Thomas family forgiveness

Aaron Thomas was the guest of my favorite podcasts earlier this week. (The Montgomery Companies Podcast) If you haven't checked out the show before I would highly recommend it. I was very encouraged by Aaron's story that he shared about his family. To make this post short, sweet, and to the point I am not going to go into detail, I just want to highlight the main point. 

As Aaron tells, on June 24, 2009, his father was murdered by a former player that he had coached in high school. Aaron's father was a legendary coach and a small town hometown hero. The murder was the first one in the town since 1923. 

It was later discovered that the man who committed to crime was suffering from severe mental illness. The man even came from a really good family. 

What inspired me is the way that Aaron, his mom, and brother responded to what had happened. Although being heart broken beyond belief, they forgave the man who committed to crime in the very first interview/press conference that they did.

That blew my mind but it was the most encouraging thing I have heard all week.

It just hit home to me because it seems like there are little things we hold over people's heads all the time. If someone says something behind are back, someone doesn't stay true to their word, etc. I believe it's time to forgive more often and quicker. 

I am not saying all wrongs are fine so just keep doing wrong and getting forgiven. But I believe that we can show the power and love of Christ Jesus better when we forgive others. Other than Jesus there is nobody perfect. Not one other human has ever been perfect in the history of mankind. It's time to stop expecting people to be perfect. We all make mistakes and we all sin. How are you going to respond next time someone wrongs you or someone close to you?

I hope you remember Aaron and the grace he showed next time you're in a situation that someone does you wrong.

cleanse ourselves

Sometimes we just need a complete cleanse. I know a somewhat popular cleanse might be doing something like a juice cleanse after a bad weekend of eating. Or maybe you are trying to change your diet completely. Rach and I are starting are sixth week of eating plant based this week. We haven't been perfect, but we both feel like we have cleansed our bodies with not consuming any meat. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling.

"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)

There are many things in this world that can defile our bodies and spirit. Things like the news, social media, people, food, and whatever we consume. 

We must always be working towards completely holiness. We aren't perfect so we will never be completely holy here on earth, but we can work towards it daily! 

Let's commit to filtering areas in our life so that work towards the common goal. One thing I have noticed in my life, is that one I start to cleanse myself in one area, it because easier to cleanse myself in other areas. 

Another thing I have learned is that you have to be on guard. When you eliminate a distraction or temptation out of your life, you're most likely going to be tempted in different ways. It's a constant battle towards holiness.

I hope as you reflect on this, you think back to times in your life where you may have done a cleanse in the past and you remember how much better you felt because of it. Let's do this! I can think of no better way to get the week started than with a fresh cleanse. 

'but' clause

There can always be a 'but' statement...

I am full, but I could still eat dessert.

I am busy right now, but I think I can make that work.

I am tired, but am willing to stay up a little later and watch another movie.

You can use it with everything. It's kinda like a safety net. Whenever you use the word 'but' whatever words you say before that nearly become meaningless.  There are both pros and cons to using the 'but' clause. I like to look at the pros because that's where we have the safety net.

Paul endured a lot of hardships during his ministry. More than we have ever faced! Check out how he uses the word 'but' when he writes. 

We are honest but they call us imposters. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we will always have joy. We are poor but we give spiritual riches to others. (2 Corinthians 6:8-10)

If Paul doesn't use those 'but' clauses these verses are extremely negative. I love the honesty and how opportunistic Paul is. That's what I hope you take away from this post this morning. Things are never as bad as they seem. When you are faced with difficulties today, think about what else is going well. There is beauty in every situation. 

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See: Rosemary Fisher

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

 

Who remembers that song? Back in the day, when I was a little kid, we learned that song in Sunday School. I don’t know if little kids are still learning this song or not? If you’re not familiar with it, It goes like this:

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

For the Father up above

Is looking down in love

Oh be careful little ears what you hear

 

And there’s other verses about your hands and what you do, and your feet and where you go. Feel free to take a quit break and go listen to it!

