Apologies about the Links
Hello!
You don’t normally hear from me on a Saturday, but I wanted to apologize about the non-functional links in the newsletter.
For readers who have begun to follow me on Substack, the backstory is that this newsletter is copied over daily from my original blog Experimental Theology, hosted on blogspot.
Now, you might be asking yourself: Who blogs today on blogspot? Well, me. Blogspot is where I started back in 2007, and I’ve never moved. Blogspot is free, and it also allows you to not have any ads on your page. Those were two things I valued, then and now, so I’ve never felt a need to change.
True, people have asked me over the years why I don’t move to a more “professional” platform. (My friends love to make fun of me for still being on blogspot.) Or why I don’t monetize my blog, along with this newsletter.
The truth of the matter is that it’s a spiritual issue for me. When you enter the world of Christian publishing and speaking there’s constant pressure to both brand and monetize your content. You are tempted to package and sell yourself. And Step One in that process is paying for a fancy website and building up a social media audience across all the platforms, from Twitter to Facebook.
Well, if you’ve been following me since 2007 you know I’ve chosen to go a different direction. Beyond a blog header sharing my latest book, I’ve eschewed branding, marketing and monetizing myself. I love my job as a college professor. I don’t need to sell myself or my content online. That’s a gift many Christian speakers and writers don’t have. I can follow the Spirit where she blows in my life, not worrying about if I bore, annoy, or offend my readers. And I do hope I bore, offend, and annoy you from time to time. Let’s cherish those moments. They signal something unique about our relationship. I am not chasing or monetizing your attention.
But what does any of that have to do with non-functional links in this newsletter?
Well, although Blogger is my home Blogger lacks some functionality. A big problem has been the inability to subscribe though email. And so, I started copying and pasting my daily blog from Blogger over into this Substack newsletter. Trouble is, as I discovered today, when I copy links over from Blogger they haven’t been copying into Substack. I am so, so sorry!
Anyway, now that I know this is a problem I’ll be diligent to fix it going forward.
I’ll see you Monday morning.
Grace and peace,
Richard