Goals/Resolutions/Challenges

By God's grace, yes! I may post some on here once I have them written down - I have a bit of a late start this year, but we aren't quite into 2014 yet!

Does anyone have any goals?

Nicolas!!!! You have to tell me now!!!!!

Oh… that's right, I'd almost forgotten. :P Well, hang on just a sec.

Okay :-)

Okay, here goes. Two months ago on the topic "Untruthful site" in the GCTs, which I have just brought back to life, I said I would have a New Year's resolution pertaining to the link given in the first comment there. It is finally the New Year, and I am finally announcing the resolution. In the link, you will find a site that claims Christianity to be a false religion and God to be imaginary. It gives ten main "proofs" of this on the main page, and on the side of the page there are fifty other "proofs". My resolution is to provide sufficient answers for all fifty proofs, taking a week of 2014 to do so for each. I was hoping that some people would like to join me. It will be a big commitment, but I think it will be worth it. Who wants to join me? :)

I'll join you!!!! That is a great idea!!

I will, if I can! Life is hectic where I come from, so I might not have all the time necessary. But it sounds like a great idea!

That's so cool! I would love to join, but I'm not exactly good with that kinda thing if you know what I mean. :)

As for goals this year: I want to record all the big things that happen this year in a journal.

I've made a few goals for this year. Mostly ones with clear objectives; I don't really like making vague goals like "grow closer to God" (even though that is definitely a goal every year!)

Blog every month
Read 220 books
Memorize 1000 verses
Write a book
Write personal doctrinal statement
Copy out Genesis
Copy out Isaiah

Oh, my! Those are some very big goals!! But very good ones too =)

I would really like to memorize the whole NT sometime. But (1.) I lost both my memorizing partners, and (2.) I am one of the business girls i know right now. :S
^That last excuses is really all the more reason for me to be memorize more!^

Hey, join the club! Look back far enough on the Memverse blog and you'll find a group that wants to memorize the whole Bible! ;)

Really? That’s neat! So are you still working on it? or did you give up? so far I have memorized 1+2 Peter, 1+2 Timothy, Titus, Part of Philippians, and now I’m working on Romans. :) But I really need to get all my verses on Memverse so I can keep them reviewed!

Has anyone started working on their resolutions for 2015 yet? =)

Yeup…I've started my list :)

I want to memorize Isaiah by the end of next year.

Didn't happen. :P

I typically don't do anything in the way of writing out resolutions, but I've actually thought about doing it this year. Just because there is a lot of stuff that I'd like to do that I don't want to forget to do. =P

I have made goals up till BB starts. :)

Carissa - that's probably a good idea. x)

Oh. I most definitely have goals! I almost went without this year because sometimes I fail to follow through, but I realized that not following wasn't the problem of having goals but of my own lack of diligence. So yeah, I'm having goals. And I've spent a lot of time really trying to think through them all. At this point, I'm working month by month - so I have a large amount of January goals and when February comes around, I'll start think about that month.

And just sayin'… I like this time of year. xD I really enjoy getting to organize and think through life in a systematic way by setting goals for myself. XD

One of my goals for the year is to compete at locals and Nationals XD

Sounds like you're doing good, Bethany! I think I'm that kind of person too, but right now I still have school to worry about. ;)

You can do it!!! :D

Okay, here goes. Two months ago on the topic "Untruthful site" in the GCTs, which I have just brought back to life, I said I would have a New Year's resolution pertaining to the link given in the first comment there. It is finally the New Year, and I am finally announcing the resolution. In the link, you will find a site that claims Christianity to be a false religion and God to be imaginary. It gives ten main "proofs" of this on the main page, and on the side of the page there are fifty other "proofs". My resolution is to provide sufficient answers for all fifty proofs, taking a week of 2014 to do so for each. I was hoping that some people would like to join me. It will be a big commitment, but I think it will be worth it. Who wants to join me? :)

I started on it but never got very far…and I have no clue where they went… facedesk I'm going to try this year though. :)

One of my goals for the year is to compete at locals and Nationals XD

One of my goals for this year is to not compete at locals and Nationals.

