This week, Lynne and I enjoyed a visit from the department chairman of Talbot School of Theology, my alma mater in Southern California. Mick and his wife Rolane Boersma minister to graduates by scheduling annual trips to visit the alum in a given geographic location. Dr. Boersma also taught several of my classes in pastoral ministry when I was working on my M. Div. degree.
One of the things I shared with Dr. Boersma is my gratitude for his role in instilling in us students an intangible "thing" - an immeasurable quality that so many Talbot graduates have that defines how we view all of ministry. It's hard to explain, but it's an entire understanding of the role of the pastor. I'm not saying we're necessarily better pastors than those from other seminaries, but that this immeasurable "thing" makes us better pastors than we would be otherwise.
As we have moved from place to place, I've met a lot of pastors who studied in a variety of seminaries. Many have it, even though they didn't attend Talbot. But many are missing that intangible "thing." Talbot is one of the few schools that, in my experience, consistently produces pastors who have it. More than a few times I've run into a Talbot graduate who I didn't know while in school, but feel a stronger connection within 15 minutes than I have with some pastors I've known for years. It's that intangible "thing."
Dr. Boersma (along with many other faithful men and women who teach at Talbot) is particularly responsible for instilling this intangible "thing" in thousands of graduates over the 25 years he's served so far at Talbot. For that, I am unceasingly grateful to him.
I'm glad for the opportunity to tell him that face-to-face.
Consider talking with those who have invested so much in you and tell them how you appreciate who they are and what they've done.
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thanksgiving
I love all the ways that we try to rethink Thanksgiving. Every year, we try ways to make sure that the Thanksgiving holiday is about something more than food and football (as if there was something more than food and football...). We make sure we ask, "What are you thankful for?", remind one another to "Count your blessings," and sometimes, we even ask, "To whom are you so thankful?"
I was recently at an event where I thought someone might ask me to say something about Thanksgiving. Wanting to not be caught speechless (like I too often am), I thought through these kinds of ideas again, but didn't want to sound trite. So, a new question popped into my head - one that I'm trying trying to figure out how to answer.
Given that we are in fact thankful to God for what He's done for us, in this Thanksgiving week my question is this: "How do we express that thanksgiving to God?" If we're aware of our blessings enough to be thankful, how is it exactly that we are to express that gratitude to the One who has blessed us?
Certainly, we can say, "Thanks." And we certainly should. We can verbally, or in quiet prayer, tell God that we are in fact thankful. We can list the things He's done that we're thankful for, and then tell Him we're thankful. Many psalms do exactly that (e.g. Psalm 50).
But is that the extent of it? Is that all that we can do to express our thanksgiving?
We can work on our "attitude of gratitude" - intentionally checking our attitude and make sure that we replace bitterness and demandingness with gratitude. That's certainly a good thing that God must surely appreciate - thankful attitudes among His people. Certainly, a bunch of whiners is less pleasing to Him.
What I really want to explore, though, is how to remember the things that I'm thankful for and give God my thanksgiving by using those things for His purpose and His glory. Take that list that we generate when we count our blessings, and then for each item on the list, be thankful by using that item for God.
Thankful for your health? How will you use that health you're thankful for to serve Him? Thankful for your job? How will you use that job for His glory? Thankful for your family? How will you offer up your family to Him as an act of thanksgiving? Thankful for a car to get you around? How will you use that car to advance God's Kingdom? Thankful for your salvation? How will you use the new life you have in Christ to glorify Him?
The idea is this: We have so much to be thankful for (yes, even the material things). To be deeply thankful for the things God has done for us and given to us, use them for His glory as an act of thanksgiving. Not only to express your thanksgiving, but as an actual act of thankfulness - appreciating God's blessings by the very act of using them for Him.
That, to me, is becoming the idea of Thanksgiving. Yes, we should tell Him we're thankful. Yes, we should have a thankful attitude. I think we show the ultimate gratitude by refusing to hoard God's blessings, but rather use them for His sake.
I was recently at an event where I thought someone might ask me to say something about Thanksgiving. Wanting to not be caught speechless (like I too often am), I thought through these kinds of ideas again, but didn't want to sound trite. So, a new question popped into my head - one that I'm trying trying to figure out how to answer.
Given that we are in fact thankful to God for what He's done for us, in this Thanksgiving week my question is this: "How do we express that thanksgiving to God?" If we're aware of our blessings enough to be thankful, how is it exactly that we are to express that gratitude to the One who has blessed us?
Certainly, we can say, "Thanks." And we certainly should. We can verbally, or in quiet prayer, tell God that we are in fact thankful. We can list the things He's done that we're thankful for, and then tell Him we're thankful. Many psalms do exactly that (e.g. Psalm 50).
But is that the extent of it? Is that all that we can do to express our thanksgiving?
We can work on our "attitude of gratitude" - intentionally checking our attitude and make sure that we replace bitterness and demandingness with gratitude. That's certainly a good thing that God must surely appreciate - thankful attitudes among His people. Certainly, a bunch of whiners is less pleasing to Him.
What I really want to explore, though, is how to remember the things that I'm thankful for and give God my thanksgiving by using those things for His purpose and His glory. Take that list that we generate when we count our blessings, and then for each item on the list, be thankful by using that item for God.
Thankful for your health? How will you use that health you're thankful for to serve Him? Thankful for your job? How will you use that job for His glory? Thankful for your family? How will you offer up your family to Him as an act of thanksgiving? Thankful for a car to get you around? How will you use that car to advance God's Kingdom? Thankful for your salvation? How will you use the new life you have in Christ to glorify Him?
The idea is this: We have so much to be thankful for (yes, even the material things). To be deeply thankful for the things God has done for us and given to us, use them for His glory as an act of thanksgiving. Not only to express your thanksgiving, but as an actual act of thankfulness - appreciating God's blessings by the very act of using them for Him.
That, to me, is becoming the idea of Thanksgiving. Yes, we should tell Him we're thankful. Yes, we should have a thankful attitude. I think we show the ultimate gratitude by refusing to hoard God's blessings, but rather use them for His sake.
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