Thanksgiving! The very thought of the day engenders images of turkey and dressing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, and
pumpkin pie. It is the day we feast from overladen tables as we visit with family and friends. As centerpieces on the table
we usually see a turkey and a tiny pilgrim, because we associate Thanksgiving with the Pilgrim's first feast of thanks.
Actually the Pilgrims were not the first new world settlers to set aside a day of thanksgiving. Even before the Pilgrims
arrived at Plymouth, a settlement in Virginia proclaimed that the day of their arrival at the Berkeley Plantation, December 4, 1619,
was to be set aside each year as a day of thanks to God. This Provision was part of their charter.
Still, it is the Pilgrims we associate with Thanksgiving. They held their first Thanksgiving Day because they wanted
to celebrate God's blessing for a good harvest; they also wished to thank the Indians for helping them survive.
It had been a difficult year since the Pilgrims, originally headed for Virginia, had landed at Plymouth in 1620. The
place where they finally settled was silent, empty of the tribe that had once inhabited the land.
Expecting to live much further south, the Pilgrims were unprepared for the harsh New England winter. That first winter
half of the intrepid settlers died, leaving the remaining band vulnerable to Indian attack and despair.
If the weather had come as a shock, they had another in store. The next spring, in 1621, they were concerned when an
Indian sauntered into their encampment end spoke to them in English. This was Samoset, a native of Pemaquid Point far to the
north, who had learned some English from the frequent fishing expeditions to the northern coast. Samoset, in turn, introduced
the Pilgrims to Squanto, a native of the extinct Patuxet tribe on whose land the Pilgrims had landed. Squanto spoke English
because he had once lived in England. From the Indians, the Pilgrims learned that the place where they had landed had once
belonged to Squanto's people who had died of a plague while Squanto was across the ocean.
After helping to negotiate a treaty with the great chief Massasoit (which lasted for almost 50 rears), Squanto stayed
with the Pilgrims teaching them how to hunt and to fish and to grow corn in the new country.
The Pilgrims were grateful for his assistance and his loyalty. William Bradford, governor of the colony, wrote of Squanto,
"He was a special instrument sent by God." In fact, without Squanto's able assistance the Pilgrims may not have survived at
all.
But, the Pilgrims did survive. In their gratitude they held the Thanksgiving celebration we remember today.
As years passed the custom of observing a day of thanksgiving spread to the other colonies. In 1789 President George
Washington named November 26th a day of national thanksgiving to God.
Other than that special proclamation, Thanksgiving celebrations were left to the discretion of the individual states.
Some observed a day of thanksgiving, others did not.
It was a woman, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and editor of the magazine "Godey's Lady's
Book," who proposed the idea that the country as a whole needed to set aside one day each year for giving thanks. For years
Sarah Hale tirelessly promoted a national day of thanksgiving and prayer.
In 1863, President Lincoln made the day official. He set Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November as "a day
of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."
Thanksgiving was celebrated at this time for the next 75 years. In 1939 President Roosevelt set it back one week in
order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. Finally, in 1941, Congress fixed Thanksgiving as a legal holiday to be celebrated
the fourth Thursday in November.
Since then, Thanksgiving Day has become a yearly traditional time not only for feasting, but also a time for families
to share this special time together.
As at the first thanksgiving, we too can
look back at the past year and be thankful for the blessing of freedom we still enjoy... almost 400 years after the pilgrims
landed.
The first Thanksgiving feast was about
gratitude to God for His protection and provision, as well as gratitude to the Indians for helping them survive. Thanksgiving
has always been about gratitude along with family and food. Thanksgiving Day is not, has never been and will never be “Turkey
Day.” This expression does away with the very foundations of the celebration.
In fact, the whole move to sever God from
public life and institutions is a slap in the face to those who came to America looking for a place to practice their faith
not only in the privacy of their homes, but also in every day life, including public service and in education.
Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea we
can separate faith from the rest of our lives as though body and soul can be surgically cut asunder. Maybe it is this dichotomy
which has caused so many to say one thing, but behave in a completely different manner. Public educators often advance this
concept, partly due to fear of reprisal from such as the ACLU. Unfortunately, this policy creates an environment of fear instead
of the confidence we wish to instill in our young people. Students may hesitate to express deeply held religious, especially
Christian, beliefs out of fear that a teacher may publicly humiliate them, and adults fear facing a lawsuit if they express
their faith in public.
