Bragging on my wife...

I don't often mention my wife on my blog. We've agreed that she doesn't want to be that "public" about herself, so I don't use her name here (I call her "Banana" on the blog), and don't often speak directly about her. I'm going to break protocol for a brief post and brag a bit on her.

This past Christmas she got me an MP3 player that I have been using a lot. I had one previously, but it was an old 128Mb player that was clunky and was a pain to use. I have long wanted an iPod, but have resisted purchasing one because of the cost. She found the perfectly balanced solution to my problem and got me a San Disk Sansa m240. While it doesn't have the cool factor of the iPod (something I could really care less about, who am I impressing?) it has all the functionality. My wife managed to work a deal with my brother to buy this for me apparently. My brother Chad stood in line at Best Buy on Thankgiving night so that he could save a BUNDLE of money on a big screen TV he's been wanting. I'm not exactly sure when this deal went down, but she convinced him to get it, paid him for it, and transported it from Sioux Falls back to St. Paul all without my knowledge. Further, she saved a bundle on the player since it was one of the Best Buy feature ad items. I have such a great wife!

The player has 1Gb of storage, a built in audio recorder (big bonus!), FM radio receiver, and back lit display for use in the dark (my old one has no back lighting). It is compact and lightweight, and thus far very simple to use. At some future point, I might do a full product review, but suffice it to say I'm very happy with it. The only thing I would change is the arm band carrier it comes with. First, I'd change the length of the strap that goes around your arm. If you have big arms like me, even at its widest (velcro strap with elastic) it is very tight. Further, the material is a bit abrasive, so you end up wanting to put it on over your tee-shirt, which worsens the problem. Second, there is a lightweight plastic cover that the MP3 player slips into to keep it attached to the velcro strap. This cover is a problem. It has two wimpy metal snaps holding the player in place, and even the slightest bump unsnaps your holder and leaves your MP3 player flopping around on your arm (it remains in the holder, it just flops open and closed like a child playing with a cabinet door). Overall, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars, and at this price point that is an absolute honey of a deal.

Back to bragging on my wife. She outdid her MP3 player for our wedding anniversary. She got me tickets to see the Blue Man Group when they come to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on March 30th. This is part of their "How to be a Megastar 2.0 Tour." If you aren't familiar with BMG:

Blue Man Group is a creative organization dedicated to creating exciting and innovative work in a wide variety of media.

They are perhaps best known for their successful theatrical productions which combine comedy, music and multi-media artistry to create a form of entertainment that is totally unique. Blue Man Group has also recorded two albums; the Grammy nominated Audio, and The Complex, which became the musical basis for The Complex Rock Tour and Blue Man Group’s live concert DVD. Recently Blue Man Group has branched out into musical scoring with their work on Barry Levinson’s “The Jury” and on the animated film, Robots. Most recently, Blue Man Group has brought an updated version of their show to a state-of-the–art theatre at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. Blue Man Group opened at the New London Theatre in London on November 10, 2005.

I think she might have had to sell the naming rights to our first child to our local public television station (TPT) to secure these tickets before they were released for public sales. I'll let you know if it was worth it! I'm already excited, and it's still 2 months away.

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Ed Stetzer - Why is cultural relevance a big deal?

I'm stealing the following from Ed Stetzer at his blog over at Resurgence. He has a lot more to say, but this is what caught my attention today.

We have to both contend and contextualize. This brings a balanced focus in our proclamation and practice. When we contend for the gospel, we remain biblically faithful. When we contextualize, we communicate the message effectively. When we contend and contextualize, our churches are biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter culture communities.

Those who preach against culture are often unaware that they live in one. But the dynamic culture around them is often not the culture of their church. What they yearn for is typically not a scriptural culture, but rather a nostalgic religious culture of days past. The irony of this is that every church is culturally relevant. It is simply a matter of whether the culture of the church is in any way similar to the culture of its community or only meaningful to itself.

Contextualizing does not mean that your church needs to look like Northpoint (Atlanta) or Mosaic (LA). It may mean something very different, and a culturally relevant church in your community may look very different from culturally relevant churches in other communities. Yet, many of us miss that. Why? Because too many leaders pastor their churches in their heads and not in their communities. But the truth is, if you can't pastor the people God has given you (not the ones He's given Andy Stanley or Erwin McManus), then you don't love them. John Knox said, "Give me Scotland or I die." He had a passion for the people of Scotland. We need to have the same passion for the people where we are, and to love them and their culture (though parts of every culture should make you uneasy and call for a biblical critique—see Acts 17 and my message from The Resurgence conference).

