Two years of Put up Thy Sword!

Two weekends ago marked the second-year anniversary of Put up thy Sword! At the time this went unnoticed as I was busy reflecting on my experience at the Wellington Krishna Fest, and my response to Clay Nelson. I have finally completed a review of the year's 227 posts from July 2007 – July 2008.

This time last year I was well settled into life at Stratford, with my full-time job for the council reviewing the Stratford District Plan, as well as part-time work on the family farm. As a result of my job at the Council I was becoming very interested in local governance and community development. I was also already quite established as a member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Stratford. I had recently been appointed one of the two Diocesan Synod representatives for the parish, and was part of a team that launched a new ministry for youth at our church. These commitments were reflected clearly in the topics of my posts over the last 12 months.

My purpose for Put up Thy Sword!, in contrast to the earlier Agri-Christian NZ (which I recently resurrected to cyberspace), was to spend more time on theology rather than politics, and to adopt a more tempered localism rather than the agrarianism of my earlier thinking. But the statistics for my first year of Put up Thy Sword! showed I hadn't achieved this at all! Thankfully the stats for 2007 – 2008 tell a different story.

1. Taranaki (37) +3
2. Anglicanism (36) ++
3. Anglican NZ (33) ++
4. Stratford (24) +4
5. Theology (14) -3
5. Christianity and Sex (14) =
5. Women (14) ++
5. Anglican Realignment (14) ++
9. Homosexuality (13) ++
9. Personal (13) -6

11. Jesus Christ (12) ++
11. Music (12) +5
13. Environmental Planning (11) ++
14. Evangelism (10) -1
14. Youth Ministry (10) ++
16. Sexuality (9) ++
17. Politics (8) -16
17. Bible (8) ++
17. New Plymouth (8) ++
20. Mission Theology (7) ++
20. Christian Life (7) ++
20. Humour (7) ++
20. Anglican Lectionary Readings (7) ++


Politics was certainly knocked off its top spot on the tag list, down to 17th, and subjects such as “Religion and Politics”, “Family Values” and “Labour Party” have dropped out of the Top 20 altogether. In their place “Taranaki” has climbed into top spot, and Stratford has climbed to 4th, reflecting the localism I have been aiming to promote.

At 2nd and 3rd, having not registered at all last year, are “Anglicanism” and “Anglican NZ”, with “Theology” at 5th. This is largely due to my commenting on the so-called “Anglican Communion Crisis” which climaxed last month with the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem. Other high ranking tags associated with these discussions include “Christianity and Sex” (5th), “Anglican Realignment (5th), “Homosexuality (9th) and Sexuality (16th).

I am surprised at the appearance of “Women” at 5th equal, but then this is certainly a high priority topic for a bachelor whose unmarried friends are falling like flies! The dropping of “Personal” 6 places indicates less of a preoccupation with naval-gazing internet quizzes, and parallels nicely the entry of “Jesus Christ” at 11th. As John the Baptist famously said – I must decrease, Christ must increase. Alongside Jesus at 11th is “Music”, and I certainly have come into a new appreciation of music in the last little while. “Environmental Planning”, “Evangelism” and “Youth Ministry” reflect my job and my role with the God Squad and Eltham Easter Camp in the last 12 months.

Highlights of 2007 – 2008:

* The True Christian – Sectarianism & the Spirit of Christ (August 2007)
* They Will Know You Are Christians... (September 2007)
* Evangelism and The Law (September 2007)
* S.O.S. (Straightening Out Sexuality) in the Anglican Church (October 2007)
* Waikato Synod 2007 (October 2007)
* The Path of Least Resistance (November 2007)
* Unleasing the Back-to-the-Country Movement (November 2007)
* Christmas - Celebrating the Creator, Sustainer and Lord of Universal Values (December 2007)
* Stratford 2040: Envisioning Stratford for the Next Generation (January 2008)
* The Feminine Mystique: A Review (January 2008)
* Dame Wisdom (February 2008)
* The Changing Face of Christianity in New Zealand (March 2008)
* Anglican Communion Crisis to a New Reformation: A Reflection on Brian Haskell's Letter (March 2008)
* Chez's Good Friday Message (March 2008)
* Eltham Easter Camp '08 (March 2008)
* What to do with unrequited love (April 2008)
* The Way of a Man with a Maiden (June 2008)
* Anglicans, Hare Krishna and the Charismatic Movement (July 2008)
* Defining Christian: A Response to Clay Nelson (July 2008)