2018: The Year's Travels and Reading

This will not be a unique end-of-year post, except for possibly because I am combining two lists posts into one. Here I will recap the books I read and places I visited in 2018. I set a new post-college record for number of books read in the year at 14 (with two others started but never finished and two more in progress but will not be finished by year's end), and my traveling this year took the number two spot in my personal annual record number of miles traveled.

Books I read in 2018, in order of completion

Jeremy Treat: Crucified King: Atonement and Kingdom in Biblical and Systematic Theology

John M Gottman and Nan Silver: The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

Neil Gaiman: American Gods

Tish Harrison Warren: Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Mark Vanhoenacker: Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot

Joe Biden: Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose

Elaine Tyler Mary: Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy

Robert Kurson: Rocket Men

Daniel Hill: White Awake: An Honest Look at What it Means to Be White

Christopher Potter: The Earth Gazers: On Seeing Ourselves

Daniel Coyle: The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

Mark Dillon: Giving and Getting in the Kingdom: A Field Guide

Kevin Kwan: Crazy Rich Asians

Jimmy Carter: Faith: A Journey for All

Juan Francisco Martinez: The Story of Latino Protestants in the United States

Places I visited in 2018, in order of visit

January: My fifth visit to Florida. Florida is Naomi's home state, and she and I went to visit her parents in Orlando for a late Christmas. We took a day to go to Disney World, enjoying both Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

April: I generally take the weekend after Easter Sunday off, and this year Naomi and I decided to visit Austin, first time for both of us. It was unfortunately unseasonably cold there most of our four-day visit but even so we saw and did a lot of Austin's highlights and also visited an old friend.

In Austin in April

August: For our second wedding anniversary, we spent six days in Vancouver, first time for both of us. We again saw and did a lot of Vancouver's highlights and had a great time exploring the city and surrounding area. Read my full travelogue in two parts.

Also in August was a quick weekend trip to Baltimore for a college friend's wedding. My first time to Baltimore, and we squeezed in a few of the local sights.

November: Back to Florida again for Thanksgiving with Naomi's family.

All told, it involved over 11,400 miles of air travel across eleven flight segments, the longest being the return flight from Vancouver.

Looking forward to more reading and traveling in 2019! What did you read or what places did you visit in 2018? Comment below.

2017: A Hobby-Based Look Back

My biography indicates that in my spare time I enjoy attending concerts, cooking, reading, and traveling, so to recap 2017, I will summarize my accomplishments in those areas.

Concerts

The irony is that managing concerts, as I do, sometimes makes it difficult to attend them. Nonetheless, I was in the audience for several concerts in the last year and a few in particular I really enjoyed.

In April I heard Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 Reformation, appropriate given this Reformation 500 anniversary year, as well as Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Yafim Bronfman.

In December I heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Nikolaj Znaider, perform Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. On both occasions I was hearing these symphonies performed live by a professional orchestra for the first time, and on neither occasion did they disappoint!

Over the summer I attended a couple performances at the Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park, including, in August, one featuring the Mariachi Cobre, which may have been only the second time in my life I had heard live mariachi music, at least in concert.

Cooking

Naomi and I are regular Purple Carrot users, and a few of the recipes we have gone on to reuse, particularly the delicious (and simple) red bean burger. We have been introduced to new ingredients and new twists on familiar meals. One of my long time favorite recipes, which I first learned when Naomi and I were dating in college, is a zucchini and kidney bean chili. I am also now very partial to the use of dates as a sweetener, though that is more for baking than cooking; my skills are very much still in the cooking realm.

Reading

I read eleven books from start to finish this year and read bits of some others, but I really do want to increase that total in future years. Three in particular are:

• John Bateson's Building Hope: Leadership in the Non-Profit World, anecdotes and experience-based advice on many facets of the non-profit institution
• Andy Crouch's Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, a compelling analysis of the ways power is often abused and how it could and can be used for so much good instead
• Christopher Gehrz and Mark Pattie's The Piestist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity, an encouraging look at the principles of pietism and how they can inform most other traditions

Traveling

In addition to my home state of Illinois, I found myself spending time in Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina, and Vermont this year. (I also changed planes in California but I am of the school of thought that that does not count.)

My visits to Hawaii, Oregon, South Carolina, and Vermont were my first times in each of those states. The Hawaii trip was Naomi's and my honeymoon in January to the island of Kauai, and it was very much the perfect time of year to go and an all-around enjoyable trip. I chronicled the Vermont trip in detail previously on this blog.

