"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
Bible reading
In my culture there is a tradition of making a "New Year Resolution" - a resolve to do something different or better in the new year. A typical New Year Resolution would be to exercise more. Sadly most people have failed in their resolutions by the middle of January!
In the year 2000 I was persuaded to read the Bible through right through in a year. I did it and found it a real blessing. It takes you to parts of the Bible that you may not have read for years. In fact I have repeated the exercise every year since. It is roughly 4 chapters a day.
In my first email of 2008 I would like to recommend this to you. I use a card in my Bible produced by Bridge-Builders and tick it off as I read. However a google search for "read the Bible in a year" will provide many options including http://www.bibleinayear.org
Why not start the year with greater commitment to Bible reading.
Finally let me end with a quote from my good friend Hannes Schmidts from the SRSPro Sportler weekly email: "Our future is in one person - Jesus Christ. He has gone ahead to prepare a place for us so that we can be with him forever. This certainty is the best and most secure philosophy of life possible". Amen!
Stuart