It is hoped that all is back to form and that we will have no more interruptions in the foreseeable future.

It took us awhile, but we figured out the problem…

As I’ve written about some of the demanding situations involved in working on a hospice team, many of you have been kind enough to encourage me to remember to practice self-care, and you are right. The schedule of emotionally intense work along with daily writing and moderating on Internet Monk does take a toll at times.

I’m thankful for a family that is understanding and gives me lots of room to do what needs to be done, but I am aware that they sometimes get neglected as these vocational pursuits take my time and energy.

Worst of all, I have simply found it harder and harder to find room to simply enjoy life. Many of my patients have taught me better than I have taught them, that no matter how hard or sad or demanding life gets, God gives us daily gifts of refreshment and pleasure that we can accept or ignore. Too often, I’ve left them unopened.

So, I have planned a sabbatical. I will be taking two weeks off from work in October. I will also be taking the entire month of October off from putting up posts and moderating for Internet Monk. Jeff and the other writers, including some new friends and even some of you will be filling in the columns daily and engaging our community of readers in the same kind of vibrant discussion we’re used to here at IM.

As for me, I will do some different things for a few weeks. Simple things. Enjoyable things.

For five days, I will be hanging out with the monks at The Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, being quiet, walking, attending prayers, writing, breathing.

For another week or so, Gail and I will hop in the car, start driving, and get to know each other again. Before our children went to school, October was our favorite month in which to take car trips together. We can do it again now!

On the weeks when I am working, daytime life and ministry will proceed as usual, but when I come home in the evening I will do something other than sit in front of the computer. I love taking pictures in the fall and hope to snap several albums full. I may get reacquainted with my guitar, or even find a new hobby to take up. It’s possible I will brush the cobwebs off my golf clubs and take a few swings.

Maybe we will visit some churches where we’ve always wanted to worship. Perhaps we’ll camp for a weekend. Or make some visits — David Cornwell, put the coffee on — we may stop by and say hi. And Denise, it’s likely we’ll wind our way through the hollows to Oneida sometime during the month.

It’s all just a little more than a week away, and I can taste it.

I am hangin’ on until then…

photo © 2007 Rasmus Olsen | more info (via: Wylio)

First of all, let me say how thankful I am for all of you in our Internet Monk community. You have patiently hung with us as we’ve gone through an absurd number of site problems over the past couple of weeks. I have received emails and messages on Facebook expressing concern, promising prayer, and even offering financial support to help us overcome our difficulties. Thank you all for your loyal love. Please know that we continue to work hard to resolve all issues and put the site on a platform that will enable us to be more secure and stable.

Second, I can’t say enough about the work of our tech guru, Joe Stallard. Joe has generously and kindly given his time and efforts to work with our hosting company to deal with volume issues and hacker attacks. It has at times been frustrating trying to fix complex problems while patiently persevering with online and telephone tech support. Having recently spent over two hours trying to set up a piece of equipment with such tech guidance, I know how irritating and discouraging that can be. I have promised Joe many indulgences for his good works on our behalf.

Now I’ll let him tell you more about what’s been going on.

Joe the Plumber Gives a Brief Post-Mortem
In an effort not to bore you with too much geek gibberish, I’ll try to keep this short.

Following the previous hack of the iMonk website, I had gone through the files located on the server and deleted out several old programs (old forums, old WordPress, etc.) that had just been “stored” on the server.

When our web host restored the site, the backup that they used included those deleted files – which made us vulnerable once again.

photo © 2008 Brad | more info (via: Wylio)Whenever we ask the web host to perform a backup/restore, they always revert to the most recent “good” backup for doing this. In this case – the backup used was a good one but it included the vulnerable files.

The attack that took us down used an automated script. The script is designed to automatically search the internet and looks specifically for old programs that are known to be vulnerable (easy to hack) and easily infected.

Once the script finds a vulnerable program, it will then infect the whole site. In this instance, no damage was done aside from shutting the site down. This shut-down was due to the interaction between WordPress and the platform that we’ve used for iMonk.

When we brought the site back online, I didn’t realize that the “back door” for the attack was once again present.

As a result, it was just a matter of time before we were hit again – and we didn’t have to wait long.