What's Next?

I already have tickets for two CSO concerts in 2018, we are due for our next Purple Carrot later in January, I have two books waiting for me on my desk to read, one of which I am sure I will take on our January trip to Florida, and after that who knows to where else I will take books for the plane ride - New Orleans and Canada are on our list!

I hope 2017 had many satisfying moments of those things you enjoy doing in your spare time, and that 2018 will have no less!

A Post for MLK Day, Intentionally Late

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the third Monday of January. Last week, on the third Monday of January, I took time throughout the day to read the latest articles and blog posts and essays coming through my feed about the life, legacy, and message of Martin Luther King Jr. and many related themes.

Those themes will never translate into actions and change unless we remember them on all the days other than the third Monday in January. And so today, on this fourth Monday of January, I share just two brief selections from my reading last week, for your reflection. Neither will take long to read -- unless of course you stop to think about what the words mean.

First, Joel J. Miller writes at Theology That Sticks of "Martin Luther King Jr.'s unfinished task." He reflects on a sermon King gave in Montgomery in 1956, and explores the contrast between racism and the Christian doctrine of the Imago Dei.

Second, I found a collection of "15 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes That Will Challenge You to Take Action." Obviously, context is key and thus the next step after reviewing the list is to pursue the original sermon or speech or letter to better understand King's thinking, but the one liners in themselves can certainly provoke thought or conversation.

Was there anything you read last Monday that made you stop and think? Share a link in the comments section below.

Reading in 2015, Year-End Report

Being a graduate of a liberal arts college, I obviously enjoy reading books (pardon the stereotype...but it my case it is true!). One of my "soft" resolutions at the beginning of the year was to read at least one book per month. I managed eleven; I blame the slackening over the summer on the Chicago Cubs' thrilling season being so distracting.

In any case, here are the books I read this year, in alphabetical order by the author's last name:

• J. Mark Bertrand, Rethinking Worldview
• Dale Brown, Starfire
• Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday
• Greg Forester, Joy for the World
• Michael Lewis, Moneyball
• Russell Moore, Onward
• Paul Nyquist and Carson Nyquist, The Post-Church Christian
• Philip Graham Ryken, Loving the Way Jesus Loves
• Patrick Smith, Cockpit Confidential
• R. C. Sproul, The Consequences of Ideas
• Paul Taylor, The Next America

And I still have the unread part of an ever-growing list of titles accumulated from my daily blog and news reading, so I am already well on my way to lots of reading in 2016. At least in theory...

Articles of the Week: Pentecost

Tomorrow, May 24, is Pentecost Sunday, the fiftieth day since Easter Sunday, and the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. Here are a few articles on that topic from my reading this week...

Tish Harrison Warren, writing for Christianity Today, draws on insights from both ancient and modern theologians as well as her own experiences to explore maternal symbolism as it relates to the Church. "This Pentecost," she writes, "we celebrate the beginning of that great work of sanctification, the birth of our mother, Christ's bride."

Over at the The Economist's Prospero blog, Johnson writes about the significance of translation to the advance of Christianity. On the first Pentecost, as chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles tells us, a large crowd each heard the apostles speaking in his (or her) own language. It was a miracle that day, and the miracle continues, a bit less dramatically but no more importantly, through ongoing missions work in Bible translation.

And finally (though this piece was actually from last week), Russell Moore writes at his blog in response to the recent Pew Center study on the record-low number of self-identifying Christians in America. Moore writes, "The future of Christianity is bright. I don't know that from surveys and polls, but from a word Someone spoke one day back at Caesarea Philippi."

And here are Keith and Kristyn Getty and company singing "O Church Arise."

Millennials, Technology, and Compassion

I recently wrote a piece exploring technology, compassion, and the role each -- and could -- play in my generation, the Millennial generation. It was published this morning at Thin Difference, a leadership blog/website I follow. My article is a call to action to my generation, to use the technology we have to be compassionate. Please read!

My full, updated bibliography is here, or via the link at the top of every page on this blog (mobile users, please find it in the drop-down menu). Thanks for reading!

On Arts Entrepreneurship

"Arts entrepreneurship" is a term that, besides being a mouthful, is probably unfamiliar to most. It is a newer concept and a newer discipline. So new, in fact, that it was not part of my liberal arts-influenced Conservatory undergraduate education, which I finished not quite four years ago. Essentially, it concerns the contemporary dynamic of being and working as a professional artist of any trade.

