My Goals for 2005

I don't make very many New Year's resolutions, but I do make a list of goals each year. Here is the list I've made for 2005. I'm posting them here for all to see because if I see them on a regular basis that will help keep me accountable to each of you and to myself, and if you see them you can help me be accountable. So, here goes:

My Goals for 2005:

1. Family: Develop deeper relationships with my wife and kids:

- Start a weekly family Bible study
- Marilyn: Have a night/lunch out with Marilyn at least twice per month
- Matthew: Go with Matthew to Student Life Camp. Support him better at Boy Scouts
- Bethany: Take Bethany to lunch monthly

2. Faith: Take the love of Christ to the unchurched:

- Find a compassion oriented organization for The Gate to partner with for student ministry projects
- Continue to direct The Gate student ministry
- Continue to pursue church planting directions. Become an ordained minister and an approved Acts 29 church planter this year

3. Physical: Take better care of my body:

- Average at least 10 minutes per day exercising. Be able to run the Scott Air Force Base running trail loop (6.5 miles) nonstop by August 1.
- Stop eating ice cream after 6:00pm. I can't go cold turkey on ice cream, but I can limit my intake.

4. Community: Foster relationships in the real world and in cyberspace:

- Average at least 1 blog entry per day.
- Continue developing a deeper relationship with the brothers and sisters in the Acts 29 network

5. Intellectual: Make a major push to complete my PhD:

- Complete my PhD dissertation by Christmas 2005

A New Year's Prayer

Jordon Cooper quotes Thomas Merton in a prayer for the new year. Link. Merton's prayer speaks to my heart.

Lord, I don't know where you will take me, but I'm in this for the long run.

The Tsunami Video

Thanks to Rudy Carrasco and his Urban Onramps blog for posting a video of the Tsunami. Link. What an incredible video!

A Discomforting Look in the Mirror

Thanks to Reverend Mike's blog for the following link. Link. Mike helps put a personal face on what might have happened to Reggie White.

A Soldier's Comment on Rumsfeld's Visit To The Troops

Thanks to Donald Sensing for posting this on his One Hand Clapping blog. Link. Those of us who have spent a majority of our adult years in the military know you can't trust the media to deliver a true unbiased account of what is going on in Iraq.

A Most Unusual Present

Our most unusual present yesterday comes from my Sister-In-Law Wanda. She sent us a Roomba. A Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner that will clean a room without any help and dock itself in a charging station when it is done. We watched it work for a few hours yesterday and this morning and it is incredible. Thanks Wanda!

Merry Christmas

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find the baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:9-12 (NASB)

Praise God for His goodness!

Being Crucified With Christ

I have been cricified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

John Piper in The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons Why He Came to Die wrote about being crucified with Christ by writing that,

A Christ-inhabited, Christ-sustained, Christ-strenghtened me. That's what Christ died to bring about. That's what a Christian is. The other way it speaks of the new self is this: It lives by trusting Christ moment by moment. "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Piper 2004, 87)

What better time to experience the rebirth of our lives and the meaningfulness that knowing Christ brings to our lives than during the celebration of His birth.

Its a Wonderful Life in 30 Seconds With Bunnies

Thanks to Rob for the link to this website. What a great summary of Its a Wonderful Life.

Link.

I'm Back!

It was a long trip to Hawaii, but I am finally back home! Most people try to make me feel like I was priveleged to go to Hawaii for two weeks in December, but it was a 100% working trip. I stayed at the nicest hotel in Waikiki, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I had a nice rental car, the weather was perfect (80 degrees every day), and the food was incredible. But, contrast all that with my work schedule and connectivity with the world: the 2 weeks I was in Hawaii I left the hotel every morning at 5:00 and returned back at 8:00 in the evening. I worked every day and it was dark when I left for work and dark when I returned. The security classification of the exercise I was working at made it very difficult to use the phone, and the 400 people there had 6 unclassified computers with internet connections to share from. So my connection with the rest of the world was limited to my personal cell phone and whatever internet connection I could get at the hotel ($10 a day for web tv which didn't work well). Oh, well, time to suffer for the Lord!

The entire time I was in Hawaii I kept thinking that this is one of my images of hell. I am working in paradise whith no capability to enjoy it, and I am cut off from all my friends and family that are only a whisper away due to technology. The next time I go to Hawaii I hope I will be on vacation with my family.

Anyhow, with the little bit of time I spent online there I did get a change to read most of the blogs I hang out in, but didn't take the time to do any commenting on them or posting on mine. I thought it would take too much time away from others on a shared internet connection. Thanks for all the great posts, and I'm going to start commenting and posting again soon.