Disqus - Latest Comments for Brandon

Re: Even if You're the World's Biggest Star Wars Fan ...

Brandon — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:50:00 -0000

Is that bacon behind Jaba? I'm in!

Re: Should Christians Bring Their Religion to the Workplace?

Brandon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:28:25 -0000

Brad, I think you've got a good perspective on a very tough question. I think there is kind of a natural "blending" that should happen. Adrian Rogers used to say that Christians should live lives that are "supernaturally natural." I like that perspective - you can't just ignore the very core of who you are, but you don't have to be an odd duck either.

Re: A Blog By Any Other Name

Brandon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:39:19 -0000

Brad, I like the name. And I like your approach. I think we sometimes increase our impact when we allow our faith and our "business" to interact naturally rather than forcing it. You do a great job!

Re: A Christian Business Opportunity – Selling Prayer?

Brandon — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:24:47 -0000

Good grief! I really thought it might've been a joke, but it's an actual service. I'm thinking from a marketing perspective, they should read Trust Agents. From a theological statement, they should read the Bible.

I do love the way you've drawn such interesting observations from it!

Re: Discipline and the Bloggers Opportunity

Brandon — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:37:40 -0000

Such a truthful post. I've heard so many times that excellence and success are more about perspiration than inspiration. May we all be better disciplined.

Re: Want to Create Wordpress Themes?

Brandon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:00:35 -0000

Nice stuff! I first started by tearing apart existing themes, GPL-licensed ones from the Wordpress themes directory. I've been enjoying it ever since.

Re: Getting Your Blog Noticed

Brandon — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:17:08 -0000

I also submit articles to the community news/links sections of other blogs. Nice article!

Re: 9 Useful Minimalist Wordpress Themes

Brandon — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:53:24 -0000

I'm using Cleanr over at my blog http://leaderlifters.com and love it. I don't plan on doing any advertising or monetizing, so it really is great that it features the content front and center. Nice list!!

Re: Logo Design Roundup Part 4 - Over 50 Ways Designers Promote & Brand Themselves

Brandon — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:13:29 -0000

Awesome stuff - thanks for opening up this opportunity. I appreciate reading the stories behind the logos - they're all quite inspiring!

Re: Revenue Coming for Twitter: Why They Said “No” to Facebook

Brandon — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:11:47 -0000

I don't blame them for resisting Facebook's offer. Stock options wouldn't be enough for me either. Well, okay, maybe $500 million, but still, if I had already gained 6 million followers and had some thoughts about how to monetize, I would see my dream in terms of "the sky is the limit." Selling now would be premature. And... I'd love to see groups as well!

Brandon's last blog post..Marketing Yourself Honestly

Re: Would You Pay to Make Your Favorite Sites Ad-Free?

Brandon — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:54:09 -0000

I'd pay for Twitter, not more than $30 per month though. The reason I wouldn't pay for most sites is that they are offering information for my consumption to market themselves to me - why would I, as the observer, pay their marketing bill? I don't think pay-for-content sites will last much longer and certainly won't be the wave of the future.

Brandon Cox's last blog post..Marketing Yourself Honestly

Re: New Research Suggests 76% of CMOs Should Be Fired

Brandon — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:12:00 -0000

Seems like part of the issue is a failure to realize how little control we actually have over people's perceptions. Marketing today is almost a response to the public more than a guidance of it. Truly great marketing minds are rare as a result.

Brandon Cox's last blog post..eGrace Creative Gets A Big Mention

Re: Only 16% of Consumers Trust Your Corporate Blog; Time to Delete or Re-Think it?

Brandon — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:13:07 -0000

I'm agreeing with the trend I see in the comments - consumers want to be included, not just preached to. If you want a megaphone, don't call it a blog.

Brandon Cox's last blog post..eGrace Creative Gets A Big Mention

Re: On The Road To Greatness!

Brandon — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:35:33 -0000

Man I love that Charlie Jones quote! I've been blessed to be able to hang around a lot of really great people. I would not be where I am without the mentors in my life. Excellent article!

Re: WordPress for Ministry Gallery Launched

Brandon — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:00:24 -0000

@John -
I've been tossing the idea around for six months - I'm still a bit nervous that I won't have the time to keep it up to date, but WordPress has all kinds of potential for ministry usage.

Re: WordPress for Ministry Gallery Launched

Brandon — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:22:42 -0000

@Mayank@Blog Design Studio -
You may very well be right. I have yet to have time to add anything to it. But I also think there are plenty of niche galleries out there. I don't think I'd try to compete if it were more broad.

Re: Seth Godin Hints About Web Design

Brandon — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:48:01 -0000

@John - Very true, I think there are good examples of that everywhere. Still didn't like the cartoon guy however. Point taken though!

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:54:29 -0000

@Ross -
Thanks so much. The easiest way is to open the file logo.jpg, replace the graphics, then re-upload it. Also, in the stylesheet (style.css) you'll see a line that reads #header {... and on that line it uses a background image. Delete all of this... "url(images/header-bg.jpg) top left no-repeat;" and it will get rid of the box around the logo. Just remember that the dimensions of the logo should not exceed 320 pixels wide by 125 pixels high or we'll need to tweak the stylesheet a bit more. Thanks again!

