Four Rounds with the Bishop
In this special episode of UB Now, Bishop Todd Fetters joins us for an engaging conversation about what he's learning about the Fruit of the Spirit, what he's working on to strengthen UB Churches, and what has been encouraging him from scripture lately.
If you listen closely, you might even hear Todd talk about the best gifts he has given and received for Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
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Host: Brian Biedenbach
Transcript
Hey, welcome to another edition of UB now live at lunch.
Speaker A:And today we have a special edition because I finally was able to wrestle Bishop Todd Fetters into doing an episode with us.
Speaker A:And so we're excited to talk to him today.
Speaker A:We got some things that on his mind, things that he's sharing from scripture, some things that he's working on, things that I think will be really encouraging to those of you who are watching Today live and listening at some other point later this week or possibly next week over the holidays.
Speaker A:Todd, welcome to UB now, man.
Speaker A:Good to have you on.
Speaker B:Hey, thanks, Brian.
Speaker B:Finally we were able to do this.
Speaker B:It seems like I've been on the road a lot since conference and particularly since the end of August about a week ago.
Speaker B:Just lots of.
Speaker B:Lots of different places.
Speaker B:Lots of good ministry.
Speaker B:You know, installing some pastors, ordaining some others.
Speaker B:Uh, it's.
Speaker B:It's been a good.
Speaker B:A good run, but I'm happy to be back around here.
Speaker A:Yeah, we've talked about doing this for.
Speaker A:For quite a while.
Speaker A:So glad we're finally actually sitting down to do this.
Speaker A:And strangely enough, our offices are, like, back to back, and we're in our own offices doing this for the sake of ease of camera use.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:For those who don't know, behind me is this picture of the apostle Paul.
Speaker B:And behind the apostle Paul is where Brian sits on the other side of that wall.
Speaker A:So if I knocked, you could probably hear it on Bishop Fetter's microphone.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And also the other thing I want to point out is how great your nice new blue shirt looks today.
Speaker A:That quarter zip, it was the same one I had on this morning, but right before I left my house.
Speaker A:And I thought, I better not.
Speaker A:I better not.
Speaker A:Todd might wear his good intuition.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I've kind of taken on dressing like a college basketball coach these days with golf shirts and tech pants and quarter zips.
Speaker B:But thank you for making it happen.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:And I even have a band aid on my finger to match.
Speaker A:Oh, it all matches.
Speaker A:It all matches.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker A:Well, hey, we want to get into some content here.
Speaker A:I've got some questions that, you know, I want to float by you that I think would be valuable for our audience to hear from you.
Speaker A:But first, I have some fun ones that might not be valuable to anybody, but it might make us and laugh a little bit and break the ice.
Speaker A:So I'm at it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So for some of those.
Speaker A:For some of you who maybe have seen our office Christmas survey video that we sent out in the last edition of UB Connect, we asked some questions about Christmas.
Speaker A:And so I have some other ones I just want to throw you.
Speaker A:Todd, we talked about, you know, iced sugar cookies and real or artificial trees and all of that.
Speaker A:I got some different questions for you that I think would be fun to talk about.
Speaker A:So Christmas music.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:What date is it okay to start playing Christmas music in your mind?
Speaker B:Yeah, so I'm not, I'm not a strict one with Thanksgiving has to be in the rear view mirror before you can start.
Speaker B:I think this year I started early in November just because I felt like I wanted to hear upbeat music.
Speaker B:And Christmas music's upbeat, so I'm, I'm in the camp of it can be played as you're heading into the holiday season that might include Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
Speaker B:I do know some people who listen to it year round.
Speaker B:I find that odd.
Speaker B:But I've also stumbled across Christmas music in my own playlists.
Speaker B:When I just tell, you know, my phone to play music, I can just tell you there's a different mood that hits me even in the dead of summer when I hear a Christmas song.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:And it's not a bad mood.
Speaker B:It's a good one.
Speaker A:Yeah, you and I differ there a little bit.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I haven't started playing it yet.
