Why we need a vibrant vocabulary

 

Do you believe being more confident and capable would improve the quality of our life?  If so it becomes vital that we give each other, like a gift, a vibrant vocabulary. 

I’m not suggesting a dull vocabulary is a sin that stains our soul, though it certainly shackles our mind and stifles our spiritual growth. How so? 

An impoverished vocabulary limits our cognitive capabilities.  In the absence of a widely varied vocabulary many insights, concepts, and ideas are simply out of our reach and we cannot fully grasp them without access to the precise words.  Like guideposts along the highway, words direct our thoughts.  Similar to pigments on an artist’s palette, the more words you have, the better you can paint a mental picture for yourself and others.  

Jesus is titled/described as the Word, Scripture is God’s inspired word, God spoke the universe into existence.  Words are essential and invaluable, they shouldn’t remain inaccessible. 

Think of the times your doctor or mechanic diagnosed a problem, but then you felt a sense of embarrassment, dread, and inadequacy as they used words beyond your comprehension because their terminology exceeded your vocabulary.  Now, think about visitors trying to decipher our cryptic church lingo and who are left feeling clueless, like you felt in your doctor’s office or the mechanic’s garage.  Words are like tools in the workshop of our mind, or images from an MRI; words enable us to comprehend and adjust to the world around us.

An abundance of the proper words enables us to navigate the difficulties of work, relationships, and life in general. We need the correct words to communicate our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and the right words to resolve conflict and reduce confusion.   Simply put, the more developed our vocabulary becomes, the more confident and capable we become.

Consider implementing these standards for our vocabulary when practicing our faith publicly as the church: First, be conscientious of visitors and novice-believers and purposely avoid language that would alienate them as we assemble. Secondly, use richer/deeper theological language in our assemblies that will strengthen our level of spiritual maturity.  These transformative standards are not contradictory, but merging both of these ideas is challenging.  

How do we establish a broader, thriving vocabulary?  Not only do I cherish both my Johnson City and Kingsport public library cards, but many of the worthwhile books I have read required referencing a dictionary.  If you want to improve the lives of those you mentor or influence, encourage a love of reading and introduce them to books/audio-books that stretch their vocabularies. 

A prolific vocabulary makes possible the principles laid out in Col 4:6, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”  A high quality vocabulary fuels the power of persuasion as well as comprehension -- to be able to conceptualize and dialogue with ease about the Bible and the world we inhabit, we need to develop a more comprehensive vocabulary. 

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Is it weakness or wisdom: asking for or accepting help

Is asking for help a sign of weakness, or is it wise to reach out and ask for help? We like to think we are strong enough, smart enough, and capable enough to overcome every obstacle life throws our way, but then life hits a little too hard. It's humbling to acknowledge that we have to rely on another to overcome certain challenges, more so, it is mature to accept that help when it is offered.

Students need tutors, writers need editors, investors need advisers, organizations need consultants, couples in trouble need counseling, we all benefit from mentors, and we all find ourselves occasionally in situations where we need help. Pride interferes for all of us, occasionally.

Personally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who have encouraged me, assisted me, helped me, guided me, taught me, and were patient with me. I would not be where I am or have achieved whatever I have, without help. I did not get where I am alone or by my own wherewithal. 

I have had kind and generous people invest in me, both emotionally and financially, both spiritually and intellectually, and I have leaned on these people more than once.  I am so grateful for their continued-consistent help and support and I know without them I would have been lost.  

I didn't learn how to work in concrete or pump concrete in a vacuum. The same can be said of ministry, preaching, writing, or a host of other areas of my life.  It is by being helped I have grown as a person and experienced any level of "success" in life.  

Am I weak or weaker for asking for help or for receiving offers to be helped? Actually, I am stronger in the end and better off for the help. When I first started powerlifting for example, I went months without any progress what so ever, but then when a few world champion lifters who trained with the USA Olympic team took me under their wings, I saw gains I never imagined, and I went on to take 1st place in the State and placed in the Regions.

Weightlifting is a great analogy here on this topic of asking for or receiving help because we have to train our muscles through adversity to grow muscles, this is true for us intellectually, emotionally, and personally. In other words, our personal develop and personal growth require exercises and training, and we need a coach or a spotter in the gym of life.

