Author: chadstutzman

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Worrying II

This is my second post in a series on worrying. Since this is something that nearly everyone deals with to a certain degree I think it is worth the blog time.

In chapter two of Dale Carnegie’s book “How to stop Worrying and start Living” he talks about a quick sure-fire way for handling worry situations. This method was developed by Willis H. Carrier who started the Carrier Corporation. It contains three steps:

Step 1. “I analyze the situation fearlessly and honestly and figure out what is the worst that could possibly happen as a result of this failure.

Step 2. After figuring out what was the worst that could happen, I reconcile myself to accept it, if necessary.

Step 3. From that time on, I calmly devote my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.”

That is a simple formula that can help you to overcome much worry and anxiety. When we are worrying we are focusing on the problem and thinking negatively in a very focused way. Our minds bounce around and it keeps us from thinking clearly. This exercise allows you to look at the worst, accept it and then begin to think clearly. Once we get our focus off the problem, our perspective changes.

Many times we think the thing we are worried about is so much worse than it actually is. We make up multiple worse case scenarios that drive us bonkers. Once you come to the conclusion of the worst and accept it, you can think.

That is why it is never good to make important decisions under stress or worry. In that state of mind we are not thinking clearly.

I would like to throw in another step.

Step 4. Ask God for help! When we bring God into the equation it changes everything. This really should be the first step, because God will help you through the other three.

Turning your focus to Jesus Christ and eternity changes your perspective. This world and these worries are only a mist, here today and gone tomorrow. When we keep our eternal perspective it helps us to deal more effectively with our problems.

Whatever you are facing today, you don’t have to face it alone. Face it as if Jesus was standing right beside you, holding you up and spurring you on. Face the worst and accept it, then work on improving it. “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”

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Worrying

A couple of months ago my wife and I were in an antique store shopping. I love looking at old books, and I happened to find a book by Dale Carnegie. The title is “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. It was written in 1944. I started reading it last night, what a treasure! I think I paid $3.00.

Part one is about fundamental facts you should know about worry. This stuff is so good I want to share it as I read. Here are the nuggets from the first chapter:

“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” by Thomas Carlyle.

Carnegie talked about having “Day-tight compartments”, which means to seal off the doors of the past-dead yesterdays- and the future-unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe for today. Similar to water-tight compartments to protect what is inside from water that can corrode things.

He talked about starting out the day with this short prayer from Jesus, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Asking only for today’s bread and not next week or next month or last months moldy bread. Carnegie also quoted Jesus who said “Have no anxiety for the tomorrow.” We are to think about tomorrow and make plans, but should have no anxiety or worry about tomorrow.

“Good thinking deals with causes and effects and leads to logical, constructive planning; bad thinking frequently leads to tension and nervous breakdowns.”

He also said “One of the most appalling comments on our present way of life is that half of all beds in our hospitals are reserved for patients with nervous and mental troubles, patients who have collapsed under the crushing burden of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows.” That was in 1944 and it is still very true today.

We can’t live in the past and we can’t know the future and when we focus on those we wreck both our bodies and our minds.

“So let’s be content to live the only time we can possibly live: From now until bedtime.”

He also talked briefly in chapter one about viewing everyday as a new life. That simple thought can help us overcome loneliness and all kinds of fears. It can give us a new enthusiasm for new life every day!

John Maxwell wrote a book called “Today Matters” and that is what this is all about. Focus on today, what can I accomplish today? What project or task can I complete right now? Taking one thing at a time and doing it with excellence is the key.

One final thought: “Think that this day will never dawn again. Life is slipping away with incredible speed. Today is our most precious possession. It is our only sure possession.” The Bible says “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

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Act

A friend of mine recently got a tattoo. It is a cross with James 1:22 under it. It looks good and it made me think. Not just about tattoo’s, but about that Scripture. This morning I was reading it, and wanted to share it with all of you.

This is from the Message translation verses 22-25 “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God-the free life!-even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.”

Did you catch that? Read it again.

Only when we actually do what he hear do we get delight and affirmation. So many of the people I talk to are doing their own thing and not what the Word tells them to do and then they wonder why they are struggling. Putting into action what we hear and learn is the difference between freedom and bondage. Many people would rather live in bondage because they don’t want to do what they know is right.

Real freedom comes when we put into action the things we are learning from the Bible. Are you looking for Financial freedom? Spiritual freedom? Relational freedom? Emotional freedom? Physical freedom?

The NIV translation says it this way “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what is says.” That is right, do what it says. The Bible shows us how to live in total freedom, yet we choose bondage when we don’t put it into action.

What action do you need to take today in your finances, your marriage, your work, your thought life, your parenting, your friendships, your time with God, your body?

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This week in review

Sorry it has been awhile since my last posting. This has been a very busy week for me. Here are some highlights.

On Tuesday night we had about 20 people come and load the three trucks with all the food boxes from Go ’07. It only took us 50 minutes to load all the boxes. We actually had closer to 1,350 boxes. Thanks to all who helped.

