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Speaking into the internet is different than preaching because you can’t see who’s on the other side. At the end of the year, though, I like to check back and see what articles and videos gained the most traction. While I write for the congregation, certain posts attract broader attention (although in my case, not very broad!). This year, I compared the most-watched videos with the most read blog articles, took out anything from The Unstuck Life, and combined the results to form the top 10. This year, 3 of the top 10 related to Christian living and the gospel, 3 focused on predestination, and 4 dealt with the pandemic and mental health. Maybe there’s something you missed, or maybe there’s something you want to give another look. Here are the top 10 in ascending order.
10. How to Not Waste Your Life
Our sense of purpose and meaning in life changes dramatically if we know that we are created by a God who loves us and who has designed us for His purposes. This post looks at how to live in light of that.
9. Where’s God in My Mental Health?
This was a post I made in response to the seminar we held in the summer, “Renewed not Defeated: How to End the Pandemic Mentally Healthier than you Started.” Since then, videos of the individual seminar sessions have been added to the page.
8. If You Believe in Jesus, This Is Why
This is one of the posts about God’s sovereignty that explains how a person comes to faith and why it’s essential that God takes the initiative that He does.
7. How to Cope with Lockdown from Someone Who Was Actually Locked Up
The apostle Paul can teach us about lockdown because he spent so much of his ministry in prison. This post gives encouragement from Philippians 1 and 2 about how to deal with adversity with God’s help.
6. 3 Things You Can Do Today to Ease Your Pandemic Stress
For many Christians, Philippians 4:4-9 is one of the most precious passages in the Bible. This post looks at how to apply the principles of these verses to the stress we’re all experiencing because of the pandemic.
5. An Open Letter to the Pet Shop Boys, 30 Years Too Late
If you grew up with or enjoy dipping back into 80s music, the Pet Shop Boys single “It’s a Sin” may be familiar to you. It perfectly summarizes what many people feel is wrong with the Bible. This post responds to the misconceptions that are at the heart of that view.
4. How Does God View My Sin Ss a Christian?
God’s grace is hard to understand. On the one hand, the Bible says that Christians are cleansed, forgiven, and made holy through faith alone. On the other hand, God can still be grieved by our sins and discipline us for them. This post explains how those two responses are reconciled.
3. Verses That Refute Predestination
When people talk about predestination, certain verses are often brought up to refute the idea that God chooses to save certain people and not others. By just quoting those verses, people feel that the case is closed. This post looks at what those verses do and do not say.
2. Does God Choose to Save Some People and Not Others?
The most viewed YouTube video and second most viewed blog article were on the age-old question of whether God chooses to save some people and not others. Instead of rehashing the same verses that are usually debated, this post considers God’s choosing of people from a different perspective altogether.
1. Should a Christian Get Vaccinated or Trust God to Protect Them from COVID-19?
Vaccines have been one of the biggest topics of 2021 so it’s not surprising that many people weighed in on this article. I didn’t attempt to address the science but instead focused on some of the promises of Scripture that I feel had been misused in popular discussions about God protecting people from COVID-19.
By this time next year, I’d love to report that no one was looking for articles dealing with pandemic stress and anxiety anymore. May God gives us relief and grace for the year ahead!
In awe of Him,
Paul
