MS BURCHETT MINISTRIES

” THEREFORE AS YOU HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS THE LORD, SO WALK IN HIM, HAVING BEEN FIRMLY ROOTED AND NOW BEING BUILT UP IN HIM AND ESTABLISHED IN YOUR FAITH, JUST AS YOU WERE INSTRUCTED, AND OVERFLOWING WITH GRATITUDE. COL. 2:6-7

” SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE THROUGH PHILOSOPHY AND EMPTY DECEPTION, ACCORDING TO THE TRADITION OF MEN, ACCORDING TO THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF THE WORLD, RATHER THAN ACCORDING TO CHRIST.” COL. 2:8

Have you ever heard the phrase, ” you are what you eat?” This little saying is so true when living in this world. Let’s consider the information of the world and the information from God. There are two standards here, one from the world and it’s ways and another from our Lord and his way of living life. Our actions and our thoughts are going to reflect the standard that we surround ourselves with the most. If we go to church on Sunday and spend the rest of the week in the world what standard do you suppose we will reflect? It is so important that we build our faith to a point where we are living our christian life daily. This is a very confusing world, one where the devil is pushing his standards forward more often and with more pressure. It is very easy to be deceived. Without God’s roadmap (his word) it is easy to become entangled in the ideas and the thoughts of our surroundings which will eventually lead to actions of the worldly ways. Our God is very clear in Colossians that we need to be deeply rooted in his word. We need to be built up in him and established in our faith. As we all examine our thoughts, actions and words, where do we stand? Are going along with the crowd or are we established in the word of God, trusting him and following the Holy Spirit in our way of life? We should be filling ourselves with the fruit of God’s word and not filling ourselves with the ways of the world. PRAISE THE LORD ALWAYS!

“ARE THEY NOT ALL MINISTERING SPIRITS, SENT OUT TO RENDER SERVICE FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE WHO WILL INHERIT SALVATION?” HEBREWS 1:14

“BLESS THE LORD, YOU HIS ANGELS, MIGHTY IN STRENGTH, WHO PERFORM HIS WORD.” PSALM 103:20

“FOR HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE CONCERNING YOU. TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS.” PSALM 91:11

“THE ANGEL OF THE LORD ENCAMPS AROUND THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, AND RESCUES THEM.” PSALM 34:7

Just who are angels? In the Greek, angel means “a messenger, envoy, or one who is sent by God.” We may not readily see the things they are doing, but the Lord has given his angels the job of ministering to each of us. We may never know when an angel has helped us in gaining success or has rescued us from turmoil or guided us to safety. However, we can be confident that they have done so as vessels of God’s perfect provision for us. The angels of God are not the cute, harmless little cherubs pictured in todays world. We can rest assured that they are messengers from God with enormous power, sent to do God’s will. Because our God is a merciful God he has sent them to help us survive and live within this world. PRAISE THE LORD ALWAYS!

” REJOICE ALWAYS; PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-17

What does Paul mean when he says to pray without ceasing? Are we to walk around all day long with our hands in the air praying to God? Are we to shut ourselves up in our prayer closet and only come out to eat? Of course this is not what is meant. Paul taught that we should live our lives in a constant attitude of intercession, even when going about our daily routines. We should and we can maintain a natural , ongoing conversation with God. This allows God to be involved in our whole life. I often wondered, as a new born Christian, whether I should pray for the small things in my life like, finding my keys when they were lost, finding my missplaced eyeglasses, or telling him how much I love my life and those he has surrounded me with. The answer is a definite YES! Our Lord God listens to our each and every prayer. He is concerned about our lives, and he invites us to talk with him about anything that troubles us, anything that confuses us, or frightens us. We should go to him with conversation in prayer and praise. It is through these small conversations that we begin to learn that God is a merciful and gracious God and that he loves us because we are his children. If we believe he answers our small concerns and needs then it is much easier to believe for the big things.

Only through prayer and a consistant relationship with him can we become aware of his limitless recources. John 14:14 says, ” if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” He doesn’t say come to me only when you have a BIG problem. He says come to me and ask me anything in my name. Many times we limit our prayer time to just the big things. To be able to really know and understand our Lord we must stay close to him. He is not only our Lord and Savior but he is also our best friend. PRAISE THE LORD ALWAYS!

“DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.” EPH. 4:30

Just how do we grieve the Holy Spirit? When we know the difference between what to do and what not to do, and we choose what we shouldn’t do we are grieving the Holy Spirit. Telling lies, stealing, not forgiving one another are all giving opportunity to the devil. Any ungodly behavior that we knowingly do breaks the heart of our God. The Holy Spirit becomes grieved because when we do these things we are tarnishing God’s good name. He is also grieved because he desires to reward us for our obedience. The Holy Spirit knows that sin damages our relationship with God. Sin saddles us with unnecessary burdens that our God never intended for us.

What do we do to keep from grieving the Spirit of God? We can do the following:

Choose to keep his commandments and lead a disciplined life;

Depend upon the Spirit for guidence;

When we do sin, go directly to God and confess our sin and repent of it, changing our behavior to conform to God’s word.

As we ask the Holy Spirit for his guidance each day we continue to build our faith and confidence and gain assurance in a successful Christian walk with the Lord. Stay close to God with prayer, praise and the reading of his word. PRAISE THE LORD!

” FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND ACTIVE AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD, AND PIERCING AS FAR AS THE DIVISION OF SOUL AND SPIRIT, OF BOTH JOINTS AND MARROW, AND ABLE TO JUDGE THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTIONS OF THE HEART.” HEBREWS 4: 12

“AND THERE IS NO CREATURE HIDDEN FROM HIS SIGHT, BUT ALL THINGS ARE OPEN AND LAID BARE TO THE EYES OF HIM WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO.” HEBREWS 4:13

“THEREFORE, SINCE WE HAVE A GREAT HIGH PRIEST WHO HAS PASSED THROUGH THE HEAVENS, JESUS THE SON OF GOD, LET US HOLD FAST TO OUR CONFESSION.” HEBREWS 4: 14

We should lives our lives today and everyday with the Lord in complete control. We should live in the Spirit (faith based life) rather than the natural (what we can see world). We should not think as the world does but we should believe, in and with faith, that our God’s promises are true, honorable, just, and that he is faithful in keeping them. Hebrews 4:12 is very clear in telling us that the Word of God is living and active. We, however, must allow him to live in our lives and be willing to allow him to do his work in our lives. It is very easy to say, “yes, I will do this”, but it is a whole other matter when selling out to him and totally depending on Him. It is a matter of continuosly building our faith to allow him to control our lives. We must surrender to his every command for our lives. But, we must first listen very carefully to what he is telling us. PRAISE THE LORD!

” EVERYTHING HE DOES IS WONDERFUL. HE EVEN MAKES THE DEAF TO HEAR AND GIVES SPEECH TO THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK.” MARK 7:37

Miracles are all around us. Our God’s loving touch can been seen in our lives everyday. Lord God we thank you for:

The breath you give us each day;

For keeping us safe in a world of confusion and terror;

For the colorful displays presented to us through the blue sky and wonderful flowers;

For the wonderful people you have surrounded us with;

For our guardian angel who has been assigned us;

For the comfort of your mighty word;

For your healing power;

For your listening ear;

For your patience in our lives;

For allowing us to be a witness on your behalf;

For your Holy Spirit;

For mighty strength in times of trouble; and

For loving us so much that you sent your one and only son to die for each of us.

We can go on and on and on with praises and thanks to our Lord, and we should. He deserves all of the praise we can give him. He is glorius, merciful, patient, loving, joyous and fair. PRAISE THE LORD and THANK YOU LORD!

” SO DON’T WORRY ABOUT THESE THINGS, SAYING, ‘WHAT WILL WE EAT’? ‘WHAT WILL WE DRINK’? ‘WHAT WILL WE WEAR’? THESE THINGS DOMINATE THE THOUGHTS OF UNBELIEVERS, BUT YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER ALREADY KNOWS ALL YOUR NEEDS. SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE, AND LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED.” MATTHEW 6: 31-33

” SO DON’T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW , FOR TOMORROW WILL BRING ITS OWN WORRIES. TODAY’S TROUBLE IS ENOUGH FOR TODAY.” MATTHEW 6: 34

It is very important that we pray to God out of faith and not out of anxiety or worry. We should be in the habit of giving any problem we confront, directly to God, believing with the faith that he will answer. When we pray out of desperation we often times are feeling sorry for ourselves and this gets us nowhere. This is exactly where the devil wants us. If we are not turning to God first, then we are not believing that God can deal with the situation. When doubt enters stare it directly in the face and profess the promises of God. Confess your authority in Christ! The devil will leave! PRAISE THE LORD!

