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I get Depressed on Facebook

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I used to think it was just me. Then my wife got a Facebook account, and she complained of it too. Then I saw the little comic below, and realized that maybe it is a common occurrence.

facebook life

When I get onto Facebook, it seems that everybody else’s life is full of vacations, parties, promotions, happy children, perfect marriages, and people who are “happy happy happy all the time.”

Since my life isn’t like that at all, I stopped getting on Facebook. It was too depressing.

So if you want to “Like” me on Facebook, I promise not to tell you how grand my life is. You will mostly just get updates about my blog. If you haven’t already, please “Like” me below!

 

This post is part of the March Synchroblog. It is on the subject of “New Life” and while I thought about writing something serious and theological, I decided to do this more “lighthearted” post. Why? Laughter and humor should central aspects of our new life in Christ. I am generally pretty serious, but am learning to loosen up and laugh more in life.

Here are the other contributors to this month’s synchroblog:

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How do you heap burning coals on the heads of your enemies?

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burning coals on the headProverbs 25:22 instructs us to heap burning coals on the heads of our enemies. 

But what does that mean?

Initially, this sounds like a terrible thing to do, but this strange command is in the context of giving bread to our enemies when they are hungry and water to our enemies when they are thirsty.

Pastors and other Bible teachers have noticed this connection, and many have gone into great hermeneutical contortions trying to explain how it would be a good think to light your enemy’s head on fire.

I even heard one pastor say that when we were kind to our enemies, but they refused to repent and become a Christian, this would only increase their suffering in hell.

Isn’t that nice?

Aside from the troubling idea that anybody who is not a Christian is our enemy (!!!), what sort of person only serves others so that their future suffering in hell will intensify?!

This is probably an extreme Christian view (I hope so anyway), but most commentaries I have read on this text interpret the burning coals in some sort of figurative way so that it refers to something along the lines of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, or a searing of the mind with the truth of God’s Word, or bringing upon your enemy a red face of shame, or something like that. Regardless, most Christian teachers believe that heaping coals on the head of your enemy refers to some kind of pain or punishment inflicted upon your enemy.

A while back I decided to study Proverbs 25:21-22 for myself.

Proverbs 25:22 and Burning Coals

As it turns out, heaping coals on someone’s head is not figurative after all. And it is definitely not talking about hell or anything negative.

To the contrary, the statement about heaping burning coals on the heads of our enemies is parallel to the statements about blessing our enemies with food and water. When this Proverb was written, people heated their homes and cooked with fire. But sometimes, a person’s fire would go out during the night, and before they could cook their breakfast, they had to go to a neighbor’s house to get a coal so they could relight their fire.

So Proverbs 25:22 teaches that if the fire of your enemy goes out, and they come asking for a coal to relight their fire, instead of turning them away or giving just one, we should be be extravagantly generous. How? We must keep one coal for yourself, and give all the rest of the burning coals to our enemy.

One commentary that gets it right is the Bible Knowledge Commentary on Proverbs. It says this:

Sometimes a person’s fire went out and he needed to borrow some live coals to restart his fire. Giving a person coals in a pan to carry home “on his head” was a neighborly, kind act; it made friends, not enemies.

Proverbs 25:22 instructs us to give our enemy so many burning coals they have to carry them the way burdens are carried in the Middle East: in a container on the head. Then they can go back and immediately bake their bread without having to wait for the wood to become suitable coals for cooking.

burning coalsThis is quite different than setting someone’s head on fire.

This understanding of the burning coals makes more sense, doesn’t it? Yes, and especially in light of Jesus’ instruction in the Sermon on the Mount to bless our enemies and pray for them. Jesus points that God sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous and the sun to shine on the evil and the good and we should do the same (Matt 5:45). And of course, this is exactly how Paul used the passage about burning coals in Romans 12:20-21, where he concludes by saying, “overcome evil with good.”

