Swiped with credit to David Head, a Baptist pastor in Lexington KY who blogs at http://ponderanew.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/some-questions-for-the-new-year/
Look Back
+ Write your 2008 story in six sentences –one for every other month or so.
+ Summarize all of that in six words. Turn the six words into a prayer.
+ What was your greatest mess, failure or disappointment this year? What lesson did you learn from that that you will take with you?
+ What was your greatest joy, success or accomplishment this year? What lesson did you learn from that you will take with you?
+ With whom did you develop a significant relationship this year? Why do you think the Lord has brought you together with this person?
+ When do you recall laughing the hardest this year? Crying? Enjoying some artistic or musical moment? Having your mind stimulated by a conversation, something you saw or read in a book?
+ How is your faith different than at the turn of last year?
+ What did your life this year show you about Jesus that makes him more beautiful, wise, strong, loving and faithful than you ever dreamed?
Taking Stock Now
Describe – as honestly as possible—where you stand today in the following life areas:
- worship (to what degree are all things for the glory of God?)
- intellectual depth, breadth & growth
- emotional maturity in dealing with anger, grief, frustration, etc.
- deep affections for God
- family relationships (spouse, children, parents, siblings)
- vocation ( work or school)
- integrity of life, words, actions
- Kingdom influence through my life (being salt and light)
- holiness (like God)
- Christ-like character
- Biblical knowledge and application
- forgiveness and reconciliation for broken relationships
- bearing witness to spiritually lost people
- involvement with the hurting & broken people you encounter
- stewardship of your life, talents, money & other resources
- concern for the nations, especially unreached people groups
+ all of this could be summed up in the consideration of one large question: To what degree does my life center on Jesus, enjoy the fullness of His gospel, and invite others to join me in that life?
Looking Forward
+ Ps. 90:12 says “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Write a six-word prayer summarizing your God-ward impulses for 2009.
+ How will you pursue intimacy with God more passionately? Be specific.
+ What aspect of your inner world do you want to cultivate this year?
+ With what Christian brother or sister do you want to deepen or repair a relationship this year?
+ With what pre-Christians will you commit to develop a genuine friendship and have gospel-centered conversations?
+ How do you want to see your marriage grow this year? Your children develop?
+ How will you pursue beauty? Laughter? Curiosity? Knowledge? Wisdom? Generosity? Compassion?
+ How will there be a stronger gospel influence through you at work or school this year?
+ Is there a sense of calling or a prompting of the Spirit in a certain direction to which you need to give attention?
+ How can the gospel of Jesus – with its love, grace, power and hope–become larger and more real to you with every day that passes this year?
Happy New Year!!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Faith Works 1-3-09
Jeff Gill
Ten Stories In the News With a Faith Angle
As the new year rolls in, the Religion Newswriters Association looked back at 2008, and asked its members to vote on the “Top 10 Religion News Stories.”
These scribes and columnists put the election of Barack Obama in the first place (big shock, that!), noting the role of candidate pastors and/or church memberships for both the winner and for John McCain, along with his running mate Sarah Palin. Their affiliations and relationship with church leaders has been under public scrutiny right on through Obama’s plans for his inauguration later this month (more on that later!).
Number Two was the Democratic Party outreach effort to religiously motivated voters, particularly conservative Christians. Obama appeared at a candidate forum moderated by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California, the kind of event Democrats used to skip and let the Republicans speak at all on their lonesome.
Third was Sarah Palin’s arrival on the national stage, with her message of support for unborn and disabled children rooted in an evangelical and somewhat Pentecostal viewpoint. Religious conservatives found a new measure of interest in the presidential election, but not quite as much as Obama generated among younger and more liberal voters.
Fourth place, said newswriters on religion, was the somewhat startling public reaction against gay marriage in California, Arizona, and Florida; the exact measure of what voting blocs turned out for what reason is still in the works, but much early anger from the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community was aimed at the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Catholic Church.
Coming in fifth was the first American visit of Pope Benedict XVI, greeted by large crowds in Washington and New York, and by small groups who were invited to meet him representing victims of the sexual abuse scandals that have afflicted his communion. The Pope addressed the problem specifically, and the need for churches to face such occurrences clearly and honestly, directly from the pulpit.
In sixth place was the series of events leading to a request from conservative Episcopalians for a separate Anglican structure, or “province” for North America. Since the election and consecration of a noncelibate gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire five years ago, tensions and defections have slowly, but steadily opened up divisions in The Episcopal Church, most dramatically in the Diocese of Pittsburgh just to our east.
