Thanksgiving

Like many of you with kids this time of year we get to see some interesting “craft projects” that come home from school. I’ve seen turkeys made from plastic spoons, paper plates and of course the one made from a tracing of a small child’s hand. At my sons school recently I saw artwork hanging in the halls with Pilgrims, Indians, baskets, tee pees and cabins. There were an abundant number of “horns o’ plenty”, numerous unknown masterpieces made of fall colored construction paper and of course, more turkeys than you could count. What was noticeably absent from any of the objet d’art was a cross? Interesting considering the ENTIRE reason the Pilgrims made their journey.  

Our society has become so concerned with offending, that anything relating to Christianity, one of the core and basic reason this Country was founded, has been quietly swept aside and covered in brown, orange and red construction paper. Interesting when current talk in education is the introduction of Islamic studies to fight the negative press this group receives. Our Country has become a place of tolerance and acceptance of everything except Christianity. At the Elementary School I attended the 10 Commandments were printed on the wall at the main entrance, wonder how many coats of paint cover them now?

If you are a parent please make sure your children know:

The Pilgrims left England seeking opportunity and religious freedom. In England they were forced to 

meet privately, and in hiding. Their primary reason for coming to America was to have the freedom to 

practice their Christian beliefs, openly and without censure or persecution.

          

The Pilgrim settlers in Massachusetts held the original thanksgiving celebration during their second 

winter in America in December 1621. The first winter had killed 44 of the original 102 colonists. At one 

point their daily food ration was down to five kernels of corn apiece, but then an unexpected trading 

vessel arrived, swapping them beaver pelts for corn, providing for their severe need. The next summer’s 

crop brought hope, and Governor William Bradford decreed that December 13, 1621, be set aside as a 

day of feasting and prayer to show the gratitude of the colonists that they were still alive.

Thanksgiving in America has historically been celebrated as a day to give thanks to God for His gracious 

and sufficient provision. President Abraham Lincoln officially set aside the last Thursday of November, 

in 1863, “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.” That quote, word for word is 

recorded in the Congressional minutes.          

In 1941, Congress ruled that after 1941, the fourth Thursday of November be observed as Thanksgiving 

Day and be a legal holiday.

Regardless of what children may learn in school, the Pilgrims came to American soil to have the right to express their religious beliefs freely and openly.

Giving thanks to the Lord is one of the basic tenants of Christianity and the Bible has stories and examples of this from Genesis to Revelations. And while the simple historical facts about Thanksgiving need to be shared with our children, it’s a good day to impart a few scriptures to them as well. I kind of like the following:

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – NLT




Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6 – NIV




I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.

1 Timothy 2:1 – NIV


 

As Christians we have so much to be thankful for, top that list with Jesus dying for our sin. We could sit back and complain about the current state of society but what good would it do? Like the Pilgrims we have a choice to make, wallow in circumstance or give thanks to the Lord? Today has become more about being festive and full as opposed to humble and thankful. My prayer today will be that the Lord finds us all, His grateful children.

Peace and grace,

Jeff

Sometimes the obvious is too obvious...

So I have a Saturday with no kids or work for the first time in what seems like forever.  I woke up at 7:45, looked at the clock, rolled over and fell back asleep.  Sweet! 10:15, I decide to get up, grab a book and head to Starbuck’s.  Perfect!  (OK just between us, the book was a Commentary on Philippians, further validation that my life is off the hook excitement!)  Great early fall day on the patio, drinking a fancy cup of something with a name I don’t recall, but a price tag I do; I decide the only thing that could make the day better – my Harley.

Nothing can beat a nice brisk day on the bike.  Suited up for the chill in the air I head out on the road with no destination, just a journey in mind.  I’m getting relaxed, feeling at one with the machine and starting to decompress.  Some of my best thinking has come on my bike and I can feel the juices start to bubble.  But about this time something doesn’t feel right?  A little hesitation and the bike backfires, I feel a loss of power and a little hesitation in the throttle.  I stop at a light and the motor dies.  I try and start it again but it won’t turn over.  On the side of the road I break out a small tool kit and spend the next 45 minutes going through the bike but can’t figure out what’s wrong.  Frustrated I call the local Harley Dealership and schedule a “pick up” to have my bike put on a trailer and taken to the shop.  About the time a friend is dropping me off at home, my cell phone rings.  It’s the guy from the Service Department, “Mr. Boyce, we found your problem.  You ran out of gas”. 

