Do We Need Thanksgiving?

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From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. Jeremiah 30:19

Do we really need a designated day called Thanksgiving? Do we have anything to be thankful for with rising food costs, global unrest, and political divisions? Life can be tough, and it might take some effort to find your voice to give thanks.

Thanksgiving can still be meaningful despite challenges.

Could you thank God for fleas in your house? Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned in the overcrowded, flea-infested Ravensbrück concentration camp. They had miraculously smuggled a Bible into the camp, and as Betsy read the scriptures, what was she going to do with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus?” Betsy decided that thanks included the fleas. Corrie declared there was no way she would give thanks for a bunch of fleas. However, over time, they were able to hold Bible studies, share the Gospel, and see countless numbers of women come to faith in Christ. Only later did they discover why the guards had left them alone and had not entered their barracks: it was because of the fleas. (Preaching Today)

Thanksgiving comes as we recognize God’s goodness.

Finding fleas may not be what you have in mind for Thanksgiving, but having a thankful heart should be. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1) President George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide Thanksgiving in the United States in 1789 with the words, “As a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God,” and calling on Americans to humbly offer prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations. Thanksgiving may not be a global holiday like Christmas or Easter, but it is widely celebrated in various ways across numerous countries. Yet, the common theme is being thankful.

Thanksgiving can come even before we recognize it.

Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when we can pause and reflect on the things we’re thankful for, including the not-so-obvious ones. “Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:7) I will admit that the not-so-obvious things require more effort. Last Sunday, while driving home from Nashville, we made our usual stop at exit 310 on I-75, better known as the Buc-ee’s break. As we got back on the road, our Apple GPS rerouted us to exit at 290 in 20 miles. This was not unusual since traffic congestion is normal. I followed the directions when we reached the exit and came off the interstate. Instead of taking us on an alternate route, we were directed to get back onto I-75.

My frustration with Apple was quick; I should have used Waze! However, within seconds, a God thought came, “You did ask for driving mercy.” After I had a moment to consider the thought, all I could do was say thank you. You might say it was simply a glitch in the system, but I believe that it was a momentary delay that may have prevented an accident or worse. It is in these not-so-obvious times that we can’t explain that we need to have a heart of gratitude.

Thanksgiving can come in worship even when we struggle to worship.

Worship feels easy when the sanctuary temperature is 72 degrees, the music is at a comfortable 70 decibels or lower, the message lasts about 20 minutes, and you’re out before kickoff. However, it becomes much harder when worship occurs amid personal challenges, frustrations, or even hopelessness. Yet, it is in these moments that worship arises from a heart of thanksgiving. “Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” (Psalm 95:1-2) We can reflect God’s grace from a heart of thanksgiving as we draw near to Him through our worship.

Henri Nouwen writes, “To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say “thank you” to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.”

So, do we need an official Thanksgiving Day? Hopefully, our answer is yes. We need a heart of Thanksgiving, not just for one day, but every day. Let Thanksgiving be the defining yes of your daily life.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” Colossians 3:15-17

Wishing you a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever you may be today.

God is great!

What’s In A Name

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But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. John 10:2-5 NLT

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Whether you are a Shakespearean fan or not, you are most likely familiar with this quote. Juliet’s words of love were spoken to her beloved Romeo, even in the midst of their family’s feud. His name, Montaque, was inconsequential to their love.

What’s in a name? If you were to ask Laurence Watkins for his full name, it would take him over an hour to tell you, and he would have to read it since he can’t remember it all. The reason for the confusion is that Watkins has 2,253 unique words making up his moniker. Can you imagine what it was like when he got in trouble as a little boy and his mother yelled at him with all his middle names! Actually, his parents didn’t give him all those middle names. Watkins wanted to set a Guinness World Record and decided he could beat at least one record simply by adding names. However, it took him a lot of money and an appeal to the New Zealand High Court to win the right to add all of his additional names to his legal name.

Watkins only viewed names as a way to break the world record for the longest name. For him, a rose still smells the same. However, Dale Carnegie wrote that names are central to who we are as humans. He wrote, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

What’s in a name? It has been part of human identity since creation, when Adam and Eve walked in intimacy with God.  Yet throughout history, there have been ruthless, evil efforts to dehumanize people by changing or replacing people’s names. The most recent vivid picture was the Nazi effort to eliminate the Jewish population. In their brutal concentration camps, they gave prisoners numbers in place of their names. These numbers were even tattooed on the prisoners’ arms.

