Gratitude

by Andrew Cromwell

Just three days ago we celebrated a holiday which, for many, involved gathering with friends and family, eating oneself into a stupor and then crashing in front of the television. For some, the additional caloric intake was designed to prepare them for the exertion of racing down the aisles in search of the “best deals of the year” during the Black Friday frenzy. For others, the food was a drug designed to lessen the impact of being face to face with the family members seen once a year.

But of course, Thanksgiving is not about the food, although in my house it is an incredible excuse of it! And, it is most definitely not about the shopping, as much as our retailers try to convince us it is so. It is not even about family, although being with family, is most certainly a highlight of the holiday.

We all know this—Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. Many of us usually remember to take at least a moment and say thanks to God, and if not that, at least thanks to friends and family for being there. And if the holiday is only that, then it is certainly not wasted, but I would argue that it misses something of what it could be.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to highlight an attitude that we should seek to carry continually in our lives, not just once a year. We should seek to carry this “attitude of gratitude” wherever we go.

The Jewish sages of old taught that it was impossible for an individual to be truly thankful to God without first being thankful for one’s immediate family. I believe that part of the reason they said this is because when it comes to God, He’s the one who is in the position of power and authority. We must be grateful to Him, anyone who is not, doesn’t understand that He could squash us all like ants!

Being thankful to someone who is powerful, is very easily lip service. We say thank you because we must. Like children who are taught to say “please” and “thank you” but say it because if they don’t they will get smacked, we often say thanks to God because He is the powerful One who is out there and we feel we must.

But to be thankful to those who are around you who are not powerful, those who rub you the wrong way and who you see at their worst, that is required for true thankfulness.  For then you are being grateful to people who you know are imperfect. And to be thankful to them, requires more than lip service. It requires an acknowledgement that you need the people around you for you cannot do it on your own. To say that to God is relatively pretty easy, to say that to your spouse sometimes is not.

But this is the way we are all supposed to live always, not just one day a year. Living in an attitude of continual thanksgiving, remembering that everything we have and everything we are is possible because of other people and because of God the Father.

But how quickly we forget.

Give Thanks

by Tim Howard

Maybe this isn’t true for you but when the fall season begins and November rolls around – my thinking begins to revolve around Thanksgiving. For me, it’s not just about a one day event to celebrate with family and friends but a month long endeavor to give thanks for what we have. Each year at this time I make a dedicated effort to remind myself of all the things I possess that money can’t buy and then verbalize my thanks. Sometimes I say thanks to God directly and other times I share my thanks with people. Every time I do this – without fail – I realize I am rich. You don’t have to have a stockpile of money, investments, a 401K or a lot of stuff to be rich or thankful!

As a young boy my parents taught me the words: ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You.’ Please is a request and ‘thank you’ is the proper response when you receive that, which you requested.

I in turn, as a parent have tried to teach my children and now my grandson the same three words. I realize they are more than mere pleasantries when spoken.  They plant seeds within a person that can activate and shape a positive attitude.  Saying “please” can guard you from an attitude of entitlement and keep you from developing a demanding spirit.  Expressing thanks in verbal form can develop a grateful heart and create a spirit of appreciation.

In this season of Thanksgiving it is easy to lose a sense of gratitude when we forget how blessed we all are.  This is precisely what happened in the Old Testament when people forgot God’s goodness. Psalm 106, beginning in verse 12, God summarizes this unhappy time in history by saying:  "They believed His promises and sang His praise."  That's the good news!  "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel."  They didn’t give thanks!

Their forgetfulness closed the door to thanksgiving and opened the door to a spirit of complaining and criticism.

Years ago Jay Leno wrote a satire on complaining: “Are the American people complaining because they have electricity and running water 24/7? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?  Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in recent years?  Or perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.  You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.”  Maybe we have forgotten how blessed we are!

It’s not just the Israelites in the Old Testament – All of us are prone to forget what we have. The antidote for spiritual forgetfulness is called praise and thanksgiving.  Praise and Thanksgiving is a discipline - a deliberate focusing of our thoughts on things we have rather than what we don’t have.  When this is practiced, an attitude of gratitude will be present and the atmosphere around you will change.

We would be wise to train our minds and hearts to express thanks – all the time – Starting now!  Let this month be a month of praise and thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for!

Be Significant

by Andrew Cromwell

Almost everyone wants to have a feeling of significance for their life. Something deep inside us cries out for it. We all want to “leave a mark”, “make a change”, and “be somebody.”

But what does it mean to “leave a mark”?

For some, it is about the number of facebook friends or instagram followers they have. For others it is about making a lot of money and buying the big houses and toys that impress others. Some choose to go the political route and seek to make a change for the better. They measure success in terms of mouths fed, freedoms protected, or children cared for.

How do you measure significance in your life?

The author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, is said to have been the wisest man, ever. He had a rather skeptical view of our ability to make a difference in the world. Here’s what he says:

“What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”

Now that’s some pretty depressing stuff! But at the same time, this is something we would all do well to pay attention to. Isn’t it true that we will be forgotten by future generations? For most of us, it won’t take very long at all for our name to be lost. Almost anything we do today is pretty meaningless in the vast scope of things.

