Real Thanksgiving!

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (Psalm 143:8 NIV)

Yes, it's the absolute best holiday of the year TODAY - It's Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving is the ugly stepsister to Christmas. I don't have anything against Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of my savior. But, secularists have taken over Christmas and it is hard to see the real meaning through the presents, the lights, the glitter, and the economic impact. Thanksgiving is the purest holiday. 

Thanksgiving is centered around the important things in life. This holiday has its roots in God and family. There is nothing better than sitting down with the family and celebrating the joys of the blessings God has provided. When you have a wonderful relationship with God it is amazing how you become aware of his many gifts. This year is no exception. Our latest blessing is the addition of a new grandson. My oldest daughter is adopting a young 10 year old boy. We are so excited about him joining our family. When you add him to all the other grandkids, you can't help but shout for joy. God has blessed all my daughters in wonderful ways. We all have our health and our lives are filled with love. 

My prayer for today is that we, as a family, will continue to serve God. I pray we will honor all the many blessings we have received by sharing the love of Christ within our own little worlds. I praise God for his grace and the joy of his salvation. I praise him for the answers to prayer and the amazing love he shares everyday. I love my life and love to get up every day to serve him. Thank you Lord and Happy Thansgiving to everyone!

Family Feud

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

The holidays are anxious times for many people, not me. Our church is starting a new sermon series about family conflict. I have seen family conflict through my students, family, and friends. I know some family holidays look more like "Family Feud" than "Leave it it Beaver". I am so blessed to have a great family and I can not wait to get to spend time with them on Thanksgiving and every other day of the year. In fact, I long for retirement, not because I hate what I'm doing, but because I would love to spend more time with my family. I know some people who can't stand to be with their families and this time of year just brings strife. 

I have a small message to those people who don't have the families they would hope for. Pray. My most consistent prayers are for my family. I don't pray they will change, or that they will get along. I don't pray about specific strife issues. I pray they will grow closer to Jesus. I pray that people will come into their lives to build their faith in Jesus. I pray they will be protected from evil and they will flee from it. I pray their hearts will be touched by the Holy Spirit and led in his direction, not their own. I pray they will love each other and serve each other out of that love. 

Pray for your family. You will be amazed what God will do with those prayers. If you don't feel you have the relationship with God that you can ask him those things, you need to change that relationship right now. Your Father in Heaven wants you to be close to him, to love him and he longs to share in your life. 

Praise God he has provided me with a family who loves him and loves each other!

WARNING: I'm about to RANT!

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 NIV)

My family knows my favorite holiday of the year is THANKSGIVING . This year I am ticked! More and more stores are extending "Black Friday" to Thanksgiving  Day. I think of Thanksgiving as a holiday with pure motives. The holiday is designed for family. It is designed for a family looking back on the past year and giving thanks. It's not about giving gifts, or getting stuff. It's not about shopping, sales, or bargains. Now that seems to be changing and it's sad. I don't want Thanksgiving to be known as the kick off for shopping craziness. The motive for the change is pure greed! Companies trying to profit and not caring about family. 

We are a blessed nation. Is it too much to ask that we take one day each year to reflect on those blessings? Is it too much to ask we set aside 24 hours devoted to fellowship with our loved ones? Will there be more money to spend by adding another 12 hours to the mall hours? I can't believe people are so heartless they need to ignore this sacred time. We really need to get our priorities straight. Be thankful for our lives. Be thankful for our families. Be thankful for the love of the creator of the universe. Be thankful for the cross where Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins.  Praise God for Thanksgiving Day!

Thank You for you!

1 Thessalonians 1

 ² We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. ³ We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.


I'm not sure people realize the value of positive words of encouragement. It really doesn't matter if they come from family, friends, coworkers, bosses, or strangers. Everyone appreciates when someone talks well about them. Today is Thanksgiving Day. It's a great time to tell PEOPLE how much you appreciate them. There are no rules here except to be sincere. It always helps to be as specific as you can. There's nothing wrong with saying you appreciate someone, but what about them do you appreciate? It costs you nothing but it is valued more than any gift purchased on Black Friday.


 I am Thankful for my family. Specifically, I am so thankful they all Love the Lord and have made worshipping him a big part of their family. I am so thankful God has blessed me with a wonderful wife for 33 years. She is the greatest blessing I have ever received from God. Like all of my blessings, I don't deserve her and thank God every day for her love.