On Wednesday morning we delivered the boxes. Jerry Weaver took a load to the Love Center in Millersburg. I took a load to the Salvation Army in Dover. Several people came to help unload there. Thanks, Steve Elloit, Sue Gerber, Gene, Patty, Dusty and Melissa Bolek. I also want to thank Mike Davis for allowing us to use his Harley Davidson box truck to make that delivery. It was nice to meet the folks from the Salvation Army.

The next delivery was to Newcomerstown and then to Uhrichsville. We had over 650 boxes on the MRV Siding truck. Thanks to Todd Kandel for letting us use his truck. I ended up driving the truck, a few close calls but I made it. Sue, Gene, Patty, Dusty & Melissa came along and helped unload at both places.

The Journey’s End in Newcomerstown has a very organized well run ministry. It has been great to get to know them down there. Janet Gore is the director and she called me later in the day to say they had gone through all 350 boxes and sorted everything. They are now well stocked. The folks at Uhrichsville’s Twin City Christian Center were also very helpful and are doing a good ministry to many families. It is encouraging to see ministries like these in action helping meet peoples needs in an organized fair way.

Thursday was a traveling day as I went to visit a guy near Akron and then on to the Cleveland area to pick up a friend. I got a chance to listen to four messages on prayer by Bill Hybels. Very good stuff.

Friday night was a rehearsal and dinner for the Wedding of Lucas Boylan & Jessica Gotchel in Malvern. Saturday morning was a counseling session with a couple and then on to the wedding.

The wedding was interesting, because it was in a Catholic church in Malvern. I worked with Father Vic Cinson. Lucas & Jessica come to NewPointe, but Father Vic is a relative and they wanted the service at the home church. I learned some new things about weddings, a few I may use and others I won’t. Father Vic was very gracious in allowing me to co-officiate. Danny was there to play music and overall things went well. Danny can sure play the trumpet, Wow!

I was getting a little nervous when Father Vic was not there with only a few minutes before the start of the service. He was doing most of the service. He showed up at the last minute and everything went fine. My part was to do a couple of readings and the nuptial blessing. Pretty simple. Congratulations to Lucas & Jessica!

After we got home I went on a 13 mile bike ride and then watched the Browns win their pre-season opener.

Today I am preaching at the Walnut Creek St. Johns United Church of Christ. This is the church that my wife Vikki and I went to after we got married. This will be the second time I have gone back to preach. I am talking about Prayer. Maybe I’ll blog on that later.

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Wedding Day


On Saturday I had the privilege of officiating at the wedding of Jeremy McCaully and Johnna Saylor. The wedding was held at Schoenbrun Moravian Church in New Philadelphia. The church holds around 150 and we ended up with nearly 200 people.

On the song to bring in the grand parents the electric went out. Needless to say it started getting warm in there. We decided to keep going and hope for the best.

The mother’s came in and lit the unity candles and the wedding party entered. After the bride got to the front, I welcomed everyone and was just about to pray when the lights and air conditioning came on. Praise God!

The rest of the service went well, except one of the groomsman had to leave because he was starting to see stars. He made it without passing out.

This was a fun wedding with lots of smiles and laughter. Jeremy & Johnna are such a great young couple, it was good to get to know them. I pray that they have a long happy life together.

The reception was at the Senior Center in Dover. Great place for a reception or party. The food was good and the conversation fun. I even got up on the dance floor to do the “electric slide”. I know that is not very pastor-like, but it was fun. Denise Royer joined me on the dance floor, you go girl!

In my message to the couple I talked about dance steps from the Bible that will help their marriage. Those dance steps are “Choose your words wisely”, “Settle your disagreements quickly”, and “Practice forgiveness”. Those are foundational dance steps to learn in a healthy marriage.

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Moving Day





On Monday night my small group got together to help some ladies move. Carol and her mother Marie called the church looking for help to move from Sugarcreek to Walnut Creek. I checked with my small group and they all could make it on Monday night.

This is the third time we have helped someone move. We have also done numerous other serving projects together, such as drywalling, replacing windows, and other general repairs. Serving together has brought us closer together. Our group has been together for almost two years and we will be starting two groups in September. I am excited about meeting some new people and serving with them.

Helping Carol & Marie was very rewarding. Carol served in the military for 21 years, but was in an accident that caused her to not be able to continue. She moved here to take care of her mother. We showed up with four pickup trucks and started hauling things away. The neighbors even came out to see what was going on. The manager of the old apartment gave me her card and thanked me for helping out.

They were both very grateful for the help and Carol even made a donation to the church’s Helps fund. The reward you feel after helping someone in need is worth the effort of giving time and energy. The church is God’s plan to reach the world and show them His love. I hope we did that in a small way on Monday night.

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Food Stories

Here are a couple of interesting stories that relate to the Go ’07 Food drive:

On Monday I received a box in the mail. It was one of the Impossible boxes we handed out about three weeks ago. It was from a couple that had been visiting from the Cleveland area. Evidently they were here and wanted to participate in Go ’07. They filled the box with food and mailed it us (it cost $11.00 to ship it).

That is exciting to me because so many people participated in this drive. I think this has been the largest most far reaching outreach we have done. For a visitor to take the time to take a box, fill it and mail it shows how much people want to make a difference and be a part of something exciting and meaningful.

