And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" Luke 17:15-17 NKJV
Jesus had cleansed ten hopelessly afflicted lepers. Nine went out rejoicing in their blessing and one came back to thank Jesus.
That ratio is pretty accurate for too many people.
A day of thanksgiving was established in 1621 by Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony. It was a day set aside for thanksgiving to God for His blessings on the people. The people of that day must have approved of his action for he was re-elected 30 times.
It was declared a National Holiday (for the same reason) in1863 by President Lincoln.
This is Thanksgiving Day again and many will be enjoying their blessings but neglect to thank the Giver of blessings.
We still celebrate the day but now, many have yielded, once again, to the "loud voices" (Luke 23:23) of a, (the Name offends me) minority and the day is celebrated but the reason will not be mentioned. Like Christmas and Easter the day will be celebrated but, the One who is the reason for the celebration will be ignored. The blessings will be accepted but the provider will not be acknowledged.
An aggravation, to me, is to hear people say, "Have a happy turkey day!" It is a special day for giving thanks to "Ye Almighty God" not "turkey day." Hearing someone call Thanksgiving turkey day affects me somewhat like hearing someone scrape their fingernail across the blackboard. But like the nine lepers, much of the world will accept God's blessings but give God no credit or thanks.
As someone once said, "We walk to a different drumbeat!" The Psalmist had it right. Ps. 100:4 "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."
The Pilgrims enjoyed a meal together in thanksgiving to God for the provisions and I suppose it is likely that they cooked a turkey, but the reason they braved the voyage across the Atlantic in those tiny sailing ships, to an unknown land was for the privilege and the blessing to worship God openly.
Not everyone in today's world can worship God openly and we who can should never cease to thank God for the privilege.
(Pastor Bill Cummings' Thoughts, Sheridan, WY, Nov.24,2011, drbc@bresnan.net)
Monday, November 19, 2012
Why Thanksgiving Matters
The holiday police are at it again - looking for violations of the nation's new policy of separating faith and civic celebrations. The same folks who will soon be trolling courthouse squares looking for manger scenes are now calling on Americans to have a happy Thanksgiving....but leave God out of it.
School texbooks filled with revisionist history tell children that the first Thanksgiving was a celebration at which the Pilgrims thanked the Indians for teaching them how to survive the harsh New England climate and plant successful crops. God is simply not part of the picture.
Some educators, worried that even the word "thanksgiving" might be too controversial, have renamed the holiday "Turkey Day." Of course, this implies that the central thrust of the celebration comes down to poultry.
The revisionist historians want to have it both ways. They present the Pilgrims as wild-eyed religious fanatics - precursors to the Religious Right - and then suggest that the first Thanksgiving was essentially a secular holiday.
The historical basis for the Thanksgiving observance is clear. In 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated "the goodness of God" as they feasted with friendly local Indians. In reality, the Pilgrims had faced far greater adversity than had been expected. The climate was harsh, the crops were sparse, the native peoples were often hostile, and their ranks were thinning. Hunger, disease, discomfort and discouragement were ever close at hand.
Aiming forVirginia, these Christians - dissenting from the Church of England and determined to establish a truly Christian community - actually landed in New England. That miscalculation meant that disaster was almost certain. Nevertheless, they "fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over this vast and furious ocean," recorded Governor William Bradford.
In 1789, President George Washington declared the first national day of Thanksgiving by asking Americans to "unite in most humbly offering our prayer and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations."
Later presidents followed Washington's example. Abraham Lincoln issued moving Thanksgiving proclamations during the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt, who regularized the holiday on the national calendar, called the nation to thankfulness in the middle of World War II: "The Almighty God has blessed our nation in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth....So we pray to Him now for a vision to see our way clearly - to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for our fellow men - to the achievement of His will, to peace on earth."
Is all this just a demonstration of civil religion? Do most Americans really follow the example of the Pilgrims in expressing thankfulness to God, or is it just another holiday with emotional overtones - and an orgy of overeating?
Millions of Americans will, no doubt, celebrate an essentially secular festival. For them, it might as well be "Turkey Day" or something equally vacuous. This reveals the most important contrast between the Pilgrims and the current generation. The Pilgrims were driven by a worldview that was centered in the worship of the one true and living God, the Creator of the universe, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. They understood His providential rule over the universe to explain everything that happened to them - and everything that blessed them. They did not attribute their survival in New England to their own fortitutde - nor to the help of the Indians - but to God.
Secularized Americans are driven by no impulse to give thanks, and wouldn't know to whom thanks should be addressed. They think of themselves as self-sufficient, self-directed and self-reliant. Their horizon of thankfulness is, to say the least, rather low.
The civic holiday may not mean a great deal to many moderns - but that doesn't mean that it is meaningless. At the very least, it implies that we cannot really take care of ourselves. That is just as true today as it was in Pilgrim New England.
