Jeremy L. Berg

What a ride it’s been — for me at least. One year ago I started the new Daily Illumination blog. Why? I have been reading obsessively for the past decade, intaking large quantities of biblical facts and knowledge, listening to lectures and podcasts, completing two degrees in Biblical and Theological Studies. Last January I felt it was time to start “outputting” and sharing my love of these topics with others. Thus, Daily Illumination was born.

For the past 365 days I have logged hundreds of hours attempting to bring “daily reports from the busy intersection of faith and everyday life.” It’s been a lot of work and a lot of fun.

Here is a look back at the past year at Daily Illumination:

READERSHIP

I have put zero effort into promoting and advertising this blog. I did not start blogging to gain readers. I wanted to sharpen my mind and polish my writing skills; if anyone else happened to tune in and benefit from it — bonus.  But we all love to share the things their most passionate about — in this case Christianity, the Bible, culture, Jesus and theology — with others who share this interest.  So, it has been great to have some loyal readers who keep coming back for more of my daily writings. Just so you know, I have no idea who you are.  Please let me know if you’re a regular reader of DI by personally dropping me a comment, email or Facebook message.  It would make me day.

How about the stats?  The mustard seed principle applies here as well. I had only 180 visitors the first 2 months combined.  Now that many stop by almost daily. Traffic picked up over the summer and this fall has exploded exponentially. More than 4,000 visitors stopped by DI in October and the upward trend continues. Total visitors in 2009 was over 21,000.

HIGHLIGHTS

If you’re new to DI or only stopped by occasionally, here are some of the highlights from the past year.

• This year I have posted over 400 times, totaling an estimated 200,000 words which is equivalent to roughly a 1,000 page print book.
• The Father’s Song has been a thematic overview of the entire Bible tracing the grand narrative of Scripture using the metaphor of music.
• We’ve gone verse-by-verse through Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.
• Original devotional series have explored the spiritual lessons found in ordinary things like alarm clocks, golf, taking out the garbage, and driving lessons.
• We reported on John Piper’s controversial God-sent tornado.
• Posted 50+ times on student ministry.
• We brought up sex, politics and religion at the dinner table often.
• Current events included the 10th anniversary of Columbine massacre, Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame induction, Swine Flue outbreak, Brett Favre’s move to MN, Tiger’s fall and more!
• I shared some very personal journal entries on the occasion of my 30th birthday.
• We’ve reviewed several movies.
• Covered the ongoing Justification Debate between N.T. Wright and John Piper.
• I’ve been published several times at Jesus Creed, voted the #1 blog on the emerging church by Technorati.com.
• I shared My Top 3 blogs, books, hobbyhorses, cultural commentators, rock & roll bands, muppets and Christmas movies.

Most of all, I’ve tried my best to provide daily content that keeps our minds set on Christ and grappling with Kingdom realities first and foremost in our daily pursuits.  For your convenience I have added a NEW Archives page where you can more easily find past DI articles by category.

Thanks so much for coming along on this journey!  I hope to see you all in the New Year!

Grace and peace,

Jeremy