On this occasion, I initially (and mistakenly) thought that we could bring things back rather quickly. After all, we had just been through it and knew the steps to take.

That’s when the real train wreck took place.

A quick call to the web host put the plan into action. In this case, the web host’s security team became deeply involved. After all, the site was hacked, and who better to bring in than the security experts, right?

Wrong.

It seems that Moe, Larry and Curly were on duty.

First of all, they couldn’t get the backup files to compile. The site files were too large and the server overloaded.

So they tried an “alternative method” of performing the backup. One that would run slowly in the background to avoid the overload.

Instead of taking a couple of hours to do the backup/restore – it took some 16 hours to do the backup alone.

Finally finished, we were told that the restore was underway.

A couple of hours later, the site was back. Except for one thing – there was no site and the complete site structure was publicly exposed.

This was a loud and public invitation to all the hackers – “Here I am! Come on in!”

Another phone call. “Yes, this is not a good thing,” they agreed, and the site was taken back down.

At this point, our conversation became really interesting. They insisted that there were no WordPress installations on the site’s backup and that was why there was no WordPress re-installed.

Pointing out the fact that the site had run exclusively on WordPress for some years now resulted in silence from their end.

By now, we were well into the weekend – entering our fourth day without a backup to work from.

Enter the weekend crew.

Our web host has a support “chat” interface that always displays a photo of the support technician on the other end.

The technician that I was in contact with looked to be all of 12 years old and my initial thought was that we now had a high-school kid who worked weekends for some gas money. It really didn’t look good.

Fortunately, my first impression was dead wrong. Within a couple of minutes of back and forth, I realized that the kid on the other end was an uber-geek. Not only did he understand server configuration, he knew WordPress inside out.

We came up with a plan to try and get the site restored. The only thing that appeared to be intact from the piece-meal (and failed) backup on their end was the database. And the database contained ALL the iMonk content for the last several years.

I say that the database “appeared” to be intact because, at this point, my trust in their backup process was just a bit lacking.

So, I began to work through the plan that he had suggested. And, yes, the thought had occurred more than once that this was a plan that shifted the burden of restoring the site away from the web host and put it squarely on us.

Pretty shrewd on their part, I thought. After all, each and every step of what they had been doing had taken us that much further from ever getting the site restored and back online. I’ll be the first to admit – the thought that their failed attempts had done permanent damage was starting to creep in. If this didn’t work, the only remaining option was to rely upon one remaining backup that (hopefully) was in place and not corrupted.

Yes, it’s a “when all else fails” scenario.

The good news is – it worked, but not without a few bumps along the way. First of all, the fresh WordPress install would not connect or communicate with the database.

photo © 2008 Eden, Janine and Jim | more info (via: Wylio)Another call to the host (we were now well into Saturday night) only to discover that our uber-geek had left for the day. But – I was assured that “one of our “senior-level” technicians had just come on duty and would look into it right away.

The not-so-good news was that the “senior-level” technician was not familiar with the WordPress database structure. The good news was that he was, in fact, a knowledgable database administrator and, after a couple of hiccups, managed to get the database restored and communicating with WordPress.

Except for one minor glitch – we couldn’t log into the site. So, another round of “chats” and support ticket communication resulted in some further tweaking of the database settings and we were finally able to get back into our site.

At this point, we were approaching midnight on Saturday, so I just left things alone for a while.

With Sunday dawning, a quick check of the site showed us still online and running with just a couple of glitches.

A little housekeeping brought things back pretty close to normal. At least the train was back on the track – just not quite full throttle.

There are still some widgets to re-build and a tweak here and there, but things seem pretty good for now.

Lest you breathe too deep a sigh of relief, or become a bit complacent, I want to leave you with these words of comfort:

Sometime this week, we move the site to our dedicated server.

Saturday Ramblings went by the wayside—there was no way for me to post it, and even if I had, you wouldn’t have been able to read it.

But we are back, thanks to Joe’s persistence.

Thanks to each of you who wrote to me personally to let me know we were down. If I didn’t respond, it was because I was busy relaying messages from the host site to Joe Stallard. And repenting for using language unbecoming a monk.

