Monday, January 29, 2007

The Benefits of True Knowledge

Aaron Burr, Jr. was less than two years old when his father, the President of Princeton, died suddenly and unexpectedly in September, 1758. A few months later Aaron’s grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, who had been elected President of Princeton to succeed his son-in-law, died from complications due to a small pox inoculation. A few months after that Aaron’s grandmother, Sarah Edwards died, and finally his mother, Esther Edwards Burr died. Thus in less than one year little Aaron Burr, Jr. lost both his parents and grandparents. By his teen years, during his studies at Princeton, Burr consciously and willfully rejected the faith of his parents and grandparents. Later he became Vice President of the United States, serving with President Thomas Jefferson.

Most historians call Burr a political scoundrel, the first in a long, sordid line of machine politicians. When people from his state of New York wished for him to run for Governor, his long time nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, spoke privately of Burr’s dishonesty and unfitness for office. When such information surfaced publicly Burr felt his character was besmirched and as was customary in that day, challenged Hamilton to a duel. Hamilton reluctantly agreed and when he chose not to fire his gun at his opponent, Burr had no such hesitation, killing him on the spot. Burr fled first to Maryland then to his good friend Colonel Butler on a plantation at what is now St. Simons Island, GA. Later, Burr was charged with sedition but acquitted. He is buried at the feet of his parents and grandparents in the cemetery at Princeton, this being one of his last requests, saying that he was unworthy to be buried beside them.

Young Aaron Burr, Jr. certainly faced very difficult tests of faith, and we may wonder how well we would hold up under similar ones. May I suggest, however, that tests of faith, hardship, and trial are normative in the Christian life? The question is, how well will you weather them? Paul, in Ephesians 1:17, after saying he makes mention of the Ephesian believers in his prayers, gives us the purpose for his prayer, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give them a Spirit (many commentators believe this is the Holy Spirit, see John 15:26 the Spirit of truth, Romans 8:15 the Spirit of adoption) of wisdom (applied knowledge) and of revelation (apocalypse, an unveiling or making known) in the knowledge (super-charged, abundant, experiential) of God. Paul knows how vital it is for these believers to grow constantly in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

If you live in New England or the Midwest then you know winter is coming. You must prepare for it. If you live on the Gulf Coast and you hear that a hurricane is coming, then you prepare. Likewise Paul, knowing the normative nature of the testings of faith, wants us to prepare for them, and this requires an abiding (Psalm 42:5), deepening (Psalm 139:1ff), growing (Psalm 73:28), and living (Habakkuk 3:17ff) knowledge of God. A superficial one (Psalm 73:10-14) or a stale one (Demas in Colossians 4:14, II Timothy 4:10) simply will not do.

Contrast John Winthrop with Aaron Burr, Jr.. Winthrop left for the New World in 1630 at the age of 42 and became the Governor of Massachusetts Bay. He came with a little over 300 people and within the first six months, 200 of them had died. His first two wives died from complications in child birth. Of his four daughters, three died in infancy and the fourth died in her twenties. His oldest son Henry drowned shortly after arriving in Boston. His younger son Forth, a promising candidate for the Puritan pastoral ministry, died shortly after John left for the New World. And his steward, due either to ineptness or dishonesty, nearly brought Winthrop to financial ruin. Yet in all these trials, these tests of faith, John and Margaret Winthrop never doubted God. He remained their one, true constant and abiding hope.

The greater your knowledge of God then the greater will be your peace. Jesus tells us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24ff) that to listen and obey Him means to build our house on a rock, but not to listen means we build our house on sand. The storms of life are sure to come, and a house built on a weak foundation will be swept away. What are your testings of faith? Are you prepared to face the storms which are sure to come? On what are you building your hopes? To build on sand is to be man-centered, to view life fundamentally to be about your own comforts, desires, happiness, and prosperity. When you build in this way, without putting a growing, experiential knowledge of God as your foundation, then when the storms of life come you will be given to disappointment with God, disillusionment with your place in His plan, and despair over your future. But if you build with a growing, living, abiding, and deepening experiential knowledge of God then you will begin to see all of life’s circumstances as being under His sovereign control, that His primary aim in everything, including your salvation, sanctification, and glorification is His own glory. For a mere human to make such a claim is audacious and arrogant, but not so with the God of creation. He is in heaven and does as He pleases. He has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.

