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100 Blog Posts of 2019

In 2019 I sought to write more, with the goal of writing better. The advice I kept (and keep) hearing from podcasts and writing books was if you want to write well, you need to read a lot and write a lot. Since 2017, reading has become somewhat habitual—by God’s grace I can now read an average non-fiction Christian book with less effort than I thought possible for a slow reader like me. Now I can say, by God’s same grace, that writing has become similar. 

To be clear: This does not mean writing throughout this year has been “easy”—it’s often a great pain, accompanied by feeling like the words in my Ulysses app are worthless. (I can’t recommend writing in Ulysses enough!) But as I’ve striven for reaching my goal of 100 posts, writing an article has become more attainable and somewhat habitual.

In this post, I will list the 100 posts I posted on this site this past year. I do this mainly for my own sake, as I use this site as a personal depository of ideas, notes, Bible meditations, and Lord willing, growth in grace; but also for the sake of anyone reading this who would like to see a list of the articles posted this year on Looking at Christ.

I also have decided to pick out my top 10 favorites from my top four article categories—Theology, Christian Living, Devotional, and Culture. Again, this is mainly for myself, especially as, I think, it will be exciting in the future to look back on my orderings and thoughts. But I also hope they’re helpful for others as well. (To clarify, these are not my top visited posts. They are simply my favorites as I look back.)

Because the listing of the 100 posts will take so much space, I’ll start with my lists of favorites.

Top 10 Theology Favorites

The Theology category are biblical reflections that are predominantly theological. Of course theology is included in all the other categories. But these are my posts which primarily concern issues of theology. Here’s my top ten favorites from this year:

  1. How the Promised Temple Truly Is Fulfilled in Christ (or, How Do We Read the Details of a Restored Temple in Ezekiel 40-48?)
  2. What If Christians Do Love the Lord Their God With All Their Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength?
  3. Sovereign Repentance: How the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin Explain the Prodigal Son
  4. “It’s All About Jesus” or “Union with Christ” or “Identity in Jesus”: What Do These Mean?
  5. The Sabbath Command for Rest Fulfilled in Christ & What It Means for Us
  6. Our Father In Heaven, Treasured Be Your Name: Valuing God in The Lord’s Prayer
  7. Why God Alone Must Be In Complete Control
  8. Forgiveness and Satisfaction Symbolized in the Lord’s Supper
  9. Who Is God? Look to the Story, Not Speculation
  10. God Is Happy: What It Means for Our Joy

Top 10 Christian Living Favorites

The Christian Living category is anything biblical that has its main application to living a Christian life. As a result of the broadness of such a definition, this is my most used category. Here’s my top ten favorites from this year:

  1. Is Hearing God’s Word Really the Most Important Thing a Church Needs? Is Explaining the Bible a Pastor’s Main Work?
  2. The Ultimate Purpose of Christian Parenting
  3. I Can’t vs. I Don’t: The Power of Identity in Christ
  4. Take Hold & Take Heed: How Can We Have Assurance and Also Believe We Could Fall?
  5. Finding Daily Purpose in the Gospel
  6. Why Do We Sing? 3 Reasons
  7. The Vague-Specific Prayer Spectrum
  8. Resisting Temptation Is Suffering
  9. The Danger of Me-Focused Guilt
  10. We All Struggle With Wanting Praise, So What Does It Mean to Seek God’s Glory and Not Your Own?

Top 10 Devotional Favorites

The Devotional category is similar to the Christian living category, but more focused on biblical encouragement and edification. Here’s my top ten favorites from this year:

  1. Morning Weakness, Daily Strength
  2. Christian, You Will Never See Death
  3. A Precious Verse That Has Helped in My Sweating Anxiety
  4. God Enthusiastically For Us On Judgment Day
  5. ”One Sows, Another Reaps”: A Humbling and Encouraging Motto
  6. Why Do Christians Die? Because Jesus Loves Us?
  7. Dying Is Gain
  8. 4 Pictures of God’s Love
  9. A Four Word Response to Discouragement
  10. Sin Can Grow