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:03:35 -0000

Melissa, I've answered your question in the post above, since this comments area strips html...

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:25:40 -0000

@Fahmi -

I'm afraid you may have deleted too much or too little from the code. Can you send your header.php file to me at brandon at egracecreative.com? I can see what needs to be there and send it back to you if you'd like. Or, you can re-upload an untouched copy of header.php and try again. If you begin a php snippet, it must be closed, so you have to delete the entire php declaration or it will cause an error as the page begins to load.

Re: Passion is Better

Brandon — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:55:33 -0000

@Dr. Rus JEffrey -

Thanks, Dr. Rus - you're dead on!

@Andy Valadez -

Andy, good thought - like iron sharpening iron, we need passionate people around us.

@Ken Davis -

Ken, thanks so much! I've seen you speak on video before and it's a real honor to hear from you! I've bookmarked your blog and added it to my blogroll over at brandonacox.com.

Re: WordPress for Ministry Gallery Launched

Brandon — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:38:36 -0000

Just a note: I closed it down. I keep coming back to the need to operate only 2 blogs. I'll delete this post at some point soon.

Re: Bible Scholar WordPress Theme

Brandon — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:33:03 -0000

@pak -

I've used a wrong piece of php code. If you'll look in index.php, single.php, and any other file where a date is used, you'll find a line of php code that calls for the_date() and that needs to be changed to the_time('l, F jS, Y') and this will fix the issue. I'll be fixing this in the next release. Thanks for pointing it out for me.

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:41:07 -0000

Daniel, my upgrade to Wordpress 2.7 created a problem with my download counter plugin. I'm replacing links one at a time with direct download links. Thanks!

Re: Spread the News through Social Media

Brandon — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:19:27 -0000

Yes, and that brings up another good point - get Google (it's about reputation management), or else. I'd be up there with you if it weren't for a well-known southpaw quarterback who played for Auburn!

Re: Separating Static and Blog Pages with WordPress

Brandon — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:09:27 -0000

@Ariyo,

No problem. Glad it helped!

Re: 8th & Walton

Brandon — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:41:17 -0000

Just an update... the backend of 8th & Walton's site is complete and it's totally awesome. If you are in the education business and have an interest in a large scale custom solution for course registration, multi-level user systems, etc., contact Matt with 8th & Walton. He will fill you in on all the possibilities.

Re: North Lake Church Logo

Brandon — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:22:20 -0000

John, thanks so much for the compliment - it was a fun project and branding for ministries is a real passion for me. Looks like you offer some pretty great advice and resources yourself. Readers, check John out at Yagotcha!.

Re: Graphics for a Sermon Series on the Seven Letters of Revelation

Brandon — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:28:07 -0000

Thanks so much! I had fun creating it.

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:05:32 -0000

John, I think I figured it out. In your General Settings, make sure that the "site url" and "blog url" say http://amuth.org and not Alpharetta Methodist Youth. This will correct the hyperlink that calls for the image.

Re: 25 Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow On Twitter

Brandon — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:02:21 -0000

@Ahmed, you deserve it - you're always sharing!

@Kimberly, thanks for adding your name - probably should have been a list of 26 anyway to include you.

@ The rest - You're welcome, keep the good stuff coming. I'm learning from all of you.

Re: 25 Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow On Twitter

Brandon — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:16:39 -0000

Thanks Chad. How about a guarantee for edition 2?

Re: 25 Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow On Twitter

Brandon — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:59:22 -0000

@Khayyam, If I had it to do over again... Like Chad above, round 2 fosho!

Re: Web Design Tips from Leonardo da Vinci? Absolutely

Brandon — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:40:49 -0000

No problem - it really is a classy post - good stuff!

Re: 25 Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow On Twitter

Brandon — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:11:57 -0000

You say it in good nature but you're really right. More women next time! I'm on it.

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:54:54 -0000

I'm afraid I didn't include drop down menus here. There is a plugin available to create dropdowns, but it requires a bit of customization. You are also welcome to copy the css/xhtml from one theme to the other.

Re: Ministry Free WordPress Theme

Brandon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:56:02 -0000

Reese, the blog name is showing up because it's the alt= text. So far, everyone who has had your problem has traced it back to something being wrong with the img src url in the header.php file. You might try hard linking directly to the image's location.

Re: Bible Scholar WordPress Theme

Brandon — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:04:33 -0000

Richard, changing the color would need to be done in 2 steps. First, comb through style.css and change the hex keys for styling numbers, then substitute a new graphic header with whatever color you choose. I'd love to add color selection to a theme options page but until then, it requires raw editing the stylesheet.

Re: Bible Scholar WordPress Theme

Brandon — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:00:05 -0000

Jarad, not everything in the sidebar is widgetized. Since it's a semi-magazine-style theme, I wanted to have a diversity of widgets and content in the sidebar. Just open up sidebar.php and delete the elements you don't want, or put them inside widget code following the example of the elements that are widgetized.

Re: 25 Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow On Twitter

Brandon — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:04:04 -0000

I totally agree - I love your blog too. You'll definitely make the next edition.

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:14:21 -0000

No problem sir - nobody deserves it more! Ah, I feel the power!!

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:30:08 -0000

Thanks Brian. // Everyone, Brian was on the last list, but needs to be followed of you don't already @briancray.