One of my goals for the year is to compete at locals and Nationals XD

One of my goals for this year is to not compete at locals and Nationals.

Understandable. :P

I started on it but never got very far...and I have no clue where they went... *facedesk* I'm going to try this year though. :)

Oh dear. I had nearly completely forgotten about that resolution. If I had been planning, as I had, on carrying out such a major resolution… I should have made better plans for it than simply "I'll get this done somehow." As I made no such plans, I hardly got through a single one of my responses to the so-called proofs. I would love to get the project done this year… but with all that I am planning on doing this year, I don't know how practical such a project would be. I do want to finish it at some point; but I really don't think I'll be able to do it this year. My humble and sincere apologies for abandoning a project that I myself envisioned… :-/

2015 is closing. I don't know about anyone else, but this has been an exciting and full year. I'm interested to hear how people did with keeping/completing any and all goals made this year. Figure we shouldn't just discuss the goals we make, but also how faithful we were with them. :)

I think one of my goals was to distribute 5,000 crumbs. With His help, I've distributed about 8,000 crumbs to unreached people in China so far this year. And counting. :) Praise Him!!

2015 is closing. I don't know about anyone else, but this has been an exciting and full year. I'm interested to hear how people did with keeping/completing any and all goals made this year. Figure we shouldn't just discuss the goals we make, but also how faithful we were with them. :)

Yes, this has been a great year! God's grace to me has been so evident.

I've been able to memorize the first fourteen chapters of John, by God's grace. Hopefully, I'll be well through John 15 (maybe finished with) by the end of the year. I just finished reading the Bible yesterday (I took a nearly two month long break from normal Bible reading during Nationals). I didn't summarize many chapters of the Bible. To be honest, outside of Bible Bee, I only did Genesis 1. facedesk I can't seem to remember any other goals…I've probably forgotten all the ones that I didn't complete :).

How did goals go for you in 2015?

Amen, Anna. He is so very, very good…

Those are completed goals to rejoice over! Blessed to hear some of the ones you had, and carried through with. :)
Have you been thinking much about some things you would like to accomplish/grow in this coming year?

Many of my "Would-Like-Tos" (as I prefer to call mine) for 2015 fell through due simply to circumstances; but, because it was only because of that, they could very well happen in this coming year instead. :)
There are a bunch that did go through though. I finished piano lessons; had opportunities open up for me to get more involved with Bible dramatization; grew in opportunities made to evangelize and share the gospel; have taken on a lot more responsibility in leading in my Bright Lights group; growing + developing in my skills in piano, soccer, studying, serving my family, etc. :D I also set a goal to read 30 books this year - at 28, and in the middle of my last two! =)

I also had written down a lot of things that I would like to see growth in my life spiritually - and to God be the glory! I have seen immense growth/progress in most of the things I wrote down; it is such a humbling thing to see how far the Lord's brought + changed me, even from just a year ago. He is so faithful.
Did you have things you prayed to grow in spiritually this year as well? Has the Lord been answering and helping you in them?

Praise the Lord! I'm glad that God has allowed you to grow spiritually this year. Recently, the Lord has really been convicting me about how little I pray. Of course, I pray at mealtimes and during Family Devotions each night, but I don't spend much time actually praying by myself. I think that I have grown a little bit in this area, although this is more of a goal for next year because it wasn't until recently that I really began to realize how little I pray. Another thing that God has really been showing me recently is that I can do nothing on my own. It's all through His strength that I do everything. He is so gracious.

What are some of your goals for next year? :)

So sorry I never got back to you, Anna!

