Tag: resolutions

Categories
Ramblings

Day One 2016: Time for a New Year and a New Plan

Day One 2016 - Happy New Year with fireworksWow… another year over and done. And a new one about to begin. We come to Day One 2016, what will take place this year?

The quick review of my 2015 plan:
Though I had selected 365 quotes to share through the year, the actually number of posts I made was slightly less than that due to me not posting on several mornings. I had all sorts of great excuses for those days I missed: the issue of my computer dying, then I had the A/C at the house go out, and there were a few days I didn’t post when I went out of town for various reasons. Whatever the excuse, instead of meeting my goal of 365 daily posts, I ended up with about 340 daily posts, and I learned a number of lessons.

The main lesson I learned is that it takes a lot of work to post something every single morning. I remain impressed by those who do so with such consistency.

But the other key lesson I learned is that I didn’t feel I could flesh out some of the ideas as much as I would like due to me pushing myself to post something each day. Of course, the only one who put the pressure on me to post each day was myself because I set a goal and wrote about it at the beginning of last year. So for this new year of 2016, I am going to cut back and I plan to post less often than I did in 2015 but more often than in ’13 & ’14. That means that I plan to post something about three days a week. I hope that doing so will allow me to put more thought into the posts, and therefore make them more meaningful to everyone who takes the time to read them.

Thank you for reading and for encouraging me throughout the year. And I hope that this year is one where you will grow closer to God than you ever have before.

On Day One 2016, that is my New Year’s Resolution – to grow deeper in my relationship to Jesus Christ than ever before – and I hope that is also the commitment you are making to Him this year.

Categories
Christian Living

Goals for a New Year

If you go all the way back to the beginning of 2014, you will find that one of my goals for the year was to read one Christian book a month. Though I didn’t succeed in all my 2014 goals, I did accomplish my reading goal, including the completion of another reading through of the Bible (though that took 18 months, instead of 12).
Old books on a library shelf representing reading goals for the year
I tell you this to remind you that I believe it is very important to have a plan for your Christian growth. I had a plan to read 12 books. I surpassed my goal. But if my plan had been more vague, such as if I had just said to myself, “This year I’ll read more,” how would I measure if I really met the goal? We set goals in almost every other area of life. We should do the same with this most important thing called: our relationship with God! So as you think through your Christian life, it is important that you make specific goals and plans. Write them down.

I write mine down as a yearly Personal Worship Plan, and then stick that plan in the front of my Bible so I can review it throughout the year. Here is a copy of a blank plan if you’d like to use it too:
Personal Worship Plan Booklet Link (Just click on this pdf image link to open or download the file.)

And regarding the reading I did, one of my brothers recently asked me what I’d recommend for reading. So now that I’ve finished my 2014 reading, let me tell you which ones I read last year that I would recommend you to check out (and also which ones to avoid!)


Highly Recommended:
The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey
The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom
These are my top two from the year. They are both well-worth your time. In fact, because I enjoyed it so much, I read The Hiding Place twice. Once on my own, and then a second time with Paige.

Also, I re-read two books with my men’s small group that I would highly recommend:
Life of a God-Made Man, Dan Doriani – excellent for all men (though women would benefit from it too), but now it is only available for purchase as an e-book;
Radical, David Platt – a great reminder of what life is really all about, and a challenge for us to live with radical devotion for Jesus.


Recommended:
These next three are also worth reading, though they are not as highly recommended as the ones listed above.

The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer – this book is free at The Gutenberg Project. Just search for “The Pursuit of God” or A. W. Tozer.

Embracing Obscurity, anonymous – My favorite chapter was the one on suffering. It was a useful reminder of how we too often desire the spotlight, when the proper place for the spotlight is on Jesus and the good news He brings.

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis
Excellent, but due to the out-dated use of English, I would only say “recommended” for most people. It is just too laborious for most people to wade through. But very good insights if you are willing to work through it. In case you didn’t know, The Imitation of Christ became, and remained for several hundred years, the second-most widely read book in the world, surpassed only by the Bible. This book is also free to download or read from The Gutenberg Project. Just search for The Imitation of Christ.


Recommended for specific situations:
Out of the Saltshaker and into the World, Rebecca Pippert (a good book on basic evangelism)

Darwin on Trial, Philip Johnson (if you enjoy apologetics, this is a very good read.)

The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen (written primarily for those who work in hands-on church ministry. If that is you, then this is a good read, and others would benefit from it as well.)

Prayer: Conversing with God, Rosalind Rinker (this is primarily about how to engage in a new prayer style in small groups. So if you are a leader of a small group, this could be beneficial if you want to try a new prayer direction)


Not Recommended:
These are the books I read last year that I would tell you to not worry with…
Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton
The Diary of Anne Frank (yes, this is a classic, and while it is an interesting read into the life of a teenage girl in hiding during WW2, it is not a tremendous help in Christian living. So for history and classic reading…sure. But if you are looking for a book to read for Christian growth…not recommended.
Why I Am A Christian, Norman Geisler, ed. – too academic.


And finally, let me also give you some other books that I would recommend if you have not read them. These are books that I have read before 2014, but which I think are excellent for everyone:

Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster
How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life, Gregory Frizzell
Returning to Holiness, Gregory Frizzell
Knowing God, J. I. Packer
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
Can Man Live Without God, Ravi Zacharias
The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning
Every Man’s Battle, Arterburn & Yoeker
More than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell


Are there other books you read in 2014 that you would recommend? 

