Seventeen82

  I’m not  norma lly  the “New Year’s Resolutions” type but I do love fresh starts. A new notebook, a clean calendar,  another  try at  a read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, a book with crisp pages and unbroken spine …  a ll these  excite  within  me  t he possibilit y  of being more organized  and bring with them the hope of a  more productive and  less stressful existence.  It’s probably my own pessimism  (or fear of failure)  that keeps me from wanting to formalize dreams and goals in the form of resolutions,  but  I can  certain ly understand the appeal of the process.  Though we  hear a lot (and surely will again ,  come February or so) about broken resolutions, failed diets, and unused gym memberships, there are also success stories of  good habits made or bad ones broken. Christian s and non- Christian s alike can, and sometimes do, succeed at keeping new commitments or reaching goals.  But a danger associated with  the idea of  resolutions  is confusing self-improvement with s ancti

  I saw the entire scene play out.  She was just standing there at the base of the slide pretending to be Princess Leia, when her friend  —  Darth Vader  —  took things too far.  He came out of nowhere with his stick lightsaber and the next thing anyone knew, my daughter was on the ground.  Slain by an unsuspected blow from her classmate  —  her friend  —  who had gotten a little too much into character.  To be honest, anyone over the age of 30 probably could have seen it coming, once Darth Vader alighted upon such a perfect stick for his lightsaber.  Someone was going to get it.  It just happened to be his friend, my daughter, Princess Leia.     The ensuing tears and offering of reports on the events to the  “ authorities ”  had some dramatic flare.  Great attention was given to who was right and who was wrong  —  Darth Vader emerged as the clear assailant.  Princess Leia made an urgent plea for a bandaid  —  as if it was a panacea extracted from the sap of a rare tree on a South Paci

Everyone needs to be a reader! This year I have put together several suggestions as you plan your reading for 2022.  First, everyone needs a plan for reading the Bible . At a minimum, I suggest that you read a least one chapter from both the Old and New Testaments each day. There are many good plans, and I have three listed below.  Another good daily habit is to find something to be studied daily throughout the year . I have recommended Vos’ Commentary on the Larger Catechism to students of theology for years. It has short chapters to be read and studied daily. It would be a great help to any Chrisitan. P&R’s 31-days series would be a good option as well. In addition to your daily Bible reading and study, any good devotional is helpful.  Beyond these devotional readings, you should be reading good Christian literature . Below I have given a prompt for each month and three suggestions in that theme. Reading is a way to challenge yourself to grow in your knowledge and practice. What

  “In him we have redemption through his blood... making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:7a, 9-10 ESV) This Christmas Season I’ve enjoyed a book called  Proclaiming the Christmas Gospel , reading through a  bit of history and ancient theology in celebrating the coming of Jesus Christ “in the fullness of time.” When Leo the Great preached a Christmas message on Ephesians 1 (and also Galatians 4), he said,  “Our Savior, dearly beloved, was  born  this  day . Let us rejoice. There cannot rightly be any room for sorrow in a place where life has been born.”   Of course, for Leo, “this day” was more than four hundred years after Jesus' birth, so it wasn’t literally “this day.” However, there’s still something for us to think about in worshiping a Savior born “this day.” It’s like that familiar line from  O come All

  We are coming to the end of a long couple of years of pandemic, and it doesn't seem to be ending. Perhaps on top of all the upheaval of the pandemic your couple of years has been like many of ours — enough to grind you down. Now, as we face the coming of a new year, a time when many of us are generally filled with hope and are forward looking, your hands hang down and your knees are weak (cf. Hebrews 12:112), and you are not sure how they can be strengthened.   You are, in a word, dry. Dry spiritually and emotionally. And though you want to be where you have been before in your walk with the Lord, you don’t know that you have it in you to pull along. You already know that any resolution that you might make to this  end on January 1, 2022 at 12:00 AM will   end by January 1, 2022 at 9:54 AM . What is the answer? Do you need some sort of extraordinary happening to snap you out of it? Enter Psalm 63.   A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God;

  If you have ever seen the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, you know that one of the major events was Frodo and Sam’s journey to Mordor. In order for Frodo to fulfill his task of destroying the Ring created by Sargon, he had to journey into the heart of evil Mordor, to Mt. Doom (where the ring was created) and cast into in the lava pit. One particular memorable scene has Frodo and Sam, after journeying through Mordor for a period of time, stopping and realizing that they have been going around in circles. They have no idea how to navigate through Mordor to get to their appointed destinies. And Mordor was no place to get lost, for it was loaded with dangerous hazards. They needed a guide to lead them through their hazardous journey, and a guide they did get, though not a faithful guide.   In this present evil age, we too are on a journey, but, thankfully, not to Mt. Doom. Rather we are on the journey to Mt. Zion, the city of our God, to that heavenly Kingdom of our God. Yet, we are travers