Weblogs

Loon cam 2009

/ The Pastor

It’s back…the Loon Cam from the Minnesota Bound website.

The concept is quite simple.  On a lake in northern Minnesota there is a floating platform with a nest and a hidden camera.  You can go to this website: MN Bound and follow the link to the Loon Cam (there is also a blog where updates are given about the loon’s activities).  Here you can watch as mama loon lays her eggs and sits on them.  Eventually you could even watch the new baby loons hatch (last year I got to see the cute baby loons).  This might sound as exciting as watching paint dry but it’s an amazing opportunity to watch something in nature that we would not normally get to watch.

So here you go…Loon Cam 2009.

Enjoy!

-edh-

New comment options

/ The Pastor

WordPress has made a fun upgrade I want to bring to your attention.

In the past, when you posted a comment, you left it in the main thread which made it somewhat difficult to respond to other comments (especially if the comment you are responding to is a ways down the line).   But now you can comment on specific comments through something called “threaded comments”.  Now, if you want, you can “reply” to a certain comment or leave your comment in the main thread (see previous post for an example of this).

Many of you are very familiar with this new upgrade but I wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.  I have recently upgraded my settings to allow for 4 levels of threaded comments (I’ll increase this if needed).

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to more conversations with you.

God bless.

-edh-

Blog updates

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Don’t navigate away…this is the same blog you are used to visiting…

…the thing is…I have made some updates.  I haven’t tinkered with the appearance of this blog for some time now and thought I needed some little changes.

(1) The most obvious change is the page theme.  My old theme was a basic white and grey.  I decided I needed a little color…so here you go.

(2) On the bottom left side is my “Clustrmaps”.  You will notice that there is nothing on it.  The old map was tracking visitors to my old blog at Typepad which I stopped using last year.  I thought I would update that map to track where people visiting this blog from.

(3) Reading list page:  I haven’t done much with this page for a while.  Now…I will be updating this more often.  I also invite you to visit and recommend some good books you have come across.  I am always looking for a good read.

And that is about it for now.  Please feel free to leave comments telling me what you think of my new changes.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and God bless.

-edh-

#1000

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Hear the bells, alarms and noise makers going off…

…see the confetti, streamers and balloons floating in the air…

…Diane over at Faith in Community has won the “award” for posting the 1000th comment on this blog.  WHOO HOO!

I want thank everyone who has stopped by, whether you have left a comment or not.  I have developed a lot of relationships with people through conversation on this blog…something I never dreamed would happened when I started writing back in 2006.

My focus has been giving glory to God and I pray that never changes.  God is good and God is good all the time.

Thank you again for your partnership in the gospel and I look forward to reading the next 1000 comments that come through here.  God bless.

-edh-

Where have I been?

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

I have heard some comments from people recently wondering where I am at.  I am still here, but just haven’t had much to write about lately.  I am not sure if it is the busyness of the season or if I am going through I little dry spell right now.  I had a period recently when I didn’t write much and then all of a sudden I posted a number of things in a relatively short period of time.  Hopefully this is not the routine of this blog.  I have been fairly regular in the past and I plan to get back to that routine.  Those of you that keep checking back for new content…I appreciate your loyalty.  I will get back at it…I just need some more time to regroup.

In the mean time I hope and pray you have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving weekend.  Eat plenty of turkey because there is always time to start your diet next week.

Take care, God bless…and I WILL see you soon.

-edh-

My blogging call

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Wow…it’s been just over a week since I showed up here.  This has been one of my longest blogging droughts since I started blogging just over 2 years ago.  I am not sure what it is…

Maybe a little writer’s block.
Maybe a little busyness with a few funerals on top of everything else.
Maybe it was me just needing a little break to re-evaluate my call to this blog.

It seems strange to talk about blogging as a call, but I truly believe it is a call.  It’s a call just like anything else…

Being called to be a teacher.
Being called to be a doctor.
Being called to be a garbage collector.
Being called to be a parent.

Not everyone has the desire to write about stuff going on in their little world.  I believe I have been called to this unique ministry and the call is still there.  Sometimes we need to go through periods of time when we test our call; when we question if this is what we are supposed to do.  And if we are truly called to a certain vocation, God will affirm His desire to use you in that vocation.  I am not sure what God’s plan is for me, but I am going to continue to listen and see what that is.

