New Year Resolutions Are Stupid, So I'm Taking a Challenge Instead

I've never been one to make New Year resolutions. I really can't remember ever setting any up for myself. I guess that means I've always thought they were stupid.

We all know that those who do make a New Year resolution are just setting themselves up for failure. We even joke about it. Instead of asking what someone's resolution is or how they're doing at keeping it, we're more likely to ask when they broke it.

So for 2018 (and any future year you care to insert here), why not take a challenge instead of making a resolution?

10 Things That Will Soon Disappear Forever (According to Kiplinger)

In early December of 2017, I read this slideshow (hopefully it’s still there for you) that listed what a couple of Kiplinger writers thought would soon disappear from everyday living for most people relatively soon.

I realized immediately that I needed to comment on the items they chose because there are some that many people should already know about, some that I hadn’t really thought about (and are likely correct), and one that is technically wrong.

The 4 Worst Christmas Songs

Every genre of music has lots of good songs as well as its share of crud. Christmas songs, sadly, are no exception.

What makes a song good or bad is largely a matter of taste, but not entirely. There are some qualities of a piece of music, especially music with lyrics, that make them objectively good or bad at least to some degree.

If the lyrics of such songs are simply not true, that makes a song bad. If they are terribly inappropriate for their setting, that makes the song bad. If they obviously have been changed from the original text for no obvious reason without making the lyrics better, then the change has made them worse.

With those premises in place, I offer to you the 4 worst Christmas songs of which I know. I’m sure I could have come up with more (and please do) if I had thought longer about this, but it wasn’t worth investing any more time into this project after these titles almost immediately popped into my head.

Provz for Treps (and the People Who Love Them)

When you read the headline above, you may have thought, “Really?” Or you might have said, “That’s silly.” Or maybe you whispered, “Dorbz.”

If that last one was you, you’re the one I wrote that headline for.

That doesn’t mean that this article isn’t for everyone. It is. Well, nearly everyone. It’s especially directed at entrepreneurs - treps, for short. Businessmen and businesswomen in general will probably find it useful. If you don’t consider yourself to be in any of those categories, you still can definitely glean something from what will follow and apply it to yourself.

Possibly the only people who won’t benefit even in the least from this are those who think proverbs - the Book of Proverbs, in particular - are a bunch of hogwash. Then again, if that’s you, read on anyway. You might be surprised.

Enough Reformation Already

Now that Lutherans (and others) have celebrated the 500th anniversary of what is commonly known as the start of the Lutheran Reformation, I think it's time to put the event to rest.

I'm serious about this, even though I do call myself a Lutheran. This is not an article that belongs at The Onion or The Babylon Bee.

I call myself a Lutheran because I am a member of a Lutheran (WELS) church. I much prefer to call myself a Christian and not confuse people by saying "Lutheran" or even worse (that is, more confusing) "Wisconsin Synod Lutheran".

Martin Luther (not Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) never liked the term Lutheran. Would he approve of keeping the celebration of Reformation Day alive for over 500 years? I obviously can't say for sure, but I kinda think he wouldn't.

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing whatsoever against the biblical teachings that Luther promoted. I have nothing against what preachers preach on Reformation Sunday. The only thing I'm saying should be done is to cancel Reformation Day and add another week to Pentecost in the lectionary. (See pages 163-166 in Christian Worship.)

Fourth Time = The Charm?

It's late. I probably shouldn't be creating my first post on this new blog so late at night.

But it doesn't really matter that much, does it? Besides, I'm eager to see if it looks nice and if the IFTTT connection to Facebook is working properly.

This is now my fourth attempt at a personal blog. You can still find the previous three "out there", if you look hard enough. After all, anything once posted on the Internet will never, ever go away.

From time to time, I find myself wanting to expound upon some topic, and Facebook (or Google+ or multiple Twitter posts) just isn't the right place for it. A person really needs a personal blog like this (these days) to get the kinds of thoughts I'm thinking "out there" where everyone and his brother can read them.