Speaker A:That'll be something next week.
Speaker B:By the time, by the time it start.
Speaker B:By the time you start listening, Christmas will be over.
Speaker B:And all 13 Christmas songs, you know, it won't take about it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:13.
Speaker A:13 Christmas songs I can listen to in a week.
Speaker A:And I'm good.
Speaker B:So I, I think there's 13 Christmas songs and they're just sung by all the different artists.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right, well, that.
Speaker A:Good, good answer.
Speaker A:I guess if I have to roll with that one, I'll go.
Speaker A:I'll go with that one.
Speaker A:Think back to your time as a.
Speaker A:As a kid at Christmas.
Speaker A:Best gift that you remember receiving as a child.
Speaker B:So the ones that are more memorable are.
Speaker B:So I, I had to have been like eight.
Speaker B:Eight years old.
Speaker B:I wanted a.
Speaker B:There was this, this, this small figurine cavalry camp called Fort Apache.
Speaker B:And so it was back then, and you know, there was the calvary versus the others and.
Speaker B:And you know, that was something that I really, really wanted.
Speaker B:One of my friends had one and we played with his a lot, and I wanted my own.
Speaker B:My excitement in the moment of opening it caused me to let out one of the exclamation blunders of my childhood.
Speaker B:And, and my excitement was oh, awesome.
Speaker B:I got my fat a Porchy.
Speaker B:And so, you know, I haven't, I haven't gotten quite that tongue tied with Christmas gifts since.
Speaker B:But that, that's one that we laugh at.
Speaker B:The other one was, I got a, I was a Miami Dolphin fan when I was a little kid because Bob Greasy was the quarterback and, and you know, they had orange in their.
Speaker B:Orange and aqua.
Speaker B:It was kind of a cool color scheme.
Speaker B:And my parents got me a football jersey.
Speaker B:And I knew that because I had found it where they hid gifts, but they, they hid the gifts so well that they didn't remember to wrap it and give it to me for Christmas.
Speaker B:And so when we were done with all the gifts, I finally asked my mom and dad, where's my jersey?
Speaker B:And they said they looked at each other like they were caught in some grand scheme.
Speaker B:And I said, don't worry, I'll go get it.
Speaker B:So that's, that's, that was another favorite for me was to have that football jersey.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was always the thing in our house.
Speaker A:Mom always forgot about one present and everybody had opened everything and she goes, now where is.
Speaker B:Yeah, did some.
Speaker A:Did you open?
Speaker A:And then she'd go find it.
Speaker A:And so that still happens today.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Okay, so best gift you've received.
Speaker A:What is.
Speaker A:We'll wrap up with this one.
Speaker A:What's the best gift you've given?
Speaker B:I gave my dad.
Speaker B:My dad had had a bit of a quirky personality, fun in things that he got.
Speaker B:So, so I got him one time a, you know, so he envisioned that his backyard where they, where they live and where he lived was.
Speaker B:He wanted to create a golf green.
Speaker B:And so he, he created a golf green and then about 30 yards away he had a tee box.
Speaker B:So he had this set up for us to go out there.
Speaker B:And I thought it'd be fun to get him a, A, you know, like on the golf course when you, when you wash your golf balls, you know, there's the, the plunger.
Speaker B:And so I, I found somebody when we were in Harrisburg who had a brother in law who owned a golf course and said he could get one of those cast iron red ones for me.
Speaker B:And a guy in our church was, you know, a painter, was called into Sears periodically to fix dent and scratch products that they could then sell.
Speaker B:And so he sandblasted the thing for me and got it down to its original and then repainted it green.
Speaker B:And to this day, that's probably one of my favorite gifts that I ever gave was that to dad.
Speaker B:And also, also the.
Speaker B:Yeah, Just giving that to Pop and, and having him enjoy it was awesome.
Speaker A:Nice playing with the camera a little bit there.
Speaker A:I think it was a little out of focus.
Speaker A:Huh?
Speaker A:That's all right though.
Speaker A:Well, good, good.