Christians understand that the call to thanksgiving is far more urgent than a holiday, and far more important than the calendar. True thanksgiving cannot be limited to a day or a season. We recognize that God has given us everything that we have - and everything that we need. We acknowledge our unconditional dependence upon Him for every second of our lives, every morsel we will eat and every joy we will ever experience.
Deserving nothing but God's wrath, we were granted forgiveness through the Son. Needing all things, we have been given everything needful for our salvation and eternal life. To these God has added joys, comforts, and provision behond our imagination - "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think." (Ephesians 3:20)
So, gather together to give thanks to God. While others celebrate "Turkey Day" and ponder poultry, direct your thoughts to the God of Heaven, by whose hand we have been brought near and given more than we can even remember.
The Pilgrims knew to whom they were praying - and why. Let's follow their example and remember that their dependence upon God was no greater than our own.
(R.Albert Mohler, Jr, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.)
www.albertmohler.com
School texbooks filled with revisionist history tell children that the first Thanksgiving was a celebration at which the Pilgrims thanked the Indians for teaching them how to survive the harsh New England climate and plant successful crops. God is simply not part of the picture.
Some educators, worried that even the word "thanksgiving" might be too controversial, have renamed the holiday "Turkey Day." Of course, this implies that the central thrust of the celebration comes down to poultry.
The revisionist historians want to have it both ways. They present the Pilgrims as wild-eyed religious fanatics - precursors to the Religious Right - and then suggest that the first Thanksgiving was essentially a secular holiday.
The historical basis for the Thanksgiving observance is clear. In 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated "the goodness of God" as they feasted with friendly local Indians. In reality, the Pilgrims had faced far greater adversity than had been expected. The climate was harsh, the crops were sparse, the native peoples were often hostile, and their ranks were thinning. Hunger, disease, discomfort and discouragement were ever close at hand.
Aiming forVirginia, these Christians - dissenting from the Church of England and determined to establish a truly Christian community - actually landed in New England. That miscalculation meant that disaster was almost certain. Nevertheless, they "fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over this vast and furious ocean," recorded Governor William Bradford.
In 1789, President George Washington declared the first national day of Thanksgiving by asking Americans to "unite in most humbly offering our prayer and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations."
Later presidents followed Washington's example. Abraham Lincoln issued moving Thanksgiving proclamations during the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt, who regularized the holiday on the national calendar, called the nation to thankfulness in the middle of World War II: "The Almighty God has blessed our nation in many ways. He has given our people stout hearts and strong arms with which to strike mighty blows for freedom and truth....So we pray to Him now for a vision to see our way clearly - to see the way that leads to a better life for ourselves and for our fellow men - to the achievement of His will, to peace on earth."
Is all this just a demonstration of civil religion? Do most Americans really follow the example of the Pilgrims in expressing thankfulness to God, or is it just another holiday with emotional overtones - and an orgy of overeating?
Millions of Americans will, no doubt, celebrate an essentially secular festival. For them, it might as well be "Turkey Day" or something equally vacuous. This reveals the most important contrast between the Pilgrims and the current generation. The Pilgrims were driven by a worldview that was centered in the worship of the one true and living God, the Creator of the universe, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. They understood His providential rule over the universe to explain everything that happened to them - and everything that blessed them. They did not attribute their survival in New England to their own fortitutde - nor to the help of the Indians - but to God.
Secularized Americans are driven by no impulse to give thanks, and wouldn't know to whom thanks should be addressed. They think of themselves as self-sufficient, self-directed and self-reliant. Their horizon of thankfulness is, to say the least, rather low.
The civic holiday may not mean a great deal to many moderns - but that doesn't mean that it is meaningless. At the very least, it implies that we cannot really take care of ourselves. That is just as true today as it was in Pilgrim New England.
Christians understand that the call to thanksgiving is far more urgent than a holiday, and far more important than the calendar. True thanksgiving cannot be limited to a day or a season. We recognize that God has given us everything that we have - and everything that we need. We acknowledge our unconditional dependence upon Him for every second of our lives, every morsel we will eat and every joy we will ever experience.
Deserving nothing but God's wrath, we were granted forgiveness through the Son. Needing all things, we have been given everything needful for our salvation and eternal life. To these God has added joys, comforts, and provision behond our imagination - "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think." (Ephesians 3:20)
So, gather together to give thanks to God. While others celebrate "Turkey Day" and ponder poultry, direct your thoughts to the God of Heaven, by whose hand we have been brought near and given more than we can even remember.
The Pilgrims knew to whom they were praying - and why. Let's follow their example and remember that their dependence upon God was no greater than our own.
