Life + Faith

Tag: Review

  • My Top Posts of 2022

    I’ve done very little writing on this blog in 2022.

    So little writing you’d almost think I’ve given this away!

    But, this isn’t the case. Life circumstances have changed and publishing content through this website hasn’t been a priority these past 12 months. A change in churches and moving into a Lead Pastor role has meant I’ve continued to write, just not for my personal blog here. There is a hope that as I continue to settle into the role I will begin publishing here again. As I posted last week, I continue to read which often leads to review posts or reading recommendations here and there.

    Nevertheless, this year has still seen plenty of visitors and people checking out some old posts. Below is a bit of a summary of who has popped by and what they’ve been interested in. This is something I’ve done in previous years, which you can find here: Top posts for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015. I also have a collection of writings published elsewhere on the inter-webs, which you can read here.

    As to what has been popular on joncoombs.com this past year, here are the top five posts for 2022:

    1. God’s Love Expressed: Through The Cross
    2. My Top Books for 2022
    3. Martin Luther On Complete Forgiveness of Christ
    4. The Sparkle of a Youth Ministry First-timer
    5. 11 Things: The Senior Pastor-Youth Pastor Relationship

    All in all I have only posted 4 times this year, one of those posts being this one. However, in total I have had:

    • 7662 views from 4828 visitors.
    • I’ve had 7 comments and 28 likes on these last 3 posts.

    A big thanks to all those who do come and have a read. It’s quite humbling and amazing anyone would come and check this place out. Look out for more via social media or go ahead an subscribe so I can regularly hit up your inbox.

    Thanks, and have a good New Year.

  • My Top Posts of 2021

    I continue to write and seek to express myself and hopefully encourage others along the way too.

    This past year has seen my writing develop in different ways, and less so on this blog than I would’ve liked. I’ve been taken up with writing more sermons due to an increased teaching role at my church. And, one of the unique writing projects I completed this year was a weekly review focussed on Supercoach (fantasy AFL) during the footy season. This meant that time and dedication to writing in this space dissipated from previous years. And to be honest, another year of lockdowns had an affect on this too.

    Nevertheless, I continue to commit myself to writing. I find it is the best way for me to express myself and to find clarity of thought. It’s also an enjoyable experience to have written, to finally hit publish on a post about an idea that I’ve been mulling away on for a while.

    Having only posted 13 times in the past 12 months you’d think people would simply stop reading the articles and posts I have here. However, this hasn’t been the case. There are still a number of popular posts that continue to have traction with people, which is certainly pleasing as a writer! It seems that I had about the same amount view this blog as I did last year, which is to say just over 9200 hits all up.

    As to what has been popular this past year, here are the top five posts for 2021:

    1. God’s Love Expressed: Through The Cross
    2. The Lord of The Lockdowns (published in 2021 and on TGCA)
    3. Martin Luther On Complete Forgiveness of Christ
    4. My Theological Library
    5. 11 Things: The Senior Pastor-Youth Pastor Relationship

    If you’d like to explore more of what has been popular on here in previous years you can do so here: Top posts for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015. I also have a collection of writings published elsewhere, which you can find here.

  • My Top Posts for 2020

    After three years of significant growth the last 12 months has seen a little dip on my blog. I’ve certainly had less capacity for writing, and have slowed down my posting and focus. This has had an impact. But then, hasn’t everyone slowed down and felt unfocussed in some form or another at times this year?

    I have certainly written less in the past 12 months, less that I have in the last five years. Both my public and private writing has suffered, and as a result I feel like I’ve suffered because of it too. This is not to be dramatic, but it is a result of decreasing in a habit that I find great joy and satisfaction in. Since writing less I have found myself to be less reflective, and in turn less reflective on my heart and soul. You see, there is something about writing that causes us to slow down, to reflect, to take stock, to gather thoughts, and to be precise about what we think and say. Writing enables better thought-processes–all things I have had little capacity for these past 12 months and wish to get into once again.

    Having said this, while posting less may have meant less people have wandered over to my part of the internet I am still very thankful that people do read what I’ve written. It surprises me how many people wish to read something I’ve written, and who may even post a comment about it on my social channels. And so I’m very grateful that I get to share something of my life and faith through this site.