Speaker A:That sounds like a fun gift.
Speaker A:Good gift giver, fun gift getter.
Speaker B:Not always a good gift giver.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean Lisa has stories of bad gifts I've given to her.
Speaker A:Well, we don't need to talk about those just yet, so.
Speaker A:Well, thanks for sharing that, Todd.
Speaker A:We were going to get into some of the other more serious questions that, that we have today.
Speaker A:First, I want to throw this up on the screen from Jim Damon tuning in from Fowlerville up in Michigan.
Speaker A:So hey, if you are in the chat and you have a word of encouragement or a question maybe we can, we can toss out there.
Speaker A:We'd love to hear from you as we go today.
Speaker A:But I'll start off with a segment, Todd, that we are going to call what's on your mind.
Speaker A:Yeah, so what, something that you've been thinking about, something you've been pondering maybe this season, maybe something, you know, work related.
Speaker A:What's been on your mind lately.
Speaker B:Yeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think for me, Brian, around this time of year I get pretty reflective.
Speaker B:And so the it that shows up in the books that I read, I, I tend to lean into spiritual formation type books around this time of the year.
Speaker B:And there's a book that I, I don't read lots of books on leadership but, but I did find one that was focused on spiritual formation called form to Lead by Jason Jensen.
Speaker B:And he got me thinking about this, this idea of leadership calling and looking at calling from a standpoint of both external calling and internal calling.
Speaker B:And at one level, external calling is what you're called to do.
Speaker B:Internal calling is more as what are you called to become?
Speaker B:What are you becoming?
Speaker B:And he used an illustration that got me thinking about, okay, what is my, what is my becoming and what is my doing?
Speaker B:And, and so he used the illustration of Eugene Peterson, who many people would know as the, the author of the message translation of the, of the, of the New Testament as well as a pastor.
Speaker B:His memoir is called A Pastor.
Speaker B:But Peterson Jensen is saying that Peterson's external calling was as a pastor.
Speaker B:Again shows up in the name of his autobiography, a pastor.
Speaker B:But then he said his internal calling was that of becoming a saint.
Speaker B:And it's just got me thinking these days about, you know, what am I, what am I becoming?
Speaker B:What is my identity in life?
Speaker B:Because a lot of us have lots of identities Right.
Speaker B:Husband, fathers, pastors, you know, whatever it may be, brothers, you know, all of that.
Speaker B:And, and so, you know, I'm, I'm heading into 60 next year and so I'm just kind of thinking what, what am I becoming?
Speaker B:And saint didn't really resonate with me.
Speaker B:But I, I, as, as I have lots of miles to drive and lots of time to think in, in driving out those miles, my, my reflection has taken me to.
Speaker B:I think it's saint isn't, isn't what I'm called externally.
Speaker B:I'm called, my identity is that of pastor and I get to be that even in the role as bishop.
Speaker B:So that, that is, that is what I feel my external calling is internally.
Speaker B:What I sense becoming is that of Sun Saint.
Speaker B:Saint probably has sonship as part of it in, in Peterson's thinking.
Speaker B:But because I want to, you know, I, I tend to, to lean more into the relational side of things like that.
Speaker B:This idea of a son who's externally called to be a pastor, what I appreciate extends on to okay, well, what kind of pastor?
Speaker B:If I'm a son to the father and I'm called to be a pastor, then that does fit in with the journey I feel like I've been on for the last 20 some years.
Speaker B:Is that as a pastor, I'm a brother.
Speaker B:And that's a whole different posture to lead than what I used to struggle with in the pastorate was trying to be the best CEO pastor I could ever be.
Speaker B:And that didn't work well for me.
Speaker B:But once I learned that I was a brother, that just felt far more comfortable.
Speaker B:Who, who still has the job of being pastor?
Speaker B:Who has the role of being pastor, but it's only different in title.
Speaker B:The best title you can have I think is Brother or Sister in Christ.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:Maybe that's not exactly what you're asking for, but that's where my head has been.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, I mean that's, it's an open ended question.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, open ended question.
