by Dave Gunderson, Pastor

New Year,  New Ideas,  New You

I was inspired for this article by something that was shared at a ministerial meeting:  “Encourage your people to pray for their ministers and their church every time they sit down and say grace at meals.”  That’s somewhat of a novel idea.  So I thought, what other novel ideas might make a spiritual difference in our lives for 2K10?  Here’s a few I thought of …

· Get some exercise—take a walk around your neighborhood and when you do, pray for your neighbors.

· Read either the New Testament, Old Testament, or both this year.  Perhaps get a new Bible and start underlining.  Or you can look for a special promise each week and memorize it.

· Be a joiner.  Join a Bible Study or Sunday School class if you haven’t already.  Join the church.  Be baptized if you’ve put it off.

· Become a prayer partner with someone in our fellowship.

· Each week express appreciation to someone who isn’t expecting it.

· Come up with a Christian “bucket list” - things you want to do for Christ before you die.

· Before you go to sleep at night, think about and write down 3 blessings you experienced that day and praise God for each one.

· Make a new friend and let them see Christ at work in your life.

· Make a goal of how many “acts of random kindness” you want to practice this year.

· Concentrate on overcoming a bad habit in your life this year.  Repeat next year with another one?  Repeat until you meet the Lord.

· Pick a person or two that will be your targets of encouragement.  Encourage them when you sense they need it.

· Give an anonymous gift to someone who will be surprised by it.

I realize these ideas aren’t entirely new—Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  It’s like losing weight—it’s not a new idea at all.  But when we experience it, it becomes new to us...and, we feel like a whole new person.