Beating the Heat with CAKE? - Purity 1142

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the setting sun peeking its way between a tree and a rustic barn comes to us from yours truly as I captured the scene at the end of the road during last Sunday's walk into the farmlands off of Waite Road in Easton, New York. Well, I don't know if I was crazy from the heat or I just, I was just tired after a long day at work and a fruitful night of ministry, but I opened up the blog/podcast yesterday saying it was Friday. Yesterday wasn't Friday, and what's funny is that I shared a pathway photo on yesterday's blog, as is my regular habit for Thursdays, but somewhere between picking that photo and writing yesterday's blog post, I must have wanted to skip ahead to the weekend and reported that it was Friday. So I offer my apologies for any confusion or concern my false report may have caused. But today is Friday, and after several 90-degree days, I am thankful that we have finally made it, uh, to the weekend and can't wait for today's work to be done so I can be reunited with my beloved wife, Tammy Lynn, at our countryside home later this afternoon. You know, the heat can do some crazy things to people. The high temperatures can challenge our bodies and our minds to the point that we don't respond the same. The heat makes us weaker physically and mentally. Our physical strength is depleted quicker, and the patience under— and our patience under fire is not what it should be. Yesterday, We had a staff meeting at work and an issue involving a manager and an employee was discussed. There was a question over whether or not management did all they could do to assist the employee to do his job, and there was a subtle accusation that the manager was trying to coerce the employee to push past his physical capacity. If that wasn't bad enough, when the employee refused to comply with the manager's suggestion, the manager issued an ultimatum that sounded like a punishment or a threat, that the employee would be forced to stay late if they didn't finish their job on time. The discussion was heated and tempers flared as management refused to admit any wrongdoing and went nuclear when the top manager issued another thinly veiled threat to make the workplace even less hospitable. People lost their cool. I even chimed in once or twice to voice my disgust over what seemed like a minor request to be refused because management thought they knew how to do the job better than the tech and didn't even try to help them. But the top brass's threat, although I thought it revealed a surprising lack of maturity, was effective. He had the authority to make our lives a little more difficult. So after he threatened to, as one of my coworkers said, take his ball and go home, the arguments It fizzled out as the workers all could see there was no point appealing to this management group's sense of fair play or justice. Because we didn't want things to be worse, we let it go in hopes that management wouldn't make the same mistakes twice. The whole situation was an aberration. Generally, we get the things we need to do our jobs and are treated with respect. But the day before was hot. And there was pressure to get the job done. So things were less than ideal, and the heat made them worse. Although today's temps are dipping a bit, the forecast is for 87 degrees. Um, so much for, uh, summer being over, uh, after Labor Day, right? Um, and to add more fuel to the fire, last night we had thunderstorms and we lost power. So I am so thankful for my Generac generator as the power is out, and if it wasn't for my decision to spend the money on it in 2020, I would be sitting in the dark right now. So if you are in my neck of the woods, you could encounter people upset over having no power in their homes last night and who are bothered by the heat. Although I didn't think of it during the heat of the moment of yesterday's staff meeting, There are ways to contain our discussions with one another to lead them into a balanced, peaceful conversation rather than having them degenerate into angry arguments. Dr. Jim Wilder and Marcus Warner's Rare Leadership offers us CAKE, C-A-K-E, an acronym that points to infusing our conversations with relational skills to keep the peace. And, uh, cake, uh, C, is— stands for curiosity. Starting a sentence with "I'm curious" can help us to remain relational, as we will convey that we are listening and want to hear the other person's side of the story. We don't assume we know their motivations or thought processes, and instead invite them to tell their story. And possibly share facts and insights that we are not aware of. Curiosity keeps us open to the possibilities of various solutions and keeps the parties engaged with one another to find a solution that takes into account all the factors. Then there's A for Appreciation. Letting the other person know that you appreciate your relationship with one another and that you appreciate what they say and do also keeps things amiable. And then there's K for kindness or kind. When we are kind to one another, we won't say something insulting or offensive. We will understand that we are both fallible people who are just trying to do our best in life and are acting from our perspective. And then finally, E is for envelope conversation. This is where we put whatever issue we are discovering into the envelope of our relationship. For example, during yesterday's staff meeting, the workers could have said, "We appreciate that management has had our best interests in mind and has provided us with all we need to do our jobs, and we appreciate that we can go to you to help us and treat us with respect." "Let's try to maintain this relationship in the same way we have been operating in the past." And management could have said, "We appreciate how you workers do your jobs efficiently and how you worked with us to meet the company goals and go the extra mile to get things done. So let's work together here to address this issue and