I am Thankful for YOU. You help motivate me to stay in God's word. YOU help me to meditate and consider what God is saying to me. This Blog is a place where God speaks to me. I pray those of you who read these posts are also open to the voice of God. Thank YOU!


Dear Lord, I am thankful for my family every day, not just on Thanksgiving. Thank you for giving them a faith they put in action every day. Thank You for the Love they share and the hope they live in winning others to your kingdom. Thank You for speaking to me through your word. Thank you for the Spirit which guides my life. You are an amazing and wonderful God. You are creator and savior for all mankind. Thank you for your grace and promises for eternity!
Thank you Lord! Amen!

We gather together!

salm 106:47 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁴⁷ Save us, LORD our God,

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

I love the pledge of allegiance. I know some Christians don't like it because they only pledge their allegiance to Christ. Well, I'm not going to debate it, my life belongs to my savior. But he has blessed me to live in this great country and I pledge myself to everything it stands for. "One Nation under God"

Tomorrow we gather together as friends, family, and servants of the King. A lot of families can't stand to be together. Even though they grew up together, they have grown apart. But, for the most part, we can put aside our differences for one day and just enjoy being with each other. Thanksgiving does that for me. I just want to be with family. God wants us to do the same thing. He doesn't just want us to gather together as a family. God has a bigger plan than just "One Nation". He wants us ALL to be united. I'm not talking about One Nation worldwide. I'm talking about God being worshipped in every nation. I'm talking about All of us worshipping the God of the universe while maintaining the great diversity that makes us all unique. In order for that to happen, God has to save us. In order for us to be saved we need to ask and accept his rescue. We concentrate so much on what makes us different. Maybe if families across America can put aside their differences to gather on Thanksgiving, we can put aside our differences as Republicans and Democrats, or Christians and Muslims, or Communist Nations and Democratic Nations.

Tomorrow when you sit down and are about to pray before your Thanksgiving feast, pray that we can have peace between nations or that we can have peace within those nations. Pray that we can come together to worship the one God, the God of the universe, the God who sacrificed his son to save us. God wants to gather us from every nation into his kingdom. So should we!

Happy X-giving!

Psalm 107 (New International Version)

 ¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever........

 ¹⁰ Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
   prisoners suffering in iron chains, ¹¹ because they rebelled against God’s commands
   and despised the plans of the Most High. ¹² So he subjected them to bitter labor;
   they stumbled, and there was no one to help. ¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he saved them from their distress. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
   and broke away their chains. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
   and his wonderful deeds for mankind, ¹⁶ for he breaks down gates of bronze
   and cuts through bars of iron.

This is Thanksgiving week. I love Thanksgiving. It is the best holiday of the year. I know Christmas gets all the press. It has been over run by the secular world to such an extent it's hard to recognize it. Easter is wonderful and holds such a wonderful place in the heart of all Christians. But, it too has been over run by secular society. Of course, WE all know the true purpose and regardless of how precious the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, we know the reason for the season. 
But, Thanksgiving. There's no name issues. Have you ever heard anyone say "Happy X-giving" This great holiday doesn't get lost in how much we spend or trying to decide the perfect gift. We don't have to fight battles over innocent manger scenes, or try to explain the significance of an egg as a christian symbol.


Thanksgiving is...........well........... about being Thankful! 


We can list so many things to be thankful for. As Christians we should be so overwhelmed with thankfulness that we could never list them all. God should be the center of all our Thankfulness. God loves us so much that even when we cause our own suffering, he is there to rescue us. These verses say it all. We have put ourselves in a prison because of rebelling against God and fighting his plans for us. We try as hard as we can to take God out of everything we do. We try to take God out of Christmas. We try to take God out of Easter. We try to take God out of our daily lives. Finally, when we get tired of the suffering, we fall back to him for help. How many times have I done that? Too many to count. Yet, our amazing God, loves us. His love ENDURES forever. Why use the word ENDURE? It endures because we do everything we can to fight against that love. We go from one selfish act to another. God just keeps on loving! 


I am so thankful for a God who loves me even when I don't show him that same love. I am so thankful for a God who loves me so much that he sacrificed his only son to rescue me from my own sin. I am Thankful for a God who has blessed me so abundantly I am embarrassed by it. Thank You Lord! I will be thankful, always!