Keep praying for us. We need God’s help more than ever.

photo © 2009 *n3wjack’s world in pixels | more info (via: Wylio)

Our top-notch web technician Joe the Plumber has spent all weekend thus far working with our hosting company to restore Internet Monk after a hacker’s attack shut us down.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We value your partnership here at IM and thank you for your understanding and patience.

It is hoped we will be back to posting new articles later today.

Thanks,

Chaplain Mike

And we loved them both.

This morning I am going to share two things with you. There are a couple of items I want to update for you. That’s what I’m doing now. But I also had something on my heart to share with you concerning our trust in the Lord, and that’s what I’m going to do next. This afternoon, Lisa Dye has an essay to share with you that is frankly some of the best writing I have read. The Lord is using what she wrote to mess with my heart. So you will have a full plate today. Loosen your belt and let’s dig in.

Update #1: A few weeks ago I wrote about how iMonk Adam Palmer and his family were held up at gunpoint in their home. The robbers took Adam’s computer, which was his tool for making a living as a writer and editor. I asked you to give generously toward a new computer for Adam, and you did. You gave nearly $1200 in just a few short days. That is incredible. I love this community.

The police caught four of the five boys—boys, ages 14-17—who did this. They were otherwise good boys who went on a weekend rampage of terror, complete with carjackings, house break-ins, and finishing with murder. The same shotguns they leveled at Adam, his wife and their children were used the next day to kill a 16 year old boy.

The police recovered Adam’s laptop, but not in the same shape as it was. And it was now evidence in a homicide investigation. Just last night Adam ordered a new computer using the money you so generously gave. He told me how humbled and grateful he is. He wants to write about this ordeal once he and his family are a bit more settled. You can keep praying for the Palmers as they look for another place to live, and for peace to be restored to their shattered hearts. You can also pray for the boys who committed these crimes.

Update #2: Yesterday morning I awoke to a not-so-fun note on our web site saying our account was suspended. No doubt many of you saw it too. (For the record, JoanieD was the first to email me directly to point out the problem. Way to represent Maine, Joanie!) I quickly emailed our web master, Joe Stallard, who then called me. He had good news and bad news for me.

The good news is there are now so many of us iMonks—some 80,000 to 100,000 unique visitors every month—that we have overloaded the server at our host site.  The bad news is because of this our hosts have said we need to be on a dedicated server. That’s good news, because it will mean a more secure (fewer crashes) web operation. But it’s bad news because … it means more money. Whereas I was paying $12.99  a month for our shared server space, the dedicated server will now cost us $85 a month—starting today.

Did I mention to you last week I am now working at Target?

You are such generous givers. You really are. Again, look at what you did for Adam and Michelle. And some of you have donated to our site when you have very little money on your own. You have given as the widow did when she gave her last two coins. God will not forget that.

Are there a few people in our community (our rather large community) who could give several thousand dollars to help us pay all our expenses, and maybe even pay our writers? Yes, I’m sure there are. But you know what? I kind of hope no one does that. I think it is a lot better to have many contribute ten or fifteen dollars than one person do it all. But that’s just me. Should God lay it on your heart to write a five-figure check to iMonk, I won’t stop you.

Pray for us. Pray for each writer as you read their essays. Remember to pray for our First Lady Denise Spencer. And know we are praying for you and for our little gather. One hundred thousand unique visitors a month? Well, if we get together on July 4, someone else is going to have to bring the potato salad…

This site was begun by Michael Spencer more than eleven years ago. Michael passed away in April of 2010 (you can read his story here). Before his passing, Michael and his wife Denise asked me to take over the site, with Chaplain Mike serving as editorial director and the main contributor. We were very honored and humbled to try to fill Michael’s shoes. And then we quickly realized we couldn’t fill his shoes, so we decided to just wear our own. Since that time, we have added more writers and completed a major redesign of the site. But our focus remains presenting a Jesus-shaped spirituality. We strive to be guides in the post-Evangelical wilderness.

I’d like to answer some questions that you would ask if you had the chance. Being the publisher allows me the opportunity to both ask and answer the questions. So sit back, relax, and let me handle all of the heavy lifting.

What exactly does a publisher of a blog do?