So what is the lesson? Humility.

Certainly, we can do great and significant things in this life. But let’s all remember how small we all are in the big picture. And actually rather than making us depressed and despondent, this reality should actually make us feel better. We should feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders as our understanding of what it means to be significant is changed forever.

So if we don’t have to worry about doing something so big that it will be remembered 1,000 years from now—because no one will remember it anyway—what do we need to focus on when it comes to living a life of significance?

Two things. Your character and your relationships.

If you want to leave a mark in this world for the better, then get your internals right and get your relationships right. People that make a mark for the better are those who have found a way to kill selfishness and self-serving impulses and are focused on serving and loving others. It’s that simple.

Simple, but the most difficult thing you’ll ever do. The only way I know how to really get your character to change and to learn how to really improve your relationships is to go to the One who formed you in the first place—God. You can make a lot of change without Him, but you’ll only get so far. And it’s pretty incredible what can happen when you get Him involved!

Give Thanks

by Tim Howard

Maybe this isn’t true for you but when the fall season begins and November rolls around – my thinking begins to revolve around Thanksgiving. For me, it’s not just about a one day event to celebrate with family and friends but a month long endeavor to give thanks for what we have. Each year at this time I make a dedicated effort to remind myself of all the things I possess that money can’t buy and then verbalize my thanks. Sometimes I say thanks to God directly and other times I share my thanks with people. Every time I do this – without fail – I realize I am rich. You don’t have to have a stockpile of money, investments, a 401K or a lot of stuff to be rich or thankful!

As a young boy my parents taught me the words: ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You.’ Please is a request and ‘thank you’ is the proper response when you receive that, which you requested.

I in turn, as a parent have tried to teach my children and now my grandson the same three words. I realize they are more than mere pleasantries when spoken.  They plant seeds within a person that can activate and shape a positive attitude.  Saying “please” can guard you from an attitude of entitlement and keep you from developing a demanding spirit.  Expressing thanks in verbal form can develop a grateful heart and create a spirit of appreciation.

In this season of Thanksgiving it is easy to lose a sense of gratitude when we forget how blessed we all are.  This is precisely what happened in the Old Testament when people forgot God’s goodness. Psalm 106, beginning in verse 12, God summarizes this unhappy time in history by saying:  "They believed His promises and sang His praise."  That's the good news!  "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel."  They didn’t give thanks!

Their forgetfulness closed the door to thanksgiving and opened the door to a spirit of complaining and criticism.

Years ago Jay Leno wrote a satire on complaining: “Are the American people complaining because they have electricity and running water 24/7? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?  Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in recent years?  Or perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.  You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.”  Maybe we have forgotten how blessed we are!

It’s not just the Israelites in the Old Testament – All of us are prone to forget what we have. The antidote for spiritual forgetfulness is called praise and thanksgiving.  Praise and Thanksgiving is a discipline - a deliberate focusing of our thoughts on things we have rather than what we don’t have.  When this is practiced, an attitude of gratitude will be present and the atmosphere around you will change.

We would be wise to train our minds and hearts to express thanks – all the time – Starting now!  Let this month be a month of praise and thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for!

Change Challenge

by Andrew Cromwell

A wise person once said, “If you want to change the world, you would do best to first change yourself.” This formula for change is simple, but it is anything but easy. To change, really change oneself may be the most difficult thing of all.

We know two things about the world. First, everything changes. Second, good changes take work. Think about it. The world and everything that is in it is breaking down. That new car that was your pride and joy, will soon lose its new car smell, be pock-marked with dings, and burn oil in a few short years. Your brand new iPhone will soon be cracked and slow. Your tight, beautiful skin will wrinkle and sag (if it hasn’t already). Even the sun will eventually burn out. 

Everything changes, and everything breaks down. That is why the good changes, the growth changes, take work. The farmer who wants the ground he owns to produce a crop, knows that it will not happen without work. He must clear the ground of rocks and trees, turn over the soil, add fertilizer, turn it over again, plant seed, and add water. Then he waits for the crop. But his work is not done. He must fight the weeds, fight the pests and fight the elements to preserve his crop. He has to measure how much and when to water so that the crop grows at an optimal rate. He will watch carefully to see if herbicides or pesticides are needed. He will pray that it doesn’t get too cold or too hot and that the rain falls at the right time. And, then when the time is right, he will harvest. 

This, of course, is an over-simplification of the work required to grow things, but it is clear that it takes a lot of work. Because a good crop doesn’t happen by accident. Weeds on the other hand, they’ll grow all by themselves. 

In the same way, if you want to make positive change in your life, it is going to take an investment of time and energy. You are going to have to clear the ground, plow and water. You will need to pay close attention to the kind of seed that you are planting in your heart. And you are going to need to studiously keep removing the weeds and pests that will continue to pop up. It will take sustained effort, but in due time you will reap a harvest.

Change is challenging and you will not change without experiencing challenge. If you want to grow intellectually you are going to have to exercise your mind. If you want to build your physical muscles, you are going to have to visit the gym. And if you want to stop being the self-centered, selfish oaf that we all tend to be, you are going to have to do the tough work of exercising your heart—forgiving, giving, loving, and serving.