Top 10 Culture Favorites

The Culture category is anything that I think affects not only Christians, but the broader culture as well. Here’s my top ten favorites from this year:

  1. C.S. Lewis on the Danger of Political Pride, Hatred, and Idolatry
  2. What’s the Best Form of Government?: Why God Didn’t Give the Israelites a Constitutional Republic
  3. Why Does the Media Diminish the Christian Faith?
  4. How Do We Stand for the Truth and Still Be Respected?
  5. Why Do You Engage in Politics Online?
  6. Digital Images, Worship, and Joy
  7. Take That—Jesus Is Better
  8. How Does the Church Reach the World?
  9. A Possible Blockade on the Romans Road
  10. Exchanging Christ’s Yoke: A Response to Derek Webb, Josh Harris, and Others Leaving Christianity in Search of Freedom

The 100 Blog Posts of 2019

  1. The Prayer List Fuels the To-Do List
  2. How to Wander Less into the Smog
  3. He Is Here and He Is Not Limited: Why God’s Total Control Matters, Especially in Suffering
  4. Worshiping “Joshua ben Joseph”
  5. Splendor and Sin: How Seeing God’s Light Shows Us Our Darkness
  6. God Is Happy: What It Means for Our Joy
  7. How Do We Stand For the Truth and Still Be Respected?
  8. Christian, You Will Never See Death
  9. Reading Retreat
  10. We Will Be Forgotten—And That’s Okay
  11. If Jesus Was Close By, Would You Go to Him?
  12. “Take That—Jesus is Better”
  13. Who Is God? Look to the Story, Not Speculation
  14. We’re All Longing for a Voice of Hope
  15. Sin Can Grow
  16. “Natural” Analogies Illustrate God
  17. Looking to a New World
  18. Considering in Christian Living
  19. What If Christians Do Love the Lord Their God With All Their Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength?
  20. Unbelief Surrounding the Triumphal Entry
  21. Historical Proof Jesus Rose from the Dead
  22. Into the Cloud: What Happened to Jesus After He Ascended?
  23. Finding Daily Purpose in the Gospel
  24. You Don’t Know How You’ll Influence Someone
  25. Help for When We’re Feeling Overwhelmed
  26. “It’s All About Jesus” or “Union with Christ” or “Identity in Jesus”: What Do These Mean?
  27. 4 Pictures of God’s Love
  28. A Word About Our Sex-Soaked World
  29. Why Do We Sing? 3 Reasons
  30. Apathy and Prayerlessness
  31. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis Summary, Quotes, and Chapter Outline
  32. Why God’s Election Gave My Wife Comfort as She Entered the Hospital
  33. Morning Weakness, Daily Strength
  34. Why Does the Media Diminish the Christian Faith?
  35. How Do We Attain Christian Unity? Christian Unity is a By-Product
  36. Is Total Depravity Biblical? What Does Total Depravity Mean?
  37. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis Summary, Quotes, and Chapter Outline
  38. We Can’t Handle Our Anxiety
  39. Our Father in Heaven, Treasured Be Your Name: Valuing God in the Lord’s Prayer
  40. Resisting Temptation is Suffering
  41. Take Hold & Take Heed: How Can We Have Assurance and Also Believe We Could Fall?
  42. Embracing Both Assurance and Warnings (and Hope for Those Who’ve Strayed)
  43. What’s the Best Form of Government?: Why God Didn’t Give the Israelites a Constitutional Republic
  44. We Live in a Fathered World
  45. A Possible Blockade on the Romans Road
  46. Two Assumptions As We Navigate Sharing the Gospel
  47. God’s Gifts and Two Paths
  48. How to Receive God’s Gifts for God’s Glory
  49. A Precious Verse That Has Helped in My Sweating Anxiety
  50. Digital Images, Worship, and Joy
  51. How the Most Devout Christians Are Saved
  52. God Enthusiastically For Us On Judgment Day
  53. What Does It Mean to Die “In Peace”?
  54. Why Do Christians Die? Because Jesus Loves Us
  55. Correction: We Don’t Like It But Need It
  56. I Can’t vs. I Don’t: The Power of Our Identity in Christ
  57. We All Struggle With Wanting Praise, So What Does It Mean to Seek God’s Glory and Not Your Own?