Dr. Robert Rozett writes, “Despite the inhuman treatment and use of numbers instead of names in the Nazi camps, the Jews clung fast to the human spirit.”  Dr. Rozett goes on to write that recent efforts have been made to identify individuals who died. “The gathering of the names of the murdered Jews of the Holocaust is no less important than listening to survivors’ voices. Recovering their names not only restores their identities but also helps us understand that Jews during the Holocaust were not just a nameless mass subjected to persecution and murder. The victims had lives, families, thoughts, fears, and hopes for the future—and each and every one had a name.”

What’s in a name? King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon believed that giving someone a new name was a way to remove their cultural and faith traditions from the conquered people of Jerusalem. The king took the brightest and most talented young leaders from the land to serve in his palace. They were “taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans…The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.” (Daniel 1)

Yet what he didn’t know was that the name that truly made a difference for them was the Name of the one they worshiped. “If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue you have set up.”

What’s in a name? It makes a big difference when God changes your name to make you an instrument of His redemption. “Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations…I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”(Gen 17:3-7)

What’s in a name? When that name is Jesus, it is everything! That Name is the beginning of life, the renewing of who we are, and the hope of all that will come. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Paul David Tripp writes about Jesus, “The great line that divides humanity is not political, economic, social, or ethnic. No, the great fault line is Jesus…The cross of Jesus either is your hope in life and the one to come or it represents the death of a man you do not love and do not need. There is no neutrality in the shadow of the cross. So, today, what will you do with Jesus? Will you bow in worship and gratitude, or will you take life in your own hands and walk away?”

What’s in a name? It is the name you get from the choices you make, the people you know, the way you live your life, and, in the end, the name you put your trust in for eternity. “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” (Prov 22:1)

Charles Spurgeon said it well, “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.”

God is great!

Staying the Journey Because of One

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For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that he has given his life for all of us. This means all died with him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 TPT

What keeps you on your journey? If you ask Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders, it is to reclaim the age record as the oldest person to thru-hike the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail (AT). He captured the title in 2017 at 82, but his life-long friend and fellow hiker MJ “Nimblewill Nomad” Elbert took it from him in 2021 at age 83. The 90-year-old Sanders from Memphis, TN, determined not to be out-aged by his friend, set out on September 6 this year to reclaim the title. If you are unfamiliar with the AT, it starts at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine (or vice versa, depending on which direction you are going), passing through 14 states. It is designated the world’s longest hiking-only trail.

Grey Beard still holds the Guinness World Record for paddling 2,400 miles from the Mississippi’s source in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico (America) at age 87. When asked why the age record motivates him so much, he answered, “I like to break records.” Sanders wants to inspire people to live better, healthier, longer lives. “I’ve always cared about people, and I do this because I still care about people.” (Info from article by Arnold “Bloodhound” Guzman, Appal. Trail website)

We all have something or someone that keeps us on our journey. You may not have plans for thru-hiking the AT, but if you are living, you have something or someone who keeps you on your journey. Connie and I had the blessing of being at Bud Fray’s memorial service last Sunday. Dr. Marion “Bud” Fray served, along with his family, in Zimbabwe and South Africa, then as a professor at Ouachita Baptist University and Southwestern Seminary, and finally retired from a local church ministry.

Why mention Bud? Some of you will know him, others not, but Bud lived out his passion and commitment to Jesus to the very end. In his biography, Both Feet In, he wrote, “How could I claim salvation without absolute abandonment to Jesus as Lord? My Jesus would not share His heart with anything half-hearted or with geographical restrictions. I yielded all to Jesus that morning, the best I knew how. The light of the Lord invaded my heart and captured me utterly.”

It was out of that initial commitment that Bud would live his 97 years, never wavering or with second thoughts. “I realized that my purpose in life was to be like Him no matter where I lived or what I did. It was He, not I, who was working all things together for the purpose of me being like Jesus.”

Bud would live out a totally surrendered life as a missionary in Africa, a university and seminary professor, and foremost as a prayer warrior who loved Jesus with Both Feet In. He would have fully understood the sentiment of Anglican theologian Richard Sibbes, who wrote roughly 400 years before Bud, “The love of Christ and the love of the world cannot lodge together in one heart.”

We need to hear the stories of those who have faithfully stayed on the journey with the One who made the difference in their lives. This journey we are on is not always easy, which makes the stories of others encouraging for us.

When Watchman Nee said yes to Jesus’ invitation to follow him, even though he could have chosen a comfortable life, he never wavered in his passion and commitment to Jesus. “Outside Christ I am empty; in Christ I am full.” Watchman Nee lived out these words, thus becoming a target of the Chinese Communist authorities, resulting in his imprisonment in 1952 until he died in 1972 at age 68 for his refusal to renounce his faith.

A piece of paper was found under his pillow in prison by his grandniece, inscribed with his final words to the world, “Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and was resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ.”

