One criticism I received about my blog is that people expected me to explain the Bible more in my posts. They want me to turn what I write into a Bible lesson. While I am one hundred percent a student of the scriptures, I have noticed a massive deficiency in most teachers and preachers. They share the word of God with little to no practical application.

The internet has brought us thousands of people explaining the word of God. Although some are lousy, there are still numerous great places to go and find out exactly what a passage means. There are very few places you can go to and have someone help you apply it.

For example, a preacher might have a sermon on prayer, explain Matthew chapter 6, and then encourage everyone to pray, making you feel bad if you do not. It was a great Bible sermon, but the connection to daily life is missing. When should you pray? What if you can’t find the time? What if your mind keeps wandering? How should you feel if your prayers don’t come true? Is five minutes enough time to pray? What if you don’t have anything to say after two minutes?

One of my dreams in life is to help people in both areas of Biblical understanding. I want people to know what the word says, and you can come here on any Sunday to do just that. But I also want to be extremely practical. Application without the Bible can lead us to all kinds of wrong conclusions and actions. And the Bible, without application, can make us self-righteous and sinful.

For the scriptures to display their full power, you must both know and do what they say.

You are lying there in bed. It is warm and comfortable. Then, you begin to negotiate with yourself about whether you really want to get up and go for a run, make a healthy breakfast, or pray and read your Bible.

Researchers tell us that it takes 28 days of self-negotiation before we form a habit. A habit is when a practice becomes second nature, and you do it without having to talk yourself into it.

This is why it is easier to make changes in your life if you do it with other people. You not only have an internal argument, but you have to deal with another person or group of people and argue with them about why you didn’t follow through on your plans.

So, if you are struggling again this year to start those habits that will transform you for the better. Find someone else who is also struggling, and together, maybe you can finally defeat that warm, comfortable bed. Two are better than one because you can always talk yourself out of good ideas.

At the beginning of the year, your mind needs to go in two directions.

First, you need to look back and reflect on what happened over the past twelve months. How have you become more like Jesus? How did you grow spiritually?

Second, you need to look ahead. How will you become more like Jesus in the next twelve months? What will you do to grow spiritually?

The key to a productive life of faith is when both of those thoughts meet together TODAY. Plan your spiritual growth for the coming year. Set clear intentions to strengthen your relationship with Christ. Then, learn from past successes to create daily habits that will shape your future faith journey.

The lessons from yesterday should lead us to actions today that will produce a better tomorrow.

It is the time of year when many people are sharing the list of books they read in 2024. While I love to read and complete 10-12 every year, along with reading thousands of pages for my job, I am also a movie lover. One of my wife’s and my favorite activities is to settle in at night and watch a movie. Because I am obsessive about things, I track my watching habits, and last year, I completed 165 movies of all types except horror (Top that you book readers!!).

Some of the movies we watch are total garbage and serve as only humorous memories. Others touch my soul. I wanted to share a few of the good movies that you might want to check out on a snowy night when there is no football on TV.

1. The Forge. This is a Christian movie by the Kendrick Brothers and has some hokey spots; overall, the storyline is excellent. How I long to see men mentoring other men into the faith.

2. Inside Out 2. I also watched Inside Out 1. I love the idea of looking into someone’s brain and seeing what makes sense and what doesn’t. This does it humorously and touchingly, as only Pixar can do.

3. Boys in the Boat. It is a movie about a group of young men rowing crew during the Depression. It is a feel-good story based on actual events.

4. It Ends With Us. This is a slightly darker movie that asks some deep questions about relationships. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this one.

5. Greater. It is the story of a boy who wants to play football and honor God with his life. It is also based on a true story, and it evokes strong feelings that I hadn’t expected.

6. My All American. Another true story from the sports world. It is a little like a modern-day “Brian Song.”

*There are a few movies I repeatedly watch that are hard to recommend to everyone based on the content and presentation, but they touch something inside my soul: Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl is one of those movies. I also like Perks of Being a Wallflower, Almost Famous, Places in the Heart, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Maybe one of these will inspire or encourage you, but I am quirky, so maybe not.

The temptation with the new year is to make enormous shifts in the way we do things. Rarely do these last more than a month.

The best approach is to make small changes in our habits that move us in a better direction.

Pray for three minutes. Read a chapter of your Bible. Keep a thankful journal. Write an encouraging text to someone every single day.

These small incremental changes will add up faster than you realize, and they will be sustainable in the long run. We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short time and underestimate what we can do in five years. Doing one small thing every day this year is better than doing one big thing for a month.

Change your habits, and in the end, you change your life.