    Aside from the statistics there is a particular satisfaction I have in writing and publishing posts. Reading posts I wrote a number of years ago is like going back and looking at sermons you’ve written, a harrowing and embarrassing experience. To see the quality of my writing increase in these last few years has been pleasing. And this is reflected in the top posts for the year 2020, which you can read below.

    Like any pursuit, creative or otherwise, there is a certain satisfaction in finishing a post and seeing it ‘out there’ on the inter-webs. It is an accomplishment and and encouragement at the same time. As with life and faith, which this blog is all about, writing and blogging require me to plod along. The quality of these things are built on small steps and increases in habits each day, week, month, and year.

    So, here’s to another year of writing, hopefully a bit more consistently, and with something that might be of value to you!

    Top Posts for 2020:

    1. The Grieving of the (Non) Gathering of God’s People (published 2020)
    2. Your Will Be Done (published 2020)
    3. Make The Bible Project Your Bible Reading Plan for 2018
    4. Martin Luther on Complete Forgiveness In Christ
    5. God’s Love Expressed: Through The Cross

    [Top posts for 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

  • Published: Choosing Love by Heidi Johnston

    After a long absence I had a book review published at TGCA recently. I wasn’t really the intended audience of Choosing Love by Heidi Johnston, however it was still worth the read. It would be particularly helpful for parents to talk through with their daughters, or a youth ministry leader with their youth group or small group.

    You can find the review here.

    “From the outset, Johnston puts these themes of love, relationships, marriage and sex into perspective by reminding us that we are all created in God’s image: made for relationship, and therefore are to express our love and desire for one-another in the way God intends. The foundation of the imago dei, and the defining of love as that which comes from God, and shown through his Son Jesus, is an important truth to be understood for teenagers and adults alike.”

    Other writing can be found here. 

  • My Top Posts of 2019

    I continue to plug away on this thing called a blog. There are times when I wonder whether any of the words I string together to make sentences and paragraphs are worth publishing. But it seems this year has seen continued growth on this blog, and also some wider writing on other ministry sites, so that’s been encouraging.

    In typical fashion I started out the year with a flurry of posts and articles but it seems I went missing in the second half of the year.

    Below I list the top 5 posts in 2019 as well as some stats for the year. For those interested in stats from previous years you can read about 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

    Top Posts of 2019

    The Top Five Posts:

    1. 10 Tips For Reading In 2019
    2. Making The Bible Project Your Bible Reading Plan For 2018
    3. My Top Books of 2018
    4. Growing Young – Keychain Leadership
    5. 11 Things: The Senior Pastor-Youth Pastor Relationship

    Some Reflections:

    The only post actually written in 2019 was the first one, ’10 Tips For Reading In 2019′. The reason this made it to number one was because it got picked up by a very popular blogger in North America. The traffic that sent to this site was out of this world, particularly compared to usual!

    I found myself writing 21 articles or posts for other ministry sites. I don’t get to know how well those did in terms of page views, but due to the sites I wrote for I’m fairly confident the readership will have been larger than I could reach.

    The top five posts actually written in 2019 go to:

    1. 10 Tips For Reading In 2019
    2. New Children’s Ministry Initiative Makes Worship Leaders Walk Out Of Service
    3. My Top Books For 2019
    4. The Inadequate Youth Pastor
    5. Christian Blogging And Social Media

    Raw Stats for 2019:

    In 2019 I managed to:

    • Publish 54 individual posts on joncoombs.com.
    • Write over 29,800 words from those individual posts.
    • Have 11,657 views on the site for 2019 (up from 7700 in 2018).
    • Increase to 185 followers to the blog, as well as 34 email subscribers.
    • Publish 21 articles on other ministry sites.

    This is actually more encouraging the more I think about it. I didn’t think I’d posted on average once per week, but it looks like I have. Writing for other sites at nearly every other week is also a pleasing goal to have achieved.

    While right now it’s holiday time, and really the last couple of months I’ve not been in the zone to write and publish, I do hope I can continue to plug away at this again in 2020.

    Anyway, if you’re a regular reader, thanks for popping by. I hope it’s been useful for you as it has been for me.