Five minutes into the message, the entire worship center went black. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The generators had failed and every emergency light was out. We couldn't see anything! Immediately, the students started murmuring, but I clearly sensed that G.o.d wasn't finished with us yet.

Since the microphone died with the lights, I whistled for attention and then yelled into the darkness, "There is no way in the world world that we're going to let an electrical problem get in the way of what G.o.d wants to do in our lives here tonight!" The students cheered and then got very quiet; somebody put a flashlight in my hand, and for the next forty-five minutes I preached my heart out, even though I could barely see my notes and not a single face ma.s.sive auditorium. that we're going to let an electrical problem get in the way of what G.o.d wants to do in our lives here tonight!" The students cheered and then got very quiet; somebody put a flashlight in my hand, and for the next forty-five minutes I preached my heart out, even though I could barely see my notes and not a single face ma.s.sive auditorium.

When I was done, I closed in prayer, and then the students began to sing spontaneously. First quietly, but then incredibly, they chorused the great hymns of the faith at the top of their lungs for well over an hour. No instruments, no song leader, no lights, no words-just powerful, heartfelt expressions of praise and thanksgiving to G.o.d. It was one of the most moving things I have ever experienced in my life.

We later learned that the tornado came right over the school. Cars were damaged; tree limbs and debris were everywhere. Just ten minutes later, the tornado touched down in another spot. Several people were killed and many more evacuated as houses, large retail outlets, and at least two churches were demolished. More than forty people had to be airlifted to emergency rooms all over that part of Ohio.

Meanwhile, G.o.d had the full and undivided attention of that campus as we recognized in a fresh, new way how we take the simple things of life for granted, but G.o.d sends a little wind, and, apart from His grace, we can all be gone in a moment. Talk about an immediate reduction in complaining and a marvelous amplification of genuine thankfulness!

We really have so so much to be thankful for. Did the sun come up again this morning? Do you have another day to live for the glory of G.o.d? Then there is plenty to focus on for thanksgiving. You say, "Yeah, but there's plenty to focus on and complain about, too." My point exactly. We have a decision to make. much to be thankful for. Did the sun come up again this morning? Do you have another day to live for the glory of G.o.d? Then there is plenty to focus on for thanksgiving. You say, "Yeah, but there's plenty to focus on and complain about, too." My point exactly. We have a decision to make.

POINT TWO: THANKFULNESS IS A DECISION BASED IN REALITY.

That's a second lesson from that verse in Psalm 107. I'm not suggesting some mind-over-matter, power-of-positive-thinking nonsense here. I'm asking you to use your mind and ask, "Do I really have a lot to be thankful for?" The answer clearly is "Yes!"

The cla.s.sic book (written in 1719) by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, Robinson Crusoe, described a man who was shipwrecked. He spent twenty-seven years on a tropical island. His story ill.u.s.trates perfectly that thankfulness is a decision based in reality. We find our hero, cast on this island all by himself. Here is his journal entry: described a man who was shipwrecked. He spent twenty-seven years on a tropical island. His story ill.u.s.trates perfectly that thankfulness is a decision based in reality. We find our hero, cast on this island all by himself. Here is his journal entry: I now began to consider seriously my condition and the circ.u.mstance I was reduced to. I drew up the state of my affairs in writing to deliver my thoughts from daily poring upon them and afflicting my mind. As my reasoning began now to master my despondency, I began to comfort myself as well as I could and to set the good against the evil that I might have something to distinguish my case from one that is much worse. So I stated it very impartially, like a debitor and creditor, the comforts I enjoyed and the miseries I suffered. I now began to consider seriously my condition and the circ.u.mstance I was reduced to. I drew up the state of my affairs in writing to deliver my thoughts from daily poring upon them and afflicting my mind. As my reasoning began now to master my despondency, I began to comfort myself as well as I could and to set the good against the evil that I might have something to distinguish my case from one that is much worse. So I stated it very impartially, like a debitor and creditor, the comforts I enjoyed and the miseries I suffered. 6 6 We'll call the list that he wrote, "The Complaining List and the Thankful List." 7 7 Notice the deliberate choices of thankfulness based in the reality he was facing. Notice the deliberate choices of thankfulness based in the reality he was facing.

