My wife isn’t convinced that lots of people are following or producing blogs any more. Most of our friends in our family blogroll seemed to have given up. I wonder if this is the result of most people keeping up with each other via facebook (something my wife does vicariously through my account). I, for one, think that in the realm of reading and writing and, at least for me,  in the realm of biblical and theological studies, this is still a helpful exercise. I don’t know how many people subscribe to my blog or actually read it (I think most of the hits in my hit counter are spam hits, since I spend time going in and emptying my blog spam box), but I would like to suggest some sites that I will frequent a lot in 2012 and explain why.

Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor – Justin just brings it all together. By this I mean Between Two Worlds is where a lot of the world of Evangelicalism is brought to the attention of the blogosphere. Justin is constantly updating and sharing bit and pieces from all over Evangelicalism. Very helpful for keeping up on what’s going on out there.

Dr. Ibex – Ideas by Dr. William Varner – Dr. V (as many affectionately call him) is professor of Bible and Greek at the Master’s College in Santa Clarita, CA. He is in my opinion one of the best unknown scholar’s in the U.S. It’s not that no one knows who he is, it is that not enough people know that he is there and that he is a tremendous scholar, theologian and pastor. Stop reading right now and get over to his blog and start reading. He has basically put his entire devotional commentary on the Psalms on his blog for free. He has led trips to Israel more than 42 times. Get his books and read them. Read what he reads and learn from what he learns from.

joethorn.net by (you guessed it) Joe Thorn – Joe and I went to Moody together and though we were only acquaintances there, I appreciate Joe’s humility and his love for Scripture and the Church. His book Note to Self needs to be on your shelf and the practice of it in your heart and life. His blog is a must for practical theological application in your life. He does add some personal stuff in there as well, which gives you insight into his love for his wife and children.

NT Resources by Dr. Rodney Decker – Rod Decker is professor of Greek and New Testament at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, PA. Because I am a wannabe Greek geek, I follow Dr. Decker’s blog. He has great insight into translations and their philosophies, as well as throwing out the occasional Greek controversy doozy.

Thoughts on Theology by Andy Naselli – Andy is the Research Manager for D.A. Carson and is a Adjunct Professor for several seminaries across the U.S. He often posts like Justin Taylor, bringing the best from around the evangelical web, with video interviews and book reviews, etc. Another great way of keeping up with all things Evangelical.

Counseling One Another by Dr. Paul Tautges – I first met Paul when he was teaching a different course than I was taking at my seminary this last year. Paul is a friend and a wonderfully humble pastor. He pastors Immanuel Bible Church in Sheboygan, WI. His insights into the world of Biblical Counseling, his thoughts on pastoral ministry and how to make application to one’s life as well as others is fantastic. Paul’s humble approach and helpful insights make this a must for any pastor’s reading. Paul is also the author of several book published by Day One. You can see these listed on his blog as well.

Practical Shepherding by Brian Croft – I met Brian briefly at Aubrundale Baptist Church (where he pastors), at the ordination of one of my former students, Josh Hayward. Brian provides rich insights into the life of the pastor as well as how the pastor can effectively shepherd his flock and his own family. Brian also has several books published through Day One that you can access through his blog.

Though this is not the exhaustive list of all I have in either my blogroll or my resources, these are the ones I will be monitoring closely in 2012.

One practical/ technical piece I would suggest on reading and keeping up with blogs, is to use either your browser’s or some other feed reader and Readability‘s browser plugin, which allows you to clean up a blog for easier reading as well as send articles to your Kindle.

What blogs will you keep up with in 2012?