Seventh was listed as the terrorist violence in India inflicted by Islamic radicals on Jewish and secular targets in Mumbai (Bombay) just a few weeks ago, but an increase throughout the year of violence against Christians in smaller but no less deadly attacks in the eastern state of Orissa.
China made eighth place by cracking down harshly on Buddhists who sought to raise the issue of Tibetan independence during the Olympic torch run, and even more ruthlessly during the Games themselves. Their approach to chaplaincy in the Athlete’s Village during the Olympics I’d nominate for the most under-covered story of the year.
Ninth place strikes perhaps closest to Licking County, as the economic crisis that ended the year has pushed many churches and faith communities to and even over the edge, including building closures and foreclosures, staff layoffs and cutbacks, and the reduction of many charitable programs just at a time when they are most needed.
Tenth place was given to the situation in Iraq, particularly the hazards faced by the small but ancient Christian community there, beginning the year with the assassination of the Chaldean Christian archbishop, but ending somewhat hopefully with the return of some who had left Iraq earlier in the year as the security situation stabilized.
What news stories would you have put on a list of news stories with a faith angle? How would you rank them for order of importance or impact? And can you find a way to feel a connection to each of them?
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and supply preacher around central Ohio; tell him how you see the new year shaping up at knapsack77@gmail.com.
Jeff Gill
Ten Stories In the News With a Faith Angle
As the new year rolls in, the Religion Newswriters Association looked back at 2008, and asked its members to vote on the “Top 10 Religion News Stories.”
These scribes and columnists put the election of Barack Obama in the first place (big shock, that!), noting the role of candidate pastors and/or church memberships for both the winner and for John McCain, along with his running mate Sarah Palin. Their affiliations and relationship with church leaders has been under public scrutiny right on through Obama’s plans for his inauguration later this month (more on that later!).
Number Two was the Democratic Party outreach effort to religiously motivated voters, particularly conservative Christians. Obama appeared at a candidate forum moderated by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California, the kind of event Democrats used to skip and let the Republicans speak at all on their lonesome.
Third was Sarah Palin’s arrival on the national stage, with her message of support for unborn and disabled children rooted in an evangelical and somewhat Pentecostal viewpoint. Religious conservatives found a new measure of interest in the presidential election, but not quite as much as Obama generated among younger and more liberal voters.
Fourth place, said newswriters on religion, was the somewhat startling public reaction against gay marriage in California, Arizona, and Florida; the exact measure of what voting blocs turned out for what reason is still in the works, but much early anger from the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community was aimed at the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Catholic Church.
Coming in fifth was the first American visit of Pope Benedict XVI, greeted by large crowds in Washington and New York, and by small groups who were invited to meet him representing victims of the sexual abuse scandals that have afflicted his communion. The Pope addressed the problem specifically, and the need for churches to face such occurrences clearly and honestly, directly from the pulpit.
In sixth place was the series of events leading to a request from conservative Episcopalians for a separate Anglican structure, or “province” for North America. Since the election and consecration of a noncelibate gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire five years ago, tensions and defections have slowly, but steadily opened up divisions in The Episcopal Church, most dramatically in the Diocese of Pittsburgh just to our east.
Seventh was listed as the terrorist violence in India inflicted by Islamic radicals on Jewish and secular targets in Mumbai (Bombay) just a few weeks ago, but an increase throughout the year of violence against Christians in smaller but no less deadly attacks in the eastern state of Orissa.
China made eighth place by cracking down harshly on Buddhists who sought to raise the issue of Tibetan independence during the Olympic torch run, and even more ruthlessly during the Games themselves. Their approach to chaplaincy in the Athlete’s Village during the Olympics I’d nominate for the most under-covered story of the year.
Ninth place strikes perhaps closest to Licking County, as the economic crisis that ended the year has pushed many churches and faith communities to and even over the edge, including building closures and foreclosures, staff layoffs and cutbacks, and the reduction of many charitable programs just at a time when they are most needed.
Tenth place was given to the situation in Iraq, particularly the hazards faced by the small but ancient Christian community there, beginning the year with the assassination of the Chaldean Christian archbishop, but ending somewhat hopefully with the return of some who had left Iraq earlier in the year as the security situation stabilized.
What news stories would you have put on a list of news stories with a faith angle? How would you rank them for order of importance or impact? And can you find a way to feel a connection to each of them?
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and supply preacher around central Ohio; tell him how you see the new year shaping up at knapsack77@gmail.com.
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