Yesterday, I offered a rundown of the top 10 most views posts of 2022. Again, as has become customary, today I am going to offer a rundown of the most viewed posts of all time (at least, since this blog migrated to WordPress and began collecting the stats).
I want to reiterate what I said yesterday. This past year, people have visited this site around 225,000 times and read content. I am so grateful for every one who did that. I continue to be amazed that anybody should be interested in what is put here.
I also want to reiterate that I know not everybody agrees with what is written here. Some disagree with only a few bits, others disagree with almost everything. In either case, I am pleased you keep coming back (even if it is just to annoy yourself or have an argument with me!) Every engagement is helpful.
I am so pleased when people engage with me on Facebook and Twitter. I do not mind in the slightest if you do so and disagree with me. Not only do I fully expect that stuff put up in the public domain will minimally lead to discussion, it helps me form my thoughts more clearly. Every comment – whether agreeing or disagreeing, whether gently or robustly written – helps me revisit what I have said. I will almost certainly come back at you if you disagree with things that spring to mind.
This is, and always has been, my process for testing ideas. If I have come back at anyone in ways that have upset or caused offence, le me apologise for that. That is never intended. It perhaps helps to know there have been more than a few times, after such engagement that might look particularly tough, robust or whatever else you want to call it, my mind has been changed. There is value in pursuing your argument if you can bear it! I appreciate not everyone will want to do that, nor feels able to do it, but I am grateful for those that do. You have either helped me form more clearly what I was saying, even though I still disagree with you, or you have helped me see flaws in my position that I have revised, rethought and even changed because of it. I recognise Facebook and Twitter in particular are not always happy places, but I maintain they are more helpful than not. This sort of engagement is what I value most about it.
With all that said, here are the most read posts of all time on this blog:
10. Are Small Groups Overrated, Unaccountable And Ineffective And Should We Even Bother With Them?
First in our top 10 of all time, this post was prompted by a provocative comment on twitter concerning the efficacy and value of home groups. Certainly, they have become something of a shibboleth despite them not appearing anywhere in the Bible. This post argues for freedom before engaging with the question.
9. Five Beliefs Upheld By Calvinists That Don’t Undermine The Doctrines Of Grace
This is the oldest of the top 10, coming from August 2017. It looks at five things that people often think Calvinists do not believe (but they do) and notes how none of them undermine the doctrines of grace.
8. Does The Bible Call Us To Unilateral Forgiveness Without Repentance?
This one argues that it does not. Our forgiveness, as believers, is modelled on God’s own forgiveness. We are to forgive as our heavenly father forgives us. This post digs into exactly what that might mean in practice.
7. Biblical CBT vs Worldly CBT
If you are suffering from depression, you will probably be offered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This one is not arguing that secular CBT is bad or wrong. Though, it bears saying, it can sometimes be delivered badly. But the same principles exist in scripture and, as believers, the Word can provide those certain statement of fact that we need to judge our faulty thoughts by.
6. What To Do When People Are Disappointing And The Church Lets You Down
This post is from 2017. I am not surprised it has remained here for so long because people continue to be disappointing and churches continue to let us down. This one offers some suggestions for when that inevitably happens.
5. What Is The Biggest Problem Facing Evangelicalism? Comfort
This one from 2018 has consistently been among the most read posts on this blog but has slipped down a few places now. It makes the case that the biggest problem afflicting the church right now is comfort. It points to specifically how it is impacting our churches and notes what we may need to do to overcome it.
4. The Advance Of The New Legalism
Also from 2020, and narrowly missing out on third place, this one highlighted the rise of a new form of a legalism and offers some means of determining whether we are facing it.
3. Complementarianism And Answering Beth Moore’s Valid Questions
Taking up the first podium place, I consider this post from 2020 my magnum opus on complementarianism. In the context of American complementarianism – which is both contextually and practically a very different animal to world complementarianism – Beth Moore posed some perfectly valid questions to her complementarian brother-pastors. This was my answer to those questions and, I maintain, it is the best answer I have as a British complementarian not only to her questions but to broader concerns with American complementarianism that seem prevalent even among complementarians this side of the pond.
2. Five Ways To Encourage Members To Participate In Church
Every pastor I know want to encourage his people to engage with the church. The second most read post of all time, from 2019, offers 5 simple ways to help your members do just that.
1. The Most Concerning Thing About The Royal Wedding Sermon Was The Evangelical Reaction
With some staying power, the post that continues to be the most read on this site was from 2018 and concerns the message delivered by Michael Curry at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.