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:16:04 -0000

No problem - you deserve it!

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:39:04 -0000

No problem. I sat in on #dcth this past week for the first time. I was really amazed at how encouraging it was and how helpful everyone wanted to be. Keep it up sir!

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:06:03 -0000

Glad to help Ben, thanks.

Re: 44 More Resource-Providing Creatives to Follow on Twitter

Brandon — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:17:27 -0000

Jon, thanks! Calvin was on my previous list, referenced up at the top of the post. And you're right, he's pretty great!

Re: The Storehouse Logo

Brandon — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:58:34 -0000

@Kat Robertson - Glad you like it, Kat. And thanks. This has been a pretty exciting ministry for our church so far. Nothing like seeing people's needs be met!

Re: The Storehouse Logo

Brandon — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:42:19 -0000

Thanks Kevin! I appreciate that.

Re: Twitter: A Case for Not Following Everyone

Brandon — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:32:28 -0000

Good thought Stuart. Now I've got to run to a burger bar... ;)

Re: Thinking Through the Redesign of eGrace Creative

Brandon — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:04:42 -0000

Thanks for the encouragement Bill! Will do my best.

Re: My Favorite Design Links of the Week

Brandon — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:25:47 -0000

No problem Paul - excellent work!

Re: My Favorite Design Links of the Week

Brandon — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:52:12 -0000

No problem Mike - excellent post and thanks for the compliment!

Re: My Favorite Design Links of the Week

Brandon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:02:47 -0000

@piervix - Thanks - yours completely rocks!! Love the look

Re: Five Logo Design Heroes

Brandon — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:34:01 -0000

@Jeff Fisher LogoMotives - Thanks to you, Jeff, and thanks for taking a look and commenting!

Re: Five Logo Design Heroes

Brandon — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:05:42 -0000

David, your comment means a lot! I do have one request... I need serious help with my Irish accent! Any suggestions? I am one fourth Conner. Kidding. Thanks for the kind words.

Re: Bible Scholar WordPress Theme

Brandon — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:35:50 -0000

No problem, Lyndon. Thanks for the compliment!

Re: Brandon A. Cox – Personal Logo & Monogram

Brandon — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:25:17 -0000

Why thanks!!

Re: Brandon A. Cox – Personal Logo & Monogram

Brandon — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:10:12 -0000

Thanks Sharon, and David is a guy I learn from continuously, so his influence is definitely there. If this were a commercial/personal brand, I'd probably change it up even more, but since it's really just my personal blogging monogram, I decided to go with what I liked in spite of the similarity to some other logos.

Re: Where Was My Brain Today?

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:00:08 -0000

In the confusion, I also managed to forget to go collect a very nice table that a local business is giving us as a generous gift. I really hope Friday is better. Not that Thursday was bad - it was actually a great day - I was just an idiot!

Re: Meet Beau, the New Family Dog

Brandon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:51:40 -0000

Well today when I went home for lunch, he was sitting on the couch watching Animal Planet. He looked a little troubled and I noticed a cat was stuck in a tree. He seemed to have a human-like compassion for the enemy. It was quite touching!

Re: I’m Getting Engaged!

Brandon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:47:47 -0000

I miss you too! You're awesome!

Re: I’m Getting Engaged!

Brandon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:35:57 -0000

@John -
Will do / am doing - it's an awesome conference.

Re: Abortion is a Deal-Breaker for Me

Brandon — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:52:35 -0000

@Sam, you're right to say life is important to Jesus, no matter what. But the Bible is the product of the mind of God. So Jesus was approving of the comments Paul made in Romans 13 concerning the role of government to wield a "sword" in civil matters.

The execution of a violent criminal is a matter of civil justice. The survival of the unborn is a matter of civil rights. Resorting to the capital punishment issue is really a distraction from all of the absurdities concerning abortion.

You say with certainty, "that's what Jesus believed." But doesn't Jesus believe in 100% of His own word?

Re: John Piper says “Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting”

Brandon — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:13:04 -0000

@Jeremy Bohall - Thanks for the honest rebuttal. I appreciate your perspective very much. In fact, I think it's a great balance to the Piper perspective on voting. One thing I do believe is that Jesus should be Lord of every nook and cranny of our lives, including who we are as citizens in the voting booth. Thanks for sharing!

Re: My Friend, Scott Attebery, and His Family

Brandon — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:18:29 -0000

Because people keep finding this page through Google, I wanted to add that the funeral service will be held on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. at Wyatt Baptist Church in El Dorado.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:58:57 -0000

@Leo Hopf -
The easiest way to replace it is open the header.php file. You'll see a "div" named banner-block. There is an opening tag (says "banner-block") and a closing tag two lines later. Replace the line between those 2 tags with your ad code and your ad should appear. I would print the code here for you to see, but WordPress won't allow me to do so in the comments without messing things up.

Re: Al Mohler Speaks: America Has Chosen a President

Brandon — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:49:19 -0000

@Wayne John -

You ask questions that a lot of people struggle with when it comes to Christianity. Some of what you say, I would not argue with at all. All people are made in the image of God. There is inherent dignity in every life. He does love every person regardless of their lifestyle choices. But there seems to be a misunderstanding of the nature of sin.

