I will wish everyone a Happy New Year. 2018  A.D. , which stands for anno Domini, which means "in the year of the Lord," or as some would say, "in the year of our Lord."  As I have previously stated, some would now write 2018 C.E., for Common Era.  Time is still divided by one event in history, the birth of Christ, no matter whether people attempt to change the designation of that event or not.  The Jewish calender does not acknowledge the fact of the birth of Jesus as the birth of the Messiah, so there is no division in their calendar, so it would seem that those who do not want to acknowledge the birth of Christ would just follow the Jewish calender.  Even if they don't want to do that, then they could interpret it as the Lord, and not our Lord. The only thing separating C.E. , or Common Era, from B.C.E., Before Common Era, is the same event that separates B.C., Before Christ, from A.D., and that is the birth of Jesus, the Christ.  Nothing else makes it a common era.  Even when writing A.D., which we usually do not even add, there is a difference between the Lord and our Lord.  Whether Jesus is just the Lord or our Lord makes all the difference.  The fact of the birth of Christ cannot be denied, but for many, He is not their Lord, no matter the designation written after the date.  For the birth of Jesus to really have meaning, He must be our Lord, and if He is such, then we will always be living in the year of our Lord, no matter what people write after the date.  So, as followers of Christ, what we do in His year should be directed by Him.  I know it is the time to make resolutions, most of which are soon forgotten, but we as His followers need to resolve to make it Christ's year in fact and not just in statement alone.  Every year since the birth of Christ has been a year of the Lord in fact, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.  We need to follow what Christ calls us to do, everyday of this new year.  We must be a witness for Christ in the lost world.  Even as those of the world attempt to remove any reference to Christ from everything, we as His followers must make sure that we proclaim Him in all that we do.  If we can do that, any other resolution will be unimportant in comparison.  Yes, there are things that we can do that make life better in this world, relating simply to the material or physical aspects of life, but only those things that we do for Christ, our Lord if we are His followers, will really have lasting value.  So, may we as followers of Christ make 2018 truly be a year of our Lord.