Check Your Attitude - Charles R. Swindoll

our speaker really doesn't need an introduction but for those of you who are new he served in a student capacity here also working on the staff he not only graduated from here and has pastored he served on our board of in corporate members for a number of years before being tapped to be the fourth president of Dallas Theological Seminary in 2001 he stepped aside from that to give attention to a little church growth project in Frisco Texas called Stonebriar community church that has ballooned and God has blessed and they're having a great time there he continues to write obviously and speak and therefore broadcast on insight for living around the world but we were deeply grateful that he continues to partner with us here at DTS would you join me in welcoming our Chancellor dear friend dr. Charles swindled or Chapel this morning well a good morning I especially want to welcome our guests on campus today we're glad you've chosen to get a good look at us and to visit our classrooms and to spend time with these men and women who are our faculty we commend you for choosing Dallas as one of those in the finalists of your future and especially happy to have you here to enjoy the events of the day my granddaughter's sitting here somewhere I want her to stand up and she's the one with the red face so Heather stand up and let everybody see where you are they're right in the middle oh good all right I've got her arm behind her back twisting it saying it's got to be Dallas seminary courts she's already convinced she wants to skip undergraduate work and she said look Bubba you've been to president you can get me in right now and so she's looking at either Wheaton or Texas A&M what do you think oh I knew that was coming I want to talk to you today about something that will make or break your years at Dallas seminary what I have to say has really very little if anything to do with academics it has very little very little to do with grade point average probably nothing truth be told what I want to talk about however has everything to do with your future how you will relate to people how influential and significant the places you Minister will become and most of all how deeply different you will be as a person if you learn to control this problem I want to talk about attitude really a part of attitude that comes out in complaining and grumbling and grousing and there's another word that I won't mention but it also fits it has to do with the stuff that comes out of our mouths because we don't like what's going on or we wish it were different or it isn't like we expected and on and on and on it goes I was speaking at a little luncheon we had sponsored by the seminary last Thursday and shared a story about all Ellmers about 80 years old lying in a hospital bed and he says Ethel is that you right there and his wife of 56 years says yeah yeah Elmer it's me I'm right here he opened what eye and he said I remember 55 years ago being in a Veterans Hospital in San Francisco you were right there then too weren't you Ethel she said y'all was right there he said I remember in in 64 when we lost our house burned to the ground you were right there then weren't you when we lost our house lost everything she sighed and thought back and said yeah I was right there and I remember when when we went through that terrible financial crunch and I lost my job at the shop and we wound up with nothing to live on you were you were there then too weren't you she looked out the window and remembered and said yeah Elmer I was there he looked out over the top his glasses is you know Ethel you bad luck you know you try to think about living with a guy like that for 56 years some people see the glass is half-full and others see the same glass as what half empty it's the same glass same amount of water same set of circumstances the difference is in attitude tucked away in Philippians two is one verse that can haunt you on this subject it is at verse 14 in this great second chapter which we tend to stop reading about verse 11 unfortunately and verse 14 sort of slides in the back door and grabs around the throat it's a direct command and Paul doesn't stutter and the writing is clear little more is seen in the verse even if you knew the original he names to things we're to stop doing he makes it so clear you can't miss it do all things without grumbling or disputing I remember taking a Greek class with Stan to st. is he here today I was going to look at him when I told this story he's I remember his saying now a gentleman back then it was all men at the seminary he said now gentlemen this is an onomatopoetic word I thought boy that's that'll change your life right there and he said it's it's one of those words it sounds like it's meaning like drip drip drip or swoosh or maybe murmur which is this one go good so so he kind of walked around the class go and go good so go go so go jet it's one of the few Greek words I remember without ever checking now I just kind of stuck in my mind it sounds like go good murmuring murmuring can't believe a tuition it's so expensive I can't believe the weather in Dallas is so hot I mean who does dr. so-and-so think I am a computer giving us all this reading and why do we have to take this course I took it in Bible School and it was taught a lot better there than it is in seminary and and don't tell me that guys speaking in Chapel again at oh man we got to endure that again and if chaplain bill blows that horn one more time I am going to throw up I mean on and on and on complaining complaining arguing the first word means to murmur to grumble next word means to argue and if there's one place you can find a whole lot of that up right here is at this seminary right here toward the end of the semester which is where we're moving rapidly these days unless I miss my guess some of you have fallen into that trap the glass is either half full or it's half empty now what Paul addresses in such strong words it's illustrated in a unforgettable manner over in numbers chapters 10 and 11 turn back from Philippians to go back to numbers 10 by the way even if you complain and grouse and murmur progress doesn't stop life goes on there's an old Arab proverb I read recently the dogs may bark but the caravan moves on no amount of murmuring is going to slow the school down it's just going to slow you down your learning ability will be put on hold furthermore your spiritual life will cool as happened to the people who had experienced the Exodus on our Moses now even before we look at these two chapters