I’ve been at this blogging thing for quite a long time now–a bit over 9 years. I’ve been at the daily blogging thing for almost as long. This means that I’ve got an extensive backlist of articles from years gone by. I thought it might be fun to pull out some of the articles I wrote in previous Januarys, stretching all the way back to 2004.
2011
Whose Wife Are You? – “We spend a lot of time talking in general about how men and women complement one another—generic men and generic women. This complementarity is obvious from a physical standpoint, but also from many others. But I wonder if we spend far too little time talking about how this husband and this wife complement one another. When we move beyond the generalities of gender roles, we find that the specifics may look very, very different from one couple to another.”
In the Hands of the Communists – This is a two-part biographical article I wrote on the lives of missionary martyrs John and Betty Stam.
2010
Letters to Luke – The third and final letter in a series of blog posts I exchanged with a popular atheist blogger. I wrapped up the series by pleading with him to turn to the Lord.
2009
On Being Weak – Sometimes we are too proud to admit that we are weak; we would rather help others than accept help ourselves.
Don’t Let Me Lose the Wonder – After a while even the most amazing thing can become mundane. “But oh, how I long for those moments when God gives me that glimpse of just where he has taken me and what he has given me. How I long to know and to believe, to experience afresh, to rejoice in my heart, to marvel, to appreciate, to love, to feel.”
2008
Reflections From a First-Time Author – Written just weeks after the release of my first book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, this article reflects on the process of writing a book.
The Shack – This review of The Shack is easily the most-read article in the history of the blog. I’d be surprised if anything ever overtakes it. I know that many people first learned about my blog when they went looking for a review of The Shack and found this page.
2007
Selfish Prayer – An article on the most selfish kind of prayer–the prayer we don’t ever get to.
Reformed Eye for the Arminian Guy – I don’t quite know what happened here, but somehow I thought I was being funny.
2006
Blessed Are the Underappreciated – “Blessed are the underappreciated.” That’s the theme of this article. It seems like a theme I’d write about today if I thought of it.
2005
My Iniquity I Did Not Hide – Some early thoughts on Protestants and confession. I can’t remember the exact circumstances under which I wrote this. I wish I did.
Successful Evangelism – This was an important article in my spiritual development. At the time I was part of a church that was exceedingly results-oriented and here I tried to grapple with what it means to evanglize successfully.
2004
My Concerns With The Passion of the Christ – One of the first “big” articles on my site was a review of The Passion of the Christ. Before the movie’s release I thought about some of what the movie might mean and what theological challenges it might pose. I had forgotten that I ever wrote this one.
The Bible’s Sufficiency – Another hugely important article in my own life, this one explained my newfound understanding of the Bible’s sufficiency.