British pastor Pete Greig remarked about Watchman Nee’s faith, “His teaching, forged in the furnace of marginalization, persecution and war, was always challenging, particularly for those in the West whose faith had become comfortable and complacent.”

God’s church did/has/will prevail! It is made up of flawed heroes of faith, from well-known celebrities to unknown, ordinary believers, yet each trusting in the One on the journey with them. Jesus laid the rock-solid foundation, and though imperfect saints have often messed up, they never stopped the church from moving forward. Watchman Nee wrote in The Secret of Christian Living that “God’s way of salvation is in Christ, not in your own self. Patience is in Christ, humility is in Christ, holiness is in Christ. All is in Christ. In you, yourself, there is always uncleanness and unholiness. If you live in Christ, you have everything. But if you live in yourself, you remain unchanged.”

Mrs. Gambiza’s story is told in Bud’s book, where she resisted cultural expectations to remain committed to her faith. When she was asked why she did not capitulate when her brother-in-law persecuted her and mocked her faith, she replied, “Pastor, my heart would not let me. Jesus living in my heart makes the decision for me. He is my King.”

Keep on traveling this journey because you have One who never gives up on you. “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” Eph 1:18 NLT

God is great!

Getting the Hammer into the Right Hands

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The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. Ecclesiastes 12:11 The Message

You probably have one, but do you have a Stiletto 10oz Trimbone smooth face with a curved handle?  Most people may have a Husky or Milwaukee version, or, like me, a generic off-brand. This thing—the world’s most trusted and familiar tool —is a hammer. My no-name hammer does the trick, except it doesn’t carry the Stiletto price tag of $336 on Amazon. Archaeologists have even discovered hammer-like instruments dating back 3.3 million years.

Hammers may have changed slightly in appearance, what they are made from, and the price tag, but the purpose has not changed. They are either an instrument of creativity and construction or a tool to destroy. American Psychologist Abraham Maslow, who is best known for developing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, wrote, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

The constructive or destructive element comes from the hand that is holding the hammer. I am not sure that Martin Luther, when he picked up a hammer on October 31, 1517, realized that he would unleash a firestorm when he nailed his 95 Theses position paper to the Wittenberg Castle Church. This action would spark the Protestant Reformation, reshaping Western Christianity forever. Out of his commitment for change would come his rallying cry, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

“Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head…” (number 94 on the list) would be a framework of the Reformation. Luther’s writings, which emphasized that salvation comes by faith alone and that the Bible is the ultimate authority for Christians, spread quickly because of the newly invented printing press.

Eric Metaxas, in his work on Martin Luther, wrote, “To know that others were being cruelly treated, were being imprisoned under horrendous conditions under the threat of death, and to know that some would make this ultimate sacrifice, was surely more difficult for Luther than had he himself endured such things. But there can be no question that they drove him closer to God and made him the more passionate to spread the truth God had entrusted to him. This is one of the practical ways that we can see Tertullian’s famous phrase “The Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” being borne out.” (p303-304)

In God’s hand, the hammer is used to drive home the deep impact of his words. In Jeremiah, we read, “Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain? declares the LORD. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:28-29 NIV

In God’s hand, the hammer of his word breaks our hardness of heart, reshaping it into His image and likeness. It is often hard on us, but in His hands, we can be confident that it will be for our good. “Affliction is God’s forge to soften the iron heart. It is impossible to form iron while it is cold, but make it red hot, and you can stamp upon it any impression you please. The heart is hard, and its natural resistance is much increased by prosperity. God softens hearts with the showers of adversity and makes us more attentive unto him and less influenced by the noise of the world.” (Thomas Case, A Year of Puritan Devotional Readings)

In God’s hand, the hammer gives another chance to build a place of refuge. When the world was overcome with wickedness, God saw in Noah a different spirit. Noah picked up his hammer and, with his sons, built an ark according to God’s plans. “The LORD then said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation…Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.” (Gen 7:1,22,23)

In a godly hand, the hammer is used to build a place of worship. “The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple…In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.” (I Kings5:18, 6:7).

In a wicked hand, he uses the hammer to destroy. The cries of crucify him, crucify him had finally been heard by Pilate. With a wave of his hand, Jesus was led to the hill where he gave up his life for us. Jesus was laid on the crossbeam as the Roman soldier took up his hammer to drive the nails into his body. “When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes by casting lots.” (Matt 27:35)

In God’s hand, the destructive use of the hammer is restored. “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb…Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24:1,5)

How much better it is to hand over the hammer of our lives to God and let Him build. God is the ultimate builder, who can take nothing and create a masterpiece. “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:4-5)

God is great!