May God give you a growing, living, deepening, and abiding experiential knowledge of Him. How can you get there? You can purpose to become a theologian of the heart by reading a good book or two on systematic theology. A good place to start is the Westminster Confession of Faith. But you should always look to Jesus. In Luke 7 we read of Jesus raising from the dead the son of a grieving mother. Such is the power of the Triune God. This power indwells every believer. You are to look in faith for His sustaining and sanctifying grace just as you did for your initial salvation. May God so work in us that the coming storms of life reveal a depth and viability of true knowledge of Him.

Al Baker is Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Phil Johnson and Don Green



Phil Johnson and Don Green are offering CDs and CD Series. These CDs are fantastic. They aren't charging either. I have ordered several CD sets and individual CDs. There is a wealth of insight from them both.

Email them at: info@TheGraceLifePulpit.com

The list of CDs and Series are located here. Press on either sermons given by Phil or Don. On the right of the page are the Series CDs. Email them with the titles of the CDs or CD set numbers. Send them your name, address, and phone number.

Phil is the Executive Director of Grace to You. He has been closely associated with John MacArthur since 1981 and edits most of John’s major books. But he may be best known for several popular Web sites he maintains, including The Spurgeon Archive and The Hall of Church History.
Don was a litigation attorney in Chicago from 1986-1995 before leaving his law practice to attend The Master’s Seminary. He completed his M.Div. and Th.M. degrees with highest honors.
You can view complete Bios at their site.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Creation Museum


The 50,000 sq. ft. Creation Museum located within the greater Cincinnati area will proclaim the Bible as supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice in every area it touches on. Set to open in June 2007, this “walk through history” museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture.
You can listen to audios and view videos on this site and take a virtual tour of the museum.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

In Whose Hands?

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Johan Santana's hands is worth $4.75 million.
It depends on whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Venus Williams' hands is championship winning.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.


Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of
fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will
produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.

As you see now it depends whose hands it's in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears,
your hopes, your dreams, your families
and your relationships in God's hands because.! ..
it depends whose hands it's in.

Monday, January 22, 2007

WORKS GOOD WORKS ARE AN EXPRESSION OF FAITH - J. I. Packer

You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. JAMES 2:24

In the New Testament, faith (believing trust, or trustful belief, based on testimony received as from God) is crucially important, for it is the means or instrumental cause of salvation. It is by faith that Christians are justified before God (Rom. 3:26; 4:1-5; Gal. 2:16), live their lives (literally “walk,” 2 Cor. 5:7), and sustain their hope (Heb. 10:35-12:3).

Faith cannot be defined in subjective terms, as a confident and optimistic mind-set, or in passive terms, as acquiescent orthodoxy or confidence in God without commitment to God. Faith is an object-oriented response, shaped by that which is trusted, namely God himself, God’s promises, and Jesus Christ, all as set forth in the Scriptures. And faith is a whole-souled response, involving mind, heart, will, and affections. Older Reformed theology analyzed faith as notita (“knowledge,” i.e., acquaintance with the content of the gospel), plus assensus (“agreement,” i.e., recognition that the gospel is true), plus fiducia (“trust and reliance,” i.e., personal dependence on the grace of Father, Son, and Spirit for salvation, with thankful cessation of all attempts to save oneself by establishing one’s own righteousness: Rom. 4:5; 10:3). Without fiducia there is no faith, but without notita and assensus there can be no fiducia (Rom. 10:14).

