The second one is to reread Francis Schaeffer?s classic The Mark of the Christian. In this book, the great intellectual makes a simple point: Without love, we can?t possibly affect the world around us. Our task in the year ahead is to love one another, love fellow citizens, and promote the common good, whether by reaching out to the lost in the prisons, fighting international sexual trafficking, or helping AIDS victims in Africa. A book I read last month by Alan Hertzke, Freeing God?s Children, tells the story of how evangelicals have changed foreign policy in these critical areas of human rights. It?s a great book, and I recommend it.

I pray that 2005 will be a year when we confound human wisdom, when we handle our increased power and influence with gentleness and reverence, and when people who are ugly toward us are won over because they see our good behavior?not a bad set of New Year?s resolutions.

And, oh yes: Have a wonderfully blessed 2005.

For further reading and information:

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BreakPoint Commentary No. 041108, ?It?s Not Payback Time: Christians and Politics as Unusual.?

BreakPoint Commentary No. 041103, ?Now That We?ve Voted: Elections and the Kingdom of God.?

Charles Colson with Anne Morse, ?Reclaiming Occupied Territory,? Christianity Today, 25 July 2004.

Francis Schaeffer, The Mark of the Christian (InterVarsity, 1984 edition).

Alan Hertzke, Freeing God?s Children (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004).

For more suggested books to read, see part 1and part 2 of this past Christmas?s book list.

To keep informed about news and trends from a Christian perspective throughout the upcoming year, be sure to subscribe to BreakPoint WorldView magazine. Call 1-877-322-5527 today!

?Setting Your Moral Compass??This CD from BreakPoint will inform you on the key moral issues today and how to think Christianly about them. It?s a useful resource for teachers and pastors, as well as all other citizens, to help you focus on the challenges ahead. Also available from BreakPoint is our ?Marriage in America? CD.