When you meet someone, it is always polite to introduce yourself. Tell the person your name. When you meet God, He already should know. But in the case of Jacob, he asked a simple and intriguing question. He asked “What is your name?”
Do you know me, God?
In this journey of life, names have a very important meaning. It’s significance connects you to an identity that you own and hold. No one else shares that identity but you. It is an identity given to you by God – together with where you’re born, what nationality you have, what color your skin is, and all the other factors that make you… You.
Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” - Genesis 32:26-28
When God asks
God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Meaning He knows everything – every star, every creature, every hair on your head… And every name under heaven. But as you can see, in this short story, God asked Jacob something that He already knows. A simple question of his name. Why did God ask such a trivial thing?
He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.” - Gensis 27:18-19
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
What is your name? Jacob Changed my Mind | God and you
Sunday, March 6, 2011
What to do if the Panda update affected your site | SEO Marketing | SEO School | Learn SEO Online
As you well know, Google has recently implemented the Panda ‘farmer’ update in their search algorithm. There have been some serious issues with webmasters who have been ‘unjustly’ affected by this change as they claim that they are not content farmers. What should you do if the update has affected your site as a civilian casualty?
Stray bullets
It happened to Cult of Mac blog. What are the chances that it won’t happen to yours? Just in case, I want to let you know that you can tell Google if you have been unjustly affected by the Panda update. How? You can post in a thread created by Google Webmaster Central wherein you can let Google know that your site was affected by the recent algorithm change.
Why did Google allow this thread? Well, take it from Google’s Michael Wyszomierski as he says:
How will Google's Panda update affect your SEO? | SEO Marketing | SEO School | Learn SEO Online
Google has recently updated their search engine algorithm with the latest Panda update. They have applied the changes in the US and it has created controversies and havoc in the internet industry. Now the question is, how will this change affect your site’s SEO once it is released all over the world?
A big question mark
I for one am excited and at the same time a bit anxious on how it will affect some of my blogs. There have been some civilian casualties in the US such as Cult of Mac (which is a blog that discusses about Mac) and other seemingly innocent websites that do not practice content farming at all.
The question we need to ask ourselves is ‘if there have indeed been any civilian casualties, what are the chances that I might be one of them when the change is implemented in my country?’ The bigger question you need to ask yourself is, ‘how does this change affect my site’s SEO?’
The purpose of the Panda
The change is implemented in order to eliminate ‘low quality’ content, or in other words, spammy content trying to rank in the search engines. You have to understand that Google is only trying its best in eliminating results that are not relevant or not useful because its users have requested it.
The Panda update has affected sites like Mahalo, Ezine articles, Wisegeek and a lot of other websites. I was personally surprised that Ezine articles was affected because they do look over and edit their articles (they even reject some) – although perhaps quite loosely. Now they said that they’ll be more strict with the articles they are accepting.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Attitudes of a Problem Solver | God and you
Growing up, I was taught that each of us have our own problems. They come in different ways, sizes and occasions in our life. I also hear them say that God wouldn’t lead me to a problem I cannot solve. Now that I have a personal relationship with Jesus, I DISAGREE.
THE RIGHT MENTALITY
- In The Eye of the Beholder
In Psychology, I remembered one professor who emphasized that when a close friend or even a loved one says, “I understand”, he or she doesn’t fully so because that person merely sees the problem through his or her eyes. No matter how similar your experiences are, the feelings you have will always be unique to you. While this may be true, often times we personally magnify our problems as it is. In many cases, we need others to bring their more objective perspective into the table and state what our real problem is.
When we encounter a re-occurring problem; a bad grade, a scolding from a superior or parent, we immediately draw from our past experiences and conclude why this happened. “I’m not really good at this subject.”, “Oh my mom? Don’t mind her, she’s always been that way.” we say. Our past experiences dictate how to ’solve’ our problems now which then becomes a cycle of the problem arising and being ignored. We shrug it off and stash it inside our closets. Little that we know, the pile’s getting higher, our hearts are getting calloused and tension’s building up.
would you rather be mediocre in a LOT of skills/things, or a total expert in just ONE?
I'd rather be a total expert in one
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
How to Increase Post Readability | SEO Marketing | SEO School | Learn SEO Online
It’s normal for bloggers to have varying post lengths. Sometimes we can go for a quick 300-word post (just the specifics) or a lengthy 1,000-word post (really detailed ones). Whatever the post length is, there’s one sure challenge- to make sure that your readers would actually read it from start to finish. Or at least most of it.
In reality, with the large multi-tasking involved in the internet, people rarely have the time to fully focus on a post and read it from the first to the last words. Even if you manage to draw their attention, you’d have to realize that your content will be skimmed just to get to the main essence.
The Goal of Increasing Post Readability
There are two main goals here. The first, and probably the most important, is to retain a reader’s interest in whatever it is you’re writing. And the second is to be able to highlight your key points or message (because that’s the thing you want to be remembered for). It’s also possible that you want a reader to do an action, based on a post (i.e. visit a site/product, click a link etc.) but the bottom line is, for you to be able to invoke a certain action, you must make sure that it’s readable enough in the first place.
And how do we do that? Here are 4 simple tips that shows you how:
