Issue #146

Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you on your journey to becoming a more productive Christian.

​Read on the Web​

In Today’s Issue:

• 4 Prayers for the New Year
• Plan Like a Christian
• The New ESV Bible App
• Thinking Biblically About Resolutions
• 2024 Goals: A Case Study

Dear steward,

The start of a new year comes with a strange mix of feelings.

On the one hand, there's the potential, this sense that you're starting with a blank slate. On the other hand, there's the busyness. The holidays are over; it's time to hit the ground running again.

But even in the midst of the busyness of January, I want to encourage you not to miss out on the benefits of a fresh start. We may be four days in, but it's not too late to make changes for this year.

Here are a few resources I've created that can help:

• Watch our Plan Your 2024 for the Glory of God workshop and fill out the workbook
• Select a Bible reading plan for the year
• ​Join the Academy for our quarterly goal challenge beginning on January 9th.

In other news, I had a nice New Year's surprise. I woke up to discover that my book, Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God, finally passed 100 reviews on Amazon.

I'm in no danger of getting on anyone's best-sellers list anytime soon. But you put so much work into writing a book, so it's just nice to see people still discovering it and benefiting from it. Warms my heart.

If you have read the book and haven't done so yet, would you consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon? I'd really appreciate it!

Alright, let's dive into this week's issue.

Have a goal to read more in 2024? Shortform can help.

I aimed to read 52 books in 2023, about one per week. I fell a little short (I ended the year at 44). But I've found setting a goal to be a great way to keep me motivated to read more.

And the single best strategy I’ve found for hitting this goal is making a reading list.

I chose about half of the books I read this year in advance last December. And I’m using Shortform to make sure the books I pick in 2024 are chosen wisely.

Shortform provides guides and summaries of the best nonfiction books. So whether it’s a personal development book like Atomic Habits by James Clear or a Christian book like The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, Shortform has you covered.

Reading a book is a big time investment. So you want to make sure you're choosing carefully. That's why I rely on Shortform's concise 1-page summaries to preview any book before I read it.

So if you want to read more in 2024, you've got to check out Shortform.

You can get a 20% discount using my link: shortform.com/reagan​

​4 Prayers for the New Year (47 mins)

This is a sermon I delivered on New Year's Eve, based on Colossians 1:9–14. I pray it will encourage you to pursue greater faithfulness in 2024.

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​Plan Like a Christian: Five Principles for a New Year (7 mins)

Scott Hubbard / Desiring God

Just read this one. Trust me.

​The New ESV Bible App Is Amazing (2 mins)

Crossway just released a massive update to their ESV Bible app, and it's really, really good.

Here are a few of the new features you might like:

• Improved audio Bible experience (7 voice options)
• Options for background music (like Dwell)
• Better reading plan experience and 50+ plans
• Themed playlists (basically collections of verses around a topic)
• Built-in study Bibles and commentaries

​Let Us Resolve This . . . A Few Thoughts About Personal Resolutions (12 mins)

Daryl Wingerd / CCW

I think you'll appreciate this reflection on thinking biblically about resolutions.

As someone who has seen significant life changes through the application of resolutions over the years, I don't share the author's pessimism about the effectiveness of resolutions.

As I wrote recently, I believe most people's failure to reach their goals (resolutions or otherwise) is usually more of a function of not knowing how to set effective goals than it is an indication that goal setting doesn't work.

Nevertheless, I agree with the author that New Year's resolutions are indeed not a practice commanded to us by Scripture. And thus, we ought to be careful not to put too much weight on them.

His cautions before making a resolution are especially well-taken:

• Consider the Scriptures carefully
• Consider your other necessary duties
• Know that you are being watched
• Examine your motives
• Consider the cost

​Kari's 2024 Goals (4 mins)

In this multi-part series, Kari shows how she is planning her year, in part using the framework we presented in Plan Your 2024 for the Glory of God​.

This series makes a great case study if you're looking for ideas for your own goals for the year.

• ​Part 1 – Spiritual Growth​
• ​Part 2 – Family & Home​
• ​Part 3 – Work and Mind​

​Crossway Sale: All Ebooks and Audiobooks $2.99​

Crossway is having a massive sale this week on digital products. There are a lot of great titles to stock up on for your 2024 reading!

The sale ends on January 5th.

It means a lot to me that you take the time to read these emails.

If you ever have any articles you think might be helpful to feature in this newsletter, or if you have any suggestions for how I can make future issues more valuable, you can always reply to these emails.

Replies come straight to my inbox. And I love hearing from readers.

I'll see you next week!

Reagan Rose

I talk about personal productivity from a Christian perspective. Creator of ​Redeeming Productivity​.

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