15 Predictions for 2015

Here are 15 rambling predictions for 2015. These range from personal to professional to pop culture.

1. Beth and I will have not have a kid this year. We have four. We will have no more.
2. Adnan Sayed will be released from a Maryland prison. If you haven’t been following the Serial podcast (or basically anyone I work with at LifeWay who’s on Twitter), this should catch you up.
3. Hundreds of podcasts will launch with the aim to be “the next Serial”…and they will fail. The reason they will likely fail is because they will try to copy something instead of being unique. We need more unique voices in podcasting, not more podcasts trying to do the same thing.
4. Soccer will continue its rise in popularity in the US. I’ve become completely engrossed in the beautiful game. I wake up on Saturday mornings extra early to catch Premier League games on NBC and NBC Sports. I’m predicting more Americans will as well.
5. The 2016 Presidential race will kick off and a scandal or gaffe will take out one of the early favorites. It happens almost every election cycle. Howard Dean and Herman Cain are just the most recent notable victims.
6. The country music industry will decline as a result of the rise of Bro-Country and the departure of Taylor Swift. When you lose your biggest draw (Swift) and replace her with Florida-Georgia Line, a disaster is sure to ensue.
7. Micro-entrepreneurship will become more mainstream. The rise of Pinterest and Etsy has provided both an idea factory and a delivery system for entrepreneurial spirits to flourish.
8. Internet security will continue to be a concern. After the Sony hack and seemingly retailer after retailer having their customer data breached, there will likely be more notable hacks and breaches in 2015.
9. The College Football Playoff will be tweaked. I’m not sure what exactly will happen here, but the best change that could be made would be to eliminate the weekly rankings and maybe just produce an unranked top ten. The worst change possible would be moving to eight teams.
10. Domestic abuse will become a major focus of social concern. Domestic abuse has always been a problem, but it was not as publicly discussed until the Ray Rice incident in the fall of 2014. I, unfortunately, expect more high profile cases to propel this issue to the forefront of social causes. May we listen, respond, and work to prevent domestic abuse as well as other forms of abuse.
11. More major newspapers will cease print publication. Online is the future for newspapers and news outlets. I expect to see more major metropolitan papers ending their print publications in favor of leaner online offerings.
12. One major cellular provider will go under in 2015. I’m looking at you, Sprint.
13. Due to economic collapse, Russia will withdraw from Ukraine and Crimea and Putin will be overthrown. I would not have included this until recently. Russia is in serious trouble economically.
14. Cuba will become a major tourism destination as sanctions are lifted. As President Obama relaxes economic sanctions on the island just 90 miles to our south, travel and tourism will boom for Cuba. As a result, there will be more openness for the gospel to be preached among a people who’ve been predominantly closed off to missions efforts in the past.
15. I will blog more in 2015 than 2014. This one is done, since I didn’t really blog at all in 2014—something I’ll discuss tomorrow on the blog—in post #2 for 2015.

What predictions for 2015 would you add?