prevent anything from getting in the way of the relationship of mutual trust and respect that we have. If we have put the— if we had put this issue into the envelope of our relationships, express curiosity, appreciation, and kindness, I believe that no one would have lost their tempers and things wouldn't have degenerated into childish threats. I have to remember to bring out the cake if this should happen again. So as we deal with the stress of fatigue and high temperatures today, let's be careful to take our time and be patient with one another. Let's remember that our relationships are more important than any problems that come our way, and if we remain relational, we can solve them with a little cake. Today's Bible verse comes to us— verses come to us from The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on alcohol and drug abuse, and today's verses are Proverbs 23:19-20. And the Word of God says, listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. Today's verses fall under the 14th and last point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on alcohol and drug abuse. And that point is number 14: Be wise, don't join those who abuse alcohol. Today's verses encourage us to be wise and to set our hearts on the right path of a balanced and sober life of purity. The implication is that drunkenness and gluttony are not a part of God's original plan for mankind. Let's face it, we can do some pretty, pretty regrettable things when we're drunk. We can say stupid things and do stupid things that can cause us and others harm. The path that leads to continual pain, troubles, and strife is not where the Prince of Peace is leading us to go. So let's take the right path and not join those who are in bondage to booze. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Holy Spirit, as we continue sharing from chapter 23, The Spirit Witnessing, and today's section is entitled The Office of Witness. So if you want to see what A.W. Pink has to say about that The Office of Witness. Go to mt4christ.org and you'll see that resource at the end of today's blog post. Um, also at the end of today's blog post, you'll see an encouragement. This is Join Our Victory Over the Darkness Bondage Breaker Freedom in Christ series of discipleship classes via the M.t. Clark 247 podcast. Those teachings are all based on the Word of God and the The work of Dr. Neil Anderson. I taught those classes back in 2021 at my local church and decided to record them. And so there's audio recordings basically on our podcast and, and our YouTube channel where we run through all the lessons in those books. So if you want to know who you are in Christ, you want to know about the spiritual forces of darkness and way to resolve your personal and spiritual conflicts, we offer those to you because we found they all lead to the Steps to Freedom in Christ. We found when you go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, you can really resolve some issues in your life and to move into the freedom that God has for you. And, you know, one of the, one of the things we move in is being peacemakers. And I really wish I had remembered cake during yesterday's staff meeting because it got out of hand very quickly as people were just insulted. And they didn't admit, you know, they refused to admit anything wrong. And there was no give back on either side. So it was sort of embarrassing to see. See happen, you know, because you can't do anything about the past. And they can, you know, you can't always give everyone what they want. And so there was just this huge impasse that came about because neither side wanted to budge. And, you know, not for nothing, it was a little hot. And this particular manager has had problems in the past, so some of that came up as well. Yeah, when you get in an argument, you know, not only did you offend us here, but you also did something stupid way back there. And so we, if we were kind, we wouldn't have done that, you know. So I didn't do that, someone else did it. But yeah. But I, yeah, I was like, ooh, that was a shot. And yeah, it was a shot because they mentioned something else they had done in the past, meaning this guy, you know, doesn't get it. But management's got to support one another and, and yeah, so we all make mistakes and we can, we can live. The good thing is we can live past them and we don't have to be at each other's throats when we remember that we're in relationship and that our relationships are more important than the problems we face. So, a little cake today. Anyway, today is Friday. I have no power and thus I have to take it on the road to get to an internet connection to upload the podcast and everything. So if today's message is a little brief, it's because of that. And I gotta remind myself of that because I do have to get out of here to, uh, to get her done. Um, yeah, anyway, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do. We thank you for the peace that you bring us when we remember the relationship we have with you, the one that was sealed by the blood of Jesus, the one that showed that you loved us so much you sent your only begotten Son to save us all, and that you invite us into your kingdom right now when we remember our relationship with you. So, Lord, we just pray for anyone who's out there listening or reading today's message. We apologize to you all for yesterday's wrong day announcement. We pray for the Lord to, um, to come alongside you in your prayer request and your walk of faith. And while we're at it, we'll pray, Lord, for you to come alongside us. Lead us in the way we should go today. Show us the things you want us to see and keep us safe, Lord, because we need your protection, your guidance at all times. Because all we want to do is represent you and your kingdom and show other people the love of Christ. And help us not to be offended. Help us to keep our patience today. And to, to think of others more highly than we think of ourselves. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.