Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 Grace Roots Blog Highlights

I first did this last year, and decided to do it again this year. According to Google Analytics, these are the top posts on this blog for 2008. I've also been saving my favorite blog post of YOURS during the past year, and I'll post those as well.

As I said last year, "I generally don't pay a whole lot of attention to the stats, but one of the things that interests me is finding out which articles are getting the most views. The Google stats are not scientific, and they don't include the stats for articles that are read via feedreaders, email subscriptions, etc, but they give me a general sense about how the things that are on my heart relate to those who read what I write."

Three or four articles that had post dates prior to 2008 appeared on the list, and I've left them out of this list.

Most viewed Grace Roots articles for 2008

1. The Full Armor of God (1/12/08)
2. Interesting "Shack" discussion (6/21/08)
3. Does God inhabit our praises? (Or do we have it even better!) (3/8/08)
4. Sanctification is the living out of a love affair (12/14/08)
5. Who we are in Christ (3/31/08)
6. Fake it till you make it? (repost) (12/7/08)
7. "Permisson to be Human" - Darin Hufford (5/8/08) (Darin's name appears often in the
8. The Heart and The Scriptures (7/27/08) (It was through this post that I got to know author Jim Robbins)
9. "Love" in 1 Corinthians 13 (Part 1) (7/22/08) (I never did post Part 2!)
10. I don't 'really care' about my bad reputation... (7/6/08)
Publish Post

I have truly enjoyed getting to know all of you through the world of blogging! Thanks so much for taking time to read and/or interact here! And for those of you who have your own blogs, thanks so much for sharing what's on your hearts! Happy blogging in '09!

15 comments:

  1. Joel,
    Thanks for posting these favorites/bests of your posts! I appreciate it much, especially since I dove into blog-reading around June, then began my own in August. I'll be reading many of these you have here.

    Happy New Year 2009, my friend! I hope this year brings many, many wonderful blessings, good health, joy and adventure for you and your family.

    Look forward to walking along with you through this coming year.

    Blessings,
    ~Amy :)

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  2. If we don't see you at the conference in Atlanta on March, I will expect God's judgment to fall on you!!!! BE WARNED!

    Happy New Year by the way, brother.

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  3. Hi Joel…

    Thanks for a year of wonderful posts. You do a great job and are an excellent host…

    I find it very interesting to observe blogging/search engine trends…I’m curious…does Grace Roots “own” a Google topic? For example…let me test this first…ok I’m back, if somebody types “survivor unedited” into Google Life on the Blade is both 1st and 2nd on the first Google search page…(the same is true of other similar searches)..

    Happy New Year and…Well done good and faithful servant…

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  4. Hey all,

    I'm looking even much more forward to sharing some of my favorite blog posts of yours over the next few days! It's truly been great getting to know you all!

    LS,

    I don't know of any particular searches that place Grace Roots on the top of a google search, other than my name or 'grace roots.' It's been a while since I checked the keyword stats to see what search terms people use that land them on this blog or on my website, but it's usually phrases such as "who I am in Christ," "growing in grace," and other phrases that are related to individual blog posts.

    Gary,

    Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh will be hosting a Radical Sonship conference in Atlanta, March 27-28. It's free, with an offering taken to cover expenses. Ryan and Jamie (RJW) and Matthew are planning on going, and John Fincher (John's Grace Walk blog) is as well. Details for the conference are here.

    Matthew!! I'm really hoping to work this out! Ever since I began thinking of me not going (due to the high plane ticket prices, and/or the long driving distance), I keep hearing "Atlanta" out of the blue, everywhere I turn! On the radio, in a conversation with someone today, stuff like that. I'm praying it will be clear to me if the Lord wants me to go, because in the "natural" it seems the odds are against it, but yet in my heart it seems like it's really the other way around!

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  5. That sounds like an awesome conference...and it's only a 4 hour drive for me. It would be great to meet ya'll face-to-face. I will begin praying about it. There are a few men at my church (including my pastor) who have been radically changed by God's grace through Steve McVey's ministry (and others). I think I will ask them if they want to come as well.

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  6. yeah Joel, so happy to have met you also through this fascinating blogland. Love and blessings in this new year...

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  7. Breeze-man,

    I hope you can go! That would be sweeter than birthday cake! And I like birthday cake. I'll pray for you as well.

    Gary!! That WOULD be great!!! It'll be about the same distance for us...Well, from Rock Hill at least. I would love to see you there, brother. :)

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  8. Gary,

    That definitely would be great! It would be great to meet you and any others who might come!

    Manuela,

    Likewise, it's so great to have met you through the wonderful world of blogging! A great 2009 to you!

    Matthew,

    Looks like I'm coming! Looks like some things are being worked out "behind the scenes," and I will most likely be flying to Atlanta! Details to be worked on soon.

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  9. Wow, that was fast! Normally it takes a few more prayers lol!

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  10. Great idea, Joel. Thanks for posting this. I'll have to go back and try to look at some of them again.

    BTW, the link for Darin's Permission to be human blog has been changed. The new correct link is:
    http://freebelievers.com/blog-entry/permission-to-be-human

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  11. Matthew,

    Yep, it was fast! At one time during the day (on the 31st) I was pretty sure I wouldn't be going. Then suddenly in the evening and next morning, I was certain that the Lord was making the way for me to go! He's so good!

    Aida,

    Thanks for the updated link. I updated it on my blog post.

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  12. Hey Joel,

    My wife asked if this was a men only conference and my first response was yes because of the name "Radical Sonship." But other than that, I am not sure. Do you know?

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  13. Gary, that's a great question, and one that I hadn't even thought of! I'll tell you this much - Jamie (the 'J' in RJW) is going, along with Ryan. I'm 99.9% sure that it's for everyone.

    I'd even bet that the "sonship" part is to emphasize the biblical meaning of the "sonship" that everyone has in Christ. In our modern culture we like to say "sons and daughters" of God, but I think the word "son" has special meaning. (Gal 4:1-7 for example, in which the word "child" differs in a big way from the word "son."

    4 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

    6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.


    I know you didn't ask for all that, but I'd been reading about "sons" recently, so I thought I'd just share a little... LOL!

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  14. It is a conference for everyone. No worries. :)

    I think they chose sonship because Radical Son and daughtership would sound strange.

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