I do not consider myself a "practicing" artist, I consider myself anchored much more on the managerial/administrative side of things, but I certainly have more than a few friends who are "practicing" artists, and some of the concepts within arts entrepreneurship apply to me anyway given the day and age and society in which I live.

But enough from me. The reason I bring it up at all here is because I came across two pieces on the subject in my reading, and thought it was time I prove that this young professional is paying attention!

The first piece is from the current issue of The Atlantic, and traces the history of the professional artist's relationship to society at large and then analyzes the current relationship. It is a lengthy piece with quite a bit of substance on some major themes.

And the second is from the blog of the director of the arts entrepreneurship program at Arizona State University, Linda Essig. She offers a summary of the responses of her students to the prompt: "What does it mean to you to be an arts entrepreneur?" These students are just a few years younger than I, yet their thinking is different from the conversations on "life as an artist" I remember having in my undergraduate senior seminar. The field is continually changing, as I am able to see in my work for the Wheaton College Artist Series, in which I interact with a lot of younger, emerging artists, and also my conversations with current students at Wheaton College.

In any case, it is a topic I think I may need to start reading more about, as it will become continually more and more relevant to me personally and professionally.

Update January 31:
I found out that Linda Essig wrote a brief response to the essay in The Atlantic. She highlights the importance of the audience in the arts world. She writes: Artists "need to think of the audience for the arts as partners in an ongoing two-way relationship in which art is not consumed, but appreciated."

Reading List 2014: Year-End Report

In July, I reported on the books I had read in the first half of 2014. Here is the promised companion post, with the books I read in the second half, again in order of completion:

Joseph A. Michelli, Leading the Starbucks Way
Jeremy Begbie, Resounding Truth
Todd Wilson, Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith
John Mark Reynolds, When Athens Met Jerusalem: An Introduction to Classical and Christian Thought
Ken Follett, Edge of Eternity

Not as many as I had hoped I would finish in 2014, but still an average of one per month. And I still have the unread part of that list I made a year ago, so I am already well on my way to lots of reading in 2015. At least in theory...

Resources for Advent

Today, Sunday, is the First Sunday of Advent. It is the beginning of the liturgical year and the beginning of the season of preparing for Christmas, the celebration of the Incarnation. It is and always has been my favorite time of year, originally, when I was a small child, because of the fun and presents, and still now that I have the (if I may be so bold) intellectual and spiritual maturity to appreciate the significance of the season to redemptive history. But enough about me, and more about Jesus!

I would like to highlight two devotional resources for this Advent season.

The first is a new devotional by Ray Pritchard (my former senior pastor), Why He Came. You can get the ebook for FREE on Amazon today through Thursday (after that it will cost $2.99). Ray's seasonal devotionals (he usually writes one for both Advent and Lent each year) are always good; I highly recommend you download a copy for yourself!

The second is the fourth edition of my Musical Advent Calendar. I started this in 2011, my first year out of college, and have been blessed with positive responses from family, friends, and colleagues over the years. A bit about it for those of you unfamiliar: 

Each day from December 1 through December 25, I will have a different Advent- or Christmas-themed song featured here on my blog. The twenty-five selections are a mix of songs from across the centuries and styles, and are performed by an equally wide variety of artists. Each day’s post will be live at 5 AM Central Time. You may visit the blog each day or, to have the posts delivered directly to your email, please subscribe to my blog if you have not already (see the "Follow by Email" feature directly below my picture in the right-hand column). Please feel free to share my calendar with the people you know!

And those are just two of what I am sure are many, many other resources that focus on Christ, the Word become Flesh, in the context of this Advent season. Are there any others you would recommend? Please share in the comments below.

Reading List 2014: Status to Date

On New Year's Day, I made a list of a dozen or so books I wanted to read during 2014. I added a few titles to the list over the last few months as well. With 2014 now half over, I would like to share the completed titles from my list, in order of completion:

J. I. Packer, Knowing God
Mike Cosper, Rhythms of Grace
James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom
Bruce Ellis Benson, Liturgy as a Way of Life
Harold Best, Music Through the Eyes of Faith
Jimmy Greenfield, 100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die
Jeffrey C. Davis and Philip G. Ryken, editors, Liberal Arts for the Christian Life

I am a little behind where I would like to be at the halfway point of the year, but at least I average more than one book per month! I will report back after Christmas with my second-half reading.

God at Work

I came across two interesting interviews in my blog reading this morning on the topic of how God relates to one's work.