The Bible is very clear that homosexual behavior is sin. When we give into a lust or affection for someone of the same gender, we're violating clear biblical commandments. Because of this, I don't think you could ever win an argument that someone was "made gay." We're all born with a disposition toward sin, but that disposition is never an excuse from our responsibility to live according to God's commands.

Further, the Bible is also clear that the only way we are allowed to say that we love God is if we obey His commandments. It isn't enough to say it, or to feel it, our obedience is what proves our love for God.

It really boils down to this: the Bible tells us homosexual behavior is sin and cannot be justified before a sinless and holy God. You either believe the Bible to be God's Word or not. But if you don't, then what is our standard of morality? At what point do we find an irreducible minimum standard of righteousness? For me, the Bible happens to be God's own perfect revelation of Himself and His will, and our sinful choices don't change absolute truth.

As for why I believe marriage should legally be reserved for one man and one woman, it goes back to that issue of an "irreducible standard" of what marriage is. If marriage can be something other than between one man and one woman, or if marriage's definition is entirely up to our individual beliefs and preferences, then why have something called "marriage" at all? It ceases to lose its meaning altogether.

I also understand that this is a volatile time right now. On the heels of a major national election, our emotions are all up because of our various viewpoints. Ultimately, I don't want to bully anyone or discriminate against a person's basic human or civil rights. However, I do have the freedom as one citizen (who finds his identity as a Christian) to voice my own concerns and convictions. Granted, I also have an assignment to love my neighbor as myself regardless of our differences over any moral or political issue.

Thanks for asking the questions. I don't know that we'll come to agreement on these things in this life, but above all, I hope the readers of this blog seek a relationship with Jesus and desire to live under His Lordship to prepare for the life to come.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:44:44 -0000

@Kevin -

You are absolutely right! In the search.php file, I have a div with an id="content float-left two-column". That's wrong. It should be an id="content" and a class="float-left two-column". It's on line 3 at the very top. I'm going to upload a changed version to WordPress. Thanks for pointing this out.

Re: FaithOut.com, Godtube.com, and Our Online Ivory Tower

Brandon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:24:29 -0000

You make excellent points. In fact, I think I stand corrected. I feel a bit frustrated about a general apathy toward engaging culture. However, I must consider my own struggles with this apathy.

My words should really not be an attack on such efforts. Instead I should be issuing a challenge to individual believers, in a positive way to make sure we keep the balance.

I did not realize just how negative my words sounded. I will still argue, however, that we shouldn't abandon the culture entirely for a Christian mini-world of our own. I definitely concede that I've been too critical, though. Thanks for speaking up!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:18:02 -0000

@Jacques -

I don't have forte on my computer, but when I test changing other fonts in the theme on my PC, it works. In the stylesheet, I have all fonts set in the body tag, which is where you'd want to change it.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:43:37 -0000

@Jim Guerci -

You may absolutely do that. In fact, I like seeing people modify the themes. If you need any help getting it done, just let me know.

Re: FaithOut.com, Godtube.com, and Our Online Ivory Tower

Brandon — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:17:51 -0000

It's interesting to me the response that this post generated. I still think I was too harsh and really, my post should have been a challenge to individual believers to make sure we are balancing out our "grouping up for fellowship" and our "going out to make a difference." I'm going to work on a follow-up post soon to that effect.

Thanks for weighing in. Now go join FaithOut and watch a video on GodTube. Unless you're at work, in which case you should get back to work and stop reading my blog. :-)

Re: Jesus: Live His Name

Brandon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:40:29 -0000

@Alexey -

Thanks for the compliment. I've just read the article you linked about the Jesus prayer. What a great message to utter repeatedly. My only encouragement beyond it would be to make sure that it always comes from the heart and not just the lips.

I did have a life-changing experience in Russia - it was a time I will never forget. My heart was bound to the country and I pray for Christians in Russia regularly.

As far as the Orthodox Church, my understanding is that there is a great movement among the younger believers within the church to bring revival, a greater emphasis on the Bible, and a greater connection with the Holy Spirit. These are good things.

Since I am a Baptist Pastor, our work was primarily with the Baptist Union of Russia, but we were able to see many Orthodox church buildings - they are amazingly beautiful.

For me, the most important question to answer is, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior? Denominations will argue over a lot of issues, but it is the character and saving power of Jesus that makes the difference in our eternity.

Re: Welcome President Obama – My New President

Brandon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:47:18 -0000

Chuck, I can identify with what you say, that often God's judgment upon our selfish demands is to give us what we want along with the natural consequences of our desires.

Personally, I would be careful about the phrase "fight against him as hard as I can" for several reasons.

1. We must be careful to guard our own heart. I think bitterness and anger could become weaknesses to a fault in us if we allow our disagreements to turn to hatred.

2. We must be supportive of our leaders when convictions and conscience allow. I would join you in a protest against many soon-to-be presidential policies, but would urge Americans to work together to support positive reforms.

3. As far as "discerning people by their fruits," I understand what you're saying - that we must be wary of those who prove dishonest, but we also must draw the line when we begin to make assessments of the heart beyond what we are allowed. I simply want to reserve judgment.

At the end of the day, we live in Rome, but we live for the Kingdom. Though we ought to stand clearly for truth, we also must seek to be redemptive in our relationship to the world around us.

Re: Free Will or Free Grace?

