Dear 2013 Me,

This will be an incredible year so buckle yourself in. You will experience the 2nd birthday of your firstborn. You will experience the 1st birthday of your son. You will learn that you are due for a third. That's family life. Father's day might be overshadowed by a baby announcement. Your birthday will be overshadowed by a gender reveal. That's family life and you should start getting used to it. Oh, and start working out. Your cholesterol is bad.

But that is not all you will experience. This will be a year of intense conversation and dialogue. And I'm not even talking about the voice in your head. Time is brewing for change and the comfortable baptist church life you've been living is finally at its end. Baptism questions continue to loom but by the end of the year you'll never be able to look back to believer's baptism the way you once did. You will begin a hunt for a Presbyterian church of which to be a mere congregant. Are you ready to drop off the face of the map in church to find yourself in Christ's body? It will be a momentary turmoil. A period of self reflection and deep rooted temptation upon your pride. Stepping aside from teaching to being taught will be hard. You will be rewarded. Not with spectacular preaching or teaching, for that is not promised in the Scriptures, but with a renewed understanding that God has covenanted with you through His people to be a part of His people. This fact cannot be lost upon you though it will be lost on many others.

In turn, you should expect to receive the shock of your life concerning your interest in social matters. It will start slowly but will be a consuming fire by the end of the year. The head up your ass approach will not work any longer. You're even in the process of registering to vote. You will begin reviewing books for many great publishers. These books will bring a lot of things into your house and mind. They will induce valuable self reflection and theological musing. Your rejection of the justification centered idolatry of the church will become evident to you as the year progresses and this will fuel your social paradigm. This will be uncomfortable to you as well as detrimental to your sleep and health. Even now I cannot affirm that this issue is resolved. It certainly has not relinquished its attachment to your heart. The battle for social justice rages on and people will claim that the church should abstain from involvement. They will argue that people should subject themselves to authorities without asking the tough questions. They are most certainly wrong but this does not make you right. You will need to sit quietly and learn. You should read with extra diligence and decipher what the proper course of action is. The Bible permits defenders of justice not revolutions for humanist causes. You're possibly on your way to being a heretic. But don't stress, these things tend to work themselves out. Remember Moses and remember your baptism.

Along the way this year you will make some new friends. Most of them will not agree with you on all the things. But that's what makes society fun. All the things. New music will be excellent. You'll drink more than you should. You'll smoke less than you should. Did I mention you should start working out? You'll switch to the NASB as your go-to Bible. You'll review over a dozen children's books and read many dozens more just for kicks. You'll teach your daughter to sing Brandi Carlile. Judah is getting around to singing half of Jesus Loves Me. Your wife is reading O. Palmer Robertson. This is 2014.

- 2014 Me

P.S. The mustache will look awful but stick with it. You're still permitted to look like a fool at work and home. Enjoy it while it lasts.