Issue #142

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:

• Setting Goals God's Way
• Lessons from the Ant
• The Forces Fracking Our Attention
• Advice for Seminary Students
• Christmas Music Recommendations

Dear steward,

Now that December has rolled around, your mind is probably already on 2024.

This is the time of year in which people start dreaming about their goals for the new year. Whether it's reading your Bible more, working on your health, organizing the home, or some other endeavor, the turning of the year feels like a blank page for writing a new chapter in your life.

In the coming weeks, you’ll be bombarded with articles on how to set effective New Year’s resolutions, why New Year’s resolutions don’t work, and everything in between.

But I want to offer a different take.

What if our goals so often fall flat because we aren’t thinking about them the right way? What if we are so focused on ourselves that we aren’t designing our goals to honor God?

Christians shouldn’t set goals like the world does. But to set goals that are both God-honoring and effective, you've got to start by asking the right questions of your goals.

In this week’s video, I look at How to Set God-Honoring Goals (And Actually Reach Them). I will show you exactly how to do this by asking yourself five simple questions.

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 (looks like I'll complete 43+/-). 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 as I’m currently preparing my list for 2024, I’m using Shortform to make sure I’m choosing the books 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​

​Go to the Ant (13 mins)

John Piper / Desiring God

I appreciated Piper’s thoughts on learning from observing general revelation.

The Lower Lights Christmas Music

I married my wife in 2011. That was also the year The Lower Lights came out with their first Christmas album, Come Let Us Adore Him, and a couple of years later, they released Sing Noel. Ever since, The Lower Lights have become a Christmas staple in our home while decorating the tree or baking cookies.

They do wonderfully folksy renditions of classic Christmas carols and many Christmas songs you may never have heard of before.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• In The Bleak Midwinter (Apple Music / Spotify)
• I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Apple Music / Spotify)
• The Holy and the Ivy (Apple Music / Spotify)
• Once in Royal David’s City (Apple Music / Spotify)

​Powerful Forces Are Fracking Our Attention. We Can Fight Back (6 mins)

D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, Peter Schmidt / The New York Times

Some interesting insights into how educators think about fighting against shrinking attention spans.

​Sinclair Ferguson’s Advice for Those Entering Seminary (4 mins)

Sinclair Ferguson / Ligonier

There are some great nuggets of wisdom in this short video.

I’ve been enjoying Jacob Abshire’s Creative Disciple Newsletter.

Each week he shares interesting resources, new articles, and more. I especially like the beautiful device wallpapers he creates. I think you’ll appreciate Jacob's unique combination of theologically rich content and great design aesthetics.

What’s more, Jacob has generously made his book God Breaks His Silence available as a free download for the Christmas season. It’s a reflection on the advent of Christ that can be used both as a group study guide or as a devotional reading for individuals.

​How to Set God-Honoring Goals (And Actually Reach Them) (8 mins)

There's a big difference between setting a goal and setting a good goal. These five questions will help you craft goals that are God-honoring, specific, and achievable.

​​​

Last thing before you go...

Just wanted to remind you to register for my free Plan Your 2024 for the Glory of God Workshop next Friday.

We’ve already had over 500 people register, and our webinar platform only allows 1,000 people. So if you’re interested in coming, don’t wait to register!

And, yes, please share this with whoever you like.

Hope to see you there!

​

Reagan Rose

P.S. I'd love to hear from you. Just hit reply to let me know what you thought of this week's newsletter, share link ideas for future issues, or just say hello!

Reagan Rose

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

Take your productivity to the next level

Get the Book → Grab a copy of ​Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God​

Join the Academy → Get access to all of our courses, workshops, private community, book club, and more ​

Get 1-on-1 Coaching → Work with a Redeeming Productivity coach ​

Share with friends, get cool stuff! Have friends who'd love Reagan's Roundup too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get an awesome reward when they subscribe. I'm always testing productivity methods to try and get an edge, and I've discovered what works and what doesn't. This list is my roundup of some of the products and services I've personally found most useful for saving me time, helping me focus, and making me more productive. [RH_REFLINK GOES HERE] facebooktwitterlinkedin PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far