Have a great Thanksgiving, as we lead up to the week i would give a free advice. Enjoy the time with friends and family. Be a blessing to others if you can. When i can i enjoy the Adventures in Odyssey radio programs around this time of year with the thanksgiving center stories, here is a link. http://www.whitsend.org/radio/
A Message to Defeated Christians
By Charles G. Trumbull, Litt.D., Philadelphia, PA
An address at Founder's Week Conference in the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL This article is from the May 1932 Moody Bible Institute Monthly
AS I LOOK over this great audience of God's people, and see the work of the Holy Spirit manifested in faces and in voices as we have been singing together, I would ask whether any of us has ever presumed on God's grace to enable us to go on in sin? Because "where sin abounds, grace does much more abound," have we consciously or unconsciously at times said to ourselves, "Yes, even if I do slip into this sin, God's grace will take care of it?"
I am afraid we must all of us confess that we have done just that. After we have come to the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and yielded ourselves to Him as Lord, and then in one way or another have been tempted and have slipped into sin, the thought has come to us that after all, His grace will take care of it. Is it not a real peril in the Christian life that we may presume on God's grace thus to go on sinning? May we be honest this afternoon and ask the Holy Spirit to speak plainly, and show us whether we have thus presumed on the grace of God.
It Is Not a New Question
At the beginning of the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul asked, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" And instantly he answered it, "God forbid"! This is the gospel to Christians. It is the same gospel as to the unsaved, for just as God says to the unsaved that the death of His Son paid the penalty of their sins and they may be saved by faith in Him, so He says to us in the fifth of Romans, "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." That is the gospel to Christians -- that the grace of God is offered to us, not to go on sinning, but to be kept from sinning.
And yet may we be clear as to this that God's grace is not available for deliverance from the power of sin in those who are holding back something from God. We prayed in that hymn of Wesleys, that God might let the fire fall on us. But God never can set on fire the heart of any child of His if there is in that heart something held back. God does not set on fire unsurrendered Christians. I noticed in the prayer in which we were led a few moments ago, a request that we might glorify God in our bodies. O dear friends, we cannot glorify God in an unsurrendered body, and so it might be well to ask God to search and show us whether in our bodies, our lives, our hearts, there is anything withheld from Him.
What about that subtle sin of unbelief or of distrust? The sin of worry, the sin of anxiety? I wonder if anyone here, since he has been a Christian, has ever worried? If we have, we have sinned. "In nothing be careful but in everything ... with thanksgiving ...." You can't worry and give thanks at the same moment in the way God wants to be thanked. We can be kept from the sin of anxiety, the sin of irritability, of unthankfulness, of a harsh, unloving, critical spirit, as we yield our lives, our bodies, a living sacrifice to God.
Are any of us saying to ourselves just now, or even to the Lord, "Yes, I need to give up this sin. I have tried to, I have even given it up at times, but somehow I can't seem to stop that failing." Paul knew about that, too. In the seventh of Romans he said, "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do." But then he came forever out of the seventh into the eighth chapter with the words, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
A Stowaway in Chains
I saw a newspaper item a while ago which told of a rather remarkable experience. A negro stowaway from West Africa got on a steamer to come to the United States, and after he was discovered he was put in irons. When the boat neared Brooklyn, he jumped overboard and swam to shore under water. Still in irons he crawled up on the shore, and there was rearrested. Why? Because he was still chained!
I could not help thinking of experiences of my own and many other Christians, who think they have made their escape and find they are still in the same old bondage. That is not the sort of gospel God has for us, but I am afraid it is the sort of experience that some of us have had. Of course there are some who have never come to the Lord Jesus Christ and who think they have made their escape, but sooner or later they find they are still chained.
My message today is to sinning Christians, defeated Christians, those who are saved by the death of Christ, but have not realized the deeper experience in which they are kept safe moment by moment in His life.
John, in his first epistle, says toward the end of the first chapter: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Then at the beginning of the second chapter he goes on: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not."
A Bible teacher once said he was afraid a good many Christians read that last verse, "That ye sin less." But John did not say that. He said practically what the angel said in announcing the birth of the Saviour to his legal father, Joseph, "And thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Sins here is in the plural, actual sins. There is the message of the victorious life in Christ -- not after we get to heaven, but now and here in this present world, while we are on our way to the presence of the Lord.
Let us realize that it is just normal New Testament Christianity; not any unbalanced or fanatical or unscriptural teaching of sinless perfectionism or eradication, dear friends, but the blessed fact of which Colossians 2:6 speaks, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." Just step by step -- really trusting Him.
There are two simple but very definite conditions of this life of victory. One is that we shall surrender our lives to the Lord, the other that we shall trust the Lord.
Dr. Scofield's Instruction
I had a blessed Bible lesson on the subject of surrender one time from Dr. C.I. Scofield. He had asked me to come to the Crescent City Conference in Florida and speak on the victorious life, and one day, when in his bungalow, he said to me, "Charles, I want to tell you what surrender is. Sit down there and take your Bible." I did.
"Now," he said, "open to the eighth chapter of Numbers."
