2018 was kind of a difficult year for me. I say “kind of” because history tells me that I’ll likely look back on my 2018 and think that I was just being a big baby. Maybe in the future I’ll be in a position to share some of the reasons that 2018 was difficult. I share this only to say that I think my own season of depression and deep discouragement has impacted my writing. You can kind of tell how I’m doing mentally by the work that I produce. On occasion, when I’m battling the darkness, my writing will have a bit too much of a darker shade to it than is helpful. But really you can tell that I’m depressed when my pen gets silent and/or lazy. That is the case with a few stretches in 2018.
But even so, God is gracious and I believe He graciously allowed me to produce a few things which I enjoyed writing and that I believe could be beneficial to the church. I don’t care much for traffic so these weren’t necessarily the most visited posts of 2018—these are just the ones I think are the most important.
12. One Thing You Cannot Multi-Task. Spoiler alert. It’s prayer.
11. A Tip For Reading an OT Quotation. This seriously has changed the way I read the OT.
10. A Humbling and Yet Freeing Truth For Pastoral Ministry. I’m still trying to apply this one.
9. Thoughts on Underoath and An Open Letter to Spencer Chamberlain. This broke my heart.
8. The Apostle Paul Had Many Great Stories, Why Did He Tell This One? This was such a fun one to write and study for.
7. Why Would a Good God Not Heal? The last three sentences I need to keep reminding myself of on a daily basis.
6. Victimhood is a Fig Leaf This one didn’t seem to resonate with many folks, but it was so helpful for me to think through.
5. Proposing a New Awareness Month. I really wish this would happen. I need an awareness month like this.
4. How To Respond When You Get Punched in the Face. The Newton letter this article was inspired by was balm for my soul in a difficult season of pastoral ministry.
3. Doubt Always Looks For a Place to Land. Another one that didn’t get much traction but I think it’s such an important concept. More and more people are acting like doubt is a virtue. It’s not. It’s deadly.
2. The Gospel Gets the Last Word. This is the statement I’m placing over my 2018.
1. Let’s Just Be Honest and Admit We Hate One Another. This post went somewhat viral. I ended up being interviewed for a radio show in Southern California to talk about this article. Fun experience.
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Jesus is good. No matter our production. No matter our season.
Photo source: here
I noticed when you were absent, sometimes for a long period, even disappearing completely a few times, but I didn’t know why. I check your blog every day, so I’ll be more aware next time–if you don’t show up, I can pray for your heart to be encouraged in the absence.