The Yearly Roundup

Since today is December 31, today Deuceology will present a yearly roundup, rather than a weekly one.  I ran the bottom 10 earlier in the week.  Today, here is the top 10 posts of the year.  Hopefully you will remember some of them.  Maybe a couple of them are new to you.

10.  The tenth most viewed post of the year is Church Visit #4 from just a few weeks ago.  My church visits, as a series, proved to be very popular.

9.  Number nine was Random Thoughts On My 43rd Birthday.  This surprises me because I began getting a lot more visits to my blog the month following this.

8.  The 8th most viewed blog post in 2011 for the Deuceology blog was Church Visit #1.  We are still searching and there are more to come.  There will also be a follow-up series about the first year in our new church when we find it.

7.  Lucky number seven was my non-guest post for Tamara Out Loud, For Crying @TamaraOutLoud.  I submitted a guest-post to Tamara and was not accepted.  This was my response.  It caused Tamara to worry needlessly.

6.  Number six in 2011 was Live In Your Church Today…Casey Anthony.  This may have been my most controversial post on the top 10 list.

5.  Moving into the top 5, Church Search Results.  Folks were really getting into this church search.

4.  The only post not written by me in the top 10 was Jon Stolpe’s I’m Dreaming Of A Stretched Christmas.  Jon is a great friend of the blog.

3.  The oldest post on the list is  Relentless Pursuit Of Continuous Improvement.  It is from all the way back in June.  I had no idea what I was doing.  Some say that I still don’t.

2.  Number two, just missing out on number one, was My 10 Favorite Rock/Pop Christmas Songs.  This is actually probably my least favorite on the list.

What made this next post Number 1???  Controversy?  Subject matter?  Biblical story?  Let’s just say, just like they do in advertising, that sex sells.  Number 1 out of the 237 posts that I’ve written this year is……………………….

Sister Wives, Mandrakes, And Sex And Sex And Sex And Sex

There you have it.  The top 10 posts of the year.  Here’s hoping that 2012 is a fantastic year.

Which post do you think should have been number 1?

Sister Wives, Mandrakes, And Sex And Sex And Sex And Sex

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It seems like most of my posts have been serious lately.  It’s Friday, so let’s take time for a bit of levity.  I started a 90 Day Bible reading plan this week.  I’ve cranked through Genesis the past few days and I have some questions.

Laban pulled the old switcheroo on Jacob.  It was his chance to unload his weak eyed daughter, Leah.  I guess he wasn’t having any luck marrying her off.

Why didn’t Rachel try to alert Jacob to the plan that Leah was going to replace her that wedding night?  Did she not have any idea?

Did Leah not talk when she went into Jacobs tent?  How did Jacob not know he was sleeping with the wrong sister?

I thought that Jacob really loved Rachel.  That’s what it says in the Rich Mullins song.  Jacob he loved Rachel.  Rachel, she loved him.  And Leah was just there for dramatic effect.  If he loved Rachel so much and worked another seven years for her, it sure didn’t stop him from producing seven kids in pretty quick fashion with Leah.

Rachel was barren for a time there.  She decided that Jacob should sleep with her handmaiden and produce her a child.  Jacob’s reaction?  “Ok!!!!”  This handmaiden quickly produced two sons.

Leah had stopped having kids for a while.  She saw what was going on with Rachel, Jacob and Bilhah, the handmaiden, and gave Jacob her handmaiden Zilpah to have some more kids.  Jacob’s reaction?  “Ok!!!”  She produced two kids.

Reuben, the firstborn, went out one day and found mandrakes in the filed.  He brought them to Leah.  Rachel wanted some.  Leah’s price?  Jacob had to sleep with her.  Jacob came home that night from working and Leah tells him that she has hired him for some mandrakes.  Jacob’s reaction?  “Ok!!!”  Another son comes along. (By the way, does this make Jacob the first male prostitute?)

Leah later has a daughter.  I’m not sure if that was the result of any mandrakes exchanging hands.

Finally, Rachel has a son.  Jacob has to be a tired, happy man by now.

After reaching Canaan, Rachel gives birth again.  Unfortunately, she passes away giving birth.

What did I learn from reading through this?  Sister wives don’t really work.  I’ll stick with my one wife.  I don’t really know what mandrakes are.  The world hasn’t really changed so much.  It’s still full of sex and sex and sex and sex.

What lessons have you learned from this particular episode in the Bible?