The Master’s Table is not monetized and we do not run any ads whatsoever. I have inserted a disclaimer a time or two at the bottom of Happy Monday that states any ads seen were not placed by Mast Tab nor do we receive revenue from such. This blog is hosted by WordPress for free and they occasionally, as I understand it, run ads which is how they make their money. Continue reading
Tag Archives: blogging
The Master’s Table Facebook Page
Update: Issued resolved, links have been restored.
I’m having a bit of a tiff with Facebook. It’s probably not enough to make me give it up for good but at this time I am unable to post links to this blog. I always link new blogs on the Mater’s Table Facebook page and occasionally, though not very often, link from my personal Facebook profile. I was hoping to spread a little Happy Monday cheer but Facebook rejected the post and claimed it violated their community standards on spam. They also removed all links to this blog from the Master’s Table FB page. That page has 178 followers. It was created for several reasons but perhaps the biggest thing at the time was so that I could post links each time a new blog post was up without constantly irritating my Facebook friends. Every new blog post was linked from the FB page and like I say only occasionally from my own profile. Currently the only links on the Master’s Table FB page are to Paul Wilkinson’s Wednesday Connect posts. Continue reading
Sermons Online
It is true that I haven’t blogged in a while but I have been preaching. The Sermons Archive page on our church website has been updated with sermons from Acts chapters 8, 9 and 10. Saul beings preaching the Gospel in the 9th chapter and Peter preaches the Gospel to Gentiles in chapter 10 so lots of good stuff in there. If anyone has been wondering what I’ve been up, well there it is.
Sermons page at UnityBaptist.Church
My Current State of Blogging
My critics might say that the only thing The Master’s Table does anymore is a Happy Monday post once a week. I would argue that a bi-vocational pastor working a Mon – Fri job and preaching twice on Sunday is doing pretty good to get out a weekly post on a regular basis. Every Monday for 200+ weeks in a row? Woo-hoo!
Here’s a puppy. Have a nice day.
Blogoversary 8
I have to admit that it caught me off guard. If WordPress hadn’t congratulated me I might have missed my own blogoversry (blog + anniversary).
In 2014 I published Six Years at the Table. That post does a good job telling the backstory and sharing some interesting facts. At that time, we were shy of one million views. As of 3/3/2016 the two blogs together (The Master’s Table and My Other Blog) have seen 1,066,005 views and the total number of posts is 1857.
Today I blog less and have diverted some time and energy into other things. I pastor a small SBC church and my sermons are posted on their website. I write once a week for our local paper and do not duplicate that same content here. Blogging has changed since our launch in 2008; there are more personal and collaborative blogs today than ever before and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have brought more voices into the conversation.
The Master’s Table gives me a larger audience than I could reach otherwise. My blog friends in Canada, Israel and Australia know what I’m talking about. I enjoy writing on several different platforms. I also enjoy the seminary classes I take with other local ministers, church staff and lay church members; I enjoy teaching Sunday School and leading prayer meetings in addition to preaching sermons. Ministry happens simultaneously at the local, regional, state, national and international level. The church has been tasked to carry the Gospel to all people and nations. The internet offers tools and resources that make the world a smaller place. But we can’t reach around the world and neglect our neighbor across the street.
The goal has not changed; to be God honoring and Christ centered. Those words are posted prominently on the masthead as much for my benefit as yours. Here’s to another eight years, and the changes they will bring. Long live the blog.
2015 Review via WordPress
Click the image above or this link to view the full report generated by the good people at WordPress.com. The animation is fun to watch but scroll down for stats and stuff. Continue reading
Where’s All the Christmas Posts?
In years past I have devoted the month of December to blogging nothing but Advent and Christmas. There have been a few of those in recent weeks. One reason I have been posting fewer things on The Master’s Table is that I’ve been posting in other places, such as my church’s website. So if you’re looking for more stuff, let me suggest the following. Continue reading
Seven Years: Time Flies When You’re Blogging Fun
I’m better at writing copy than coming up with clever headlines. At any rate, it has been seven years to the day since the first blog post. Here’s an excerpt from 3/4/2008:
I’m looking to seriously devote some time and energy to sharing my ideas on apologetics, theology, the Bible and the Gospel message… There is a lot of junk out there, particularly on the internet, and if I can add some truth, share a word of hope, spread the gospel online to places I will never visit in person, then this becomes another opportunity to be a witness.
That was post #1. For the record this is post #927. Back then we still had dial-up internet at our house; anything as big as a jpeg file I had to upload from the campus ministry office. I left MySpace to join Facebook and latter Twitter. While I often fail in my attempt to post new material at least 2 or 3 times per week hopefully the the goals listed above have been achieved. Our daughter Johannah was born in 2009 and we “came home” to Georgia in 2012. In 2014 I published my first book and answered the call to pastor a small SBC church. I often say that whatever we are doing right now is preparation for what God will call us to next. Most things change but there are a few things that never do. And hopefully for many years to come The Master’s Table will go on being God honoring and Christ centered.
Shoutout to Blog Friends
Every week there are two or three new followers (and I’m sure as time goes by followers drop off the radar but I don’t get alerts from WordPress about those). I have noticed The Master’s Table pop up on a few blogrolls recently and wanted to give a shoutout to those blog friends and perhaps you might want to visit them as well.
She calls herself Writerwannabe and blogs at hometogo232. I believe we first crossed paths at the Inspirational Christian Blogs website but can’t say for sure; I’ve been asleep since then. You will find encouraging words, scripture quotes, poems and generally uplifting sort of posts on a regular basis.
Evelin blogs at EvelinTampobolon, in both English and Indonesian. Her blogroll includes several Christian and inspiration websites. Shoutout and thank you Evelin.
Finally I’d like to introduce you to a new blog friend that is really an old friend in real life. Miriam was a 6th grader when I when met the Waslewski family in 2003 (that’s her dad Mike on the surfboard). She recently graduated from Asbury University and will be traveling to the mission field in Northern Ireland. She has started a blog and will be sharing her new adventures as a missionary soon.
Variation on a Theme
I got some good advice early on when it comes to blog design: find something that works and leave it alone. Some people spend more time switching themes and changing colors than they do writing. Messing with the major design elements, such as theme, isn’t something I do often.
You will not see any changes at The Master’s Table, but the three column theme was just no longer necessary on My Other Blog. I did a major overhaul Thursday morning and spent the day tweaking things to get the look just so. I think you will find the text easier to read if nothing else. Then last night I noticed something that had been overlooked; page view number one million slipped by sometime in recent weeks. If you’re heading over to the Other Blog anyway, check out this post on a difficult to calculate milestone.
And thanks!
The Master's Table 