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What is a Permalink?

Periodically, I'm asked "What is a Permalink?" It is a link to something that doesn't become extinct. For example, I you link to something on the main page of my blog, it will looking something like this:

http://www.markdroberts.com/#jul1806

#jul1806 is the specific "address" of a blog entry on my main page. But in a week or so, thispost won't exist on my main page, so the the link will no longer be good. Yet because I save all of my posts in some permanent location, either in a series or in an archive, you can still access the content of this blog entry. To do so, however, you need the permalink:

http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/
resources/gospelsreliable-more.htm#jul1806

This works today, and it should work next year, and the year after that, as long as my website is alive. You can access a permalink on my website by clicking on the pink button:

Bloggers like permalinks because their use enables them to link to something without having that link go bad in a few days.

Because I tend to write blog series, rather than individual posts, I also use a series permalink, which connects to the whole series rather than individual entries. You can access the series permalink by clicking on the gray button:

Vacation Pictures

Since I have to put my post-vacation photo sharing on hold for a few days, let me include a couple of vacation shots for my newsletter readers. You'll find them at the bottom of the page.

Last Month's Blogging Review

In July my was focused mainly in two series:

What's Good About Denominations?

and

Are the New Testament Gospels Reliable? Further Thoughts

In the first part of August I was on vacation. My blogging in these two series continued, but on my "vacation" website, markdroberts . . . afoot and afield. You can find an index of my vacation blogging in my Year in Review page.

Future Blogging Plans

My tradition following vacation is to post a collection of pictures and reflections. I began putting up some wonderful pictures of natural scenes and will surely continue in the next couple of weeks. Check out:

Summer Sights 2006.

However, my blissful post-vacation blogging has been interrupted by yet another Presbyterian Church USA crisis. This one concerns a controversial book published by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. I need to take a couple of days, at least, to blog on this latest fiasco. You can find it at the top of my blog, or at:

The PCUSA Book Crisis

Reviews and Recommendations 

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, by N. T. Wright

This book stands in the tradition of C. S. Lewis's classic Mere Christianity. It is a popular, engaging explanation of why Christianity makes sense in today's world.

N.T. Wright is one of the top New Testament scholars in the world, but he's also a pastor who can communicate well with lay people and with a secular audience. His case for Christianity is theologically sound and culturally relevant.

I highly recommend this book, and expect I'll say more about it in my blog.

Zorro: A Novel, by Isabel Allende

This fascinating novel seeks to tell the back-story of Zorro, the fictional hero of 19th century California. Zorro reads as if it's a biography, setting this story in the context of American and European history. But, alas, it is fiction.

I grew up loving Zorro, with his black mask and swishing sword. Allende's novel is for adults and mature children, I might add. It's a fascinating look at how a person becomes a super-hero.

My family and I went rafting on the Salmon River in Idaho. Even though were
were late in the season, there were still some Class III rapids. In this shot,
my daughter almost goes into the river. Thank God I was able to grab
her life jacket. (Yes, there was someone on the shore taking pictures.)

This is a picture of my daughter and her friend dancing on a dock on Swan Lake,
Montana, where we spent a week. The sunsets were spectacular, as you can see.