The final Lord’s Day of the year is coming up day after tomorrow. I hope you are planning to worship God with others somewhere this weekend. Don’t try to find a church where everyone else is like you. Try to find a church where you will fill a need because they don’t have anyone else like you!

Next year, 2019, is going to be a good one. How do I know that? Because I have planned for it to be a good year. I’m not going against biblical advice and bragging about my plans without acknowledging the Lord’s input. Nor do I dismiss that He may intervene at any time and alter his will for my life. These are things which I have prayed about, acquired the proper tools for their implementation, and have a detailed plan going forward for each.

First, I am going to be organized. My schedule is becoming formidable to only keep in mind rather than have written down with corresponding activities and measurable outcomes. I’m going to start off using a weekly format which I foresee being sufficient for my needs. I may have to make adjustments later.

Second, I am going to stay in good physical shape. One of my seminary professors aptly told a class of preaching students that our usefulness will be limited if we are dead. His rightful thinking was that, statistically, Baptist preachers tend to be on the weightier side of the scale. Combining too much heft with stress and inactivity is a recipe for a massive heart attack, which I am not interested in having.

Thirdly, I am going to organize my studying and research on the subject of Fruit of the Spirit into book form. One of my major propositions is a little different from what others have written. But I believe that I have sufficient biblical data to make its claim tenable. I hope that once it is published some of you will take the opportunity to read it. I’ll be chronicling the progress here at times and I also will answer questions anyone may have about the content.

Well, 2018 is nearly history. Let’s finish strong. Go to worship this weekend and have a plan for when you wake up next Tuesday morning beyond how to conquer a hangover from New Year’s Eve. Blessings to all of you and thank you for visiting the Orange Office.