January saw a flurry of posts on the blog, and I (Adam) will do my best to keep it up. Here are highlights from the month.
Top 7 Posts from January
Ranked by reader traffic and feedback.
1. Does Fiction Lie? Thoughts on Truth & Christian Storytelling This post caused a bit of a stir. A reader submitted a question about whether fiction is valid for Christians, and the story-lover in blogger Adam Forrest was unleashed...
2. King Jesus, His Gospel, and Us - Coverage of N.T. Wright's provocative session at the January Series of Calvin College. Basically, Wright says, we're not listening to the whole song...
3. Small Group Videos Galore - Over 50 of our small group videos are on YouTube for free. Learn where to find them.
4. Plan B: My Secret Terra Cotta Army - Mark Hall (@MarkHallCC) tells the bizarre true story of Chinese emperor Qin, and how he's not so different from you and me. Excerpt from The Well.
5. History-Making Prayer & the Legend of the Circle-Maker - Mark Batterson (@MarkBatterson) tells the legend of Honi, the circle-drawing, history-changing pray-er. Excerpt from The Circle Maker.
6. The Hitchhiker and the Blue Jeans (A Surprise Blessing) Author Andrea Palpant Dilley shares a hitch-hiking story she'll never forget. (I bet you won't, either.) Excerpt from Faith and Other Flat Tires.
7. Do Not Judge? Jesus on "Using a Good Measure" Lois Tverberg (@LoisTverberg) on what Jesus really meant when he talked about judging others. Excerpt from her new book Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.
10 More Posts of Note
1. Martin Luther King & Jeremiah the Prophet - The similarites between the prophet and MLK are considerable, as shown by Jeremiah experts Tremper Longman III and David E.
2. Sloth, aka "The Noonday Demon" An experiment in personifying sloth, so we may more easily detect it in ourselves and resist it.
3. Eight Surprising Ideas about Humility + Joe Louis's Punching Power A post inspired by the boxing champion and the writing of John Dickson (@johnpauldickson), whom I personally believe is on his way to becoming a heavyweight champion of biblical scholarship.
4. Grappling with Spiritual Dark Forces - On "the full armor of God" and principalities & powers. Via Ephesians expert, Klyne Snodgrass
5. Disciples of Distraction: Reflectin on Technology, Hope & Despair thanks to the insights of Prof. Sherry Turkle, and Zondervan authors Tim Challies and Mike Wittmer.
6. Four Bold Ideas about Compassion via Brandon Hatmaker (@brandonhatmaker)
7. Winter of the Soul: 5 Insights for Traversing Tough Seasons For those who feel like they're in a spiritual winter. Via Mark Buchanan's book, Spiritual Rhythm.
8. A Prayer for the Grace to Serve - Feel like you have no energy left to be gracious? Here's an encouraging prayer from Common Prayer Pocket Edition by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
9. Victory Over Our Cravings, One Mini-Goal at a Time Encouraging words for those days when victory feels impossible. Excerpt by Lysa TerKeurst (@LysaTerKeurst), from Made to Crave Devotional.
10. When We Don't Have the Answers and Can It Be Evil to Tell the Truth? Are two other good posts via Lois Tverberg. (Okay, so that's eleven posts...)
Re:Word Weekly Posts
In mid January we launched our new weekly Re:Word column for disciples who read, write, and create. Each Re:Word post collects stories from the week that Zondervan Blog finds useful and enriching, and every story regards words or the Word. (See that pun, there?)
Re:Word Week 3 - The man/boy problem, hubbub over evolution, tips for blog SEO.
Re:Word Week 2 - Lysa TerKeurst's letter to husbands, Scot McKnight picks favorite quotes about writing, and myths about Arab Spring get busted. Sort of.
Re:Word Week 1 - Philip Yancy shares a great example of disarming a religious argument; and is looking at porn a form of cheating? Also the "emote chart" tool is suggested for pacing your story.
True or False: Your January was just like this image. Leave your answer in a comment.
Thanks for spending your time with Zondervan Blog. See you in February!
- Adam Forrest, Zondervan
(Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer shares these personal opinions for information purposes only. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)
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