But aside from tearing us in half as people
and instilling fear, there is something only Thanksgiving brings out and that is an attitude of gratitude. Our forefathers
fell on their knees when they landed on shore after weeks of being tossed about on the ocean and packed into stinking ship
holds like sardines with little air, food or privacy. They held an attitude of gratitude in the midst of horrendous circumstances,
because they looked forward to living and worshiping freely.
When we take God out of the equation, we
trash the fundamental reason for the celebration. It becomes another attempt to separate body and soul, leaving the holiday
but an empty ritual of self-indulgence. Thanksgiving Day isn’t about us. It isn’t about gorging our bodies. Thanksgiving
Day was instituted to turn our attention away from ourselves as we consider the blessings we have in our country, our families,
and in so many other ways.
Once more we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving
Day, but how many really gave thanks? How many counted their blessings instead of their complaints? As we head into the Christmas
season, let’s not make the same mistake. Let’s not strip away the very reason for the season. Let’s instead
go into the holidays with grateful, giving hearts.
Recently an elderly friend called to ask
if I’d received an invitation to a joint replacement seminar on the college campus. I said I hadn’t with some
amusement since the only reason I still walk, other than by God’s grace, is because of multiple joint replacements and
replacement of replacements from the waist down.
The sweet woman explained the question
by saying she’d had a replacement herself in January, that she no longer drove and was looking for a ride to the seminar.
The call came on a Sunday not long after returning home from a church picnic to celebrate the acquisition of a new church
location, and I was tired. Though I don’t drive, she knew that if I went, my husband Keith would drive me. However,
I told her, maybe Keith would take her.
At that point I handed over the phone.
Yes, Keith assured her, he’d be glad to take her. No, he wouldn’t think of taking payment for doing so. Why? Because
of all she’d done for him in the past and for “just because.” Years earlier, this dear woman and her husband
opened their home to college students always looking for food and a place to “hang out.” Now that she was alone,
Keith wanted to help her out.
After a conversation, Keith hung up. “Well,”
I asked, “Are you going?”
He shook his head. The woman decided that
if I wasn’t going, if she couldn’t pay Keith for his time and if he was doing it just for her, she wouldn’t
go.
The decision saddened me, because I understood
the attitude. How many times have I exhibited the same independence because I didn’t want to burden someone? In that
moment I realized something else, I realized that both the friend and Keith lost out.
The friend didn’t get to attend a
seminar that might have given her pertinent information and encouragement, and Keith didn’t receive the satisfaction,
the blessing, of helping someone in need.
When we refuse to allow others to help
us, we short circuit the human need to be needed and keep others from the satisfaction that comes from reaching out. Remember
all the news reports after a major disaster. Recall not only the gratitude on the faces of those who received assistance,
but also the joy on the faces of those who knew they made a difference in someone else’s life just by lending a helping
hand.
I’m sorry our friend turned
Keith’s help down. I also want to be more aware of what I may cost someone when I refuse to let them “help,”
whether that offer comes from a toddler who needs to feel needed or from someone older whose assistance I could really use.
Maybe next time someone asks if I could use some help, I’ll remember to extend a blessing to us both by being honest
and saying, “Yes, thank you” instead of “No, I can do it myself.”
Too many people,
even in leadership positions, claim the United States of America was
not founded on Judeo-Christian principles and foundations and seek to
remove all mention of God from public expression. These people give
all sorts of explanations, glossing over something very important.
They ignore the words of those who've gone before us, words from the
founding fathers, Supreme Court justices and rulings, congress and
academia. Who today knows that most of the original institutions of
higher learning such as Harvard and Yale were created because people
of faith believed in education and that the many colleges, like
these, were founded for the training of pastors.
The 1636 Student
Guidelines from Harvard included this. “Let every student be
plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main
end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is
eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as
the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.”
Patrick Henry
said, “An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is
left us!...we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God
who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up
friends to fight our battles for us.” This was an important part of
his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech.