(R.Albert Mohler, Jr, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.)
www.albertmohler.com
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
First National Thanksgiving Proclamation
November 1, 1777
FORASMUCH AS it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased Him in His abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of His common Providence....
IT IS THEREFORE recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise;
THAT with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favour,and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance;
THAT it may please Him graciously to afford His blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them,with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human blessings, independence and peace;
THAT it may please Him, to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people, and the labour of the husbandman, that our land may yet yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty,virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth "in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."
AND IT IS further recommended, that servile labour, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.
(By order of CONGRESS, Henry Laurens, President, Continental Congress, November 1, 1777)
FORASMUCH AS it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased Him in His abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of His common Providence....
IT IS THEREFORE recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise;
THAT with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favour,and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance;
THAT it may please Him graciously to afford His blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them,with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human blessings, independence and peace;
THAT it may please Him, to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people, and the labour of the husbandman, that our land may yet yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty,virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth "in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."
AND IT IS further recommended, that servile labour, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.
(By order of CONGRESS, Henry Laurens, President, Continental Congress, November 1, 1777)
The First Winter
"Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our own nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise."
( William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation)
( William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation)
T is for TEACHER
There are "teachers" and Teachers. The former exist by the thousands; the latter are few and far between.
The term "teacher"is a self-proclaimed label while Teacher is a title bestowed by others. The Teacher is one who is in search of Truth and to whom, if he achieves enlightenment,others of us look for the Truth he perceives. The Teacher is a seeker, for that which he knows not; the "teacher" is a preacher attempting to insinuate into the minds of others that which he "knows."
We need only bear in mind that learning is a taking-from, not an injection-into, process. Each individual is in charge of his own doors of perception and admits only that which he chooses. Thus, to qualify as a Teacher, one must achieve those intellectual heights that will attract others seeking to advance.
The free market, private ownership, limited government way of life,with its moral and spiritual antecedents, would be featured by Teachers. As it is now, "teachers" abound in all walks of life; they retard rather than advance the freedom philosophy.
Let each of us try to be a Teacher for freedom's sake!
(Leonard E. Read, ABC's of Freedom)
The term "teacher"is a self-proclaimed label while Teacher is a title bestowed by others. The Teacher is one who is in search of Truth and to whom, if he achieves enlightenment,others of us look for the Truth he perceives. The Teacher is a seeker, for that which he knows not; the "teacher" is a preacher attempting to insinuate into the minds of others that which he "knows."
We need only bear in mind that learning is a taking-from, not an injection-into, process. Each individual is in charge of his own doors of perception and admits only that which he chooses. Thus, to qualify as a Teacher, one must achieve those intellectual heights that will attract others seeking to advance.
The free market, private ownership, limited government way of life,with its moral and spiritual antecedents, would be featured by Teachers. As it is now, "teachers" abound in all walks of life; they retard rather than advance the freedom philosophy.
Let each of us try to be a Teacher for freedom's sake!
(Leonard E. Read, ABC's of Freedom)
Friday, November 9, 2012
Of the Marks of the True Church, and Wherein She Differs from the False Church.
We believe that we ought diligently and circumspectly to discern from the Word of God which is the true Church, since all sects which are in the world asume to themselves the name of the Church.
But we speak here not of the company of hypocrites, who are mixed in the Church with the good, yet are not of the Church, though externally in it; but we say that the body and communion of the true Church must be distinguished from all sects who call themselves the Church.
The marks by which the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin; in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and JesusChrist acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man has a right to separate himself. With respect to those who are members of the Church, they may be known by the marks of Christians, namely, by faith; and when they have received Jesus Christ the only Saviour, they avoid sin, follow after righteousness, love the true God and their neighbor, neither turn aside to the right or left, and crucify the flesh with the works thereof. But this is not to be understood as if there did not remain in them great infirmities; but they fight against them through the Spirit all the days of their life, continually taking their refuge in the blood, death, passion, and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom they have remission of sins through faith in him.
As for the false Church, she ascribes more power and authority to herself and her ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not submit herself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does she administer the Sacraments, as appointed by Christ in his Word, but adds to and takes from them as she thinks proper; she relieth more upon men than upon Christ; and persecutes those who live holily according to the Word of God, and rebuke her for her errors, covetousness, and idolatry. These two Churches are easily known and distinguished from each other.
(Reformed Standards of Unity - The Confession of Faith, Article XXIX)
But we speak here not of the company of hypocrites, who are mixed in the Church with the good, yet are not of the Church, though externally in it; but we say that the body and communion of the true Church must be distinguished from all sects who call themselves the Church.