None of us are sufficiently independent to make it far without asking for directions or getting a helping hand. We don't want to be dependent on others and rightfully so, but we are not able to be fully independent either. Interdependence is a great balance to seek, where we complete each other and complement our weakness and strengths -- together.

Here are some passages, while not exhaustive, I think comprehensive enough to make the point, we need help from others and it is not a sign of weakness but of strength to lean on others when we need help:
Gen 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”"
Prov 11:2, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."
Prov 12:15, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."
Prov 15:22, "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed."
Prov 24:6, "for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."
Gal 6:2, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Teamwork makes the dream work is a cheesy but true statement.  We all need help, it isn't weakness it is wisdom, it is a true fact of life, and the sooner we accept this the sooner we grow.  

What can we do about hunger?

When my wife and I started dating as teenagers, she found food stashed in my bedroom. Surprised, she was curious as to why I hoarded food. A season of scarcity carved its scar during my adolescence, when, without a scrap of food in the house, we were absolutely food-poor.

I’m forever familiar with the despair hunger brings. If it weren’t for the Hensleys feeding us throughout that time, I don’t know what we would have done.

Having tasted hunger as a child, food has become my love language as an adult and our dinner table is as sacred as an altar. Those who know me know I’m a total foodie, I love to grill (over charcoal), my wife and I love to cook together, and occasionally we enjoy hosting others.

 

Most people don’t know why I am this way, but now you do. The pangs of food insecurity shapes you, you could say wounds you, for life.

Solving any of the problems connected to poverty is challenging, for example, balancing how we avoid enabling laziness or irresponsibility without neglecting or overlooking anyone who is actually in need. Either way you slice it, it’s hard to sleep peacefully knowing innocent children will fall asleep, fitfully, to the sound of their tummy rumbling tonight.

 

Not everyone has a Hensley family in desperate times, what can we do to make a real difference? Serving with the Second Harvest Food bank you won’t find much razzmatazz, but it’s rewarding. It’s hard work, but you won’t have to reinvent the wheel. Thankfully there are people who dedicate themselves to this labor of love full time, like Chuck for example.

Chuck, a Navy Vet, is hardworking, gray-haired, and full of wisdom. He wears shorts all year long, regardless what time of year it is, when you visit Second Harvest he’ll be out in the warehouse, and among other tasks, you’ll see him guiding the volunteer workforce -- folks vital to their success.

Chuck is an inspiration, as is their entire staff — these unsung heroes serve our region, partnering with local organizations, making a difference in the lives of people who manage to just scrape by. People, real people by the way, who deserve dignity and a heaping serving of healthy self-esteem.

If you haven't already participated in the work at Second Harvest, maybe God could use you to “do unto others” as you’d like done. Charitable contributions are important, food banks can’t run on empty promises, but they also need some hands on deck too; it takes a combination of grant money, donations, and people gracious with their time to keep the wheels turning.

The Lord’s Prayer includes a fascinating phrase, “give us this day our daily bread.” When you live hand-to-mouth, that resonates deeply. This same prayer also indicates that we should ask God that, “His will be done” on earth as it is in heaven. Second Harvest food bank powerfully merges these principles from the Lord’s Prayer, please pray how you too could partner in this godly work.

Originally published here: timesnews.net/craig-cottongim-what-can-you-do-to-make-a-difference

Changing Habits/New Year's resolutions the right way

 

“Tis the season” for fantasizing about New Year’s resolutions. Contemplating a gym membership yet? Beyond slimming down your waistline, consider also beefing up your biblical core. “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (I Timothy 4:8).

Major lifestyle changes not only intimidate us, they also fall under the frustrating “easier said than done” category. How will you reach your resolutions? Will you follow a fad, pop a miracle pill, plaster a poster on the wall? There’s a multibillion-dollar “self-help” industry for a reason, right?

Impatience interferes with changing our habits. We expect instantaneous results, while ignoring how our habits were formed over a lifetime, and we get discouraged if we don’t somehow change overnight.

We hate feeling enslaved to any habit, for example, like being hooked on tobacco. It took time, but I quit chewing 30 years ago when I was up to two tins a day — change is hard, but hard doesn’t mean impossible.

