Happy New Year!

Though I’ve been blogging off-and-on for a couple years now, this year was the first time I successfully committed to blogging consistently.

In 2024, I wrote 26 blog posts, totally 38,507 words (not including this post). My blog was viewed 3,115 times by 2,589 people across 39 different countries!

In case you weren’t following along on my Facebook page, here were my 10 most-read blog posts of 2024:

10. Thoughts on Rest

After being “unplugged” for a little over a week in Idaho this summer, I had lots of thoughts about rest and recreation to share. Taking time to slow down and rest over the past few years has changed my life. In a world of constant busyness, I believe that God calls us to enter into His rest.

9. Why I Love Good Friday

Since learning about the church calendar in my early adulthood, I’ve come to appreciate the way that the Church gives us days to remember so many different aspects of the life of Jesus and the life Christians are invited to live. This is why I love Good Friday, a day that seems to sometimes be forgotten in the rush towards Easter.

8. The Importance of One-on-One Discipleship for Women: Insights from Mindy Clemons

I met Mindy Clemons towards the end of my time in seminary. We’ve connected more through Facebook and being in the same annual conference, so when I began writing about one-on-one discipleship, particularly the ways I see a gap in women being discipled, I knew I wanted to learn and share some insights from Mindy, who is passionate about discipleship as well.

7. After the Outpouring: A Harvest of Discipleship

After seeing firsthand the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit that occurred at Asbury University in February 2023, I wrote several blog posts reflecting on what comes next after the Asbury Outpouring, which I entitled “After the Outpouring.” This post was my second-to-last post reflecting on the Asbury Outpouring and how I see a generation of people yearning for discipling relationships.

6. Challenges for Women in One-on-One Discipleship (Interview with Haley Bethea)

In my continuing attempt to begin a conversation around one-on-one discipleship, I interviewed my brilliant wife, Haley, about her experiences both discipling and being discipled one-on-one. I think you’ll find this post particularly insightful if you believe in discipling or being discipled!

5. My Grandchildren’s Denomination

It was a big year for the denomination I am a part of, the Global Methodist Church. We had our Convening Conference, the first General Conference of our new denomination, which helped to finalize many of the aspects of our denomination that were considered “transitional.” When I left my former denomination, I felt like God was asking me the question, “What denomination do you want your grandchildren raised in?” This blog reflects on that question and why I’m proud to be a Global Methodist.

4. A Memorial Day Prayer

Sometimes, I think our national holidays can be mis-celebrated in worship services. At times, I have been in worship services where it seems like American is being worshipped more than God. As a way of trying to equip other pastors and churches for the leading their people in worship of God on the weekend of Memorial Day, I wrote this prayer to share with others.

3. The Gender Gap of One-on-One Discipleship

This spring, I ran an unofficial questionnaire to ask people about their experiences being discipled one-on-one. I was testing a theory: Young adult women are significantly less likely to be discipled in one-on-one relationships than men. My unofficial questionnaire pointed to this important result: In the youngest generations, men are significantly more likely to have been discipled in one-on-one relationships than women (81% to 58%).

2. The Two Preachers We Need

In a world that overemphasizes productivity and only wants to hear from those who are currently “successful,” we need to be hearing from those who have “been there” and those who have an eye to the future. This is my call for us to be wise and open-minded when choosing who we get to hear from.

1. Best Value for Your Chick-fil-A Points

This one shocked me. I noticed that Chick-fil-a’s point redemptions weren’t perfectly correlated to the cost of the items you could redeem them for. So I took it upon myself to investigate what the best value for my Chick-fil-a points were. I spent so much time on them that I decided I should share it with the world. And apparently, others wanted to know too!

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If you’re interested in reading all of my posts from this year, here they are in chronological order. And if you’re interested in getting my 2025 blogs in your inbox when I post them, enter your email and subscribe to my blog below!

After the Outpouring: A Harvest of Discipleship
After the Outpouring: Pieces in a Mosaic
Leadership Lessons in a U-Haul
Why I Love Good Friday
10 Lessons I’ve Learned From Investing
The Gender Gap of One-on-One Discipleship
A Memorial Day Prayer
The Two Preachers We Need
The Importance of One-on-One Discipleship for Women: Insights from Mindy Clemons
The Hat I Can’t Take Off
Challenges for Women in One-on-One Discipleship (Interview with Haley Bethea)
How a Single Kiss Reminded Me of the Value of Integration
The Books WE Read
Book Review: “Humble” by Daryl van Tongeren
Thoughts On Rest
Thoughts On Recreation
7 Things I’ve Learned in 7 Years of Sabbath-Keeping
A Peek Into My Sabbath: A Set Apart Day of Delight
Sabbath Devotional: Doubting My God
Best Value for Your Chick-fil-A Points
My Grandchildren’s Denomination
Five Tools for Prayer
Parenting is Coaching
A Pre-Election Reflection from Greece and Turkey
Book Review: “On Writing” by Stephen King
The “Ridiculous” Gods of Then and Now