Gary L. Thomas's Blog, page 29

Unlearning Complacent Ignorance: Learning the Value of Wisdom

When people think of Jesus, what do you imagine are some of the first thoughts and descriptions that come to their minds?

What adjectives or nouns flow through yours?

Many would say “martyr,” “holy,” “prophet,” “healer” and the like. Movies and television programs, even kid’s Sunday School programs, focus on “miracle worker.”

We will never understand Jesus or sufficiently appreciate Jesus fully when we focus on what he did to the exclusion of what he said. What he did matters mightily, but those who worship Him must also emphasize, treasure, and showcase Jesus’ brilliance. As much as He was (and is) anything, the incarnate Jesus was stunningly brilliant. He taught things, he said things, he displayed understanding in a way no one before him or after him ever did or could or will. Jesus is utterly, completely, fantastically, brilliant.

Continue reading this blog over on Substack, HERE.

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So Many Hurting Couples

When you speak at camps you get time at meals and after sessions to get to know couples beyond a quick handshake, and I almost always come away humbled and awed by the challenges so many couples face. I could never think up these challenges for a novel; this is real life and it’s often brutal.

Life is hard for so many. None of the challenges I’ve listed above are “temporary.” None of these couples can say, “We just need to hold on until things get better.” Most of them will likely never get “better.”

If we want to minister to today’s families and marriages, we need tremendous empathy. Paul tells us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:15). So many couples are just trying to breathe; let’s create a culture of understanding, listening, and encouragement. Marriages need help, empathetic counsel, and encouragement.

Continue reading over on Substack HERE.

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Unlearning the Need to Be in Control: The Great Adventure of Finding Your Place

This is part two of chapter six of my book in progress, The Art of Unlearning. This post won’t make nearly as much sense if you haven’t read part one of this chapter, which you can find HERE.

Adventure Injections

Ward admits that real life, at times, can feel like a prison. We have jobs, responsibilities and appointments. There are things most of us must do even if we don’t want to do them. But adventure can still penetrate and enrich our lives when we live with abundant expectations: “We have to get up and come down to breakfast every day, but the state of mind and attitude towards life with which we do so is capable of infinite variation.”[i]

Maybe you have a relatively mindless job with a monotonous routine. Or maybe you feel shackled to bed by ill health. What if you asked God to place people on your heart who need prayer right that moment? There may be sudden stirrings in your mind until suddenly, you come alive and plead with God to give strength, wisdom, discernment, and protection as he leads. There’s a certain intimacy that erupts when you secretly partner with God to complete his work in someone else’s life.

Continue reading over on Substack HERE.

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Unlearning the Need to Be in Control: Learning the Way of the Wind

The wonderful thing about life in Christ is that it’s more like driving a taxicab than working a mail route—you never know who you’ll meet or where you’ll go next.[i]

Disneyland is the self-proclaimed “happiest place on earth” but company lawyers do their best to make sure there are no “surprises” (i.e., lawsuits). Every ride should function as it was designed to; lines need to move at a scheduled time. Animals are fed on the clock. If you hop on the “it’s a small world” ride in 2023, it’ll be the same as it was in 1973 (and the song will be haunting you until 2053). You’ll know what’s around every curve, on every wall, and what you’ll be told as you exit the boat.

Jesus’s teachings, parables, and life paint a portrait that more closely resembles a jungle than a theme park, in that you never know what’s around the next bend or what’s going to happen next or who you’re going to meet next. You might have a soul that craves an occasional visit to Disneyland, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But you were designed to live in the jungle.  And it’s only in the jungle that abundant life can be found.

Continue reading over on Substack HERE.

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The Story of Forgiveness

An incredible story of God’s power to help us forgive, heal and be reconciled! 

As a massage therapist, Sharon literally found her hands around the neck of the woman who had had an affair with her husband (while Sharon was pregnant) and broke up her family. The journey toward the two women being in the same room, with one giving the other a massage, reminded me of Corrie Ten Boom’s life of faith and forgiveness. How has such light and even friendship developed from such sin and darkness?

Watch this interview over on Substack, HERE.

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How Satan is Demonically Clever in Attacking You

I’m going to get a little personal here, but hopefully, it will be helpful for those of you who are being buffeted and discouraged by the hostility of others or the prowling Satan even as you read this.

Satan is demonically clever in the way he attacks us. He individualizes his assaults, he is aware of your wounds, and he takes a sadistic pleasure in opening and re-opening those wounds whenever he sees a chance. It’s helpful to know where you’re weak and where you’ve been wounded so that you can put up a proper defense, understand what’s going on, and run to your affirming, loving, grace-filled Savior, Comforter, and Rescuer.

Continue reading over on Substack. Click HERE.

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Unlearning Independence: Learning the Value of Neediness, Part 3

This is the third and final portion of the chapter, “Unlearning Independence; Learning the Value of Neediness.” Parts one and two can be found HERE and HERE.

The Intimacy We’ve Always Wanted

            The first time I got Covid-19, the worst symptom for me was severe joint pain. Losing my sense of smell was bizarre more than uncomfortable. After Covid passed, the joint pain went with it and I was able to resume running. The second time I got Covid, the joint pain in my knees stayed even after the disease had left. After decades of cherished distance running, it was difficult to go more than three miles without setting myself up for pain throughout the rest of the day.

            For stress, weight management, mental refreshment and often spiritual insight, running has been a mainstay in my life. The thought of losing it (which remains an active possibility as I write this) is terrible to contemplate but now I’ve learned that my need to maintain a sweet, surrendered spirit before God is more important than my need to run. If not being able to run makes me bitter at God or less than grateful for the spiritual riches I enjoy, the blessing of my past running will become a curse. I need the presence and favor of God more than I need to run.

Continue reading over on Substack, HERE.

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Going Back in Order to Go Forward

Even those in marriage ministry—in fact, especially those in marriage ministry—often need a reminder of what their marriage is all about. Mike Guindon recently sent out the following reflection to his supporters.  

Sometimes we just need to go back in order to move forward in a more powerful and effective way. I recently found that to be true as I prayed, asking God to help Jill and I have a marriage that was more honoring and glorifying to Him. We were feeling that lately we just weren’t doing our best job of “Putting Jesus On Display”  in our marriage, feeling a little discouraged and maybe listening to some of Satan’s lies. As I prayed I felt God directing me back to a book I had not read in many years. A book, that apart from the Bible, has had the most impact on my life. It is a book written by Gary Thomas called “Sacred Marriage,” an award winning book written over twenty years ago. 

Continue reading over on Substack, HERE.

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Unlearning Independence: Learning the Value of Neediness, Part 2

This is part two of chapter five, “Unlearning Independence; Learning the Value of Neediness.” You can read part one here (HERE).

Blinded by Abundance

In the first century, Laodicea viewed itself as a proud and independent city. Laodicea was so wealthy and so proud about being so rich that when a horrific earthquake in 60 A.D. rocked the Lycus valley, the city distinguished itself from nearby peers Collosae and Hieropolis by refusing Rome’s imperial help to rebuild.  Laodicea’s geographical location at the junction of prime trade routes, its renowned wool, and its medical specialty in treating eye diseases (it was the home of a particular “Phrygian eye powder” and medical school) set it apart from its neighbors.

Laodicea was to Hellenistic cities what Texas is to the other forty-nine states: proud and independent. Don’t Mess With Texas…

Continue reading this blog over on Substack, click HERE.

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What is the Unpardonable Sin? And Have I Committed It?

One of the most common questions I get as a pastor, particularly from younger believers, is, “Have I committed the unpardonable sin?” When Jesus mentions this sin (Mark 3:22-30; Matthew 12:22-32) it’s a terrifying thought to a true believer, so the spiritually sensitive understandably tremble. In the end, my beloved mentor Dr. J.I. Packer would say that the one unpardonable sin is impenitence, but people want more and deserve more of an answer than that. So I’m excerpting two small discussions in Packer’s book Concise Theology which together comprise a fuller but still succinct answer. The second excerpt directly addresses the question of the unpardonable sin, but I’m including the excerpt before it on perseverance, as it sets up Dr. Packer’s answer about the unpardonable sin.

Continue reading over on Substack. Click HERE.

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