Jedediah Morse,
sometimes called the “The Father of American Geography,” said,
“To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of
civil freedom, and political and social happiness, which mankind now
enjoys...Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown,
our present repubican forms of government—and all blessings which
flow from them—shall fall with them.
Benjamin
Franklin, not known for a deep spiritual walk, said, “”We've been
assured in the sacred writings that unless the Lord builds the house,
they labor in vain who build it. ...I also believe that without His
concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better
than the builders of Babel.”
First Justice of
the Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote, “It is the duty, as well as the
privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer
Christians for their rulers.” Sounds pretty clear to me.
In an 1892
decision, the Supreme Court, unanimously, found, “There is no
dissonance in these declarations...this is a Christian nation.” An
1844 case encouraged the use of Bibles in schools, “Why may not the
Bible...be read and taught as divine revelation...?”
In 1854, the
House Judiciary Committee wrote, “At the time of the adoption of
the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that
Christianity should be encouraged...there can be no substitute for
Christianity...the religion of the founders of the republic and they
expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.”
We were founded
on Christian principles.
When It Counts, Do I Abandon Jesus?
(c) 2010 Carolyn R Scheidies
Mark 14:29-30 GW Peter said to him, "Even if everyone else abandons you,
I won't." Jesus said to Peter, "I can guarantee this truth: Tonight, before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times
that you don't know me."
It is easy to look down on Peter, horrified that He could make such a
profession of faith, then turn around and deny Jesus. But what about us?
How many commitments have we made to Jesus during times of worship or
conviction that we promptly forgot or refused to honor? Do your friends or co-workers know you are a Christian--and not just
in name? Do you say no when enticed with porn, lustful or derrogatory jokes/comments? Do you share the good news of healing
and hope with those in need? Or, like Peter, when it counts, you pretend you don't know Jesus?
Maybe we aren't so different from Peter. Peter repented and became a
force for spreading the Good News. What will you do with your commitment to Christ? What will I?
Am I A Gossip?
Proverbs 20:19 GW Whoever goes around as a gossip tells secrets. Do not associate with a person whose mouth is always
open.
Do I listen to gossip, including the gossip that passes as "news?" Do
I read gossip magazines and fill my mind with innuendos and rumor? Do I pass on those juicy tidbits of untruth, twisted truth
and often just plain lies, whether propaganda by the media, official, co-worker, or friend?
Am I a gossip?
Sin has consequences far beyond what we can possibly imagine. Gossip
hurts people.
Do I keep my mind out of the gossip gutter and on Christ, truth and His
love? Gossip is not love.
Help me, Jesus, guard my eyes, my ears...and my mouth. Amen.
Zachariah 10:2 GW The idols speak lies. The fortunetellers see false
visions. They speak about false dreams. They give useless comfort. That is why people wander around like sheep. They are troubled
because there is no shepherd.
Too many so-called Shepherds, no longer preach a salvation message of
sin and the need for a sacrificial Savior. They preach about man's potential for goodness and "Can't we all just get along?"
Many talk of self-actualization and finding god within to reach full potential.
But We can't because, without Christ, our efforts are doomed to failure.
He is love. He changes us from selfish, self-seeking creatures to ministers of compassion and grace.
No medium, mumble-jumbo, magic, secret or medium can give us hope or
satisfaction. No religion will change our hearts toward good.
Too often we seek those who tell us what we want to hear, instead of
seeking the only one who offers life, and hope--Jesus Christ. The only stipulation? Give up self and let Him be the One in
the driver's seat.
Sample of what you'll find on the blog. Short daily devotionals.
II Chronicles 24:2 GW Joash did what the LORD considered right, as
long as the priest Jehoiada lived.
The faith and character of our friends are so important. We become what
we fill our lives with. If our closest companions are not good, Godly, or faithful, it becomes more and more difficult for
us to be good, Godly, and faithful. We need be sure to choose our friends wisely and be careful to judge any advice against
God's principles not prevailing attitudes.
Even more important are the companions we allow our children.
V. 17-18, 22 After he died, the officials of Judah bowed in front
of the king with their faces touching the ground. Then the king listened to their advice. They abandoned the temple of the
LORD God of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought
God's anger upon Judah ...King Joash did not remember how kind Zechariah's father, Jehoiada, had been to him. Instead, he
killed Jehoiada's son.