You can image how dumb I felt about now.  I had looked into every possible reason the bike had died except the obvious.  No gas.  Now before anyone starts to laugh too hard, grab a mirror.  Because you may not have run out of gas recently, but we’re all guilty of taking our problems everywhere else but the obvious at times.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

Psalm 34:19 KJV

No place in the Bible will you find a scripture to reference hardship ending once you turn your life over to Christ.  I can however point out many that mention the suffering and trials we will face.  The Bible tells us we will have problems and face hardships but God will provide us way through them.  Doesn’t it make sense to give Him the first shot?  Right about now I need to borrow that mirror I asked you get out because I don’t always do this either. 

We all will face difficulties in life but I’ve noticed is that some people seem to suffer a lot more than others.  I don’t know why this is the case but I know that suffering doesn’t come from God, but more often, a lack of God.  Because when we don’t turn first to God, turning to anything or anyone else shows we lack the faith He needs operate in.  While some suffer more than others, and maybe even bring it on themselves, the answer is the same.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

Psalms and Proverbs quoted in the King James Version, it doesn’t get more “Old School” than that.  “Old School” can have a lot of different meanings but the term usually precedes something that is more basic or simple than its modern day counter part.  I have a lot of different translations of the Bible but sometimes it’s hard to beat the good ole’ KJV.  Many times it can be difficult to understand but with these two passages, the formality of the wording helps to emphasize its simplicity. 

1.      Trust God completely.

2.      Don’t try and figure it out on our own.

3.      Recognize Him in every part of our lives.

4.      Give Him thanks for what we have.

5.      Seek a path in life He would approve.

6.      When we do encounter hardship, see 1-5.

Pretty simple concepts that are easy to follow, but we usually don’t. 

I know two things for sure:  First, I will fail to follow this advice more times than I can count throughout my life, but God will be there for me when I finally do look to Him.  Second, the next time my motorcycle stops running I’m looking in the gas tank first.  Some lessons are easier to learn than others.

Grace and peace,

Jeff

Interview with God

Find a quiet place,  you need sound.  

Have a God filled weekend!

Jeff

It's all about the view...

I’m working on getting my 7 year old son to enjoy watching College football as much as I do on Saturday’s. I’ve had to make a little deal with him in the process, 10 minutes of cartoons for 5 minutes of football. Always the negotiator I included the provision that I pick the cartoon making this really a win-win situation for me.

This past weekend it seemed every time we flipped back to the game, the Quarterback was on the phone. Dylan caught on to this and asked me who that guy was talking to all the time. I explained the Coaches box is higher than all the other seats and since they can see the whole field, they can see things the Quarterback can’t see from ground level. From where the Coach sat he could see where the mistakes were being made and tell the Quarterback what he was doing wrong or what to try differently and he could do that because he could see the whole field. He smiled, shook his head like he finally got it and said, “Yeah, kinda like God”. Dylan makes me laugh a lot but times like this he makes me think.

While trying to explain the use of a phone during a football game, my son gave me a great description of God’s Providence. We all quarterback our lives and the world is our playing field. A lot of times we seem to be throwing perfect passes with the proverbial crowd cheering us on. But other times everything is off. When we get the ball we drop it or worse yet, throw an interception. Thankfully when this happens in the life of a believer, we don’t have to look for a phone or call a Coach for help. We are sealed in the Holy Spirit and with His help, indentify the issue or behavior that has us “out of sorts” and through Christ we have access to God through prayer. Fortunately things usually have a way of resolving themselves in this process.

But what about when you keep fumbling the ball and no matter what you do, you can’t seem to complete a pass? God seems to be silent and your prayers don’t appear to be effective at all. Just like the Coach in the press box could see things the Quarterback couldn’t, God’s vantage point is a little better than ours. Faith is based on our trusting in the Lord and knowing that He has our back regardless of the circumstance. God never ignores us; He just has a better seat than we do and see’s things differently. When we feel that our Faith is being tested the Apostle Paul gave us direction on how to respond,

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Philippians 1:27-30 (NIV)

Paul was in a Roman prison at the time and referencing the fact that he faced execution or may be freed, either way he wouldn’t stop preaching the Gospel and Glorifying the Lord. Death or freedom didn’t matter because Paul put his trust in Christ completely and whatever happened was by the will of God.

Paul’s Faith that God was in control of all things couldn’t be argued by anyone. Time after time when put to the test Paul’s faith remained firm because for him anything else wasn’t an option. Being in Christ was a lifestyle for Paul and the “challenge” he issues in this passage of scripture is for us too. Paul could easily have become discouraged due to his circumstance but used his time in prison to God’s glory, showing that his faith could stand up to anything the world could throw at him.

