Anchored in Christ

2015 has been a year I’ll never forget. The list of highlights below should tell you why:

• I got married!
• I had the joy of officiating my brother’s wedding six weeks after my wedding.
• Settling into live with my beautiful bride.
• Seeing the Spanish ministry at The Orchard EFC grow and mature.
• Seeing my beloved Cubs win their first ever series-clinching game at Wrigley Field. (How awesome and yet pathetic at the same time!)
• Another fruitful trip with Leadership Resources to Ecuador to train pastors in biblical exposition.
• Releasing my first eBook in the Kindle store.
• And many more highlights…including growth of the Word + Life blog in exposure and readership.

This post serves to share the best posts from 2015 based on pageviews and social shares. I also share runners up, posts from previous years that still receive considerable traffic, and some of the best articles I had other places on the web. (See the top posts of 2014.)

I’m hoping 2016 will be a fruitful year for me helping you in your walk with Christ.

Pray for me as I plan and pray about future writing projects and seek to create a more consistent schedule for Word + Life.

Top Posts/Articles of 2015

1. Of Serial Killers, Hiding Sins, and the Glorious Hope of Forgiveness in Christ (también en Español)

This article spawned from a provocative lunchtime conversation and shares how God’s grace extends to the worst of sinners.

2. 5 Things Every Christian Leader Should Pray Everyday

3. Charles Spurgeon’s 9 Tips for Christian Readers

People love Spurgeon. Read these helpful tips to find out why.

4. 10 Recommended Books on Prayer

5. 15 Resolutions for Christian Readers

I didn’t keep these perfectly, but they helped shape a fruitful year of reading.

6. 15 of the Funniest Christian Parody Twitter Accounts to Follow

I had a lot of fun compiling this post.

7. Freedom of Conscience in Virtueless Society

Featuring a snippet from a helpful conversation between Eric Metaxas and Os Guinness.

8. Four Ways Christians Need to Respond in Love to the Supreme Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage

9. How to Stop Porn Addiction with Biblical Truth and the Power of the Holy Spirit

10. The Former Backstreet Boy Who Rejected Fame and Fortune for Christ: The Burk Parsons Story

Yes, a former Backstreet Boy pastors under R.C. Sproul. Here’s his story.

Runners Up

• The Story Behind the Prayermate App: An Interview with Andy Geers
• Tim Keller’s 9 Questions for Sleepy and Nominal Christians | Also see my top viewed book review of the year with Keller’s The Songs of Jesus Devotional in the Psalms.
• Does What You Do Define You? 3 Dangerous Ways to Think About Your Identity
• A Powerful Sermon on Overcoming the Fear of Terrorism
• J.C. Ryle’s 8 Symptoms of False Teaching
• 6 Observations from the Prayer Requests of the Apostle Paul
• 10 Recommended World War II Books for Christian Readers
• 6 Needed Mind Shifts for Your Fight Against Sin
• Following Christ on Social Media: 15 Questions for Self-Examination
• The 40 Best E.M. Bounds Christian Quotes on Prayer
• Preparing Your Heart for Future Persecution

Other high-trafficked posts from previous years:

• 100 of the Best C.S. Lewis Quotes
• A Complete List of the Apostle Paul’s Prayers in the Bible
• What are the Five Love Languages? A Summary
• 250+ Free Online Seminary Classes, Courses, Programs, and Book Recommendations
• 10 Hindrances to an Effective Prayer Life
• How to Learn New Testament Greek
• Obscure Bible Character…or Lord of the Rings Character?
• Religion vs. the Gospel
• The 20 Best Daily Devotional Books

Other articles from around the web:

• 12 Books of the Bible For One-to-One Bible Reading (the Spanish version of which made the Spanish blog at The Gospel Coalition’s top 10 of the year)
• Review of Heaven, How I Got Here by Colin Smith (at The Gospel Coalition)
• 5 Reasons Preachers Avoid Sermons on Hell (at The Gospel Coalition)
• Moving Toward Christ-Centered Preaching in Ecuador (at The Gospel Coalition)
• Three Telltale Signs of Foolish Christian (at Unlocking the Bible)
• Preaching to the Soils: The Kinds of People to Consider as You Apply Scripture in Preaching (at Leadership Resources)
• 10 Reasons Why Preachers Don’t Preach Expository Sermons (at Leadership Resources)
• Implications of Justification by Faith from Romans 5-8 in Graphical Form (at Leadership Resources)
• Disciple Making in the 21st Century: An Interview with Author Trevin Wax (at Leadership Resources)
• How to Listen to Sermon: 15 Practical Tips for Receiving the Word (at Leadership Resources)
• A Simple Guide for Seeing How the Old Testament Points to Jesus Christ (at Leadership Resources)
• A Man Walks Into Bar…and Comes to Christ (at Leadership Resources)
• Why Expository Preaching? 20 Reasons to Preach Expositional Sermons (at Leadership Resources)

See you in 2016!