The Best of the Bee Hive in 2021
My heart with my blogging ministry at The Bee Hive is to pastor through words. When I launched The Bee Hive, I wasn’t sure how many I would be able to shepherd through my writing.
In my first year of blogging, 2017, I was encouraged to have 1,767 unique visitors to my website with 3,939 page views. I was glad that my writing was being read and hopeful that it was helpful. I was concerned, though, that maybe after an acquaintance read the blog a couple times, 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. In 2019, I was shocked to double those numbers again with 8,500 unique visitors and over 13,600 page views. In 2020, those numbers grew to 12,000 unique visitors and 17,000 page views. And this year, my blog grew to 28,000 unique visitors and 49,000 page views.
On top of that are my faithful subscribers (thank you!) who read my posts via email. Mailchimp tells me 59% of you often read my posts, which means that in this past year, around 46,000 posts were read via email.
All of this is a surprise and a great encouragement to me.
Sometimes readers will ask how they can support me. That is a kind question. I would offer four meaningful ways to encourage me as a pastor-writer:
Subscribe. Subscribing to my emails lets me know you’re in. In a context where social media outlets depress the visibility of bloggers, subscribing helps me know my blog is reaching my readers. You can subscribe at the top of the home page.
Share. It’s so encouraging when you share content with your friends that is meaningful to you.
Comment. Your words of affirmation mean so much to me.
Support. The elders of New Life Bible Fellowship are generous enough to allow me to write as part of my role as pastor. It is for that reason I do not ask for personal financial support. If you have felt blessed by this ministry of New Life, I would encourage you to consider supporting our church. You may do so here.
My seven most-read posts of 2021 follow. It is always interesting to me which of my posts resonate with readers. If any of these posts blessed you, would you share it with a friend?
Please know how grateful I am for you. Thank you for your support and for investing your time and energy in reading The Bee Hive.
“There is a danger to the subtle stoicism that some corners of Christendom are drawn toward.[i] In this worldview, emotions are dangerous and hinder faith. This is false. Emotions are not our enemy. They’re a gift from God and purposed by him to be harnessed, not suppressed.”
6. Suffering and Satan’s Purposes
““I’m done with God.” “No one will ever understand.” “I’m never trusting anyone again.” “I can’t pray.” “I won’t pray.” I’ve heard all of these statements from people in the midst of suffering. The unrelenting blows of suffering can twist our hearts away from God.
Satan has purposes for your life. Satan has intentions for your suffering.”
“Last week we celebrated my son’s 16th birthday. My wife sent a dozen pictures of Soren through the years in our family text strand. My eyes filled with tears and my heart almost burst as I reflected on each of the moments in his life Angel had captured through her photos. My son is such a gift to us: his tender heart, his sense of humor, his perceptiveness. It is a gift to go back and re-live sweet and joy-filled moments that we have shared.
And yet. There is danger in nostalgia.”
“As powerful as the Nike Swoosh was in signaling that the owner and wearer of the shoes and shirt in 1988 had the means to purchase the matching outfit, today’s signaling is even more potent. Packed into every purchase is a flare that is sent up.
We no longer just buy things. A choice to purchase your groceries at Whole Foods, to take your family to Chic-Fil-A, to wear Patagonia clothing, or eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream communicates a message.”
“The days of being buried in the church where you were baptized and married are long gone for most. Ours is the age of the McChurch.
There are realities embedded in that truth that are good and bad alike. Every cultural location has its own blessings and challenges…
Let’s consider then how our cultural identity as consumers impacts the way we engage with the local church. How does our McDonald’s world shape us?”
2. 6 Things You Should Do Before You Leave Your Church
“So, you’ve decided to leave your church: you’re moving, or you’ve come to a doctrinal impasse, or there has been conflict that you’ve tried to navigate, but the church has been unwilling to biblically walk through a peacemaking process to bring about reconciliation.
As a pastor, every person who leaves the church hurts. There have been hundreds that have left the churches I’ve served at and some of those departures still make me wince. Every goodbye is painful.
But, as we discussed last week, there are times to say goodbye (although a lot fewer than we are led to believe). When you say goodbye, say goodbye well. Sadly, in today’s culture, most of us say goodbye very poorly (often times we just slip away). We’re called to say goodbye in a harder, but better, way.”
1. Moms and Dads: Show Your Need
“I hope my kids learn from me that God has refined me through the years. By God’s grace, John the 42-year-old man is more sanctified than John the 15-year-old teen. And yet, John the 42-year-old man is still a man who is in need of sanctification. I daily sin and I desperately need Jesus, hour-by-hour, day-by-day. If the discipline and wisdom I offer my kids comes from a place as a fellow sinner and fool it is offered and received from a completely different posture than if I offer discipline and wisdom to my kids as one untouched by sin and failure.
If my kids learn nothing else from me but our deep need for Jesus, I will feel pretty good about what I’ve passed on to them.
Show your kids your need for Jesus. And let him do the rest.”
Photo by Dmitry Grigoriev on Unsplash