Excited?

Last week I tweeted:

The interview, by the way, was this one, and if you haven’t yet signed up for Kutoa, what’s taking you so long? In any case, Tim Challies responded to my tweet:

That surprised me, so I consulted with my wife, who confirmed that I am indeed not always the excitable type. Maybe it’s my Canadian reserve, or temperament, or maybe I was just dropped on my head, but there it is. And, as they say, it is what it is. I’ll probably never look much more excited than I already do.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not excited. I do actually get excited, though, particularly about a few things. Not all of them are the right things, but here’s a short list of what excites me, and these things (with the possible exception of one) are worth it.

Preaching — I’m excited about the faithful preaching of God’s Word. I love hearing it. I love doing it. There’s nothing quite like it.

Church Planting — I’m excited about churches being planted to teach the thousands of people who have never heard the gospel.

Church Revitalization — I get excited about those who are able to lead old churches into new life.  I love seeing churches reborn.

Theology — I’m excited about a generation of serious thinkers who can apply timeless truth to the challenges of today. I’ve never forgotten John Stott’s prayer:

I pray earnestly that God will raise up today a new generation of Christian apologists or Christian communicators, who will combine an absolute loyalty to the biblical gospel and an unwavering confidence in the power of the Spirit with a deep and sensitive understanding of the contemporary alternatives to the gospel; who will relate the one to the other with freshness, authority, and relevance; and who will use their minds to reach other minds for Christ.

Technology  — I’m excited about creative uses of technology, which is one of the reasons I like Kutoa so much, I think.

Writing — I’m excited about using the written word to communicate what matters most.

Family — I’m excited about watching my kids mature. I’m excited about spending the rest of my life with my wife, getting old and still having things to talk about.

The Gospel — I remember pastoring and living before I was captivated by the beauty of the gospel and its application to all of life, and I don’t want to go back. I never want to lose sight of what Jesus did, or have it grow old.

There’s more, particularly about raising up other pastors and leaders, and working with others for the advance of the gospel, but that’s a start.

It’s actually a good exercise to think about what excites you, and then to evaluate if these are the things that really matter.  It’s been good for me.

Excited? I’m pretty sure I’ll never be the excitable type, but these are the things that do excite me, and they’re what I’d love to spend the rest of my life doing.