Speaker B:And it fits again.
Speaker B:It fits the reflective mood in which I'm in this time of year and, and really kind of sets up where I want to, to see my soul care practices in the next year.
Speaker B:Go.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I want to get into that a little bit later in the episode.
Speaker A:We got a comment from Robert Rose here.
Speaker A:He'd like to read that, that book.
Speaker A:What's the name of it again?
Speaker B:The name is called Formed to Lead by Jason Jensen.
Speaker A:Form to Lead by Jason Jensen.
Speaker A:I'll put that in the.
Speaker B:And it's J E N S N Got it there.
Speaker A:Form to Lead by Jason Jensen was the book.
Speaker A:Well, yeah, thanks for sharing that.
Speaker B:I think the good news about the book is it's not big.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that's something that I think we all wrestle with at times, specifically as pastors.
Speaker A:But this idea of identity, what.
Speaker A:What we do, we get so wrapped up in what we do that we forget about who we are and what we're becoming.
Speaker A:So I. I really.
Speaker A:I think that's something that is on my mind occasionally throughout the year too.
Speaker A:And, you know, at certain points of my career, you know, wrestling with that even more.
Speaker A:So I think that's a really relevant this time of year, specifically.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So having said that, what's on your mind and separating yourself from who you're becoming and what you do?
Speaker A:My next question actually has to do with what.
Speaker A:What are you working on right now and your role as bishop?
Speaker A:What are you working on?
Speaker B:Yeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker B:Back at national conference with our theme being let's move, trying to really move, move, help us move from attractional operating system to missional operating system.
Speaker B:The idea that we're making disciples who make disciples, build leaders.
Speaker B:Who build leaders, plant churches that plant churches.
Speaker B:Mike and I, Mike Ditman, who's our national ministries director, and I gave a.
Speaker B:A workshop entitled Strong Church Ideology.
Speaker B:And in that, what we did is we took the new definition that was approved by national conference, the new definition of a congregation that was given by the national conference, which is far more relational than metric.
Speaker B:It leads us to then three expectations that come out of that definition and the expectations we've been communicating for the better part of 10 years of my being bishop, and that is congregations who are spiritually alive, relationally connected, and missionally engaged.
Speaker B:My hunch is that every pastor listening right now, every church member listening right now, could articulate at some level their mission in those terms.
Speaker B:They just might use different words, but at the end of the day, they're looking for being signs that they're spiritually alive and vibrant, signs that they're relationally connected and loving one another, signs that they're missionally engaged in the world or.
Speaker B:And in their communities.
Speaker B:And so what I've been working on is really a broadening out of that workshop with the hopes that it's something that we, Mike and I, can provide to local churches, teams, pastors, a workshop that will focus on the definition but really drill down on the expectations.
Speaker B:So what we want to do is drill down on what does it look like for your church to Be spiritually alive.
Speaker B:What does it look like for your congregation to be relationally connected?
Speaker B:What does it look like for your congregation to be missionally engaged in the world?
Speaker B:But the overarching question that we're asking is a lot of times we're asking the question, how do we grow?
Speaker B:How do we, how do we get bigger and better as a church?
Speaker B:Or how do I grow bigger and better as a church?
Speaker B:The second.
Speaker B:But the question we're wanting to ask is more personal than that.
Speaker B:And how, and that is how do I grow?
Speaker B:How do I, how does Christ grow bigger in me?
Speaker B:Because in, in my estimation, the congregation is made up of a lot of individuals who are being formed into the image of Christ.
Speaker B:And so now to your question.
Speaker B:What have I been working on?
Speaker B:A lot of what I've been working on is I've been drilling down on one of the expressions that I believe fits the spiritual alive expectation.
Speaker B:And that is, you know, you're spiritually alive.
Speaker B:A congregation is spiritually alive when there is an abundance of the fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker B:So I've been, I've been really reading into that, looking into that.
Speaker B:What is the fruit of the, what are the fruit of the Spirit in their, you know, in the Greek language, what does the word mean?
