Happy New Year! It’s 2023 and Gaming & God is back to share the gospel to gamers and non-gamers. I have many plans that I hope to see come through, and this time I want to be more intentional and disciplined with what I want to accomplish.

So much has changed in my life in 2022 that prevented me from putting more energy and time into this ministry. My wife and I have a toddler which has kept me busy, I retired from teaching at a charter school to now work on our ecommerce business full-time and coaching on the side. My health has improved as we worked with a fantastic nutrition/fitness coach to get in shape (we lost over 40 pounds between the two of us!). We traveled to Colombia to visit my wife’s family and did some home remodeling so you can imagine that I had little time to write!

Gaming took a step back last year, not because I lack the desire to pick up the controller but for the time it takes to get through a game. We all have the same 24 hours to live, but I haven’t been managing mine very well by going to bed late, wasting time on social media, or not getting up early enough. I’ve decided to make changes by reading books on improving discipline and habits like Atomic Habits, going to bed earlier and not writing when I am tired. These are changes I’ve wanted to make for years but haven’t done the proper restructuring in my life.

On my mission statement, I started this blog to serve the gaming community as a ministry, but not just with articles. I will lay out more of what I mean by that here, but just shifting my mindset from blog to ministry and reminding myself why I even started is what I want to focus on in 2023.

I’ve tried several methods to reach gamers over the years, from attending a local con and sharing the gospel on a panel I hosted, making content for social media, reviews and previews, writing for similar ministries and more. Going back to what has worked and seeing how else I can minister to fellow geeks and gamers is what I’ve been praying about. Doubting myself and thinking that I’m not bringing anything meaningful to the conversation is where I’ve failed, when I should be thinking more positively and trusting God that He’s with me and guiding me. I may get burned out, make mistakes, or not see the fruit that I believe I should be seeing, but I will never know how He is using what I’m putting out there to share Christ with others if I do nothing.

This year, 2023, I want to develop and concentrate on so many areas of Gaming & God that I’m not sure I will get to them all but doing a post like this helps me be accountable and is a place to gauge my progress. Some of these goals, for me at least, will be a stretch to imagine I can do them but let’s see how the year goes!

Philippians 4:11–13
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Main Goals For Gaming & God In 2023

• Writing is at the top of my list, and I hope to produce 1 blog post per week. That could be a game or character analysis, short podcast episodes with Daily Nerd Devo, reviews, Retro Gaming Club, interviews or even a video for my instagram.

• Publish my monthly newsletter! I want to change how I”ve done it in the past and make sure it goes out at the beginning of the month to go over what’s happened on the site and what’s coming up.

• Finish reviewing games, manga and books that I’ve yet to complete. I feel bad for never getting around to them, but I need to keep my commitment and complete them.

• Post more on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I use Hootsuite so it pushes to all three at once so it’s much easier that way, but to grow that following and bring readers back here, I need that to boost. It’s essentially how I am marketing what I am doing.

• Streaming on Twitch weekly. I would like to do one weekend stream and a weekly one, that way I can get through some backlogged games, chat with the gaming community and be a light in a dark place.

Stretch Goals For 2023

• Grow a team of volunteers that can contribute or help manage the blog/ministry. I still receive guest posts from time to time, but it’s not consistent and that’s because I myself wasn’t consistent! Who wants to be part of something that isn’t doing much? With the momentum I hope to create with the above goals, this one God willing can happen.

• Create a Patreon to pay for the annual WordPress cost. I use wordpress to host this site and all it’s content, but that isn’t free and for years I’ve paid it, but there may be readers out there who would like to support the ministry and if I can get to point where that is paid for it would be nice. It would also motivate me to be more disciplined because people out there are paying for this to continue, and I don’t play with people’s money like that!

• Be a guest on a few podcasts. This one would be fun as I enjoy chatting about gaming and interacting with gamers. I’ve been on a few of them already and am now able to release some short episodes of my own with Daily Nerd Devo.

Wow, I think I have given myself enough to work on! I could think of a few more things, but I need to save something for 2024 right? Let me know in the comments what you think of these goals or what did you do for New Years. Thanks for reading and keep on gaming!