God’s gift of faith is a fruit of applicatory illumination by the Holy Spirit, and it ordinarily has in it some measure of conscious assurance through the witnessing of the Spirit (Rom. 8:15-17). Calvin defined faith as “a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favor towards us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds and sealed on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

Justification by works (things we have done) is the heresy of legalism. Justification, as Luther insisted, is by faith only (“faith apart from observing the law,” Rom. 3:28), because it is in Christ and by Christ only, and depends on what he is as distinct from what we are. But if “good works” (activities of serving God and others) do not follow from our profession of faith, we are as yet believing only from the head, not from the heart: in other words, justifying faith (fiducia) is not yet ours. The truth is that, though we are justified by faith alone, the faith that justifies is never alone. It produces moral fruit; it expresses itself “through love” (Gal. 5:6); it transforms one’s way of living; it begets virtue. This is not only because holiness is commanded, but also because the regenerate heart, of which fiducia is the expression, desires holiness and can find full contentment only in seeking it.

When James says that faith without works is dead (i.e., a corpse), he is using the word faith in the limited sense of notita plus assensus , which is how those he addresses were using it. When he says that one is justified by what one does, not by faith alone, he means by “justified” “proved genuine; vindicated from the suspicion of being a hypocrite and a fraud.” James is making the point that barren orthodoxy saves no one (James 2:14-26). Paul would have agreed, and James’s whole letter shows him agreeing with Paul that faith must change one’s life. Paul denounces the idea of salvation by dead works; James rejects salvation by dead faith.

Though the believer’s works do not merit salvation and always have something imperfect about them (Rom. 7:13-20; Gal. 5:17), in their character as expressions of the love and fidelity that faith calls forth they are the basis on which God promises rewards in heaven (Phil. 3:12-14; 2 Tim. 4:7-8). For God thus to reward us according to our works is, as Augustine noted, his gracious crowning of his own gracious gifts.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

10 Reasons Why Not To Ask Jesus Into You Heart

10 Reasons Why Not To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

By Todd Friel

1. It is not in the Bible.There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church. Eveom Ascol f the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense.What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser remindsus that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security.Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden.Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life.This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed.Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced. People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered.While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one.People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

And all God’s people said “Amen”

From

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A Radical Change - Charles Spurgeon

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" -- 2 Corinthians 5:17.

My line of discourse will be as follows: according to our text and many other Scriptures, a great change is needed in any man who would be saved…and this change is recognizable by distinct signs.

In Order to Salvation a Radical Change Is Necessary. This change is a thorough and sweeping one and operates upon the nature, heart, and life of the convert. Human nature is the same to all time, and it will be idle to try to turn the edge of Scriptural quotations by saying that they refer to the Jews or to the heathen, for at that rate we shall have no Bible left us at all. The Bible is meant for mankind, and our text refers to any man, of any country, and any age: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

We prove this point by reminding you, first, that everywhere in Scripture men are divided into two classes, with a very sharp line of distinction between them. Read in the Gospels, and you shall find continual mention of sheep lost and sheep found, guests refusing the invitation and guests feasting at the table, the wise virgins and the foolish, the sheep and the goats. In the epistles we read of those who are "dead in trespasses and sin" (Eph 2:1), and of others to whom it is said, "And you hath he quickened" (Eph 2:1); so that some are alive to God and others are in their natural state of spiritual death. We find men spoken of as being either in darkness or in light, and the phrase is used of being brought "out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1Pe 2:9). Some are spoken of as having been formerly aliens and strangers and having been made fellow-citizens and brethren. We read of "children of God" in opposition to "children of wrath." We read of believers who are not condemned, and of those who are condemned already because they have not believed. We read of those who have "gone astray," and of those who have "returned to the shepherd and bishop of their souls" (1Pe 2:25). We read of those who are "in the flesh and cannot please God" (Rom 8:8), and of those who are chosen and called and justified, whom the whole universe is challenged to condemn. The Apostle speaks of "us which are saved" (1Co 1:18), as if there were some saved while upon others "the wrath of God abideth" (Joh 3:36). "Enemies" are continually placed in contrast with those who are "reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Rom 5:10). There are those that are "far off from God by wicked works" (Eph 2:12; Col 1:21), and those who are "made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph 2:13). I could continue till I wearied you. The distinction between the two classes runs through the whole of the Scriptures, and never do we find a hint that there are some who are naturally good and do not need to be removed from the one class into the other, or that there are persons between the two who can afford to remain as they are. No, there must be a divine work, making us new creatures and causing all things to become new with us; or we shall die in our sins.

