andrew dodson

I’ve just received word that on February 17th, the Extreme Makeover Home Edition in which CLS was a part of will be airing.  The show will be a two-hour special, starting at 7 p.m.  Be sure to watch and keep an eye out for the black and white curtains we printed.

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The beginning of a new year is a great time to start a bible reading plan. The ESV website has a great list of different plans available. My plan-of-choice is the Daily Bible Reading plan, which only takes 15-20 minutes per day. There are other options available. Plans can be read online, emailed, delivered to an RSS reader, and more. If you have another translation you enjoy reading, just go by that day’s reading and use your translation of choice.

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(This post has been a “draft” for several months… I’ve decided to edit and publish the post, at long last.) 

I’ve completed reading Chasing Daylight. I plan on doing one or two more posts from that book, but I wanted to write about what I’m currently reading – John Stott’s Basic Christianity. Every once in a while, it’s good to go back and read something like this book. Athletes become great by practicing the fundamentals of the game. The same is true with Christianity. We come to a greater understanding of God by knowing the fundamentals of His nature, and the “basics” of Christianity.

During my reading today, Stott tells a story of a man who realized the vast space between himself and God as he grew closer to God. His journals were filled with the details of how badly he failed, daily, in his faith. He didn’t pray enough, read the Bible enough. The list goes on. However, this man was a missionary. Someone who had a deep passion for spreading the Gospel to the lost. Someone whom I’m sure God was very proud to have called into service.

I can relate to this man by the fact that I can be very hard on myself at times. I can tend to beat myself up for the times when I fall short or make mistakes. Lately, I’ve been frustrated with my faith, or lack thereof. I haven’t been “on fire” for God lately. It’s been easy for me to see the sin in my life and feel guilt and shame. I’ve been asking this question a lot – “where’s my joy?” Turns out, this might not be such a bad thing.

Stott says that as we grow closer to God, it’s easier for us to see how imperfect we are in relation to the perfection of God. I guess when we realize how short we fall of His perfection, it’s easy for us to feel guilt and shame. It’s just interesting how we can be growing closer to God, but still feel so far away from Him.  My joy comes from the fact that try as I may to reach God’s expectations, my salvation isn’t based on those expectations.  Thank God!

Here’s a list of some of my favorite posts on the blog from last year (one from each month):

• The Single Life
• Frustrated By God
• My Take on Joel Osteen
• Your Mind Matters
• The Power of Influence
• Risk vs. Reputation
• God Working
• Reading the Bible Everyday
• Calvinism
• The Lost Who Think They’re Saved…
• The Presence of the Lord
• Faith in Future Grace

As 2007 comes to a close, I spent some time looking back on the year.  2007 had some good moments, for me personally, as well as on a bigger scale:

• The Point turned one year old in January.
• I celebrated my 27th birthday.
• JMB recorded & released a DVD & live album.
• Tubby Smith left UK and was replaced by Billy Gillispie.
• I closed out my third year at CLS and also received a promotion.
• I recorded the latest worship album for Crossings.
• In sports, UK basketball is falling short of expectations, UK football turned in another solid season – capped off by a second straight bowl victory, the Cincinnati Reds were average, and the Cincinnati Bengals had a less-than-successful season.
• I got to see MercyMe, Shane & Shane, Bebo Norman & Derek Webb in concert.

As I look ahead to 2008, I’ve decided to make a few resolutions.  For the past couple of years, I’ve avoided resolutions.  Here’s mine for this year:

• Get to bed earlier and wake up earlier.
• Get to the gym 3-4 times per week.
• Read one book per month (I made this resolution last year and failed).
• Manage money better!
• Read through the Bible entirely (hopefully a yearly goal from here on out).
• Blog five to seven times per week.
• Improve my prayer life.

The past couple of years, I’ve focused on meeting & exceeding my potential (mainly in a professional sense, but it carried over to my personal life).  This year, I’d like to focus more on self-discipline.  Making better use of my time, money, relationships, etc.  Following through with goals.  I set a lot of goals for myself often, but to be honest, I only accomplish very few.  If I could put this on a bigger scale, the goal this year is to meet more of my goals.

I hope everyone out there has a great 2008!