The only faith worth anything is faith that’s been tested and faith gets tested by fire for the most part. How fortunate for us that Paul did remain faithful and the results of his standing firm are the majority of the New Testament. It’s tough to do at times but remember God has a better seat than we do and ultimately our best interest in mind…….

Grace and peace

Jeff

 

                  Dylan Boyce

Still waiting on God?

I taught recently about determining the blessings we have in our lives and more importantly, defining what a blessing was.  How our tendency is to look to God for help and supernatural answers to the difficulties we face on a daily basis, usually as a last resort.  So often what we see as blessings are only things that we can assign a value to or those that have a tangible benefit to us right now.   This view essentially relates God to a vending machine that we insert request into and expect a blessing to be dispensed.  And we’re shocked while stand there and nothing pops out maybe even contemplate kicking the machine for good measure.  And the idea of waiting on God, trusting in His timeframe just doesn’t seem possible.  We want to be blessed; we just want it right now.

And while we’re busy questioning why things aren’t happening the way we want, we don’t give Him the credit for the things we already have.  If we only take a step back and look closely, God’s fingerprints are on everything around us:

A comfortable place to call home, a job that covers the bills maybe a little money in the bank; how’d that happen?  Jehova-jireh, the Lord will provide.

When you spend time with good friends or an afternoon with your kids and hearing them say, “Thanks Dad, I love you”.   Jehovah-shammad, the Lord is present.

Quiet time in the morning, a comfortable chair and your Bible.  You find that passage or verse that guides you in the right direction. Jehovah-ra-ah, the Lord my shepherd.

God is so prevalent in our lives everyday and in so many ways.  He reveals Himself to us in even the smallest details but we aren’t looking there, we are too busy tapping our foot, arms crossed and impatiently waiting for the big blessing to pop out of the machine.

If God doesn’t seem to be doing anything in your life, maybe he’s waiting for you to realize what He‘s already done first.  If we can’t identify and thank God for the small, simple blessings he gives us on a daily basis why would He think we were ready for the big one?  I have a quote I wrote in my Bible and I think it makes a lot of sense.

Start to give thanks for the things you have and it won’t be long before you have what you want and want what you have.

Start looking at what God does for you everyday and when you find these little things, acknowledge Him and say thanks.  No telling what He may be waiting to do for you…

Peace

Jeff




Where does Jesus stand in your life?

A while back I felt the need to create for myself a Christian litmus test.  I wanted to be able to gauge my faith and walk with Christ by a different standard, something that would show without error the strengths and weaknesses in my Faith.  I looked at several different methods but settled on three rather simple criteria:

If you ask the Members of my Church to describe me, what would the top 5 responses be?

If you were to ask people who know me outside the Church how they would describe me, what would the top 5 responses be?

Now go one step further and ask the people I work with to describe me, what would their top 5 response be?

If I take these 3 lists and compared them side-by-side would they be very similar or would they be completely different?  Would faith in God and or that I’m a Christian be mentioned by those outside of the Church, making an entry somewhere in the top 5?  My goal was to make sure it would be and hopefully very high on the list.  As a new Christian I was always hearing people talk about Christians being hypocrites.  I didn’t want to be a hypocrite and if these 3 lists were very comparable, I didn’t see how anyone could say that.  One of the greatest gifts I was given was a new me.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17

I like the new me and I don’t really care for the old one.  I’m proud of my Faith and want to be known as a Christian.  So much so that I feel confident in my assessment and that it would make the top 5 descriptions about me on all 3 list.  I hope that one day that fact being #1 wont be in question.

I hold no one to this light other than myself, but it is very important to me and I check myself against this scale often.  It’s very important to me that people see me the same on Thursday afternoon as those that do on Sunday morning.  I feel that if the people I work with or those that know me outside of Church aren’t aware of my Faith and the value I place on it, I have denied Christ.

We all have different things that we find important in life.  But whatever they are and whatever values we hold need to be adhered to and we need the ability to measure them.  Without an individual “code” to live by we will just slide around in life.  The fact we are Christians and more importantly that we have a strong faith in Christ should be evident to everyone who spends any amount of extended time with us.  My greatest desire in life is that the code or measure I have for myself will be the one my children adopt for themselves in their lives. I can promise you they are aware of it and I know where my faith stands should they be asked to make this list about me.

How are the people you encounter today going to view you?  At work or around others today think about this and what traits they would note about you?  We talk about Faith as a walk with Christ so He’s right there with you.  Would He be proud of this list or would you be ashamed to share it with Him?

Grace and Peace

Jeff