‘From the Beginning of the Year’

The holidays are over once again. And, for all that I did to try to hold on to it, the last week of the year has escaped me, as well.

I love the holidays, and I’ve written much about them in the past. I’ve especially shared my thoughts in previous columns about the importance of using the closing days of the year to plan for the months ahead. I have also described my intention to spend the first eight months of the year, in essence, preparing for the last four.

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Year’s top findings from State of the Bible 2023

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“Online church attendees read the Bible more than onsite worshipers. Nonbelievers outpace Christians in valuing several pro-social Bible-based behaviors. And Black Americans are more spiritually vibrant than whites and Hispanics.” - BPNews

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Thoughts on Books I Read in 2022

These are a few thoughts on the books I read last year. I may have missed one or two but this list is pretty complete. Many of the works were read as I researched Volume Two of The Words of the Covenant. Not to knock them but rarely now am I helped by books that I already agree with. I did not include two books that I am more than halfway through: Paul: A New Covenant Jew by Pitre, Barber & Kincaid, and Peter Stuhlmacher’s Biblical Theology of the New Testament.

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An Honest Evaluation of a Year

If I had it to do over again….

How many times have we thought that way? If you’re like me, probably more than you would like to count.

If we had it to do over again—with an assurance that we’d do at least as well as we did—what efficient and artful users of time we could become!

Unfortunately, we all know it doesn’t work that way. We are forced to use time … in real time. Moses’ prayer, therefore, carries for us the utmost urgency:

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