Best of Cerulean Sanctum

The 25 Most Visited Posts on Cerulean Sanctum 2018–Today

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Want to know what people are searching for in life? The posts listed below were the most often returned on Cerulean Sanctum, reflecting what web searchers have been looking for here since 2018.

The 25 Most Visited Posts on Cerulean Sanctum (from most visited to least)

  1. Spiritual Lust and Infatuation
  2. When a Christian Feels Like an Imposter
  3. My Utmost for His Highest—A Critical Look at the Classic Devotional
  4. “Eat His Body, Drink His Blood”
  5. No Room for Prophets: When Your Church Rejects Your Spiritual Gift
  6. The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program
  7. A Lesson on the Spirit from the Three Little Pigs
  8. When Someone You Love Turns Away from God
  9. How the Church Can Improve Christian Education, Part 3
  10. Faith, the Opposite of Control
  11. The Christian Singles Mess
  12. The Church and the Halloween Alternative Party
  13. Christian Self-Defense and Luke 22:36
  14. Will the Real False Teacher Please Stand Up?
  15. The Hell Birds
  16. Footwashing in the 21st Century
  17. A Dozen Sayings of Jesus That Will Change the World—If Christians Ever Believe Them
  18. Praying in Tongues
  19. God Speaks Through Dreams
  20. What Is the “World System”? And Why Should Christians Be Wary of It?
  21. Charismatic Churches and the Cult of the New
  22. Everyone Wants a Piece of Tozer
  23. Lonely Christian Men
  24. Calvin Takes His Pills…
  25. Where Are the Downloadable Classic CCM Tunes?

The 25 Most Visited Posts on Cerulean Sanctum through 2017

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Want to know what people are looking for on the Web as it relates to the Christian Faith? Most of the posts listed below received their hits as a result of search engine returns. The titles reveal much about what people are searching for in life.

The 25 Most Visited Posts on Cerulean Sanctum through 2017 (from most visited to less visited)

  1. The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program
  2. A Dozen Sayings of Jesus That Will Change the World—If Christians Ever Believe Them
  3. Strange Fire in Florida?
  4. Charismatic Churches and the Cult of the New
  5. How to Improve Your Body, Mind, Soul, and Spirit
  6. The Truth About Christian Bookstores
  7. God Speaks Through Dreams
  8. Review – A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer
  9. The Christian Singles Mess
  10. The Battle for Brokenness
  11. Where Are the Downloadable Classic CCM Tunes?
  12. “A Church for People Who Don’t Like Church”
  13. Church Growth Movement Fall Down and Go Boom!
  14. Discernment, Revivals, and Godly Common Sense
  15. Knowing Jesus vs. Knowing About Jesus – A Question for Readers
  16. A Lesson on the Spirit from the Three Little Pigs
  17. More on Homeschooling
  18. When Believers Stumble: Perfectionism
  19. Following TBN Off a Cliff
  20. Calvin Takes His Pills…
  21. Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?
  22. Leonard Ravenhill
  23. True Freedom in Christ: Breaking the Bonds of Legalism
  24. The Myths of Homeschooling #1
  25. 100 Truths in 30 Years with Christ

A Place to Fail

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Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales, built a small Christian animation kingdom called Big Idea and then watched it slip through his fingers. He has told his story to numerous groups. Toward the end of his recounting on his podcast of how it all got away from him, he mentions something about 40-something men that really breaks my heart:

Skye Jethani of Christianity Today chimed in too. His is a refrain I’ve sung before on Cerulean Sanctum:

We Need a Gospel That Speaks to Failure

Still Looking for a Gospel That Speaks to Failure

Mistakes As Sin: Does the Church Need a New Grace?

Steve Went Looking for Grace

I think one reason that grace, the lifeblood of the Church, remains just a concept in most Christians’ lives in the West is because of the very problem Vischer mentions: Anything less than success is considered unworthy of our attention. Therefore, people who fail go wanting, looking for grace, when grace is only afforded to those who triumph in the eyes of the world.

What do you say to the guy who finds the perfect girl—only to lose her to someone else? Or who lands the perfect job—only at a company soon to fail? Or who spends plenty of time with his kids and tries to train them up right—only for them to rebel and complain about him to friends? Or who listens to his heart and goes for his dream—only for it to crumble in loss?

Why don’t we preach a gospel that reaches that guy? Why don’t we practice a gospel that makes a safe place for him to fail? Where is that pool of grace to be found when all of life goes to pieces? And why is it so hard to find in the very place one should expect to find it?

Lastly, what if that guy tries to live by every Christian principle in the Book and still fails?

We need something better than what we’re giving people Sunday in and Sunday out. We may talk about the brokenhearted, but nine times out of 10, that brokenhearted person is someone who failed, often spectacularly. God help us if we have no grace to offer him.