“SO HUMBLE YOURSELVES UNDER THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD AND AT THE RIGHT TIME, HE WILL LIFT YOU UP IN HONOR. GIVE ALL YOUR WORRIES AND CARES TO GOD FOR HE CARES ABOUT YOU.” 1 PETER 5-7

As we travel through each day it seems, that in many instances, trouble, anxiety, pressures of the world, worry, doubt and fear all seem to find us. We continue to live in unparalled times. Times of confessed lying, cheating, fear and terrorism. Without our God in heaven, and his heavenly army, these strange struggles seem unbearable. The devil is fighting very hard. Without the knowledge of who we are fighting and without knowing how to fight the fight it is very easy to concede and to go along with the ways of the world. We are in a spiritual battle. It is a battle of good verses evil. It is God against the devil. I think that as we read God’s word he has made it very clear that we are living in the end times and that we should take heed. It is necessary that we humble ourselves before the Lord and allow him to take the lead. Without him it is a lost battle. However, the good news is that the devil has already been defeated. Jesus defeated him when he was sent to the earth, died on the cross with the shedding of his blood and then he went to hell and now sits on the right hand of God our Father. He did all of that for each and everyone of those who have accepted him as their Lord and Savior. We should humble ourselves not only before our God in heaven but also before others, thinking of them as better than ourselves. Be humble. Don’t fear spreading the word of God and the salvation message. Time is running out. We may not know exactly when our Lord is returning but we do know he is at the door. We do know we are living in very exciting times. Take heed. PRAISE THE LORD!

” He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption, caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:4

Our God in heaven is such a gracious God. He has provided us with many promises concerning healings, protection, salvation and forgiveness. If you are not completely familiar with any of these promises you need to start digging into them. As we continue to face the issues of this world we can always depend upon Jesus to move forward before God and defend us, and we can depend upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in the proper direction. We must, however, be familiar with the goodness of God. We must be able to go to God in the name of Jesus and remind him of his promises. We must have the faith and belief to stand upon each and every promise. We must be able to stand up and declare his promises with the strength, belief and surety that they will be and are being fulfilled. If we allow our faith to be stolen from us and allow it to waiver, we are giving into the devil and the world. Without faith God’s promises will not be able to manifest themselves in our lives. God does not force them upon us. He has given us a free will to choose what direction we wish to go. The Lord has taken his stance. He has sacrificed his only son for you and me. He has promised to take care of us in all situations. He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us. However, we must show him our faith and belief in his great word and the promises he has so graciously given us. We must actively profess his word, and the promises contained within his word, to the world. We can no longer set back and put our faith on hold. If we do, defeat is guaranteed in our future. With Jesus we already have the victory! As born again believers we should live and declare the life of righteousness we have been given. BELIEVE YOU RECEIVE BECAUSE GOD IS YOUR SOURCE! PRAISE THE LORD!

” OUR LIVES ARE IN HIS HANDS AND HE KEEPS OUR FEET FROM STUMBLING.” PSALM 66:9

FAITH. I talk about faith a lot because God has laid it upon my heart that faith is the center of all that he asks us to do. Without faith we cannot believe we are healed by God. Without faith we cannot believe we are protected by God. Without faith we cannot believe that Jesus died for our sins, is blessing us with salvation or has sent his Holy Spirit to live within us. Without faith we cannot believe that he is calming all of storms that surround us or that there really is a heaven or hell. I can go on and on with examples of things that we cannot do or have without faith. It is easy to believe in the things of the world, they are all around us. It is so simple to believe in the things we can see, feel and touch. It is not so simple to belirve in the things we cannot readily see, feel or touch. Our God in heaven has done a great thing for us. He has sent his son to die for our sins, our healings and our salvation. However, we must be able to do our part. We must continue to surround ourselves with the things of God, with the word of God, stay in connsistant prayer with God and continue to give him the thanks and praise that HE so richly deserves. Our faith needs to continue to grow. We need to use it and build upon it each and everyday. We are involved in daily spiritual warefare. The devil doesn’t take a vacation. He and his army of evil continue to push forward no matter how silly it may seem. We need to push back and fight the battle. We need to be strong in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Continue to build up your faith and declare the victory our God has given us. PRAISE THE LORD!

” YOU ARE ROYAL PRIESTS, A HOLY NATION, GOD’S VERY OWN POSSESSION. AS A RESULT, YOU CAN SHOW OTHERS THE GOODNESS OF GOD, FOR HE CALLED YOU OUT OF THE DARKNESS INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT.” 1 PETER 2:9

As children of God we are something very special. He has charged us with being Royal Priests, a Holy Nation, God’s very own Possession. We should all take a step back and think about what that really means. We belong to the greatest kingdom ever known. We are the Kingdom of God. We are his church. We have been exposed through his shining existence. All it takes to be saved, by his grace, is to acknowledge him as your Lord and Savior and BELIEVE! We all want to go home to be with him in heaven. However, is there more while we are living and breathing this wonderful life he has given us here on earth? I believe there is much more. I believe in living the life of joy and peace through the grace he has provided for our lives. We need to work hard and be worthy of this great Kingdom we belong to. We need to forgive and forget. We need to show our grace and mercy to others just as God has and continues to show each of us. We are……. Royal Priests, a Holy Nation and God’s very own possession. We should live the goodness of God for all to see. PRAISE THE LORD!

“Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.” 1 Peter 5:9

In order to be able to stand against the devil our faith must be immovable. The devil is very cunning in the way he fights his battles. He doesn’t fight a fair fight. We must realize that the only way we can be in the fight with the evil going on in this world today is to have faith as strong as an immovable mountain. We must continue to build upon our faith. We must stay in constant communication with Jesus. We must have his word with us always. We wouldn’t purposly go out into a rain storm without an umbrella. So we shouldn’t purposly go out into the storms of each day without our Lord. Continue to build upon your faith. PRAISE THE LORD!

“The Lord says, I will will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” PSALMS 91:14

Have you ever thought about what it truly takes to trust in something or someone? In the world we live in it takes good solid evidence for trust to be built. We must see that evidence in action. Over time our trust is built up in the faith we have in the evidence we have seen.

What does it take to trust God and his word? It becomes a little harder when trusting God. Sometimes we don’t see the physical evidence up front but we are asked to read his word and trust that he will produce that evidence. This is completely different than the way of the world. God’s word tells us that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must continually be in God’s word learning about how he stands on the issues we confront. By staying in his word it allows us to stay surrounded with him and knowledgeable of his ways. We live in the world and are surrounded with the world’s ways, constantly being inflenced and pressured. The only way to fight that is by buildig up your faith daily and trusting that our God in heaven will never fail on his promises. PRAISE THE LORD!

” TRUST YOUR LIVES TO THE GOD WHO CREATED YOU, FOR HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.” 1 PETER 4:19

Our God in heaven never fails us. He is true to his word and every promise he has set forth. However, we must remember that God works on his time schedule and not ours. We must never be discouraged but faithful in our faith. PRAISE THE LORD!

In order to be a believer we must have faith. As we become tested each and everyday our faith needs to continue to grow. The devil never gives up. If we are living our faith in Jesus the evil one will fight us harder and harder. The more we do the more we have to fight. Our faith needs to be strong and secure. Great buildings are not built from the top down but a solid foundation is built first and then the building begins to grow and take shape. The same thing happens in faith building. The foundation must first be secured and then we can start building our faith. Like anything else we need to begin believing for smaller things building up to things that need greater faith. The taller our faith building becomes the stronger our faith becomes. The stronger our faith in what our God does for us the more confident we become in using all the power God has given us. The devil will use doubt, worry and fear to fight the faith we have built up. We cannot allow doubt to settle in. We must surround ourselves with the Word of God and not the things of this world. We live in the world but we are spirit beings and are not of this world. We must continue in Christ each and everyday continuing to support our existing faith and continuing to build upon our solid rock, Jesus Christ. PRAISE THE LORD!

” Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster, and their reign of terror will come an end.” Proverbs 22:8