This week, my wife and I celebrated thirty years of marriage. One of the things that God has taught me through the past few years is the joy of spending a lifetime together. I am not saying that every year has been filled with joy, and we never had a struggle. I am saying that after all those years of struggle, the connection made at the other end is incredible.

I was always under the impression that the first few years of marriage were meant to be the best. Everything is new, and you learn about one another in every way. You have the strength and energy to enjoy every day to the fullest. The conclusion is that if the first few years are not “magical,” then you need to move on and find the person who can cause that.

The truth is that the longer you are together, the better and better a relationship will become. Obviously, I am coming at this as a committed Christian. I am trying to practice godly living in my home in every way, and so is my wife. And I am sure that makes a difference, too.

I firmly believe that if you stay with the spouse of your youth for a lifetime, the end is far better than the beginning. The past two years have been far more “magical” for our marriage than the first two years. We laugh together, love one another, share our joys, vent our frustrations to one another, and bond on a much deeper level than I ever imagined. We can now look across the room and almost instantly know what the other one is thinking. We know what brings each other joy and pain and strive to make life better for the other person.

The old saying is true, “Some things get better with age.”

Therefore, I am thankful this week for my wife and all the years we have spent together, while I look forward to many more experiences by her side.

Don’t wait another day.

Start today.

Start even though December is not entirely over.

Start even if you are 53 years old.

Start even if it is late in the day.

Just start.

Every year, as I approach the final day on the calendar, I like to take the time to plan and dream about the coming year. First, I will sit down and review the past twelve months. Did I complete the dreams I had over that time? Next, I come up with goals for the year ahead that are realistic and practical.

This coming year, I will …

1. Reread the entire Bible. This year, I am doing it with two groups in my Church. The first group consists of people who read it with me last year, and now they can ask any questions. The second is a bunch of newbies who will read and share their favorite verses. I am excited about another journey through the word of God.
2. Personally Disciple 3-4 people. Last year, I met with two individuals alone and then with a group of three other people together. We went through a book called “The Disciple’s Journey.” I hope to repeat that this year as I attempt to develop other people for Jesus.
3. More Outreach. I hope to connect with more people so that I can share Jesus’ message. I want to lead our Church to reach more new people than ever before.
4. Establish Better Boundaries. I am a workaholic. I need to take my vacation this year. I need to have more set times off. I need to not take my work home with me. I need to find separation in my life from being a pastor to being a husband and father.

These are a few of the things I would like to achieve this next year emotionally and spiritually. What goals do you have? What dreams might you be able to achieve? How is God leading you toward growth in the coming year?

Now is the time to make plans for next year.

Johnson Oatman Jr. was raised in a family where his father was a singer. He wanted to sing with him, but after trying, became convinced he had no talent. Johnson then set his sights on being a preacher. At the age of 36, he realized he could share the message of Jesus by writing hymns for people to enjoy and sing.

It is reported that over the rest of his life, he penned more than 5,000 songs. A few of them became popular, but none more than the song he wrote in 1897. It was an immediate success and drew attention to all his previous work.

In the Church I grew up in, the song was referred to as “When Upon Life’s Billows.” The name most people know it by is “Count Your Blessings.” It is an uplifting song about looking on the bright side of life.

The day after Christmas is undoubtedly the appropriate time to count your blessings. Many of us have spent time with family and friends, we have received and given gifts, and we have eaten some of the best-tasting food of the year. Today is a good day to sit down and thank God for all the blessings in your life. I think if you do that, you will rediscover that no matter what the rest of this year looks like, you are truly blessed beyond measure.

My social media feed this year is full of people debating back and forth about whether Christians should celebrate Christmas. The arguments run along a couple of tracks. First, the Bible never instructs us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Two, the day we chose to celebrate it appears to have pagan origins. Thus, if you were a true believer, then you would reject this pagan holiday and act like nothing is happening this time of year.

My response to this comes from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in the city of Rome. After all the theological teachings in the first eleven chapters, he gives very practical information about life for believers. Part of his instruction focuses on special days and food sacrificed to idols. There, he writes, “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. (6) Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. (Romans 14:5-6)”

Paul gives Christians a simple rule to live by, “Do everything for the Lord.” This will be spelled out in several ways in the verses that follow, but for this post, I want to focus on these words alone. If you set aside a day as special, do it for the glory of God. If you don’t celebrate a day as special, do it for the glory of God. Neither position is more spiritual nor defines a true believer.

This week is Christmas, and I will be celebrating the arrival of Jesus and the work he came to do. I don’t care about pagan backgrounds or traditions. I care solely about Jesus as Immanuel. I am convinced in my own mind that this day is special for the Lord. And as long as he gets the glory, that is a victory for all believers.

Merry Christmas to you.