Best of 2025

It’s an annual tradition of mine to put together a list of my favorite things from the year. For those who like to look back at previous years, check out my best of 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021. Now, for this year’s list, beginning with music:

I’ve never given a tie for my top album of the year but I just can’t bring myself to choose between two masterful releases. Let me highlight each of them specifically.

John Van Deusen is an indie musician and worship pastor living in the great Pacific Northwest, and this album fits each of those identity points perfectly. “As Long As I am in the Tent of This Body” is eclectic to say the least and written as worship music that he would want to listen to. Think Death Cab for Cutie meets Ben Folds meets Andrew Peterson meets Taking Back Sunday. Check out his interview with Brett McCracken to get a window into what makes this album excellent.

Standout songs (listen to the full album on YouTube): The Red Sea Within Me, Close Enough, Anything Other Than What I Am Right Now, The Prayer of Surrender, You Never Let Go.

Jon Guerra has already topped my “best album” list in previous years, two times in fact. And this year’s “Jesus” album might be his best yet. What a joy it was to see Jon live earlier this year, hearing many of the songs off this album. Jon is a phenomenal musician and his style perfectly fits the genre of his music he calls “devotional.”

Standout songs (listen to the full album on YouTube): Where Your Treasure Is, In the Beginning Was Love, I See the Birds, The Lord is My Shepherd, Jesus.

Similar to John Van Deusen, what I appreciate about Jon Keith is his ability to blend musical styles. Jon is a Hip-Hop artist but this album is much more than that. R&B, rap, hip hop, and more. But more than that, Grow Wings carries a kind of emotional urgency that hits deep. As Jon puts it himself:

“This album is me learning to believe that God’s love isn’t a reward for getting better, it’s the thing that makes us whole in the first place…Grow Wings is what it sounds like to finally let love change you, both in the lyrics and in the sound.”

Standout songs (listen to the full album on YouTube): Won’t Fly (Jesus at My Door), No Hands, Flowers, Eyes on Us, Call, Safe.

Apologies to great albums from: Addison Agen, Fielder, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Bon Iver, Strings and Heart, Tenielle Neda, Mumford and Sons, John Mark McMillan, Jonathan Ogden, Citizens, and Lord Huron.

Be sure to check out my playlist of all the best songs from the year:

My favorite books and articles from the year

As SNAP funding was disappeearing Trevin wrote this thoughtful article.

“The way we treat the poor reveals what we truly believe about Jesus. From the beginning of Scripture to the end, God identifies himself with the lowly and draws near to the weak. For our sake and for our salvation, Christ became poor. To love him, then, is to love those he loves: the hungry, the suffering, the overlooked.”

A wonderful book on union with Christ. Sam is so great at illustrating spiritual truth.

“Preach the whole counsel of God, but don’t make it hard for anyone turning to God by encumbering the message with things not essential to the message.”

I’m a big fan of raising the profile of cultural apologetics and this book does an excellent job of covering the subject well.

“Huge majorities of congregations want to avoid politics entirely from the pulpit. They see Sunday worship as a respite from all the Culture Wars and the talking heads and the political battles that seem to consume our every waking moment.”

Always read David Brooks.

“In gentleness, parents, discipline your children. It’s the path to understanding just how amazing grace is, and the only hope for eternal life.”

“Hollywood’s inability to develop new worlds goes beyond risk-averse business decisions. It stems from the broader malaise of a secular age. Compelling stories involve heroes and villains, goodness and evil, beauty contrasted with ugliness. But all these are undefinable without the moral foundation that’s either assumed or explicitly avowed in a Christian culture.”

Taking the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount about God’s provision for the birds of the sky, and bringing them to life! The bridge:

Don’t you worry, child
Don’t you worry, child
He won’t leave you by yourself
In times of trouble, he’s your help

Poignant line: “I got everything I want and I got nothing that I need.”

After my severe head injury over the summer, this song was my anthem. Even though I couldn’t accomplish anything, God’s love overcomes all. Verse 3 has some punch to it too:

I don’t have to take their oath, I don’t need to rock the vote
I can tend a garden, mind my business

A song worth highlighting from another PNW worship pastor.

Waiting for a miracle that I may never see
Trying to come to grips with that and still believe
But I know that you were wiser
Than I could ever know
So I’m still trying to trust you and surrender my control

This song wrecks me. Written from the perspective of a brand-new father.

“A present father is worth way more than a perfect dad.”

I thought I was a dead end
My heart a desert place
But You were there beside me
Before I knew Your grace And then I heard You call me You whispered in the dark
You told me I had purpose here
You came and lit a spark

Verse 4 is the full Jon Guerra experience. Hits me everytime.

Now I’m looking for the lilies
Who neither toil nor spin
Father, plant one in my heart
And make it grow to be a garden

The second prechorus never gets old, inverting harmony and melody beautifully.

Who knew a song about a park bench could be so good?!?

Mary sits still in the forest
Waiting for people to pass
She’s not in a hurry, no, she’s in no rush
She’s just there if you need to rest

A summer camp band creates a funny video about Forrest, which leads to this song. The story is just as good as the song. A summer-time favorite in my family.

Life gave me some lemons
But my Jesus, He be making lemonade

Honorable Mention: I’ve Got a Fire by Pat Barrett (because this music video is amazing!)

• Adolescense (tv show on Netflix): I wouldn’t say I loved it, because it was painful to watch. As a parent to almost-teenagers, Adolescence is intensely sobering. Consider this the dramatic version of Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. Everyone is culpable.

• Train Dreams (movie on Netflix): With my home residing in the middle of a forest of tall Doug Fir trees, I’m a sucker for anything that highlights the lessons trees have to teach us: “The dead tree is as important as the living one.”

• Interesting Times by Ross Douthat (podcast): I’m not a big podcast guy, but Ross has managed to interview a wide variety of people, like a genome project scientist, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a transgender activist, and Pastor Doug Wilson. Worth your time.

Merry Christmas, friends. Let me know what your best of 2025 includes!

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