This Saturday marks the 143rd Kentucky Derby, held here in Louisville at the famous Churchill Downs, where each year, about twenty horses and their riders get a chance at making history.
And as it happens, besides my most recent post (The Tone of God’s Voice), I’ve written twenty posts since I started this blog. And just for fun, I started wondering: if the posts were horses, and their page views determined their speed, what would that race look like?
Well, trailing the pack would be this group of steeds that jumped out of the gate but immediately started eating everyone else’s dust. Here they are, starting from the rear:
- Learning to Listen to God: God still wants to speak to us.
- God, Fun, and Happiness, part 2: God wants us to have the best kind of happiness.
- Fake Good News, part 1: God never promised us prosperity.
- One with the One and Only: God is powerful, but he’s also personal.
- God, Fun, and Happiness, part 1: God’s the author of fun.
- Closing the Distance: God does more than just watch us.
These are mostly older posts, except for the more recent twins called God, Fun, and Happiness. And it’s a fairly tight group, except for Learning to Listen to God, which is limping far back, struggling even to finish the race. I must admit I hoped for more out of that horse, but maybe Learning to Listen will get a final wind before heading to the stables.
The next group made a good show out of the gate, and pulled ahead of the previous group, but they are well behind the rest. Here they are (again, starting from the rear):
- God ♥ ≠ Church: God loves the church, but God is not the church.
- It’s the Gift that Counts: When God gives, his gift is perfect.
- Reverse Thinking: Repentance is actually a good thing.
- Fake Good News, part 2: Jesus paid it all; we cannot pay him a thing.
- The Avenger: This God who loves is also an avenger of wrong.
The next group would be towards the front, still behind the leaders, but each with a legitimate shot at showing in the top three. If you enjoy most of what you’ve seen on the blog, then you’d probably enjoy checking out the posts in this group you haven’t seen. Here’s that group (again, starting from the rear):
- Understanding the Odd Christian: What makes these Jesus people tick?
- Beware Burning Bridges: Attacking the culture rarely helps people understand the good news.
- Finding Hope When Empty: When stuck in grief, how can we move on?
- Delaying Inauguration: Jesus is already King, yet his full Kingdom is yet to come.
- Getting His Things Done: Even the best organization system won’t ensure that I’m doing the right things.
- Why Resurrection Matters: Jesus has defeated death once and for all.
- Found In Translation: The CSB is a new translation of the Bible that’s worth checking out.
Interestingly enough, that group contains most of the posts referencing some kind of current event, like the new “Beauty and the Beast” movie (Beware Burning Bridges), the presidential inauguration (Delaying Inauguration), and the release of the new Christian Standard Bible (Found In Translation).
Finally, you’d have these two, which have definitely pulled ahead of all the groups and are sprinting for the finish:
- The Romantic: God’s the one who has boldly entered the space between us and declared his love.
- 39 Years Ago: I was nearly eight and I knew all about Jesus…or so I thought.
I think these two also had an advantage because of their release dates. The Romantic was released near Valentine’s Day. 39 Years Ago was released on New Year’s Day and was also the first post on the blog. They both created a lot of buzz, but 39 Years Ago is still far ahead. I wonder if any other horse will come close!
At any rate, thank you for reading, sharing, liking, and/or commenting on the blog. I hope you find it encouraging, thought provoking, or at least mildly interesting. If you’ve been following for a while, I’d be interested to hear your feedback (positive or negative), and which post(s) are your favorites and why. Post a comment, or email me directly at jeff@goodwillgod.com.
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