Leadership Thought: A Pastor's Episode of "Stinkin Thinkin"

Dear Friends,

A man walked into a fortune teller's tent at a carnival and paid his money to have his palms read. The fortune teller said, "I see many things." 

"Like what?" he asked.

"You will be poor and unhappy until you're 45," said the fortune teller.

"Oh," he said dejectedly. Then he had a thought. "What will happen when I'm 45?"

"You'll get used to it." 

Negative thinking often sets the tone for our life. If we expect things to be bad, that is the way they will be. On the other hand, if we expect things to be good, that's the way they will be.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, people often talk about "stinkin thinkin." 

A few years ago, I had an episode of "stinkin thinkin." It was at a time when we were pre-recording sermons during Covid. I was working on a Sunday message and trying to record it while speaking into a computer screen. Preaching to a video camera was a new and challenging assignment for me. It was not an easy or natural undertaking for me, and I had continually reinforced that belief by telling myself again and again how difficult it was.

I had just spent four excruciating hours trying to record a 25-minute message, with Pastor Nick, who was overseeing the taping. Again, and again, I would make a mistake and have to back up and start all over again. Finally, in exasperation, I cried out, "This is impossible," and guess what?  It would continue to be impossible as long as I persisted in reminding myself that this is the way it would continue to be.

I told Pastor Nick that my mind was so filled with negative thinking that I needed to go home and reassess my attitude. When I arrived the next day to repeat the taping, I possessed an entirely different attitude. I attacked the challenge, believing that I could accomplish the task and within an hour I had completed the recording.

What had changed? It was my attitude. In the intervening 24 hours, I had realized that my attitude was impacting my actions. My negative expectations had become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In between recordings, the Holy Spirit had reminded me of one of the first verses I memorized as a new believer: Philippians 4:13, which proclaims, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Shame on me. I had found myself giving up when I should have been looking up. I had succumbed to "stinkin thinkin."

Ben Franklin once said, "Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall receive it," and nothing was just what I had received.

Dwelling upon past negative actions and experiences will always get us in trouble. Reminding ourselves of our own inadequacies and insufficiencies will keep us from achieving those significant things God wants us to accomplish. Shame on me for forgetting this and reminding myself of my weaknesses rather than His strength, and my past experiences rather than His present power.

We need to be like the little engine that could, who kept climbing to the top of the steep mountain all the while repeating, "I think I can," "I think I can," "I think I can." And then when we make it to the top, we can relax, enjoy the feeling, look back down the mountain and proclaim because of God's power, "I knew I could,"  "I knew I could,"  "I knew I could."

Let us always remember that what seems to be the end may really be a new beginning,

Yours in faith and friendship, 

Tom

Leadership Thought: A Message for Everyone, Especially Fisherman.

Dear Friend,

It has been said that “nothing is too small that it can’t be blown out of proportion.” As believers we need to be truth tellers. We need to be extremely careful that we never “blow the truth out of proportion”

We need to be careful with the things we say with our lips, so that we develop a reputation for always being honest in every aspect of our lives, unlike the chairman of a local chamber of commerce I read about. 

He had to introduce a speaker of the organization’s annual black-tie affair. He introduced the speaker with the following words. “The man I am about to introduce is someone I know you are going to enjoy listening to. He is the most gifted businessman in the country. He  made one hundred million dollars in California oil.”  

The speaker came to the podium rather embarrassed. “Mr. Chairman,” he said, “Thank you for the wonderful introduction. However, the facts need some clarification. It wasn’t oil, it was coal. It wasn’t in California; it was in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t one hundred million dollars. It was only one hundred thousand. And it wasn’t me. It was my brother, and he didn’t make it, he lost it.”

Hopefully, unless we are fisherman, not any of our conversations are as untruthful as this man’s introduction.

Paul writes in Col 3:9-10 “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

Solomon reminds us “ lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 12:13.

As believers we are called to be truthful in every area of our life. Let us never give anyone reason to question our truth telling ability.

When we speak, let us “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). And if we can’t speak it in love, then it is not yet ready to be spoken.

Speaking the truth and always being honest has several advantages. You will never have to remember your lies, which often takes more energy to remember than it does to be honest. And secondly you will earn the trust and respect of others who will know they can always trust you and your word.

Let’s all work together to stop "truth decay.”

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom