In this devotional podcast episode, M.t. Clark opens with a photo of swamp trees shared by a viewer and apologizes for missing a previous posting due to a Bible study author’s travel. He provides a detailed update on his ongoing Dietrich Bonhoeffer discipleship series, noting that the series will comprise 19 lessons, with lesson 12 slated for release that week and a goal to finish before 2023. Clark then shifts to the seasonal context, reflecting on the approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and shares a personal anecdote about attempting to purchase a large quantity of gift cards at a mall. He describes the in‑store limit imposed by the cashier, his attempts at the service desk, and ultimately his decision to use online ordering, creating a business account for his nonprofit (mtforchrist.org) to bypass the limit. He uses this experience to discuss the “Karen/Ken” phenomenon, the importance of persistence (citing Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow), and advises listeners to plan ahead and keep a calm, Christ‑like attitude during the holiday rush. The episode concludes with a prayer for wisdom, peace, and gratitude, and an invitation to visit his website for further devotional resources.
Chapters
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 a stand of trees immersed in water set against the fading light of day comes to us from Arthur Sincotti, who shared these swamp trees with me via text on Thursday as he and his wife Susanna are on a holiday road trip this week and stopped long enough to capture this scene while traveling through North Carolina. Well, the first thing I would like to do is to apologize for not posting anything yesterday. The author of our weekly Bible study has been on the go this week, and Saturday evening was crossing the mighty Mississippi River on the way to Louisiana. And despite their initial hopes to produce a study on the road, had to call our regular study off. So I guess Sunday was our week off for Thanksgiving. And I honestly was thankful for the break, but although I did spend some time rejoicing in the presence of my wife, I also utilized a portion of the time that was normally spent in lively discussion of the things of God to make some significant preparations for the conclusion of the Bonhoeffer series I am producing on the pod— for the podcast and the YouTube channel. I was finally able to determine just how long the Herculean effort to share Bonhoeffer's discipleship was going to take, and while I'm not sure when I will produce and release the last installment of the series, I now know that there will be 19 "lessons" in total, and that I'll be releasing lesson 12 sometime this week. I was going to say Wednesday evening, but although I plan on recording my PowerPoint presentation of Bonhoeffer's "The Messengers" on Wednesday in my countryside home. I don't know if my cell phone's hotspot will cooperate with my intentions when I am in the great white north of Easton. I also realize that I am beyond the halfway point in this series, and even though I have been releasing them once a week, I want to be true to my original intentions to complete the series before 2023 begins. I'm not sure how or if that will work, but After we get through this week, we will have— we will be better able to get a grasp on what that will look like. Oh yeah, if you didn't know, Thursday is Thanksgiving. Is Thursday, as in 3 days away. I don't know about you, but my life is somewhat filled with activity, and this past Saturday, even though part of me knew and made preparations for Thanksgiving this week. That knowledge didn't really become meaningful until I was relaxing at my sister-in-law's birthday party this past weekend. Thanksgiving is Thursday— is this Thursday? As in 5 days away at the time, now only 3 days. Where does the time go, right? So like the trees in today's photo, has the impending holiday on Thursday and the Christmas season just beyond— have you swamped yet? Thankfully, I am not hosting any Thanksgiving Day celebration this year, and I am very happy to be going to my brother-in-law's on Thursday. But I can real— I can recognize the stress that we may all be under in anticipation of all that is to come on Thursday and the weeks ahead. In fact, I had a real freakout a couple of weeks ago because I had the day off on Election Day. I I went Christmas shopping and got a lot of it done on November 8th. Uh, you see, I know how crazy my blogging, podcasting, ministry, working, two-household Christian discipleship lifestyle can be, and I have learned to look ahead to what needs to be done in the future and to have things ready when I get there. With proper planning, it all works out, but you have to be diligent. And sometimes, unfortunately, the world will be— will not be on the same page you are. Yesterday I had some unexpected free time on my hands as our regular growth group was canceled. So immediately I thought of my need to get gift cards for Christmas, and I realized that after Thursday we will be officially in the madness of the holiday season where the stores and parking lots will be filled with holiday shoppers. So I decided that I was going to get her done in terms of most of my Christmas shopping by getting the gift cards cards now. Capital N-O-W. So off to the mall I went. I was positively gleeful, gleeful over the availability of parking, the relatively small crowds, and the fact that the gift card kiosk had all the gift cards I needed. And admittedly, I needed a lot. So just as I was going to congratulate myself on being super smart, uh, the world blocked my goal of getting getting her done. Uh, the cashier at the store I went to informed me that there was a limit to the amount of gift cards I could purchase. The limit they were imposing would make my trip to the mall essentially meaningless. But like the male equivalent of a Karen— a Ken, apparently— I decided that I didn't need to waste my time with a drone at the cash register that was just trying to do their job according to the policies they have been taught to enforce without question. I decided to take my request/complaint/significant purchase to the miraculously vacant service desk. There were 3 people behind the service desk, and at first I thought surely one of them would sympathize with me and just help me get 'er done. But unfortunately, instead of sympathy and assistance, I got apathetic, almost disdainful looks and a repeat of the cashier's apologies and explanations of things that I knew from prior experience just weren't true. So I had a decision to make. I could continue to plead, ask for a manager, or get angry. Or I could go around the— this obstacle by other means. You see, I always buy, uh, gift cards for the holidays in mass quantities. And while you may have to play games in person at the store, a whole new level of freedom and efficiency comes from doing things online. I've done this before. So hold my Coke Zero or Bang Energy Drink and watch this. Immediately, uh, I go to my phone, but quickly determined that my phone can't move as fast as me, and I was just going to have to give up the quest until I could put in my orders on my laptop at home. So I more or less resolve to get 'er done another day. So I go home and put my laundry in, take care of some other things around the house before I decide to attempt to order my gift cards and have them shipped to me instead of going to the store, which I discover I can't do. The gift cards I wanted were pickup only, but I discovered that the limit I face online was a lot less restrictive than the ridiculous ones they were seeking to enforce in person. Don't you just love that it is easier dealing with machines sometimes than people? For example, the self-checkout. I know some people object about the self-checkout. It costs people jobs, and I don't work here, etc., etc. But me, I love that and even take some pride over my skill at getting through the self-checkout quickly. Get out of my way, I'm getting her done. So because of that great service I get from my fellow man, where it is Whenever possible, I will do things online nearly 99% of the time, with rare exceptions. So I discovered that I can order quite a few of the gift cards at, at a time online and place an order for the ones I can. Done. But I still have more to get, so I start to place another order when I realize that the, that the online order system is actually trying to help me with a pop-up that I ignored on my first purchase. The pop-up invites me to bypass the limit on gift cards by creating a business account. So I do. My business is a not-for-profit online organization called mtforchrist.org where I produce Christian devotional-type encouragements and education materials for the masses free of charge. So, have you heard of it? So I now have a business account with this store and I am able to order the rest of my gift cards in a single order. Awesome, right? Oh, it gets better. I no sooner finish my second order that I get an email that tells me my first order is ready for pickup. So even though I drove all the way home from the mall, I decide just to wait until my second order is fulfilled and I'll go back the way I came and get her done today. And I do. I got her done. Thanks to the internet telling the people to just give the guy what he wants, I got her done. I know why Karens and Kens exist. People stand on policy rather than on customer service and doing business. People can't think outside of the box that they are placed in, and some— and when someone demands that their needs be met as a right the world turns against them and calls them entitled, privileged, or even racist. It's in the definition of a Karen. Rather than changing policy, they try to block their goals. But these mama bears and angry old men know better. If they argue long enough or get to the right person with, with the pragmatism or authority to actually make a decision outside of a corporate flowchart, 90% of the time they succeed. Maybe even higher than that. Jesus actually shared the parable of the persistent widow to encourage us to keep pushing and praying for justice. So there is some wisdom in being persistent. However, I would recommend keeping your cool and maintaining your peace when you come up against opposition like this. People are just doing what they are told to, to the best of their abilities, And as they say, our lack of planning doesn't constitute an emergency, Karen or Ken. So although I got her done yesterday without a fight, mind you, although I felt positively triumphant beating the system with the system, I would recommend that you plan ahead in the days ahead so you won't feel swamped by the stress that can come with the most wonderful time of the year. And remember, as Christians, we represent the King, so keep walking and talking with God And go in peace to all the world and show them that you are a reasonable person who understands that your needs and wants are not rights, and that your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency, even if it feels like it. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.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 share— continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship, with his exposition on Matthew 7, where he is in the Great Separation, and that continues. So if you want to see that, go to mt4christ.org, and you'll discover that resource at the end of today's blog post. Well, things are running late again, uh, so, uh, we're gonna pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for you to help us on from getting swamped in this holiday season and to help us get through work in the next few days to get us to Thanksgiving. Uh, Lord, we just want to be thankful. We want to represent you the best we can in this world. So help us to walk with wisdom and, you know, to be wise as serpents but also innocent as doves as much as we can in the days ahead. Um, Lord, as always, we pray for the people listening to this message. We pray for them to be blessed. We pray for you to come alongside them and, uh, and their walk. And as always, Lord, we pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to things we need to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