Robinson Crusoe's Complaining and Thankful List Complaint "I am cast upon a horrible desert island void of all hope of recovery."

Thanks "That I am alive and not drowned as all of my ship's company was."

Complaint "I am singled out and separate as it were from all from all the world to be miserable."

"I have not clothes to cover me."

"I am without any defense or means to resist any violence of man or beast."

"I have no soul to speak to or relieve me."

Thanks "But I am singled out, too, of the ship's crew to be spared from death. G.o.d, who miraculously saved me from death, can deliver me from this condition also."

"But I am in a hot climate where, if I had clothes, I could not wear them."

"But I am cast on an island where I see no wild beasts to hurt me as I saw on the coast of Africa. What if I had been shipwrecked there?"

"But G.o.d wonderfully sent the ship in near enough to the sh.o.r.e that I have gotten out so many necessary things as will either supply my wants or enable me to supply myself even as long as I live."

That is so powerful! Will you catch hold of this truth for yourself? We are asking G.o.d to change our att.i.tude before we find ourselves card-carrying members of the wilderness club. We are also learning from His Word that our att.i.tudes are decisions we make about how we are going to think. And that those decisions are based in reality. It's not Disney World thinking to choose to focus on the good things in our lives. It's wisdom!

Point Three: Thankfulness is a Life-Changing Decision Here's a final thought from Psalm 107: Thankfulness is a life-changing decision. Thankfulness is a life-changing decision. My favorite word in verse 8 is the first one, "Oh." It's the best part of the verse. My favorite word in verse 8 is the first one, "Oh." It's the best part of the verse. "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord . . . for His wonderful works to the children of men!" "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord . . . for His wonderful works to the children of men!" That word That word oh oh tells us that something radical and life changing is coming. The psalmist is not being overly dramatic; he's fired up because he's recognizing that we are very close to getting hold of something powerful. And so he spontaneously says, "Oh, tells us that something radical and life changing is coming. The psalmist is not being overly dramatic; he's fired up because he's recognizing that we are very close to getting hold of something powerful. And so he spontaneously says, "Oh, Oh, Ooooohhhh!! Oh, Ooooohhhh!! that you would get this! Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord!" There is that you would get this! Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord!" There is pa.s.sion pa.s.sion here because the message is important. here because the message is important.

The message is important because to get it wrong is to fly low and miss the joy of alt.i.tude living. To put it simply: Grat.i.tude is the att.i.tude that sets the alt.i.tude for living!

Unfortunately, there is a kind of low-alt.i.tude life that too many people live. It's a particular approach that grovels and slums and tries to get by under the radar of hope. It's a down-and-dirty, cloudy, damp, depressing, ungrateful, unthankful, complaining, negative, ugh! sort of living. We've all spent some days there. It's definitely a wilderness!

But there is another kind of living. It's a high-alt.i.tude att.i.tude-up where the air is clean and the sun is shining and the future is as bright as the promises of G.o.d. This life soars above and refuses to focus on the nega tive. If you have ever flown up there, then you know that' s s where we want to live our lives. where we want to live our lives.

How High Are You Flying?

You say, "I want to live up there; I hate living down in the depressing low-lands of this world." So do I, and I say again that it's grat.i.tude that sets the alt.i.tude for the kind of living you're looking for.

I'm still learning that. After the dramatic week of ministry at Cedarville College, I boarded a plane to return home in a hurry. With a Sunday message on my mind, I couldn't wait to find my seat and settle in for some focused message prep. Unfortunately, I was wearing my new Cedarville College shirt, and the woman next to me began talking about her own daughter in college. "Beautiful!" I told myself as she began, not comprehending the blessing that G.o.d had in store for my complaining heart.

Once we covered the typical "get to know you" stuff, the conversation turned in a much more serious direction. She told me about the tragedy in her wonderful marriage. About three years before, her husband had noticed a little lump on the back of his neck. He went to the doctor and found out that it was a malignant melanoma. In six weeks, he was gone. One day, they were having conversations like, "Should we go to Disney World this summer?" and six weeks later she and her five children were alone.

"For six months, I did really good," she said. People in the church loved us and cared for us. I was trusting in the goodness of G.o.d. But then," she added, "I remember very specifically making some choices. I began to complain and allow my thoughts to drift in a wrong direction. Before too long, I was very vulnerable."

She started to cry at this point and said, "A man came into my life who I had known before I knew the Lord. He began to say things to me." Through her tears she continued, "I just got so far off the track. I got so far away from G.o.d, and hurt my family and the Lord."

I waited for a moment and then asked, "What was it that turned your life around?"

She said, "I just woke up one day and I thought to myself, 'How did I get here? How did I get over to this place? This isn't what . . . I don't want to be be here.'" She stopped and thought for a moment. "It was really just a decision. I came back to the Lord." here.'" She stopped and thought for a moment. "It was really just a decision. I came back to the Lord."

She smiled and said, "I was like the prodigal."

"G.o.d received you, didn't He?" I said.

"He did," she answered.

"He embraced you and forgave you, didn't He?" I said.

Her face filled up with joy and she said, "He did! did! " She added, "G.o.d has blessed me so much now. My thoughts are so centered on the goodness of G.o.d and all that I have to be thankful for." " She added, "G.o.d has blessed me so much now. My thoughts are so centered on the goodness of G.o.d and all that I have to be thankful for."

Are you seeing the power of thankfulness?

She went on, "The Lord has brought another man into my life. When I was younger, I used to always watch that program on television, Eight Is Enough. Eight Is Enough. I have five children and I always wanted eight. The Lord has brought a man into my life whose wife pa.s.sed away, and he loves the Lord. He has three children." I have five children and I always wanted eight. The Lord has brought a man into my life whose wife pa.s.sed away, and he loves the Lord. He has three children."

Amen! What a story!

But listen. The power of thankfulness is not just for her, but for you and me! With my complaining heart, I almost missed the lesson G.o.d had for me on that flight. He had to confine me to an airplane seat so I would listen to that lady's great testimony. Let's listen, and hear His words to be thankful in all all things. things.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.

I have learned over time that a commitment to teach the transforming truth of G.o.d's Word brings with it many opportunities to apply it in my own life. As I conclude this chapter, I am sitting in a tiny room and looking out my window at the mountains of Ecuador. My wife, Kathy, and I are here to minister to about thirty missionaries who serve the Lord in various parts of this poverty-stricken area. I agreed to this opportunity more than four years ago when my life was very different, and now I am feeling the pressure to complain. Of course, I am willing to go wherever the Lord wants me, but I can only speak away from my church so many times per year. For that reason, I wouldn't normally drive across town to address a group so small, let alone make a twelve-hour trip by plane, stay overnight in Quito, and then make a six-plus-hour, two-hundred-mile trip along a single-lane gravel road with a five-hundred-foot drop-off.

To make matters worse, it is blistering hot, and I found out when I got here that in addition to speaking twice per day and the counseling that will go with that, both my wife and I are on one of the work crews and must take our turns cleaning the toilets and scrubbing the dining hall floor.

OK, James! Time to apply the truth that thankfulness is a choice. Yes it is, and I am making it right now. Thankfulness is a choice rooted in reality. In spite of all that I see worthy of complaint, there is far more that I can choose to focus on that is worthy of thankfulness. And so I prayed: "Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of speaking Your Word. Thank You for these phenomenally committed servants who serve You in such a dark place. Thanks that we are not called here, thugh I know if we were, You would give the necessary strength. Thanks that we have three wonderful children and a loving church who allows us time away to minister to others. . . ." Oh, it is is good to give thanks! My alt.i.tude is soaring at this very moment! good to give thanks! My alt.i.tude is soaring at this very moment!