Wanting to change is different than actually changing. We all want to change. We all want to be better people. But only the few who are willing to invest the time are going to reap the reward. Jesus said, “Guard your heart diligently, for from it flows life.” If you want to change, start with your heart. Pull up the weeds of bitterness, unforgiveness, and anger. Kill the pests of hurry, worry, and empty pursuits. Water regularly with conversations with Father God and encouragement from His Word. And in due time, you too will change.

What do you need to do in order to change from the way you are today, to the way you need to be? Stop putting it off and get started. Remember, if you don’t the weeds will just keep on growing.

The Line of Demarcation

by Tim Howard

Being brought up in a city of 6,000 people is much different than a city of 3,000,000. The differences are numerous – to say the least!

There’s a saying in small towns that goes like this: “When you don’t know what you’re doing it’s okay – because somebody else does!”

In a small city everybody seems to know everybody and every little thing that’s happening. In a big city you hardly see your neighbors, let alone know them personally.

In a small town you may be a hero at something specific but in a larger setting you’re simply a small fish in a big pond.

You can imagine my shock when I was uprooted from a city in Maine with a population of 5 thousand people to the large metropolis of Los Angeles.

My first inclination was to return! I didn’t feel the comfortableness of the past or the closeness of my friends. I felt like a fish out of water and wondered if I could make it.

I had reached that invisible line of demarcation and now I had to decide. Would I return to the comfort of the past and things familiar to my youth or embrace the new environment and learn to adapt?  

Returning to the familiar is very tempting when you feel like a fish out of water, but it inevitably retards the growth process and adventures that lie ahead.  

In a description of Paul’s life, the Apostle tells us that he made a decision to forge forward and not go backward. Regardless of the difficulties that were in his future he refused to focus or be obsessed with the past.

In order to embrace the new and move into the future he had to be willing to stretch and so do we. You must not allow your feeling to direct your steps. If you never move further than your frame of reference – If you never stretch beyond your comfort zone you will not give birth to anything new.

Paul found himself in some unpleasant situations and locations that were very unappealing.  He was imprisoned on several occasions – not for doing wrong but for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.  He didn’t allow his location or circumstances, however, to determine his attitude or outlook on life.  

In fact: Paul wrote some of the most encouraging books in the Bible from prison. Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, to name a few.

In Philippians 4:11, we read these words: "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."  With God’s help Paul was able to bloom wherever he was planted – and so can you!

When you are uprooted from a job; a house you have lived in for many years; a city you loved or a select group of friends – and find yourself transplanted into a new environment. Make these decisions:

1.   Don’t yield to the temptation to return. Decide to move ahead.

2.   Decide to stretch and grow. It will be good for you.

3.   Decide to bloom where you are planted. Yes, yesterday was good but tomorrow can be great.

4.   Decide to include God. He will direct your steps.

When you reach your invisible line of demarcation – Keep moving on…

Be With

by Andrew Cromwell

Have you noticed that everyone “knows better” until they’ve actually been in the situation? Whether it is the decisions facing the government, the choices of the local school board, or the brother-in-law’s latest relationship, people somehow find it incredibly easy to stand back and declare the solution to the problem. 

I feel the same way. If people would only listen to me, this world would be a better place. People wouldn’t get themselves into the ridiculous situations they get themselves into. Our country wouldn’t be in debt up to its eyeballs and that local building project that the city officials can’t seem to get figured out would already be done, a long time ago. Because I “know better”.

The funny thing is sometimes, and I emphasize sometimes, we are even right. Sometimes we do “know better.” But just “knowing better” doesn’t really do much. Sure it makes you feel like you are somehow better than those people, but that’s nothing more than empty pride. Being right by itself doesn’t help or change anything. 

Believe it or not, just being right, can make things worse. The Apostle Paul talks about this reality in his letter to the Romans. He describes it in legal terms. The more laws you have on the books, the easier it is to break them. Before you know it everyone’s a criminal! And those who look around at what other people are doing and “know better” and quote the law, do nothing more than make other people even more guilty. They judge and condemn.

I believe that is why God sent His son Jesus into the world. A perfect God always “knows better.” Imagine Him looking down at all of us bumping around here on earth, making a mess of everything. He could have just shook His head and pulled out His stick and judged us all as failures. Just like most of us do to other people.

But that’s not what He did.

Father God wasn’t content simply to dispense judgment and condemnation from afar. He was convinced that there was a better way. A way that required more of Him, certainly. It required Him to get down into the muck with us so that He could lead us out of it. So He sent His Son Jesus to do just that.

That’s the difference between condemnation and incarnation. Condemnation declares the truth and hammers the gavel and says “Guilty.” Incarnation moves into the world of the person who is broken, identifies with them and with the reality of their situation, and says “Let’s fix this.” John says it this way, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.”

What kind of person are you? Are you one who stands backs and shoots judgment like a gun? Or are you willing to take a step closer and risks getting your hands dirty so that you actually help?