Tag Archives: top ten

Top Ten Posts of 2023

A life in the Spirit, Climate, Doing Theology, Film/TV, Life as the church, Marriage and Family, Music, Psychological growth, Spiritual direction

2023

Group communication “sad?” Try on some Virginia Satir.
My new group reminded me of two things Virginia Satir taught me: 1) Tell your own story, 2) Be aware of your communication style.

Slander divides: Six ways to overcome it
Trump has unleashed a slanderfest. If it threatenes to swallow you, what are some things you can do? I’ve needed to try a few myself!

The Upside-down Apocalypse: Power fantasies be damned
My acquaintance, Jeremy Duncan, wrote an intriguing commentary on Revelation that makes so much sense I wanted to add my review to advertise it.

A call to prayer: Frodo and Sza on Mt. Doom
The dialogue Frodo has with Sam and Gollum on Mt. Doom is just like what is happening in us (and Sza).

The Spirit of God is Praying for You
Forget cetrainty. Prayer is all about discerning the presence of God who is constantly praying for us, who desires to be with us and hopes to see us flourish.

The Sad History of Christians Co-opted by the Powerful
The good things Jesus creates and recreates in the world are always threatened by some power that wants to co-opt them or just eliminate their alternativity.

The Common Emotion Wheels Need Unpacking
The emotion wheel charts imply emotions just happen in us, they are built in, “it is what it is.” I not only think we make meaning of our thoughts and feelings, I think we make choices that create them and heal them.

Beyond Trauma and Resilience Is Love
Psalm 139 has always been a good reminder, a symbolic representation, of what we all know in our deepest hearts beyond our brokenness. We were created in love.

I am Disconnected: Why? Can I change?
A perfect storm of troubles has atomized the country and wicked people are capitalizing on our disconnection to seize power and keep us divided, as they historically do in such circumstances.  What should we do?

The Wonder of Being Saved: A collection of Ways
Nobody in The Whale wanted to be saved. If you do, there are many ways to get there and stay there.

2022

FFF #17 — Brendon Grimshaw and his Seychelles wonder
I loved being in solidarity with the Fridays for the Future climate strikers.

The church in the rearview mirror
While on retreat I get some vision for my future that might help you move on, too.

I believe in you: I’m rarely talking about me
My 50th reunion gives me a lot to love about the community I have.

Jesus gives 5 ways to endure the shame: Kansans lead the way 
The first followers of Jesus would applaud the declarations of independence from corrupt Christianity some people are proclaiming.

Should I forgive them if they never offer an apology? 
Forgiveness is hard under all circumstances. When reconciliation is unlikely, it is even harder.

“How I Got Over:” Mahalia Jackson helps us do 2022
I have been singing with Mahalia all year. She did, indeed, help me get over.

The new movement of the Spirit takes lament, commitment, action
Time with the Jesus Collective inspires me to move with the Spirit now.

Overwhelm: The feeling and what we can do about it
The word of the year might be “overwhelm.”  Better to name it than just wear it.

Three reasons the Trump effect is not over yet
The elements of the Trump effect are not going away too soon. The wickedness has a “trickle down” impact.

In this uncertain now: Who are you Lord and who am I?
I have had a tough couple of years in a few ways. How about you? Who are you and who is God now?

Top ten posts from the past — many of them read more than 2023’s

Top Ten Posts of 2022

A life in the Spirit,

I like to write and would probably do it whether anyone read my writings or not. But it is nice to be heard. Thanks for listening. Thanks, especially, to you who have responded, personally, in some way this year. You encouraged me.

I hope to encourage you, too. I hope you develop psychologically, spiritually and relationally by visiting my site. If I have a gift for you, I am happy when you receive it. Let’s stay on the journey together in 2023!

2022

FFF #17 — Brendon Grimshaw and his Seychelles wonder
I loved being in solidarity with the Fridays for the Future climate strikers.

The church in the rearview mirror
While on retreat I get some vision for my future that might help you move on, too.

I believe in you: I’m rarely talking about me
My 50th reunion gives me a lot to love about the community I have.

