This is our blogs’ sixth year, and we are grateful for all of our readers. We hope our posts continue to be helpful and edifying, and are thankful that so many people subscribe and make a habit of reading. It is always humbling to hear from people who use our blog as a regular part of their spiritual-life.
With that in mind, here are our most read Cripplegate posts of 2016. Four of them were not even originally posted this year, but apparently they have remained helpful to people months (and years) after they were written. This list was tabulated by unique IP addresses to view a post in this past calendar year, and done by averaging the stats from WordPress and Google:
Three warnings from a pastor leaving the ministry. Watching a pastor walk away from the ministry can shock even the most seasoned saint. Here, Scott gives three practical takeaways from his own first-hand encounter with a pastor who walked away.
How to be spiritually miserable. Eric gives reverse instruction guide, by telling us thirteen sure-fire ways to make ourselves miserable. Follow these directions to your own harm!
Why we sing “I have Decided to Follow Jesus.” A look at the amazing international story behind this hymn. The words are from an Indian martyred for following the teaching of a Welsh missionary. They were set to music by an Indian evangelist and the song was taken by a Canadian and made popular in the US.
So who exactly IS the mainstream of the charismatic movement? A common response to any critique of the charismatic movement is to point at more “responsible charismatics” (such as Piper, Acts 29, etc) as evidence that charismania is not as crazy as critics make it out to be. Lyndon decided to check out this theory by seeing who exactly the most popular charismatic Christians are (using Twitter followers as his metric), and then compared them to the more “careful” charismatics. The result is apparently an entertaining read, as this post has now been read almost 60k times.
John Wesley’s Failed Marriage. This post was also from 2013, but has continued to be one of our most read posts, and one of our most googled posts. In it, Nate describes how John Wesley failed in leading his wife spiritually. It reminds us, “You can lose your ministry and keep your marriage, but you cannot lose your marriage and keep your ministry.” This post had more readers this year than it did in the year it was first published, and has now been viewed over 50k times
Decision-making & I have peace about it. Eric takes the case of a couple that just feels like divorce is the right thing to do, and turns it into a biblical rebuke of the desire for “peace” in decision-making. What follows is six important principles to govern decision-making.
John MacArthur’s 9 tips for self-discipline. Some old seminary papers turned up a lecture by MacArthur on self-discipline. This post is both practical and convicting.
How many people died in the Inquisition? In this post, Nate gives a few thoughts regarding the numbers of Christians killed in by the Inquisition, as well as a few warnings for historians examining this period. Strangely enough, this post was written in 2015, but took on a life of its own this year.
Political idolatry and mocking your mission field. After the US presidential election, many evangelicals seemed to respond with triumph that turned into mocking those who continued to oppose Trump. This post warns that if politics become an idol, the mission field soon becomes an enemy. It was our most shared post on social media, and our second most-read post of the year.
Five truths we are keeping from our youth groups. After asking scores of college students “Why did you stop going to church?” Jordan complies some truths that, if taught, might stem the tide of those who leave the faith in college. It was our most read post of the year.
Here are our lists from 2015, from 2014, from 2013, from 2012, and from 2011.
Did you have a favorite post from this year? Is there anything you’d like to see us write on in the new year?