follow is Scot McKnight and since he moved to Beliefnet, I (and others) have found many reasons to complain.–mostly for me its the time it takes to get through the pop-up ads over and over.
I’m NOT disappointed in YOU–but I do wish there was a better way for us out here in blog-reader-land to visit with you and eachother without the annoying distractions and the often inappropriate ads.
April 26th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Don and Evan: Thanks for your words of encouragement. I continue to have full editorial control over my content (as long as I don’t publish porn or libel). And I was clear with Beliefnet that part of the ethos of my blog is my idiosyncratic posts and pictures. They seemed to “get it.” And wanted my blog as is. So, yes, I’ll continue to do much as I have done.
Smithson: First, a practical comment. Two of my favorite blogs appear on Beliefnet (Scot McKnight and Ben Witherington). When they first moved, I found the ads bothersome. In time, I just got used to them. But it’s also easy to resize a window to get only the blog content, if you wish. Yes, this is a bit of a hassle.
With regard to your questioning of my character, I really am at a loss for words (which is unusual for me). Sorry you feel this way.
Barb: Yes, I wrestled with this very thing as I considered a move to Beliefnet. But I came to believe that the benefits of this move outweighed the costs. A key thing for me has been the freedom I have had to give away my content to churches and other ministries. I was quite pleased (and a bit surprised, actually) when Beliefnet was willing to let this freedom continue.
If I were in this for the money, a potential “better way” would be some sort of subscription service. Some blogs and many websites are going in this direction. But my move to Beliefnet is about the platform and larger conversation, and a subscription approach would actually go in the opposite direction.
So, sorry for the downside of this change. I hope the upside makes it worth if for you and others.
April 26th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Mark,
I do not believe you “sold out.” You have too much integrity to do that. Smithson, seriously that was not cool. I doubt you would say that to his face and so that gives you no right to put that on his blog.
Advertising is a way of life unless every reader donates to the blogger, which I doubt you do. Enjoy the fact that you get this resource for free and stop complaining.
yay for Mark. You rock, dude.
April 26th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Dale: Hey, thanks. The difference is that you know me personally. Smithson knows me only from a distance. So it’s harder for him to know what’s in my heart.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I think I’ll say goodbye; I don’t like beliefnet, either. But thanks for your thoughtful, sometimes nerdy, posts.
April 30th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Rev.Mark D Roberts & Greetings to Readers, Posters, Etc. Change is sometimes uncomfortable for some & thanks for the heads Up or the thumbs up -am trying for some Texan humor in this reply. You have a lot of responsibilities as Director of Laity Lodge, travel, family obligations & your own need for recreation with your family. Who can please themself, others, relatives, others with strong faith or strangers part or all of the time. Many folks including Americans can seem easily offended over minor or mute issues. You’ve & your readers have had a wonderful run with your blog–Thanks for allowing such a wonderful opportunity. I’t’s by far one of the most wonderful faith forums I’ve ever seen or experienced. Everyone’s time is valuable & most people can adjust to the new format. Burnout is very common in many people in modern life–being fast-paced & demanding. Keep up the great work-computer & all & the Great Faith. Blessings j & family