New Year is Here

I am trying to keep to my resolutions this year. The most important is to lose 25 pounds. I started exercising again on Monday, and today I feel it and gained two pounds.

I challenged my Sunday school class to read through the Bible in one year (are you doing it?). I am behind.

I am going to concentrate more on ministry this year than in the previous. So far so good.

I am looking to spend more time with my family, and yes, that's going great.

I am trying to read through a James Michener book (Mexico). He is a great writer but 625 pages are going slow. Maybe I should stop reading the Ted Dekker book I just borrowed?

I could go on about my new year desires but I would rather share something from Stan Toler:

Resolutions or Revolution?

Wikipedia calls New Year's resolutions part of a "rolling forecast, short or medium term plans when only a rough long-term plan exists." I call them random acts of mindedness. On the other hand, "revolution," from the Latin word for "turn around," is more permanent, resulting in a way of thinking that brings change.

These roller-coaster times call for a leadership revolution--not just social and political, but spiritual and personal. And you can be a revolutionary. How?

1. Change your mind. Change the way you think. This is more than seeing a cup half full; it is developing a new attitude toward time and eternity. Paul calls it taking "captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). Revolutionary leaders force their minds to abandon fear and focus on faith--to think holy and high quality thoughts.

2. Change your heart. For revolutionary leaders, a change of heart isn't just a change of direction; it is a change of affection. Their deepest loyalties are rooted in the eternal laws of God. Their personal and leadership decisions are Spirit-inspired and Christ-honoring.

3. Change your loyalties. Revolutionary leaders are not subject to the whims of the world. They are not prisoners of earthly margins. They determine personal worth and earthly wealth based on a heavenly scale.

4. Change your climate. Revolutionary leaders live life on a higher plain. They love what the world around them hates, and they hate what the world around them usually loves. They refuse to live in the smog of the earthly, choosing rather to breathe the heavenly.

Hold on to your baseball caps! Here comes the New Year! Personally, I think it will be just as exciting as it will be challenging. Factor in your faith and your resolutions will give way to revolution.

- Stan Toler

Have a great New Year!