 

Earlier this spring, this song came to mind, specifically the verse on ears: Oh be careful little ears what you hear. There had been something going on in our community that a lot of people had been talking about and I had chosen not to engage in any conversation about it. For one, I did not want to participate in gossip. But also, I did not want to listen to one side of a story and form an opinion without knowing all sides. But more than anything, I know that once you hear something, you can’t un-hear it, and I didn’t want my opinion of someone/or a group of people, to be impacted by what I was hearing others say about them.

 

 I’ve heard people, including myself, say flippantly, “Oh I can’t un-see that…” after seeing something gross or traumatic. But in reality, this is true. Once you have laid eyes on an imagine, it can always be recalled. Wouldn’t the same be true about what we hear? Once we hear something, isn’t it put in our brain and able to be recalled?

 

When my kids were very young, someone once challenged a group of us at church with these verses: 

Psalm 101:2-3

I will lead a life of integrity

In my own home.

I will not look at anything vile and vulgar.

 

I took this to heart, big time! If you ask my 2 sons, they will STILL laugh and roll their eyes at this, but I would order children’s DVD’s that were edited, so that the movies were even more “clean.” (I think Luke has blogged about this in the past!) But we are talking G-rated movies, like Toy Story, etc. But also, PG movies, so any cuss words or inappropriate scenes were removed. Even into high school, we would have movie discussions about what is appropriate to watch and what I would ask them to avoid. We would discuss movies, and I would look them up online to view content warnings before giving approval for them (and myself) to see.(www.pluggedin.com) I personally don’t like watching anything with cussing, nudity, or any sexually inappropriate content. But more importantly, I also wanted to model what I was teaching my children. 

 

I love Philippians 4:8

Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

 

Is this hard to do ALL the time? Of course it is!! VERY! We live in a fallen world where sin and corruption is all around us. Often it seems unescapable. But that is where we must be intentional- not only in what we are thinking about, but what we see, hear and do. 

 

This all came back to me this morning. A few days ago, I had heard a clip of a song on someone’s Instagram story that I thought was really catchy. It had a nice beat, and I’m always looking for songs to put on my running playlist. This morning I looked the song up on Spotify, and it came back with an E for explicit lyrics. I have my Spotify setting locked against explicit content. Really??? Yes, I do. I just turned 50 a few weeks ago, and I STILL have safeguards in place in my life to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and not HEAR things I don’t need to. I admit, I actually clicked on it to listen and determine if that was the song I was looking for, and a prompt came up, telling me it was blocked but I could go change my settings. I sat for about a nanosecond and debated doing it. Then everything I have written in this post came rushing at me. Verses flooding at me, specifically the ones above. I was quickly able to shut off my phone and avoid temptation because LONG ago I had decided what my decisions in these situations would be. A quote I heard a couple years ago says this: “For the person with true conviction, certain decisions have already been made.” I love that. And I have told a few graduating high school students this quote as both an encouragement, and a challenge, as they head off to college That knowledge does not make a person free from temptation, but it does give us a way out. Long ago I made up my mind about these things, and I’m not going to cave just because I liked the beat of a song and it might energize me when running.

 

What are your safety measures? Do you have anything in place to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus? Have you decided how you can avoid temptation when it is staring you in the face?

Oh be careful little eyes what you see…

 

Oh be careful little ears what you hear…

 

Perhaps you have other verses or methods that have worked for you. Feel free to share in the comments if you have a way to encourage others!

 

our goal is to please him

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not be human hands." (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The first part of 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 is about awaiting a new body from Christ because our earthly body will one day be destroyed. Paul said that we will one day have a heavenly home that is unlike anything on this earth. 

Paul also writes about how God is rebuilding a house of eternity in Heaven which He is preparing for us. He said that when we are in our earthly bodies, we are burdened by things of this world. That, according to Paul, is why people crave for their new heavenly dwelling. 

When people are with their earthly body, they are away from the Lord. That is why people who are in Christ would prefer to be with the Lord and away from their mortal bodies. They are the ones who live through faith rather than only by what they can see.

These are the true believers who have accepted Christ. When the Day of Judgement comes, Paul wrote that each person must come before Christ and receive what is due to them. 

"For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Our ultimate goal is to please him.

