WEDNESDAY'S WORDS - RECIPROCITY, TRADE-OFFS & COMPROMISE - Sadell Bradley 10/28/2020

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORDS

RECIPROCITY, TRADE-OFFS & COMPROMISE

Sadell Bradley

10/28/2020

Warehouse Gear - Fall and Winter styles are in! For every shirt sold, $10 will go to Warehouse Missions. Click here to purchase one of the many styles available.  Our goal is to raise $5,000 for Missions.  When you get your T-Shirt, post a photo!

The old saying goes, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Seems like these monkeys already get RECIPROCITY - the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. To reciprocate means to respond to (a gesture or action) by making a corresponding one; or to experience the same (love, liking, or affection) for someone as the person does for oneself. This last sentiment is expressed in the second of the two greatest commands of God's law. 'Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31) It is also found in The Golden Rule, "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12, NLT) These simple Biblical truths on reciprocity we learned as children seem lost right about now, but displays of God's kindness and love generally yield as much as they give, if not more.

TRADE-OFFS A TRADE-OFF is a situational decision that involves diminishing or losing one thing while gaining another in return. All trade-offs aren't bad, we make strategics choices based on a particular set of circumstances. That's happening a lot right now in this pandemic as many have had to navigate difficult choices in order to survive and thrive. 39% of financially struggling millennials are choosing to give up some of their freedoms to move back in with their parents to defray costs.(CNBC) In a trade-off, we fully understand the pros and cons, and decide what we're willing to lose to get what benefits us. Reciprocity and trade-offs are a part of life. The Apostle Paul chose to forsake the benefits of his religious status and education to become a follower of Christ. He said, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." (Phil. 3:7) Though it cost him his reputation, his prestige and social standing, his physical freedom, and eventually his life...to Paul, Jesus was more than worth it.

COMPROMISE

COMPROMISE is another word we're not hearing too often in this climate of extreme opinions. Its meaning depends on the situation. Sometimes compromise does indeed mean accepting standards lower than we desire. At other times it means we choose to work together to come to an agreement in a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. Wouldn't that be refreshing to see. "Compromise is not about losing. It is about deciding that the other person has just as much right to be happy with the end result as you do." - Donna Martini

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - TALISMANIC - Sadell Bradley- 10/21/2020

WEDNESDAY'S WORD

TALISMANIC

Sadell Bradley

10/21/2020

"Oscar always opens up doors, especially the night of the Oscars. On that night, you hold that gold man, and it's like having Gandalf's staff. You can go anywhere and do anything. It's a talisman of such power." - Alex Gibney - American Director

WAREHOUSE T-SHIRT FUN-RAISER

Got your Warehouse Gear yet? Fall and Winter styles are coming in! For every T-Shirt sold, $10 will go to the Warehouse for Missions. Click here to purchase one of the many styles available. Our goal is to sell 500 T-Shirts to raise $5,000 for AV/Sound renovations in the lower level of our church, and to assist parents of CPS students. We're already over 1k! When you get your T-Shirt, post a photo!

To the left is a man we have all come to know in recent months. Dr. Anthony Fauci, 79, has been America's top infectious disease specialist under six presidents, since President Ronald Reagan's first term. He is an epidemiologist, an expert in the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases/epidemics. Dr. Fauci has helped this Country tame HIV/AIDS, and the Ebola and Zika viruses. He was recently featured on the television news show 60 Minutes and a CNN article said, "He enjoys TALISMANIC status within the medical community in the US and abroad." You know I couldn't pass that word up! A TALISMAN can be an object (like an Oscar award statue in the quote above) that is thought to have magic powers or bring good luck, or it can be a person who is regarded as representing or inspiring a particular group. Wouldn't it be amazing if the quality of your work and character over 50+ years in your sphere of influence engendered talismanic status?

GOD IS INSPIRING...ARE YOU? "Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, You inspire shouts of joy." (Psalm 65:8, NLT) Just the consideration of God and His miraculous works evokes clamorous cheers and expressions of triumph, jubilation and exultation. It is glorious aspiration to become an inspiration. Talismans inspire - they fill people with the urge or ability to do or feel something creative. They evoke hopeful and positive feelings in others. They breathe life into them. Inspiration means to impart truth or ideas to someone. This has been a part of Dr. Fauci's calling, even when the truth is uncomfortable. Sometimes a talisman, an inspiring person, is transparent, truthful, and can be counted on for integrity...even in difficult or dire situations.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ENTER A ROOM?

This is a great question for all of us to ponder. Do people look forward to seeing you or do they dread your appearance? Are you easy to be entreated (James 3:17) or are you the bear that no one wants to poke for fear of retaliation? Are you at least highly respected for your work and character, even if like Dr. Fauci, you're not liked by some? Maybe your entrance into a room brings a negligible affect, it's neither inspiring nor fear evoking. Maybe there's not great admiration or respect because you're almost invisible. You've made little impact because you've chosen not to engage. If we move beyond social interactions, the question still remains, "How does your life speak? Is it inspirational?" Let's take it outside of your family, (not that they're not important...) Might you be a TALISMAN to anyone else in this world?

