Preparing for the Holiday Season to Reflect Christ this Thanksgiving.

In this podcast, Chaplain Otto discusses the importance of being thankful and how it relates to our interactions with others. He emphasizes the need to approach Thanksgiving with a mindset of peace and love, meeting people where they are. He shares a story about a tattoo artist who realized the burdens people carry with them and the importance of understanding others' experiences. Otto also talks about the significance of communication and the power of listening and being slow to anger. He encourages gratitude and highlights the numerous mentions of thankfulness in the Bible. He advises against speaking negatively and emphasizes the importance of edifying others. Lastly, he discusses the need to control our thoughts and not dwell on imaginary scenarios. Overall, the podcast emphasizes the importance of approaching Thanksgiving with a grateful and understanding attitude towards others. Hello, and welcome to Chaplain Otto Ministries. My name is Otto, and today I will be your host for the ministry's third podcast. Real quick, I just want to take a moment and thank everybody that has taken the time to listen to Episode 1 or 2. Listening is supporting. In today's episode, I'm going to be going over what I preached about on Sunday at the Chapel of Rest, and kind of the topic is how to act and be thankful this Thanksgiving. So I asked the congregation, who's ready for Thanksgiving, and I ask you the same thing too. I feel like the life that we're living now, everything is so busy, and I already started watching some Christmas movies, and I'm like, goodness gracious, Thanksgiving's next week. Why am I already watching Christmas movies? My wife's got the tree put up, and it's like Thanksgiving could have slipped under the rug with how busy things are. Once I started to think about Thanksgiving, I started to think about what does that bring. I'm not talking about the food that it brings, I'm talking about the people, and what people bring with them. So who will you bring with you? Are you a Christian listening to this right now? What will you bring with you to Thanksgiving? What that answer should be is the peace and love that is found in Jesus Christ to meet people where they're at. What really got my mind working around this thought of what people bring with you, or with them I mean, is I was watching a little documentary on Kat Von D, a famous tattoo artist. I'm sure you probably have heard her name or know who she is. She recently got baptized, and I was interested in hearing a little bit more about her story. She accepted Christ a few years ago and ended up getting baptized and recorded that, which was really cool. The purpose that she recorded it is she's recorded basically her entire life, since she was like 20 years old, throughout the tattoo industry. This to her was the most important part of her life to document. Baptism is an outward expression of an inward change. But getting into what I heard, and she was talking about doing a lot of tattoos that resemble death, or people that have passed away, memorials for somebody. She did a tattoo on a gentleman, and she said when the guy left, she saw him walking across the street from the window of the tattoo shop. He's walking by all these people, bandaged up, just got this tattoo of a child that he had lost at a very young age accidentally. She's just thinking like nobody has any idea what this guy, the burden that he's carrying with him, what he's dealing with. That just really got me thinking that this week we're going to be around people that we maybe don't get to see all the time. We honestly have no idea what they might be dealing with, or a grief that they might be carrying, but we know what we carry, and that's the peace that surpasses all circumstances, and it can only be found in Jesus Christ. I hope you're ready for today. I've got some thought processes that I personally deal with at times, so maybe we can learn through these together. I think that if you take this message that is coming out today and apply it to practical use that you will see growth within yourself, and people around you are going to be happier. I started out with a verse in James, and it's chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, because I feel like we need a good direction on how do we handle some situations, and this kind of really just hits the nail on the head for communicating with others. It's, my dear brothers and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires, and it's wild because the opposite of this produces very quick anger, and I can tell you that from personal experience. The more that I am quick to listen and slow to speak, the slower I become angry, and I don't want to become angry. I do sometimes. You do sometimes. We're human. We're living in the flesh at times, but because I don't want to do this because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires, so I don't want to let myself get hot, get angry, get mad, because that is not going to produce something out of me that is going to be righteousness to God. It's not going to reflect His character, so if I'm quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, I will prevent that anger that can produce and come out of me. Now, you know, what is the opposite of anger, and, you know, because it was Thanksgiving, I was looking at different verses, you know, that might relate to being thankful, and so, you know, the opposite of being angry is, you know, being thankful, gratitude, and stuff like that, so I was curious. How many times does the word thanks or thankful, you know, appear in the Bible, and just doing a quick Google search, there's several Greek and Hebrew words that are translated into thanks and Thanksgiving in the Bible, so 102 times it says in the Old Testament and 71 times in the New Testament, so there's a lot to be thankful for, so why did I bring this up? Because we're going to be having conversations with people, you know, over the next couple days that maybe we haven't seen in a while, and you might be going through a tough situation at the moment, and might not have gone through the full process to be able to talk about that yet without producing anger, so we understand that anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires, so what do we do? Honestly, it's a process, and, you know, right now, I'm going through a few things that I don't know how to talk about at the moment without sounding angry or, like, bitter or, you know, maybe even turn it around to, like, victimization, you know, in a way, because it's just so crazy when you start to water something