So why bother with www.derekmaul.com?

It's going to be a good day. I pray that God will be with you. May you know the power of God's purpose, be animated by the indwelling of the Spirit, and walk in the company of Jesus.

Maintaining a "web presence" is a lot of work! There's always content to edit, details to tweak, status messages to post, and expired stuff to dump. The pay-off, experts insist, is worth the investment of time. But - quite often - I'm less than convinced.

Take this morning. I've already done all "the usual" (with the exception of this blog post, something I'm working on now). That means a facebook status update and a mini-devotional post on my "The Unmaking of a Part-Time Christian" page. Then I took a look at my website DEREKMAUL.com and decided it was time for a freshen up.

I use a simple designe, but realized the front page needed a brand-new look. So I deleted everything, introduced new content fields in new locations, swapped out the color palette and uploaded brand-new photographs from this weekend. All that, plus reestablishing the active links, took the best part of an hour.

Here's the thing: I'm seriously stoked about the new look! But, like the tree that falls in the forest and the question "did it make any sound at all?" was it an hour wasted or a useful investment in my "brand"?

Most search engines will take "Derek Maul" to DerekMaul.com as a matter of course. That's one advantage of having an unusual name. There's a serious world-wide shortage of Mauls, it turns out - Derek Mauls in particular, and I'll be more than happy to keep it that way.

(I typed in my friend David Dale's name, for example, and this came up - "David Dale, the son of a grocer, was born in Stewarton, Ayrshire, in 1739. After his apprenticeship as a weaver in Paisley....")

The bottom line question, of course, is - or should be - always "What does this activity, this priority, this investment of my time, say about my commitment to live in this moment as a spiritual person, being faithful to my promise to follow Jesus...?"

I've used this thought before, and I believe it bears repeating. "We may not all be called to be spiritual giants - but we are called to be spiritual men... and spiritual women." (GET REAL: a spiritual journey for men, p. 27)

So, if you would, please do me a big favor and take a peak at the redesign over at derekmaul.net. Shoot me an email at Derekmaul@gmail.com, or post a comment on facebook.

It's going to be a good day. I pray that God will be with you. May you know the power of God's purpose, be animated by the indwelling of the Spirit, and walk in the company of Jesus.

- DEREK