Then we read together a few verses beginning at the fifth. The Lord said to Moses, take the Levites and cleanse them, and pour the water of purifying upon them, and have them wash their clothes, and make themselves clean, and take a young bullock for a meat offering and another for a sin offering -- and then,"Thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together. . . . And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord."
They did not serve in the tabernacle until this had been done, until they had been cleansed by water and by blood, and definitely offered to the Lord.
Then Dr. Scofield said, "Now turn over to the second chapter of Luke." I did so and there, from the twenty-first verse on, we read what occurred to the infant Jesus:
"And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord."
The word in Numbers is "offer," here it is "present." Even the Son of God Himself could not enter upon His earthly ministry until He had been presented to the Lord.
"Now," said Dr. Scofield, "turn over to the twelfth of Romans." I did, and we read that first verse:
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
This is addressed to Christians, not to the unsaved -- you who have received the mercy of God. "That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
"And that," said Dr. Scofield, that morning in Florida, "that is surrender."
The Levites had to be offered to God before going on with their earthly service after being cleansed with water and with blood. The infant Jesus was presented to God even though He had been with God from all eternity, before He entered upon His earthly service. You and I cannot render reasonable service to the Lord until we have presented our bodies as living sacrifices.
The Young Men Who Did Not Worry
I was impressed a few years ago as I found almost verbatim the twelfth chapter of Romans in the third of Daniel. That third chapter of Daniel is the story of the three young Hebrews and the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar had set up the golden image and commanded everyone in his empire to fall down and worship it, and these young men refused to do so. You remember he had established an edict that anyone who would not bow down and worship the image would be cast into a fiery furnace, and these three refused to do so. Then he sent for them in anger and said, "I will give you a second chance." But they did not need a second chance.
I like their quiet reply, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter" -- we are not worried -- the word that occurs in the fourth of Philippians, the old English for "anxious." "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he witl deliver us out of thine hand, 0 king. But if not" (if God docs not want to), "be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Then the wonderful story goes on, how they were cast into the furnace and the men who cast them in were consumed, how the king looked in and saw four men walking about in the midst of the fire, and the form of the fourth was like unto the Son of God. And you remember he called to them, "Come forth," and they did! "Nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed 0n them."
I tell you, dear friends, when God undertakes to do a thing, He does it. Then comes this remarkable statement by Nebuchadnezzar:
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God."
There is Romans 12:1 in Daniel 3:28 -- "yielded their bodies" that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. And it is not possible for us to serve and worship our God with the reasonable service which He asks unless we have yielded our bodies. And that means yielding to Him, presenting to Him, all that we are and all that we have.
At the victorious life conferences in America -- Keswick and elsewhere -- I have taken occasion to ask one and another attending whether they have settled the surrender question, and often they have answered: "I have tried to," "I think I have," "I am doing the best I know how."
Dear friends, if someone should ask you this question, "Did you give a present last Christmas to the one you love most?" do you think you would say, "I tried to," "Yes, I think I did," "I did it the best I knew how" ; or would you say, "I certainly did"?
Surrendering to the Lord Jesus Christ, as Dr. Scofield showed me, is just making a present of ourselves to God. You do not have to try it. You either do it or you don't do it. You may have been on the other side of the world last Christmas, but you know whether or not you gave that present. Surrender is just as simple as that.
Why Your Body?
Why the emphasis on body? Because it is God's home. Know ye not that Christ dwelleth in you -- Christ liveth in you, "except ye be reprobate"? Unless we have not received the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, He is saying to us, "My Father will come and abide ... I and my Father are one." We know the Holy Spirit makes the physical bodies of Christians His temple. And so the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit, are dwelling within every child of God. Think what a sorrow it must be to the Lord Jesus Christ to have to live in an unclean home, to have to dwell in a sinning Christian.
I remember Thomas E. Stephens, founder and director of the Great Commission Prayer League, after he had sent out appeal after appeal to pray for a revival in the whole body of Christ, one time said, "The Lord Jesus Christ is living in a half paralytic body today on earth."
It was a shocking expression when I first heard it, but it is true. Speaking of the Church of Christ as His home, He longs to have that body thrilling, tingling with His own life, filled with all the fulness of God.
Oh, dear friends, if we are praying for a revival, let us remember the prayer, "Begin it, Lord, in me," and let us present our bodies to Him. And as I said a few minutes ago, to surrender means all. It means our worst and our best.
I never noticed until last month when reading again the early chapters of Genesis, how there are two great surrenders of Abraham which in a sense should typify the two things included in the single surrender of ourselves to God. In Genesis 21, God tells Abraham to do what Sarah demands and send away Hagar and Ishmael. Now Ishmael was Abraham's own son and he loved the boy. But he was a son that was born in sin and in violation of God's will and in utter distrust of God, so we might say Ishmael was the worst thing in Abraham's life; and God asked Abraham to surrender the worst thing, and he did. There is no record of his ever having seen Ishmael again. He surrendered his worst and it never came back. Then in chapter 22 God asked Abraham to surrender the best thing in his life -- Isaac. And Abraham did, and God gave Isaac back.