All the things we do are going to be judged so let's please God while we are in this temporary body while we await eternal glory. 

slow down and look up

I believe that one of the best ways to give God glory is to take a pause, and be thankful for all that he has created. This morning was the perfect example of it for me..

I am fairly sure I have a type A personality. I'm not a perfectionist, but I am go-go-go. I can hardly sit still. I am really bad a watching TV shows because I can't pay attention. In all areas of my life I am that way. No matter how much time I have in the day, I am always filling it up with things to do. I don't think it's bad, but I don't give myself a chance to slow down and appreciate God's goodness and creation.

The past few nights, it seems like serious thunderstorms just keep ripping through Northern Indiana. I run really early in the mornings and I don't usually let anything stop me from running unless there is a very serious storm..I really don't want to get struck by lighting or have a huge tree get blown down on me. But today was a little different. There was a storm coming but I had time to get my run in before it hit. This mornings storm had me in awe. The sky was filled with beautiful lightning. For about 45 minutes lightning  would flash through the sky has the storm approached. It was breathtaking.I wanted to stare at the sky the entire time. 

It was the perfect morning run. Except for one thing, the storm was behind me as I began my run. So the only way I could watch the lighting was to keep turning around every couple minutes. I didn't have any problem doing that, but I was highly motivated to get to the halfway point so I could run into the storm on the way back. 

As I turned around and finished my last couple miles towards the storm I was in awe. I still don't know how safe I was, but I didn't care because it was the most beautiful lightning I think I had ever seen. After a few minutes, it started to rain and the wind started to pick up. I don't mind running in the rain, but it was raining so hard that I could hardly keep my eyes open and could barely see the lighting anymore. 

So quickly, everything changed. If I wouldn't have taken the five minutes before my run to take everything in, I would've been disappointed in myself.

How much is our relationship with God like that? All we need to do sometimes is slow down and take the time to get into the word, pray, be thankful, and give all the glory to him! But life throws distractions and things that get into our way all the time. My encouragement for you is to slow down...I have talked about Jesus pace before, but I mean it so much. Even if you just give yourself 5-10 minutes before you leave for work or get your day started, your day will start and go so much better. 

Slow down for what matters most...and that's a relationship with Christ Jesus. 

like a sweet perfume

One of the most flattering things my wife does is wear her nice wedding perfume on all date nights and special occasions. Leading up to our wedding we wanted to get each other a gift that was going to be really meaningful, and for us that was expensive cologne for me and expensive perfume for her. Our sense of smell is one of our most powerful senses, and every time we smell the cologne and perfume we are brought back to our wedding day. 

Her perfume is the greatest smell in the world and it's so powerful when she wears it...

Did you know Christ wants to use us to spread the knowledge of Christ like a sweet perfume?

"But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God." (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

I'll be the first to admit, I don't do a good job at spreading the knowledge of Christ like a sweet perfume. It's almost the opposite. Whenever I put on my expensive cologne, I know Rachel loves it but it also gives me this weird amount of confidence because I know I smell really good. I where it for Rach, but at the same people, I want other people to be able to smell it as well. I am sure we have all been in the situation where someone gets on an elevator or walks past you and they smell so good. That feeling gets us excited! That's how we should be with the knowledge of Christ. 

Unfortunately, it seems to be the opposite. In a way, using this example again, it's like me getting out of the shower, leaving the apartment and not wearing any deodorant or cologne. Whenever I do that I feel like I need to stay in this small shell so no-one is near me. That's how I seem to treat God and I just have to be honest! My mindset is so focused on..."If someone asks I will share, or if the conversation comes up I will speak." That's wrong.

I am a sinner and I am not perfect. 

I need to have a Christ-like fragrance that is rising up to God! I need to be excited about what God has done in my life and be willing to share and talk about it. Just like how we all love an expensive fragrance, we need to love the aroma of Christ the same way. 

I hope you find this encouraging and I hope this makes sense to you. I am very self-aware of the things I do wrong and I am committed to being better! It's a relentless consistent approach, and I will never stop working on it. I hope you feel the same way. 

relentless consistency

I listen to a ton of podcasts and all the guys I listen to are typically men of faith who are extremely high performers and great leaders. A common theme that I hear all of them talk about is relentless consistency. Relentless consistency is a huge reason why all those guys have made it to where they are today. 