The alternative to this kind of passion is "community lust" and "demographic envy." Lots of pastors are lusting for someone else's community. They want a church that is culturally relevant to Los Angeles, Seattle, or New York even though they live in Des Moines, Iowa. But that's not the answer.

Related Tags: Ed Stetzer, Stetzer, Resurgence, Relevance, Cultural Relevance, Relevant Church, Church, Christianity, Missional, Theology, Missiology, contextualize, contending for faith, Preacher, Pastor, Reverend, Culture, Church culture, Missionary, Northpoint, Mars Hill, Mosaic, John Knox, Andy Stanley, Erwan McManus, Scotland, Acts

Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference 2007

Leadership Conference Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the 2007 Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference, our biennial conference for men in pastoral leadership and their wives. This year's conference will be held April 11–13 at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

For many years this gathering has been the most strategic event on the Sovereign Grace calendar. It's also a place where we welcome guests not part of Sovereign Grace Ministries. Pastors, we invite you and your wives to to join us as we…

• reunite with old friends and meet new ones
  
• receive training for our lives and the lives of those we serve
  
• spend hours worshiping our great Savior with song
  
• hear cross-centered, biblically faithful teaching
  
• celebrate the glorious gospel and apply it to our lives

Our special guest speaker this year is R.C. Sproul. David Powlison and C.J. Mahaney will also teach main sessions. (For more about these men, see the speaker page of our website.)

Registration costs $175 for individuals and $300 for married couples. To register, find lodging, and learn other details, visit the conference website. (Note: Hotel space is limited, so we encourage you to make reservations promptly. You'll find a list of recommended hotels at the lodging section of our website.)

We look forward to seeing you there.

Related Tags: Leadership, Leadership Conference, Church Leadership, Church Conference, Pastors Conference, Pastor, Sovereign Grace, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference, Covenant Life Church, Covenant Life, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Gaithersburg Church, Maryland Church, Washington DC, Washington DC church, R.C. Sproul, Sproul, David Powlison, Pawlison, C.J. Mahaney, Mahaney, LC07, Pastoral Leadership, Pastor's wife, pastors wives, Worship, Gospels, Gospel, Praise

Dr Philip Grahm Ryken coming to the Twin Cities

Last chance to order tickets for the KKMS FaithBuilder event happening this Saturday, January 27, 2007!

AM980 KKMS, The Reformation Society of the Twin Cities and The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals present Dr. Philip Graham Ryken as the first FaithBuilder Event in 2007. This seminar exposes the dangers that lie ahead for your church. Come get equipped and find out more on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 at the North Campus of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mounds View.

Tickets are available for $15.00 preferred seating and $9.80 general admission with special discounts for KKMS Keychain Club Members. Tickets available at all Northwestern Book Stores, by phone at 651-289-4444 or click here to order online.

Related Tags: Philip Graham Ryken, Dr. Ryken, Philip Ryken, KKMS, AM980, AM980 KKMS, FaithBuilder, Faith Builder, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bethlehem Baptist, Bethlehem North Campus, North Campus, Bethlehem Baptist North Campus, Baptist, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Baptist Church, John Piper, Reformation Society of the Twin Cities, Reformation Society, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Mounds View, Minnesota, Northwestern Book Stores

House Church movement

To follow up further on Barna since Dave Tilma asked in the comments the other day my thoughts on Barna - Focus on the Family sent this out in their "Pastor's Weekly Briefing" a while back:

The Growing House-Church Movement

As the number of house churches in America continues to grow, recent research has shown that those who attend house churches are significantly more satisfied with their overall spiritual experience than those who attend conventional churches. The results of a study released this week by the Barna Group reveal that about two-thirds of house church attenders were "completely satisfied" with the leadership, faith commitment and level of community in their fellowship. In contrast, less than 50 percent of those attending traditional churches felt "completely satisfied" in those same areas.

Barna's research also shows that, among those who attend church of some type, 74 percent attend only a conventional church while only five percent attend a house church exclusively. About 19 percent frequent both house churches and conventional churches. The other two percent are part of small groups that are not considered to be house churches or traditional churches. The number of Americans who attend a house-church gathering in a typical week is estimated to be about 20 million.