Here is the other story I received by email:

Saturday we came back to the church to see if we could buy another angel food kit for my brother. We found out that the program wasn’t set up to do that, so you generously let us pick and choose some of the food from the food drive. Mike and I randomly picked out some food not knowing what they needed or would like. I hadn’t even talked to my brother for a good while. This was just a strong feeling that came over me after we had picked up our angel food kit. We took the box of food you gave us and went straight to my brothers’ house. He looked so surprised when he saw the food. We also gave him some gas money and shared some of our meat with him and his family.

My brother started to cry as he told me he had been praying and even told God he felt like a failure, because he was having trouble supplying for his family. He has even been looking for a second job. He said he even felt like God didn’t care anymore. He told me too, that as he went through the box of food that a lot of the items we picked out for him were items that him and his wife had to put back the last time they went grocery shopping. He could hardly believe he ended with those items anyways.

I reminded him of how God cares about the desires of our heart, even if it is a certain kind of cereal, God truly cares about us.

This even reminded me of how much God loves us. It amazes me how God shows us His great love with such small things.

Yeah God!

Current number of boxes = 1,286 We are accepting food through this week and will distribute food next week to the four food pantries.

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Food, Food and more Food

Saturday morning was the first food distribution for Angel Food Ministries at NewPointe. My wife Vikki and I helped serve. What a great group of volunteers, I didn’t count them but we had around 30 people out to help.

Many of us got there at 7:00 a.m. to prepare and help unload the truck. The truck got delayed in Cambridge and did not arrive until almost 8:30. While we were waiting for the truck many of the volunteers helped box food for the GO ’07 food drive. We boxed 122 more boxes Saturday morning. That took our total to 554 boxes going into Sunday morning! Thanks to all who helped.

When the truck got there we unloaded it and stacked all the boxes of food in 20 minutes. Soon after that people began to arrive to pick up their food. We had 216 orders from 178 households.

Jesse & Wilma Mast are the leader’s of this ministry and did a great job of organizing the distribution. Dave Miller was a big help as well in planning and organizing things. The system worked well and people moved through quickly. We are taking orders for next month right now. You can order online at our website http://www.newpointe.org/content.cfm?id=2139

If you would like to volunteer for Angel Food please let me know. This is a great opportunity to make a difference.

I was a runner which meant I helped take the loaded boxes of food out to peoples cars. I got to meet some new people and talk to some friends. I also got in nearly 9,00 steps! It was fun asking people where they lived and how they heard about us.

It was a fun morning and many of the people were very grateful and excited about this ministry to help families save money on their groceries. An exciting part of this ministry that not many people know about is that for every box of food that is ordered through NewPointe we get One Dollar donated to our Helps fund. All that money goes to help needy families and individuals in our church and community.

I encourage you to check it out and tell your friends and neighbors. With the GO ’07 Food drive and Angel Food, NewPointe will be distributing a very large volume of food into our community. I hope that this will encourage people to continue to help the local food pantries. There are people that struggle to buy or find enough food for their family. At the end of the day Sunday we ended up with nearly 1,300 boxes of food. That is really amazing! Yeah God! All that food will be distributed to Four local food panries, three in Tuscarawas county and one in Holmes county.

I am so glad I am part of a church that wants to meet needs and change lives. We want to impact our communities in a real and practical way. Food is a great start, but their is much more going on. To get involved in reaching out in the community contact me at NewPointe, we have several projects in the works right now. Together we can make a big difference.

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Are You Listening?

Do you consider yourself a good listener? Most people would rate themselves above average as a listener, but few people are really good listeners. I read a quote today that jumped out of the page at me and made me start thinking about how I listen and see the world around me.

Here it is; “That’s why I am talking to you. You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect.” That was from John Steinbeck in East of Eden.

It made me ask the question; Am I one of those rare people that sees what is? This can be a very difficult thing to do because we all view other people in a different way based on our own experiences and beliefs. It is so easy to make judgements about a person before we even get to know them. If we see a poor person we tend to think and act a certain way with them. If we see a person that looks wealthy again, we tend to act and think a certain way.

Do people want to talk to you? Do you find that people come to you often for advice and counsel? Do you wonder why this is happening? If so you are one of the rare people that God has given the gift of discernment. You are able to see the real issue or problem before others. You are able to quickly realize if someone or something is good or evil. You are able to see through the fronts that most people put on. You can even tell if people are lying or telling the truth.

Most people go through life with a mask on, not letting people too close to their world. The rare person can see through that because they really see and really listen. It’s the rare person that patiently listens to a problem or situation, asks a few clarifying questions to draw out the real issues and helps a person feel better. It’s an even rarer person that can see the problem without even having to hear a word.

I know some of these rare people and I am amazed at their ability to discern and see what is. I have to keep working on it because I still sometimes see what I expect. Slow down and really listen to people. Observe them and become curious about what is going on with them. This is especially true in our close relationships with family and spouses. Listening and trying to understand and empathize is a great gift to the people around you. All of us can listen and see better. Take off your blinders and begin to see other people the way God sees them. Listen with compassion instead of judgment. That will raise your compassion level and cause you to see what is, not what is expected.