Ted Haggard on Biblical Restoration

Ted Haggard interviewed on restoration

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I have to admit that I have a certain fascination with Ted Haggard.  Ever since his scandal broke (I had not heard of him before that) I have followed his story with a kind of macabre fascination with the hope that something positive will result from his shame.  And to be truthful, there have been some positive, God-glorifying things that have happened; most notably that his wife chose to stick with him through this and they are working to hold their marriage together in the midst of this (self-imposed) storm.  But when it comes to Ted himself, he seems to go out of his way to do the dumbest thing imaginable at every turn and this video is further evidence of his self-delusion that he is the victim and we should all act like nothing ever happened.  Before I speak about Ted directly, I want to use this video as a starting point to look at the Biblical concept of restoration.

Biblical Restoration can only happen within the church

In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus gives us instruction for how to deal with a brother (or sister) that has sinned.  The goal of this process is to restore our brother to right fellowship with the church (vs 17), therefore before someone can be Biblically restored they have to submit to the leadership of the church elders and agree with them that what they are doing is wrong and needs to be stopped.  If the elders that God has established over that church deem it necessary for certain disciplinary measures to take place (accountability groups, counseling, cessation of public ministry for a time) then the brother should willingly and happily follow their instruction, convinced that God has placed his elders over him for his good. (Heb 13:17)  In fact, if the one who sinned rejects the leadership of his elders and decides to do what he wants, even if the person has stopped the particular sin that started the process, he has not truly repented and should not be restored to full fellowship with the church.  In fact the church as a whole should assume that he is unsaved (Mt 18:17) and treat him as they would any other sinner by witnessing to him and commanding him to repent.  (And in Ted’s case they should most certainly not join his church or submit to him as Pastor)

Biblical Restoration and Worldly Restoration are completely different

On of Ted’s complaints is that he has seen Martha Stewart, David Letterman, Michael Vick and others restored to their former place so K-Mart, CBS, and the NFL are better at restoration than the church.  The difference between the church and these companies is that these churches couldn’t care less about the eternal souls of these people and only care about the bottom line.  If Ted’s church had only money as their main concern then you can be sure that Ted would have been right back in the pulpit after a short time away but to their credit they were more focused on the man than the money and asked him to undergo a long process of restoration.  Ted’s efforts to say that the church should be more like the world in this respect shines a light on what is the problem with Ted really is, a defective and world-like theology.  Instead of going to the Bible to see how restoration should actually be done, he is going to the world and taking their advice and modeling his theology after K-mart and the NFL.  Unfortunately for Ted, that is not how either the Church or Jesus Christ Himself restores his people. 

I will still watch the Ted Haggard story as it unfolds, hoping and praying that somehow he realizes his sin and goes back to the church elders that loved him enough to confront him on his sin and not gloss it over as the world does.  Unfortunately, the longer this goes the more distant the possibility of that happening becomes.

 

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What does Google's Social Search for your SEO?

Today Google announced an update to their search results that incorporates the results of your social graph into your search results.  This has existed for a while but was relegated to the bottom of the results page, now the results will be interspersed throughout the page.  What does this mean for your SEO?

It is now more crucial than ever for you to get your readers to follow you through your social media outlets.

The great thing about this is that even if you get someone to follow you through FaceBook or Twitter and they never really engage with your blog, your blog posts could potentially be on their search result page.  For instance, lets say someone liked your FaceBook page one day on a whim (maybe because of a contest on some fantastic article you wrote years ago) but are not what you would consider your “core readership”, if they happen to search something relevant to something you wrote at some point in the past, your post will be right there for them to click on.  This will increase your traffic in direct proportion to the size of you social contacts. If you haven’t already been focusing on your social profiles, now is the time!

You need to be even more focused on higher rankings

The flipside to this is now that more real estate on Google’s result pages will be taken up with posts from people’s social contacts, you need to be even more focused on improving your ranking for your favorite keywords.  If you ranked at #8 or 9 for a particular phrase, you may not show up on the front page at all anymore.  This means more backlinks, more focused content, and a lot more time spent on the SEO side of your business.  This would be a great time to outsource some of your SEO needs to an company like SEO Assistant.