The marks by which the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin; in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and JesusChrist acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man has a right to separate himself. With respect to those who are members of the Church, they may be known by the marks of Christians, namely, by faith; and when they have received Jesus Christ the only Saviour, they avoid sin, follow after righteousness, love the true God and their neighbor, neither turn aside to the right or left, and crucify the flesh with the works thereof. But this is not to be understood as if there did not remain in them great infirmities; but they fight against them through the Spirit all the days of their life, continually taking their refuge in the blood, death, passion, and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom they have remission of sins through faith in him.
As for the false Church, she ascribes more power and authority to herself and her ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not submit herself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does she administer the Sacraments, as appointed by Christ in his Word, but adds to and takes from them as she thinks proper; she relieth more upon men than upon Christ; and persecutes those who live holily according to the Word of God, and rebuke her for her errors, covetousness, and idolatry. These two Churches are easily known and distinguished from each other.
(Reformed Standards of Unity - The Confession of Faith, Article XXIX)
Is Faith Reasonable?
Christians are often accused of having "blind faith." Is faith reasonable, and how are faith and reason related?
What is Reasonable Faith?
Biblical faith is not a blind faith but is, in fact, faith in evidence. First of all, the Bible is very clear that faith is based on truth. God's Word is Truth (John 17:17), and God cannot lie, or contradict this Truth (Titus 1:2). Thus, the whole Bible presupposes the validity of reason.
Reasonable Faith - What Are some Reasons for Faith?
The Bible also presents reasons for faith, or evidences supporting its truth-claims. For example, Paul sets forth a list of people who saw Jesus Christ after His resurrection to remind the Corinthians that the resurrection was a proven fact (1 Cor. 15:3-8). In the Old Testament the prophets and psalmists frequently pointed to the impotence of idols as evidence that the gods of the nations were, in fact, false gods. And throughout the Bible the fulfillment of prophecy is emphasized as proof of the true God's sovereign control over the universe.
Is Faith Reasonable? Whose standards?
To say that faith is reasonable is not, however, to assert that faith must submit to the dictates of fallen man's anti-Christian reasonings. When skeptics rule out the miraculous as impossible or as unthinkable, for example, they may be using their intellects but they are not being truly reasonable. Non-Christians naturally reason in sinful, unbelieving ways. In fact, a Christian is someone who has had their thinking transformed according to the power of God (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:17-24). And God often uses evidence and sound reasoning,through the witness of well-taught Christians,to break through the unbelieving mind-set of skeptics and turn their hearts and minds to the Truth.
Is Faith Reasonable? YES!
In short, faith is, indeed, reasonable and there is no conflict between faith and reason for Christians. But non-Christians will rationalize their unbelief until God's Holy Spirit, often working through sound apologetic arguments, opens their minds to see the Truth of the Gospel. Truly, the heart can only rejoice on what the mind comprehends. On faith and reason and whether the Christian faith is reasonable. That's the Christian Research Institute Perspective. I'm Hank Hanegraaff.
(Christian Research Institute, www.CRI.org)
What is Reasonable Faith?
Biblical faith is not a blind faith but is, in fact, faith in evidence. First of all, the Bible is very clear that faith is based on truth. God's Word is Truth (John 17:17), and God cannot lie, or contradict this Truth (Titus 1:2). Thus, the whole Bible presupposes the validity of reason.
Reasonable Faith - What Are some Reasons for Faith?
The Bible also presents reasons for faith, or evidences supporting its truth-claims. For example, Paul sets forth a list of people who saw Jesus Christ after His resurrection to remind the Corinthians that the resurrection was a proven fact (1 Cor. 15:3-8). In the Old Testament the prophets and psalmists frequently pointed to the impotence of idols as evidence that the gods of the nations were, in fact, false gods. And throughout the Bible the fulfillment of prophecy is emphasized as proof of the true God's sovereign control over the universe.
Is Faith Reasonable? Whose standards?
To say that faith is reasonable is not, however, to assert that faith must submit to the dictates of fallen man's anti-Christian reasonings. When skeptics rule out the miraculous as impossible or as unthinkable, for example, they may be using their intellects but they are not being truly reasonable. Non-Christians naturally reason in sinful, unbelieving ways. In fact, a Christian is someone who has had their thinking transformed according to the power of God (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:17-24). And God often uses evidence and sound reasoning,through the witness of well-taught Christians,to break through the unbelieving mind-set of skeptics and turn their hearts and minds to the Truth.
Is Faith Reasonable? YES!
In short, faith is, indeed, reasonable and there is no conflict between faith and reason for Christians. But non-Christians will rationalize their unbelief until God's Holy Spirit, often working through sound apologetic arguments, opens their minds to see the Truth of the Gospel. Truly, the heart can only rejoice on what the mind comprehends. On faith and reason and whether the Christian faith is reasonable. That's the Christian Research Institute Perspective. I'm Hank Hanegraaff.
(Christian Research Institute, www.CRI.org)
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