Top 10 Posts of 2007

2007 was an excellent year in the vanguard. Thank you to all who read this blog and come back for more every week.

In 2005, I had 8,070 "Unique Visitors" here at Vanguard Church.
In 2006, that number more than doubled to 22,980.
In 2007, we had 34,012 visit this site. Thank you to the 5,121 return visits! I love interacting with you on the important issues of our day!


Here were the TOP 10 POSTS of 2007:

#10: Understanding the New Perspective on Paul
Scot McKnight graciously allowed me to post here at Vanguard Church the entirety of his series on the New Perspective on Paul.

#9: Praying Community Prayers vs. Just Individual Prayers
The significance of shifting our attitude in prayer from "my Father in heaven" to "our Father in heaven."

#8: Is Rob Bell a Godless Man, Condemned by God?
John MacArthur's book, The Truth War, makes the case that Rob Bell, the popular pastor, speaker, author, and creator of the Nooma videos, is apostate. One of a series I did reviewing MacArthur's book.

#7: Dispensationalism vs. the Rest of Evangelicalism on the Israeli/Palestinian Controversy
John Hagee, the leader of Christians United for Israel does not represent the majority view of evangelical Christians. Christian Zionism gets the Bible wrong and does harm in the lives of those in Palestine/Israel.

#6: Dobson, et. al. Versus the Rest of Evangelicalism
Another post about how high-profile evangelical leaders do not represent us very well. James Dobson, resident bully of the Evangelical Right, tried to persuade the National Association of Evangelicals to fire their Vice Preident for Governmental Affairs, Richard Cizik, because he dares to expand the set of political issues that we should care about.

#5: Conservatives and the Minimum Wage
A very helpful dialog (be sure to read the comments) exploring what the Christian stand should be on the issue of the Minimum Wage.

#4: Josh McDowell – “I’m Sick of McLaren and Bell Putting Me in the Modernist Camp.”
This made quite a splash around the blog world. McDowell, author of Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More Than a Carpenter, two standard popular books of modernist Christian apologetics, critiques the tenants of modernism and pleads for a more relational apologetic.

#3: How to have an Appreciative Inquiry evangelistic conversation
Part of a series on how to re-imagine our evangelism methodology based on our belief in the Imago Dei and the potential in all human beings. It was controversial because it did not begin with our depravity and it did not center on Penal Substitution. Thanks to the many blogs out there that re-posted this and expanded the conversation.

#1 and #2: Two in the series on D.A. Carson vs. the Emerging Church
DA Carson versus the Emerging Church, 01
This post is #4 on Google if you look up "DA Carson Emerging Church."
DA Carson versus the Emerging Church, 06
The last in the series received the most comments as people weighed in on the issue.