New Year’s Day is when people all around the world make resolutions that they want to keep but almost always never do. Consequently, New Year’s Day sets up many people for disappointment, failure, and depression. My friend here at the Reasons to Believe office, Kenneth Samples, has a cure for these New Year’s Day blues. He makes resolutions that require zero discipline. One year he resolved to send no text messages. That same year he gave up text messaging for Lent. When Ken made those resolutions, he had never sent or received a text message in his life. In a year previous to that, when the Lakers basketball team dominated the league, Ken resolved to watch every Lakers game that was televised in our area. Anyone who knows Ken recognizes that, next to Jack Nicholson, he is the greatest and most loyal fan the Lakers team possesses. His resolution did nothing to change the way he lives and behaves.

I would like to recommend something in between the typical New Year’s Day resolution and my friend Ken Samples’s approach. The beginning of January is always reassessment time for us at Reasons to Believe. As I mentioned in a post on my Facebook page,1 Reasons to Believe receives about a third of its annual income in the month of December. Furthermore, our December income has consistently been a bellwether for how much income we can expect for the next calendar year. Consequently, based on December’s receipts, I get together with our executives and determine what ministry ventures we will attempt to undertake and which ones we decide to drop or delay. More importantly, we ask God if he wants to redirect our ministry efforts. We ask God if there are more impactful and resource-efficient ministry ventures we have not yet considered that he wants us to pursue.

What I do for Reasons to Believe, I also do for myself. Every January, in consultation with my wife Kathy and with the Lord, I attempt to determine how I should invest my personal time, treasures, and talents. It is a time when Kathy and I reassess our charitable donations and our hours of volunteer service. It is a time when we reassess our strategies for personal evangelism. It is a time when we ask God to show us better ways we can further the ministry of Reasons to Believe. It also is a time when we ask God for counsel and directives on how to improve our marriage and in our roles as parents to our sons and now to our new daughter-in-law.

2018 is a new year. May I encourage you to take some time this month to talk to God about what you are presently doing and should continue to do, but also to give him permission to redirect your paths, motives, and desires. As you do so, may you experience blessings from God beyond what you have expected and, thus, make 2018 the happiest and most fulfilling new year of your life.

Endnotes
  1. Hugh Ross, Facebook post on December 19, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/RTBHughRoss

Check out more from Dr. Hugh Ross @Reasons.org

 

About The Author

Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. I also am eager to equip Christians to engage, rather than withdraw from or attack, educated non-Christians. One of the approaches I’ve developed, with the help of my RTB colleagues, is a biblical creation model that is testable, falsifiable, and predictive. I enjoy constructively integrating all 66 books of the Bible with all the science disciplines as a way to discover and apply deeper truths. 1 Peter 3:15–16 sets my ministry goal, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience." Hugh Ross launched his career at age seven when he went to the library to find out why stars are hot. Physics and astronomy captured his curiosity and never let go. At age seventeen he became the youngest person ever to serve as director of observations for Vancouver's Royal Astronomical Society. With the help of a provincial scholarship and a National Research Council (NRC) of Canada fellowship, he completed his undergraduate degree in physics (University of British Columbia) and graduate degrees in astronomy (University of Toronto). The NRC also sent him to the United States for postdoctoral studies. At Caltech he researched quasi-stellar objects, or "quasars," some of the most distant and ancient objects in the universe. Not all of Hugh's discoveries involved astrophysics. Prompted by curiosity, he studied the world’s religions and "holy books" and found only one book that proved scientifically and historically accurate: the Bible. Hugh started at religious "ground zero" and through scientific and historical reality-testing became convinced that the Bible is truly the Word of God! When he went on to describe for others his journey to faith in Jesus Christ, he was surprised to discover how many people believed or disbelieved without checking the evidence. Hugh's unshakable confidence that God's revelations in Scripture and nature do not, will not, and cannot contradict became his unique message. Wholeheartedly encouraged by family and friends, communicating that message as broadly and clearly as possible became his mission. Thus, in 1986, he founded science-faith think tank Reasons to Believe (RTB). He and his colleagues at RTB keep tabs on the frontiers of research to share with scientists and nonscientists alike the thrilling news of what's being discovered and how it connects with biblical theology. In this realm, he has written many books, including: The Fingerprint of God, The Creator and the Cosmos, Beyond the Cosmos, A Matter of Days, Creation as Science, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, and More Than a Theory. Between writing books and articles, recording podcasts, and taking interviews, Hugh travels the world challenging students and faculty, churches and professional groups, to consider what they believe and why. He presents a persuasive case for Christianity without applying pressure. Because he treats people's questions and comments with respect, he is in great demand as a speaker and as a talk-radio and television guest. Having grown up amid the splendor of Canada's mountains, wildlife, and waterways, Hugh loves the outdoors. Hiking, trail running, and photography are among his favorite recreational pursuits - in addition to stargazing. Hugh lives in Southern California with his wife, Kathy, and two sons.



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