that isn't good how it grows, so, you know, don't talk about the negative things until you've understood how to process and go through those. That way, when you speak it, you're not, you know, sounding deceitful, and I say that because in Ephesians 4, 29, through verses 29 and 32, it says, Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is necessary for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as Christ forgave you. Amen? I absolutely love this Bible verse, and, you know, going, you know, still on the communication thing, this is another great verse with communication, and it's very simple, and I think we all learned it in kindergarten. If you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything at all. You know, we don't want to have corrupt talk coming out, and what is corrupt? It is of poor quality, bad, unfit for use. It's worthless. So if you have something worthless to say that is not good, just keep your mouth shut, and honestly, you might make the situation better. I know that keeping my mouth shut in some situations has made it better, so I encourage you to do the same thing. But you know, when we do want to say something, it wants to be edification, and that's why it says, you know, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for necessary edification. So what is edification, and that's to build one up versus beat one down. So I encourage you to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and I encourage you to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as Christ forgave you. Give the grace that you were freely given, and you know, I talked about, you know, some thought processes, and you know, just stuff that we think about, and you know, I don't know about you, but every once in a while when I'm going somewhere, or you know, going to be around old friends, or you know, maybe family that I haven't seen in a while, or you know, just a, you know, maybe a different type of situation, you start to create, you know, these scenarios in your head, and you know, I remember being younger, being very excited, you know, in some aspects to see some people at the holidays, and you know, then in some aspects, I was like, man, I really hope they don't say anything to me, and you know, I just would come up with all these, you know, thoughts in my mind, and you know, start to create all of these different scenarios of what ifs, and you know, 2 Corinthians 10, 3 through 5 says, for though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. So what does that mean? You know, maybe you're driving in the car right now on the way to the in-laws Thanksgiving, and you're, you know, thinking about, you know, what your brother-in-law might say to you, and you know, how you might respond, and it's most likely probably a negative type of thought, and you know, I encourage you to not entertain these false scenarios that might happen, because again, you're just entertaining, you know, this imaginary thought in your mind, you know, about somebody that 9 times out of 10, it probably won't happen, and you know, to be extremely transparent, I had to reflect on this big time, because for the longest time, when I would go over to my dad's house, or you know, when I would call him on the phone, or when he would call me, I would just have all these different scenarios, you know, running through my mind, like, oh, what kind of moods you're going to be in, what's he going to say if he says this, and you know, I can't talk on the phone, and you know, all of this stuff, and I realized that I was building up this wall. This fake wall, this guard of thoughts that, you know, were putting me on the edge before even saying hello, and you know, I started to pray about that, and I'm like, God, you know, just let me, you know, enter these situations, and be around these people, and have your thoughts. I don't want to preconceive that, you know, something negative is going to happen, and like I said, I was watching a Christmas movie earlier this week, and it was Home Alone 1, and this really stuck out to me, because, you know, I'm sure you've seen the movie, Home Alone 1, there's a neighbor, you know, the older guy with the shovel, and they, you know, have this rumor that, you know, he killed his whole family, or whatever, which isn't true, and it's just something, you know, to scare the kids, but nobody ever really asked, and you know, when Kevin gets, you know, left home alone, he sees the guy at the store, and runs, or you know, runs outside, he's definitely scared of him, but on Christmas Eve, they are, you know, in the church, and the older gentleman went to the church just to view, you know, his granddaughter, who was singing there, and he walked over to Kevin, who was very scared, and looked at him, and said, Merry Christmas, and you know, that created a conversation, which, you know, ended up, Kevin found out that this guy was not some crazy mass murderer, and he was actually there, because he wanted to see his granddaughter sing, because he hadn't got to see her in a long time, because of family conflict, and the family conflict, him and his son had had an argument, you know, many, many years ago, and they hadn't talked since, and Kevin asked him, you know, why don't you call him, and he said, you know, I want to call him, but I'm afraid that he won't answer, and that made me really think, it's like, man, I have come up with so many stupid scenarios in my head of like, what if, or why, and you know, you just need to just go for it, you know, make that phone call, and you know, I don't know, maybe right now you're thinking about somebody that you haven't talked to in a while, and you want to reach out to them, and just say hi, you know, so many people think that you got to go out and buy something for somebody, but I can tell you, a phone call goes such a long way, so, you know, if God's putting somebody on your heart that you need to reach out to, to say hello to, or apologize to, or just say, I'm thinking about you, you know, I definitely encourage you to do that, and through that, you know, once he decided to not entertain the false scenario, and take the advice of a little kid, you know, he made that phone call, and you know, you see the family showing up on Christmas, so, what does that mean for 2 Corinthians 10, 3-5, see, you know, it says that we live in a world that we do not wage war as the world does, the weapons that we fight against are not the weapons of the world, and it's not, it's not, you know, a gun, a knife, or anything like that, it's thoughts, it's, you know, these demonic thoughts that come in, that try to separate you from your family, or