Top Posts on "Notes from the Trail" in 2025
Welcome to my annual recap of my blog’s most popular posts, as determined by traffic! Thanks in advance for reading along this past year. As you glance over the summaries below, perhaps you’ll see a post you missed earlier.
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Top 10 Posts of 2025
Here are the 10 most trafficked blog posts from 2025, with #1 being the most-read. If you see one that you haven’t read, I hope you’ll give it a read. Also, remember that sharing the posts on your social media helps promote the blog as well!
7th Annual Christmas Tree Toss (Feb 10)
It’s a thing. Each year I toss our old Christmas tree off the back deck, thus declaring Christmas over. I was late/lazy this year and didn’t get to it until February. This post has the amazing video of the event.
Star Trek, butter, a couch and a dog (March 11)
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness.” (Proverbs 26:11) Read on to discover how this scripture became the theme verse for The Great Butter Eruption.
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Reflections on the SBC 2025 (June 20)
A herd of Southern Baptists met in Dallas, and I was there. These were my thoughts about the Convention, its Reformers and its Normies.
What I wish I’d known before becoming a pastor (April 25)
Things I’ve learned after 38 years in ministry...
The first draft is complete! (March 22)
My book about the life of Peter the apostle has a period at the end of it! The final chapter was written in February. Here’s what’s next.
A prayer for the survival of our enemies (Feb 21)
We would rather pray for justice. For the deliverance of the innocent and the destruction of the wicked. Yet, David shows us in Psalm 59 how he did it, and why he did it.
A dad who was no joke (Sept 28)
Reflections on my father, who passed away September 8, 2025.
Ask yourself these questions in 2025 (Jan 8)
The beginning of a new year urges us to “resolve.” Before action steps, however, there are essential questions that should be thought through.
Top Books from 2024 (Jan 1)
Here’s my annual listing of the Top Ten books I read in 2024, with some honorable mentions and a few more page-turning details.
And the most trafficked post of 2025?
Rock’Em Sock’Em Presidency (Feb 8)
The first month of the Trump administration has been nonstop action which has not only left the media panting to keep up, but with progress being made in rooting out financial corruption, up-ending cultural insanity and clear-minded leadership, we are being treated to a spectacle where the blue robot is getting its block knocked off.
It’s not surprising that a Trump post was the most trafficked, but last year’s most popular post was also a political post - No Sidelines in this Election. Does that mean that readers want to hear more about politics on the blog?
Personal Likes
While the above ten posts got the most traffic this past year, here are five more posts that I enjoyed writing and would classify as being worth reading/revisiting. While some of my favorites are not yours, blog traffic doesn’t lie. That’s the way the web cookie crumbles in blogging. But in addition, some of these are more recent and haven’t had the time to accumulate visits.
Christmas is for those who grieve (Dec 21)
This post is my notes from a sermon I preached last year called “Good Grief, Christmas.” If you’ve ever felt out of place or shunned into unhappy silence because Christmas is hard for you, this message is for you.I’m not done. (Nov 27)
This past Thanksgiving, I remembered God’s promise of “more.” I had no idea how He would work, but I now see that He was faithful beyond expectation. He is still at work.Make your boredom better (Oct 24)
You’re bored. What you do next can be a waste or a wonder. What is your list of “I will’s?”“Our vengeance is revival!” (Sept 15)
After the murder of Charlie Kirk, Christians wondered how to respond to the evil that is aligned against us. First, we must “understand by faith” the spiritual reality of what we are seeing in culture. This message by Josh Howerton is powerful and helpful to clarify our thinking.A cricket: too good to be true (Sept 4)
I had no idea how much I could learn from a cricket. Small things have a lot to teach us all - even when they aren’t as they seem.
Other Top Posts Entries
If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read, try taking a history tour. Read the #1 post from these “Top Posts” entries: