500th Post…
This is my 500th post. I started blogging March 21, 2006 with two posts (it was an ambitious start): “Welcome” and “Questions“. I started this blog asking questions, and I continue to ask questions. I discussed these questions (and some of my answers) just after my first blogiversary in a post called “Answers to Questions“.
I didn’t start blogging “regularly” until around November 9, 2006. In the first 8 months of this blog, I posted a total of 83 posts from March 21, 2006 through November 1, 2006 (an average of 0.37 post per day – or 1 post every 2.7 days). From November 9, 2006 through today (counting this post) I have posted a total of 417 posts (an average of 1.45 post per day – or 1 post every 0.69 days – 16 hours).
Unfortunately, I did not start tracking statistics on this blog until the middle of November. However, since then, these are the top 10 most viewed posts on my blog (unique pageviews):
- The Church or the Organization?
- All people will know that you are my disciples…
- Ephesians 4:11 and the Five-Fold Ministry…
- Ephesians 4:7-16 and Consistency…
- Leadership, Obedience, and Authority…
- Please allow me to introduce myself…
- What does a bishop oversee?
- Creating Church Organization…
- How Does God Communicate?
- Matthew 18 and Discipline…
Besides the posts listed above, here are the posts that received the most comments (but not in order):
Exercising authority…
Local church again…
Missional…
Ephesians 4:7-16 and the Growing Church…
Reflections on The Last Twelve Verses of Mark: Original or Not?
Slaves with private offices?
Who is your pastor?
The Holy Spirit has made you overseers…
Minimalist Definition of the Church…
The Sunday Thing…
Messy Meetings…
Is unity important?
New Barna Article on House Churches
Employment…
I’ve enjoyed interacting with all of the people who read and comment on this blog. I’ve learned much from all of you. I appreciate the constant encouragement and challenges that you offer. I look forward to reading each of your comments. My desire is to continue pointing you toward maturity in Christ and to be encouraged toward maturity in Christ from you.
As we write and read, may we all consider one another in order to stir up [one another] toward love and good works.
Please allow me to introduce myself…
Whenever someone compliments me concerning this blog, I immediately think about the great comments that I have read in response to the blog posts. This is not false modesty. (Of course, someone with false modesty would say that, right?) I truly believe that I have some of the greatest readers of any blog. I am constantly encouraged and challenged by the comments – yes, even and especially those who disagree with me.
Now, I am going to ask you, my dear readers, a favor. Would you introduce yourselves? Yes, I am asking you. If you prefer to remain anonymous, that is okay. You can leave an anonymous post, but please leave as much information about yourself that you feel comfortable leaving. If you have never left a comment here, but you read my blog, I’m asking you to introduce yourself as well – anonymous or not.
What kind of information would I like to know about you? Well, I don’t want to know your shoe size or your credit card numbers. Please tell us any of the following that you feel comfortable with: name, location, gender, age, marital status, etc. Also, you can tell us something interesting about yourself. By the way, even if I know you personally, please introduce yourself so that my other readers can get to know you as well.
This blog is primarily aimed at studying the church in Scripture. So, please leave a quick answer to this question: Why are you interested in the church?
Finally, I want you to know that I appreciate you and the time that you spend reading what I write and interacting here. By the way, if you choose not to introduce yourself, there will be no repercussions. God will still love you.
[UPDATE: Mike asked me to tell something about myself, so here goes.
My name is Alan. I’m 40 years old (that’s hard to type). I’ve been married for 18 1/2 years to Margaret. We met when we were both in the 4th grade and started dating when we were in the 9th grade. We have two children: a 13 yr old son and a 10 yr old daughter. We are all from Alabama (well, actually my wife was born in South Carolina, but moved to Alabama when she was 2). We’ve also lived in the Atlanta area, and now live in Youngsville, North Carolina, just north of Raleigh. We started homeschooling our children almost 5 years ago, just after moving to NC. We have two dogs: a Border Collie mix named Lucy and a Scottish Terrier named Aggie. I am a Ph.D. student in Biblical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS). My mentor is David Alan Black. I work as a web developer at SEBTS and an adjunct professor of Greek at Southeastern College at Wake Forest. I am one of the pastors of Messiah Baptist Church. I cannot blow bubbles with my tongue.
Why am I interested in the church? The church is God’s people. He cared enough to come to earth and die for them. If he cares that much, then I think I should also.]
