It's Thanksgiving

I received an email from t-shirts.com telling me there is a 10% off “turkey day” sale. I see that term from time to time, now more and more. I want to scream “It’s not Turkey Day, it’s Thanksgiving! It’s about giving THANKS not about turkeys!!”

Ok, I’ve got that out of my system.

Look up Thanksgiving on Wikipedia and you’ll find “Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November”.

Hmm, “to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season.” Ok I suppose. But here in America there is no harvest season for us to be really thankful for. We live in a perpetual harvest season. So it’s not really that special, is it?

If you want a real laugh go to www.happyturkeyday.org - “This Thanksgiving, when you sit down at the dinner table, please take a full 5 minutes of silence and/or prayer to acknowledge the millions of lives that were ended for this Day of Thankfulness.”

The lives their talking about are the turkeys (oi vai!), but at least happyturkeyday.org and Wikipedia acknowledge this is a day of thankfulness.

Today I want you to not only think about what you are thankful for, but to whom you are thankful to. Or should I have written, to Whom.

Yes, once again time and “progressive” thinking have separated us from the original intent of the holiday (Christmas is currently under this same attack). The folks at happyturkeyday.org want you take 5 minutes for silence and/or prayer and contemplate the fate of the turkey. I would like to ask you to take 5 minutes and read the two presidential proclamations that brought about Thanksgiving Day in America.

The first was written by President George Washington in 1789 which set aside one day that year as a day of Thanksgiving. The second written by Abraham Lincoln in Oct. 1863 proclaimed the day as an annual holiday. By the way, when reading the Lincoln proclamation, remember this is 1863 at the height of the civil war.

There is no doubt that this day of Thanksgiving was intended to be a day of thanksgiving and praise to God Almighty. May we all not only contemplate that, but share it as well.

Oh, one other thing about the Lincoln proclamation; please take notice of the second sentence. It is a thousand times better than any sentence I could ever write if I had all the time in the world to think and reflect on what I wanted to say. Lincoln probably scribbled it out as if it were no big deal.


Washington's Prolamation

Lincoln's Prolamation

The Soft Pillow of Science

I was channel surfing the other night and as I did I came across a program on the Discovery Channel called Miracle Planet: The Evolution of Our World. The channel guide that describes what the program is about read, “Earth was born out of chaos, disaster and completely by chance. Travel back into the violent past to discover how the fragile conditions of life were created.”

Did you get that? This show will explain how the earth and even life itself were created by chance. Created BY chance? What IS chance? How can anything be created BY chance? Don’t get me wrong; chance is a perfectly good word to describe mathematical probabilities. For example we listen to the weather in order to find out if there will be a chance of rain. The weather guesser tells us that tomorrow there will be a 30% chance. Or if I ask you what the chances are, when I flip a coin, that it will come up tails? The answer is that there is a 50% chance it will come up tails. But tell me, when I flip the coin how does chance influence the outcome? What force does chance exert on the coin which causes it to come up tails? None! It can’t! It isn’t possible because chance is not a thing. It’s nothing! It’s simply a word used to describe mathematical possibilities. Yet some scientists, many scientists, have given chance magical powers; even the power to create.

I’ve read it and heard it so many times, Space+Time+Chance=The Universe. What is time? How much does it weigh? When I see that formula, which is the formula ascribed to by all believers in the big bang theory, I see this: nothing+nothing+nothing=everything; =me. This to me is logically untenable, yet these otherwise brilliant people use the term chance as a soft pillow to explain affects for things that they simply have not, or can not, find a cause for. I would respect them if they would just say that. Just say we haven’t found the cause yet, but with more experimentation and study we hope to discover what the causes are.

The day after I saw that program description I came into work and flipped the page on my “Bible Verse a Day” calendar and here is what the scripture was: Hebrews 11:3

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Only!

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the Judean wilderness He fended off every attempt of Satan by quoting scripture. The last recorded temptation involved Satan, the prince of this world, showing Jesus all of the kingdoms of earth and trying to get Jesus to worship him by promising all of it to Jesus. Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.”

Serve Him ONLY. Christ knew that in order to fulfill His mission he would absolutely without fail serve the Father and Him only. If God said it, then Jesus trusts it and it doesn’t matter what Satan or anybody else says. What a difference between the second Adam and the first! And every son of the first Adam that has ever lived since!! We tend to take Satan up on that deal by serving God on Sunday and the world the rest of the week. So often Christians are afraid to serve God ONLY because that would mean we would have to be politically incorrect. Stand up for the Truth of God as it is written in His Bible. We have a real hard time trusting what God tells us.

When Fish Catch Men

In Romans 8:37 we read, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Brother Danny always asked the question, how we could be more than conquerors? I know what it is to conqueror, but to be more than a conqueror?”I am sure that God has some unimaginable ways to show us the meaning of that and there are many ways the meaning may be manifest in our lives. But, last week He showed it to me in a small, but significant way.

