The blog "look back" rolls ahead. Be sure to see part 1 and part 2.

Below are some blog highlights from July through September 2008.

July

July was a busy month here at the blog. Some of the posts came from presentation, others from articles written in print publications, and others just started here at the blog.

• I posted my notes from a conference. I had spoken to the Founders Conference, a group of SBC Calvinists. I had cautioned them against being "functional hyper-Calvinists," borrowing the term from Bill Ascol. Well, some latched on to the comment and I found it best to post my notes so that people could get the context of what I said.
• Mixed it up a bit about Bill Hybels, Willow Creek, and their Reveal study. One guy got mad, but I think we ended as friends.
• LifeWay Research released another research project, this time dealing with the ongoing loss of young leaders at the SB convention. Some responded by burrowing their heads deeper in the ground. Others saw the trend. Many proposed differencing solutions.
• Got a bit nostalgic (my wife said "sappy") about how I miss being a pastor.
• World Magazine picked up on the earlier conversation on the blog and quoted Geoff Surratt and me in their story about multi-site churches.
• Continued a blog tour throughout the month that ended several weeks later in the Dallas Morning News (full tour details are in the final blog).
• One of the more widely read posts was when I wrote about "apostles" and their place in the church today. That also lead to a follow-up post here.
• Shared my presentation (which I will expand in a future book) about what a movement of multiplying churches would look like in North America.

August was a mix of topics, but some of the posts I thought would garner discussion did not--and at least one that I thought was an obvious conclusion brought much discussion.

• The second most "commented" blog of the year was my non-meeting with now President-Elect Obama. It turned into quite a debate. Recent stats show my prediction was (mostly) right.
• Commented upon the gullability of evangelicals and asked, "does anyone still have a Bible and some common sense?" Lots of long comments on this one.
• Visited and blogged about Community Christian Church where the Ferguson brothers serve. My favorite part of the comments was comparing Tom Petty's "Learn to Fly" and the Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly." To my great relief, I could tell them apart-- unlike a certain intern at CCC :-).
• Gave some Twitter advice.
• Talked about how the "theologically preoccupied" and the "evangelistically fixated" can learn from one another.

September

September generated much interest in the Emerging Church and megachurches (an odd combination, I know).

• Visited the Rolling Road Show with some folks from Emergent. I reviewed the show here and it was nice to see Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt come by and comment. I also released my 40+ page paper on the Emerging Church that I started while speaking for the Evangelical Free Church Mid-Winter Ministerial. The paper will be edited as part of a new book on the Emerging Church Movement coming out later this year.
• LifeWay Reserach released new data on the church and politics. It has been reported in multiple sources.
• Shared the presentation I gave at The Washington Post to the Religion Newswriters Assocation.
• Started megachurch week (which grew, ironicalyl, to two weeks) including interviews with Perry Noble, Kerry Shook, Joel Hunter, and others.

One final note: It seems that the "look back" drew some attention to a long dead conversation on this blog. Thanks to those who added their insights yesterday to the discussion or different-sex relationships.