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Best of Today's SEO - 2/10/11

Google Wedding Planner – Google has assembled some very helpful resources for anyone planning a wedding. Why?  Because Google is determined to be in every niche.  Look for Google Alligator Farm and Google Sewer Cleanout coming soon.

How to write an ebook – If you aren’t following Blogging with Amy I suggest you do so.  This is another great post in her ebook series going through the step by step process of writing a book and taking it to market.

Google rolls out Two Factor Authentication – So much of our online lives goes through our phones that security is becoming more and more important.  Here’s a great way to keep your data safe.

How to triple your blog post ideas – Running out of things to post about?  Here’s an easy way to get more post ideas.

200,000 people check in to Super Bowl with FourSquare – Seeing as how this happened across the street from me and it was utter chaos for a week, this doesn’t surprise me at all.

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Does God want us to be androgynous?

Earlier today, Jennifer Wright Knust wrote an opinion article on CNN saying that the traditional understanding of male-female relationships and homosexuality are wrong and the Bible’s original plan for mankind was not heterosexuality but androgyny.  Her thinking here is that Adam’s original form had both sets of genetalia until God split him with the creation of Eve.  Not having anything in the Bible to support her hypothesis she is forced to quote non-inspired ancient texts and non-canonical gospels like the Gospel of Philip, a text known for its heretical Gnostic teachings.

Despite her claims, androgyny was never God’s plan, the creation of Eve happened before the fall showing that this was God’s perfect will for His creation. God intended from the beginning to create both male and female but created Adam first to make a point about authority and headship.  Adam represents man and the man is to be the leader and final authority (under God) in the home.  He is to be the provider and protector and ensure the safety and well-being of his home just as Adam was responsible for the garden.  Eve came from Adam as a sign that neither man nor woman is complete without the other, that man and woman complement each other and bring each of their strengths and weaknesses to a relationship that will be strengthened over time.

God’s creation of Adam and Eve give us a clear picture of what marriage is supposed to be. One man and one woman, committed to each other and to God.  Despite the introduction of sin messing up the divine order, that is still God’s plan for each of today. No matter how much modern Bible scholars want desperately to undermine the Bible’s clear teachings about sexuality, they will always fail and the truth of the Word will endure.  God’s will for every man and woman is to be celibate until marriage and marriage can only be heterosexual.  The homosexuality that Paul condemned is the same homosexuality that exists today, that word has not changed its meaning over the intervening 2,000 years.

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The Seven Spirits of God

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
Rev 1:5  and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Rev 1:6  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

What are these seven spirits?

This is a tricky phrase that only the Apostle John uses and only in the Book of Revelation.  He uses it three other times (Rev 3:1; Rev 4:5; Rev 5:6) and each time it refers to the Holy Spirit.  There are two possible reasons why John chose to refer to Him in this way.

1 – Seven is the number of perfection

Through out the Bible in general and Revelation in particular the number seven is used to symbolize perfection or completeness.  Beginning with the seven days God took to create the universe, through the seven pairs of clean animals on the ark, to the seven times blood had to be sprinkled on the altar for atonement; time and time again we see the number seven pop up.  In Revelation alone John uses the seven motif many times including the seven churches in Ch 2-3, seven stars, seven lampstands, seven angels, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowl judgments.  This is one of the reasons John gives a warning about adding to are taking away from anything in the book because to do so would mess up the groups of seven he has included.  So John may be highlighting the fact that the Spirit of God is perfect and in every respect, God.

2 – The Spirit has a seven-fold ministry

John may have also been referencing Isaiah 61:1-2 where the Spirit of God is shown empowering His servant to perform seven important tasks.  He brings good news to the poor, binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims liberty to the captives, frees those who are bound, proclaims the year of God’s favor, proclaims the day of God’s vengeance, and comforts those who mourn.