Super encouraged by your sharing your desire to grow more in prayer this next year! It is such an important part of the Christian life - right at the core! Prayer was one of the biggest things the Lord taught + worked on + grew me in this year. Believe me, Anna, you will be sooo blessed by what He teaches you! It is a truly delightful and sweet thing when we persist in it… I know there is still so much for me to learn about it!
Exactly! Possibly my favorite verse about being able to do nothing apart from Him is Psalm 16:2: "O my soul, you have said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.' "

Was just working on my goals for next year today…I wrote a lot, haha. :D But some are things like having continued opportunities to dramatize Scripture; get my learner's permit + license; be more purposeful in building + strengthening my relationships with friends; participate in BB (smile); keep developing my homemaking skills (and develop new ones!); redeem the time/live for eternity; strive for stronger, deeper relationships with my sibs, etc. etc. =)
Do you write all your goals out, or just keep them in your mind? :)

So what resolutions did y'all make this year? Which ones did you keep (and if you like to answer, which ones did you not keep :))? What resolutions have you made for next year?

Hey I know a good goal…maybe you should stop believing in some magical jewish zombie and learn some science.

Hi Dawkins,
Thank you for being open about what you believe and wanting us to know the truth. Please know that, in replying to you, it's only because I want you to know the truth. I'm not replying because I'm trying to prove that I'm right and you're wrong, or anything like that.

First of all, Jesus wasn't doing magic. It's not surprising that you would think that, because if you don't believe in God, it certainly looks like magic. But we know from the Bible that it was not. "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' " (Matthew 28:18) Authority was given to Jesus to perform miracles and to do signs. These were not done to impress people, but to show that He was truly the Son of God.

Secondly, a zombie is defined as "a corpse said to be revived by witchcraft, especially in certain African and Caribbean religions." Jesus was not resurrected by witchcraft, but again, by the power of God. Here are a few verses that mention this: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians+2%3A12%2C+2+corinthians+4%3A14%2C+galatians+1%3A1%2C+ephesians+1%3A20%2C+1+peter+1%3A21&version=ESV

As to science, I'll be completely honest with you and tell you right out that I'm no scientist and probably can't answer many of the questions that you would have about science. However, there are many Christians who know a lot about science. I think that you could probably find something here: answersingenesis.org

Even if I don't know science, I do know that everything came from somewhere. There's no way that everything just happened to happen. How likely is it that this laptop happened to just come together without someone making the pieces and putting it together? And how much more complex is the world than this laptop! I see from this that there must be a Creator.

I have to ask this: if the world is just an accident, then what is the purpose of life? What reason would you have to live if there is no eternity or God? You don't have to answer this question; please just think about it. Life is not meaningless to me, because I know that when I die, I will be forever with the Lord. (See here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+thessalonians+4%3A13-18&version=ESV)

I will be praying for you! I know that God is powerful and He can reveal Himself to you. "Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:1-2) Do not receive the daily grace that He gives you in vain. How good God is in each of our lives! May He save you today!

"…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10)

"To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43)

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

"And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' ” (Acts 16:31)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

Please let me know if you have any questions, and I will do my best to answer them. I will be busy this weekend and next week, so if I don't reply promptly, I do intend to eventually. I would encourage you to read your Bible. It will answer any questions you may have much better than I could. Also, BibleGateway.com is very helpful if you're looking for verses on a specific topic. Just search for a word/phrase, and if that word/phrase is in the Bible, the verse(s) that it is in will come up.

My temporary resolution is to, think more with my tongue and to talk more with my brain. Grins at a certain someone

And now we're all going to wonder who it is… :)

@"Anna M (Psalm 73:25-26)" Sounds like a case for the MV court detective! xP

Oh dear…I'm more of the Bible Bee Detective :). But I'm going to guess that it's either you or Zach.

Wow you are good. But which one? ( No hints anyone)

I'll just go with Zach. Do I get half credit on this if I get it wrong?

So am I right or wrong? :)

Oh haha. You're right. Good job!

Oh, really?! :) highfives myself and then hopes that my success doesn't go to my head

:D

Now you have to tell us why you thought it was me. ;P

Hmm…sometimes detectives just intuitively know things :).

And you need to tell us how you originally narrowed it down to me or Zach! xP highfives you so you don't have to high five yourself

No! Anna, don't! Detectives never reveal their sources! xP