Categories
Christian Living

A New Year

Well a new January 1 has arrived again, meaning a new year is here.
2014 is behind us and 2015 has arrived.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
firework explosion symbolizing the beginning of the New Year
How well did you do on meeting all those plans and goals you set at the beginning of 2014?
How well do you think you will do in 2015?

One of my plans from the outset of this blog was to post more often. That plan hasn’t been fulfilled very well to date. My average is at just under 2 posts per week for the last year-and-a-half. Probably not too bad, but I would still like to be able to post more often. Of course, at several points along the journey, I have mentioned that I should post shorter thoughts, which might let me post more often. So once again, that will be one of my goals. The way I plan to do so is by posting a quote of the day from the Christian authors/books that have impacted me. Going from 2 posts a week to 7 might be too big a jump, and I might fail at it, but it is one of my goals for 2015. (For those who are wondering, I am also still planning to post at least one devotional-type post/thought each week as well – typically on Tuesdays.)

What is one of your goals that you hope will impact either yourself or others for Jesus in 2015?

Categories
Worship

Developing Your Personal Worship Plan

“Private personal worship is an effective tool of grace in the hands of God to kill those things in you that must die in order that you may be what you have been called to be.” –Paul Tripp

praying hands on top of a bible symbolizing personal worship

The last two years at FBC Newton where I pastor, we have provided people with a simple guide to use as they think through a personal worship plan. It is a list of some key spiritual areas that each person should consider strengthening and it provides some examples that can be used to determine new spiritual commitments for the year.

At the end of the post is a link that will let you download a pdf file that can be printed on a regular sheet of paper and then folded and placed in your Bible so you can refer to it throughout the year.

Here are the areas we ask people to consider praying through with examples of some possible commitments that could be selected or adapted:

Reading of God’s Word
I will commit to a daily Bible reading of ___ minutes per day.
I will commit to reading ___ chapter(s) per day.
I will commit to reading through the New Testament, Old Testament, or Entire Bible this year.

Prayer Life
I will commit to a daily prayer time of ____ minutes daily.
I will commit to pray daily with my spouse & children.
I will commit to pray with others outside of “church time.”

Personal Praise
I will commit to listen to only Christian music in my vehicle.
I will add personal praise into my daily devotion time.

Financial Giving
I will commit to tithe this year.
I will commit to increase my giving by ________ this year.
I will be a better steward of my remaining money.

Church Attendance
I will commit to attend a small group Bible study such as Sunday School regularly.
I will commit to participate in Sun. / Wed. Night services at my church.
I will commit to attend all services of the church.

Ministry Involvement
I will commit to find a ministry service so that I am using my spiritual gifts and abilities to serve my church and/or community for the Lord.

Scripture Memory
I will memorize _____ verses that are important to me.

Reading Christian Literature
I will commit to reading at least one Christian non-fiction book each quarter of the year.

Accountability Partnership(s)
I will commit to finding someone of the same gender to start an accountability group.
I will meet with my account. partner ____ times per month.

Mentoring & Discipleship
I will commit to finding someone to mentor me this year.
I will commit to finding someone to disciple this year.

Obedience – acting on God’s promptings
I will commit to say “yes” to all God asks of me.
I will commit to find and attempt at least one “action” to take each week from Sunday School/Worship.

Sharing My Faith
I will commit to writing out my testimony this year.
I will commit to sharing my testimony in Sunday School.
I will have the goal of turning every conversation I have toward Jesus.

Family Devotions (and praise)
I will commit to leading my family to have a devotional time together ____ time(s) per week.

Other Commitments God Wants Me To Make
Perhaps to cease a behavior/habit

Personal Worship Plan Booklet Link Just click on this pdf image link to open or download the file.

(if you are reading this on facebook or another source that doesn’t allow you to download the file, you will need to go to www.brianrushing.net to download it)

Categories
Christian Living

Resolutions: A Personal Worship Plan

New Year's Resolutions List for 2014 to focus on a personal worship planWe are a month into 2014, and writing about my reading lists made me think about my other “resolutions.” Did you make any for 2014? Or have you come to the point where you have broken so many that your only resolution is to not make any more resolutions?

Even so, We make all sorts of plans throughout any given year. We resolve to make changes in our exercise, our eating habits, our business goals…. Shouldn’t we also give some thought to resolving to grow in our Christian lives?

Do you have a goal for your Bible reading, prayer life, charitable giving, church attendance, ministry involvement, etc.?

Maybe you are thinking, but why do so, when I so often fail at my New Years’ Resolutions? Should I write down more goals that if I don’t meet, I will feel guilty about?

In one of the most widely read books of all time – The Imitation of Christ – Thomas a Kempis reminds us – “Each day we ought to renew our resolutions as though it were the first day of our life in Christ. Because as our intention is, so will be our progress; so he who desires godly perfection must be very diligent. We know that even a strong-willed man fails Christ frequently, but what about the man who thinks of Christ seldom or is half-hearted in his attempts to live for Him? We must always have a fixed mindset, especially against those things which tempt us the most. In the morning make a resolution and in the evening examine yourself on how you did, what you have done and thought. Each day, read or write or pray or meditate or do something for the common good.”

And Thomas a Kempis reminds us why we need to do so – “as our intention is, so will be our progress.” Or as we might hear it stated today – “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

Don’t stop setting spiritual goals simply because of possible guilt if you don’t meet them. Instead, be encouraged at what progress you do make, and become re-focused to go even farther tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.

Have you set any goals in your Christian life for 2014?

Next time, I’ll share some ideas you might want to consider in resolving to improve your Bible reading, prayer life, ministry involvement, etc.