Continued Here

Monday, January 15, 2007

A True Profession - Al Baker

Perpetua, a young, well to do woman, lived in Carthage in 200 A.D. Carthage, modern day Tunis in north Africa, had a vibrant Christian community living amongst a pagan people, and Perpetua had come to believe in Jesus as the Christ. She was attending a Catechism class to prepare her for public profession and baptism, when she and five others were arrested by the Roman authorities.

Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor at the time, was cracking down on Christians who refused to worship him as god. He feared that Christianity undermined allegiance to the government and he would have none of it.

While awaiting trial Perpetua's father, a prominent member of Carthage society and a pagan, came to her jail cell, begging her to recant her new faith. She turned to a vase in the cell and asked her father, "Can this vase be called by any other name? I am what I am, a Christian. I will not recant."

Later, after Perpetua had been moved to a more comfortable cell so that she could nurse her baby, her father returned and laid a heavy guilt trip on her, saying, "You will die for your faith. Why would you bring such heartache to your father and mother? Don't you care about your husband and your infant? Will you bring reproach on me and shame me by dying as a criminal?" Perpetua was moved by her father's arguments but still refused to recant.

Later at her trial her father burst into the hearing with Perpetua's baby and begged her again to recant her faith in Christ. Perpetua again refused. The judge, not wanting to execute a young woman who was nursing her baby, offered a compromise. Would she merely offer a sacrifice to the gods? Again she refused, and at that point the judge sentenced her to death, along with the other new believers. They were led to the local coliseum with hundreds watching, and a wild heifer was unleashed on the Christians. It threw Perpetua into the air and trampled her. Next a leopard came at her and the others. Their deaths were taking too long so finally the authorities ran each of them through with a spear.

In our post everything world (people no longer believe in absolute truth, Christianity, the political process, heroes to inspire them, a better life) perhaps now, more than ever, true profession is essential. Paul puts forth in verse 15 of Ephesians 1 two undeniable characteristics of a Christian. Ask yourself, do you have these characteristics in your life?

1] The first is faith in the Lord Jesus. The faith about which Paul is speaking is not mere knowledge or lip service. It is not even an experience with God. It is not even belief in God for many say they believe in God. But true faith grasps, rejoices in, glories in the gospel essentials- that we are sinners justly deserving God's wrath and displeasure, believing that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, the only Savior of the world. Such belief does not leave open the possibility of salvation in any other religion. Can you imagine Perpetua agreeing that other ways to God existed? True faith is not merely a saving, one time faith, but a growing one of obedience. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor who stood against Adolf Hitler and who was executed said, "Only those who believe are obedient, and only the obedient believe."

2] The second characteristic of true profession is love for all the saints. See John 13:35, 15:12, I John 4:19, 20. This love is not mere feelings or lip service. It is not a refusal to challenge, correct, rebuke, question, or warn a brother or sister in sin. It is action. It is a willingness to risk loss- loss of time, money, emotional energy. It is a willingness to be disappointed in those whom you try to help. It is a willingness to challenge, rebuke, and question a believer. Think of the difference between a doting and loving father. The first wants to be best buddy with his children and will likely not challenge them, especially when they reach their teen years. That's not love. We glory in the truth of our justification by faith, but this forensic standing with God does not remove our responsibility to walk in obedience and holiness. The pessimistic, post modern, post everything people of our day want, need to see authenticity, community, reciprocity (love one another, forgive one another, be kind to one another), humility, and generosity. We have the ability, those of us who have true profession, to live this way.

So where are you? Are you truly in Christ? If not, then repent and truly believe now, casting yourself on Jesus who alone can save you. See how rebellious you are, how much you deserve God's righteous anger and judgment, and then run to Jesus for refuge, plunging yourself in His blood which alone can save. And if you are a believer, would you draw daily upon the unsearchable riches of Christ? Would you truly believe? Would you truly obey? Would you allow the indwelling Christ to produce in you authenticity and community? Our words mean little to nothing if actions of obedience do not follow. Perhaps now, more than ever, our post everything world needs to see true profession.

