Greg TeSelle

Last weekend, I met my good friend Chad Smith in Lexington, KY to do the infamous “Kentucky Bourbon Run.”  We visited 5 distilleries over the weekend, and tasted some very good bourbon!  Besides drinking good bourbon… we learned much about the rich history of the bourbon industry.

Lesson #1…  95% of the world’s bourbon is made in Kentucky because there is an amazing limestone “shelf” that filters all the water from the surrounding lakes and removes all the unwanted iron from the water naturally. This is of crucial importance because there are only 3 main “ingredients” that go into making straight bourbon.  1) Water, 2) Grains, and 3) the wood flavors from the charred oak barrel.

Every distillery wants the absolute best ingredients possible… because they understand the quality of the final product is directly related to the ingredients they put in.

As it is with life.  Our lives will only be as good as the ingredients we use to make it.

Unlike bourbon however, there are many more ingredients that go into making a great life. Here are just three to consider…

· Family – The family is a big deal… work hard… build a great legacy.
· Faith – Living for something bigger keeps the focus off ourselves.
· Friends – Stupid rubs off… but so does smart. Choose friends wisely.

Lesson #2… Every distillery we toured emphasized the importance of the finest ingredients possible to make the finest bourbon possible… but even more important… was their emphasis on the family history and the passing down of information, lessons, procedures, recipes, and secrets to successful bourbon.

I’m so thankful to have guys like Chad Smith in my life.  He challenges me to evaluate the ingredients necessary to make my life great.  It is essential to surround yourself with individuals who are already where you want to be.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to hang with some guys that will encourage and challenge you for a great weekend… check out www.mantime.us

Find a mentor… be a mentor… and drink a little bourbon.  May I recommend a couple of my favorites from last weekend… GPTS

“The Christian is to be both contemporary and radically different.” – Jacques Ellul.

I read this quote in a small devotional book by Charles Ringma. I liked Jacques Ellula’s quote and his passion to communicate this often misunderstood thought.

If my life here on earth is about nothing more than being “saved” and enduring this world until I am taken home to be with Jesus… not only would I be wrong, but disobedient as well.

There is no virtue in isolating myself from the world… it won’t keep me safe… and it won’t make me holy.  It will however make me ineffective and irrelevant.  Likewise… there is no virtue in being culturally trendy and blindly doing the latest and hippest things that society wants me to do.  That would make me nothing more than a parrot.

I am to be both relevant and different.  If I fail to be relevant, I won’t be heard.  If I fail to be different, I have nothing to say.  I need to be culturally aware of the issues in the world today… while withdrawing for times of reflection and prayer.

So… what’s next in 2016 that will push me to be both contemporary and radically different?

Something pretty exciting … 

Here’s a not so small hint… I’m taking delivery of this later today. 

“… and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life:  You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”  – 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

I find living this out to be difficult in today’s world. We are bombarded with the message that it is all about us… that we have to speak up for what we want… we have to take what we deserve… that we are the center of the universe… and only good things should come our way.

This is so contrary to the gospel… and those of us who are God’s children should know better.

Over the last four years in Chicagoland I have been part of a group of committed believers who are not trying to impress anyone with their great church complex or ministry… whose main ambition is to lead a quiet life for the glory of God.

It has been refreshing. Want to join us?

Most people I know have some time management issues.  Including me.

We have been taught how to manage our money, people, relationships, and many other things, but we also need to manage our time.  If time is valuable… we need to treat it as such.

Here are a few things I’m doing in 2016 to make my time matter.

1) Create art.  Mostly written word, but photography, design, and epithelial art as well.

2) Study the book of Proverbs.

3) Road trip on a Harley Davidson.  At least 2000 miles to nowhere.

4) Saying ‘NO’ more than ‘YES’.  Ratio of at least 10:1

5) Intentionally nurture 4 people in my house to be independent, productive, successful, law-abiding, and healthy followers of Jesus. #pray

6) Flying to Tuscany, Italy for 8 days with my wife and some of our best friends.

What’s next in 2016… a greater value placed on time.

in 2016… my time will be invested in the following things that matter…

Art
Bible
Adventure
Growing
Discipline
Marriage
Family
People

It is important to note what is not on the list for 2016.

I have come across people in my life who have immediately caught my attention.  Not because they were front and center or large and in charge… but because they were in the background, doing what was needed… and doing it with a attitude that made me pay attention.

And whenever I pressed further, I consistently found that these people were not only grounded in a faith in Jesus… but a faith that was at the forefront of everything they did.

One of my personal objectives is to let God become so centered in my life… that when people look at me they see something intangible… something they don’t understand… something that makes them ask “what is it about you?”

I know it can be done, because I see it in these people.

They live a quiet life.  They pretty much stay to themselves as they go about their day and make their living.  These people have “won the respect of those who are not believers” by living their lives this way.

I wish I was further along the path of achieving my objective than I am, but I am getting closer.

Jesus’ entire life was to be a template for us of how we should live ours.  Not necessarily in the spotlight……but with the great humility, respect, and care for those who will cross our path.

We must lead as Jesus leads.

We must become beacons whose quiet and yet brilliant light shine bright in this dark world… and then lead others to the source of the light.

This is our only mission on this earth.

My first step toward a quiet life… don’t talk so much.  #shutup