I strive to be like those dudes. I know that my identity and happiness isn't wrapped up in another person like that, but if I can take away things that they say and ways they live I know I will be a much better person. 

If you know me, I don't know if I would completely call myself a high performer at this stage in my life. But I do know that I am relentlessly consistent. 

All my life, everything that I have ever accomplished has been because of my values and identity. One of those being my relentless consistency. I was never the most skilled basketball player, I was never the most gifted athletically, I was never the best student. But I became a college basketball player, had a successful career on amazing teams and I also graduated with two degrees. Why? 

I knew that in order to accomplish those goals, I had to grind everyday. No matter how sore or tired I was, whether or not we were on vacation, how much I worked etc. I had to get after it daily.

Same goes with my running, I know I talk about it all the time in my posts but running is such a great example of what our lives are like. I have relentless consistency when it comes to running. If I was asked what you need to do in order to become a better runner, I would tell you to be consistent. Do it daily! Listen to your body, but do it daily. I believe our bodies adapt and evolve when the environments that we place them in. 

My body last year at this time was used to 10-15 miles/week of running. Nothing crazy, but about 10-15 miles more than what it was at the beginning of 2020. Now my body is used to 35-40 miles/week. I feel great! I am probably close to being in the best shape of my life. I adapted and evolved because of relentless consistency. In the last 11 months there have been no more than 5 days where I haven't ran my daily goal of 5-6 miles. 2 of those days were due to traveling, and the other three I had hurt my hip and needed to switch to biking. 

I know when September 18th arrives, and I run my marathon, I am going to crush it because of my relentless consistency. 

This doesn't just relate to physical activity. I want to be consistent in who I am at work. I write hand written thank you notes, I send follow up emails to tell people I appreciate how they help me, I am going to do the things that might seem a little boring because I know this consistency will help me grow so much! 

Most importantly, having relentless consistency in what I do daily to grow closer to Jesus is everything. Reading my bible, praying, journaling, etc. I need to be consistent with those things or I will never grow. 

Guys, I am not perfect, I sin, I don't do all these things perfect everyday other than running. There are days where I will send an email rather than writing a hand written card. There are days where I won't pray as much as I should. There are days were I prioritize everything before reading my bible. I need help and I am not perfect. Just like the rest of you! 

If you took away one thing, I hope you were inspired to be consistent in all you do. Keep doing what you do daily in order to accomplish your goals and I promise it'll change your life. Without consistency, I don't even know what type of person I would be. It's kind of funny, about every time I see my sister-in-law, she always asks my wife..."how is he even human?"... and to me that's a greater compliment than anything because it's wrapped up in who I am, not what I do. 

Relentless consistency is everything. 

helping each other

Sometimes I look at other people and the impact they are making on others in the world and I don't feel like I can compete. I know it's not a competition, but sometimes I look up to these people and I just think that I can never be like them.

We are all different. We all have our own unique gifts and talents so how can I let those doubts get in my head? If I had the answer to that, I'd be ecstatic! But for some reason, we all seem to fall into a never-ending comparison trap.  

I believe the best way we can serve others and love the Lord is through our gifts. But what if we don't have gifts and what if you feel like you don't have any? Impossible! We all have a spiritual gift..and some people have more! 

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." (1 Corinthians 12:7)

A spiritual gift is given to each of us! I have one, you have one, we all have one! 

The best way we can ever help each other is by using our spiritual gifts. Imagine all believers using their spiritual gifts to serve...it's beautiful! 

I know a common question might be...well how can I figure out what mine is?

There are spiritual gift tests you can take online. The link below is the same website I have used in the past to see what mine were because I was really curious and just not 100% sure what my gifts were.

(https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/)

I know we are all sinners and we aren't perfect. That's just a fact. One thing that I really do believe is that deep down, people want to help people. We just often get scared, care too much what other people think, and just don't do it. I am encouraging you today that the best way you can help people is by using your spiritual gifts.