This reminds me of how Abraham Lincoln responded when asked why he did not seek to destroy his enemies, but showed them leniency instead. He said, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

We are to Love Our Enemies

God does not want us to be nice to my enemies so that their judgment will be worse in the end. That is not love. He wants us to show love and kindness to our enemies simply because our enemies are people too and God loves them just as much as He loves us. Though our enemies may never turn to Jesus as a result of our kindness, we are to love them just the same.

This post is part of the February Synchroblog where bloggers were invited to write about the topic of loving our enemies. Here is a list of the other contributors. Go check out what they had to say on the topic!

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Publish your Book with Redeeming Press

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Get publishedWant to get your book published? Do you have a manuscript and are seeking a publisher, or are thinking of writing a book, but don’t know where to begin?

Let me introduce you to Redeeming Press!

Redeeming Press is publishing the way it was meant to be. It is publishing with generosity and grace. It is publishing that focuses on the author rather than on profits.

Almost exactly one year ago, I decided to start a publishing company.

I saw then, and am even more convinced now, that the publishing industry was rapidly changing, and that most publishing companies in the world were not properly adapting to these changes. In fact, most of the publishing companies were actively fighting against and trying to hinder the changes!

So I started brainstorming about how a publishing company could operate which would take advantage of some of the publishing methods in a way that would:

  1. Allow new and undiscovered authors to get published
  2. Allow books to get into print more quickly
  3. Allow authors to receive a larger royalty payment than normal

After several months of brainstorming, talking with others in the publishing industry, doing hundreds of research on publishing methods, and reading dozens of books about publishing, I ended up with a process for book publishing which accomplished all three of my goals.

Benefits of Redeeming Press

PUblishing at Redeeming PressThrough my brainstorming, I think I found a way to “redeem the press,” that is, to remove some of the negative elements of the publishing industry, and add in some elements and principles of the Kingdom of God, specifically, elements of truth, generosity, and grace.

  1. While most publishing companies want authors who have a big “platform,” Redeeming Press primarily cares about big ideas. If you have a book which presents truth in a fresh way, we might be interested in publishing it.
  2. While most publishing companies take a year or more to get your book into print, we can get your book into print within a few months.
  3. While most publishing companies pay their authors 10% royalties, we created a payment structure that allowed authors to make 30% royalty payments on their book (and even up to 45% in certain circumstances).

Redeeming Press

Redeeming Press Projects

Currently, Redeeming Press is working with three authors, and we are talking with about a dozen more. Updates on who these three authors are and what books they will be publishing will be announced soon over at Redeeming Press.com

If you are an author (or want to be one), I invite you to consider publishing your book with Redeeming Press.

Head on over to Redeeming Press.com to get started.

Oh, and while you are there, sign up for the Redeeming Press newsletter. The newsletter will give you updates about authors, newly published books, and some tips and suggestions for writing and preparing your own book for publication. Besides that, in a week or two, newsletter subscribers will get a shortened and condensed version of my Book Publishing Instructions. 

This post is part of the January 2014 Synchroblog, in which we were invited to share some sort of “New Beginning.” One of the options was to share about starting something new, so I chose to share about this new company. Here are the other participants to this month’s synchroblog:

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100 Top Christian Blogs 2014

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Below is a list of the 100 Top Christian Blogs. If you made it onto this list of top Christian blogs, here is a badge you may display on your website:

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100 Top Christian Blogs 100 Top Christian Blogs
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About this list of the 100 Top Christian Blogs

To make this list of top Christian blogs, I gathered and inspected about 500 Christian blogs and ranked them using a variety of factors. Some of the blogs I inspected are listed below the list of the 100 Top Christians blogs.

I will update this list occasionally, so if you want your blog to be considered for future ranking, and your blog is not listed below the list of 100 Top Christian blogs, please include a link to your blog in the comment section. Thanks!

Oh, and do I need to say it?

I guess so…. sigh.

Disclaimer: I do not necessarily endorse all the views or perspectives of the bloggers on this list. The list contains many Christian bloggers who write from theological perspectives with which I have some disagreement.

Like who? (Let’s see who I can offend…) Calvinists, Charismatics, Conservative Baptists, and Catholics, just to name a few. Remember, I, Jeremy Myers, am the ONLY correct blogger in the world. (I’m KIDDING!)

Anyway, if someone is on the list of Top Christian blogs and you think they are a heretic, don’t burn me for it! Go be a troll on their site…. (I’m kidding again).

How I Created the List of 100 Top Christian Blogs

Below is an explanation of how I went about ranking these 100 Top Christian Blogs.

First, I gathered the list of Christian blogs using these sites:

Second, I removed all “Community Blogs” which had multiple authors. This caused all blogs from Patheos, the Gospel Coalition, and other similar blogs to be dropped from the list. The reason I did this twofold. Many of these community blogs are not accurately ranked by Alexa, Compete, and Quantcast, which are three of the ranking factors I used (see below). But more than this, I wanted this list to honor the individual blogger who started his or her blog from scratch, and has labored away at it for years, slowly building an audience and faithfully writing quality posts which get read and shared. Those huge mega community blogs often overshadow the quality writing and hard work of individual bloggers. So if a blogger was writing on a community blog, I kept them off my list.

Finally, once I had my list of individual bloggers, I ranked them using a variety of factors. These factors include:

  • Traffic Rank on Alexa
  • Traffic Rank on Compete
  • Traffic Rank on Quantcast
  • Back link Count (one of the factors for Google’s PageRank)
  • Pages Indexed by Google (shows that the blogger is writing a lot)
  • A variety of other traffic and social signals

The ranking number in the list below is a compilation of these ranking signals. The lower the number, the better the blog ranks.

How to get on this list of Top Christian Blogs

If you are not on this list and you want to work toward getting on it, or if you are on it and want to know what you can do to rise in the ranks of these top Christian blogs, here are several recommendations:

  1. Hone your blogging skills by watching my free Blogging Tutorial Videos
  2. Add the Alexa Traffic Rank Extension to your preferred web browser.
  3. Register your site at Quantcast for tracking.
  4. Join Synchroblogs, blog chains, and interact with others on their blogs to get back links.
  5. Get a WordPress plugin like Social Network Auto Poster to help your posts get listed on social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and others.
  6. Write, write, write, and write some more!

