07-07-2010, 01:31 AM
There is a story in the Bible about the Lord washing the feet of the disciples (see John 13:5).
As believers went out to spread the Gospel they traveled on dusty roads, often by foot, to carry the message to where the lost could be found. There was just no way to avoid getting your feet dirty, literally. Figuratively, the Christian of today, although saved and washed, still ends up getting his or her feet dirty in our daily walk through this world. After all, where we interface with the world, through personal contacts or even on the Internet, we have to travel through the dusty places of sin to spread the Gospel. So, in a way, the feet of the bride gets dirty while in this world.
I first thought about this years ago when I started my KJB Bible webpage on the Internet while living in northern Greece. That was back in 1997 and, in order to get visitors to my website, I had to tread the paths of information highway and post links on search engines and request links on appropriate websites.
Well, the Internet has evolved and changed over the years and so has the way that many people, especially the younger ones, use information technology. This fact really came home to me a couple of months ago when I published my book and set out to promote it.
These days, self publishing a book has become so much easier. Once the manuscript was finished it was uploaded to an publisher that could print copies, on demand, and sell it over the Internet. It is also made available to regular book outlets, by request. On demand publishing changed the paradigm of the publishing industry. And while modern technology has made it easier and cheaper to get a book to market, I find that printed books are beginning to go the way of the newspapers and magazines as more and more people turn to digital print media. Ironic.
Because of this fact, it was suggested to me that I should also make the book available as a Kindle Edition on Amazon. com's online store. Now, I'm from the old school that likes to have a nice solid book in my hands where I can sit leisurely and flip through the pages. Why anyone would want to read a book on some digital notebook device is beyond me, yet I heeded that advice and also put the book into a Kindle format. It has sold a few copies already in that form. Go figure.
Then I received another piece of advice: Advertise the book and my website on Facebook. Well, that took a leap of faith, as I really can not get my head around the new Social Networking paradigms, especially things like "Twitter" and alike. That is not for me, yet wisdom told me that I needed to reach out into these new mediums. So, I had to get my feet really dirty and wade into the Social Networks. I joined Facebook and made a page for the book and website. And it is bringing new visitors to the website and generating some book sales. Still, I have a difficult time figuring out what people find so fascinating about just chatting back and forth with 'friends' on Facebook or SMS text messages on their cell phones. It is just not my cup of tea.
Lastly, this morning, I received an email from a visitor saying that I really should add "Like" button links to the various social networks to advertise my website. I had to think about that one. My website has been doing just fine for the past 13 years as a collection of HTML static pages, but the visitor numbers have been in decline. The material has not changed, but the tastes and preferences of Internet users has changed, so this morning I bit the bullet and added a button so visitors could share, post or bookmark the site to their favorite Social Network pages. I feel dirty.
Remember, Jesus did not say, "Follow me, on Twitter"
As believers went out to spread the Gospel they traveled on dusty roads, often by foot, to carry the message to where the lost could be found. There was just no way to avoid getting your feet dirty, literally. Figuratively, the Christian of today, although saved and washed, still ends up getting his or her feet dirty in our daily walk through this world. After all, where we interface with the world, through personal contacts or even on the Internet, we have to travel through the dusty places of sin to spread the Gospel. So, in a way, the feet of the bride gets dirty while in this world.
I first thought about this years ago when I started my KJB Bible webpage on the Internet while living in northern Greece. That was back in 1997 and, in order to get visitors to my website, I had to tread the paths of information highway and post links on search engines and request links on appropriate websites.
Well, the Internet has evolved and changed over the years and so has the way that many people, especially the younger ones, use information technology. This fact really came home to me a couple of months ago when I published my book and set out to promote it.
These days, self publishing a book has become so much easier. Once the manuscript was finished it was uploaded to an publisher that could print copies, on demand, and sell it over the Internet. It is also made available to regular book outlets, by request. On demand publishing changed the paradigm of the publishing industry. And while modern technology has made it easier and cheaper to get a book to market, I find that printed books are beginning to go the way of the newspapers and magazines as more and more people turn to digital print media. Ironic.
Because of this fact, it was suggested to me that I should also make the book available as a Kindle Edition on Amazon. com's online store. Now, I'm from the old school that likes to have a nice solid book in my hands where I can sit leisurely and flip through the pages. Why anyone would want to read a book on some digital notebook device is beyond me, yet I heeded that advice and also put the book into a Kindle format. It has sold a few copies already in that form. Go figure.
Then I received another piece of advice: Advertise the book and my website on Facebook. Well, that took a leap of faith, as I really can not get my head around the new Social Networking paradigms, especially things like "Twitter" and alike. That is not for me, yet wisdom told me that I needed to reach out into these new mediums. So, I had to get my feet really dirty and wade into the Social Networks. I joined Facebook and made a page for the book and website. And it is bringing new visitors to the website and generating some book sales. Still, I have a difficult time figuring out what people find so fascinating about just chatting back and forth with 'friends' on Facebook or SMS text messages on their cell phones. It is just not my cup of tea.
Lastly, this morning, I received an email from a visitor saying that I really should add "Like" button links to the various social networks to advertise my website. I had to think about that one. My website has been doing just fine for the past 13 years as a collection of HTML static pages, but the visitor numbers have been in decline. The material has not changed, but the tastes and preferences of Internet users has changed, so this morning I bit the bullet and added a button so visitors could share, post or bookmark the site to their favorite Social Network pages. I feel dirty.
Remember, Jesus did not say, "Follow me, on Twitter"
