So you asked some important questions on Tuesday and got a lot of feedback. Have you come to any decisions?

Maybe.

Don’t play coy with me, young man.

I discovered some interesting things about my readers.

Do tell.

Well, they’re pretty fantastic, for one thing. I really do appreciate the honesty with which they responded and the advice they gave. And it wasn’t just a bunch of “don’t go” stuff, but some very well-reasoned and thought-provoking suggestions.

Have you come to any conclusions?

It’s too early in the post to answer that. First we need to build suspense.

You’re not Alfred Hitchcock, you know.

Don’t sass me. You know what I liked most about the answers on Tuesday? The diversity. A bunch of readers were fine with the recent direction of the blog. But about the same number preferred the old stuff. Some wished I would be less serious and go back to the scattered, post-about-whatever blog. Some liked the laser focus on doubt here because it’s fairly unique in the Christian blogosphere, and it encourages them. Others were honest and said they weren’t fans of the doubt stuff and wished I’d move on. Some even questioned my motives in writing about it.

Whoa. Did they agree on anything at all?

Yes. Everyone hates all the ads on Beliefnet. They are sloppy and intrusive and annoying.

Including us.

You think we’re sloppy and intrusive and annoying?

No. I mean the part about hating the ads.

Oh. Right. Anyway — perhaps surprisingly — another agreement was that everyone seemed cool with longer posts. And that’s pretty encouraging, because long posts are one of those things I do that flat-out break the rules of blogging. Just ask Michael Hyatt.

Also, you start too many sentences with “And.”

That’s not a blogging rule. That’s a 9th grade English teacher rule. It’s OK to break that one.

Would Mrs. Lehnick agree?

Leave her out of this, buddy.

So what next?

No major changes initially. I really do want to transition to more of a personal, less-focused blog, but I don’t feel Beliefnet is the place to do it. If I’m going to blog here, it needs to have a religious/spiritual theme. So I’m thinking I’ll scale way back on the Beliefnet posts. Maybe once or twice a week, and then only if I have something interesting to say. Probably still about faith and science and questions and stuff. My handlers here are OK with that.

You call them “handlers”?

Yes. It makes me feel like a spy. I make them call me “The Quizzical Fox.” It’s my field name.

What about the personal stuff?

I’ve begun making plans to reopen jasonboyett.com as a personal blog. I want to keep some kind of robust web presence in order to maintain whatever platform I’ve built as a writer, but I want it to be fun — not a duty. So once I’ve set up shop there, it will become my home base. Not Beliefnet.

So you’ll do more of these self-interviews?

Probably. They’re fun, right?

Fun for us. Your readers probably just think you’re being narcissistic.

You had to look that word up in order to spell it correctly, didn’t you?

Yes.

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Thanks everyone. I really do appreciate all the advice, encouragement, praise, and honest criticism. All of it is good and necessary. I’ll keep you informed as I move forward, and I am grateful for readers like you.