I’ve always written for others. Whether it was creative writing in elementary school where I was excited to share my stories with my teacher and classmates or college when I came home and shared my writing projects with my patient parents.
When I started The Bee Hive, I started it in part because I felt that I needed to steward the gift of writing God had given me. But gifts are stewarded not for our own sake, primarily, but for the sake of the recipient (1 Corinthians 12). My desire was to expand my pastoral reach beyond Sunday morning to serve the church.
If I were to be faithful in stewarding my writing gift but no one were to read, I would struggle to feel the impact of that faithfulness. In my first year of blogging, 2017, I was so encouraged to have 1,767 unique visitors to my website with 3,939 page views. I was so glad that my writing was being read and hopeful that it was helpful. I was concerned, though, that maybe after an acquaintance reading a couple times, maybe the interest would diminish and the impact would wane.
That fear was answered in 2018, when I saw the first year’s numbers nearly double, with 3,463 unique visitors and 6,398 page views. This year I was shocked to have those numbers double again with 8,500 unique visitors and over 13,600 page views. On top of that are my faithful subscribers (thank you!) who read via email. This past year over 10,800 posts via email were read.
My five most-read posts of 2019 follow. Several of these posts surprised me they made the list. If any of these posts blessed you, one way you can encourage me is by sharing one of your favorite posts with a friend and inviting them to sign up. There is no greater encouragement than knowing that I have helped a reader in some way. Thank you in advance! I’m so grateful for you!
The Top 5 of 2019:
5. In Defense of Modern Worship
It was during a family dance party to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” that our patriarch commented about the vapid lyrics. “They just don’t make them like they used to,” he concluded. I teased back: “Sure, because ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and ‘Tutti Frutti’ and ‘Duke of Earl’ were so profound!
Musical preferences are profoundly etched into us. One generation’s trash is another generation’s treasure.
Modern worship has a bullseye on it. It’s a fairly regular occurrence that I read a blog or a reflection in a book decrying the insipid lyrics we sing in our churches or hear a complaint from a congregant about modern worship.
Last week I defended the treasure of hymns for the church. This is my defense of modern worship. [Read more]
4. How to Invite Someone to Church
An encouraging study by Lifeway Research found that two-thirds of churchgoers invited someone to church in the last six months.[i] When was the last time you invited someone to church? What would it look like for you to increase those efforts?
Inviting someone to church isn’t, of course, a substitute for evangelism, but it sure is a great partner in our evangelistic efforts. Similar to our homes, our churches ought to be a place that, while they are primarily for the gathered body of Christ, are also always welcoming to the outsider.
Diana Davis had an excellent post at Lifeway that spurred me to consider ways that I can better engage those God has put in my life with the gospel and be more active in inviting them to church.[ii] I’ve tweaked and whittled her list of 52 down to 17. They are a good challenge for me, and I hope they will be for you as well. [Read more]
3. How the Church Can Stop Eating Its Own Tail
In many eras of the church our theological disagreements have divided us. Those disagreements still persist, but I believe stronger even than those theological disagreements are our own competitive impulses. More than ever it is the fine and elusive line between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of [insert your church’s name here] that has created division in the church. It’s impossible to build unity in the Kingdom of God when we subconsciously believe our local church is the Kingdom of God.
This, of course, is a monster that is almost impossible to stop feeding. Christians float in our doors from other churches, wooed by our children’s program or music, and then float out to another church, wooed by its student ministry or preaching. We are the Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, pastors and parishioners swapping out positions as mouth and tail. We consume one another with an insatiable appetite.
And this is why I need the Prayer Summit. [Read more]
2. Why I’m a Better Pastor (for you) than…
You have access to the best pastors in America.
You have at your fingertips access to a trove of virtually endless content by some of the wisest and most powerful thinkers and speakers on the planet. As soon as you finish this post you can have them piped into your office, car, or living room and be impacted by their words. And I hope you do!
What a ridiculous gift we have! If you were born five hundred and fifty years ago in Europe, in all likelihood not only could you not read the Bible, but it was likely that your parish priest didn’t own a whole copy of the Latin Bible and since he knew only a handful of Latin words, he couldn’t even read the Bible. Fast forward a few decades to the Reformation and now, for the first time, you would hear the Bible read in your own language and its words applied to your life.
Fast forward five centuries to today and not only do we (in the West) have unfettered access to the Bible, but we have almost limitless access to some of the very best Bible teaching. What a gift we have! [Read more]
1. For My Kids on the Occasion of My 40th Birthday
Tomorrow I turn 40. Lord willing, I’m about halfway done with this marathon we call life.
God has been so gracious to me. I have a godly wife who makes me laugh every day and two teenage children who grow daily in faith and wisdom. 25 and 27 years from now Camille and Soren will celebrate their 40th birthdays. This post is for them: it’s the hard-earned wisdom that I’ve accumulated over my years that I hope they can learn from. I hope it blesses you as well.
Here are the top ten truths I’ve learned in my 40 year… [Read more]