VBS was beginning is a few days and my role was to play the part of a fisherman working in a fish market. As the first day of VBS approached I began making my costume and thinking about what props I would have. I was thinking I need a fish as a prop and wondered if I would have to strike a deal with my 4-year-old niece to borrow some of her toy fishies. As I was driving to work on Friday my thoughts again went to what I should do about a prop as VBS started on Monday. While at work I went to visit a colleague who had just moved into a new office. When I entered his office there on top of a bookshelf was a 4-foot long, beautiful, stuffed toy catfish. I asked if I could borrow it the following week and my friend said I could have it. It was there when he moved into the office. Leaving his office I thought how God is so wonderful and loving even in the small things. But, I would soon learn that God always has bigger things in mind and can always work them out even through the small things.

Now back at my desk I have to put this large stuffed catfish somewhere! I’m not in an office, I have a cube and just outside my cube wall is a short two-drawer file cabinet. So on top of the file cabinet Mr. Fish goes. He immediately began to draw attention as if he were casting lures out into the office and attracting schooling co-workers. Soon he got his first bite, “Hey Ed, what’s the fish for?” I replied, “It’s for VBS. This year our theme is Galilee by the Sea, and I am the fisherman. Why don’t you come on by?” One bite, then another and another. It was at that moment it hit me. God not only provides, He more than provides. Just as in Christ we are more than conquerors. Not only does God provide a way for us to be freed from death, but we also inherit the Kingdom of God.

My words can not explain this sufficiently, so I’ll use the words of the Holy Spirit found in Romans 8:36-39 “As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Teach Me O God

I learned a valuable lesson recently regarding the blessings of God. Many times in the past I have experienced great inner joy by being obedient to God’s will. Recently, however, I experienced something completely different based on my not being obedient to God.

Every year our congregation hosts what is known as Mission Sunday. There are months of build up for this very special Sunday dedicated to highlighting the ministries being supported by the congregation and the many individuals dedicating their life to the mission field. The focus is on the great work these selfless brothers and sisters perform in the service to Jesus. Equally important is the special contribution made that day which will continue to fund these missions for the upcoming year.

Prior to the day of Mission Sunday, the Shepherds usually set a goal for the contribution and communicate that goal to the brethren. The year before last the goal was set and as it turned out, we fell quite a bit short of hitting it. Because of that, our ability to fund some missions suffered. Although our falling short of the goal was disappointing, I personally felt the inner joy that comes from being obedient to God.

This year, as the day for Mission Sunday was far off the Shepherds set a goal that was lower than the one we set the year before. Perhaps it was just too much for a congregation that contributes regularly to many other needs? I decided in my heart an amount to give. As the date came nearer both myself and my wife were involved in very busy periods regarding our jobs as well as personal commitments. Travel was frequent during this time and sure enough our personal schedule had us out of town and unable to attend church on Mission Sunday. Still, I kept thinking to myself that I need to drop off my check before that Sunday. I kept thinking it, but never did it. Then I thought that I would call or email in a pledge. I never did that either. While I was away that weekend I kept thinking about how I failed to get my contribution in before I left and about how my lack of placing importance on Mission Sunday could possibly contribute to yet another year of falling short of the goal. I thought, for sure when we get back I will bring my check to the Shepherds. I didn’t.

The Sunday after, when we had returned and I had not yet made any contribution or even communicated a pledge to contribute, came a lesson from on high. I’ll never forget it. Our congregational goal for this year’s mission Sunday was $75,000. As the associate Minister went before the congregation to report what God had done through us, I felt disappointed in my lack of caring and expected to hear how we came so close to the goal, but just didn’t make it. Was I shocked when I heard that not only had the congregation exceeded the goal, but the goal was exceeded by an amount that could only be accounted for by saying “…but with God, all things are possible”. Over $115,000 was given that Sunday.

The lesson I learned WASN’T that the success of exceeding the goal was up to me. That was a lesson showing me how self centered I am, but not the real lesson.

Here is the lesson. Because of my lack of placing a priority on what I knew was something God wanted me to do I DID NOT AND COULD NOT SHARE IN THE JOY OF GOD’S VICTORY! I WAS NOT A PART OF THAT JOY. I WAS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN!! This was far worse than any feelings of guilt or disappointment. I missed out on the joy that comes from being obedient to God. I’ve felt that joy before and now I was experiencing the polar opposite of that feeling. The joy I am speaking of is unlike any feeling you’ve ever had. It’s a joy that is felt in your inner most being and its absence was excruciating.

There are often appeals for contributions for many worthy needs and for some the Spirit tells me to give and for some He does not. This past Mission Sunday the Spirit clearly put on my heart that I should give. I didn’t do it and the feeling of not being able to share in the joy of the Lord is one I will never forget and one I never want to feel again.