Speaker B:I've been reading some books.
Speaker B:One, one was pretty heady over, over the holiday, Thanksgiving holiday, the Psychology of the Fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker B:That was an interesting read.
Speaker B:But understanding, understanding that the fruit of the Spirit impact our relationships, our relationships with Christ, our relationships with, with other people.
Speaker B:And so what I want to, what I want in this, and then I'll move to the one anothers because that's the key part of how we, how we sense.
Speaker B:Where do we see signs that we're relationally connected?
Speaker B:Well, how well are we at living out the love one another command and its applications of all the other one anothers?
Speaker B:And then we'll drill into, we'll want to drill into missionally engaged.
Speaker B:What are the signs that a church is missionally engaged while they're carrying out the divine assignment of the Great Commission.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Fruit of the Spirit right now, Brian, is something where I'm just digging in, understanding what those look like.
Speaker B:Asking pastors, even in my conversation with one today, is what FaceTime of the fruit of the Spirit can I be praying for for you?
Speaker B:In light of what you're facing, in light of what you're feeling, in light of what you're dealing with, what infusion of the fruit of the Spirit, you know, would, would you like me to focus on.
Speaker B:And so for some that's joy, and for others, a lot of people it's patience.
Speaker B:For others it's gentleness.
Speaker A:That's the thing about patience.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's a fun question to ask and it's a, it's a, a specific way to pray.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's maybe an insight that you've picked up or gained or a new thought as you've read things like psychology of the fruit of the spirit, or cultivating the fruit of the spirit, or even just studying the word around Fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker B:It's the one.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So when you look at Galatians, chapter five, that, that is not juxtaposing or comparing and contrasting a list of comprehensive vices with a list of comprehensive virtues.
Speaker B:That's not what Paul's doing.
Speaker B:Paul's listing certainly some vices that we are to counter.
Speaker B:Well, we're not to engage those.
Speaker B:Instead, we are to be full of the fruit of the spirit.
Speaker B:And those do seem a little bit more comprehensive to me.
Speaker B:I don't need more.
Speaker B:I guess what I would say is I don't know that I need to focus on more than these nine virtues just out of sheer economy of time and effort.
Speaker B:But it seems to be if the Holy Spirit's inside of me, he's working out the character of Jesus in me, it's going to show up in these nine ways.
Speaker B:And so what it's encouraging me to think of as I go into next year is looking at the Gospels, at how Jesus exhibited and demonstrated these nine facets in his interactions with the Lord, with the Father and with his disciples, and with other, you know, even with enemies and all of that, where do we see Jesus showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control?
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a good, good marker, I guess.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:As it always should be.
Speaker A:Jesus himself.
Speaker A:For as we look at these things, because it's easy for us, I think, for us to interpret, to look at the fruit of the Spirit and go, yeah, I've got that, or, yeah, I'm living that out.
Speaker A:And then you look at the way Jesus lived that out, or Jesus demonstrated that in the relationships that he had and go, no, I'm not quite there yet.
Speaker A:You know, and so I always love going back to the Gospels to see, as you said, like, how is this on display in the life of Jesus and in his relationships?
Speaker B:What I don't know is, like, there are seasons where, you know, I just feel like I'm.
Speaker B:I'm expending much of that fruit Right.
Speaker B:Whether it's joy, whether it's patience, whatever.
Speaker B:But I think that's.
Speaker B:That's covered in the whole.
Speaker B:Praying for the daily filling of the Holy Spirit in my life.
Speaker B:You know, one of my.
Speaker B:One of my daily prayers, taken from John Stott's nine a day prayer, you know, famous British pastor, preacher extraordinaire, was his nine a day prayer.
Speaker B:It starts with, father, may I live in your presence today.
Speaker B:Well, I'm butchering it right now.
Speaker B:But something along the line of, may I live in your presence and please you more today.
Speaker B:The holy, you know, then goes on to.
Speaker B:To Jesus, may I.
Speaker B:May I pick up your cross and follow you today?