On his blog, The Exchange, at Christianity Today, Ed Stetzer interviewed Matt Perman about his new book What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done (Zondervan, 2014). Some very good points about managing workflow, customer service, and goals - all of which Perman ties to the gospel.

As part of the TGCvocations series, The Gospel Coalition's Bethany Jenkins interviewed Katherine Leary Alsdorf, senior fellow at Redeemer City to City, about her work, which focuses on, as the title of the interview states, "Equipping Churches for Cultural Leadership." Alsdorf speaks about the potential when Christians embrace leadership in their spheres of influence, "bringing hope, truth, and love into those parts of our culture."

I have also been personally reflecting a bit lately on the nature of Jesus' leadership during his earthly ministry. I may write about that soon!

Lenten Resources

Lent, the period of forty days (not counting Sundays) preceding Easter, begins tomorrow. As I did last year, I would like to share a few resources.

First, an essay from The Gospel Coalition on five benefits of observing Lent. The one the particularly resonates with me is the fifth, "Lent prepares us to celebrate the wonder and promise of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday."

Also, two devotional resources:

The worship staff at Calvary Memorial Church (myself included) will spend Lent reading through "God Is on the Cross," a collection of forty daily readings curated from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The first two daily readings are viewable with Amazon's "Look Inside" feature (follow the link in the last sentence).

Also, Ray Pritchard has written a Lenten devotional, "Lord of Glory," with forty daily readings focusing on forty different names of Christ. The link in the last sentence will take you to a PDF of the devotional that you can download.

Have you come across any essays/articles/blog pieces on Lent, or have devotionals you will use this year? Please share in the comments section below!

Articles of the Week - Gettysburg Address

Yesterday, November 19, marked one hundred and fifty years since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. In less time than it takes to boil water, Lincoln delivered remarks that are almost universally considered one of the greatest pieces of oratory.

Here are just a few of the reflections on the Gettysburg Address I came across in my online reading yesterday:

• John Steele Gordon at the American Enterprise Institute reflected on why Lincoln's assumption people would forget his remarks was so wrong.
• The Chicago Tribune editorial board contrasted the mixed reactions at the time with the later historical perspective (and also provided the complete text).
• The editorial board of The New York Times considered the timelessness of the speech.

Did you come across any good reflections, essays, editorial pieces, and the like on the Gettysburg Address? Please share a link in the comments section below.

More Bloggers in My Family

As it happens, I am not the only blogger in my family! This summer, my brother and my cousin have both started blogs.

My brother, Paul, just graduated from Valparaiso University in May. His blog, The Post-College Paul Rubio, details some of his pursuits in this stage of his life.

My cousin, Megan, is moving to San Diego in a week to begin graduate school. Her blog, My Journey In Becoming a Therapist, details the transition (I made an appearance!) and I assume will detail her studies as well.

Articles of the Week - Marriage in America

The Supreme Court of the United States released its decisions on two significant cases related to marriage law this past week. The general sentiment from all the responses and commentary I read over the last few days is that "the debate is nowhere near over." A few highlights from my reading:

First, as to summarizing the context and the decisions themselves:

Though I disagree with its sentiments, the Chicago Tribune editorial board had a more or less balanced, fact-based assessment of the decisions. The Economist similarly had a brief, fact-based summary of the same, and The Gospel Coalition had a helpful list of "9 Things You Should Know" about the cases.

Second, to responses and commentary:

On Thursday morning, The Heritage Foundations's "Morning Bell" was part summary, part recap of the more extended immediate commentary from late Wednesday morning. Also on Wednesday, Heritage President Jim DeMint offered his perspective on the active future of the marriage debate.

And from Christianity Today:

• From Gleanings, the news blog, reactions from legal experts
• A summary of the news and responses from ministry leaders
• CT's editorial (written by Ted Olsen), addressing the concept of the "right side of history"
• Ed Stetzer's response and thoughts on what followers of Jesus should do
• Russell Moore's perspective on what really changed with the decisions

I especially commend to you those last three pieces from Christianity Today. All are written thoughtfully and biblically, and I hope they will be helpful to people like me who are committed to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in this day.

Have you read any good responses to the Supreme Court's decisions? Please post links to articles, blogs, commentary pieces, and editorials in the comments section below!

Articles of the Week - Worship Arts

This has been a very, very good week to be a worship arts professional with access to the Internet. In my online reading these last few days, I have come across so many insightful articles that have given me much food for thought on the discipline that is near and dear to me personally and professionally. A few highlights:

First, from Christianity Today:

Ed Stetzer, a professor, writer, pastor, church planter (etc., etc., etc.), who has a new blog hosted by CT's website, wrote a seven-step, Bible-based test to help service planners determine whether to include a given piece of music in a given corporate worship service. His conclusion contains this pull quote: "God can use any form of music. He has no musical style or preference." That speaks to the truth that music as well as all the other art forms are all vehicles for communicating gospel truths - many of the steps in Stetzer's test help determine whether a given musical vehicle will be an effective communicator. The one point I felt could have been expanded upon was the difference between music that may effectively communicate gospel truth and the more specific category of music that is appropriate for corporate worship - that is, congregational participation and, especially, singing.

Speaking of singing, theologian and author Steven Guthrie wrote a lengthy essay on the spiritual discipline characteristics of singing. It is a bit of a complex piece, drawing largely on the writings of Athanasius, so I am not quite finished reacting to it, but I do know that it makes unique points about what we do when we gather as a local church to sing.

I also discovered a true gem this week - a new blog, TGC Worship, hosted by The Gospel Coalition. It describes its purpose thus:

TGC Worship seeks to promote gospel-centered worship throughout the church by training and equipping leaders in the Word-shaped ministry of singing, songwriting, and service planning. 

Besides its introductory post from this past Tuesday (which itself is worth reading), there have been just three posts to date. Zac Hicks gave a multi-faceted list of "Things That Christian Worship Should Be" (lots of room for discussion about how these points may be manifested in the corporate worship service) and Ron Man, directly in the vein of the blog's overall purpose, writes an excellent outline of the ways the Word should guide our worship services.

I have to admit - I am on a bit of information overload right now with even these few articles! But praise God that, via the Internet, I am able to read the thoughts of more experienced worship arts professionals. As I have stated elsewhere, I never imagined I would be using my professional training in a local church to the extent I am currently, and certainly not at my relatively young age. But it has been a true blessing, and I love being a part of this profession!

Articles of the Week - Francis I

It has been quite some time since my last "Articles of the Week" installment. In truth, by midday Wednesday, I had been thinking I should pick a topic to highlight at the week's end, because I had come across a number of good articles on several different topics of personal interest (for some of those, see my re-Tweets).

But then Wednesday midday rolled around, and the news of the election of a new pope. Here are a few of the thoughts I have read this week about it all:

• On Wednesday morning, Timothy C. Morgan at Christianity Today shared his thoughts on why Protestants should care about the papacy (the piece also appears in the April print issue).
• Thursday morning, the Chicago Tribune editorial board shared its thoughts on the reputation of "Father Jorge," and James Weiss of Boston College offered his predictions about the Francis papacy.
• The Economist had to effect a quick turn-around, but its report on the Francis election, with editorial thoughts on the new pope's opportunities (and likelihood) to effect great change, made it to press.
• Back at Christianity Today, Ruth Moon outlined the (many positive) implications of the Francis papacy for the evangelical Christian world, and Melissa Steffan interviewed evangelist Luis Palau on his friendship with and thoughts on Francis I.
• Josh Moody of College Church offered five sobering truths about the pope in the midst of the excitement.
• Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition listed nine "things you should know about the papcy."

Have you come across any good articles, blogs, or columns on this topic? Share a link in the comments section below!

Lenten Devotional Guides

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the season of preparation for the Passion of the Lord Jesus. I have found two devotional guides that I plan to use over the coming weeks. Both are available as free downloads.

The first is "Lent is About Jesus," from The Gospel Coalition.

The second is "Who is That Man?" by Ray Pritchard, my former senior pastor.

Do you have any devotionals or anything else you have used or will use to focus your time with the Lord during Lent? Share about your chosen resources in the comments section below!

Personal Reflections on the Changing of the Years

My 2012 is hard to describe. It had its share of disappointing, frustrating, and heartbreaking moments, both in my own life and in the lives of my family and friends and community. But I choose to not focus on those right now. Through all those times, God was quietly at work in ways I can see as I consider the whole scope of the year. There are still unanswered questions about how God was working in one situation or another, but I expect those answers to come when I need to know them.

With that as my preamble, a few highlights from the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twelve...