Here then, are the 100 Top Christian Blogs

100 Top Christian Blogs

Rank Score Blog Title and Link Blogger Name
1 99,113 A Holy Experience Ann Voskamp
2 120,618 Challies Tim Challies
3 139,194 Christian Personal Finance Bob Lotich
4 168,709 Fr. Z’s Blog John Zuhlsdorf
5 273,397 Rachel Held Evans Rachel Held Evans
6 275,477 Albert Mohlers Blog Albert Mohler
7 282,994 Storyline Donald Miller
8 309,248 Thom Rainer Thom Ranier
9 332,037 Beyond Evangelical Frank Viola
10 354,891 Jarrid Wilson Jarrid Wilson
11 398,360 Alpha & Omega Ministries James White
12 479,041 Jen Hatmaker Jen Hatmaker
13 483,304 Denny Burk Denny Burk
14 517,977 The American Jesus Zack Hunt
15 527,273 Living Proof Beth Moore
16 541,066 Ron Edmondson Ron Edmondson
17 570,502 Stuff Fundies Like Darrell
18 619,495 James MacDonald James MacDonald
19 642,797 The Naked Bible Michael S. Heiser
20 665,978 Liturgy Bosco Peters
21 683,267 Josh Harris Josh Harris
22 686,420 Blog and Mablog Doug Wilson
23 691,747 Kingdom Living Matt Dabbs
24 725,019 Head Heart Hand David Murray
25 736,090 Sarah Bessey Sarah Bessey
26 761,909 Red Letter Christians Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne
27 780,872 Mark Driscoll Mark Driscoll
28 803,956 The Very Worst Missionary Jamie Wright
29 813,340 Moore to the Point Russell Moore
30 837,484 Everyday Theology Marc Cortez
31 917,121 Unsettled Christianity Joel L. Watts
32 959,448 More Than Dodgeball Joshua Griffin
33 995,242 Tony Morgan Live Tony Morgan
34 1,055,231 Ragamuffin Soul Carlos Whittaker
35 1,056,793 Christianity Cove Mary-Kate
36 1,087,879 Elizabeth Esther Elizabeth Esther
37 1,136,429 Acts 29 Scott Thomas
38 1,237,976 Communicate Jesus Steve Kryger
39 1,266,830 XXXChurch.com Craig Gross
40 1,273,906 Todd Rhoades Todd Rhoades
41 1,343,793 Adam McLane Adam McLane
42 1,376,877 Modern Reject Nicole Cottrell
43 1,384,271 Grace Evangelical Society Bob Wilkin
44 1,393,550 Istoria Ministries Blog Wade and Rachelle Burleson
44(b) 1,395,446 Jason D Bradley Jason Bradley
45 1,401,735 John Shore John Shore
46 1,504,771 Cerulean Sanctum Dan Edelen
47 1,613,464 Kingdom in the Midst Marty Duren
48 1,644,682 Growing Kids Ministry Lindsey Whitney
49 1,745,169 Margaret Feinberg Margaret Feinberg
50 1,787,301 Here I Blog Mark Lamprecht
51 1,811,828 Counseling Solutions Rick Thomas
52 1,835,130 WithoutWax Pete Wilson
53 1,848,275 Frame & Poythress John Frame & Vern Poythress
54 1,861,287 Robert Cargill Robert Cargill
55 1,874,540 Dave Black Online Dave Black
56 1,920,230 ReKnew Greg Boyd
57 1,953,804 Worship Matters Bob Kauflin
58 2,027,656 Man of Dravity Tyler Braun
59 2,030,697 Matthew Paul Turner Matthew Paul Turner
60 2,129,407 DJ Chuang DJ Chuang
61 2,171,907 Blogging Theologically Aaron Armstrong
62 2,221,661 Brian McLaren Brian McLaren
63 2,250,025 Provocations & Pantings Timmy Brister
64 2,275,503 Simply Church Felicity Dale
65 2,296,565 Andy Naselli Andy Naselli
66 2,309,229 Church Leader Insights Nelson Searcy
67 2,528,833 Doug Fields Doug Fields
68 2,569,968 Borrowed Light Mike Leake
69 2,630,949 Near Emmaus Brian LePort
70 2,633,763 In A Mirror Dimly Ed Cyzewski
71 2,644,639 Ordinary Pastor Erik Raymond
72 2,672,943 Daniel Darling Daniel Darling
73 2,677,817 Living By Faith Blog Steve Fuller
74 2,708,672 Brad Lomenick Brad Lomenick
75 2,780,185 What’s Best Next Matt Perman
76 2,805,797 Faith and Theology Ben Myers
77 2,841,332 RPM Ministries Blog Bob
78 2,848,030 Practical Shepherding Brian Croft
79 2,873,444 Stuff Christian Culture Likes Stephanie Drury
80 2,885,246 Children’s Ministry Online Kenny Conley
81 2,898,369 Perry Noble Perry Noble
82 2,934,477 J.D. Greear J.D. Greear
83 2,949,969 5 Minute Bible Tim Bulkeley
84 3,010,755 M and M Matt and Madeline Flannagan
85 3,020,653 The Museum of Idolatry Chris Rosebrough
86 3,038,618 Joe Thorn Joe Thorn
87 3,046,724 Fundamentally Reformed Bob Hayton
88 3,069,437 Sam Luce Sam Luce
89 3,074,040 Mark Oestreicher Mark Oestreicher
90 3,113,795 Counseling One Another Paul Tautges
91 3,171,891 Jonathan McKee Jonathan McKee
92 3,323,097 Don’t Eat the Fruit John Dyer
93 3,348,962 My Song in the Night Kristen Gilles
94 3,358,360 Jonathan Merritt Jonathan Merritt
95 3,402,942 Mark Batterson Mark Batterson
96 3,405,811 See Preston Blog Preston Yancey
97 3,599,241 Religious Affections Scott Aniol
98 3,638,192 Brandon A. Cox Brandon Cox
99 3,648,942 Alise. . . Write! Alise Wright
100 3,679,831 DashHouse.com Darryl Dash

