I’ll be driving up today from St. Louis to Chicago, now that Urbana 2015 is over. It was a very amazing conference where God’s grace shined through over and over again. I’m a bit overwhelmed, and I’m actually grateful for the five-hour drive that will allow me to process and reflect on messages I heard over the course of this past week. I tweeted out succinct summaries and excerpts from Urbana here. 
   I’ll post further my pastoral reflections on the conference (or was it a revival service? retreat?) when I get back to Chicago. Let me just say that there were some powerful testimonies and preaching going on throughout these four jam-packed days. The witness of the persecuted church worldwide reminded me of Paul’s devotion in Philippians 1:20b: ὡς πάντοτε καὶ νῦν μεγαλυνθήσεται Χριστὸς ἐν τῷ σώματί μου, εἴτε διὰ ζωῆς εἴτε διὰ θανάτου (“Now and as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether through life or by death“).
   So until my next post, I want to send my New Years greetings to all readers of this blog: May the Lord Jesus keep your light burning bright through 2016!

PS: FYI, 2016 happens to be the Year of the Monkey! My wife and I were both born in the year of the monkey way back in (secret!). I hope it will be a great year of experiencing God for both of us and all of you