The Top 10 Posts of 2016

Today is the end of the year and tomorrow is the beginning of the next. And it’s this time of the year that many of us take time and look back at the year. Today, I thought I’d post a quick list of the top 10 posts on Pursuing Glory. We’ve gained some new readers and I pray some of these posts will be helpful to you.

Personally I also wanted to take a minute and say “Thank You.” If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year my hopes for this blog, I would have never imagined daily publishing with a growing audience that shares the work that gets posted here.  Your encouragement, support, comments, and sharing have truly shaped this list.  Hopefully what we’ve seen in 2016 is just the beginning.

So, with no further ado, the top 10 posts written in 2016, in order from most viewed to least:

How To Protect Yourself (and Your Church) From Heresy

I think we all have a measure of fear about falling into heresy and the fact that this post drew so much response confirms that. I think there are truly simple ways we can keep ourselves free from heresy, but few take these simple steps. Be prepared to be surprised, though, they aren’t what you think.

Why I Want Christians to Move to the Inner City

This post struck a chord and was shared and re-shared. It was based on a conversation I had with my wife about how ministry is in our inner-city context is so natural and how easy it would be for more believers to live in the inner city and have a tremendous impact there.

How Hospitality Leads to the Spread of the Gospel

Hospitality is so incredibly key to the spread of the Gospel that Paul told Timothy not to appoint elders unless they evidenced hospitality in our lives. Yet, many Christians have odd ideas about not using their homes (and their everyday lives) as a means of outreach. This post looks at how hospitality can lead to evangelism and discipleship and how that has worked in our lives.

It’s Not About the Meeting!

Frequently when I begin to meet with folks looking to start house churches, the conversation focuses on how the church meets together. But that’s starting in the wrong place! This post tries to shift our focus away from how we meet to how we live together as the people of God. If we can live together well, the meetings will take care of themselves.

A Story Jesus Told (With a Twist)

There is a lot of judgmental attitudes in the house church movement. To say otherwise would be a lie. This is a story based on a parable Jesus told that I hoped would help expose some of the deception to those of us who meet in organic churches.

Our God is Not Safe

Len Sweet’s book “So Beautiful” made my Top 10 Books of 2016 list. So it’s not surprising to me that this quote about the dangerous heart of God that I posted from “So Beautiful” made it onto this list.  Even re-reading it this morning stunned my heart again. It’s worth your time.

Dear Onething Attenders

Wow! I just posted this blog three days ago! My hopes had been to encourage people going to the Onething Conference to make the most of their time there and believe what God was saying and doing in their lives. Apparently a well placed referral by my 19 year old helped get some eyeballs on it. If you’re still at Onething today there’s still some time to make use of it.

A Church That is Easily Planted

This is possibly one of my favorite posts of the year since it reflects what I’m trying to press into in my own life. Can the church be so simple that unbelievers can be brought to the Lord, discipled, and formed into a church in the matter of a few days? I think so. If we want to see the harvest we’ve been hoping for, we need to pursue church planting in a way that allows this.  This post looks at doing just that.

Reason #1 We Started A House Church

There are a million reasons we started a house church. This was my first post in a irregular series of posts about why we do house church.  I hope we have three or four more of these in the next year.  This particular reason is focused on a story about a friend we met at McDonald’s and how we were able to mobilize to meet his need without ever having to worry about a budget.

The Gospel and Multi-Level Marketing

For whatever reason multi-level marketing has a unique foothold in the Western church.  This post looks at the danger that it poses through the lens of a story I heard on NPR’s the Moth.  But the bigger point (and maybe the point I didn’t make clearly enough) is that the church cannot be built on selling Jesus like a product. Whether we are in multt-level marketing or not, selling Jesus and pyramid leadership in the church are hurting the body.  My prayer is more start to see this, whether they sell other products or not.