Brandon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:20:38 -0000

@Harold Brown -

Harold, thanks for weighing in. I rejoice in your coming to a thorough knowledge of what it means to be clay in the Potter's hand. But I'd also have to advise you to be very careful when talking about receiving revelations. The Bible is the ultimate teacher and the Holy Spirit certainly speaks to the heart, but always in confirmation to the fully revealed Word of God.

I believe very strongly in God's sovereignty, but also that every person makes free choices in perfect conjunction with God's will.

Re: “Why Believe In a God” Ad Campaign on D. C. Buses

Brandon — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:47:50 -0000

@Robert -

You're right, I stand corrected. I should have said "spiritually empty." And I don't intend that as an insult, rather as a statement of reality that motivates me to love people all the more.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:16:05 -0000

@Nate -

I've sent you an email with the sidebar file attached. Thanks for using the theme!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:24:53 -0000

@Jon -

Thanks for using the theme. I've written some instructions for changing the banner in the header here. And to remove the blogroll you have two options. Create a new widget in sidebar 3 and it will automatically replace the blogroll, or open up footer.php and delete lines 44-47.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:44:14 -0000

@Jon -

If you're using WordPress at least version 2.3, right above the post editor should be a little row of icons where you can add various kinds of media, including pictures. I've pre-styled photos in all my themes to handle the built-in caption functionality.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:59:01 -0000

@Jon -

On it's way by email. Thanks so much.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:19:04 -0000

@Lisa -

I'd love to help, but I'm not sure I understand your question very well. The links in the footer of the site exist with every new WordPress install. You can delete them all by going to Manage > Links and selecting them all and deleting them. Then you can supply your own. Or, to replace the blogroll (links) altogether, just go to Design > Widgets and put any widget you want in Sidebar 3, which is where the blogroll appears. Your new widget will replace the blogroll.

Any new posts will show up on your home page automatically. You determine how many will show up by going to Settings > Reading.

Let me know if this is what you were asking. If not, I'll take another shot. Thanks for the compliment and for downloading Balance of Blue.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:08:46 -0000

@Jon -

You can remove it, but you'll need to access several files. In index.php, single.php, you'll fine a line that begins with p class="premeta". You'll need to remove that all the way to the closing /p tag. I can't put the full code here or it will mess up this page, but in the original file, it's line 12 in both files.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:29:43 -0000

@Brendan -

Brendan, I've looked at your blog's code and somehow, the sidebar gets started 3 times. I'd have to see your sidebar.php file to understand why, and I'd have to know how you've added widgets, but basically, there should only be one div with an id of sidebar. If you want to add elements or widgets within the sidebar, they would need to be a div with a class of widget instead of an id of sidebar. Make sense? Let me know if I can help further - I'd be happy to dissect your code if you'd like. Thanks!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:56:11 -0000

@scott -

You can open stylesheet.css and find the line that says #navbar .topics li and add an attribute like font-size: 0.8em; and see if they fit. You can also increase the height of the navbar to allow for 2 lines, but you would need to re-create the gray background in a graphics editor. Make sense?

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:30:01 -0000

@chris -

Yes, you can do that. With the pages in the navigation, open up header.php and find the line that says php wp_list_pages(); (can't print the full code here) and between the parentheses, add this 'include=1,2,3' where the numbers are the ID's of the pages you want to include. The same works for exclude. Here's a link to the specific page in WordPress' codex that gives more detailed instructions about listing pages and here's the link to the codex page that talks about the same issue with the categories.

Re: Christmas Sermon Series: GOOD TIMES

Brandon — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:40:25 -0000

Thanks Rosie, I'll be posting briefs of each sermon as they are preached - hope they're a blessing!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:59:42 -0000

@Mark -

I have looked at your home page and I think the problem pertains to text that you may have pasted from Word. In your second post, there is a table inserted with a class of MsoNormal, which is part of the code that Word puts out. I would recommend opening up at least the second post (and any you've pasted from a Microsoft program) and click on HTML. You'll see a large block of code at the top and bottom, which needs to be deleted. Basically, this code has taken the sidebar and included it in the second post on the page.

You can paste from Word, but do so in html view, then switch to visual so that it strips away Microsoft's bloated code. Let me know if this works or not. Thanks for using the theme!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:30:46 -0000

@Mark -

Mark, I'm so glad it worked and thanks for the compliment. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you run into anymore issues.

Re: The Religion of Atheism

Brandon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:32:52 -0000

@Chris -

Chris, I appreciate your thoughts and your question is quite common. I think one thing that must be clarified about my own theology is that I don't believe all people are "basically good." Since I believe the Bible in its entirety, I therefore believe that "all have sinned" and that "there is none righteous, no not one." Scripture speaks of humans as "going about to establish our own righteousness." This refers to our attempt to justify ourselves by presenting our good works.

Having said that, it also needs to be noted that most people are not as bad and evil as they could be - every one of us has a conscience and we obey it to one degree or another.

I say all of that to make this one major point - the playing field is level for all of humanity. Am I better than you because I believe in God? Absolutely not. Are you a "bad person" because you choose not to believe in God? I'm afraid I have to answer that based on my theology which says that all human beings stand before a holy God as sinners. So I would say, you're a sinner like me, and that God loves you like He loves me, whether you choose to believe in Him or not. He believes in you very strongly.

