A Happy New Year, Have You

Well, 2014 is no more. 2014 was a monumental year for this here blogger. I mean, I officially let the world know that I had been called into pastoral ministry, I began college to train towards that goal, I grew a beard and found out that trimming is harder than shaving, and I entered the now technologically with my first new computer and a smartphone (what?). 2014 was also the first complete year that this blog ran. So now, what will 2015 bring for me or for the wonderful reader of this here post (see, I'm not against flattery in all circumstances!)?

I have a New Year's Resolution! It's to not stay in bed until late morning/early afternoon when I am on break! I mean, seriously, that shouldn't be a thing that happens ever. But I guess I didn't do well when it came to that. But I feel really refreshed now. 

No, seriously, let's look at New Year's Resolutions a bit more specifically (Yes, when I started writing this post, I had no idea where I was going; yes, it happens a significant amount). So what should we all have as a New Year's Resolution? 

Hey, losing weight or getting all muscular ain't the best goal to give yourself for the new year. How about these goals and resolutions coming from my own repertoire? 

1. You may have gathered that I journal pretty much everything that deals with spiritual disciplines. This was true long before my Spiritual Formation professor made it a class assignment. Thus, I have an opportunity to look back and see how many days I missed reading my Bible this past year. Regrettably, that number is 17. Seeing as how I find that completely unacceptable, I want to set a goal of missing fewer days this year. But more importantly, I want to make sure this goal is actually measurable, so I am going to say that I should not skip more than 10 days. Of course, fewer is always good. 

2. On a similar note, I am looking to get more study of the Bible that goes beyond the "minimum daily devotions requirement." I am in the midst of a lifetime project to... I guess sort of in a way create a biblical resource book. But it has been stagnant for a very long time, as I have let my educational studies stand in the way. So I would like to find a better way of balancing my time now. I mean I can hardly expect more free time as a pastor, so I need to find the time to get more and more biblical study.

3. I want to stop procrastinating/forgetting about my blog posts and then end up posting rather boring blog posts that are more academic than relatable. I'm starting this out well by writing this blog post on New Year's Eve even when I won't be posting it until January 2!

4. While we're on the subject, maybe I should stop switching what I mean by now when writing these blog posts between time of publication and time of writing. That can't be very easy for you to understand.

5. Finally, broaden my influence. Not in the sense necessarily of finding more people to influence, but maybe just actually ensuring that I have a greater depth of influence on each person (and of course that that influence is actually good). That is something that I desperately want to see happen, and I look forward to the opportunity to have more chances (and more help) to accomplish those goals.


These are my resolutions and except 3 and 4, which I put in half-jokingly, they can be yours as well. But you should probably try to personalize it to your own walk with the Lord. All I challenge you to do is to make a resolution to ensure your relationship with the Lord grows this upcoming year. 

New Year's Resolutions for Christian Advancement of Politics and Culture

With this last post of 2013, I would like to establish some resolutions that every Christian in America should adopt to improve our country's political and social structure. This is not an exhaustive list, of course, nor does it necessarily indicate the most important things for Christians to focus on.

1. Witness

It is no surprise that witnessing is sure to help out with any social decline. When we discuss social problems after all, we are usually referring to the increase of certain immorality. We all know that God transforms lives. Thus, a society based on Christianity would naturally have fewer social issues. Of course, that is all from a Christian perspective. Non-Christians would likely view these social issues as no concern at all. That is exactly the reason why witnessing can impact social structure so positively. 

So we see that as the Bible says, 

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."

This is obviously not the most important reason to witness. The most important reason to witness is not any mere practical consequence in this earth, but rather for eternity. This though goes without saying. 

2. Stay Informed

Here's the thing about having Christians to influence politics and culture. It's absolutely fantastic, but it doesn't actually happen if Christians live like hermits in caves, completely unaware of what is going on in the world. We shouldn't obsess over any social, cultural, or political crisis. We are after all called as the cliche says to be in this world, but not of this world. But sometimes, I think Christians forget that we still need to be IN the world. 

You may think it doesn't matter what happens in the world, but we know that the politics of this nation could threaten the right of people in this country to worship the Lord freely. Right now, we are already seeing attacks on prayer in schools and other similar items. We need to be informed about threats to every one of our rights because every right protects the others. 

3. Engage

So we're informed. Christianity now allows our society and politics to advance, right? Not exactly. It does little good to be informed if we don't use that information for good. We must be willing to engage with the society, with the government, with the courts. We need to be prepared to act. There is a quotation attributed to Samuel Adams that goes, 

"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

If we manage to witness effectively and strengthen a Christian majority in this country, a majority that is now informed about the troubles facing our country, we have accomplished nothing if we don't actively pursue change. Knowing the plagues and issues in our country only will serve to depress us if we don't do something about preventing them. That is the final step for Christians to positively influence America.