Top 14 Posts of 2014

2014 was an interesting year for writing and for me personally. To be honest, it was a painful year of growth. And I think that is reflected in some of my writing (and in the lack thereof). There were seasons this year when I had to pull back on writing. But nonetheless, I believe God used my pen in 2014 particularly in these posts.

These aren’t necessarily the most-viewed but they are the ones that were the most fun or most beneficial to write.

14. What Did Jesus Mean When He Told Us Not to Judge?. The ones that like to use this verse to defend themselves are usually the ones it applies to the most.

13. The Top 10 Most Shared Verses In Their Context. I enjoyed writing on each of these verses.

12. Why I Can’t Be He-Man. I’ve wanted to be He-Man so many times this year. Both in counseling others and in dealing with my own heart.

11.  A Generation of Hams I believe we are a generation that revels in uncovering stuff that ought to be buried.

10. Six Lies Grads Will Be Told. My stomach always turns when I hear the silliness spewed out during graduation time.

9. Confessions of a Man Addicted to Distraction. The Lord opened my eyes to this in early 2014 and it was something I worked on all throughout the year.

8. Why Your Prayers Might Not Be Answered. This came after something personally crushing that happened over the summer. And it is a reflection after some healing came.

7. I’m Bored With Blogs. Yep. I am bored with blogs (even my own at times). I hope 2015 changes that and here is another article that hints at what I’d like to see in my own writing at least: Showing, Telling, and the Gospel.

6. When the Devil Preaches the Gospel. Every now and then something is so eye-opening in your own life but it’s a “duh” in the life of others. This post didn’t seem to register with many people but it has been helpful in my own walk with Christ.

5. Doubt: A Sexy Virtue. Doubt has become a sexy virtue in our culture. And at times it has almost shipwrecked my faith.

4. Why I’ve Stopped Following Mark Driscoll… 2014 was a rough year for Mark Driscoll. I made my leap off the bandwagon public in early 2014. And I think the words here were a precursor to the bigger explosion we witnessed in the Fall.

3. Introducing the Seeds Project. I had hoped to get The Seeds Project published in 2014, but I don’t think that will happen. I’m still passionate about this project. As of right now it is out of my hands and in the hands of those that will make it beautiful. I’m told that it is very close to being ready to market and hit the shelves.

2.  31 Days of Purity. In March, I was honored to partner with Tim Challies, and over 3,000 other men to focus on purity.

1. Why Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Seems Anti-Gospel. This was the most viewed post in 2014, and I think it extends far beyond the issues of same-sex marriage.

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*We’ve had several guest posts in 2014. The list does not include their articles—as good as they were—because my criteria for the top 14 is which ones were the most fun to write.

Today in Blogworld 12.23.14

10 Lessons I’ve Learned In Ten Years

January will mark year eight for me. Aaron Earls has been going a couple more years and he has ten great lessons on blogging from those ten years.

The Weight of Perfection in Marriage

It’s a blessing to accept Christ-like love from a spouse and stop trying to be perfect in your relationship. This is a lesson I’m still learning.

7 Errors to Avoid in Following Christ

Here are seven common errors Christians make in their sanctification.

Gay Christianity: Toward a Theological and Pastoral Response

I’m interested by the current discussions on the relationship between sexual orientation and sin. I’m still thinking my way through this one.

Not all dogs catch things gracefully:

When You Do That Thing You Thought You’d Never Do

small__8407368292It has always been easy for me to see myself in the apostle Peter. Just like him, I’ve had a list of things that I believed I would never do. I even boldly pronounced to others that I’d never do these things.

What about you? Do you have any of these? “I would never ______________”.

And just like Peter I’ve got a list of my “I never” that now “I did”. What is yours? That thing that you thought you’d never do—but you did?

Your fall followed the same pattern as that of the apostle Peter. You were confident that it couldn’t happen to you. You knew it was possible for other people. “Even if all of these people fall into this sin—I won’t. I’m stronger. I’m prayed up. I’m a leader in the church. I’m a faithful man. I’m a God-fearing mom. Not me. Jesus has rescued me from all of that stuff. I’m a disciple. I’m never going to fall. Once saved, always saved.”

Slowly you became less dependent on Christ and more secure in your faith. There is a difference, by the way. And you started reading those verses for other people. You read Proverbs 7 about not even passing along the street near the prostitute’s house. And it doesn’t rattle your own soul. This one applies to the fool, I’m not a fool. I’m probably strong enough to walk next to her house. (I can handle this movie, this video game with nudity. I can handle this temptation. It’s not a struggle for me anymore).

And then BAM! You did it. The cards felt stacked against you. You felt sifted like wheat. You didn’t stand a chance. That thing that you never thought you would do—you’ve done it.

And here we identify with Peter. Have you been there? That thing that you wish that nobody knew, that you want to keep hidden until your grave, those things that you are deeply ashamed of, that stuff that you wonder—“how in the world did I just do that”. You can’t bear the pain of looking at them. And yet, the Lord in all of His holiness, “turns and looks”. “I know what you did.” You are flooded with conviction. Your only recourse is to be like the apostle—“weep bitterly”.

This sermon is about those things:

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If you give this sermon a listen you’ll notice a prayer and a song/video in the middle. This sermon was actually one that I preached in two parts of the service. We’d never done anything like that and it seemed to work pretty well.

— photo credit: virtualwayfarer via photopin cc

Today in Blogworld 12.22.14

Praise We Didn’t Plan

The Psalms of Ascent have an interesting twist in them. Up, up, up, and then tears. What is God doing here?

How to Make Christ Happy

Here is one way. It might surprise you.

How to Use the Back of a Napkin to Prove the Deity of Christ

This looks very helpful. I also appreciate that he gives a couple of tips on how to respond to the kickback.

Please Don’t Give Them Porn for Christmas

If you are going to buy your kid a new mobile device or computer this year with internet access, this is a great reminder to guard them from pornography.

A couple days ago my son asked if they had any rock (metal) Christmas songs. This answers his question:

(HT: Nate)