I also believe that God wants a restored relationship with every person on earth, no matter how good or bad we may presume to be. God values you so highly He gave His son for you. So even if you choose not to believe in Him, He still loves you deeply.

I realize that much of this will run counter to your own philosophy and I appreciate so much your acknowledging that religion isn't all bad. A few years ago Richard Dawkins, a well-known humanist, wrote a book called The God Delusion and his influence has spurred on a generation of "angry atheism" that teaches that religion causes all the bad things that ever happen in society and that it's basically cruel to teach children about a god. So your opinion of faith is much more lenient than many today and I appreciate that.

To sum it all up - I'm no better than you at all, I simply believe that I've sinned against a holy God who has loved me enough to forgive me completely on the basis of Jesus' death on the cross. Thanks for your honest question Chris and I hope you'll give thought to all of this.

Re: The Religion of Atheism

Brandon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:57:21 -0000

@Chris -

Thanks so much for your engaging replies. The issue of passing judgment on people was settle when Jesus said to stop trying to get the speck of dust out of someone else's eye while ignoring the beam in your own (exaggeration was a form of ancient Hebrew humor, but He made the point well).

As for the question of what happens to a person who doesn't believe in God at death, it's one of the most difficult answers there is to give and requires some explanation going back to the beginning.

If we assumed for the sake of argument that the Bible's record of creation was true and that the story of Adam and Eve's rebellion occurred as written, then what really happened was the entrance of sin into a world of paradise. God made a perfect planet and it was changed by the prideful will of humanity. I realize this raises a lot of other questions, but I'll try to stay on subject.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were suddenly separated from God and made aware of their sin and shamefulness. They suddenly realized they were naked which shows that their innocence was gone and they felt exposed in their sin.

So what happened in the garden of Eden teaches us what happens to all of us when we sin - we distance ourselves from the Creator by being unlike Him. He is perfectly holy and sinless and we are not. At death, if we remain unrepentant and unbelieving (the Bible refers to it as "still in our sins") then we are going to be separated from God for all of eternity. Hold that thought for a second...

The garden also represents the other half of the Christian message. When God realized the separation between Himself and the people whom He had created, He reached out to them. In fact, He made coats of animal skins to cover their shame. This blood sacrifice was a picture of what Jesus would offer on the cross to cover the sin and shame of the entire world.

The entire Bible is one long story of God's manhunt for us. Repeatedly, the Bible shows itself to be an unfolding drama of redemption of people who willingly turn to God by faith in His Son, our only perfect sacrifice for sin.

So God is all about restoration and redemption, which is the reason why He's going to create a "new heaven and a new earth" someday that will be completely free of the influence and dismal effects of sin. It will be like Eden, minus sin.

It will also be a place where no unforgiven sinner may come to remain forever. This is the harsh side of God that I cannot fully understand in my humanness, but I accept by faith that because He is holy and sovereign, He wants to redeem us from sin here so that we may be forever free from it there.

Just as Adam and Eve were banished from the original paradise because they chose to go their own way, the Bible says in Isaiah that "all we, like sheep, have gone away." We've distanced ourselves from God by our sinful choices.

But just as in the garden of Eden, God is on a manhunt for us. Consider how He wanted to use Israel to tell surrounding nations about His law and to care for "strangers" but Israel failed to tell the good news of God's love to the rest of the world. Consider how Jesus came to live among us and to love, teach, and touch the untouchable only to be crucified in His innocence. And consider how the Bible, which is the story of His redemption, has been preserved throughout these many centuries though it's often been beaten, banned, and burned. And also consider the missionaries and martyrs who have gone into all the world to tell the message.

In other words, God not only loves people and extends grace to all who want it and choose it, but He also goes to great lengths to tell the world about it - not through angels or miracles, but by redeemed people.

Let me say two other things in this book I'm writing here. One is that God doesn't force grace upon anyone, but is willing to save anyone who ever calls upon Him. We'll fail in our efforts to try harder, so God becomes a safety net. At the end of our trying, there is simply trusting.

Also, God's judgment is not our judgment, and the Bible is clear that God holds people to different levels of accountability based on the amount of light given. For example, Jesus told Bethsaida and Chorazim, cities of His time, that it would be "more tolerable" in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for them. Why? Because they had Jesus walking in front of them while Sodom and Gomorrah had much less evidence of the reality of God.

So yes, those who reject the grace of God are banished from God's presence forever because God is holy and is creating an eternity totally without sin.

Why am I going to spend eternity there? Well, it isn't because I'm good or better than anyone. There is only one word that can sum it up - grace. I'm just forgiven. Because of Jesus, God has been willing to forgive and cleanse me from sin - that's my whole story. I'm just an object of grace and anybody else who accepts His offer of grace can have it too.

I hope this helps explain my own theology, which is the core of all that I believe. My belief about heaven and hell is based strictly on my belief that the Bible is God's Word and it isn't up to me one iota who goes where as I would make a terrible judge. I simply trust the judge of all the earth to do what is right.

Re: The Religion of Atheism

Brandon — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:24:34 -0000

@Chris -

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I have to learn. You're always welcome to join in. I publish disagreements and agreements alike. Thanks for joining in!

Re: Lord’s Supper Devotional: An Altar or a Table?

