2011: A Year to Live on Purpose

"A long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last..."
                              

     Near the end of middle school a friend warned me that once I hit senior high, each year would fly by progressively faster than the last, and that this pattern would continue beyond that through most of the rest of life. She was right.
     I think it is both the grace of God and the comfort of man to have time cultivated and divided up and organized the way it is. And where we often neglect to reflect as deeply and frequently as we should, markers of time like a "new year" serve to help remind us. About life. Priorities. The winds of change.
     Milton once remarked that God has given us the alternating of day and night for the reason of providing us with a "grateful vicissitude." This sometimes painful, but refreshing change - this inevitability of transitioning seasons - seems to be one of life's only constants.
     In my brief time so far on earth, I already feel as though I have brushed against a full gamut of human experience. I have laughed until I couldn't breathe and cried until I couldn't sleep. I have loved so deeply at the altar of romance I thought I might die at its steps. I have also in the same breath had my heart  succinctly and definitively broken, as crisp and thorough as a bone cracked against stone. I have been in despair with doubt, and in near ecstasy in conscious spiritual experience with God. There is the sense of which I have a great Odyssey-like world yet to explore on earth, and yet know that I long for my eternal home. There is much yet to learn and yet nothing new under the sun. Life is an odd, broken, and beautiful ride. And one that is passing by fast. Too fast.


"I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass..."


     I am a sucker for sentiment, to be sure, and on this eve of new year's eve, it is my tradition to yield to nostalgia utterly and completely. And so this afternoon I grabbed a scarf and a salted caramel hot chocolate espresso and sat outside of Starbucks with a dear friend to reminisce on the year and hammer down some new year's resolutions. First, the year...
     Without a doubt, the fastest year of my life to ever fly by. I don't even really know what to think of it. I remained for the fourth year at the same job, which though I enjoy, has its ups and downs just like any other. It was also a transitional year in the job, in which I have had three different managers in the course of this one year. Overall, a cup-slightly-full year at work.
     Romantically... well, this will be a brief paragraph. I am still single, which I think ironically my friends probably think about more than I do. Singleness and marriage both have their pros and cons - or so I am told - and to be honest, I am not itchy to leave the land in which I now dwell. I am still a hopeless romantic to be sure and would love to marry sometime in the next few years, but I am in no rush. Nor would it help things out if I were.
     Things at the Bridge have been amazing. In February we purchased, renovated, and moved into our first permanent location which was amazing for many obvious reasons. We celebrated our one-year anniversary in March. Many pages could be devoted to what God has done at the church - from the beginnings and growths of the African refugee ministry to many great sermon series and baptismal services. Ministries have been birthed and lives changed forever. For me personally at the Bridge, though I have many things to work on and grow in, I finally over the course of this year have begun to feel comfortable in my own skin, so to speak, as far as my department at the church goes. I've been able to work a little smoother in some places, small groups have grown in width as well as depth, I have felt more direction in leadership, have been humbled to be able to preach on many occasions, dream big on some "Converge" events, and many other blessings that have made ministry this time around seem much more fruitful. More than any of that, though, has been the blessing of growing spiritually. During the course of this year, I have for the first time since I have been up here, begun to wholeheartedly and proactively chase after the heart of God again in a real way. That is exciting to finally be able to profess, while at the same time somewhat shameful, since I have been in ministry for a while now.
     Some other miscellaneous accomplishments have colored the year. Though not consistently like I want to, I had certain seasons in which I made progress in the gym. I made a long-overdue call of apology. I read some Dave Ramsey and got my financial house in order, with emergency funds, envelope systems, and destroying credit cards and paying off all debt  (minus a couple furniture payments). I started another book project - which I need to finish. I have become much more consistent in my devotional life. I moved into a much more appreciated apartment.
     Certain highlight moments stand out vividly against the backdrop of 2010. Being in South Carolina for a week to help Colt out as best man in one of the greatest weddings I've ever been to. Hanging out in Charleston as groomsmen in Cody and Amber's extremely special wedding. Certain sacred moments of fun and serenity with friends throughout the year. Irreplaceable moments with God. Spending time at Disney World in October with my sister, niece, and parents. Finding some new favorite authors and rediscovering some old ones. Kentucky road trip with Pastor. New AVA album. Dan came home. Ray's wedding. Friend Day at the Bridge. Weekend visits from all the out-of-towners. Two Angels & Airwaves concerts. Avatar in 3D. Meeting Donald Miller. LOST nights at the Casey's. The thought that on last year's new year's resolutions list, I wrote down that I wanted to find a way to go to California by year's end - and then my dad calls in early spring and asks if I want to take a family trip to San Francisco in June. Yosemite, Alcatraz, Big Sur, Golden Gate Bridge, Ocean Beach, etc... what a time it was. God, thank You for this year You have given me. It is much too easy to forget that every breath and every moment has been given by You and is a non-reproducable gift. Thank You for 2010.

