I won't call these new year's resolutions, just some things I'm longing for, and want to develop in the near future. These are things (for the most part) that I feel God has graciously placed in my heart as I journey through a life of ministry and learning.

2008 was a year of bridges being built.  God blessed my family with a new home, some solid growth in our church, a disease that helped me lose weight and more, but these are just bridges. I'm seeking God for the strength, knowledge and wisdom to take me, my family, and our church across those bridges to whatever God has prepared.

I'm eager to move forward, to get to the next level, not just in ministry, but in life in general. I want to see my home experience Christ in a deeper way. I want to see the Gospel come into contact with areas of my life that I've thus far been sheltered from it. I want to let go of all the things that blind me to Christ and what He wants me to see, what He wants to transform (not that I know what all those blinders are). I want to see the Savior Community Church become a place of power where seeing lives transformed becomes routine.

I hunger for authentic, New Testament, Christianity. I want to follow Christ not as a second generation, evangelical American, but as a true disciple. This will require a hard look at my life. As a Pastor, I'm surrounded by people who think I'm an authority on what it means to be a Christian. In some ways I feel I have no idea. I'm committed to the uncomfortable task of rethinking everything Christologically and Christocentrically.

I want to find a balance between lovingly/patiently listening, and ripping into people for how stupid and/or sinful their ideas or actions are. This may sound weird, but as a Pastor/Teacher I feel I have let people off too easily far too often. I feel I have often failed to confront people who needed to be confronted because of their sin or unbiblical ideas. Why? Probably a few different things. First, I was way to confrontational in my early 20's, and have way overcompensated in my late 20's. Second, at times I have a false sense of humility. I shouldn't be afraid to tell someone that their ideas or actions are wrong when I absolutely know they are. I'm not saying that I need to be brash or rude, just that sometimes I fail in my responsibility as a Pastor and Christian brother to correct the uninformed and confront the unrighteous. (I'm speaking primarily in terms of Christians in both instances, especially those that God has in some way put under my care.)

I want to blog more. I've struggled for a while with what to do with this blog. I feel that in the past it has been unfocussed, a bit all-over-the-place. I'm still working out what I want it to be, but I feel sure that I need a place to dump some thoughts. I think the personal and theological tone of this post is a taste of where I'll take it this year, along with all of my rants about the latest Bible apps and whatnot.

Finally, I want me and Erica (my wife) to be happy, happy, happy together. No, we don't have problems in our marriage. In fact, we're closer than ever. Still, I want more for her. I've taken her through some difficult times in the last 10 years (wow, almost 10 years married). I think we have a touch of burnout, and need God to make some space for us to recuperate.

Erica's attitude over the last last 4 to 6 years (which have been the hardest) has been amazing. She has proven herself to be a person who loves God and me more than comfort, or clothes, or houses, or anything that this world has to offer. Paul wrote that, "the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided (1 Corinthians 7:33-34)." I believe the scriptures are the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God, but I also think Paul didn't know Erica. Not that I've neglected her and her needs in the name of ministry. (Men who do that are worse than dogs and should be beaten in public.:-)  I just mean to say that she has acted as if I gave her the world when I was actually taking her on one difficult adventure after another. She has only ever asked me if I thought a thing was God's will or not. If I believed it was, she was on board with no questions asked. I'm asking God to reward her with a time of refreshing. Rewards are not earned, they are granted, and I'm asking my gracious God to bless my beautiful wife.