The IMonk's Top Ten Blogs of 2005

It’s a Major Award.

No, actually, without handing out awards, I want to list the IMonk’s Top Ten Blogs for 2005. These are blogs that I value and appreciate, and that I believe do what they do exceptionally well.

10. Obscure Reading Room

Jim Romenesko’s little site for odd and offbeat news has been a daily stop for me since I first discovered the net. Always good for sermon material, a look at the human condition and few laughs.

9. Tom Ascol

Tom is a clear thinker, a good writer and a Reformed Baptist without an ax to grind or a Barney Fife complex. His posts are some of the most helpful and prophetic in the Reformed blogosphere.

8. Scot McKnight

I believe Scot is the best new voice on the Christian blogosphere. The emerging church trashers should make a resolution to read McKnight to get an intelligent and balanced theological explanation of what is happening in the best of the emerging church.

7. Yard Work

I read several baseball blogs, but when I discovered Yard Work (formerly Baseball Tonight) I was instantly hooked. The posts are all first-person spoofs, and the “voices” and humor are dead-on. Just the Larry Bowa posts are enough to keep you coming back.

6. Doug Wilson

Wilson is the eclectic Calvinist. He’s got his TR side, he’s part of the Federal Vision, he loves (and critiques) N.T. Wright, he’s funny and a bit arrogant, he’s commonsensical and theological, he’s silly, sarcastic and serious, he posts all his best work, he’s a wonderful apologist, he’s demolished Brian Mclaren and he’s just plain fun to read every day.

5. Tall Skinny Kiwi

Andrew Jones is another voice of the emerging church who makes a lot of sense and shows a very positive and winsome side to this new movement. With his worldwide perspective and generous spirit, he’s a real credit to the emerging blogosphere. A daily read if you want to understand the movement and the kind of people that best represent it.

4. Get Religion

It’s hard to say enough good about the classy writing and thoughtful analysis at this blog. It is, without a doubt, the best kind of evangelical journalism, and a site that secular journalists would do well to keep bookmarked. They have a mission to put religion stories in their proper context and to keep an eye on the media’s handling of those stories. They succeed brilliantly.

3. Mere Comments

The writers at Touchstone have won me over with their “Lewisian” style and agenda. The posts at MC have a bit more panash than the magazine, and it’s rapidly becoming an ecumenical orthodox version of “the Corner.” I’m never disappointed, and S.M. Hutchens is brilliant.

2. Amy Welborn

The classiest, breeziest, fairest, most enjoyable Catholic blog on the web, and a darned fine blog in every respect. She’s the kind of RCC partisan that it’s a joy to read. There are no flaws with this blog, but I am amazed at all Amy is able to do with her writing, speaking and family. Her sheer enjoyment of her faith is contagious, and her truthful, analytical eye on all things RC is dependably on pitch.

1. Ignatius Insight Scoop

Despite the bad name, the blog of Ignatius Press is my favorite blog of the year. The posts are substantial and well written. The RC partisanship is sane and never paranoid. It’s an education and a rich mine for other material on the web. I’m more and more impressed with every stop. Not just a blog for Catholics. The essays and discussions on all kinds of topics of interest to Christians anywhere are peerless.