  58. The Danger of Me-Focused Guilt
  59. A Cure For Our Suspicion of God
  60. Exchanging Christ’s Yoke: A Response to Derek Webb, Josh Harris, and Others Leaving Christianity in Search of Freedom
  61. 31 Reasons to Preach the Gospel to Yourself
  62. Our Incongruous Capacity for Joy
  63. The Sabbath Command to Rest Fulfilled in Christ & What It Means for Us
  64. The Utmost Importance of the Bible
  65. Grace and Peace: How These Two Terms Summarize Christianity
  66. Is Hearing God’s Word Really the Most Important Thing a Church Needs? Is Explaining the Bible a Pastor’s Main Work?
  67. Don’t Be Afraid to Pray Vague Prayers
  68. How the Promised Temple Truly Is Fulfilled In Christ (or, How Do We Read the Details of a Restored Temple in Ezekiel 40-48?)
  69. The Vague-Specific Prayer Spectrum
  70. The Ultimate Purpose of Christian Parenting
  71. What’s the Hope for a Society of Increasing Immorality?
  72. God’s Commandments Are “Right” and Good,” but Are They “True”?
  73. In the Lord Your Labor is Not in Vain
  74. Dying Is Gain
  75. Why Do You Engage in Politics Online?
  76. A God-Given Prayer List
  77. “We’ve Left Everything, What Then Will We Have?”
  78. A Four Word Response to Discouragement
  79. Worshiping God in God’s Way
  80. A Truth That Destroys Pride
  81. Redefining Success and Fruitfulness in Christian Ministry
  82. Sovereign Repentance: How the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin Explain the Prodigal Son
  83. God’s Work In Us Is Not By Our Own Power or Piety
  84. Thanksgiving that Glorifies God
  85. Sexual Temptation Is Not Primarily About the Body
  86. How Does the Church Reach the World?
  87. “One Sows, Another Reaps”: A Humbling and Encouraging Motto
  88. People Are More Valuable Than Stuff
  89. We Live in a God-Centered Universe, So Let’s Be Rich Toward God
  90. We Live in a Fathered World, So Let’s Be Rich Toward God
  91. We Possess the Kingdom, So Let’s Be Rich Toward God
  92. Our Hearts Follow Our Wealth, So Let’s Be Rich Toward God
  93. Forgiveness and Satisfaction Symbolized in the Lord’s Supper
  94. Why God Alone Must Be In Complete Control
  95. Books Read in 2019
  96. Favorite Books Read in 2019
  97. How Can Jesus’s Government Increase Without End? The Possibility of New Worlds in Eternity
  98. Quality, Quantity, and Seeking the Other
  99. C.S. Lewis on the Danger of Political Pride, Hatred, and Idolatry
  100. 100 Blog Posts of 2019

God is gracious and faithful, even and particularly when we feel stressed, without energy, and weak. I look at many of those and remember writing them, editing them multiple times, often being excited about the glory which God had given me a glimpse, and posting them—and I see his Triune, sovereign faithfulness spread like a blanket over me through it all. What a kind Savior we get the privilege of looking at, thinking about, enjoying, and serving. 

As for my plans for writing in 2020, I am not planning on posting as frequently on this site. I will no longer be posting every Monday and Friday. Instead, I simply intend to post here every once a while (when time and energy permit). But I am still aiming at writing consistently. Rather that writing here, I am going to try to write more extendedly (perhaps aiming at book ideas). But we shall see.

Finally, for anyone still reading this, thank you for your support and encouragement. See you here in 2020.

___

A Few Final Notes and Statistics on the 100 Post

As an endnote for my own records, here are some final notes to remember and statistics about the 100 posts from this year:

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I am a sinner saved in Christ, a husband to my beautiful wife, a dad of three, and the pastor of Evangelical Community Church in Stamford, CT.

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