2016 New Year's Resolutions...

My New Year’s Resolutions for 2016:

I hereby resolve to run toward Jesus and away from sin for another year.  Give me the grace to stand in your sustaining strength, Christ.

I hereby resolve to make every effort to passionately pursue people who feel far from God.  Break my heart for what breaks yours, God.

I hereby resolve to fight for congruency between my insides and my outsides.  Make me painfully uncomfortable with duplicity.

I hereby resolve to overcome fear, doubt, and anxiety with the weapon of prayer.  May prayer be my first response instead of my last resort.

I hereby resolve to be more generous and less greedy believing it is more blessed to give than to receive.  I want a selfless and sacrificial heart.

I hereby resolve to love my wife in a way that makes her feel protected, adored, and strengthened.

I hereby resolve to take care of my body with exercise while feeding it things that will help it help me be all that I want to be.  I tired of abusing my body. 

I hereby resolve to lead our church into the future with audacious faith and compassionate conviction.  To lead with a balance of humility and authority.

I hereby resolve to read a book a month to challenge and sharpen my mind.  I want to stay curious and learn new insights.

I hereby resolve to take every thought captive making them obedient to Christ no matter how long that reformation takes.

I hereby resolve to look at life and people through the lens of promise.  Not problems to be solved, but possibilities to be unearthed.

I hereby resolve to clean out the daily residue of disappointment, bitterness, and anger with the choice of forgiveness.  Forgive as I’ve been forgiven.

I hereby resolve to cherish my daughters and sons…to play with them, protect them, and talk with them instead of speak to them.

I hereby resolve to not let hurt keep me from continuing to dream big and live with imaginative hope.

I hereby resolve to make, have, and keep friends a part of the vital ritual of my daily life…to know and be known by good companions.

I hereby resolve to create things instead of simply copying the things other people create.  I was made to create, not simply copy.  No shortcuts, God.  No copouts.

I hereby resolve to rely afresh on the power of God instead of my own strength.  My vigor fades, but the vitality of God gives staying power.

I hereby resolve to rise each day with a “yes” in my spirit and on my lips.  “Yes” to God’s bidding and “yes” to daily life that is constantly screaming “no way”.

I hereby resolve to learn new things and to resist the urge to coast.  To enjoy the familiar, yes, but to embrace the unknown.

I hereby resolve to live with integrity in obscurity.  I want to be faithful in the places I’ll never get rewarded for until I stand before Judge Jesus.

I hereby resolve to give more grace to people who are unlovely, unloved, and seemingly unlovable.  Give me uncomfortable and unconditional love, God. 

I hereby resolve to be more grateful and joyful despite what I may feel based on circumstantial or emotional evidence.  May the joy of the Lord be my strength!

I hereby resolve to make people laugh as much as I possibly can.  I don’t want to take life so seriously that I miss the humor and humanity in it all.

I hereby resolve to let people not only see my weaknesses but to know where they come from and why they exist.  May vulnerability stay in tact even under attack.

I hereby resolve to not cave in to pre-determinism and fatalism.  I want to change the future by creating a new future with my present attitude and actions.

I hereby resolve to let myself fail and make mistakes.  I want my life to be filled with daring, caring and sharing…this means I will fall short, but at least I’ll fall forward.

I hereby resolve to soak in the beauty of nature, art, conversations, words, and music as soul-gifts from my Creator. 

I hereby resolve to bring the fruits of the Spirit into my home through the conduit of my regenerated human spirit.  I want my house to be a home of Shalom.

I hereby resolve to be ok with certain people not liking me for whatever reason.  I must not let the disappointing dislike of so few ruin the lavish love of so many.

I hereby resolve to read these resolutions at the beginning of each week as a reminder of what is real regardless of what I feel. 

In the strength of Jesus, I commit myself to these resolutions with my whole heart.