     And so... my new year's resolutions. I realize many people don't like new year's resolutions. They say if there's something important to get to work on, don't wait until the new year - start now. And that's true. And they say most people hardly ever follow through on their resolutions. And that's probably also true. And yet I love them. On a light-hearted level, I think they're fun to make. Plus I love the feel of new beginnings. I love mondays and a new start and a new to-do list. And the thought of a clean-slate year in which I have a God-given free will to truly give everything I have to dream big, become a better person, follow after Him with all of my heart, impact this world for Christ... why not dream big? Why not plan? Why not get a caffeine buzz and get a little ambitious? And why not take it a step farther and even FOLLOW THROUGH...? Get someone to keep you accountable... why not? I stopped on the way home tonight at Bed, Bath, & Beyond because I had a Christmas gift card there. I will confess I bought too much, but among the unnecessary luxuries I bought a picture frame in which I now have my Resolutions List. I am going to hang it on my wall right next to this computer and do something crazy - I am going to go after them! Here is some that made the list:

1) Gym - at least 3 times a week, except for vacation/missions/fast weeks
2) Go sky-diving
3) Remain debt-free and financially organized while increasing focused investing and giving
4) Read systematically through the Bible twice
5) Better sleep patterns - more sleep and the discipline of rising early again
6) Finish 2 of my books
7) Learn how to cook better
8) Become car-efficient
9) Keep room and car clean on weekly basis
10) Stay organized and on-top with less procrastination
11) Be proactively more joyful and relaxed
12) Consistently eat well - no more than 2 cheat meals a week
13) Read every Tozer book there is and more Christian classics
14) Blog or journal at least once a week
15) Participate in something outdoors - event, recreation, sporting - at least once a month
16) To have grown and deepened the Discipleship department
17) To run a marathon
18) To obey God no matter what and have a consistent, thriving, powerful prayer life

    All in all, I wrote 30 resolutions for the year and on the back wrote down 7 specific prayers for the year. These I will keep to the privacy of paper. Let's remember and give thanks for 2010. And with the grace of God let's live life on purpose in 2011.

Here's to the new year,
Russ

They said You would come

Merry Late Christmas! If you are reading this, I hope you had an amazing time this holiday with friends and family. It's crazy to think that all of the madness of the season - the good and the bad - flow out of a story a couple thousand years ago found in the precious gospels. At our Bridge Christmas production last week I performed a spoken-word monologue I wrote about the coming of Christ. It is very incomplete and still in need of some editing, but here it is:

They Said You Would Come

They said You would come. Yes, they said you would come.

Shortly after the Spirit hovered over the waters and stars emerged from divine breath

Shortly after paradise was shattered; and the first Adam tasted of death

Intimacy with our Maker was a torturous memory

And sin, death, and disease had plunged man into misery

Some fled to their sin and idols and others to burning bushes and temples

To hear hope of a Deliverer that would one day loose all our shackles

Oh yes they said You would come. They said You would come.

Moses and David  

Isaiah and Zecharaiah

With great detail foretold the coming of the Messiah

The meticulous lineage of Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

A descendant of Judah, from the family of Jesse, in the house of King David

To be born of a virgin in a town called Bethlehem

To be led to the slaughter out like a lamb

That You would be numbered with transgressors and cursedly hanged on a tree

And sure enough to be crucified and and killed between two thieves 

It was told that You would speak many parables and perform many miracles

That You would be God in the flesh, causing mourning hearts to be cheerful

Oh yes they said You would come. They said you would come. And then one night You came.

Finally, at the right time, You came. They said You would come and You came.

You were born of a virgin in the town that was chosen

In a dirty little barn you were cared for by Mary and Joseph

You were conceived by the Holy Ghost in a specifically foretold season

And so the gently baby cries of the Balm of Gilead now echo in eternity

They said You would come and You came.

You confounded the wise and forgave the sinners

You caused revivals and riots yet paid taxes to Caesar

They said you would come and You came. 

You are the Holy and Anointed One

The Risen and Exalted, The Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon

The Abundant Life and Living Water in a world that is barren

You are Life, You are Bread, 

You are Joy, You are Rest

You are Teacher, You are Prophet

Priest after Melchizedek

The Man of Sorrows and the Rock of Offense

You were no great man, nor simply a prince

You are the Lord of lords and the King of kings; there is no other

You were fully man and fully God;  the first-born of many brothers

 The One who destroyed Pharisaical pride; the One who raised Lazarus after He’d died

The One who now understands what it’s like in this flesh, who now speaks hope into withering chests

They said You would come and You came and are now coming again

You are the only hope for mankind; the cure for our disease

You are more than gifts and Santa and man’s soulful reprise

And so I will offer more than holiday sentimentality

I will lay my life down in abandoned totality

For one day You will come in a different way

Not laid in a manger with straw, wood, and hay

But the eastern sky will split at the sound of the trump

And the greatest of kings will bow low to the earth, no longer to strut

Where You once came as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world

You will now reign as the Great Lion of the tribe of Judah with a victorious roar

So every breath that I breathe and every beat of my heart

My very translation to the light from the dark

All demons and devils

Angels and heaven

Hell and forever

Men and their treasures

All hinges and hangs 

On the fact that You came

 They said You would come

And You came.

_ _ _ _ _

“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

• Revelations 22:20