LET'S TALK SOLUTION Now it's your turn to look inside-to see if the att.i.tude of grat.i.tude resides in you. That is where the solution comes, through a change in heart. Here are three questions to ask, each with an action step, to help you develop a thankful att.i.tude: 1. Am I a thankful person? Ask yourself that question. Am I a thankful person? Ask yourself that question. Let's go to the school of thankfulness for a moment and learn from the graduate student Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar. More than 250 years ago, he wrote these words in his diary after he was robbed of all the money he had in the world. "Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, let me be thankful that although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed." No doubt about it; thankfulness is a choice. Answer the question for yourself: "Am I a thankful person?" Let's go to the school of thankfulness for a moment and learn from the graduate student Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar. More than 250 years ago, he wrote these words in his diary after he was robbed of all the money he had in the world. "Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, let me be thankful that although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed." No doubt about it; thankfulness is a choice. Answer the question for yourself: "Am I a thankful person?"

2. Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life? Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life? "Do I know the joy that comes with grat.i.tude? Or is my life like a wilderness? What percentage of my thought life is focused on good, positive, praiseworthy things? How often do I go out of my way to recognize with grat.i.tude a person that G.o.d has used to bless me [a parent, neighbor, friend, or a small group leader]?" When thankfulness is part of the discipline of our lives, we will see increased joy and happiness. "Do I know the joy that comes with grat.i.tude? Or is my life like a wilderness? What percentage of my thought life is focused on good, positive, praiseworthy things? How often do I go out of my way to recognize with grat.i.tude a person that G.o.d has used to bless me [a parent, neighbor, friend, or a small group leader]?" When thankfulness is part of the discipline of our lives, we will see increased joy and happiness.

3. Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining moment by moment? Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining moment by moment?

Grat.i.tude is one moment at a time. It's like freeze-frame! Ask yourself, "Am I choosing thankfulness right now? Am I?" Remember, att.i.tudes are patterns of thinking formed over a long period of time. But those long periods of time acc.u.mulate moment by moment and choice by choice. Choose to be thankful, moment by moment.

At the end of this chapter, there appears a small list, "Five Things to Be Thankful For." Don't write on that page. Instead, make 122 photocopies of it. I'm not kidding. (With the list shown three times, that will cover 366 days.) Then put the stack by your nightstand, and try filling one out every night before you go to bed-big things, little things, good things every day. Lay your head down with grat.i.tude on your mind, and your dreams will soar. Get up in the morning and read what you wrote. You'll be flying high all day.

This exercise will absolutely change your life. Those sheets are your tickets to a new habit: thankfulness. Guaranteed!

Look Up Lord, thank You for Your Word. Oh, that I would give thanks to You, Lord, for Your wonderful works in my life. I thank You today for the gift of life. I thank You for air to breathe. For health and for strength, I am grateful. And for loved ones around me-not perfect people, but people who support me and care for me-I am grateful. I thank You for my church family and the joy that I find in them.

G.o.d, thank You today for Your Word. And thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who pursues me so faithfully and brings Your truth to bear upon my behavior. Thank You for the life-changing experience of walking with Jesus Christ. Thank You for the a.s.surance of sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life.

I choose today by an act of my will to turn away from those things that would frustrate and defeat me and to focus upon Your goodness. I pray even now that You would cause genuine grat.i.tude to continuously come forth from my lips, for You are worthy. In Jesus9; name. Amen.

Five Things to Be Thankful For "In everything give thanks; for this is G.o.d's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18) (1 Thessalonians 5:18) 1. ____________________________________________.

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Five Things to Be Thankful For 1. ____________________________________________.

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Five Things to Be Thankful For 1. ____________________________________________.

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NOTES.

1. The National Inst.i.tute of Health Care Research has awarded federal grants to support university studies exploring spirituality. Harvard University is one pioneer in the academic research showing the relationship of spirituality and health, according to David N. Elkins, "Spirituality: It's What's Missing in Mental Health, Psychology Today, Psychology Today, September/October 1999, 48. September/October 1999, 48.