Good question. I wish I knew. I have been in the book publishing world for a long time, so this is rather new territory for me. I want to first of all protect the legacy begun by our founder, while at the same time not staying where he left it. I work with our writers to help them craft their ideas into the best essays possible. I get mad at our hosting service whenever we encounter a problem. I buy meals for Chaplain Mike when I pass through his hometown. I’d like to find a way to make money for Chaplain Mike, Denise and our writers. If you know of any way to make money with one of the most read blogs of any sort on the internet. let me know.

I understand some blogs sell essay space to “guest writers.” Have you considered doing that?

Not for a nanosecond. I know many blogs do this. I get emails on a regular basis from publicity agents wanting their clients to be able to write for us and push a product—and they are willing to pay for this privilege. But as long as I am at the helm, we will never do this. What would you think if your pastor allowed a “guest speaker” in the pulpit this Sunday to speak and to promote his new book or movie or whatever, and you learned he had paid the church for that access? We will not sell essay space. Period. Ever.

How did you find the writers you are now using?

Well, I know this sounds trite, but God brought us together in a variety of ways. Chaplain Mike was already here, as was Mike Bell. Chaplain recommended Damaris Zehner. I met Lisa Dye at a writer’s conference. Joe Spann is a good friend and spiritual mentor of mine from my church. Adam Palmer (who also goes to my church, and is also a very close friend and spiritual guide for me) and I have written a number of books together. And Martha of Ireland came to our attention by her great comments.

Are you looking for more writers?

Well, I am always on the lookout for great writers for a number of opportunities. But I doubt we will add anyone else to the iMonk roster for a while. I really have turned down New York Times bestselling authors who wanted to write for us. It takes a special person to speak to the monks who reside here. I love all of our writers. They are the best group of authors I have ever been privileged to work with.

How do you and Chaplain Mike get along?

About as well as a God-fearing Reds fan and a godless Cubs fan can. Seriously, Chap is one of my best friends. He is kindness and gentleness personified. He is insightful and very gifted in sharing these insights. He writes so well I have never had to suggest an edit. Really, Chaplain Mike is the driving force and direction-setter for Internet Monk. He loves writing, and he truly cares for you.  I only wish I could find a way to pay him more than compliments.

How can we help with your expenses?

Great question. You can donate through PayPal (see the top righthand side of this page). You can advertise your business or ministry with us. And if you see a link to a book we mention and want to buy it, go through that link. We get a small percentage of any product purchased if you use the link provided on our site.

How else can we help?

Pray for us. Pray for each of our writers. Pray for Denise Spencer. Pray. Tell others about iMonk. And continue to comment. We don’t want this to be a one-way discussion.

Can I suggest stories for Saturday Ramblings?

Sure. Send them to me at jeff@internetmonk.com.

Aren’t you afraid of getting a lot of spam by giving out your email like that?

I can’t get any more than I already receive. The good news is I won’t have to worry about it much longer. I have just been contacted by a woman from Ivory Coast who needs to transfer her fortune out of her country, and is willing to give me half. All my problems are over…

I like your book reviews. Will you review the book I’ve written (or published)?

We love to read here at the iMonastery. Our library is overflowing with books sent to be reviewed. And while we are grateful for all of the hard work put in to write and publish these works, we cannot and will not review most that are sent to us. Those we think you, our fellow iMonks, would like to know about we put in our “I hope I can get around to this one soon” pile. I hand them out to the other writers in hopes they will get excited enough to read and write about them. To be honest, the books we tend to review are not going to be the mainstream, “you can find this at your local Christian bookstore on the front table” kind of books. The next one I want to review was written by an agnostic rock and roll drummer. It also happens to be one of the best books I have ever read.

If you have a book you would like us to consider for review, it might be best to email me first. I can then give you the address where you can send it.

I love the way your site looks and works. I need a new site design. Can I talk with your designer?

Absolutely. Joe Stallard is not only brilliant and hard working, he is also a very nice man. You can get to him at his site. Tell him Jeff sent you.

One last question. How are you such a big Cincinnati Reds fan if you live in Tulsa, Oklahoma?

Because I was born in Lebanon and grew up in Centerville, both located in southwest Ohio near Cincinnati. And if you will be near Centerville on the 4th of July, be sure to come to the Americana Festival and Parade. I’ll be the MC of the parade again this year—I think this is my 18th year to do so—and will be right in the middle of town on a stage with a microphone. Come by and say hi. And if it’s hot, bring me some water.