rather quickly just stop and think think of the contrast for 400 and more years they and their forefathers had been slaves of Egypt living under the harsh lash of the taskmaster in the ghetto of Goshen no longer there now there now free and and they're not under Pharaoh any longer they're under Moses and early on when they got to the Red Sea and the army was chasing them there was that remarkable miracle where the sea opened and they went through on dry ground and that the sea came back over the Egyptians and wiped him out that's happened when they're thirsty there's water that comes from the rock miraculously when they're hungry there's manna that comes from from the Lord the psalmist calls it angel food it's magnificent when they don't know where they ought to go or when all they have to do is look up over the tabernacle and there's this cloud that gives them shade in the day and warmth in the cold desert night and it moves they move it stays they stay it's fantastic I mean you can't miss and it won't be long before they will live in cities they didn't build and they'll drink from wells they didn't dig and they'll eat from vines and trees they didn't plant and they'll enjoy home because they didn't construct and furnish I mean all of that is right there the glass seems more than half-full verse 11 of chapter 10 they've just finished their time at Sinai and by the way I should mention if they don't know what God expected just read the stones he's now put it in writing came about in the second year in the second month on the 20th of the month that the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony here it is now and the sons of Israel set out on their journey from the wilderness of Sinai then the cloud settled down and the wilderness of Paran and so they moved out for the first time according to the command of the Lord through Moses verse 33 thus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days journey with the Ark of the Covenant and the Lord journey in front of them for the three days to seek out a resting place for them the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp I mean how good is that what do they need nothing what was missing well to them many of them you can believe it Egypt that gotten used to Egypt I mean it's hot here it was a lot cooler by the waters of the Nile and it's uncomfortable we don't have our shacks we used to live in our out on the ground and we we're sort of at the mercy of the elements I mean it's not like where we have been for these years like folks come to seminary in it it's you know fall isn't like it was in Cincinnati well duh this isn't Cincinnati you think falls bad wait or summer mean you'll never lack for an illustration on hell I guarantee you that when Dallas kicks in full bore it's not like it used to be at your place on the west coast or where you were reared on in New England last time I checked it's not anywhere near New England but of course if you determine to look at it that way your perspective will turn you into a grumbler it doesn't have to John Hannah number of years ago sent me a terrific letter from a scout who wrote his mom Scouts name is cold and his mom gets this letter from the Scout camp imagine being the mother the dead dear mom and dad our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and are worried but we're okay only one of our tents and two sleeping bags got washed away luckily none of us drowned because we were all up on the mountains looking for Chad when it happened oh yeah please call Chad's mother and tell her he's okay now he can't write because of the cast I got to ride in one of the search-and-rescue Jeeps it was neat we never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning our Scoutmaster Walt got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anybody Chad said he did tell him but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him did you know that if you put gasoline on a fire the gas can blow up do you know that the wet wood didn't burn but one of the tents did David's going to look weird till his hair grows back we'll be home on Saturday mom if Scoutmaster Walt gets his car fixed it wasn't his fault about that wreck the brakes worked okay when we left Scoutmaster Walt said that the car that old in a car that old you have to expect something to break down that's probably why he can't get any insurance we think it's a neat car he doesn't care if we get it dirty and if it's hot sometime he lets us ride out on the fenders gets pretty hot with ten people in one car he lets us take turns riding in the trailer until the Highway Patrol man stopped and talked to us about that Scoutmaster Walt's a neat guy he's a good driver in fact he is teaching Terry how to drive on the mountain roads where there isn't much traffic did you know you don't need guardrails on roads that don't have much traffic all we ever see up there are logging trucks this morning all the guys were driving off the we're diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake Scoutmaster Walt wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Chad was afraid he would sink because of caste so he let us take a canoe all by ourselves across this big lake it was great you can still see some of the trees under the water from a flood Scoutmaster Walt didn't crabby like some Scout masters he didn't even get mad about our losing lifejackets he has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we're trying not to cause him any trouble guess what we've all passed our first aid merit badges when Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm we got to see how tourniquet works wait and I threw up but Scoutmaster Walt said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken he said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison I'm really glad he got out and became our couch Scoutmaster he said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing time I have to go now we're going to town to mail our letters and buy bullets don't worry mom don't worry about anything we're fine love Cole now there's a kid that's got a lot of these to complain about but he's not complaining life's great that's great when you're a kid you get you get kind of grouchy when you get older and you start thinking about oldest I mean can you imagine that mother Ralph come here listen I mean all she could think of was the danger not not that kid not cold man he's ever the time his life what the world's wrong with these people why in the world did we read what we read in verses one through six of chapter 11 the people became