Tag Christian

Why Only Make Resolutions on New Year’s?

Todd R 1 Comment

Fellow travelers,

It will be 2026 in two days, so here’s an early Happy New Year! In this post, I’m sharing a variation on New Year’s Resolutions (and Lent) I’ve been trying to do personally for a while. It’s been helpful to me and might be to you. There’s probably already a book out there with a similar idea, but here’s mine, starting with some background:

A while back I realized two problems I had with New Year’s resolutions: 1) I get frustrated by failing at them, and 2) they aren’t permanent. So, they go nowhere.  About the same time, I realized similar things about giving up something for Lent, a temporary 40-day period.

So, what if, instead of making temporary changes at New Year’s or Lent, a person could make smaller, but permanent changes every 40 days? In any year, there are approximately 40 multiplied by 9 days. What if, even if we failed at half (or more) of the changes, the successful ones still added up to a massive shift in habits over a multi-year period or even a lifetime? The changes don’t need to be “spiritual” or major, they just need to be something you think will make your life better, permanently.

Photo by Behnam Norouzi on Unsplash

For example, these have been some of my attempted changes:

  • Drink at least 32 oz of water a day (success!)
  • Blog regularly (success!)
  • Host a regular board game night at my house (temporary success), and
  • Open Bible or a devotional before checking my phone in the morning (generally a failure).

There were more – some I failed at and some I’ve kept, but in total they are significant enough to have a cumulative effect without being too hard to keep them all.

Are there small things you are doing that are harmful to you? Are there small changes you can make to improve your life? Can each of us build a better “liturgy” for our lives over time, step by step? Can we accumulate victories in small battles that help us fight bigger ones?  Over time can we better love God, ourselves, and others?  If you choose to participate, keep a record of what you’re changing. In years, hopefully the cumulative change is enormous.

I keep a list of the 40-day periods each year and the changes I’ve made or want to make. Sometimes I do nothing until later – I don’t criticize myself for missing a deadline or going back on something.  This is all voluntary.

My change for 1/1/26 is to attend church more regularly.  Unfortunately, I’ve recently been too good at coming up with excuses to stay home or to do other things.

The next date on the schedule (40 days later) is 2/10/26, and I have a couple of things under consideration for then.  I’ll be posting a reminder at about that time; if you want to participate, start making a list of things you might want to do more or less of, and let’s see what we can accomplish!

What do you think, and what do you have planned for 2026?

What are We Willing to Leave on the Cutting Room Floor?

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From earliest times, debate has raged over whether God’s word can be taken literally.  Since the serpent asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”[1] people have debated if the world was created in 6 days.  If Moses really parted the Red Sea.  If Jonah really spent 3 days inside a great fish.  And so on.  Talk about whether the Bible means what it says often focuses on the miraculous events within.

But what about verses like Ephesians 4:29?  “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”  When Paul wrote that, did he literally mean “no corrupting talk,” or just to aim for less crude language than the average person?  Did Paul mean each word needs to “fit the occasion,” or to repeat whatever catchphrase seems to work in most situations?  Did Paul mean everything we say should “give grace” to others, or is it ok if sometimes we want to look good or only appear gracious?  Do we need to always build up those who hear us?  Did Paul “actually say” what he wrote in Ephesians 4:29?

Failure to meet our ideals
does not mean that
we should change them.

We might reply that this is an impossible standard, but Jesus in Luke 18:19 said “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”  In that one statement, Jesus testifies that no one is good (everyone misses the mark), and also that He is God in the flesh, come to save us from failing to meet the standard.

So yes, Ephesians 4:29 should be taken literally, but we should also take literally that only Jesus can meet the standard, and that He did meet the standard.  Failure to meet our ideals does not mean they are the wrong ideals and that we should change them.  Holiness is holiness.

G.K. Chesterton wrote in his book Orthodoxy that “it does not matter (comparatively speaking) how often humanity fails to imitate its ideal; for then all its old failures are fruitful. But it does frightfully matter how often humanity changes its ideal; for then all its old failures are fruitless.”[2]

Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash

In film editing, “the cutting room floor” refers to pieces of physical film that (in pre-digital times) were cut out of the movie and left lying on the floor.  When writing this blog, one of the hardest things to do is to cut out parts or phrases I care deeply about, but sometimes it’s necessary, because my words aren’t always Ephesians 4:29 words.  Finding these failures can be fruitful if I learn from them and move closer to the ideal.  In real-time, daily conversation it’s even harder, but to take Ephesians 4:29 literally, we all have to figuratively ask:

What are we willing to leave on the cutting room floor today?

[1] Genesis 3:1
[2] Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy (1908).  P. 163.

Daily Readings for December 29 – January 4

Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers:

Here is the list of readings for this week, finishing out 2025 and into 2026: 2 chapters to read per day as the main reading plan, and extra chapters for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2025 and 2026.  I hope this encourages others to read and study their Bible more, whatever parts they decide to read.  Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

Can’t believe the year is almost done!  Happy New Year to everyone this week!

