Blog Preview

I would apologize for my lack of content lately, but instead I'll just go ahead and issue everyone refunds on your March subscription payments. Then, I'll make sure April is really worth the money. Actually, nobody has complained or even really noticed that I didn't blog most of March. I'm not sure if there's been a gaping hole in your lives that you just couldn't bring yourself to talk about or if you were just being gracious. Whatever the case may be, thanks for coming back.

Just as an aside, though, does anyone else get a little aggravated when people go to heavy duty complaining about things like Gmail, Twitter, or Facebook not doing exactly what you want them to do? It's one thing when say, FedEx, doesn't even bother to try to deliver your package: you paid for that service, they should deliver. What did you pay Twitter? Facebook? Not a dime---so take a deep breath and read a book when they go down. Make a <gasp> phone call…

I thought I'd give you a quick look into the coming days:

First of all, BookTuesday will return with a strong month. We've got Heaven Revealed by Paul Enns, The Treasure Principle from Randy Alcorn, Time with God for Fathers by (well, I'm not sure, it's at the office), and nearly most exciting: Max on Life by Max Lucado. Most months, this book would top my list for the month. However, Andy Andrews has a new book coming out on April 12, The Final Summit. This one tops my list of exciting books for the month.

Monday sermon links will continue, and this month those sermons will come from Matthew's recording of the Passion Week of Christ.

Beyond that, now that the house saga is actually, apparently, behind us, I'm hoping to be able to breathe enough to produce some daily thoughts. I've also got school to work on, but I'm hoping to be a little more out put oriented than I have been.

Life moments that are rolling along that will bring some blog thoughts include the tree planting and garden planting. Then there's politics, which I've avoided for a little while, but I'm about ready to say a few things. I'm waiting to see what kind of nonsense the Arkansas Legislature does with state Congressional Districts.

Now, dear reader, a question for you: what type of content do you want to see from me? I will find something to say, certainly, but are there subjects you'd like to see? Matters better left unsaid?

Yes, a blog is primarily monologue, but what type of monologue do you want to hear?

New Blog Title

As you may have noticed, I've re-titled the blog.  It was "Doug Hibbard's Blog" and now it's "Obvious and Ordinary---The Online Musings of Doug Hibbard."  If you haven't noticed, that's ok.  If you don't change the link on your blog, I probably won't notice yours either. 

Why the change?  Well, I'm kind of trying it out.  I started blogging as "BubbatheRev" and then decided that wasn't really the title I wanted to go by.  So, I went to "Doug Hibbard" since, well, that's my name.  It's also still my web address: http://www.doughibbard.com will be my web address for as long as I can afford to keep it renewed.  I like having my own name.  Someday, hopefully, I'll get the .net too. 

However, I decided that perhaps "Doug's Blog" was a bit boring or maybe just bland.  Anyway, it's an option to go back to.  However, I was looking for something catchy.  Wade Burleson has "Grace and Truth to You," and Dan Phillips has "Biblical Christianity," and the various other great bloggers all use some type of name.  Well, except Tim Challies, but he's "The World's Most Famous Christian Blogger" according to some people, so he's the exception that proves the rule.

What did I come up with? "Obvious and Ordinary."  Why?  Here's some reasons:

1.  One of my nicknames in high school was Captain Obvious.  I'm sure some of you qualified for the same name.  Statements like "It's hot" in an Arkansas summer are pre-qualifiers.  I had such moments as "when the lights go out, it gets dark out here" at a high school football game.  I even had a hat with my name and title.  Was the only specific gift I remember from my 16th birthday.  So, there's part of the Obvious.

2.  There's also this: much of what I write is about seeing the things that, in hindsight, are obvious in how God works and who He is.  Not all of it is, and, in fact, much of it's not so obvious on the front end.  It's perhaps more of a "That should have been obvious" feeling, but I was aiming for a short title.