The world we live in today is one of confusion, fear and a lot of anquish. As Christians we are not to live that way. We have to come to the realization that we are in a war. We have been created by our God in heaven to live in this world at this time. We have a purpose. However, we cannot fulfill that purpose or even understand that purpose until we understand what kind of war we are really involved with. To view things from the human point of view we see nothing but defeat, failure, worry, fear and doubt. We see lying, cheating and a lot of fraud that is not being recognized by the world, even though it is prevelant and in plain view. Many step back in fear and worry and live their lives in defeat. Well, God tells us that there are those who are sowing injustice and disaster. They are ruling with threats of of life and of livelihoods. They will, however, be brought to justice. How do we as Christians approach such evil? The first thing we must do is realize that we are involved in a spiritual warfare between God and the devil. This war has been going on for thousands of years but it is about to come to the end. Again, we live in a very exciting time. We are experiencing and will continue to experience things that other generations have not experienced. But, if we don’t stay in constant communication with God we will be unsuccessful in our efforts to help God’s cause. God has won this war with or without our help. The end of this world as we know it is here. The battle is coming to a close. The devil knows it. Why do you think he is working so hard? He wants to take as many of this world to hell with him as he can. We have been given our weapons of war. Now we must suit up for battle by putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. We must continue to truly believe in God’s word and the message he is giving us. We must stay in his word and surround ourselves with it and not surround ourselves with the things of the world. We must continue to stay in continuous prayer. Don’t turn on the mainstream news but go to God’s word instead. He has the truth! We must continue to build upon our faith and not allow even a small crack for the devil to get in. We are in a war. We are going to win. We must not doubt. We must beilieve that we receive because is our source! Be a part of the battles and not just on lookers. PRAISE THE lORD!

“DEAR FRIENDS, I WARN YOU AS TEMPORARY RESIDENTS AND FOREIGNERS TO KEEP AWAY FROM WORLDLY DESIRES THAT WAGE WAR AGAINST YOUR VERY SOULS. BE CAREFUL TO LIVE PROPERLY AMONG YOUR UNBELIEVING NEIGHBORS.” 1 PETER 2:11-12

As we live our lives on this earth we must keep in mind that we are only temporary residents upon this earth. We must live our lives worthy of representing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are living in very troubled times, times in which our faith is being attacked and tested. We must continue to stay strong and completely plugged into Christ. We must continue to build upon our faith daily. Without strong faith in Jesus, and the spiritual things that accompany him, we will struggle mightily in our fight against the devil. However, we are already victorious in Christ. We must believe that we receive because God is our Source! PRAISE THE LORD!

” WHEREVER YOU GO AND WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU WILL BE BLESSED.” DEUTERONOMY 28:6

Our God in heaven has promised us blessings in all that we do and wherever we are. We must assure ourselves of not missing these blessings. We must not become so involved in the world around us that we do not watch for the blessings of God. We need to be in constant commnication with our Lord. If we are, then we will be in tune with his mighty promises and the blessings he provides us each and every day. We must believe that we receive from God before we can receive from God. Doubt is the one of the biggest obstacles that needs to be overcome. Do not allow doubt to rob you of God’s promises and blessings. Continue to build upon your faith and believe! Remember, God never fails on a promise! PRAISE THE LORD!

” I TELL YOU, UNLESS YOU TURN FROM YOUR SINS AND BELIEVE LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, YOU WILL NEVER GET INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. MATTHEW 18:3

It is so important that we build upon the our faith. Sometimes we must take all of our human efforts out of trusting God and begin to trust him just like we trusted our parents when we were children. I remember when I was little I always trusted what my mom would tell me. I had nothing to back that trust except for her word. We need to get to that place in our relationship with God. I know that I find myself trying to figure things out in a worldly way. Afterall, we are surrounded by the world and all the things of the world. We are all educated in the world and are told from the beginning that we can do anythng we set our mind to. In a many cases that is true. God has given us a free will and expects us to make wise decisions. He also gave us a brain to figure things out. However, we are human and often times find ourselves is situations that we can’t seem to get through. We need to believe we receive because God is our source. We need to continue to praise God and pray to him constantly. We need to build upon our faith. The times we live in today present us with unusual circumstances and problems. Without our faith in our Lord we will struggle mightily. We need to continue to build upon our faith. We need to depend upon our God in heaven. He sacrificed his son for us. We are each very special to him. We need to consistantly praise him, pray to him and believe we will receive from him, no matter how long it takes. PRAISE THE LORD!

” You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

It is very important to stay in touch with our Lord God in heaven. We must keep him as the center of our lives in all that we do and think. He deserves our praise and all of the glory we can give him. He sacrificed his son for each and every one of us. WE must build upon our faith each and every day. We must surround ourselves with things and words of God himself. We must speak the word of God. If we don’t we will find ourselves being surrounded with things of this world and becoming depressed and fearful. This is no way to live our lives for Christ. We are here for a purpose and that is to win souls for Christ. God has a uniqued direction for each and everyone of us. We must listen and follow him. PRAISE THE lORD!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.