New feed settings…
I’ve changed the feed settings for this blog. I now use Feedburner. If you subscribe to this blog, you may want to update your subscription to this setting:
Blogiversary…
One year ago today I started blogging. It seems to be a tradition to celebrate your blogging anniversary, so this is my obligatory post.
In my first post, “Questions“, I listed some of the questions that I had been asking about the church. (Well, actually that was my second post. My very first post from the same day was called “Welcome“.) These are the questions that I listed a year ago:
- What is the church (essence, nature, purpose, etc.)?
- When does a group of people become a church?
- Is one church dependent, independent, or interdependent on other groups?
- What is the purpose of the gathering of the church?
- How are the various spiritual gifts exercised in the meeting of the church?
- What is the nature of church leadership?
- How should church leaders interact with others in the church?
I’m still asking many of these questions. I’ve learned much about the church during the last year, but I know that I still have much to learn.
Since last November (just over 4 months), I’ve also been tracking stats associated with this blog. I thought this would be a good place to look back at some of posts that I enjoyed the most and some of the posts that others seemed to enjoy or interact with the most.
My favorite post is one called “Not forsaking, but encouraging…” In this post I examined Hebrews 10:24-25 in order to determine if that passage proscribed attendance at a church meeting.
The most read post since November has been “Messy Meetings…” followed closely by the post “Unity in Christ…” Both of these deal with issues that continue to be imortant to me. I hope to address these issues again soon.
The post that received the most comments was “New Barna Article on House Churches…” followed by “Minimalist Definition of the Church…“
Perhaps the most interesting stat, at least to me, concerns the post called “Leadership, Obedience, and Authority…” This post is the third most viewed post since last November, but there were only eight comments. I’m not sure what this means, but it is interesting.
Finally, I want to thank all of the people who spend time reading my blog, especially those who also choose to interact in the comments. You have encouraged me, challenged me, and stretched me. God willing, I will continue to study the church. I hope to hear from many voices within the church as I post my questions and an occasional answer.
Search strings…
Occasionally, someone reaches my blog through a search engine. It is sometimes amusing to see what search strings point people to my blog.
Sometimes, someone will search for a particular person and reach my blog: for example, David Alan Black (Number one search string… I hope they also reach his web site.), Harold Hoehner, Everett Ferguson, Andrew T. Lincoln, etc.
Sometimes, someone will search for a string that, I think, is very appropriate given the topic of this blog: for example, “edification” (Number two search string), “forsake not assembling”, “pastor’s responsibilities in a church”, “church as ekklesia”, etc.
Then, there are the search strings that are… well… just strange. I’m sure they make sense to someone. But, I have no idea why these particular search strings would point to my blog: “myths about slaves in the church”, “mael or fellation or maczde or carpate” (Yes, I know that I link to the blog of someone named Maël, but I don’t even know what the other words mean. I’m almost afraid to put them here…).
I can’t wait to see other search strings that point an unknowing internet surfer to my blog.
blogfodder…
I attended the Evangelical Theological Society meeting this past week in Washington, D.C. There were some very good conferences. Hopefully, the conferences and conversations surrounding the conferences will become good fodder for this blog during the next few days and weeks.
Which theologian are you?
Have you tried this quiz yet? After answering 30 questions, the results show how much your answers are like other theologians. Should I be concerned that Karl Barth topped my list?
Graduation and stuff continued….
Okay, so now I’ve graduated. I have a Master of Divinity degree. So what? Well, for me, working toward this degree demonstrated how much I need to continue studying… and I’m not just talking about working toward a Ph.D. degree. My desire is to study (and teach) Scripture for as long as God leaves me here. Some may think of an M.Div. degree as the end of their studies. For me, it is just the beginning.
Graduation and stuff…
This is a very busy week. Besides taking one more final and grading finals for three classes, I’m also preparing for graduation. It has been a good week, though. God has provided several opportunities for our family to serve others, and he has also provided opportunities for thought-provoking conversation with some friends concerning the church, the gathering of the church, and giving. I hope to post some comments resulting from these conversations soon.
I have also been stretched these last two weeks because I am teaching Psalm 1 and Psalm 2. While I have studied Hebrew, I am not as familiar with that language as Greek. This has been a good refresher.
Advice…
One quick word of advice… don’t get the flu!
My wife, daughter, and I have had the flu for the last week. I hope to be able to post later this week.