You Like Me! You Really Really Like Me!

Sunday marked the beginning of the third year of this blogging enterprise.  As of 12/6 of last year, the viewership of my profile page numbered 666.  As of today, approximately 950 people thought it worthwhile to give my blog a look.  My hope last year was that the number would clear 1000, but it did come close.  Surveying this year's blogposts, the one that gives me the greatest satisfaction is the six part series entitled "Lincoln's Legacy" which can be accessed at the links section of this blog.  The most significant books I read and reviewed this year: "Fundamentalism and the Word of God", "The Heavenly Man" and on my pastoral study blog, "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses."  The book I could most have done without, the one that made my jaw drop and my eyes jump out of their sockets in disbelief: "The Politics of Jesus."  I am disappointed with the selection of posts from the past year.  Too many of them are simply links to other stories; very little original output. However, the circumstances that necessitated this no longer apply.  Starting in February (I am taking the month of January off) this blog as it was originally intended to be will begin to take shape.  The focus for the time being will be on a continuing series of posts rather than on individual articles and I am looking forward to working on topics that have been planned for over a year.  An examination of the Global Church will be undertaken.  Philip Jenkin's "The New Faces of Christianity" will be reviewed in depth, but many of the sources he cites, such as Christian websites from around the world, will be explored also so that we may examine the impact the Gospel is having in the Third World and how will that impact shape the future of Western Christianity.  As this blog is Wesleyan in its theological orientation, there will be much more explorations of the Wesleyan approach to Scripture and the Christian life.  I will start with Dennis Kinlaw's "Let's Start With Jesus" and some of Dr. Kinlaw's audio resources.  Wesley's writings will also be featured: "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection", sermons on the "Sermon on the Mount" and "The Doctrine of Original Sin."  There will be a look at how the Lutheran doctrine of "Christus Victor" is compatible with Wesleyan theology.  Audio recordings of my professors from Wesley Biblical Seminary will be brought to your attention.  The appearence of spiritual writing on this blog has waned considerably.  That will be rectified as more devotional material will be posted.  I used to post sermons, but for some reason those took a long time to type, even in outline form.  From now on my sermons will appear exclusively on my audio blog.  Prayer requests for persecuted Christians will appear more often.  I am hoping to prepare a series tentitively entitled "Evangelicalism and Its Enemies" which chronicles attempts from within the Church to marginalize and discredit Evangelicalism as a theology, a way of life and as a political force.  There are a few secular projects in mind as well.  One is an examination of just what Thomas Jefferson meant by "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", how that concept has been twisted, and what are its implications for American Christians interacting with their culture. Thats is a look at what is coming.  Thanks for stopping by.