The Most Popular Posts of 2025
As the year draws to a close, I’m grateful for the opportunity to revisit some of the most popular posts of the year. Whether you’ve read them before or are new to the blog, these posts—along with a few personal favorites—are ones I hope will encourage and challenge you as you reflect on the year.
BIBLICAL STUDIES
> Released: A Survey of Romans 7:1-25
We are accustomed to thinking that our faults can be overcome by stricter rules. Yet in Romans 7, Paul shows that while the law is good, it does nothing to restrain human evil – indeed, it can even incite it. God’s laws, then, serve as a diagnostic test, revealing how profoundly we need his grace.
>Strength is for Service: Insights from Romans 15
Whether or not you consider yourself as a “strong” Christian, Paul’s words in Romans 15 provide a beautiful model for how believers can relate to one another within the body of Christ to foster unity and spiritual growth.
> On the Cultivation of Rare Plants
“On the barren, windswept plain of adversity, the temperatures can range from bitter cold to stifling heat…for those who do hang on, the endurance which grows on this plain eventually flowers and fruits, creating the precious fruit of character.”
EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS
> Pain and Purpose: The Self-Evident Truths Revealed by Suffering
C. S. Lewis famously describes pain as God’s “megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Though many wrestle with the purpose of suffering, it can actually awaken us to the reality of the spiritual world and may be exactly what is needed to draw someone back from spiritual apathy.
We live in an age when evangelism is misunderstood and even belittled. This is a call to recover a biblical vision of what we are truly called to do.
Many of us feel unsure how to respond to critics of Christianity—what should we say? This article addresses some of the most challenging objections and equips us to respond thoughtfully and graciously in the moment.
HISTORY AND CURRENT EVENTS
> Providence, Responsibility, and the Leadership Lessons of Earnest Shackleton
Earnest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 is remembered as one of the greatest adventures ever attempted. The expedition unfolds as a gripping story of human endurance, where forces beyond control clash with brilliant leadership and an unwavering will to survive.
> Our Desperate Need for Historical Narrative
Postmodernism has gutted the West of historical narrative. Yet God is a narratival being, and human history has purpose. We must learn to see ourselves as part of a grand story with a destined endpoint.
> At the Grave of John the Baptist (Guest Post by Roderick McDonald)
From Machaerus on a hilltop, a disciple of John the Baptist reflects on the death of his beloved teacher. This beautiful poem invites us to contemplate both the tragedy and the triumph of the last prophet of the Old Testament era.
MISCELLANEOUS
> 15 Critical Thinking Strategies
No matter the problem you’re facing, chances are that at least one strategy on this list can help. Each strategy includes a real-world example and a guiding question to help you apply it directly to your own situation.
> Redefining Success: The Shift to Process-Oriented Living
Many naturally equate success with achieving a goal. Yet if you define success only by goal completion, failing to reach those goals can feel like failure itself. Process-oriented living emphasizes faithfulness to the right pursuits, independent of visible outcomes.
> Don’t Go Read a Book (Guest Post by Elizabeth Clevenger)
Some of us need a reminder not to escape into a book or delve deeper into a topic. What we truly need is to apply the truth we already know. Is there something better you could do than read a book?
See also the most popular posts of 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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