For more information about Barna's research, visit www.barna.org.

Related Tags: House Church, Church, Christian Church, Cell Church, George Barna, Barna, Barna Group, Focus on the Family, Dave Tilma

7 Rules for Creative Ministries

My friend, and former ministry parter, Dave Tilma started blogging a while back. I added him to my side bar for those who want to visit regularly and don't utilize RSS feeds. Today I'm stealing a post of his for the first time.

Churchrelevance.com had a great post outline some principles for getting in the "flow" of creativity within a ministry context. Take a look or see the reprint below: http://churchrelevance.com/2007/01/17/7-rules-for-creative-ministries/

Steve Pavlina recently shared his seven rules for maximizing your creative output. Learning creativity is possible. So the next time your ministry needs to be creative, consider the following rules

1. Define a clear purpose.
   Decide what you want to create and why. Don’t overqualify your purpose. You need enough clarity to give yourself a direction but not so much as to put yourself in a box. You purpose should be an arrow, not a container. Adding too many constraints can stunt your creativity by limiting your options.
2. Identify a compelling motive.
   In addition to a goal for your creative session, you need a reason to be creative. Why does this task matter to you personally? What difference will it make if you can be creative? Why do you care? The more compelling the motive, the more likely you are to summon high levels of creativity.
3. Architect a worthy challenge.
   To awaken your full creative potential, the difficulty of your creative endeavor must fall within a certain challenge spectrum. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is trivially easy and 10 is impossible, I’d say the optimal creative range is 5-9 with a 7-8 being ideal. Tackling something that’s too easy is like strength training with weights that are too light. It’s mind-numbingly boring and won’t produce results. Being properly challenged is more fun, helps you grow, and yields a meaningful sense of accomplishment.
4. Provide a conducive environment.
   The optimal environment varies from person to person, so you’ll need to experiment to find what works best for you. Different workspace layouts can have a noticeable effect on your creative output.
5. Allocate a committed block of time.
   Imagine your mind is like a computer. The more you can take advantage of the computer’s resources, the more creativity you harness. To free up the most resources for your creative task, you first need to unload all nonessential processes. It’s better to allocate too much time than too little. Feel free to schedule your routine tasks into 30-60 minute blocks, but give yourself as much time as possible for highly creative work.
6. Prevent interruptions and distractions.
   You must do whatever it takes to prevent unnecessary interruptions during your creative periods. Make arrangements to ensure you won’t be disturbed except in an absolute emergency. If you can’t maximize your creative output, you’ve lost your greatest leverage for producing value.
7. Master your tools.
   Even though it may take years, you must achieve basic competency with the tools of your trade before you can consistently enter the flow state (your maximum creative output). Of course there are degrees of mastery, but the more you develop subconscious competence with your tools, the easier it is to enter and maintain the flow state. Get the creative, right-brain part done first. Then go back and do a logical, left-brain pass to make refinements and correct any problems.

Creative ministries are built one creative idea at a time. Learn the principles behind these rules so that you can maximize your ministry’s creative potential.

Related Tags: Dave Tilma, Ministry, Creativity, Ministry Creativity, Creative Ministry, Churchrelevance.com, Churchrelevance, Church Relevance, Relevance, Steve Pavlina

The Grassroots Impact on Abortion

(From FotF's Pastor's Weekly Briefing)

Sanctity of Human Life Week begins on Sunday, January 21, and continues through Sunday, January 28. Most evangelical churches will be setting aside some time that week to celebrate the sacredness of life. (More information and materials for your church are available online at http://www.heartlink.org/beavoice/.)

One of the primary emphases of Sanctity of Human Life Week is the evil of abortion. (Others include infanticide, genocide, the handicapped, the ill, etc.) You wouldn't know it from reading mainstream magazines, but the abortion rate in the United States has been falling for a dozen years, thanks in part to "incremental" restrictions — parental notification and consent, a woman's right to know, waiting periods, abortion clinic regulations, fetal pain measures and numerous other laws in dozens of states.

And those laws may be hastening the day when Roe v. Wade — the infamous 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing abortion on demand — vanishes like a bad dream. For example, Mississippi has passed 15 pro-life laws in the past 13 years and has enjoyed a nearly 60 percent decrease in abortions, according to Americans United for Life.

There are other supportive facts to this claim. The following come from the Alan Guttmatcher Institute, a major research arm of Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider:

• Abortions as a whole across America have declined more than 28 percent since their peak in 1980.