3.  Ordinary.  I have wanted, and still often do want, to be famous, amazing, or important.  Not just to be important to my children and amazing to my wife, but world-renowned for something.  Or for several things.  One part of how I'm seeing God correct me is to point out that I am called to be quite the opposite.  I'm ordinary.  And this isn't a bad thing.  I'm an ordinary pastor of a mostly ordinary church.  We aren't setting records at giving or baptisms or missions, and I'm not setting records with blog readers or using up all my free podcasting bandwidth.  I haven't been invited to preach at great conferences (or mediocre ones).  Neither have I been nominated for high offices in the denomination.  In fact, last year I was initially informed I had been placed on one of the most influential committees, and then was put on something much lower.

And I'm learning to be ok with this.  Part of what I want to blog about is how God is at work through ordinary people like me and like most of my readers.  How God works through ordinary activities, ordinary jobs, ordinary life circumstances. Not that I'd turn down that speaking gig, mind you, but rather that I need to not need to get it.  I need to go through life happy if it never comes.

4.  Ordinary, also, because it's a liturgical term, and many of my readers don't get liturgical.  You're going to have to look that word up, aren't you?  A liturgy is an organized, formal order of worship that is standard throughout a group of people.  That's the short form definition.  The typical liturgy has the Ordinary and the Proper, the latter of which changes based on times, seasons, and church historical events.  The ordinary is nearly the same every time, every place.  It's the root, the grounding, of the worship service.  Through all times and seasons, there are things we need reminded of.  So, ordinary.  And those who know me know that Proper wouldn't have worked.  Plus, being Baptist, I didn't want to mislead my Orthodox brethren by using Ordinary, Proper, and Common and have them thinking I was one of them.  You're welcome to be here if you're not Baptist, but I shouldn't con you into thinking I'm not.  We all have our faults, after all…

5.  Obvious and Ordinary: Basically, the blog of a normal person, seeking to serve the One True God, in ways that aren't really meant to attract worldwide fame and fortune.

Now, dear readers that have gotten this far: I need your opinions.  Does it work? Should I just go back? What other ideas have you got?

Doug

 

PS---In my search for fame and fortune, I am available on Amazon Kindle for $0.99 a month.  Here's the link: .  I don't think anyone's ever even looked at it, and the graphic is 3 blog changes behind.  I need to fix that.

About Doug

A few comments about me, in case anyone's wondering:

1.  My name is Doug. Simple, right?  Seriously, this blog at http://www.doughibbard.com, utilizes my name.  I'm not in any form of business that requires a creative name.

2.  I am happily married.  Seriously. Ann and I got married in 1998, and haven't regretted it since.  She's smarter than I am, and a better writer.  She's at http://www.annhibbard.com  She's not the only Ann Hibbard, and you can check that out on her blog under the tab "The Other Ann Hibbard."

3.  I have children.  At least 3.  You will occasionally see them mentioned by name, but often I will blur them into anonymity.  I will tell stories about them, because they are part of my life and learning.

4.  I am currently a Baptist pastor, specifically in a Southern Baptist Church. This is what I think is my life's calling, at least at the moment.

5.  I have no idea if I will ever make money from blogging.  I'm not sure I want to, because if I start making money, I'll have to be consistent.  I'll think about it…

6.  If you have direct questions, ask them.  I'm not going to think of everything you want to know.

7.  I'm likely to, at various points in my blogging, be a student of varied educational institutions.  I'll try not to embarrass those places, and I'll ask you as a reader not to let them embarrass me.  My school choices are primarily about where I can graduate from an accredited institution, not finding a place to rubber stamp all I think, and I believe I should find places that challenge me.  So, don't assume I'm a model student.

8.  That's all I've got for now…

Disclosures!

In the interest of simplicity and complicity with the United States Federal Government, it is necessary that I disclose certain things to be certain you are not badly misled by the things you read on this blog.  I'm writing this as a separate post so I can link back to it anytime I need to do so.

