Happy New Year

The 21st century is already a decade old. I don't know about you, but it seemed to go by extremely fast. Seems like we were just fretting Y2K and now we are more technologically connected than every before. 10 years ago none of us had Facebook or Twitter; 9/11 was the number you called for an emergency; nobody had flat tv's on the wall; and the Red Sox were still languishing the curse of the Babe. Lots of things have changed over the last 10 years. 10 years ago, I had a 3-month old son and a new job as a youth minister at Westwood. My family has expanded and my job brought us to Alexander City. It's been a great ride.

I'm hoping and praying that the next 10 years will see God's blessings upon you and your family. I am not one to make a lot of New Year's Resolutions, but here are some things I hope to do this year.

• First, like most people, I need to drop some serious weight. I hope that I can lose about 30 pounds this year and keep it off.
• I need to read a lot more this year, especially books that will stretch me theologically. I have been caught up for too long on "Church Growth" type books that tell us how to do church. I need to know how to teach people to think biblically.
• I hope to renew my doctoral studies at NOBTS and start my ministry project by this fall. I really want to see this area of my life completed.
• I want to be much more strategic with my three sons. Each of them are growing too fast and they seem to change daily. I need to listen to them more and keep patient when things don't work out like I planned.
• I want to be more active in sharing my personal faith in Christ with the lost around me.
• I have to be more patient. This is something everyone says not to pray for, but for me, there's no choice. I find myself being too tense about things that really don't matter in the scheme of eternity. Why don't I stress about the lost souls of men as much as I do the erratic driving patterns of those around me?
• I want to play more golf
• I want to write on my blog more often.
• I want to be more in love with Jesus.

Those are some of my goals for 2010. We'll see how I do.