Examples of Th(i)nkfulness

Th(i)nkful for Jeff Buckman

/ thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Our Deepest Drive

What would you do with a million dollars? What would you do with a multi-million dollar company? The answer to those types of questions tells a lot about us. What do we value? What do we prioritize? Do we think of spending or saving or investing? Jesus said that your heart and your money occupy the same place (Matthew 6:21).

“My” Money – From God and Back to Him

Jeff Buckman is the owner of Buckman’s Inc., a smaller family business that God has privileged him to develop over three decades into a major provider of pool and ski products in the greater Philadelphia area. We first got to know Jeff and Nancy in our young marrieds’ group at Limerick Chapel.  My husband actually worked for Jeff a couple of summers while we were teaching.Buckmans

Jeff is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and a promoter of His mission around the world.  Through his close friendship with missionaries, his leading teams on multiple short-term mission trips each year, and his service on the board of the mission agency we serve with, Jeff has experienced cultures, engaged in gospel outreach, and assisted in church plants on every habitable continent on earth. He knows business. He knows missions.

Ingenuity

Our General Director, Paul Seger (right in pic below), loves coffee and in a chat with Jeff one day said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could figure out a way to finance missions by drinking coffee.” There was a chuckle, but Jeff’s gears started turning. Working with Christian importers and a Christian roaster (Twin Valley Coffee), he cleverly created CoffeeHelpingMissions, a coffee company that gives 100% of its profits to support mission activity around the world.

Imagine! Capitalizing on something as simple as coffee, that people drink worldwide, to benefit missions. Although Starbucks’ claim that coffee is the second-most traded commodity after oil is not true, coffee is still a very hot item on the market and it would be difficult to find a country where it is not available in some form.

Jeff

Check out this YouTube video: Buckman explaining how CoffeeHelpingMissions.com worksJeff 3

Th(i)nkful Lessons

There are two lessons about being th(i)nkful here:

  1. We need to be th(i)nkful for blessings, but even more importantly, we need to be th(i)nkful to those who are the sources of those blessings, the immediate source being the people around us, and the ultimate source being the God who is the source of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
  2. We need to express our thankfulness to that person, and to others about that person. Hence, this post!

I am th(i)nkful for Jeff and his desire to promote the gospel and encourage missions and missionaries. Here is a man that exemplifies I Timothy 6:17-19. Through his  generous, cautious, and resourceful ingenuity, he seeks to use the gifts God has given him to invest back into God’s causes.

It is amazing how inspiring it can be to observe a real-life person that lives out what he believes. I am eager to see his reward one day at the Bema Seat.

IMG_3804_100_1Eternity Glasses

Being a MK (missionary kid) myself, and now an adult missionary, it strengthens my heart when a person eagerly and intelligently sacrifices to push forward such a cause. He is living out his regular ordinary life with eternity glasses on.

David and I have been greatly edified by this man.  In our family, Jeff Buckman is a man that is admired for his gift of giving and his clever handling of resources.

th(i)nkful ~ thinking thanks

 

Negative Th(i)nkful

/ thinkfulkarin / 3 Comments

Dennis

This is Pastor Dennis.  He was our co-worker in Johannesburg, SA.  He would often start our worship services at Sandton Bible with the question of: “Aren’t you thankful that you didn’t wake up in the hospital this morning?”

“A help toward personally fulfilling Eph. 5:20 & I Thess. 5:18 may be to continually thank God for all the things that could have gone wrong AND DID NOT; and, for all the things that went well BUT COULD HAVE GONE BADLY’!!! Examples- 1) how many things could have kept us from waking up this morning (countless)? 2) when driving on a 2 lane road and a car safely passes by in the opposing lane – it could have veered into our lane!” – Bob Meyers

There is no end to what we can think thanks about in our lives. When you think thanks about all the bad things that could have happened, but didn’t, you are practicing being negative th(i)nkful.  You could have been in a car wreck on your way to work this morning.  You could have a sore in your mouth that will not heal.  You could have severe abdominal pain right now.  You could have never heard about Jesus and the grace that He offers to anyone who wants to believe.  You could have nothing to live for and be looking for a way to die. You could not have access to the Word of God. You could have been born into extreme poverty.  The list goes on and on.

Think of five things that you are so thankful for that are not true in your life right now. Give that present of thanks to the One who deserves it.

Dennis Chapmon was the eternal optimist.  How inspiring he was to be around.  Yes, I am so thankful that I didn’t wake up in the hospital this morning.  Thank you God, that though Your ways are always good, you chose an easier path for me today in so many ways.

 

Th(i)nkful In The Storm

/ thinkfulkarin / 1 Comment

Sarah's tree storySince the Bible is the most published piece of literature in human history, and because I personally trust in it explicitly, I decided to do a thorough biblical study of the word “thanks” in all its various forms (such as thank, thankfulness, thanksgiving, thankworthy).

Let me summarize what I found and then connect it with the event in this picture that took place just last week.

Out of the 135 references I found in the Strong’s Concordance, 67 came from the Old Testament, and 68 from the New Testament. Let’s hit a few highpoints.

The references in the OT begin with the Lord’s thanksgiving offerings which were voluntary and were to express thankfulness to God in Lev. 7:11-21. God designed giving thanks as an essential part of the way His chosen people should worship Him.  As the years and the prophets went by, we can also see that whenever there was a revival, a time of cleansing and restoration in Israel, thanksgiving was an integral part.

The Psalms have the most references to thanks of any book in the Bible – no surprise there. When the psalmist was in distress, discouraged, or overwhelmed, he often poured out his heart to God.  As he began truth-thinking about God’s character and promises, his perspective changed and his thoughts were filled with thanksgiving toward God.

Moving to the NT, Colossians has a verse dealing with thanks in every chapter.  In fact, chapter 3 has three verses in a row (3:15-17), where three Greek words are used that are each connected to being thankful.  Check it out.

The strongest verses, Ephesians 5:20 and I Thessalonians 5:18, actually command believers to give thanks in all circumstances.

  • “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20).
  • “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thess. 5:18).

This is just a small sampling of all the verses I found, but such a strong foundation for pursuing being th(i)nkful.  I am cultivating thinking thanks not just for His glory, but also because my Creator has designed this thinking pattern for my benefit.  He wants me to look for the things that I can be thankful for in every situation that comes my way.

There will be times that are heart-wrenching and stretching in my life. I am to think thanks right then, even through the tears. There will be times when I feel like dancing because I am so happy.  I am to think thanks then, but that will be easy.  However, most of life will be in between these extremes, the vast stretches of mundane, everyday life, but even then, all the time, when I wake, and when I go to sleep, I am to think thanks.

I want to end this post with a story from a former student named Sarah.  She and her husband Austin are very precious to David and me. She had an eventful birthday on May 4th, a stormy day just last week.  This is how she described what happened after she left work that day:

I feel that I need to proclaim God’s grace and goodness. After not being able to leave due to trees down on the road, I came back to the house. I had just walked into the living room when we heard cracking and a massive crash. Walked outside to see this [picture above] where I had been only moments earlier. We don’t always know why God spares us from things like this, or why he doesn’t at times. But like Austin says, there are no other alternatives. No “what if’s,” or “if only’s,” we can only trust that if we knew everything He does, we wouldn’t change one thing (used by permission).

Sarah was being th(i)nkful.  She was thinking thanks in the middle of a very frightening and difficult thing.  Rather than bemoaning the destruction of her car, worrying about insurance claims, or how she would get to work, her thoughts went quickly to giving thanks to God.