Thank you for stopping by. We love the fact you are here. You are the reason we do what we do.

Honestly, numbers like that don’t mean as much to us as each one of you do. You come here and share your hurts, your pains, your life with us. And we are very humbled indeed that you would do so. Chaplain Mike and I recently shared lunch together and one of us said—I think it was Mike, but it may have been been me; goat curry can tend to mess with one—that even though we are not getting paid for this, we would not trade what we get to do for anything. We truly are blessed to be serving you in this way.

Joe Stallard, our faithful web master, recently completed an update to the site to make it more user-friendly. The changeover went incredibly smoothly, thanks entirely to Joe. We hope you like the new format and find it helps you to get where you want to go faster and easier.

We want to hear from you how we can make the InternetMonk an even better place for you to come and visit. What are some changes/additions you would like to see? This is a chance for you to be the “program director” as it were. Well, ok, not really. But it’s a chance for you to share your thoughts and ideas. We can’t do it all, at least not right away, but we will consider all of your ideas.

I want to say once again how incredibly blessed I am to be working with the greatest writers on the planet. I get emails all the time (and I do mean that) asking for more posts from Damaris Zehner  and Lisa Dye. I would love to have a regular spot for them—we’re working on that. And as you get to know Joe Spann, Mike Bell and Adam Palmer, I’m sure you will want to hear from them more often as well. I talked yesterday with someone I am hoping will begin to contribute regularly. He will definitely stir things up.

Here are some starter questions:

• Would you like for us to add a regular podcast or video cast? Is this something you would take advantage of if it were offered?
• We try to post something twice a day—morning and evening. Is that good for you? Do you have time to read and digest two posts a day?
• Are there subjects you would like to see us tackle? (I don’t tell any of the writers what to write about. They are free to take on whatever is on their hearts. But I can toss out ideas.)
• Are book reviews helpful to you? Are there books you want us to consider reviewing?
• Do you have any desire to meet me in person? I do travel some, and would love to have lunch or dinner with a group of iMonks when I come through your town. My next roadie will be toward the end of March. It will take me through El Paso and then on to Phoenix/Scottsdale. Spring Training baseball, anyone?  (There is a restaurant in Scottsdale right off of the 101 called White Chocolate Cafe that has the best carrots in the world. Yes, carrots.)

Finally, I want to thank those of you who have made financial contributions to us. This enables me to pay for our hosting, buy books to review, and other things. (Yes, “other things” includes taking care of our First Lady in a small way.) You can donate through the home page by using the PayPal button. It goes into the account of Electric Moon Publishing, but all goes toward this site. Thank you. I mean it. Thank you very much.

Ok. Comment away. I look forward to hearing your ideas.

I want to point out that Chaplain Mike and our other writers write as individuals. They do not have to clear their topics or specific essays with me beforehand. I trust each as men and women with hearts that long after our living God. That said, I wanted you to know I wholeheartedly endorse all that Chaplain Mike writes in his essay. The dumbing-down of the faith in our culture has now gone to the “idiocy” stage.  Our best response is to laugh at these people. If you think that is a cruel response, I would say that reducing inspired Scripture to the level of a theme park is hideously cruel to those whose faith is at stake.

Now, enjoy your time here at the Internet Monk. You never know what we might skewer next…

By Chaplain Mike

con•fab•u•la•tion
–noun
1. the act of confabulating; conversation; discussion.

Today, I want to give a shout out to the Internet Monk community for an engaging, thoughtful, considerate, and helpful discussion on yesterday’s post, “A Conversation We Must Have.”

It makes one hopeful.

We certainly didn’t all agree. We came at the subject from a number of different perspectives, and I was happy that we were able to listen so well to all the diverse voices and opinions that were expressed. I only had to throw out a few gentle encouragements to help us stay on track, no more. In fact, I’ve coined a new word to describe all of you—Confabulous!

I don’t need to go on. I just want to say, “Thank you.” Being able to be part of discussions like these is why we do what we do here at IM. You encourage me, and for that I am grateful.

You know, I wasn’t sure the conversation would end up that way. I was afraid it might turn out like this—