Jumping into 2012

Well, it is the eve of a new year. Tomorrow will be the first day of 2012. 2011 was a good year, a blessed year. God showed his kindness to my wife and I to give us another baby that will be born in June of 2012. I was privileged to attend the Ambassadors' Academy and begin open air preaching. This year we saw our churches evangelism ministry become more emboldened and it looks like God has raised up up more co-laborers. I was incredibly blessed to preach a Sunday evening series of four sermons through Colossians 1.15-20 and learned and grew much out of it myself. There has been the sorrow of saying good-bye to Christian brothers and sisters as they move away and the joy of new ones joining our church and getting to know and serve with them. Deeper friendship was carved with men I respect. God amazed me with his grace and kindness with what he has done in the lives of my sons with autism. And I could go on for pages. I could also talk about the hardships, struggles, failures of the year, but they are noting in the light of His glorious grace and they are not the point of this rambling.
What I do want to do here is mention a few things about this year that I want to take fro 2011 into 2012.

1. Bible Reading Plan. I have tried a lot of Bible reading plans in my Christian life of 36 years. Some took your through the Bible in a year, reading various portions, reading straight through, or chronologically, while others were a mad dash to read the New Testament (NT) several times a year and the Old Testament (OT) once or more. This year I discovered a plan that has been the best plan I have ever used. I have o give credit to John MacArthur for this one (who gives credit to another saint from his younger days for it). While teaching the Fundamentals of the Faith class this year at church I ran across this plan. You read the same 5-7 chapters every day for a month. I started with John 1-5 and then the next month hit the next 5 chapters. Thus far I have made it through the Gospel of John, Romans, 1, 2, 3 John, 1 & 2 Peter. At this rate I hope to have the NT finished in a little under 2 more years. Why have I enjoyed this method so much? Because it is a fundamental truth that we learn more with repetition. Some methods claim repetition but they cover a section and then return to it weeks or months later. That is too much of a time laps for my goal. I want to drink deep of these 5 chapters; get into the marrow of this meal. I have found that these chapters have an incredible way of working themselves into my life that month. I go around referencing them all of the time and thinking about them. I don't have to struggle to try to remember what I have read that morning because likely I have been reading it over and over for some days now. Also, you get to see how things fit together in that particular book better and remember where particular passages are located. THis method is something I am using just for the NT while daily supplementing it with a good dose of OT reading. I will be taking this reading plan with me into 2012, and 2013 for that matter.

2. Open Air Preaching. This is something I have always dreamed about doing and this year the Lord gave me the courage to do it. Open air preaching (OA) has been such a blessing and opportunity to get the Gospel out to masses in San Diego. I will be doing more, much more open air preaching next year, Lord willing.
3. Re-reading Favorite Books of the Past. In the past 6 months I have been reading through some old "friends," books that have at some point been instrumental in my growth as a Christian and/or shaped my theology. I want to read through a few more this year, particulary ones on family and sanctification.


OK, so what are things I need to crank up in 2012?

1. I really, really want to re-master my Greek (and in time, my Hebrew). I know this will take time and work. I need to make a plan to succeed here. I might look into getting into a class or finding some sort of accountability partner to keep me paced.

2. One of my favorite books of all time is Pilgrim's Progress. It is not only entertaining but filled with so much Scripture, theology, and practical guidance. Tonight I have downloaded an audio unabridged copy of it read by Max Mclean. I plan on listening to it at least once a month this year, if not more.

3. The Sermon on the Mount. Years ago I memorized half of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). This year I want to memorize the whole thing and then move on to memorizing to other large portions of Scripture.

4. Biblical Counseling. I have been listening to many of the introduction lessons for the Biblical Counseling course for over a year with the plan to make 2012 the year I listen and study all the lessons and gear up to attempt the other requirements towards certification. I would love to do Biblical counseling in general but specifically I think I might be of some use in counseling those who are parenting special needs children.

Numerically all of these things may seem insignificant, but when I see what is behind all of them I just think to myself, "Whew, 2012 is going to be a busy year." Not to mention, I have family, work, and running goals for the year as well. But a busy year is a good thing and if I get a fractions of these things accomplished I will be grateful. And I keep in mind, not my will, but His!

Happy New Year!