As always, it is a busy weekend at our church.  My wife and I attend the Saturday service at 5pm at Holy Cross Lutheran in Fort Wayne and it was graduation day for the 8th graders from the school.

The pastor delivering the message, Pastor Tom Ahlersmeyer talked about a concept that I’m sure I’ve heard before years ago on the acronym T.H.I.N.K. but in this social media equipped world, it was a good reminder for those of us who are active online and a excellent lesson for those who have not heard it before.

If you search online you can find various versions of T.H.I.N.K. but here’s the version that was used in church:

THINK

We reviewed examples of each of these and practical ways to implement them in face to face conversations and online.

T = is it True

H = is it Helpful

I = is it Inspiring

N = is it Necessary

K = is it Kind

This is a tough list, I know.  The pastor was commenting about how he has failed with his own family at following this.  Living a T.H.I.N.K. life is a goal.  We will not be perfect.  Before I went to sleep last night, I already had violated this.  I realized it the moment the words came out of my mouth.

But the point is not perfection.  The point is to have a higher standard to live up to.  I am challenged by this and hope you are too.

One last quote from the message:

“Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it…”

This was actually a quote from Timothy Keller that Pastor A used to tie it all up. May you find it as inspiring as we did.

(By the way, our church has 4 services most weekends.  5pm Saturdays, 8:15am & 10:30am Sundays, and 6:30pm Mondays.  You are welcome to join us.)