Every year I try to take stock of how you have received what I write. Here are the top ten, most-read posts of 2024. This list might help you catch up with what people found important if you are new to the site.
2024
I will always long for community
Looking back over my development, I celebrate how I built community, but more how it built me.
Robert Putnam in his 80’s: The cause of our aloneness is moral
Putnam made an impact on me decades ago with his often-quoted book Bowling Alone. Some people rediscovered him this year.
Conversion: The smoking woman and the dejected church planter
My dear friend got me to recount my church planting to her and it helped me celebrate how it converted me.
Emergent identities: The queer future of the church, too
At the CAPS Conference, Mark Yarhouse helped me see the proliferation of identity labels and how the culture is quickly moving away from them.
How do we build the new community we need?
Post-pandemic and pre-Trump-2, community feels hard to build. I give reasons and suggestions.
Receive the shush of God and face today’s troubles.
News about the Congo leads me to look for the comfort God gives and I find a “shush” right where I need it.
Grief: Make room to grieve in every way you need
There is grief behind the meanness. My friend wrote a book that gives wonderful help in how to move through it which inspired this post.
The impact of siblings: Five things you are probably sharing
Psychologists used to think the parents, mainly mother, had the greatest influence on a child’s development. Now siblings are getting their due.
A few tweaks to improve “Draw Me Close To You.”
I dare to have a few issues with another classic Evangelical song. I try to make it less transactional and perpetually aspirational, more present.
The election of Donald Trump (again!) challenges us to hold on to the truth somehow. I offer some basis for listening for the truth.
Top Ten from earlier years
I am not sure why some posts become the search-engine go-to or why some are linked to popular sites and others aren’t. Some of these posts are perennial favorites, with thousands or views each year.
Exploring DBT skills with Jesus: Ever thought you’re an idiot? Read this (2019)
A spiritual midwife: God’s helpers in birthing new life (2013)
The common emotion wheels need unpacking (2023)
Who Are You? — In honor of Teresa de Jesus (2019)
The Stages of Faith: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water (2018)
FFF #17 — Brendon Grimshaw and his Seychelles wonder (2022)
Group communication “sad?” Try on some Virginia Satir. (2023)
Slander divides: Six ways to overcome it (2023)
Undo triangulation in the church: Practice Matthew 18 (2019)
Patsy Cline leads the way after the midnight of the world (2021)
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