Speaker B:And, you know, my mind has to go to places like, okay, where.
Speaker B:Where.
Speaker B:Where the.
Speaker B:Might the cross lead me today.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and then the last one is, holy Spirit, would you fill me more today?
Speaker B:And cause the fruit of the Spirit to ripen in my life?
Speaker B:So these are things that I think about and pray about every day.
Speaker B:And I. I just think.
Speaker B:I just think, particularly in today's culture, especially in the cultural moment that we're in, the Fruit of the Spirit is.
Speaker B:Is what's expected of us if.
Speaker B:If we can't master the fragrance of the Fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker B:I. I'd be afraid.
Speaker B:You know, I'm afraid sometimes that I smell a lot of rotten fruit when, you know, whether it's in words that I hear or attitudes I see or that.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I just feel like this infusion of talking about the Fruit of the Spirit is important for all of us and for our churches.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, that's really good.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think we're on the same page with that one.
Speaker A:Like, I especially.
Speaker A:And we.
Speaker A:You and I talked other times.
Speaker A:I've talked with other pastors, friends of mine.
Speaker A:You know what it looks like if a church is not displaying Fruit of the Spirit and it is not present.
Speaker A:I don't need to get into that, but it feels like maybe we're off base in a lot of places a lot of times.
Speaker A:And so even checking ourselves and not just looking at, you know, the attitudes we see in the words we hear from others, but, like, it causes me to look internally and go, how am I?
Speaker A:Where do I see that in myself?
Speaker A:That the fruit's getting a little rotten here.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:Yeah, and to have good people in your life that will say, hey, you know, you.
Speaker A:You're a little.
Speaker A:A little off base there.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, anyway.
Speaker A:No, that was good.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:I'm excited to see and hear what comes out of that?
Speaker A:I know Hunter Taylor's in the chat saying that was a great workshop already at national conference.
Speaker A:And to see as you're continuing to work on that, how that continues to get built out into.
Speaker B:Yeah, what we're looking, I mean, I can, I can tease with this.
Speaker B:I mean, we're looking at it as a, as, you know, like a Saturday kind, a Saturday event for anybody in the church that wants to come, but especially pastors and, and, and, and leaders, churches, if they get it.
Speaker B:You know, that's an important principle, leadership wise.
Speaker B:Follow me as I follow Jesus.
Speaker B:And so, you know, what Mike and I like to do is there's a teaching component, then there's a serious reflection component, but it's all again, designed to help individuals interact with the Holy Spirit on what it is the Holy Spirit wants to shore up in their life, informing Jesus in them.
Speaker B:And, and, and just to tease out what you had said a moment ago, I mean, what's at stake?
Speaker B:Well, a lot of things are at stake, but one of the things John 13 says, you know, they will know you're my disciples by how you love each other.
Speaker B:And so that's Fruit of the Spirit.
Speaker B:That's great commandment.
Speaker B:And it also has an impact on the Great Commission.
Speaker A:Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker A:Well, good conversation.
Speaker A:Like I said, I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing how this thing pans out and where it goes and the, the benefits of it once it's in place.
Speaker A:And you're, you and Mike are able to deliver that in, in some of our churches, so.
Speaker B:Well, Brian, I'm looking forward to how you, how you develop the, the physical material that we're going to hand out.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that.
Speaker A:I'm excited about that part of it as well.
Speaker A:So that gets me pretty excited.
Speaker A:Well, Todd, as we wrap up the one last question, I may have another fun one at the end here.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker A:Last segment of this part of the show is getting in the Word.
Speaker A:And you've shared a little bit about Fruit of the Spirit already and maybe that's where you go, but maybe.
Speaker A:Is there a scripture currently right now that you've been reflecting on that's been encouraging, challenging you, forming you in some way during the season?
Speaker B:I would say this is going back into the spring and I remember sharing this with our staff heading into national conference that, you know, this is, this is, this is the verse that the Lord is, is asking me to chew on a lot.