One school of thought states that our habits follow a cue, a routine and a reward. The cue is what triggers your actions, the routine is the behavior, then the reward is the sense of satisfaction you feel from the experience — just tweak those and voila...

So, how do we really change our habits? Good intentions alone will fail to transform us. Motivation is necessary, but it’s insufficient. What we need is someone cheering us on.

New Year’s resolutions often flounder because they’re just swayed by seasonal influences. Worse yet, they rely on willpower — whatever area of life you want to change, forget trying it by yourself. Whether you want to kick bad habits or kickstart good ones, lean into our faith of “one anothers.” Christianity is about transformation through fellowship. If you have one person in your corner rooting for you, you are more likely to succeed.

It’s true for folks who want to eat healthier, exercise more or simply take steps toward bettering their life. If you want to read your Bible more and watch less TV, get back into a church, be present for your family more, or simply go walking after supper every evening. It’s harder going solo. Just read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and see.

So yes, plan to lose weight, quit smoking, eat better, pay off your credit card debt, get on a budget, whatever else you can think of to be healthier and happier — just not alone. We think we are stronger than we are. Perhaps we are when it comes to facing challenges, perhaps not when it comes to change.

It’s difficult to overcome our dependence, independently. Embracing our weakness sounds counterproductive, yet the way of the Cross is surrender and submission. It’s about death to self, it’s about His strength being sufficient, it’s about obedience to the Holy Spirit, and it’s about encouraging fellow believers. The key to successfully changing is mutual interdependence, in any and every season.

First published in the TimesNews click here

Oh, you showed me

 

To all who made it a point to teach me a lesson and who “showed me” I say thank you. 

You showed me, those who wanted to punish or alienate me that I was stronger than my fears.  You taught me how to overcome and that feeling sorry for myself isn’t necessary.  You gave me the courage to face even greater challenges.

To those who showed me, unconditional love, thank you for showing me I am worthy of love and fellowship.  You taught me the value of acceptance and the joy of receiving grace.  I didn’t deserve your kindness and yet you blessed me anyway.

To those who somehow saw talent, ability, and strengthens within me, thank you for the courage to invest your time in me.  You taught me the importance of mentoring and the rewards of edification.  I could never have reached my potential without you.

Whether they wanted to hurt me or help many people have shown me truths about myself I would never have imagined possible myself.  People who sought to enrage me or encourage me have all played a vital role in shaping me into the person I am.  So, I say thank you to you who “showed” me.  

Spend time with Amish people

Tammy and I stopped at the Powell mountain overlook on the way to the Amish Fellowship 

 Over the last few years we have pumped concrete for Amish contractors in our region, and it has been a great blessing. In fact this year I pumped concrete for them at their community center, it happened to be on my birthday. Tammy told them it was my birthday, so they sang happy birthday to me, they had the little children sing hymns, and they made coffee and donuts for me. I cried.  It will forever be etched in my heart and my mind, that day was truly special.  

Tonight, Tammy and I were invited to that same community center for a fellowship meal. It was delicious.  They slaughtered two hogs yesterday, cooked them in the ground the old fashioned way, and had all the sides. Their apple Pie was the best we’ve ever had. 

I share all this to say, you really should spend time with Amish people. I’ve spent a good bit of time with them over the last few years working, and I believe you’d be enriched by knowing the Amish too. 

You probably think of their clothing and culture and think, Why? Why get to know them and why are they so different?

Here are some reasons I think it’s in our interest to mingle with the Amish:

They model modesty. Our over sexualized world could uses a dose of sensible sensory stimulation, or more accurately non-stimulation. Obviously they know about intimacy, they seem to have 6 to 8 children in each household. 

They are family centered people. Who you marry matters to them.  The children and their rearing are a priority.  They have established families and bonds that many of us could learn from.

The have great moral bearings. We live in a world where we lack trust in our government, schools, and scientists.  Ethics and morality seem to be neglected by and large, mostly ignored by nearly everyone it seems, and it’s good to be around a community of people like the Amish who value wholesomeness. 