2025
2 chapter a day plan:
Monday, December 29: Revelation 17-18
Tuesday, December 30: Revelation 19-20
Wednesday, December 31: Revelation 21-22

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2025:
Malachi 2-4

2026!
2 chapter a day plan:
Thursday, January 1: Psalm 1, Matthew 1
Friday, January 2: Psalm 2, Matthew 2
Saturday, January 3: Psalm 3, Matthew 3
Sunday, January 4: Psalm 4, Matthew 4

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026:
Genesis 1-6

The Many Names of Jesus

Todd R 1 Comment

Often in the Bible, a person’s name tells us more than just what they are called – it tells us something about their character or history.  Also, a name describes the authority and honor due to someone, like when we do something in someone’s name, we claim their authority to do it.  There are many names for our Lord Jesus, describing His character and authority, and a great summary of these is the worship song, “Jesus, Name Above All Names.”  It has two main verses, listing many of Christ’s names, as follows:

Verse 1
Jesus, name above all names
Beautiful Savior glorious Lord
Emmanuel God is with us
Blessed Redeemer living Word

Verse 2
Jesus, loving Shepherd
Vine of the branches Son of God
Prince of Peace Wonderful Counselor
Lord of the universe Light of the world

There are many truths about Jesus we can know, and much meaning is contained in the names from this song, but as infinite God, we cannot understand every truth about Him.  A verse that reminds us of this is Revelation 19:12 – “His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.”

We know Jesus by many names, but He has at least one that only He knows.  We know many of His names, but none of them can fully describe Him.  Likewise, He has many crowns (“diadems”), but none of them can fully describe His power, authority, and honor.

But it was because of our Lord’s humility, taking on the form of man and voluntarily suffering death on the cross for His people, that Philippians 2:9-11 declares: “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

He alone has the name that deserves all of our devotion and respect.  While we cannot fully understand Him, we can seek to fully trust Him.

Soli Deo Gloria

My Favorite Christmas Song

Todd R 6 Comments

People have strong opinions about Christmas music, like when is the right time to begin listening to it.  Personally, I like to have a long Christmas season but also don’t want to distract from other good holidays like Thanksgiving, so for me the right time is once Thanksgiving is done.  I have a Christmas playlist on my phone of my favorites and its playing regularly when I drive around or while I’m wrapping presents or putting up the tree.

People also care a lot about which songs to listen to, sometimes in strange ways.  A tradition we have every year (mainly because of my kids) is called “Whamaggedon.”  What’s that?  It’s a contest to see how long you can go without hearing “Last Christmas” by Wham.  Apparently, lots and lots of people play this and the winner(s) is the one who gets to Christmas without hearing it.  Not that it’s a bad song, but it’s just a fun thing to do in the holiday season.

There are a lot of things to like about Christmas music, even if it’s enjoying goofy songs like Frosty the Snowman or watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV.  But when it comes to genuine Christmas carols, we all have our favorites.  Mine is a beautiful, simple song with a great theme of humility, a trait we can all appreciate during Christmas.

This carol imagines that, in addition to the 3 Magi, the baby Jesus also had other visitors who came to worship Him, including a “Little Drummer Boy.”  You can read the lyrics here, or watch the video below, a version performed by for KING and COUNTRY.  Generally, the simpler the version of the song, the better in my opinion.

Why do I like this carol so much?

Most of us aren’t like the Magi who travelled far and gave expensive gifts to the baby Christ.  We don’t have much gold, and we probably don’t keep frankincense and myrrh laying around.  If the Magi were recognized for bringing these lavish gifts in eternal Scripture, how can we measure up?  Is their example too hard for us to follow?  How can we adequately worship Jesus?  Little Drummer Boy answers these questions.

We can all identify with the boy because what he has to offer Jesus is something we can all offer: whatever we happen to have.  The Little Drummer Boy gives us assurance that if we offer what we have, whatever we have, to our King Jesus, He will accept it.  In the song, when Jesus smiles at the boy at the end of the song, we are all reminded that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

The Little Drummer Boy shows us that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5).  Humility doesn’t mean thinking of oneself as worthless or inferior to others.  Humility means thinking of yourself in the proper place, a miserable sinner who is nonetheless loved by God and who God will use for His glory and will bring to perfection in eternity.  As the great Lion Aslan said in C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian, “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.”  Humility involves having the proper balance between shame and grace, with grace ultimately victorious.

This is why I wrote earlier that the simpler the version of this song, the better.  Just about anyone can tap out “rum pa pum pum” on a drum and identify with the little boy, but not everyone can perform the more elaborate cover versions of the song and to me that dilutes the beautifully simple lesson of the song: whatever you have, however little of it you have, offer it to Jesus and He will smile at you.  He will accept your worship, no matter how imperfect.  To Jesus, it’s not what you have that matters, but what you do with it.  You can be a beggar or an emperor, but with the right attitude toward Jesus our King, anyone can experience salvation and eternal life, gifts infinitely greater than anything on this earth and therefore infinitely greater than anything we have to offer Him.

So, whatever your particular “drum” is, pay Jesus a visit and play it for Him this Christmas and in the coming year!  Offer to Him whatever you have and see what happens!