I Corinthians 15:33 ASV Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt
good morals.
Do my closest friends lead me to or away from Jesus?
********************
CFL Light Bulbs: Hype and Hazard? The ads we saw hooked us with statements of energy and money savings along with
the promise that they lasted years, not months and would therefore not need changing all that often. But there is much more
to the story of CFLs. http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/227056/cfl_light_bulbs_hype_and_hazard.html
Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the
Father except through me. John 14:6 GW
This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate
on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make
your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely. Joshua 1:8 MKJV
Jesus doesn't speak truth, He is the embodiment of truth His Word is also truth.
Scripture doesn't contain truth, it is truth. “Sanctify them through Your truth . Your Word is truth.” John
17:17 MKJV
But to receive that truth we need to be in tune with Jesus, not trying to prove
our beliefs through the Bible, but allowing God to speak to us through His Word. 2 Timothy 2:15 MKJV “Study earnestly
to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”
That makes all the difference. The only way we can know God's Word is through intensive,
systematic and continual study.
Millennium of persons have testified to the redemptive power of Jesus and His Word
to change lives. However we try to subvert His Word, God is God, who makes sure His Word is truth.
If He can't, He isn't all powerful. If He won't, He is deceptive, neither good
or righteous, which makes Him a liar and not worth our time or worship.
Jesus can't simply be a good man, because He claimed to be God.
Jesus is either a con artist and liar, or exactly whom He said He was. If He is
God we need to get to know Him. The way is through prayer (communicating with God) and through His revealed Word. Reading
the Bible through cover to cover is a start.
It was in the mid-sixties. Our family was
in turmoil. I was in pain and desperate for answers—and relief. My pastor father said God was there, that God cared,
but where was He when I contracted an extremely severe case of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis just before my thirteenth birthday?
I’d always been the healthiest member
of the family. My younger brother and older sister contracted all the usual childhood illnesses. I got nothing. I was seldom
sick, even when I crawled into bed with my sister who had measles. Scared Mom, but didn’t faze me. I wasn’t just
healthy, I was strong, athletic, loved the outdoors and wanted to become a jockey--before women were allowed in that position.
Things changed as I reached adolescence.
My body betrayed me. In mere months, I went from walking and running to sitting in a wheelchair I could not even wheel myself.
My legs contracted and refused to straighten, despite therapy. My fingers curled. Pain confiscated my days and danced in my
nightmares.
My parents argued constantly about treatment.
The elders of the church prayed. My parents wept as they bombarded Heaven for my release from the agonizing pain that gripped
my weakened body.
Food turned my stomach. Weight dropped
off until I avoided the skeleton in the mirror. Family, friends, strangers prayed. Thoughts of suicide poked their way into
my mind. A way out, perhaps. Except my parents had laid too good of a foundation. I knew God was real. I knew He’d died
for me, rose for me. Knew, despite the horror of my present situation, He had a plan and a purpose for my life.
Still, fear twisted my insides. Would things
ever change? Would I be forever locked in this struggle where even the simplest of movements brought excruciating agony? Medication
helped only a bit. “Where are you, God?” I’d cry. “Help me.”
I sensed the deep pain in my father when
he announced he planned to drive me to Texas,
15 hours away, where a revival conference was taking place. He’d run out of ideas, run out of solutions, and run out
of anything but laying his daughter’s needs before the Lord.
Bundling me up, he laid me gently into
the back seat and made sure I was as comfortable as possible. From the car window I watch the sun rise in the sky and the
air grow warm as we traveled south. At times we talked, at times I slept, at times I prayed. I sensed prayer was never far
from my father’s heart.
Traveling was a strain on me, and made
me stiff and even more sore if I didn’t get relief at regular intervals. Every couple of hours we stopped. Dad hauled
out the heavy wheelchair and lifted me into it. We’d enter some restaurant for a quick snack or meal and move on.
About 4
pm Dad found an inexpensive motel and checked us in for the night. As a pastor’s family, we didn’t
have an over abundance of money and the trip was a hit on the family pocketbook. Still, as Dad told me, he felt this is what
God wanted him to do.
The next day we entered the city and found
a motel that Dad booked for the week of the revival conference. Day after day we sat in the auditorium listening to preachers
preach the word, and watching others go forward and many get healed.