Whether John meant both of these possibilities or just one or the other, it is clear that John meant for us to see these “seven spirits” as the Holy Spirit.  We see here that the Spirit of God is always before the throne while simultaneously working out the will of God on the Earth.  Nothing created can be in two places at once, only the omnipresent God can do this.  John is showing us that the Spirit of God is the third person of the Trinity, completely God but not all of God.  The Spirit is fully God yet only one member of the Trinity, ever before the throne and always working on the Earth and in the heart of every believer.  The Spirit of God is God but He always points us to the Son and the Father as the objects of our worship and adoration.

We also have access to the throne of God if the Spirit of God is in us.  We can pray for the blessings of God through the power of the indwelling Spirit and in the name of the Son and one day we also will be before the throne of God in both body and spirit worshiping the Triune God.

Looking for a Reformed Church in Arlington TX.  Visit us at ArlingtonBelievers.com
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How to optimize your video SEO

As more and more of the web is moving towards video, you need to make sure that your video posts are optimized so you can get the maximum impact for the time you spent creating it.  There is nothing worse than creating an informative and helpful video that no one ever sees because no one can ever find it.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind before you post.

Create an optimized title

This is pretty basic and you should be doing this for each of your posts already but make sure you have relevant keywords in your title.  A video that teaches coupon shopping should be called “How to coupon shop” not “My trip to the store” or something equally as useless.

Optimize the description

The description area is very handy and you must be sure to utilize it correctly.  Use it to reiterate your main keywords and provide a better explanation of what you are doing.  In our couponing example, a good description would be “Learn how to use coupons at Kroger, Wal-mart, Albertsons, HEB, or your favorite grocery store.  Save money on every grocery bill!”.  If your video has multiple points, list them here.  This is also the place you want to include a link to your site so people know where to go to find more of your great content!

Use the tags

You need to remember that Google doesn’t actually “watch” any of the videos so it relies on these text fields to figure out what the video is about.  Use a variety of relevant tags to make sure your video is categorized properly.

Can you transcribe your video?

This is something that not a whole lot of people do but I’ve seen some success with the practice on the few sites that do it.  Again, it’s just a matter of giving the Search Engines the maximum number of opportunities to know what your video is about.  It also gives you an opportunity to clear up any places you misspoke or were unclear.

Increase your views

From the stats that I have seen it looks like Google gives more weight to videos with more viewers so be sure to share them on social media and ask others to watch it.  Google also gives weight to the viewer ratings on Youtube.  Viewers can give a thumbs up or thumbs down so ask for a positive rating.  You should also ask viewers to subscribe to your YouTube page.  Asking them to leave a comment wouldn’t hurt either.

Distribute widely

Tubemogul.com is a site that allows you to post to multiple video sharing sites automatically.  In the time it takes to upload a video to YouTube you can upload your video to a dozen video sites at once.  Very handy site and if you included a link to your site in the description then you’ve got a lot more backlinks that will help your site’s overall SEO.

I hope you found this helpful; don’t forget to subscribe to our FaceBook, Twitter, and/or RSS feeds using the buttons at the top of the page.

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Misunderstood Verses: Just Love Yourself

Mar 12:31  The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

It wasn’t too long ago that I was counseling a young woman that had been in some difficult situations in life and was struggling to deal with the repercussions.  She was making progress for a while but seemed to have stopped cold, as I asked her how her life was going she told me that she had a very helpful conversation with her brother.  He had told her that what she really needed to do was just love and forgive herself and she would do a lot better in life.  The verse he used to back this up was Mark 12:31 quoted above with the emphasis being on the “as yourself” part of the verse.

Not Helpful!

The problem is that is a wrong interpretation of this verse.  Jesus isn’t commanding us to love ourselves, He assumes we already love ourselves and we need to have that same love for other people.  Everything we do, we do for our own satisfaction.  We are born selfish and absent the grace of God we will die the same way but Jesus offers us a better way.