Al Baker is Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Lordship Salvation: A Comparison of Three Views

Thursday, January 11, 2007

New Forum

Seeking4Truth has just started a new forum. Hope you will sign up and give it a try.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

How does psychology work with Biblical counseling?

Question: "How does psychology work with Biblical counseling?"

Answer: Psychology as a whole does not fit into Biblical counseling. This is not to say that some research that has been done within the realm of psychology is not useful - some can be. However, it should be viewed carefully, for even research and what psychologists and psychiatrists would call hard data can be skewed to make it say what they want it to say.

Psychology is humanistic in nature. Humanism excludes God. Humanism at its core says that man is the center, and there is nothing beyond him. Psychology is man's way of trying to understand and repair the spiritual side of man without being spiritual. Psychology removes God and spiritual things from the picture.

One result from the teachings and philosophy of the well known psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, has been what is known as a Freudian ethic. From this ethic, the term "mental illness" arose. Once a person's problems are deemed to be an illness, they are no longer responsible. Psychiatry has let mankind off the hook - he is no longer responsible. This is why some people commit murder and enter an insanity plea - so they are not held responsible.

Another major contributor to humanism and psychiatry is Carl Rogers, the father of Rogerian counseling. Roger's basic presupposition was that mankind is basically good and the answer to a person's problems lies within himself. The psychiatrist who has adopted this form of counseling is little more than a good listener. He merely reflects back to the patient what the patient has been saying.

The Bible paints a very different picture of man than Rogers or Freud or any other form of psychiatry or humanism. The Bible declares that mankind had a different beginning than any other created thing. Man was made in the image of God and God breathed into man (and only man) the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Genesis 1:26; 2:7).

Man was created in innocence, but he was disobedient to God - he sinned against God - and this sin changed the first man, Adam, and all who came after him. Adam, and all who came after him are sinners, with the result being physical and spiritual death (Genesis 2:17; 5:5; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1). The answer to man's spiritual problems is to be born again - to be made alive spiritually (John 3:3, 6-7; 1 Peter 1:23). Man is born again by trusting in Jesus. To trust in Jesus means to understand that He is God's only Son, and God the Son (John 3:16; John 1:1-3). It means to understand and believe that Jesus paid for your sins when He died on the cross, and that God demonstrated that He accepted Christ as a sacrifice for you by raising Jesus from the dead (Romans 4:24-25).

God has already provided for our deepest needs - our spiritual needs. Why then would He not have also provided for our emotional and psychological needs? He has. 2 Peter 1:2-3 says, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."

Note in this verse that God has provided "everything" we need for "life and godliness." God's Word is sufficient for our needs if we are obedient.
Recommended Resource:
Competent to Counsel by Jay Adams.

Creeds or Chaos

There is an essay by a well-known British author of this century entitled, "Creed or Chaos."While not agreeing with much of the content of the essay, the title very nicely describes the urgency of having and using the historic creeds of the church. We are convinced that the only alternative to creeds is ecclesiastical chaos. History has proved that, especially in this century. In refusing to have creeds or in moving away from her creeds the church has exposed herself to the chaos that the floods and winds of doctrinal change, spiritual ignorance, and worldliness bring.

Some have begun to realize this and to return to the creeds, and for this we are profoundly thankful. Others, however, continue to neglect and despise the creeds, and it is to them especially that this article is addressed in the hope they will reconsider and see both the Biblical basis and the need for creeds in the church.

It is that Biblical basis that we hope to establish first of all. Then we wish also to address some of the objections that are raised against creeds. Finally, having established and defended the necessity of creeds, we wish to point out some of the specific uses of creeds in the church, for unless the creeds are known and used, having them is of no value.

Continued Here

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Monday, January 01, 2007

Pulpit Magazine




Well…it’s New Year’s Day. And we all know what that means. It’s time to take an inventory of how we lived in 2006 and think through some much needed changes for 2007. In other words, it’s time to make a list of New Year’s resolutions.Many of our lists will be necessarily long; many will involve a bit of wishful thinking; and most, if not all, will include some recycled resolutions that weren’t kept last year. But whatever the specifics, everyone agrees on a few key facts: the ball has dropped, last year is history, and the future is brimming with possibility. Continue Reading »