Top 15 Posts of 2015

Here are the Top 15 Most Viral Posts of 2015 from this blog, ranging from topics such as homosexuality, depression, persecution, finding your “calling,” facing a world of tragedy, and the non-romantic reality of marriage.

15) Tragedy Is Not a Contest
The recent trend with tragedy is to immediately compete with other tragedies, to say it’s unfair that one gets more attention than the other. But if we back up from such a statement, it only reveals a stark reality.

14) You Can Do The Thing: And It Starts With This One Phrase
It can feel impossible to let go of old habits and start a new path, but it begins with this one phrase.

13) My Testimony and Calling: Where I Came From, Where I’m Going
The journey towards faith wasn’t an overnight epiphany. It was an uphill climb of tiny moments stitched together painfully from peaks to valleys.

12) “How Do You Keep Believing In All This Faith S—t?”
I’m asked this all the time by friends who have walked away from faith, and I never have a good answer.

11) Eight Reasons Why I’m Excited About All The “Persecution”
We know there’s a huge difference between persecution in the East and West. Here’s why I’m hoping for a little more in the West.

10) Holding On or Letting Go: The One Friend I Want to Help, But Can’t Anymore.
Showing too much compassion can be enabling and coddling, but pulling back can be cold and harmful. Which one do we choose and how?

9) The Scary Uncertainty of Following God’s Will: A Mega-Post on “The Calling” For Your Life
It’s hard to figure out big things like “purpose” and “the future,” especially in a world of a billion options. Here’s how to start carving a path.

8) Is Suicide An “Unforgivable Sin” That Will Send You To Hell?
The topics of suicide, depression, and hell, need much more thoughtfulness than the current heavy-handed dialogue.

7 ) I Have To Know This Is Okay
I’m often scared of vulnerability, because everyone keeps saying “It’s safe to be yourself” until you’re actually yourself. I have to know it’s okay when I’m open.

6) When Life Hurts and God Has Apparently Checked Out: A Mega-Post on Pain, Trials, & Suffering
The world keeps getting tossed around in chaos, globally and individually. Where’s God in all this?

5) Why Did God Make Me This Way?
A myth is going around: that God has cursed you with depression and cancer and anxiety.

4) I Refuse to Refuse Anyone
The most important lesson I’ve learned working at the hospital, about the LGBT community.

3) I Voted “No.”
However we feel about the Supreme Court on same-sex marriages, there’s a bigger conversation than simply voting “yes” or “no.”

2) Christianity Is Making Me Worse
After a while, the Christian faith can feel like misery and morbid introspection, and we wonder if we’re becoming more hypocritical and less disciplined. This exposes an even deeper truth.

1) Three Lessons I Learned Instantly In My First Week of Marriage (That I’ll Need For Life)
I learned three big lessons the week I was married that were insanely difficult and hugely valuable.

(This post was also published on X3Church here and in the revised edition of my first book.)