A More Excellent Way

Jesus tells us to take this same love that is so naturally pointed inward and focus it outward instead.  He tells us to be as consumed with the joy and satisfaction of others as we are with ourselves.  Not to deny our joy but to find our joy in service to others that we may glorify our God.  Jesus would never tell us to focus on ourselves or love ourselves because He doesn’t need to.  What we need is help getting our eyes off of ourselves and where they belong, on God first and people second.  It’s been said that they way you find joy is right in the spelling of the word, you put Jesus first, Yourself last, and Others inbetween.  May God free us all from the bondage of loving ourselves and make us lovers of Him and lovers of others.

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Get Backlinks Using Press Releases

One easy way to increase the Backlinks for your site is to issue a Press Release and distribute it as widely as possible.  There are a few quick and easy steps to take to do it and get the results you want.

Step 1 – Do something Press Release worthy.

This could be anything.  Build an app, make a downloadable form, change your site background, it doesn’t matter.  You just need something to talk about.

 

Step 2 – Write a Press Release.

Keep it short and pithy. Talk about your site and why people should give you their attention.  Most importantly, put a link to your site using your targeted keyword phrase as the anchor text.

 

Step 3 – Release through an online Press Release Distribution service.

There are several organizations that you can use and enough of them are free that you should never have to pay for anything.  I have used www.i-newswire.com and www.prlog.org and can recommend their services.  You can also find a list of press release organizations here.

Press Releases are a simple way to get more backlinks to your site and more authority in the eyes of the Search Engines.  You can even repeat this process once a month or as often as you like.  Hope you found this helpful!

 

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Market Like A Dog: Remind your readers of what's important

As I am writing this, we are in the middle a huge ice storm that has kept us from going outside and we are all getting a little stir-crazy especially poor Molly.  It looks like a field mouse has gotten on to our back porch so Molly is going crazy barking at it through the back door then barking at us to go kill it. (or maybe she wants to play with it, I’m not sure.)  When I went outside to try to find it the dutiful dog pointed out where she had last seen it, then hid between my legs.  My hero.  But this is a good segue to the next marketing tip we can glean from my mutt, she never fails to remind me when there is something that I need to do with her or for her. (like catch a mouse!)  And this is something she is very good at!  If I go too long without throwing the ball for her she will go get the ball, drop it in my lap and stare at me.  If she needs to go to the bathroom she will go to the backdoor and bark.  And God help me if I forget to walk her!  She is very good at giving me constant cues telling me the next thing that needs to be done and I’m actually grateful for it because I don’t like cleaning carpets!

 

What do your readers need to do next?

One of the most helpful services we can give our readers is to remind them of the little things that fall through the cracks.  Whatever your product is or service you provide, it is helpful to spur your readers on to action or just remind them of the next step they need to take.  For Instance, in the SEO business the one thing I find myself constantly pushing is backlinks so if I can remind my clients to try to get two backlinks today or exchange links with someone in their niche then they will accomplish the goals we’ve set.  If I can find creative and different ways to accomplish this then everyone wins.  In another example, say you have a blog that exchanges recipes, what can you do to inspire your followers to post new and interesting recipes?  What if you ran a contest rewarding the most interesting ingredient or the best photo of the finished meal?  Ramping up to the contest you could have short posts reminding people of the upcoming contest or send out reminders to your email list.  Just as I was writing this I received an email from Splenda advertising all their sugar-free recipes on their site for Valentine’s Day, in one email I was both reminded that Valentine’s Day was approaching and told what to do for it.   A great reminder at an opportune time!

 

Think it through

What do you want your readers to do next?  What will benefit them the most?  What do they need to be reminded of and how can you help?  Think these things through and come up with a plan to help then make sure you have every avenue available to help your readers.  Make sure everyone is following you on FaceBook, Twitter, email, text, and whatever way is out there to get your message to them.  Remind the right person at the right time of the right thing and they will follow you forever.

 

What are ways you have been reminded of the little things over the years that you have found helpful?  Come to my BlogFrog page and tell everyone!
Read all previous posts in this series.
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