First of all: I don't blog, generally, for compensation.  No one pays me to put my thoughts into digital format and leave them there.  However, there are certain ways in which I do, occasionally, profit from my blogging:

1. Book Reviews:
   1. nearly every book review you see from me comes from a book I received for free in exchange for writing the review.  As far as I know, I've influenced one person to buy one book one time, but the FTC is concerned that you might think I'll push bad books simply because I get them for free.  I don't.  Here are some of my book review sources:
      1. Booksneeze.  This was once the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program.  They renamed it Booksneeze.  Their CEO explains why on his blog, but I get a free book in exchange for reading it and reviewing it here and on any commercial website, like Amazon or CBD.  I write honestly.  They send books. 
      2. Waterbrook/Multnomah has a book review blogging program.  It doesn't have a slightly odd name, but I get a book, review it, post the review here and on a commercial website, and link you to purchase the book through Waterbrook/Multnomah's website, which, I believe links out to various booksellers.  They haven't complained about me giving a few books low ratings, and I don't receive any money from them either.
      3. I reviewed once or twice for Navpress, but haven't done much for them.  Same story.
      4. Occasionally other publishers, such as Zondervan, will give away a book if you review it.  If I like the look of the book, I'll do it.  No money.  Free book.
   2. What happens to the books?  Some of them I keep.  Some I give away. Depends on whether I want to read them again, and whether I know someone who I think would benefit from the free book.
   3. One last book review note: I am participating in programs that allow me to choose what books I read and review.  I'm not the book review guy for a print/paid publication that has to review certain things whether he likes it or not.  I tend to pick books that interest me, books that are from authors I like, and books that seem to have good potential.  As a result, I seem to review many books highly.  That's a "duh" situation: frequently the available lists have books I think I'd just pan.  I don't usually request those.
2. Affiliate programs:
   1. I'm signed up for a few affiliate programs that will, supposedly, pay me a commission for every amount you spend on certain websites if you click there from here:
      1. Amazon.com: many Amazon.com links are affiliate links.  Why? I like to shop at Amazon.com.  If I can occasionally generate Amazon credit by linking, I will.  Do I think Amazon is the world's best business? No.  But I have found them generally helpful.  I also forget to use my affiliate code to link, so I don't get much credit here.
      2. Sonlight.com: Ann and I homeschool our kids.  We use, primarily, the bundled curriculum we purchase from Sonlight to do this.  We like Sonlight and trust our children's education to what Ann does with their work.  As such, I'm not afraid to send people to them to get the resources to homeschool, neither am I afraid to make a whopping quarter every now and then.
      3. Monergism Books: I'm signed up as an affiliate for Monergism Books…or is it Westminster BookStore? I'm not sure…either way, I've never gotten around to installing the code.
   2. Are all affiliate links labeled? No.  If you click through a link here to buy something, you might just be passing .5-5% percent of your purchase to me.  I do not, however, participate in any program that would cause your cost to rise to cover that kickback.  Neither do I really think about it.  Amazon is convenient, for example.  I have an Amazon Prime membership, so I get my stuff from them in 2 days, unless they FedEx it where it will take a week. So I shop there a lot for anything they carry.  You don't have to shop there.
   3. I do not claim any responsibility for your shopping experience here, there, or anywhere.  If you get mad a retailer, tell them.  If they won't fix it, sign up for a free blog and tell the world.  I don't like Office Depot, so I don't shop there.  I sometimes fuss about it at other places, but if someone links me to OD, I just search at Staples instead.  Or at Amazon.
3. Advertising: I honestly don't know if I'm running ads or not right now.  I have a history of waffling about display ads on my blogs….and I don't make enough from them to worry about it.  If there are ads, they are third-party sourced (like Google Ads) and I do not select or approve them.  Concern over ad content is why they sometimes go away.
4. Stocks: because I will occasionally say something about businesses and stocks, you should know that our family owns a whopping lot of stock.  My wife owns nearly 1.5 shares of Campbell's Soup, and one daughter has a whole share of Del Monte (or did…that may have split or sold or something).  We also have fractional shares of a few other things in accounts with Sharebuilder Securities (a division of ING direct), and a retirement account at Guidestone Financial Resources.  None of these stocks are actively considered by us in any way, and if the stock market bends on my words, we're in deep.  Really deep.  Suffice it to say, don't buy a stock I advise.  Consider a stock if I advise, and then buy if you, your financial advisor, your family, and Scripture support the idea.

 

Wow.  1000 words.  Considering the FTC's threatened fines for bloggers (that they claim they won't enforce) were up to $16,000 for a post they found violated disclosure, I count those words worth $16 a piece.  Which, in full disclosure, I won't receive, but I also won't have to pay.