Bloggy New Year's Resolutions

 

I did a year end blog review yesterday and that led me to make two resolutions concerning this blog in 2008.

1. I’m going to do more just for fun posts. I used to do more lighthearted pieces, but somewhere during last year I got a little too earnest, I think. So expect a little more fluff in the future.
2. The second resolution should help me keep the first. I’m going to restore the monthly themes and invite you to participate in them. Last year only January, February, March and November had themes. I stopped doing the themed months because they are so much work.  But they are also a whole lot of fun and I miss that. I’ve decided to give them another go, but cut back on how many themed posts I do during each month. Instead of doing them daily, I’ll do a couple  a week.
   

Are you wondering what this month’s them is going to be? I’ll take up that subject in my next post.

Favorites of 2007

Excuse me while I indulge myself in a little year end blog review, with links to my favorite posts for each month.

January
January was a month for lists, including one with books on theology suitable for the lay person. Favorite post? The coyote one, hands down.

February
It was children’s poetry month, with lots and lots of participation from other bloggers. I also wrote a little about what propitation means. But my favorite post during February was one of the Saturday’s Old Photo posts.

 

March
This is the month I moved over here to the new blog. It was also the Irish themed month, and that was a whole lot of fun. During March, I worked hard on a couple of posts on redemption: What Does It Mean? and From What Are Sinners Delivered? Still, my favorite post was one I wrote on the spur of the moment after an incident in the supermarket, Doing Our Job.

April
During April, I was still in my William Cowper, William Wilberforce and John Newton phase, so this month’s favorites are a couple of Sunday’s Hymn posts that included a bit on the life or William Cowper: There Is A Fountain and God Moves In A Mysterious Way.

May
In May I started the series from Hebrews 1 called Seven Statements About the Son, and those posts are undoubtedly that month’s most substantive post, but my favorite post has to be the one on Mike the Headless Chicken.

June
I graduated the youngest and finished up the Seven Statements about the Son posts with Seated at God’s Right Hand.

 

July
July was the month for justification. You’ll find

•  A quiz on justification, with answers here, here, here, and here.
  
• Christ’s Active and Passive Obedience in our Justification
  

August
I didn’t have all that much to say in August because I was making jam, canning peaches, harvesting the garden and painting the deck. I did manage to put together a quiz on the biblical and historical doctrine of the Trinity along with answers.

September
Let’s see. I posted instructions for canning peaches, and started posting the Theological Term of the Week with a post on the perspicuity of scripture.

October
I continued on with the theological terms posts and put together a biographical sketch of Jan Hus.

 

November

November was a  month of thanksgiving and I managed to post thankful thoughts every day until I went on a two week holiday. 

December
This month my biggest undertaking was hosting the Recipe Round Up, but my very favorite posts were the ones with scripture about Christ and light. 

Sunday's Hymn: God's Eternality

It seems fitting during this time of the year, when we are especially conscious of the passing of time, to reflect at little on the eternality of God and what it means for us. This hymn from Isaac Watts considers God’s relationship to time, how different it is from our own relationship to time, and how God’s eternal nature is crucial to our security in Him.

 

It is also a favorite hymn of one of my favorite blog readers. 

Our God, Our Help in Ages Past

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men:”
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.

Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
Lie withering ere ‘tis night.

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home. (Listen, courtesy of Center for Church Music)

More on God’s attribute of eternality:

• God’s eternality

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Holy Lord God! I Love Thy Truth at joythruChrist
• The Collect for the Sunday after Christmas-Day at Magic Statistics
• Another Year is Dawning at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 52, 2007 at The Thirsty Theologian
  
• Mighty God, While Angel’s Bless Thee at Hiraeth
• For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace at Seasoning of the Heart
• Great God, We Sing Your Mighty Hand at Whatever Things…
• Update: What Wondrous Love is This at Cathy’s Grace Notes
  

Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.