Top 10 Most Read Posts for 2023

Years ago, when I was much better at promoting this blog and posting on a more regular basis (before kids and farm), I used to wrap up the year with an overview of the most viewed posts. I used to read these lists from other, much larger blogs, and think perhaps it was prideful, but now I’ve come to think that all of the efforts here are none of my own anyway. Everything is from God and for God. He will use it how he sees fit, so a year-in-summary is kind of a way to give honor and recognition to Him for what He has chosen to place before people this year. With that said, below is a list of the top-10 most read blog posts this calendar year.

10. We begin our list with a post that is over 13 years old, but still relevant and true to this day. Complete in Christ was a brief devotional written on Colossians 2:10 highlighting our final and complete victory in Christ, “Completion in Christ means that through His atoning, sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection, all of the work has been done and our justification is therefore by His grace through faith.”
9. Coming in at number 9 – Ekklesia in the Gospel of Matthew This post is part of a forthcoming e-book (Lord willing, because I’ve promised it for awhile) on What is Church. It introduces Jesus usage of ekklesia, commonly translated as church, and is the lead-in for its use throughout the New Testament.
8. Reading through Leviticus This post was originally written all the way back in 2013 and was meant to be an encouragement for those beginning their year reading through the Bible. So often we start well reading through Genesis, begin to lose steam in the descriptions of the tabernacle in Exodus, and by the time we reach Leviticus, we’ve completely lost all motivation. By looking at the relationship between Leviticus and Hebrews, particularly the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system, perhaps it might breath new life into reading this challenging book.
7. With the 7th most popular post, I was writing at a time when I was teaching through the book of 1 Thessalonians at work. A Conduit for the Word and Power This topic is so needed today among preachers and teachers because of the obvious lack of what the Puritans called unction, or Holy Spirit power. If this is absent, is it really even preaching/teaching?
6. Humble Like a Child This has to be one of my all-time favorite posts and it memorializes such a sweet moment of reflection looking over daughter as she was sleeping and pondering what it means to be relying on the providence and sovereignty of God.
5. Halfway through our list and coming in at #5 is a post that remains an enigma, also being one of the first posts I wrote all the way back in 2009. It is an enigma because it is by far and away the all-time most read blog. Saul vs. David: The Heart of Man vs. the Heart of God
4. We arrive now at a more recent posts – 3 Earthly Rewards vs 3 Heavenly Rewards which contrasted the earthly rewards of the hypocrite that our Lord defined in His Sermon on the Mount vs. the heavenly rewards for those who are “anti-hypocritical”.
3. Disguised as an Angel of Light comes in at #3 and is perhaps the most controversial post I’ve written as an expose of apparently everyone’s favorite televangelist, Arnold Murray. Murray’s been dead for awhile, but his broadcast are still aired and were a regular on local tv when I was a kid. Having seen and experienced the dangers of his teaching first hand, I was asked by a friend to write a post or two about him to help a family member of theirs who had come under the influence of his teaching. He’s still a wolf and heretic, I do not recant.
2. Almost done. Think there isn’t interest on what the Scriptures have to say about the church (or better ekklesia)? Think again. Coming in at #2 is the Old Testament use of Ekklesia, also to be included in the forthcoming ebook. If we’re going to be fair to the discussion, we have to recognize that the word often translated as church was indeed present in the Old Testament and it does have some bearing for how it is used in the New.
1. Drumroll please. The #1 most read post for 2023 was…The Favor of God in the Life of Joseph. Another enigma, as with the post on David. Joseph is so searched on Google results that land on my page that I actually pulled together the 4 most popular posts into a little e-book to make it easier for people to have and reference.