Happy New Year! Not only is this New Year's Day but it is also my Birthday. Not my physical birthday but my spiritual birthday. 8 years ago today the Lord effectually drew me to himself. Actually, if I were to be speaking theologically my actual "new birth-day" probably came some time before January 1st. Nonetheless, January 1st is the day that my eyes were opened to see the beauty of Christ.

There are not many blog posts yet to speak of, so this will be short.

One quote that gripped me this morning was by Ray Ortlund. In his Happy New Year post he encourages us with these words: "Yes, we live in an age of deep darkness. But so did the apostles. They did not moan, 'What's the world coming to?'They shouted, 'Look what's come to the world!'" This serves as a reminder that God is still on His throne. No matter how dark the world gets we must remember--greater is He.

Another great thing to remember this year is this quote by C.J. Mahaney: “If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be.” (HT: Of First Importance)

Timmy Brister posts a completed year in review with all of the statistics for his blog, and links to all of his posts. As I am fairly new to his blog, I find some of the titles quite intriguing and will probably check a few out.

Nathan Busenitz compiles Edwards' resolutions into a Top Ten list. He also reminds us that our resolutions should look more like the God-centered resolves of men like Edwards than the shallow man-centered promises of the world.

Perhaps you have noticed the new title to this blog. If you were expecting to end up at FBC New London do not freak out--it's still us! However, because our hope is to extend far beyond our local community we have decided to make a change to the blog title. Borrowed Light will be our new blog title. Where does this come from?

If you have ever read the biography of Jonathan Edwards (or other great men of God like Whitefield, Spurgeon, McCheyne, etc.) then hopefully you have experienced the humbling and silencing benefit of comparing your own walk with these "giants". In fact one man that I consider a "giant" in the faith is Robert Murray McCheyne. Apparently, he felt the same humbling experience when reading Edwards. On March 20, 1832 after reading part of the Life of Jonathan Edwards, McCheyne then comments, "How feeble my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."

Therefore, I have chosen this title because of my tendency to revere such great men and women in history. It is a constant reminder to us all that their light is only borrowed and that the true source of light is Jesus Christ. It is also an encouragement; whenever I read of the vibrant relationship such men had with our God I can remember that the same Jesus is readily available to me! It is my prayer that the purpose of this blog (moreover my life) might always be to draw near unto God and enjoy this Great Light!