2. Elkins, "Spirituality," Psychology Today, Psychology Today, September/October 1999, 48, citing a study in the September/October 1999, 48, citing a study in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 1998. 1998.

3. The two studies by Duke University researchers are reported in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 1998, and the 1998, and the Southern Medical Journal, Southern Medical Journal, 1998, respectively; as cited in Elkins, "Spirituality," 1998, respectively; as cited in Elkins, "Spirituality," Psychology Today, Psychology Today, September/October 1999, 48. September/October 1999, 48.

4. The findings on lifestyle, depression, and mortality are reported in the Religion and American Practice Religion and American Practice journal, 1996; the journal, 1996; the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1997; and the 1997; and the American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Public Health, 1998, respectively; as cited in Elkins, "Spirituality," 1998, respectively; as cited in Elkins, "Spirituality," Psychology Today, Psychology Today, September/October 1999, 48. September/October 1999, 48.

5. If you know someone struggling with rebellion, and those tapes could help them, you can call 888-581-WORD for ordering information. For additional resource information, read about Walk in the Word at the back of this book.

6. Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe (Philadelphia: Running Press, 1990), 85. (Philadelphia: Running Press, 1990), 85.

7. Adapted from Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, Robinson Crusoe, 8586. 8586.

CHAPTER 3:.

REPLACE A COVETOUS ATt.i.tUDE...

NUMBERS 11:45 SAY IT IN A SENTENCE:.

Covetousness, rampant in the Western world and in the evangelical church, blocks the flow of G.o.d's fullness in our lives.

Imagine the scene as a great cruise ship is sinking into the ocean. Picture yourself among more than a thousand others, including this pastor. The ship's bow falls beneath the surface, and heads are bobbing on the water everywhere. Most pa.s.sengers did not have time to don life jackets. Some are hanging on to a little piece of wreckage; others are treading water as best they can.

Tragically, before long, people all around us are giving their last gasps and going under for the last time. You hear screams of anguish rising from everys beneath ection. You're wondering to yourself, "Will I be next?" and "How long do I have?" and "Help is hundreds of miles away, and it's all so hopeless."

Now suppose that I keep my head just far enough above water to preach a final sermon and begin with this statement: "I'd like to give a little talk on the problem of water."

You and others stare at me in anger. "What?!" you'd say. "Talk about understating the problem! We are all drowning drowning here! And you want to talk about water?" here! And you want to talk about water?"

Now I know that's a bizarre picture, but if you understand it, then you understand how I feel describing wilderness att.i.tude two, which is covetousness. covetousness. I am certainly not overstating things to say that our nation is drowning in a sea of covetousness. We are far more infected with materialism than we realize, and some of the worst victims are the ones who think they're living in victory. I am certainly not overstating things to say that our nation is drowning in a sea of covetousness. We are far more infected with materialism than we realize, and some of the worst victims are the ones who think they're living in victory.

AWASH IN COVETOUSNESS.

Materialism and covetousness are battering the sh.o.r.es of our great nation. What follows is just a sample of the statistics that describe our condition.

There have always been Americans who wanted to earn a lot of money. But the percentage percentage of Americans willing to admit it grew from 38 percent to 63 percent in the twenty years ending 1994. of Americans willing to admit it grew from 38 percent to 63 percent in the twenty years ending 1994. 1 1 I would have guessed that faulty notion to have peaked sometime in the 1980s. Instead, the perception that happiness is found in money is at an all-time high. I would have guessed that faulty notion to have peaked sometime in the 1980s. Instead, the perception that happiness is found in money is at an all-time high.

In fact, when the Higher Education Research Inst.i.tute at UCLA conducted a ma.s.sive survey of college freshmen, they found that the number of college freshmen who link prosperity and happiness grew from 41 percent in the late 1960s to 74 percent by the mid 1990s. These are kids whose parents got divorced because they gave themselves to careers, finances, second homes, and third cars. You would think that college kids with a background like that would be saying, "Who needs money? Look what it got my parents." In fact, it's the opposite. Now, more than ever before, college freshmen are setting their sights on money and income as the source of happiness.