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - HYPOCRITE - Sadell Bradley 10/14/2020

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD

HYPOCRITE

Sadell Bradley

10/14/2020

"Hypocrites in the Church? Yes, and in the lodge and at the home. Don't hunt through the Church for a hypocrite. Go home and look in the mirror. Hypocrites? Yes. See that you make the number one less." - Billy Sunday

WAREHOUSE T-SHIRT FUN-RAISER

Got your Warehouse Gear yet? Fall and Winter styles are coming in! For every T-Shirt sold, $10 will go to the Warehouse for Missions. Click here to purchase one of the many styles available. Our goal is to sell 500 T-Shirts to raise $5,000 for AV/Sound renovations in the lower level of our church, and to assist parents of CPS students. We're already over 1k! When you get your T-Shirt, post a photo! We've sold 100 shirts so far which is just part of our goal. So get yours today!!

"Everybody is a hypocrite. You can't live on this planet without being a hypocrite." - Paul Watson HYPOCRISY is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. The Greek hupokrisis means 'acting of a theatrical part'; to pretend; under judgment. Francis Frangipane in his book, 'Holiness, Truth, and the Presence of God' said, "Jesus did not condemn sinners; He condemned hypocrites. A hypocrite is a person who excuses his/her own sin while condemning the sins of another. They are not merely 'two faced,' for even the best of us must work at single-mindedness in all instances. A hypocrite... is one who refuses to admit that he/she is at times two-faced, thereby pretending a righteousness he/she fails to live."

"ANYONE CAN JUDGE...BUT CAN YOU SAVE? "- Francis Frangipane In the Gospels, Jesus was big on calling the religious leaders hypocrites. He called them out for honoring God with their lips, but their hearts being far from Him (Mark 7:6); for looking beautiful on the outside while their insides were dead and unclean (Matthew 23:27); for fasting and praying for show, and only being concerned with receiving praise from people. (Matthew 6:16) Jesus taught that we should continually practice SELF-examination - - not OTHER examination. He commanded His disciples, "Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? 5You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. (James 4:6)

The antonyms for hypocrisy are honesty, sincerity, and genuineness. The antidote to hypocrisy is humility - a modest or low view of your own importance. Esteeming others better than ourselves would be a welcome Biblical change right about now. (Phil 2:1-3) We are all hypocrites at one time or another. We fabricate images and try to make them appear true. We deflect from our own faults by highlighting those of others to prop ourselves up and make ourselves feel better. We're not tentative in our opinions, nor are we gracious, kind, or humble. We can't truly be like Christ while clinging to our hypocrisies. Let's be real... we know that we nor the positions we so staunchly hold onto are entirely righteous. We know we're not presenting the full counsel of God in all of our ideologies. Why be so smug and sanctimonious when we could choose to be humble?

WEDNESDAY'S WORD - AMBIDEXTROUS - Sadell Bradley -10/07/2020

 

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD

AMBIDEXTROUS

Sadell Bradley

10/06/2020

"My high-school coach Tony Reginelli was kind of famous for 'Reggie-isms,' kind of like 'Yogi-isms.' He always said if you want to be a good quarterback, when sprinting left you want to be amphibious and throw left-handed. I told him, 'You mean ambidextrous, coach?" - Peyton Manning

WAREHOUSE T-SHIRT FUN-RAISER

Got your Warehouse Gear yet? Fall and Winter styles are coming in! For every T-Shirt sold, $10 will go to the Warehouse for Missions. Click here to purchase one of the many styles available. Our goal is to sell 500 T-Shirts to raise $5,000 for AV/Sound renovations in the lower level of our church, and to assist parents of CPS students. We're already over 1k! When you get your T-Shirt, post a photo! Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

AMBIDEXTROUS means to use the right and left hands equally well. Peyton Manning described ambidexterity as valuable for quarterbacks. It is desirable in the NBA to dribble, drive, and shoot with either hand. Ambidextrous people can write with both hands simultaneously. They don't have a dominant hand. Only 1% of the population is ambidextrous. Many started as left-handed, but developed ambidexterity because of the stigma on left-handedness (people thought it was a sign of witchcraft...I know...absurd). Some feel the need to build their right-handed skills because most of society caters to that hand. Still others develop ambidexterity after injuring their dominant hand. What would it be like to teach yourself to use your weaker hand and build it to the point that it equals your dominant hand?

SOCIAL DEXTERITY Life requires a good amount of social dexterity. As they say, "Adapt or die." African-Americans and other minorities learn to navigate both our own and the dominant culture. Women become proficient at living in 'a man's world.' Christ followers engage a society that they are 'in' but not 'of.' (John 15:19; 17:14) Paul said he chose to adapt in order to win people to Christ, "When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law." (1 Corinthians 9:20)

STRENGTHEN THE WEAK SIDE

God wants to use our weaknesses. Our society is mostly concerned with strengths. Paul was extraordinarily gifted, righteous, and educated. He had everything going for him, except...his weakness. Paul asked God to remove this 'thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan' three times. The answer was...No, I'm going to give you My grace for that weakness. I'm going to show My strength and power through your non-dominant hand. You're going to feel really uncomfortable at first, but eventually you'll glory in the weakness so that the power of Christ can rest on you. Then you'll begin to identify your weaknesses as strengths, so lean in. (2 Cor. 12:5-10) When I allow God to develop my weak areas, I become mentally, emotionally and spiritually 'ambidextrous.'