• There has been a "huge decrease" — about a third — in the number of clinics, hospitals and private physicians who perform abortions.

• The vanishing abortionist: A growing majority of doctors who provide abortions are 50 and older.

• Mississippi and South Dakota are down to one abortion clinic each. Providers like Planned Parenthood, in some cases, have resorted to flying doctors in from other states, as fewer and fewer doctors are willing to perform the brutal procedure.

Pro-lifers say that, over the 33 years since Roe v. Wade, two growing realizations — evidence for the personhood of the unborn baby and the long-term harm to the post-abortive mother — have been changing minds, as evidenced by trends in public opinion polls toward the pro-life position. And the growing body of pro-life legislation has been changing behavior.

(This feature is derived from the article, "Capitol Gains," by Stephen Adams in the January 2007 issue of Citizen magazine. Please see the full article for much more information.)

Related Tags: Abortion, Abortion Debate, Pro-life, Pro-Choice, pro life, pro choice, fetus, embryo, Focus on the Family, Pastor, Sanctity of Human Life Week, Sanctity of Human Life, Church, Evangelical, Evangelical Church, parental notification, Parental consent, woman's right to know, waiting periods for abortion, abortion clinic regulations, fetal pain, Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court, Mississippi abortions, Americans United for Life, Alan Guttmatcher Institute, Alan Guttmatcher, Guttmatcher Institute, Planned Parenthood, Abortion Provider, Abortion Clinic, South Dakota Abortion, Stephen Adams, Citizen Magazine, Capitol Gains

Q & A on N.T. Wright

(HT Justin Taylor)

Southwestern Baptist Seminary New Testament Professor Jim Hamilton has written a great Q & A on NT Wright. Worth 5 minutes of your time to understand both why Wright is considered brilliant and dangerous at the same time.

Related Tags: Justin Taylor, Between Two Worlds, NT Wright, N.T. Wright, Anglican, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Jim Hamilton, Southwestern Baptist Seminary, Baptist Seminary, New Testament, New Testament Professor, New Perspectives on Paul, Pauline Theology, Theology, Apostle Paul

Changing to the ESV with Mark Driscoll

A couple of years ago, a local church (for me) Bethlehem Baptist Church, led by John Piper, transitioned to the English Standard Version Bible. That action has been like a stone thrown into a still pond, causing many churches to re-evaluate which version they use. Another big name church has made the move - Mars Hill Church. This has been public knowledge for a while that this change was coming, but Mark Driscoll posted on his blog today about it and reminded me of it. For the record, I prefer the ESV and it is both my bedside version as well as my travel version when I am away from home. I own many other version, but more and more I find myself sticking with the ESV.

From Mark Driscoll's blog:

Preaching and Teaching from the ESV

One of the great joys of my ministry at Mars Hill Church is the preaching and teaching of Scripture. God has richly blessed me with a wonderful congregation that is eager to learn and willing to sit through sermons that have lasted as long as nearly two hours over the ten-year history of our church. One of the most important decisions that Bible preachers and teachers face is selecting which translation of Scripture they will use as their primary teaching tool. Beginning with the book of Ruth in January 2007, we will be transitioning from using the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, published by my friends at Zondervan, to the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible, published by my other friends at Crossway. To help explain translations in general, and the ESV translation in particular, I have written a lengthy paper for our people that is available here for your reading and use. Please feel free to download the PDF or copy and paste the text for your use in part or in full.

_________________________________

And on another note, it appears Mark Driscoll might have influence John Piper too. For those who hadn't heard, Dr. Piper slipped up and used a swear word at the Passion07 Conference in a breakout session that some found inappropriate.

Related Tags: Bible, ESV, ESV Bible, English Standard Version, English Standard Version Bible, John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Baptist Church, Switching Bible Versions, NIV, New International Version, NIV Bible, New International Version Bible, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill, Mars Hill Church, Mars Hill Church Seattle, Church Seattle, Zondervan, Zondervan Publishing, Crossway, Crossway Publishing, Bible Version, Book of Ruth, Acts 29, Acts29, Acts 29 Network, Resurgence, Acts 29, Passion07

Seminary Training for your MP3 player

(HT Keith Plummer @ The Christian Mind)

Bryan Chapell's class on preaching is the latest addition to BiblicalTraining.org's impressive (and free!) collection of evangelical teaching.

