I have been spending the first 30-some hours of ’08 evaluating.  Evaluating myself really.  Where am I and where do I want to be?  What is it that God wants to use me for?  What is his big vision for my life and ministry in 2008?  As I have been doing that I found a couple of posts from other blogs that really hit home.

The first was from Dave Ferguson of Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL and the Velocity blog.  He listed 6 questions that he asks himself in evaluating himself and redirecting his direction for the coming year.  They are:

1. What is my purpose?
2. What is my passion?
3.  What are the positions I hold?
4. What are the possibilities for my future?
5. What is the path for making that future possible?
6. What is my plan for the coming year?

I thought I would take some time and answer the first 4 questions for myself here, and hopefully you will as well…

1. What is my purpose?
I haven’t spent much time until recently thinking through a personal purpose statement.  It is still a work in progress. “To be in tune with God’s Spirit with my family, both at home and at church, while leading people into a deeper connection with Christ and with one another.”

2. What is my passion?
Jesus, My family, church, community impact

3. What positions do I hold?
With Jesus – follower
With my family – I am a husband and father
With my church – minister of connections, visionary
With my community –  responsible servant

4. What are the possibilities for my future?
One of the things about leadership is that our positions don’t just impact those directly involved in each  passion, but they impact all the others.  Especially, in terms of my community impact.  I can use my influence as a father to impact the relationship I have with my daughter’s school staff.  I can use my position as minister of connections to impact the lives of those in need in my community by connecting other followers of Christ to needs in our community.  I want my life to be one always outwardly focused, trying to determine how I can leverage my gifts and possessions to impact those around me and leading others to that life as well.

The other 2 questions I am formulating into a plan for the coming year and beyond.  I will leave you with thoughts for the year from Mark Batterson of National Community Church, Washington D.C.

” Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.”

Happy New Year!