What better way to kick off the new year than by looking back at some highlights from 2025 — and what a year it has been. Here’s a list of our most popular articles, memes, and videos. (Click here for last year’s roundup.)
The Most Read Articles of the Year:
1. “The Blanket by the River” by Emily Newton
2. “Knives Out and the Cinema of Perpetual Grace” by David Zahl
3. “Exponents of Falsehood” by Jason Micheli
5. “Faith’s Long December” by Kyle Wells
6. “Discerning What Power Is For” by James K. A. Smith
7. “Notes From the Second Naïveté” by Elizabeth Oldfield
8. “The Day the Crayons Found Grace” by Emily Newton
9. “Our Favorite Devotional Poems”
10. “Grace in a Time of Line-Drawing and Statement-Making” by David Zahl
11. “How Does God Say ‘I Love You’?” by Jonathan A. Linebaugh
12. “The Sacred Art of Paying Attention to Your Life” by Timothy Hoiland
Top Facebook Meme: this one, feat. Derek Sweatman
Top Instagram Meme: this one, feat. Bryan Jarrell
Top Instagram Reel: this one, ICYM (or wanted to re-live) the Fall Conference in C-ville
Most Viewed Instagram Post by Buttface McButt:
Top Podcast Episode of the Year: “The Kingdom of God Comes to Death Row.” Followed by … “The Ol’ Telling the Truth Trick.”
Most Popular Sermon Downloads:
- “The Tragic Gap of Advent” by Sarah Condon
- “Crashing the Pity Party” by David Zahl
- “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan” by RJ Heijmen
- “The Grace of Sitting” by John Newton
- “A Strange Internal Lift” by Paul Zahl
Top Downloaded Same Old Song Episode: “Pentecost 15 (C): Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now”
Most Viewed Conference Videos:
“Love Is a Joke” by Harrison Scott Key
Followed by: “Magic and Manifesting: The Enchantments of the Internet?” from Tara Isabella Burton, “Grace on a Plane” from Sarah Condon, and “Isn’t Christianity Really Just About Being Good?” from Tony Robinson
Top Talkingbird Episodes:
- “Why Everyone Actually Goes to Church” by David Zahl
- “Imputation and the Freedom of Normalcy” by Molly Jane Layton
- “Grace for the Second Third of Life” by Paul Zahl
- “Grace in the Life and Work of Flannery O’Connor” by Josh Bascom
- “The Problem(s) of Grace” by Gabe Kasper
Haven’t had time to review all the contenders, but my favorite is “How Does God Say ‘I Love You’?” by Jonathan A. Linebaugh. I have shared it with many friends and am also blessed by his new book, “The Well That Washes What It Shows”, too. Don’t miss either gift from Jono.