If you want to know about some of the other blogs I ranked, they are listed below in alphabetical order. This is not a complete list, and if you are not listed above or below, but want to be considered in future updates to the list of Top Christian Blogs, leave a comment below, and I will add you to the list.

20 Schemes Blog Mez McConnell
9Marks Various
A Deeper Church Various
A Letter from Kabwata Conrad Mbewe
A Pilgrim’s Progress Eric Carpenter
A Place For the God-Hungry Jim Martin
Adrian Warnock Adrian Warnock
Against Heresies Martin Downes
Allergic to BS Brian Swan
Alvin Reid Alvin Reid
An Open Orthodoxy Tom Belt & Dwayne Pok
Andy Goodliff Andy Goodliff
Another Think Charles Lehardy
Anxious Bench Various
Apologetics 315 Various
Are Women Human? T.F. Charlton
Baptist Twentyone Various
Before the Cross Various
Beggars All Various
Beginning and End Various
Being Filled Chuck McKnight
Between the Times Various
Between Two Worlds Justin Taylor
Bible Places Various
Biblical Christianity Dan Phillips
Biblical Evidence for Catholicism David Armstrong
Biblioblog Various
BioLogos Various
Black, White, and Gray Various
Bock’s Blog Darrell Bock
Bruce Reyes-Chow Bruce Reyes-Chow
Bruxy Bruxy Cavey
Burnside Writers Collective Various
Call & Response Various
CBMW Blog Various
CCEF Various
Charisma Mag Various
Christ and Pop Culture Various
Christ is Deeper Still Ray Ortlund
Christian Piatt Christian Piatt
Christian Theology Various
Christian Web Trends Paul Steinbrueck
Christianity Today Live Blog Various
Chuck Warnock Chuck Warnock
Church Leaders Various
Church Mag Various
Church Marketing Sucks Various
Church Relevance Various
Claude Mariottini Claude Mariottini
Compassion International – Christian Blog on Child Poverty  
Coveneant of Love Derek Ouellette
Cranach: The Blog of Veith Gene Veith
Credo Magazine Blog Various
CreedoHouse Various
Dallas News Religion Blog Various
Daniel Wallace Daniel Wallace
Dave Ferguson Dave Ferguson
Deeper Story Various
Delivered by Grace Josh Buice
Desiring God Various
DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed Kevin DeYoung
Domestic Kingdom Gloria Furman
Downshore Drift Alan Cross
Dry Bones K. Mulhern
Ed Stetzer Ed Stetzer
Efrem Smith Efrem Smith
Emergent Village Various
Emerging into Orthodoxy Drew Tatusko
ERLC Various
Euangelion Various
Eugene Cho Eugene Cho
Ev’ry Day I’m Pastorin’… Anonymous
Experimental Theology Richard Beck
Exploring Our Matrix James McGrath
Faith and Leadership Various
Faith Barista Bonnie Gray
Faith Forward Various
Faith Village Various
Ferrell’s Travel Blog Ferrell Jenkins
First Things Various
Following to Lead Kevin East
For His Renown Jim Hamilton
For the Love of God D.A. Carson
Formerly Fundie Benjamin Corey
Founders Ministries Blog Tom Ascol
From Law to Grace Howell Scott
Gathering in Light C. Wess Daniels
Gifted for Leadership Various
Glocal Christianity Matt Stone
Glory to God for All Things Father Stephen
Gospel Centered Discipleship Various
Gospel Husbands Various
Grace & Truth Various
Grace Commentary Jeremy Myers
Grace Ground Various
Grateful to the Dead Chris Armstrong
Green Baggins Various
Heavenward Scotty Smith
Helm’s Deep Paul Helm
Hip and Thigh Fred Butler
Home Word Culture Blog Various
Homebrewed Christianity Various
In Search of the City Joshua Lawson
In The Name of Love Bianca Olthoff
Insight Grahame Knox
Interfaith Encounters Robert Hunt
Internet Cafe Devotions  
Internet Monk Various
J.C. Ryle Quotes  
Jared Moore Jared Moore
Jenni Catron Jenni Catron
Jess in Process Jessica Kelley
Jesus Creed Scot McKnight
Jonathan Martin Jonathan Martin
Joshua Blankenship Joshua Blankenship
Juicy Ecumenism Various
Kathy Escobar Kathy Escobar
Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise Kem Meyer
Kimberly Knight Kimberly Knight
Kingdom Copy Wes James
Kingdom People Trevin Wax
Koinonia Various
L. A. Freland L. A. Freland
Lane Chaplin Lane Chaplin
Larry Hurtado’s Blog Larry Hurtado
LeadingSmart Tim Stevens
Learning my Lines… Walt Mueller
Life and Theology Ben Reed
LifeChurch.tv : swerve Craig Groeschel
Lifestream Wayne Jacobsen
Ligonier Ministries Various
Limping into Truth Dave
Logos Bible Software Blog  
Managing Your Church Various
Marc 5 Solas Marc Yoder
Mark Beeson Mark Beeson
Mark D Roberts Mark D Roberts
Mere Orthodoxy Various
Milt Rodriguez Milt Rodriguez
Ministry to Children Various
Missional Shift Steve Knight
MMI Weblog  
Modern Faith Evan Dolive
Musicademy Various
Nadia Bolz-Weber Nadia Bolz-Weber
nakedpastor David Hayward
Nathan Finn Nathan Finn
Nathan W. Bingham Nathan W. Bingham
New City Catechism Various
Notes in the Key of Life Cindy Swanson
Nouthetic Jay Adams
NT Blog Mark Goodacre
NT Resources Rod Decker
On the Box Ray Comfort
One Hand Clapping Julie Clawson
Orange Leaders Various
Out of the Ordinary Various
Out of Ur Various
Parable Man Jeremy Pierce
Pastor Joe McKeever Joe McKeever
Pastors.com Various
Peter Enns Peter Enns
Peter Leithart Peter Leithart
Philgons Bible & Tech Phil Gons
Political Jesus Various
Pomomusings Adam Walker Cleaveland
Possessing the Treasure Mike Ratliff
Prodigal Magazine Various
Progressive Renewal Various
Project TGM Various
Pure Church Thabiti Anyabwile
Pyromaniacs Various
Rachel Miller Rachel Miller
Reading Acts Phillip Long
Reclaiming the Mission David Fitch
Redeemed Reader J.B. Cheaney & Emily A. Whitten
Reformation 21 Various
Reformation Theology Various
Reformissionary Steve McCoy
Relgion Dispatches Various
Rethinking Youth Ministry Various
Rev Gal Blog Pals Various
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth Kick Norelli
Roger Olson Roger Olson
Sarah Posner Sarah Posner
Sayable Lore Ferguson
SBC Heritage Drew Wales & Joshua Breland
SBC Today Various
SBC Voices Various
Scripture Zealot Jeff Oien
Servants of Grace Various
Sharper Iron Various
Shaun Groves Shaun Groves
She Worships Sharon Hodde Miller
Skye Box Skye Jethani
Slaughter of the Sheep Anonymous
Small Group Dynamics Various
Small Preacher Big God Duke Taber
Sola Sisters Various
Spectrum Various
Speculative Faith Various
Stand to Reason Blog Various
Standing on my Head Dwight Longnecker
Straight to the Heart Juan Sanchez
Stuff Christians Like Jon Acuff
Subversive 1 Keith Giles
Surprised by Life Brooke McGlothlin
Take Your Vitamin Z Zach Nielsen
Tall Skinny Kiwi Andrew Jones
Terry Mattingly Terry Mattingly
The Acton Institute – Acton Podcast  
The Aquila Report Various
The Assembling of the Church Alan Knox
The Bible and Culture Ben Witherington
The Blazing Center Various
The bob.blog feed! Bob Hyatt
The Bottom Line Cameron Buettel
The Briefing Various
The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus Christ David D. Flowers
The Church of No People  
The Cripplegate Various
The Daily Bleat Joshua Breland
The Edge of the Inside Todd Littleton
The Evangelical Outpost Various
The Fellowship of Saints and Sinners Kristina Robb-Dover
The Good Book Blog Various
The Gospel Coalition Blog Various
The Gospel-Driven Church Jared Wilson
The Life of Lew Ayotte Lew Ayotte
The M Blog J. Guy Muse
The Nuance Zach Hoag
The Old Black Church! Ann Brock
The Ooze Various
The Pangea Blog Kurt Willems
The Paperthin Hymn  
The Plow Boy Lawrence Garcia
The Rabbit Room Various
The Resurgence Various
The Riddleblog Kim Riddlebarger
The Sacred Sandwich Various
The Thirsty Theologian David Kjos
The Voice of One Crying out in Suburbia Arthur Sido
The White Horse Inn Various
The Worship Community Various
Theoblogy Tony Jones
Theological Graffiti TC Moore
Theological Matters Various
Theological Studies Michael Vlach
Theology for the Road Craig Hurst
Theology for Women Various
Think Christian Various
Think Laugh Weep Worship Emily Hunter McGowin
Thinking Christian  
Thinking Out Loud Paul Wilkinson
Tim Chester Tim Chester
Tim Schraeder Tim Schraeder
Triablogue Various
Truth Matters Eric Douglas
Truth Observed Del Tackett
Tullian Tchividjian Tullian Tchividjian
Uncommon God, Common Good Paul Louis Metzger
Urban Faith Various
Walter Brueggemann Walter Brueggemann
Wedge Words Steven Wedgeworth
White Horse Inn Blog Various
Will Mancini Will Mancini
Worship Various
Youth Ministry 360 Various
Youth Specialties Various
Zwinglius Redivivus Jim West

