It is the beginning of a new year, with all that represents: new sermon series; starting a new calendar; remembering to write "95" instead of "94."

A new year is a time to look forward, at all the potential the new year holds. That's why we make new year's resolutions -- January brings a feeling of a fresh start, and we can think in terms of getting a new beginning on all those things in which we fell short last year. This year I'm going to discipline my time better -- even better than I was going to discipline my time last year! This year I'm really going to lose those pounds I only said I was going to lose last January!

The beginning of a new year is also a time to look back and reflect on the people and events which played a part in your life and ministry. Can you think of some special people who made a real contribution to your life during the past year?

I am thankful for all of those who make this publication possible: the writers who share their work with fellow ministers; the folks who work in our office, making sure we keep accurate subscriber lists and files and all those countless other details that are never seen but without which we would quietly fold our tents and disappear; for our typesetter, who has typeset and pasted-up every word of this publication since day one, and whose retirement this year is going to mean a whole new ball game for us in producing Preaching. These and so many more people make this publication possible.

As I look back and reflect, I am also thankful for the lives of some friends we have lost. In recent months, three brothers who contributed to this publication went to be with the Lord. D. E. King, who for many years was pastor of the great Monumental Baptist Church in Chicago, was one of our original Contributing Editors, and was also a featured speaker at our very first National Conference on Preaching back in 1989. I still remember hearing him preach while I was a seminarian; he was one of the most powerful preachers I have been blessed to encounter.

This fall we lost two active contributors: John Bishop, who for more than five years has written most of our "Past Masters" columns and whose insights have been a blessing to his fellow preachers; and Harold Perdue, who has been a regular writer for our "From the Lectionary" section for several years. Both of them helped make my job easier and your reading more beneficial, and we will miss them.

We all stand on the shoulders of giants, enabling us to look ahead even farther than we otherwise could. As I look ahead to a fresh year -- during which Preaching will complete ten years of publication -- I see new faces coming on the scene to "stand in the gap." As 1995 begins, I am excited about the unseen blessings yet to be received: new people who will be a part of this work, new preachers who will emerge to become models for the rest of us, new experiences that God will use in our lives to strengthen and encourage us to greater effectiveness.

It's going to be a good year.