Speaker B:And it feels like it has been that because of, you know, Just there's a lot of stuff in life you can't control, you know that, Brian, and, and you can't control the timing of it.
Speaker B:And some things just kind of go on and on and on and on.
Speaker B:And Lisa and I have certainly had, had, you know, probably about five years of just different things that, that we've, that we've walked through together.
Speaker B:We're healthy for it, we recognize God's fingerprints in it, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't sometimes take a toll.
Speaker B:So somewhere, somewhere in the spring, in some reading, second or first Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18 came up.
Speaker B: And it's the: Speaker B:Gotta say that, because the online version's different.
Speaker B:The subsequent updates are different in print.
Speaker B: I love the: Speaker B:It says, always be joyful, keep on praying.
Speaker B:No matter what happens, always be thankful for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Speaker B:And it's that phrase, no matter what happens.
Speaker B:Because there's a lot of no matter what happens that happens in the course of a year and the daily grind that, that we go through just as, as human beings, right?
Speaker B:As, as, as people who go to work, as people who raise families, as people who, who are engaged in relationships in, in our communities.
Speaker B:There's a lot of what, no matter what happens, that happens.
Speaker B:But, but the sense of always be joyful in that and always be thankful.
Speaker B:Give, give thanks, no matter what happens.
Speaker B:That's the phrase.
Speaker B:And, and when I shared it with the, with our national, with our staff going into national conference, part of that was like, hey, we've prepared and we've prepared well, but we don't know what's, not what's going to happen, right?
Speaker B:There's a no matter what happens, that, that will happen.
Speaker B:That's true, that's true in your planning and execution.
Speaker B:It's, it's true in life.
Speaker B:And, and so I've just, I've really been focused on that.
Speaker B:And I think we were talking one time the idea that, you know, how do I, how do I, how do I maintain that thankfulness?
Speaker B:And it was years ago I read a, this is like a book plug.
Speaker B:Apparently today I read the book Prayer Coach by Jim Nicodem, and he has this chapter called thank you Therapy.
Speaker B:And he gave me a spiritual discipline that was really, really helpful.
Speaker B:And that was.
Speaker B:As you sit there and you think about it, and he put it in the Context of Philippians 4, 6, be anxious for nothing, pray about everything with Something, you know, and with Thanksgiving.
Speaker B:And so the question is, okay, well, how do I be thankful other than sitting here and trying to not grind on, you know, what's been the.
Speaker B:No matter what happens that's.
Speaker B:That's painful or stressful or scary, and his.
Speaker B:His antidote really is slow it.
Speaker B:Slow yourself down, think about it.
Speaker B:But, you know, create a box, draw six lines.
Speaker B:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And think about six ways you can be thankful to the Lord in the midst of this particular challenge.
Speaker B:And at first it felt trite, but by the time you get to three, you get your hang of it, and it's like, oh, oh, if this wouldn't have happened, I.
Speaker B:That wouldn't have that feeling wouldn't have been there, or that wouldn't have.
Speaker B:That opportunity wouldn't have come if this negative thing didn't happen.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:So I just offer that to folks, especially at the Christmas season.
Speaker B:I've been really hunkering down on.
Speaker B:On the idea of joy.
Speaker B:No matter the circumstances, no matter what happens, God's fingerprints are all over the place, if we're willing to look for them, to see them.
Speaker B:And, you know, we all know that the circumstances around Christ's birth were filled with all sorts of no matter what happens type circumstances.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And yet our great joy is found in that.
Speaker B:So that's my encouragement to me and hopefully to some other folks.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I remember that meeting in our conference room here at the office before we went to national conference to unload vehicles and do all of that.
Speaker A:And it was both, as you mentioned, you know, when you get that many people in a room, no matter how prepared you are, things happen.
Speaker A:And so as involved as we were with the planning and prep this year, that was an encouraging word for me personally to say, okay, no matter what happens, we've been ready, and we're gonna.
Speaker A:We're gonna go forward and we're gonna deal with things as they come.
