Hey there, everybody. Merry Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy New Year to you. I’ve recently been enjoying reading some of the other lists out there, reminded of a few posts I really enjoyed and found a few along the way that I had missed… so in the Christmas spirit of giving, I thought I’d add a list of my own.
First off a big thanks to the over 20,000 visitors to the blog this year. I haven’t generally kept up with blog stats, but that’s what the folks at Analytics are saying, and so a big thanks to all of you for stopping by. May God continue to be good and kind to you, and stir us all up more and more.
Here are the top 12 blog posts from Having Two Legs since January 1 of 2012:
1. Jesus and the Bikinis This post is the single most read article on this blog by a pretty good margin. I think this is still a hugely important point, and I’m really thankful that it’s gotten so many reads. Keep passing it around.
2. Justin Bieber Porn I get most of my traffic for this post off searches for “justin bieber” and “justin bieber porn.” I’m guessing it’s not my usual blog traffic demographic. I hope maybe a few folks have been interrupted by this post, maybe a few have been rethinking things a bit.
3. Fundy Politics This isn’t usually a very explicitly political blog (though I do believe there is a deep political undercurrent), but in the aftermath of the presidential election, I threw a few left hooks and called for a Bible thumping reformation.
4. Really Worshipping with Kids I write these kinds of posts for myself and my family as much as for anyone else. But I’m up front preaching and leading worship most Sundays and our church is full of kids (around 100 under the age of 10!). That means I get to see all you parents in action (including my own wife). And you need to know that when you offer it all up to the Lord, He is really pleased.
5. The Discipline of the Grace of Donuts I wrote this little missile because our community (and I suspect many others out there) is trying to grow up into a biblical maturity on issues of liturgy and heart, fasting and feasting, law and grace. There are all kinds of angles on this topic, but this was one attempt to hold the tensions together, embracing everything that Jesus says.
6. How to Give Your Testimony if You Grew Up in the Church I’m really thankful that this post has been making the rounds. As a child who grew up in the Church, and as a father and pastor watching hundreds of more children growing up in my own church, this is a hugely important issue facing us. We don’t want to underestimate the blessings of the covenant, but that can’t mean the salvation of our children is any less miraculous and stupendous.
7. Cute Mormon Secularists Here’s a few thoughts on our resident secularist cultural gate keepers and the fact that their slip is showing (in more ways than one).
8. Preaching into the Grave I think this is a key component in evangelical preaching. May God be kind and grant us a host of mighty men with the courage to preach resurrection.
9. Fight for Your Right to Party: Job vs. Shane Claiborne This article represents another angle on how loyalty and obedience to Jesus means holding tensions together. In this case the dual demand of discipleship to both be peacemakers and wage wage against sin, death, and the devil. This means embracing the fight before us while still longing and praying for peace.
10. In Defense of Pastoral Tweet Bombing This post caused a bit of stir, but I think it’s a lesson we’re all called to learn. A little more Jesus-loving, fearless truth telling would be good for this lie infested world we live in.
11. Of Gnats and Camels and Rat Poison This is an important post about the state of the church. It starts off as a response to my claim regarding the worthlessness of praying to icons but includes all the ways Christians in various traditions are tempted to idolatry and the closely connected instincts many have to defend said idols in the name of traditions and footnotes in Latin.
12. Why Fight? Finally, this might be a good summary of one of the lessons I’ve learned this year. This is a running theme through many of the above posts and tries to address the temptations we all have to lay our swords down when Jesus calls us into the fray. May 2013 find all of us loving Jesus and even more belligerent.
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