like those who complain of adversary of adversity in the hearing of the Lord and when the Lord heard it his anger was kindled in the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp he brews a little squirrely here it seems to best say now the people became truly murmurous an offense to the Lord's ears don't forget that things got a little hot things got a little long dot got a little boring classes got a little wearisome Moses got a little tired life got a little oppressive the people cried out to Moses and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire died out so the name of the place is called Torah because the fire of the Lord burned among them now please keep reading there's a whole new group that emerges there's some of this group in every student body text here calls it the rabble the rabble they're the ones who lead the complaining that's going on in a student body the rabble who were among them had greedy desires and also the sons of Israel wept again and said who will give us meat to eat they got mad at coming out the wazoo I mean everyday they want to have something to eat all I got to do is wait till the morning caterer arrives it's going to come it's going to be fresh I know they got to go back to Moses you know his wife's thousand one ways to cook man a cookbook north on how to keep it fresh they sliced it and baked it and eating it raw and put it in sandwiches and tried everywhere in the world to make it taste it you're getting sick and tired of manna and that's all their focus is the glass is half-empty who will give us meat to eat we remember listen to this verse 5 here we go we remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt they hated Egypt back when they were in Egypt but now all they could think of was the fish they got free when they live back there and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and onions and the garlic and the Manta all that goes with that and now our appetite is gone there's nothing at all except this manna and the way it's written is kind of with gritted teeth only God knows is seeing stop let me tell you something magic doesn't happen when you matriculate into the student body one of the best pieces of advice I ever got I got from a fellow who had just graduated when I was about to experience my first year he said if you think you're moving to a utopia get that out of your mind really quick you're going to see the flesh at work like you've rarely seen it at work you're going to meet guys and you're going to see even some props that are going to really be a challenge to you it isn't perfect but it's magnificent depending on your attitude some people graduate and think good riddance not many but some most of us graduated thinking that was a major major milestone I've spent the rest of my years saying thank you Laurie thank you for a handful of faculty members who would invest their lives in me and my classmates thank you for principles that I was able to pick up thank you for directions that still work as the years pass thank you for this school that keeps standing for her thank you there's none of that here man is described for us and the grousing goes on so long it finally gets to Moses that happened can't it don't answer out loud faculty but sometime you can encounter such a negative negative spirit among the students that it finally gets to you and you go home at night you say to your partner why in the world do I keep doing this why in the world is this continuing to be the spirit among us so you get you get discouraged in fact Moses we read in verse 10 when he heard the people weeping throughout their families each man in the doorway of his tent Moses was displeased so it's a word we could translate this depressed suppose he's low the glass suddenly got half-full I mean he now can't get above it so Moses said to the Lord why have you been so hard on your servant why have I not found favor in your sight that you have laid the burden of all the people on me look at the change in perspective the burden wasn't on Moses it's on the Lord but when your attitude gets cloudy your whole perspective changes and usually you look for somebody to blame and what was it I who conceived all this people was it I who brought them forth that you should say to me carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant to the land which you swore to their father's we're about to get me to give all these people for they weep before me saying give us me that we may eat notice their focus is on what they didn't have rather than on this many things they did had give us meat I don't have meat where do I get the meat lord please please and then it got even worse verse 14 I alone am NOT able to carry all this people it's too burdensome for me so if you're going to deal thus with me kill me just finish me off do it at once if I have found favor in your sight don't let me see my wretchedness he is at the bottom when you get there it's a little frightening we've all been there you're specially experienced this when you're surrounded by a negative ISM for long it just comes in on you like a flood these are the same people who have just been celebrating the Exodus now they hit a few challenges along the way and it's like where is God why in the world did we ever leave that comfortable place and by the way while they were there they hated it so the Lord steps on the scene and as he always does he brings answers that are surprising he tells Moses he needs to shoulder the have others shoulder the load with him so he makes plans for that and he says in verse 18 this is this gets really little humorous say to the people consecrate yourselves for tomorrow and you shall have meat you want me I bring you a little meat therefore the Lord will give you meat usually you shall eat not one day not two days not five days nineteen for two hour ten days or 20 days but a whole month of meat you're going to have me do you're ready to scream and verse 23 the Lord said to Moses is the Lord's power limited now you shall see whether my word will come true or not so Moses gets the people together gets a team together and it begins to work they shoulder the load and now now watch what happens verse 30 Moses returned to the camp both he and the elders of Israel now there went forth a wind from the Lord it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side all around the camp two cubits deep on the surface of the ground people slept all day spent all day and all night and all the next day and gathered the quail he who gathered last gathered 10 homers and they spray them