Word of the year 2026
I'm not much of a "word of the year" guy.
Don't misunderstand me. I like words, especially great words like "haberdasher" and "fluxomed" and "denouement" and "sardonic". I learned from Frederick Buechner that words don't just say something, they DO something.
Still, the "word of the year" practice has always seemed a little corny, a little gimmicky, a little ostentatious.
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The first time I can remember wanting to "be" something was in Mrs. Combs 3rd grade classroom. I had read some short story or exposition on John Kennedy and, assassination aside, thought how nice it might be to live a life that makes a difference, particularly for people whose lives make no difference.
So, 8 year old Nicholas figured he would aspire to a seat behind the Resolute desk.
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When I was called into ministry, I wanted to be a great preacher. I have a pretty good memory, a naturally brooding disposition that borders on pensive at times, and, for anyone who has been around me, a voice that "carries”.
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2025 was a year I sort of did and yet did not see coming. "A man's heart plans his life, but the Lord directs his steps" if Proverbs 16:9 is to be believed.
Recently, I saw a preview for a movie about the life of the great George Whitfield and his role in the Great Awakening. I had tears rolling down my cheeks by the end of the 3-minute trailer.
My spirit anticipates the birth of a Great Shakening (which of course is not a word but seems to better capture what is coming better than 'shaking' ever could) in the Church.
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Four years ago, in a time of deep prayer, I wrote down words that I was certain I had heard from God. I've never told anyone about them but my wife no doubt noticed them, scribbled on a note card and hanging above my desk. It was exactly 10 words.
Here they are.
"Something is coming soon, my son.
You must be ready."
Oh, don't worry. I wasn't envisioning scenes from Left Behind, although I must confess I am a bit of a cinephile with End Times movies and enjoy the genre for my own reasons.
God wasn't speaking to me about the end of anything but the beginning of something. What, exactly, remains to be revealed. But at least part of it includes the work I intend to do through Shake the Gates, an initiative I have recently launched to preach the great liberty and hope of holy living; to teach, train, and equip pastors and churches how to think and live biblically; and to coach young people on how to live lives of obedience to God's word. Among other things.
I don't expect this work to be well-received by a large number of progressive Christians. I already have the DMs and anonymous emails to prove it.
So, if I am to offer much at all, I'll need to significantly strengthen certain unshakeable qualities in my soul.
Which leads me to My Word of the Year for 2026, a word we could stand to hear more often in churches these days --
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Dwight Moody said he once heard Henry Varley declare, "The world has yet to see what God will do through a man fully consecrated to Him", a statement which charted the course of Moody's life from that moment forward.
I still want to make a difference.
I still want to be a great preacher.
I still believe the historic doctrine of holiness, though jettisoned by much of the modern Wesleyan world, is the ultimate end of humanity (O. Chambers' words, not mine).
But God doesn't need difference makers or preachers or holiness theologians, at least not at first.
God needs men and women who will do what God has sort of only ever asked men and women to do: obey His commands.
So, there it is.
My Word of the Year for 2026 is: Obey.
God has spoken? I will obey.
God speaks? I will obey.
God asks me to flip my life upside down? I will obey.
From the song many of us learned as children:
"Trust and obey,
For there's no other way,
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and OBEY!"