Brandon — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:54:19 -0000

@Jared Bryant -

Jared, thanks for passing this along. I've heard good things about Logos - haven't used it in quite a few years myself. Personally, I'm an e-sword user - it's super fast and simple, but I may have to look into the demo of Logos.

Re: Really Enjoy Christmas This Year

Brandon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:27:10 -0000

I wish I could buy some boiled custard. Not only does no one sell it around here, nobody's even heard of it. Arkansans are missing out!

Re: Rick Warren Will Pray the Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration

Brandon — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:50:01 -0000

Thanks for the input, everyone. I did read an interesting thought over at Denny Burk's site that's worth checking out also. Good discussion.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:47:57 -0000

@Lazy2Work -

It is #003466. I'd also like to recommend ColorZilla, a Firefox add-on that lets you discover the color of anything on the web. Thanks!

Re: The BMA of America Needs Help

Brandon — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:09:23 -0000

@Chris -

Thanks so much - I'd love to meet you as well - find me if I don't find you and say "hello."

Re: Pentecost Plus Persecution Equals Church the Way It Ought to Be

Brandon — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:04:56 -0000

@Caribbean Shulamite -

Thanks so much for the kind words and feel free to speak up - I appreciate the interaction.

Re: Book Review: What In the World Is Going On? by David Jeremiah

Brandon — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:11:06 -0000

I agree totally. Never before in history have so many different factors come together at the same time that seem to resemble all that Scripture says about the last days. It makes me fairly excited to see what God does next!

Re: The BMA of America Needs Help

Brandon — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:12:46 -0000

The BMA of America is undeniably on the downhill side of our life cycle. I tend to think we're reaping what we've sown. In ignoring a lost culture, and the younger generation in particular, I think God is removing His hand of blessing from us. Those churches that are doing well are ones who have stemmed this tide in favor of connecting with the lost world and a growing generation.

Re: Qualities of a Growing Church: LEADERSHIP

Brandon — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:15:45 -0000

Oleg, so great to have you here and I appreciate your comments. I went to Russia about a year ago and fell in love with the people and the culture - part of my heart was left there. I have a good friend, Alexander Chepurnoy, who is planting a Russian congregation in Minnesota, and also Fiodor Baraniuk who lives in northern Mississippi who coordinates all Russian church planting in the US in our denomination. They'd be worth looking up - great and godly men. God bless you as you minister in Asheville!

Re: Free to Decide: Confessions of a Former Calvinist

Brandon — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:07:25 -0000

@Morgan,

It's an old post, but still something I struggle with all the time. I'm convinced if we ever have God's sovereignty all figured out then we need to repent of our pride.

Re: Lost. Search. Rescue.

Brandon — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:11:21 -0000

@Justin

Thanks man! And thanks for being there!

@ Chris

I've actually been to about a dozen symposiums and each one has been a building block in who I am today, but this year was one of the best.

@ Lindsey

Wow! That is so amazing and I'm so glad you told me - your friend coming to Jesus makes my day!! All glory to God - great things He has done!!

Re: Book Review: Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and Dave Putman

Brandon — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:16:08 -0000

Kevin, it is an insightful book. I even think the idea of "breaking the code" is appropriate because connecting with culture is pretty hard to figure out at times - we often don't know where to begin.

Re: Tips for Pastors Who Blog

Brandon — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:53:36 -0000

@Cheryl

Since you're using WordPress, you can select any text in your post and click the chain/link icon and enter the full url (including the http://) and the text will become a link. To create sitewide links, use the Links feature to add them. I would highly recommend digging into the WordPress codex for some basic getting started information, found here. There are some nice lessons and tutorials for beginners. You can also check out WordPress.tv which offers video tutorials. Happy blogging!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:44:01 -0000

Yes, open up header.php, find your image, and just wrap in in a link, just as though it's straight html.

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:47:35 -0000

Kevin, there are actually quite a few ways to go about this and each offers different results. You can choose for a single page to be the home page, as opposed to all the latest posts. You do that under Settings > Reading. You can also skip categories within the loop, which is more complicated and requires some more in-depth code work than I could possibly cover in this comment but it would basically allow you to skip certain categories. I would highly recommend checking out a couple of web sites that offer great tutorials on subjects such as these. WP Hacks and WP Recipes.

Re: A Few Photos From the Northwest Arkansas Ice Storm of 2009

Brandon — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:53:26 -0000

Cathy, I hope it doesn't hit to you too hard. We still have power, but we're one of only a few neighborhoods ind the area, so we're livin' it up while we can!

Re: A Few Photos From the Northwest Arkansas Ice Storm of 2009

Brandon — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:52:27 -0000

Cool pics, Adrian. Any others wishing to post links to your blogs/photos regarding the ice storm, feel free.

Re: Moleskine-Worthy Inspirational Quotes – #1

Brandon — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:56:33 -0000

Me too - Chambers floors me pretty often.

Re: The Depth of Life Is Relationships

Brandon — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:28:38 -0000

Thanks for the comments guys, I think I've been getting daily reminders of this principle of late.

Re: Interviewed by The Issachar Network

Brandon — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:14:24 -0000

Thanks so much - I got the job, by the way! ;)

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:28:06 -0000

Wow, I've never heard of that before, but I must say, 99% of my work has been on LAMP servers, so I'm not familiar with IIS errors. This one might be worth posting or searching over a the forums on WordPress.org.

