Thad's Take

Just wanted to throw out a quick thought for you to ponder. I’d love to hear what you think. What do you think Jesus was trying to teach us in Matthew 6:1-8? And how does that apply to the digital world we live in?

The last few weeks I’ve been planning and thinking a lot about what 2012 will/could/should look like. While lost in dreaming stage I went through my “favorites” tab in my web browser and here was the link to my web site. I had to laugh! 2011 didn’t exactly see me take time to write here much at all. The irony in that is when I started this site my goal was to use it to be helpful to people. Hence the title of this blog “Thoughts about life, ministry and getting better.”   I realized  this past year it wasn’t much help. So if you’ve been checking back periodically, I know a few have, I apologize. In 2012 one of the things I want to focus on is helping as many people as possible.  Maybe that comes in the form of a simple encouraging word, a posted bible verse or just a conversation starter that we all can glean from. I’m sure through out the year I’ll have many things to share and my hope is that you’ll come along for the ride what ever they may be. Blogs are just so much fun when you interact with them. So, I invite you to be active! Comment and share the posts, let me and everyone who reads know what you think. I’m really looking forward to what this year has in store for all of us. Happy  New Year! I pray this year is the best we’ve ever had!

“Lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly.” Ephesians 4:15

Choosing how we live our lives is an interesting topic. In a recent message I said something like, “live with no regrets” maybe not those exact words but something close to it. Then a few days later in conversation with one of our ESM students they referenced what I said and followed with I’m happy with my life, I don’t have any regrets. It was right then I realized that saying “live with no retreats” is completely the wrong way to live a life. As I read this verse in Ephesians today, the weight of what that student said really hit me. See to have regret is to be looking backward on what has happened in the past. When your young most haven’t had the experiences or the wisdom to even realize the mistakes, or errant decisions. So naturally there would be “no regrets”. It’s not just a student or young persons issue though. Everyday we see people of all ages making horrible decisions with their life and they seem as happy as can be. It’s only after time has past and the action is far from reversible do we realize that we have made a poor decision. Then we’re left to deal with the consequences. So this live with no regrets motto, while I understand it’s intended meaning, is actually a terrible way to go about life. So in it’s place I think we would do our selves good to adopt the “truly” model of life found in Ephesians. Speak truly, deal truly, live truly. With these 3 components in place you’ll never have to worry about looking back someday in regret. In fact with doing these things you might not even be looking back at all. You’ll be to busy enjoying the life you have created. When it comes to speaking truly, dealing truly, and living truly, there are two types of people, those who can be counted on and those who are counted out. Don’t let yourself fall into that second category. Do what you say you’ll do, be where you say you’ll be and live how you say you’ll live. Then, you can elimanate the word regret from your vocabulary.

I’m not sure why this phrase is bugging me soo much lately. But it seems like I’ve heard someone say it at least a few times a day over the past few days. It’s driving me nuts. It was capped off by my very own child last night. He did not do what his mom asked him to do, so his punishment was to go to bed early. To which his reply  was “that’s not fair”. Are you kidding me? Not fair? Maybe because he’s a kid there is a little grace… not much but maybe a little. You might expect that from a kid. However you would think that the “not fair” mentality would be a phase that you would grow out of. If you thought that, well you would be thinking wrong. I was talking to a full-blown adult the other day and they were telling me about a situation their going through and bam there it was, they said it “that’s not fair”.   I just wanted to pull my hair out. You make a decision, it doesn’t work, you get the consequences of your decision. That’s just life! Now don’t get to worked up about that last statement. I know somethings happen to you because of other people’s choices, and that can be a raw deal. That’s not what I’m talking about here. However, even in that sereno this still holds true… Life isn’t fair! You need to get over it. I like how Jesus said it in Matthew 5:11 

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. ¹² Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

Here’s the loose interpretation,  Your blessed when life isn’t fair. Yes people are going to say mean things about you and treat you poorly. Jesus said be glad for it. Your reward is coming in heaven. So please stop whining about fair. We already know “that’s not fair”

I got this question the other day and it’s not the first time I’ve gotten a question like this. So I thought I’d share. Family relationships are worth saving!

(Edited to protect identity)

well, i’ll get to the point :my older sis is going down a bad road. I feel like i dont know her, she’s not the same at all. She’s living with our gma, and her bf, told me earlier this year to “stay out of your sisters business. What she does is none of your concern” and some more. Our parents taught us not to move in unmarried and have self respect. She’s letting him degrade her, giving him all of her, and they’re moving in. She lies all the time, cusses, calls her family names, and shows disrespect. I dont think she knows God’s love anymore
I know i should love her, and i do, but i cant feel bad for her. She’s hurt me beyond repair, even if i wanted to reconnect.

Here was my response:

It’s good to hear from you! It sounds like you’re in a tough situation. These things are never fun to deal with. However, I want to encourage you, don’t give up! You may be the only light your sister will see. The way you treat her not only reflects on you, but on Christ as he works through you! It’s alright to disagree with people’s decisions and to tell them you disagree with their action. But to write them off and disconnect from them isn’t how God wants us to act. As I think about this situation my thoughts are drawn to the Bible story about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11). Many of the towns people wanted stone her for her decisions. But Jesus said to them, V.7 If any one of you is without sin throw the first stone. I’m not in any way condoning your sisters actions, but she needs love and forgiveness. Because Jesus was kind to the woman it gave him the opportunity to then say in V.11 Leave your life of sin. Heres a rule of life I’ve learned it might help you out too. It’s simply this: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. To just tell your sister how wrong she is will only drive a wedge into your relationship. Show her how much you care about her and I’ll bet there will be an opportunity for you to speak into her life about the issues she might need to work on.

We have started a video Q&A thing on the ESM facebook page HERE. But I though it might be helpful to other people, so I’ll post the video’s here as well.

If you have any follow up questions or Just a question that you’d like answered feel free to send me a message and you just might see your question on a video soon!

p.thad

It’s almost 1am and I haven’t written anything in a while, bad combination. Even so, I press on. As Christmas and the new year is just around the corner, I find my self thinking about things I don’t think about any other time of year. I was studying for the message at ESM this past week and reading the birth story of Jesus found in Matthew 1. It really hit me for some reason, Jesus isn’t normal. I know that may sound silly, but the way in which he came into the world is far from normal! Everything in his life from that point had no chance of being normal. While other kids might be running around and playing, you find Jesus in the temple… not normal. So many instances and displays of un-normal behavior from Jesus. There’s a point… I’ll get to it now. I can sometimes be awkward and feel out-of-place. I find myself in situations that seem far from normal. I’m so glad Jesus is an abnormal savior! He specializes in abnormal situations. If Jesus was just a “run of the mill” normal, average, human there might not be any hope for the awkward. Here’s the take away: If you’re in an awkward situation, feeling like this just can’t be normal, be encouraged! Jesus was born just for you. He takes awkward, broken, un-normal people and makes them shine.

Not exactly sure why I felt like I need to share that, but there I did. See Awkward…..

p.thad