parables of a prodigal world

Church Relevance has released a list of the most widely read Christian blogs in the world [HT: TSK ]. I was bored, so I decided to make a Wordle Cloud of the Top 15. Turned out to be pretty interesting. Here's the list, and some thoughts that stood out (for me, anyway). #1: Tim Challies : No. 1 Christian site on the Internet, and I'd never heard of it. Sorry to say, but looking at the cloud doesn't make me want to find out more. #2: Between Two Worlds : God, glory, righteousness, church, president...my kinda cloud. #3: Stuff Christians Like : I kinda like SCL; its kinda all over the place...kinda like this cloud. #4: Out of Ur : Look hard. See if you kind find a wasted word. Good stuff. #5: Mark Driscoll : For all the flack Driscoll takes, this is the kind of cloud I'd like to generate. #6: Get Religion : Another one I'd never heard of. This cloud makes me wanna find out more, though. #7: Swerve : Looks a little "church-y," but solid. #8: Pyroma...

Heard of Wordle yet? If not, then here's the concept. Insert any amount of text from any source (book, blog, speach, article, sermon, etc.) and Wordle will generate a beautiful word cloud. While the cloud is, indeed, beautiful in and of itself, it is more beautiful because of the fresh perspective it gives on the text itself. Words that are more frequently used are generated in a larger, more prominent font in the cloud. It's like the central themes of the text, surrounded by their context, almost leap off the page and hit the viewer like a perspective from another dimension. Here's a few examples from some writings that are particularly relevant/interesting to me: The Gospel of John: The Gospel of Mark: The Gospel of Judas: Obama's "Call to Renewal" Speech (the one Dobson slammed him for): Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech: George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" Speech (2002 State of the Union Address): Sermon on the Mount: Th...