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:50:05 -0000

It makes sense to me, Ron. I find myself focusing more and more on the health of my own local church, and helping church planters across denominational lines any way I can. It's one of the reasons I'm so thankful for your ministry - you're on the front lines. Keep it up!

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:37:05 -0000

Thanks Jay, shepherding definitely fits with the biblical models of Moses, David, and Jesus. Nice thought!

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:38:07 -0000

Yeah I with you there. I think truth is concrete and that when we live in a relativistic vacuum, people will again search for something solid. Thankfully God's truth is just that!

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:35:16 -0000

David, thanks for weighing in from across the Atlantic. I think you've made a pretty valid point. What happens when we can't meet the demands of \"consumers\" or what happens to the megachurch when it must choose between persecution and compromise? There are a lot of good questions to be raised. Personally, I favor planting many churches over having a few large ones for that very reason - so that th essence of a community is preserved. At the same time, I also think there must be room for those gifted for communicating with larger numbers of people. It's a tough issue, but we need to be ready for whatever God does in the future.

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:39:05 -0000

Thanks for weighing in, Mike. My own denomination has a landmark heritage, which simply means that being \"Baptist\" is very important. I tend to focus on the doctrinal beliefs and missional practices of each local church regardless of any denominational label. Thanks for doing what you do!

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:03:07 -0000

Mike, thanks for sharing your heart. I definitely agree that our frequent splintering is tragic, but there are three great cahllenges to real unity. On is the popular definition of \"Christian\" versus the biblical dedinition, so true Christianity is hard to identify. I'm not so sure we can even come close to an accurate number of the truly born again. The second issue is the balance between the command to get along and the command to stand against false doctrine. And the third issue is the logistical difficulty of organizing mission work on a global scale.

For me, the existance of denominationalism is tragic, yet necessary for the purpose of doctrinal identification. Thats why I tend to believe it is the local church as an institution that will impact culture most heavily.

Re: What’s Happening to My Denomination?

Brandon — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:53:05 -0000

Paul, you make some very good points. Baptists have lost a bit of their heritage, which should be more soundly connected with a thoroughly biblical theology and not just the trends and movements we've seen. And yes, what people really need is the gospel, pure and simple. Thanks for the reminder!

Re: Rick Warren Will Pray the Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration

Brandon — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:47:08 -0000

Nikki,

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. And wow - you got to be there? That's awesome! I'm glad you were pleasantly surprised. I heard Rick on an interview recently trying to deal with the media mess. Sadly, I think a lot of Christian leaders aren't as harsh as they sound, it's just that the media demands that they speak to some certain question. Good people wind up looking mean because of the corner they are backed into.

I'm thankful you're reading!

Re: Rick Warren Will Pray the Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration

Brandon — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:53:33 -0000

Oh, and very nice design portfolio!!

Re: Free WordPress Theme: Balance of Blue

Brandon — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:42:06 -0000

Mo, I apologize for my excessively busy week - have been a bit behind on answering comments and emails. I'd be happy to help. If you don't mind, try me again at brandon [ at ] egracecreative [ dot ] com and attach your image - I'll see what I can do. Thanks so much!

Re: The Gift Conspiracy

Brandon — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:43:05 -0000

Marvin, that's very encouraging! I love your equation - congrats on getting to do what God has gifted you for!

Re: Ron V. Mitchell – A Hero Goes Home

Brandon — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:42:25 -0000

Oh yes, the panel discussions, I sat on one of those once - Dr. Mitchell was a creative teacher.

Re: Pastors Should Always Wear Long Sleeves

Brandon — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:16:05 -0000

Sorry Justin, but I think you're just wearing your feelings on your... bare arm. ;)

Re: Thoughts About Feeding the Hungry

Brandon — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:18:09 -0000

Thanks Jason - glad to feel \"on target.\"

Re: 3 Reasons Why Blogs for SEO Fail

Brandon — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:14:10 -0000

I think this is a reason why you must write from the heart. SEO (white hat) should always be taken into consideration, but the best kind of writing is just shooting from the hip about things you find interesting. SEO should come naturally, or not at all, so to speak.

Re: Get More Twitter Followers: Join The Twitter Followback Party!

Brandon — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:24:54 -0000

I follow back, sometimes unfollow those who unfollow.

@brandonacox

Re: Get More Twitter Followers: Join The Twitter Followback Party!

Brandon — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:41:42 -0000

I always follow back, but often unfollow those who unfollow.

http://twitter.com/brandonacox

Re: Christianity and Homosexuality

Brandon — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:05:37 -0000

Wow Jay, you tackled a tough subject. I once heard a gay person deal with the line, "love the sinner, hate the sin" by saying, "it doesn't really feel like love." Point taken. Even when our theology is right, our spirit can be wrong. Why is it that we single out this one sin as the unpardonable? You make some excellent points!

Re: “Why Should I Let You In?”

Brandon — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:26:19 -0000

My response, Jay, would be, "You shouldn't. You should cast me into hell for my sin, but Your Son, Jesus, with His blood, paid my sin debt and on the basis of my acceptance of this free gift, You have already granted me the privilege of citizenship here." Grace alone.