Speaker A:If things go awry, like your key card doesn't get you in your room.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Or whatever it is.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So it.
Speaker A:It was encouraging in that sense.
Speaker A:And I can see, you know, as I reflect back on that verse as you were talking about, too, that.
Speaker A:How encouraging it can be.
Speaker A:But that.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Therapy was.
Speaker A:That's a. I've heard of that.
Speaker A:I've never actually written stuff down, and I think it's because, as you said, and maybe for those listening, too, some of those things feel a little like.
Speaker A:I think you use the word trite.
Speaker A:Like, I'm just doing this Because I have to.
Speaker A:But once you do a couple of them, you know, I felt that way with journaling.
Speaker A:You know, you write a couple journal entries, and by the time you get to the third or fourth one.
Speaker A:And again, the thank you therapy is like, okay, it's really getting in my soul now, you know, and for.
Speaker B:Yeah, I had one, you know, that I can recall where it's like, okay, in the face of this.
Speaker B:And you almost compare it to, like, what, What.
Speaker B:What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was one of my thankful things.
Speaker B:It's like, oh, well, what.
Speaker B:What was intended here?
Speaker B:This actually happened, and God intended it for good.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I think those things settle in our soul.
Speaker B:They stabilize our soul, and that's where the joy comes back in that, hey, no matter what happens, God is good.
Speaker B:He is involved and he is near.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it's so easy to focus on the.
Speaker A:Whatever happened.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But that helps reset our mind and our.
Speaker A:Our thinking, so.
Speaker A:Well, good.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining for this episode.
Speaker A:Those were fun segments, and I think those are things that we'll revisit from time to time as you pop on here for these live at lunch conversations.
Speaker A:The, you know, what's on your mind, what are you working on, and in the word.
Speaker A:And maybe there's other segments we'll get to at some point, too, when you've got things that you want to share and whatnot.
Speaker A:So I did promise I'd end with another Christmas question.
Speaker A:Okay, so before we completely wrap up, I just want to know, what are you looking forward to most this Christmas season?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I. I think it was even before Thanksgiving.
Speaker B:Mike Ditman and I met in Michigan somewhere, and I looked at him and I said, mike, I'm going to intentionally start Christmas early this year.
Speaker B:It's been one of those years where I want.
Speaker B:I want the.
Speaker B:I want to focus on.
Speaker B:I want to focus on all the aspects of Christmas.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:All of it.
Speaker B:And so I've felt.
Speaker B:I've felt like I've been in it for a while.
Speaker B:So I'm enjoying that.
Speaker B:What I will enjoy is anytime now, because I'm a dad of two adult sons, anytime.
Speaker B:Jordan, Quinn and Rochelle are with us in a room that's one of my favorite.
Speaker B:I mean, that's what I'm looking forward to.
Speaker B:So Jordan.
Speaker B:Jordan gets in town next Monday, and all the other four of us are all going to drive down to Indy to go get him.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And that's just going to be one of my favorite things.
Speaker B:And then one of my least favorite things is the day I go put him on an airplane.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, it all feels over at that time.
Speaker B:But I, I love it when the Fetters five get together.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, that's fun.
Speaker A:We're experiencing that a little bit in our house with our two college students back for, for their break.
Speaker A:And so I get a sense a little bit.
Speaker A:Although they're closer to home than Jordan is for you.
Speaker A:So anyway, well, Todd, again, thanks for being part of this conversation.
Speaker A:Those of you who are watching, thanks for joining in the chat.
Speaker A:Jim, we see you.
Speaker A:Merry Christmas to you as well.
Speaker A:And we just wish everyone Merry Christmas.
Speaker A:Happy New Year.
Speaker A:We will see you with another episode.
Speaker A:More content around this UB now live at lunch after the first of the year.
Speaker A:And if you remember, we've got a new website coming that I'm really excited about.
Speaker B:Looking forward to that.
Speaker A:So we've got lots of new things for you come the first of the year.
Speaker A:But until then, Merry Christmas, everybody.
Speaker B:Merry Christmas.