A few of the other courses available in their Leadership Education category :

John Piper - Pastoral Theology
Robert Stein - Biblical Hermeneutics
Gary Parrett - Educational Ministry of the Church
Bruce Ware - Systematic Theology
Timothy Tennent - Introduction to Islam
Ronald Nash - Christian Ethics, Advanced Worldview Analysis, History of Philosophy and Christian Thought

The old adage "You get what you pay for" certainly doesn't apply here.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, theology, doctrine, Bible, theological education, seminary, apologetics, preaching, ministry

Barna's Top 12 for 2006

(from FotF's Pastor's Weekly Briefing)

Barna Research has released their most significant findings of the past year. The following dozen were selected:

1. Only 15 percent of those who regularly attend a Christian church ranked their relationship with God as the top priority in their life. On average, pastors believe that 70 percent of the adults in their congregation consider their relationship with God to be their highest priority in life.
2. Three out of every four teenagers have engaged in at least one type of psychic/witchcraft-related activity with fewer than three out of every ten churched teenagers receiving any teaching from their church about elements of the supernatural.
3. Just 21 percent of adults consider themselves to be holy; by their own admission, large numbers have no idea what "holiness" means and only one out of every three (35%) believe that God expects people to become holy.
4. The growing movement of Christian Revolutionaries in the U.S. distinguished themselves from an already-select group of people — born-again Christians — through their deeds, beliefs and self-views. Revolutionaries demonstrated higher levels of community service, financial contributions, daily Bible study, personal quiet times each day, family Bible studies, daily worship experiences, engagement in spiritual mentoring and evangelistic efforts.
5. Involvement in a house church is rapidly growing and four out of every five house church participants maintain some connection to a conventional church.
6. The only measure of spiritual health used by at least half of all pastors was the extent of volunteer activity or ministry involvement.
7. Tracking of young people showed that most of them had disengaged from organized religion during their twenties.
8. A comparison of people's faith before and after the September 11 terrorist attack showed that after five years, none of the 19 faith measure studies had undergone statistically significant change.
9. Seven out of ten parents claim they are effective at developing the spiritual maturity of their children, but the survey among 8-to-12-year-olds discovered that only one-third of them say a church has made "a positive difference" in their life; one-third contend that prayer is very important in their life; most of them would rather be popular than to do what is morally right.
10. Just one out of every six people believe that spiritual maturity is meant to be developed within the context of a local church or within the context of a community of faith.
11. Five of the highest-profile Christian leaders — Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, James Dobson, Tim LaHaye and T.D. Jakes — were unknown to a majority of the population.
12. The proportion of adults who are born-again has risen dramatically in the past quarter century, from 31 percent to 45 percent.

For more information on this year-end report, visit Barna.org.

(I think #11 is a GOOD THING for the most part.)

Related Tags: Barna, Barna Group, George Barna, Church, Teens in church, Church trends, Relationship with God, psychic, Witchcraft, Holiness, Christian Revolutionaries, born-again Christians, born again Christians, Christian, Christians, Bible, Bible Study, House Church, Evangelism, September 11, Morals, Morality, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, James Dobson, Tim LaHaye, T.D. Jakes, Evangelical, Focus on the Family, Pastor

Prayer devotional part 4

I have been invited to write a few prayer devotionals for an upcoming 40 days of prayer. I would appreciate any feedback you might have on the following sample. I might post more of these as I complete them if time allows. Each one needs to be roughly a 1/2 page, and needs to be written for the average church member at my church.

______________________________________

The God We Approach & How I Approach Him

Romans 8:15-17

Paul tells us that believers are the children of God, fully sharing with Christ the place of heirs. Through this freedom we are set free from the bondage of fear, liberated to become fully who we were created to be. As God’s children, we know we have a family, and as coheirs with Christ we know we will be included in his family forever. Through this adoption our former debts are canceled, we start a new life with all of the rights, privileges and responsibilities of being a family member. One of the greatest privileges as children of God we may then come before him with open honesty about all things, and the way we do that is through prayer.

