2017 Year-End Review

2017 was another good year. Since many GodWords readers like to know about such things, I usually post a year-end review.

Where do GodWords readers live?

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaidjan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius And Saba, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, European country, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guyana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe (French), Guam (USA), Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Martinique (French), Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia (French), New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Polynesia (French), Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Serbia, Reunion (French), Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis Anguilla, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Samoa Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tadjikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British), Virgin Islands (USA), Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The top 17 blog posts for 2017:

I’m sometimes surprised at which topics get the most attention. You may notice that #3 and #4 are almost the same. One of my goals for 2018 is to combine posts on the same subject, creating newer and more comprehensive articles.

1. Name Changes in the Bible
2. What Does Jesus Mean?
3. Can You Go to Heaven If You’re Not Baptized?
4. Do You Have to Be Baptized to Go to Heaven?
5. Why Don’t Christians Observe the Original Sabbath?
6. Should Christian Women Have Long Hair?
7. Questions that God Asked Job
8. The Books Of the Bible (Simple List)
9. Who’s Eating the Last Supper?
10. Should Christians Go to Landmark Forum?
11. I Have Homosexual Feelings. Is that a Sin?
12. Biography Of Ishmael
13. I Don’t Tithe
14. Does Sin Separate Us From God?
15. My Experience With Landmark Education
16. A Reasonable Faith: The Ontological Argument
17. Why Does the Bible Forbid Same Sex Marriage?

Always surprising

My collection of Ancient Documents has always gotten a lot of attention. These ancient texts aren’t new (of course), aren’t original to me (they’re in the public domain) and are certainly available elsewhere. I’m stunned, at times, by how many people download them each year. The only folks who might be interested in them are students of church history, students of theology, or other people collecting ancient documents. I’ve set a goal for 2018, to double the size of my collection.

My RSS feed has almost 6,000 users. That’s astonishing, when you consider that the majority of internet users have never heard of RSS, let alone decided to take advantage of it. I make heavy use of the feeds of other websites. Whether it’s web design (my business) or theology (my passion) or fun stuff, I probably look at a couple hundred different websites at a time. In case you’re wondering, I use no longer use Feedhuddler to funnel my feeds into Pocket. Using Pocket (on my desktop computer and mobile devices) allows me to read most articles offline, whenever I want…whether I have a WiFi connection or not. That’s important to me, as I will want to read when I’m waiting for an appointment or a teenager.

What Next?

I’d like to hear from you. What kinds of things would you like to see on GodWords? What kind of questions would you like answered? Do you want more links to other sources, or do you prefer to do your reading here? Let me know. Let’s make 2018 a great year by living for God, being transformed to be more like Jesus, and helping others learn about how much He loves them.

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