The Best of 2014: My #5 Blog Post of the Year

As 2014 winds down, I thought it’d be fun to look back on the wandering year that was and countdown my top blog posts of the year. And what a unique year of blogging it was, split between 5 months in California and 7 on the road.

Interestingly enough, all five of my most viewed posts occurred prior to my #RunningTo starting line. Not sure what that says about the quality of blog posts since my journey began in June, but OH WELL. So it is.

My #5 post of the year comes from February 25, and it’s called “Donald Miller Hates Going to Church and I Do Too.”

Earlier this year, my hero garnered some attacks from the evangelical community by saying that he’s not a big church-goer; he’s more of a church-doer. In light of my own personal church struggles, well, I kinda found myself agreeing with Don.

Check out this excerpt below, or click over to the long lost land of February for the complete walk down memory lane. And stay tuned this week as I countdown the rest of 2014 and prepare for a brand new year of blogging to come!

Donald Miller Hates Going to Church and I Do Too
Photo courtesy Vik Nanda, Creative Commons

I have few influences greater than Donald Miller, both inside my “real life” and out. His works have certainly impacted me as a writer; you could’ve played a drinking game with all my Donald Miller references in Struggle Central (drinking milk, of course).

Beyond the mere sphere of writing, though, Donald Miller has impacted my very life. I owe much of my California journey to Through Painted Deserts, and meeting him at Storyline last fall was such a thrill.

Donald Miller is not new to controversy, and lately his blogs have taken some heat. The snowball started when he said he doesn’t connect with God through singing, further confessing that he doesn’t even attend church regularly. Connects with God and others elsewhere.

Needless to say, evangelical America pounced on him. A so-called “Christian” who doesn’t go to church? And an influential one at that?

I also probably would’ve blasted Donald Miller a decade ago, good little Christian though miserable little church-goer I was.

But now?

Well, I think I’m kinda with Donald Miller on this. I think I hate going to church, too.

Read the rest of this post here! And stay tuned tomorrow for my #4 blog post of the year.