Verse 17 reminds us that as coheirs with Christ that we will also share in his suffering in the same manner we share in his glory. Paul lived this out shared his suffering with his readers. Throughout his suffering, Paul continued to glorify God and exalt Christ. We too are called as believers to live in this way. Christ knew suffering. God understands hurts, pain, and sacrifice, and we do not experience this alone. We therefore can come before him in our times of need, knowing that he loves us, cares for us, understands our need, and hears our prayers.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the freedom and security I have in you! I thank you for my adopted place in your family and how that allows me to be in a loving relationship with you. By giving your son for my salvation you have demonstrated what true love is, and how you are concerned about me both now and for eternity. May your Spirit dwell within me and help me keep my mind set on what you desire. Amen

Related Tags: Prayer, Prayer Devotional, Church, Devotional, Romans 8:15-17, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Child of God, Apostle Paul, Bible, Christian, Christianity, Glorify, Suffering

A new book?

This comes from Truth is Still Truth blog. Click on the chart to see a full size version.


(HT: Justin Taylor via the iMonk)

Related Tags: Buying Books, Truth is Still Truth, stilltruth.com, Justin Taylor, iMonk, Between Two Worlds

Questions for the New Year or your birthday

(HT Justin Taylor)

Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or On Your Birthday

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. "Consider your ways!" (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It's so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we're going and where we should be going.

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn't considered the question.

If you've found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace—in a day planner, PDA, calendar, bulletin board, etc.—where you can review them more frequently than once a year.

So let's evaluate our lives, make plans and goals, and live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering that, "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage" (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things let's also remember our dependence on our King who said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Copyright � 2003 Donald S. Whitney.

Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on the Center for Biblical Spirituality website is copyrighted by Donald S. Whitney. Permission granted to copy this material in its complete text only for not-for-profit use (sharing with a friend, church, school, Bible study, etc.) and including all copyright information. No portion of this website may be sold, distributed, published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast, or commercially exploited without the prior written permission from Donald S. Whitney.

Book Review - An Afternoon with Cody

I am a reviewer for Active Christian Media's Blog for Books. I was given this book at no cost, but am not paid for my review of the book.

I was initially interested in the book upon hearing that the author lives in Dell Rapids, SD, which is effectively a suburb of my own hometown Sioux Falls, SD. Additionally, Sioux Falls' airport is basically the only real scene of the book.

I wanted to like this book, but there are so many reasons why that was not possible. I would give it at best 2 out of 5 stars, and only if I'm feeling somewhat charitable.

The book is fairly short, and it means well, but it is pretty ugly getting from point A to B. The beginning of the book is filled with the stereotypes the author uses in an attempt for character development. If it is a cliche it is used. The result is unimaginative and uncreative characters and visions for the future. The idea is that the book is set in 2020, but there is no reason from the story to buy into that time frame. There is nothing that distinguishes the future from the present other than there being an rapid increase in terrorism in the USA. Perhaps my many years of reading things like Asimov's Foundation trilogy (well, really all of his Sci-Fi books) have caused me to set the bar too high, but I really don't think that is the case. So while the characters are developed, they are flat and unimaginative in the end.

The idea for the book has promise, and I would love to see a re-write. The plot is that central character Walter Withers (a 22 year old sports reporter) has his plans inturrupted when his flight is rerouted from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls due to a terrorism threat. In his layover in Sioux Falls he meets the 72 year old Cody Brill who is a born again Christian (retired pastor), martial arts instructor, and Def Leppard fan. Over the course of his layover, Withers hears for the first time about the Bible and things contained within. By the end of the book Withers has a conversion experience and we are supposed to be left with warm fuzzies. The problem is that in what the author thinks is a way of reaching out to post-moderns, he dumbs down the Gospel and sacrifices the beauty of Christ for trying to sound cool. Unfortunately he fails at the cool factor as well. I think the author's heart is in the right place, but that he is far to distanced from post modernism, and modern culture for that matter, to interact well with it in this creative environment. I was especially disappointed in his dealing with the gospel where Jesus is your buddy and the Godhead as the three amigos. I don't know any postmodern who would find that idea of God appealing.

A good re-write is in order for this for other reasons as well. Various typos, grammatical errors, and word usages need to be cleaned up. A good copy editor would have done wonders for this book. I think the idea has potential, but it is left at that, just potential.

I think the author does hit on some things that are wrong with society in his development of the book that are solid, but not outstanding. It ranks only slightly above pointing out the obvious flaws in our society, but is a positive of sorts.

Related Tags: Active Christian Media, Blog for Books, Rex Forrest Johnson, Dell Rapids, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, An Afternoon with Cody, Mind and Media, Gospel, Jesus, Postmodern, Post Modern, Def Leppard, Martial Arts