I have one best memory and one best experience (yes, the two terms are a bit synonymous, but read on and I think a slight distinction will make sense). The best memory was easily my mid-August road trip for my freshman roommate's wedding, a trip which involved visits with a number of other close college friends. It was an exciting, fulfilling weekend. The best experience was my appointment as orchestra director at Calvary Memorial Church. After having performed with the group while in high school, it was a privilege to be tasked with leading it into a new era of ministry. My subconscious thought, even a year ago, was that I would be involved in church music "here and there" as an adult, but it has become one of my primary engagements.

Given that I am a professional musician, I must briefly enumerate the concerts I attended this year, or at least a few highlights...

• The first concert I saw this year was the Wheaton College Artist Series presentation of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Jeffrey Tate, in January.
• In February, I saw Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra present Schubert and the world premiere of a work by Anna Clyne.
• March's highlight was the Wheaton College Concert Choir's presentation of Bach's B Minor Mass, under the baton of retiring director (and one of my former professors), Paul Wiens.
• In April, on Palm Sunday, my small group and I went to hear the College Church musicians present Parts II and III of Messiah.
• In May, I went to the high-energy and absolutely thrilling Wheaton College Festival of Faith, which finished with the Symphonic Band and choirs performing David Holsinger's magnificent arrangement of "I Sing the Mighty Power of God."
• June's highlight, on the very last day of the month, was the Fiftieth Anniversary Concert of the Grant Park Chorus, part of the Grant Park Music Festival - a rare professional choral concert for me.
• July, August, and September were light on concerts as summer wore on and then the school year got underway, but in October, I went to an excellent concert by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
• November's highlight was easily the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's presentation of Mahler's Third Symphony.
• And December, not surprisingly, was highlighted by the Wheaton College Christmas Festival. This year's Festival, "Journey to the Light," was another thrilling concert, including one of my favorites, Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium," as well as a new piece for me, Christopher Teichler's arrangement of "The First Noel." (All of the Wheaton concerts, by the way, are available for streaming.)

And now, two hopes for the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Thirteen...

I really want to get better at chopping raw fruits and vegetables. I mutilated way too many bell peppers, oranges, and tomatoes this past year in my various kitchen experiments (though I did learn how to make a good potato soup and visually appealing omelets). I think a few YouTube instructional videos may be in my near future.

More significantly, I would also like to spend more time memorizing Scripture. I am sufficient in the discipline of reading Scripture daily (I use the daily office in the Book of Common Prayer to guide my personal devotions), but I really want to memorize more of God's Word. And I would like to move a step beyond AWANA-style memorization (just one or two verses at a time) and attempt to commit to memory whole passages, to better understand the ideas presented by Paul, for example.

So those are my thoughts on this New Year's Eve, 2012. And now a New Year's blessing, a verse I memorized earlier this month:

May the God of hope grant you all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

(Romans 15:13 ESV).

Happy New Year!

This is Rubio, over and out.

P.S. Please look at my collection of other bloggers' thoughts on the changing years, as well as thoughts on Bible reading resolutions.

Articles of Note - New Year's and Bible Reading

Happy New Year's Eve, readers! It was an extra day coming this year, because 2012 was a leap year. But here we are, on December 31. My blog and editorial reading the past few days have found many articles on that theme, and I share my highlights here:

Matt Smethurst of The Gospel Coalition provides a synopsis of (and links to) TGC's most popular articles of 2012, which cover a wide variety of important topics. Joe Carter of TGC compiled an interesting list, "The Year in Numbers: 2012."

Christianity Today also looked back at top stories from 2012 with respect to "evangelical life, [thought], and mission," as well as the most-read news stories from their site.

The Heritage Foundation was in retrospect mode as well. Julia Shaw reviews the year in terms of conservative policy, Erika Andersen collects the most popular images from Heritage, and (looking forward to 2013), Jennifer Marshall looks at where conservative policymakers should move with regard to helping the poor.

In the Chicago Tribune, Katie Parker (of the Washington Post) suggests a few words and phrases we all drop from our vocabularies and Barbara Brotman reexamines the idea of a resolution.

Josh Moody of College Church has some end-of-year thoughts from First Peter. Also, some re-published thoughts on resolutions from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

I also came across a number of items about Bible reading, as improvement in that area is a popular New Year's resolution.

For TGC, Trent Hunter suggests a balanced Bible diet of both the Old and New Testaments and Matt Smethurst provides some tips for avoiding failure in keeping Bible reading discipline. Also, Ray Pritchard describes his preferred Bible reading method - note the different word!

Have you read any good end-of-year articles or blogs lately? Share a link in the comments section below!

Also, look for my reflections on 2012 and thoughts for 2013 later today!