They live simply. They make their own clothes, raise their own food. Educate their own children.  There’s something to be said for the independence they have, their self sufficient lifestyle. None of their kids had their noses glued to a screen. The 10 year olds carried on their hips the infants. The adolescent ones listened to adults in conversation.  The teens acted like young adults, mature and friendly and polite and respectful.  

They have traditions that ground them. Do I agree with them and long for the traditions they have, some yes others no. The tradition of their ancestors and culture isn’t the important reason or the draw, the tradition and their ability to pass on their heritage and traditions and the inter generational cohesion is admirable. You have to witness it for yourself perhaps to appreciate the beauty and impact.  

They are people of the earth, you could say the salt of the earth. They follow the seasonal pattern of planting and harvesting, they care for the livestock. They enjoy an abundance of blessings living an agricultural existence, one that most Americans have run away from. Less than 6% of us live on a farm anymore, we might have traded off more of the good life then we bargained for when we “advanced” our standard of living.  

They’ve also made a habit of centering their communities around worship.  The majority of people claim some sort of religious belief, but less than 40% of Americans attend church. The Amish have built their world around their faith, while many of us build our faith around the world. 

It’s pure escapism to fantasize about shirking our worldly responsibilities or living off the grid and getting back to nature. We are too addicted to technology and comfort. Which I’m part of. I’d be a hypocrite to say otherwise.  I’m not advocating that you ditch your job in the city and move into the Amish paradise nearest you. And yet. 

And yet, I believe it would do our souls, all of us, good to spend time with humbly-minded, loving, trustworthy people who champion a healthy lifestyle that deserves more respect and appreciation from us. I consider the Amish I know to be genuine friends. They make me laugh, have made me cry. They make me feel welcome. And I feel better about this world and my life whenever I’m around them. 

Appreciation for those who rescue us

On Friday the 13th it’s simply superstitious to be afraid of experiencing an unlucky tragedy.  As silly and spiritually-unhealthy as this sounds people seem to be more in tune to potential calamities, tending to worry more about their safety today than on other days.   But have you considered, saving others from danger is rarely safe?

Too often we take for granted the heroic people who serve our community, brave people who step in and save us from all sorts of dangers, our police, EMTs, and firefighters deserve our respect.  I’m reminded of John 15:13 whenever I think of people who risk their safety to rescue us: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Saving others from danger is rarely safe, yet for some placing themselves in harm's way comes through a personal sacrifice.  There are people who actually relinquish their vacation time and days off to free up their time to serve Kingsport -- a group most of us mistakenly think are on the city’s payroll.  They not only volunteer their time to rescue us from every type of catastrophic incident imaginable, but astonishingly these folks actually raise the money themselves to purchase the expensive vehicles and lifesaving equipment that are required to rescue us.  (See their website here: Kingsport Lifesaving Crew)

Whether it’s a natural disaster or an industrial accident, from cave and trench rescues, to swift-water and remote rescues, to extracting victims from demolished vehicles, to many other dangerous scenarios (you have seen their heavy-crash truck which looks much like a fire department vehicle and their light rescue vehicle which looks like an ambulance) these highly trained folks with specialized skills are on call 24/7/365.  Not only do they donate their time, they completely depend on grants and charitable contributions to outfit the organization.  

Until recently, I had no idea the Kingsport Lifesaving crew operated as a volunteer organization, or that they raised their funding.  Just because this knowledge increases my appreciation for the folks on the Kingsport Lifesaving Crew, this doesn’t lessen my respect or appreciation for those on the city’s payroll who place themselves in danger to rescue us as well; it is simply a different type of appreciation.  

Both the paid professionals and the highly trained volunteers serve us in times of great need, and we would be in dire straits without these brave individuals.  I doubt our police and firefighters show up just for a paycheck, it is in a sense a ministry when you think about it -- when you combine their efforts with a volunteer organization dependent upon donations, our admiration naturally increases as well.  

Paul wrote in Romans 13:7, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”  I hope as a community we honor and appreciate these brave folks who stare down danger and step in to save us.  Thank you to everyone who forfeits their comfort, risks their personal safety, and who stands in the way of danger to rescue us -- I don’t believe in luck, but I do believe in you.

Originally published in Kingsport Times News:

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