from what you should be doing, and it's very easy for me to now tell, you know, what thoughts are from God, and what thoughts are not, because if the thought is bitter, if it's wrath, if it's going to lead me to anger, or evil speaking, it's not from God, it's from the devil, but if it is kind, and tender-hearted, and forgiving, it's from Christ, if it's love, edifying, it is from Christ, so I'm not going to entertain these false scenarios of, you know, what might happen, what might be said, and, you know, I'm just going to continue to give that to God, and rebuke the devil, that, you know, you have no power over me, at all, and he doesn't have any power over you, and we just have to claim it. It doesn't mean that it's always easy, or that, you know, you might have to do it several times in, you know, one day, but the thing that you have to do is just claim that, because I tell you, you know, the devil's going to try to knock you off track, and if you're a Christian, and you're going to be around people who might not be, if you're a strong Christian, and you're going to be around people who, you know, might not be strong Christians, or might not be Christians at all, the devil's definitely going to try to provoke you, and, you know, that's kind of why I just wanted to put this out there, the thought of Thanksgiving, and, you know, what it brings, and the thoughts that we have, and, you know, just some strategic tools and, you know, processes to think to get through this, because if I can get through it, you can get through it, and it doesn't mean I'm always perfect, and, you know, either are you, but we are continuing, you know, to be perfected every day, as Philippians 1, 6 says, and, you know, going back to, you know, talking about, you know, what people are carrying with them, and what they bring, you know, we don't know what people are dealing with, or, you know, there's definitely going to be families this year that don't have that family member, you know, across from them this Thanksgiving, so, you know, be mindful of that, to, you know, reach out to somebody, just to let them know that you're thinking about them, especially if this is their first Thanksgiving, you know, without a loved one, and, you know, going back into, you know, kind of the thought processes, and, you know, that I had as a little kid, and I'll tell you, I really regret the, you know, thought process that I had, and, because I had such an amazing aunt, and she was, she's my Aunt Wendy, and she's no longer with us, but I'll tell you, when I was younger, I used to get so annoyed, and even, you know, in my 20s and 30s, you know, I would get annoyed going to these family events, and it was because, you know, my aunt would always have this camera, and she'd want you to pose, and take these photos, and just be funny, silly, and goofy, and that's not how I said it back then, and that's not how I felt back then, but I can tell you, the first family event that we had, that she wasn't there, it was noticed, and I wondered, you know, is anybody going to be able to replace the fun goofiness that, you know, she had, and that can't be replaced, and I'll tell you, I really, really do miss that, and I wish that, you know, looking back now, I wish that I would have cared a little bit more about it, but, you know, thank God that we still have all 150,000 photos that she would take at every single event, so, you know, remember that, because, you know, a little bit ago, we talked about, you know, running into people that, you know, maybe you don't have the best conversation or relationship with, and you never know what'll happen, and, you know, that person might not be there, so, you know, tomorrow's not promised, so make every moment count, and always reflect Christ, and that's why, you know, in Colossians 3, 12 through 16, and I'm just going to hit on a few points of this, it says, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, just as Christ forgave you, so must you also do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful. So this Thanksgiving, put on those tender mercies, the kindness, the humility, the meekness, the long-suffering, but above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. You know, I encourage you, read Ephesians, it's six chapters, and, you know, what you'll get from reading, and this is where I got a lot of this from, was in Ephesians, you know, blessings that Christians enjoy, we're chosen by God, adoption into God's family, acceptance before God, forgiveness of sins, insight into God's will, an internal inheritance, God's mercy and love, wisdom and knowledge, divine power, spiritual life, the promise of eternal kindness, the knowledge that God's plan for us believers is good, unity and peace with all believers, heavenly citizenship, and access to God through Christ. So what is our responsibility as believers? To keep the unity of the Spirit, to use one's gifts to benefit the church, to keep growing and maturing, to put away the old sinful ways, to speak honestly and purely. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this podcast today, and I hope that the message that we presented is useful to you if you use it. So, you know, again, if you want to look these verses up, it's James 1, 19-20, Ephesians 4, 29-32, 2 Corinthians 10, 3-5, Colossians 3, 12-16. I hope that you have a great week, and I just want to, you know, Lord bless everyone who's listening to this from the crown of the head to the sole of their feet, and let them be a light this Thanksgiving around all that they see, and Lord, I just thank you that no matter where they're at in life, Lord, touch their heart. Let them feel your peace, love, mercy, and grace like I feel, and know that you are Lord, Father God. I just thank you for opening up their hearts and their minds, Lord. I rebuke anything that the devil might say against them, and Father, I thank you for safe travels and for fun, laughter, and peace and joy over this holiday season. Amen. If you want to connect with me, I do have a temporary website on Linktree, and you'll have access to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube. You can reach me at chaplainauto at gmail.com, and that is C-H-A-P-L-A-I-N-O-T-T-O at gmail.com, or if you just put in Chaplain Auto on Google, my information should pop up. I want to thank you again so much for taking the time to listen to this. Again, listening is supporting. If you're interested in helping us get to some prisons, to get out there and share the gospel, we always need gas money. You can do that through PayPal and Zelle. Both are under chaplainauto at gmail.com, but until next time, stay blessed.