At night I went to bed exhausted and still
hurting. As the week drew to a close, I sensed Dad’s frustration and impatience. I saw him waylay one of the ministers
who had no answers for him.
The final night, Dad took me down front
for healing. Fear and hope and embarrassment swirled inside as I waited my turn with the rather flamboyant man who ministered
that night. I’d seen him around all week, but had no idea he’d taken note of me, not until Dad pushed my wheelchair
in front of him.
He searched my face. “I’ve
been praying for you all week,” he said. A chill zipped up my spine. Would this be my moment, the moment I showed everyone
I didn’t need doctors or medicine?
I bowed my head when he placed a cool hand
on my forehead and began to pray. I have no idea what he said. The auditorium, the preacher, everything faded away as something
began to happen. I felt, almost saw, a huge key entering a lock and suddenly a thousand doors, one after the other sprang
open. The prisoner was set free. I felt it, felt something change inside. For the first time in years my pain was gone!
I told the preacher, “It’s
gone. The pain is gone.” He tried to have me stand, but my limbs hadn’t changed. My fingers remained knurled,
my knees permanently bent, but inside I was free. I left smiling.
I sensed Dad was bitterly disappointed.
He wanted his little girl to be whole. Back at the motel, I got ready and slipped into bed. My father, never a big proponent
of pills, tried to get me to take my pain medication. I shook my head. “Dad, I really don’t need them.”
I saw the struggle on his face, but he
let it go. The next morning we headed home. Much to Dad’s amazement, not only did I sit up most of the way home, but
also did so well we did the whole trip in one long drive. We didn’t need to stop every couple of hours or overnight.
I didn’t need to be hopped up on painkillers just to ride in the car.
We left home praying for healing. My family
never realized I needed healing inside much more than outside. Not only had the pain disappeared, but my attitude had undergone
an adjustment. I realized I’d wanted healing to show people, especially my doctors. I hated being poked and prodded.
I was scared and hated not being in control.
What I was coming to understand was that
God’s ways are not our ways and that out of fear and chaos, He brings hope and healing—in His way, in His time.
For the first time I felt a sense of peace about my situation. For the first time I was finally ready to release my fears
to God.
With the pain gone, I was able to begin
living again. Though it was a struggle, I found ways to gain more independence. Many years later, after I graduated from college,
I entered the hospital for six weeks of joint replacements and reconstructive surgery. It took a year, but I relearned how
to walk. In that year, I found my soul mate Keith.
A year after my surgery, I walked down
the aisle without my wheelchair, without braces or crutches to stand before my misty-eyed father as he pronounced Keith and
I man and wife. When we turned to walk back down that aisle, I saw my orthopedic surgeon sitting on the bench at the back
with a big smile and I understood. … all things work together for good to
them that love God,.. Romans 8:28a
God was there. He did care and He was in
control all the time. I learned that He is worthy of all my gratitude. I thank Him with all my heart that He never gave up
on me, never let me go, and is still working on helping me be all I can be in Him.
Many believe Jesus is a good man,
but not God. Yet, we have three options. Either he was a liar, a lunatic or, exactly what he claimed, Lord. A good man would
not try to deceive people by saying, “"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NIV That would make him a liar.
He could have been a lunatic, except his message was simple and clear. He said he had the answer to people’s
need for acceptance, forgiveness and hope. He died for his belief. If he deceived himself as well as others, he was tragic,
but certainly not worthy of our admiration.
If he was neither a lunatic nor a liar, we have one choice. Jesus was who he said he was, God. We’ve all done
those things for which we’re ashamed and for which we deserve punishment. Because he had done no wrong, Jesus was able
to do what no one else could do, take on himself the punishment we deserve for the wrongs we’ve done. He died for our
wrongs, but more, he rose again, conquering death and hell and sin. Because he lives Jesus can offer us hope. All we need
do is to recognize we can’t make it on our own and accept his offer of forgiveness, a new start, a new life with Christ
as our friend, our savior, our guide.
Jesus said it best. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew
11:28-29
Proverbs 20:19 GW Whoever goes around as a gossip tells secrets. Do not associate with a person whose mouth is always
open. 