out for themselves all around the camp I mean I love to hunt I love to dove hunt but I've never seen anything like this neither had they I mean they're not wading through it Ron Allen and his work on expository positive Bible commentary writes this this is so like Ron the scene must have been similar to a riot people screaming Birds flapping their wings everywhere the pell-mell movement of meat hungry people in a sea of birds dare we picture people ripping at the birds eating flesh before cooking it be still and behavior they must have been like a sugar crazed boy in a child's daydream afloat on a chocolate sandwich cookie raft and ASEA chocolate syrup nibbling at the cookie before drowning in the dark sweet scene is that a good way to put it I bet the editor in this goes you I want to keep that in that I think it's fantastic I mean look at this we got we got oil everywhere now the next verse is so telling 33 while the meat was still between their teeth before it was chewed the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and struck the people with a plague and they died and they named the place the graves of craving littered with with shallow graves mouths full of quail amazing they got meat but they didn't get what they were really looking for I learned from dr. Pentecost years ago it takes a heavenly appetite to enjoy a heavenly food it takes a heart that's right to take in four years or more at Dallas seminary and to keep your heart right it takes a it takes a terrific attitude and nobody can control it but you know Chapel message can throw a magic switch if you're determined to fuss and gripe and complain there's room to do that and you'll get just enough to get by and you'll get into ministry and you'll still be doing it and I've lit enough churches to tell you that there are a lot of folks like that running around just waiting to make life miserable for the rest of the congregation complainers have a three-dimensional effect let me close with some of these thoughts first they have an effect on the complainer himself or herself it denies that God is at work and in control when you complain you're denying that God is at work and in control you're denying you're questioning his sovereignty he is not surprised at the workload and he has not taken back at your situation he knows exactly what he is about but you begin to deny that you begin to doubt that when you complain I'll tell you the second it affects other people it demoralizes those who have to listen to your complaints you're married it demoralizes your mate it demoralizes your kids you're single you're with a group you study together it demoralizes the group it poisons their spirit and I'll tell you something else that I haven't had one faculty member mentioned this but I know them well enough to know it's true it demoralizes those who teach you just like it did with Moses it discourages the one who's doing his best to get the big job done Abraham Lincoln on one occasion wrote this about criticism if I tried to answer all the criticism of me and all the attacks leveled it be this office would be closed to all other business my job is not pleasant as not pleasing people but doing the best I can if in the end I am found to be wrong ten legions of angels swearing I was right will not help me but if the improves me to have been right than all of what is said about me now will amount to nothing learn in your years at this school to take it learn to take it or get out learn to tough it out learn to stay stay and watch the cloud and eat the manna and trust your God face it our blessings have far outnumbered our testings our future is far more exciting than our past our training is far ahead of the majority of those in the world who would love to know their Bibles and I suggest we continue to stay positive about it that glass in just half full it's almost all the way full ken ken angle taught here four years left in his legacy a number of great books one is called coaching ministry teams in and I found this story from Ken when I began my doctoral study many years ago I interviewed at two institutions one of which was the University of Kansas when I visited with the Graduate Dean in the School of Education at that school we had a fascinating conversation that went something like this did you say you are an administrator at a Bible College asked the Dean yes is that a church related school of some kind yeah certainly church related but not affiliated with any particular denomination long pause I used to go to church the Dean really tell me about it responded doctor Ganga yeah I used to go to church and I remember one thing about my church what is that they fight dangle concludes I still find his response startling imagine the things he could have named preaching baptizing buildings music laughter denominational affiliation yet the man chooses to associate church people with quarreling and a discussion with a person he had known for not more than 10 minutes I loved his summary statement in my opinion working at unity in the congregation stands right beside proclaiming the gospel as two major prior these of ministry conquer your attitude before you step into service full-time if you don't you're going to be part of the product we don't need anymore fighters we need builders those excited about what God's doing attitude gratitude a spirit that says I can do this by the grace of God let's bow together Father we acknowledge that while we have only a few moments together we have touched on a subject that will have a major impact in every life represented here those on the platform those filling this Chapel those not even hearing what has been said I realize now in my life from your teaching me Lord that attitude really is at the core of everything where it has become soiled and spoiled I pray that you will clean it up get it back on its right feet change our hearts Lord so that we see the great things you're still doing while not ignoring the challenge in the demands of the responsibilities thank you for this fine school the people who have fill these seats in years past for the impact they are having in lives around the world continue to raise up men and women like that begin even during these years of learning every heart I pray in the name of Jesus everybody said you're dismissed

Channel: Dallas Theological Seminary

Views: 70,496

Keywords: attitude, humility, spiritual life, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Charles Swindoll

Id: 1dRmz8UNX-k

Length: 38min 57sec (2337 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 08 2012