In the mean time…I will continue to write and throw ideas, thoughts and pondering out to you.  I will continue to invite you to comment and share your ideas.  I will continue to be challenged through reading other blogs (which I have been doing through this “drought”).

So with that I need to run and get ready for tonight (Wednesday).  Tonight I am taking a group of 30 people to Sioux Falls to serve at The Banquet; a feeding ministry in Sioux Falls, SD.  I am guessing I will be sharing my experience later on.  But in the mean time you can check out the following links.  One is the website for The Banquet and the other two are previous posts that I have written about experiences at The Banquet…so enjoy and I will see you all very soon.

The Banquet
Website for The Banquet.

The Banquet
This is a blog post I wrote in 2006.

Feelings I won’t describe
This is a blog post I wrote in 2007.

Take care and God bless.

-edh-

Award…for being artistic?

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Diane over at Faith in Community has given me an award for having an artistic blog.  Even though I do not consider myself artistic, I am humbled and honored to receive such an award from a blogger that I highly respect.  But with this honor comes responsibilities.  So…below are the said responsibilities.

The rules:
(1) Pick five blogs that you believe deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
(2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
(3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given him or her the award itself.
(4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte Y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award which is here: Arte Y Pico

With that here are people/blogs I am giving this award to:

(1) Here I Stand — The banner at the top of David’s page is one of my favorite ones.  I think it says a lot about the theology you will find.  You will also find very thought and theologically sound content.

(2) The Lutheran Zephyr — Chris gets this award because his content never fails to make me think and reflect.  I also enjoy his straight forward-ness and his feisty-ness.

(3) Real Live Preacher — Gordon has been blogging for a long time and has a book (RealLivePreacher.com) out with some of his more popular posts.  His design and graphics are really fun and his writing style has been a source of inspiration for me.

(4) Faith in Community — I received this award from Diane, but I just have to include her in my awards list.  She has such a variety of content from sermons to poetry to theological ponderings to photos of her dog.  Always a lot of fun to check in.

(5) Freedom — Joe’s blog is another one that has a really fun banner at the top and a design that is really appealing.  He is also very open about his seminary journey and it has been fun to follow.

Well…there you go.  If you haven’t checked these blogs out yet, make sure you stop by and say “Hi”.  You won’t be disappointed.

-edh-

Wretchedness

/ The Pastor

Well…I have been relatively absent from the blogosphere these past couple days…and my “absence” will continue for one more day (I will be back tomorrow with my “Monday morning check in”).  I hope and pray you are having a fun and safe weekend.  So far mine was gone well…no real complaints here.

This morning I am preparing for worship (duh…I do that every Sunday morning, anyway…) and thinking a lot about Paul’s letter to the Romans (I am preaching in Romans through August).  In today’s text Paul is lamenting about his (and our) wretchedness (is “wretchedness” even a word…oh well…).  Paul says, “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do…What a wretched person I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:15 and 24-25).  For me, verses 24 through 25 says it all.  “THANKS BE TO GOD”!

Have a great day and I’ll “see” you tomorrow.  Take care.

-edh-

Comment name

/ The Pastor

For the past two years, when I have left comments on various blogs, many of you are used to seeing “Eric” or “Pastor Eric” as the name connected to the comment.  Since my move over to WordPress, the name that is now left with many of the comments I leave is “heartofapastor” (“Pastor Eric” does appear on those blogs on Blogger).  This is not a new person showing up but it is little ole me.  You probably figured that out but I wanted to make sure that there was no confusion about this “new” person showing up and leaving comments on your blogs. 

Now that things are cleared up, I can move on to some sermon writing this morning…and later…another “coffee house ponderings” post.  Stay tuned…

-edh-

It’s official…I’m here!

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I have officially moved my blog from Typepad to here (WordPress).  I guess my decision came a little faster than I thought, but I feel good about it and I am ready to continue my blogging ministry here.  As I said before I am still tinkering with the design so I would appreciate any feedback you can give me. 

Thanks for putting up with the changes and I hope you continue to stop by.

Take care and God bless.

-edh-