I Will Sing of the Goodness of God
Reflections on 2024
What’s on my mind this last morning of the year?
Well, it’s the new hymn we learned a year or so ago called The Goodness of God. I’m thankful we’ve worked it in our rotation at Cornerstone — and sometimes I wish we’d sing it every week. There are a number of new hymns we’ve brought in over the last few years, all of which really move me in worship and praise — and this is definitely one of them. If you’re not familiar with the hymn, here are the lyrics.1
I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I've been held in Your hand
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God'Cause all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of GodI love Your voice
You have lead me through the fire
In darkest nights
You are close like no other
I've known You as a father
I've known You as a friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God (hey)'Cause all my life You have been faithful (oh yes, You have)
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of GodYour goodness is running after
Is running after me
Your goodness is running after
Is running after me
With my life laid down
I surrender now
I give You everything, oh Lord
Your goodness is running after
Is running after meYour goodness is running after (oh yeah)
(It's running after me)
Your goodness (is running after)
It's running after me
With my life laid down (I surrender now)
I give You everything (everything)
Your goodness is running after
It's running after meAnd all my life You have been faithful, mmm
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God
I'm gonna singAll my life You have been faithful (all of my life You've been faithful)
All my life You have been so, so good (so good with every breath)
Every breath that I am able (every breath I'm able)
I will sing (I'm gonna sing)
Of the goodness of God (of the goodness of God, yes I am)
I will sing of the goodness of God
Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God
Looking back over 2024
2024 is my 50th year of life. It’s been hard to adjust mentally to this new decade of living. I remember my dad turning 50 and thinking he was so old — now that its here for me — I’ve decided to rethink that. It is also the 30th year of my marriage and the 30th year of my preaching career. None of it seems possible. All I know is that I have been extremely blessed as I look back — with a beautiful, faithful, and sweet wife — two amazing kids — and wonderful relationships with numerous brethren across the US and beyond that I’ve come to know and love through all these years.
Ministry Work
2024 was a great year at Cornerstone. We baptized 12 people — the majority of which are from the local community. Several of them are now new members with us and I’ve been so encouraged to see how they’ve fit right into the family. We also added a number of new families from the local area who decided to place membership with us. They are all such an encouragement to us as they’ve rolled up their sleeves and gone to work in the kingdom alongside us.
It is safe to say that the diminished meeting work and guest speaker opportunities of the COVID years has passed. 2024 took me to Columbus, OH for the Ohio Winter Lectures in January; Pittsfield, Maine in May; Springhill, Louisiana in July; Waterford, Michigan in September; Little Rock, Arkansas in October; and Chillicothe, Ohio in November. I so enjoyed being with brethren in these places and was encouraged by the work that is going on. My 2025 travel schedule is already full — with places from Tampa to Seattle to Texas, Tennessee and several places in between on the schedule.
This year was also a comeback for me with published writing. For the first 3-4 years of my work in Ohio I published a blog called Allen Bible Resources. It had quite a following. Somehow the wordpress file got corrupted and I had to shut it down — and never got back to a blog until this year. 10 years ago, I published the book From Fear to Faith, which has received some renewed interest over the last year or two as brotherhood discussions over grace continue to wax and wane. This year things picked up again on that subject, and I felt a blog with the name From Fear to Faith would not only highlight my past work on the subject of grace, but my current writing as well.
And your response has been amazing — and for that I’m thankful. Your encouragement means so much and reminds me that we are not alone in the pursuit of freedom given to us by Christ at the cross.
Another highlight of ministry work this year has been the two trips we did to North Carolina for flood relief. Your generosity was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations and took food, blankets, generators, cleaning supplies, and just about anything else you can think of in meeting that need and took it all to two different places that were hard hit by the hurricane. The devastation we witnessed was biblical in proportion. The hearts of the people impacted were genuinely touched by your generosity. There were 14 people, at least, who went from Cornerstone to help deliver these things. I think it is safe to say our lives were forever changed by what we witnessed.
Publishing Work
This year I published two workbooks through Spiritbuilding:
I am in the finishing stage of a project that I began in 2023 — a book on salvation that is a more comprehensive followup to From Fear to Faith. I’ve taught the material twice this year - in adult and teen settings. I’m hoping to have this published during the 1st quarter of 2025.
As always I have a number of other projects in the cue for publishing in the new year. Hoping time will allow me to get them finished and out for distribution.
Personally
Our family grew by one this year! Our son Zack got married in April to Tamera Taylor of Corbin, KY. She is such a sweet and beautiful young woman — and we’re thankful to have her in the family. In June Zack and Tam moved back to Ohio from Nashville and now live in Centerville. It is so nice to have them (and our grandpuppies) home. Our daughter Emilea got a wonderful opportunity to get a new job (the one she’s always wanted) at a children’s hospital in Orlando where she works as a pediatric physical therapist. She also works in the NICU at the hospital and is also an assistant professor at the University of St. Augustine. We miss her — but she is a Florida girl now.
We lost our precious dachshund Frankie in October. He was 14. He leaves a large absence around here — especially for his little sister Lily. Weeks after his death, she would go around the house howling when no one was upstairs. She had hardly spent a day of her life without him. So just before Thanksgiving we brought Oliver home, who was a 5 month old red and white miniature dachshund. Lily is still warming up to him.
Becky and I had a tremendous year with Spiritbuilding. Sales were up and so was our travel. Between late January and mid October we attended events in Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Did I mention Tennessee? We did at least 6 events in that state this year. I put over 30 K miles on the truck I bought in June — and we probably did 15-20 K on Becky’s truck as well. It was our pleasure to meet so many of you in person — and we’ve been blessed by your encouragement.
Here Comes 2025
So here we are … at the end of another year and all I can think about is the goodness of God. What a wonderful blessing it is to know Him as a Father and a Friend. And to know, that no matter what challenges come in ‘25, He will always be true to who He is, and lead us through as we move closer to eternity with Him.
Thank you for being such an encouragement to me!
May God richly bless your new year!
Songwriters: Jason David Ingram, Brian Johnson, Edmond Martin Cash, Benjamin David Fielding, Jenn Johnson.