Jesus gives 5 ways to endure the shame: Kansans lead the way 
The first followers of Jesus would applaud the declarations of independence from corrupt Christianity some people are proclaiming.

Should I forgive them if they never offer an apology? 
Forgiveness is hard under all circumstances. When reconciliation is unlikely, it is even harder.

“How I Got Over:” Mahalia Jackson helps us do 2022
I have been singing with Mahalia all year. She did, indeed, help me get over.

The new movement of the Spirit takes lament, commitment, action
Time with the Jesus Collective inspires me to move with the Spirit now.

Overwhelm: The feeling and what we can do about it
The word of the year might be “overwhelm.”  Better to name it than just wear it.

Three reasons the Trump effect is not over yet
The elements of the Trump effect are not going away too soon. The wickedness has a “trickle down” impact.

In this uncertain now: Who are you Lord and who am I?
I have had a tough couple of years in a few ways. How about you? Who are you and who is God now?

2021

1. Fridays for the Future #6 — Phoenix/Tucson the most unsustainable: It’s about water
My trip to Arizona gets me thinking about climate change

2. Why are the Post-Covid regimes so cruel?
Experiences with hurting leaders makes me wonder

3. Osheta Moore: When White Supremacy runs the stop sign
Hanging on to being the beloved.

4. The love story about God and us: Another version on Netflix
The atonement debated on the tube!

5. Jesus Collective is taking us back to the future on the “third way”
I take a stab at affirming the transcendence that make the “third way” more than a compromise.

6. Resources for Understanding and Impacting the Borderlands
My gateway to the treasure trove of resources I collected on my MCC pilgrimage to the borderlands

7. Criticism is undermining relationships like never before
One of the “four horsemen” of relationships is riding roughshod over the country.

8. Does it take too long to make a good friend?
We are a lonely bunch of people these days, aren’t we?

9. Rebuild after an affair: 4 basic nutrients for new love
My clients and friends long to keep their marriages together, but can’t see how.

10. Find your contemplation where you can
There are many ways to connect with God. No need to feel tyrannized.

Some posts from the past were read even more than 2022’s

Top Ten Posts for 2020

Life as the church

Thanks for reading in 2020!

Visits to my blog grew by about 25% this year. That’s kind of fun. 

Everyone who writes a blog makes their top-ten-most-read list at the end of the year because we want to see if we can get more people to read our stuff. I write because I like to and I have something to say — not just to get attention. But I would still like you to subscribe and experience my hopefully-nurturing, educating stuff.

Before we get to me, here’s a top ten video from an odd guy I relate to:

Here’s my top ten most-read blog posts, starting with #1

Tarot: Where is your reading leading?
My generous but skeptical take on the boomlet of tarot interest gets read every day.

Askers vs. Guessers: Where is Jesus on the spectrum?
I put my spin on a popular internet question. PA is full of guessers.

Cornel West: We’ve got a love the world can’t take away
Cornel West was so great with Anderson Cooper I wanted everyone to get a transcript.

Show up for your kids: Let go of your “helicopter God”
Anxious parents trying to protect their kids are developing anxious kids who can’t trust God.

Dahleen Glanton: White people, you are the problem
A journalist from Chicago tells it like it is about white privilege.

Everything is canceled: How to help each other deal with the disappointment
I adapt some common knowledge, which we still need because everything is STILL canceled.

Will people grow up before the church gets wrecked?: Eliza’s question and Janet’s answer
We wish everyone would develop a taste for the both/and of spiritual growth in the Bible. People on their earlier journey often need things a bit more “this or that.”

5 rules for life in the pandemic: Help for church survival
I collated some common understandings of how to practically help one another survive.

Turning: The basic skill of spiritual survival and growth
This was actually written in December of 2019, but it was in the top ten for 2020 so I put it in. I think turning really is the unadvertised spiritual lesson we forget every day.

In this world you will suffer: The Lord’s unloved promise
2020 was so full of suffering for all of us, we need to keep daring to talk about it – since Jesus saves us through it and in it.