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It Sounds like Christmas

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The sounds of Christmas, I believe, are a little bit of heaven on earth.

My wife, reading Christmas stories to our three daughters.

My girls, singing and dancing to Christmas carols.

Our cats, fighting with each other because they’re tired of being cooped up inside.

The beep of my coffeemaker when a fresh pot has finished brewing.

sounds like ChristmasThe faint whisper of snow falling on the trees when I go outside to see if our pipes have frozen.

The muffled whoosh of the vacuum as it cleans up powdered sugar after the girls made “goose poop” cookies (Russian Tea Cakes).

Christmas music playing nonstop as my wife decorates the windows with boughs of pine, ribbon, and lights.

The happy chatter of girls as they frost Christmas cookies  for the neighbors.

The crunch of ice underfoot as I walk to the mailbox to check for Christmas cards.

The knock of the UPS driver on the door when packages are delivered.

The girls practicing their lines and their songs for their self-written, self-directed Christmas Pageant.

The hand saw cutting through the stump of a Christmas tree before loading it on top of the van.

The tinkling of ornaments as they are hung on the tree.

The way my wife talks in a hushed voice as we sit on the couch at night and gaze at the lights on the tree.

The squeals of delight and laughter on Christmas morning as my daughters discover what Santa brought them in the night.

What sounds help you enjoy the Christmas season?

This post was part of the December Synchroblog, which focused on “Coming Home and the Season of Advent.” Here is a list of other contributors this month:

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