Are we including in our surrender our worst and our best? Our worst, that God may take it and never have it come back; our best, that God may take it and give it back to us sanctified and cleansed and to be used as would never be possible until we surrender that to God.
I know a Presbyterian elder of Florida, who was kneeling in prayer with many others, hungry for new victories in his life, and who that day surrendered his good judgment to the Lord. He had the best judgment of any man I have ever known, but on his knees he told God his good judgment had been a source of pride, and so he surrendered it. Did he lose his good judgment? No, but it is no longer standing between him and his Lord as it was before. And he made a surrender of his worst too, and told me a few days after of an experience he had which he never expected to have this side of heaven as he found the thought of "I," of "mine," that had come in and held him in shackles, was gone; that by a miracle of God's grace he was free from the down pull of that form of bondage. So let us surrender our worst and our best. Let us present our bodies a living sacrifice.
Pride in Christian Service
A missionary in China asked when I was there about twelve years ago, how she could be rid of a certain sin, and what do you suppose it was? She said that when she was doing personal work among the Chinese women and talking to them about accepting Christ, and a fellow missionary came along, she was glad to be seen. She said,
"How can I get rid of the sin of pride in my Christian service?"
That is cutting rather deep, isn't it? If you are a Sunday School teacher, just holding your class spellbound, and the pastor or superintendent comes by, are you glad to be seen by him? Have we surrendered our love of praise, the love to be noticed in the best thing we are doing in the Lord's work? She surrendered that day and stepped out into new victories. God can deal with the subtlest, most refined forms of our sinning, and with the grossest, most impossible things in our lives. But there is only one way by which He can do it, and that is for us to say, "Take it all from me, Lord. I present my body a living sacrifice."
And may we do it, that He may set us on fire, that we may glorify God in our bodies.
http://www.biblebelievers.com/misc_periodical_articles/mbi_003.html
Ministry offers freedom from pornography addiction
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 11/13/2008 11:35:00 AM
A Christian musician is bringing more awareness to the problem of pornography addiction among believers.
Somebody's Daughter: A Journey to Freedom from Pornography is a combo CD/DVD project by the organization Music for the Soul. The 62-minute project includes interviews on the subject of porn addiction, testimonies from Christian men who were once addicted to pornography, and four music videos. Steve Siler, director of the project, says it goes beyond statistics and offers healing and hope. "The DVD has four music videos and it has 45 minutes of interviews with folks who have been through the struggle with pornography and come out the other side and survived it -- so they tell their stories, of course," he explains. Siler says the church in America needs to do a better job of dealing with this issue. "I think we're uncomfortable with sexual sin. But here's the thing about that: we have the victory over this. It's as simple as turning on the light," he contends. "Jesus told us to live as children of the light, and I don't know why we think that sexual sin is worse than gossip or gambling or drinking or any of the other sins we can talk about; but Jesus has given us victory over this sin as well." According to statistics, pornography in America is a $13 billion a year industry.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=315602
Last week i put an article about a radical group in Michigan, here is another they don't want tolerance that want approval and acceptance, if they don't get it they will hurt you to get it.
Homosexual activists accused of 'domestic terrorism'
Paul Foy - Associated Press Writer - 11/15/2008
SALT LAKE CITY - The Mormon church on Friday blamed opponents of California's homosexual marriage ban for sending hoax mailings containing white powder to temples, while a group that also supported the measure condemned "acts of domestic terrorism against our supporters."
Investigators have not publicly cited any evidence that the mailings were linked to the Mormon church's support of the measure, and a gay rights group in Utah disputed that gay protesters were involved.The letters were sent to the Salt Lake City headquarters of the church, where powder spilled on a mail clerk's hand, and to a temple in Los Angeles. Both packages tested nontoxic, the FBI said Friday.The two temples were sites of recent protests against the church's support for a California ballot initiative that superseded a court decision allowing gay marriage. The Mormon church, whose official name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it is stepping up security."We call upon those who have honest disagreements on this issue to urge restraint upon the extreme actions of a few," church President Thomas S. Monson said in a statement.The Utah Pride Center, a gay rights group, put out its own statement calling the powder hoaxes and acts of vandalism "deplorable."However, the group said, "It is false to conclude that yesterday's suspicious package came from gay protesters. Overwhelmingly, gay and allied Utahns have expressed their pain, frustration and commitment to securing rights through peaceful demonstrations and marches."The coalition that ran the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 also issued a condemnation Friday."The NO on 8 campaign was about civil rights and seeking equality for all Californians. We have said time and again that the Mormon church deserves the same respect as any other religion," said Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for Equality California, the state's largest gay rights group.The FBI is still investigating both cases, spokesman Juan T. Becerra said, noting that it's a crime to release a substance to threaten harm and stoke public fear."Even if you send a hoax threat, you're still in violation of federal law," Becerra said.Anthrax mailed as a white powder to lawmakers and media members killed five people and sickened 17 in 2001. Since then, hoaxes modeled on the anthrax mailings have popped up but usually turn out to be harmless.Separately, the coalition of religious groups behind the successful measure held a news conference to denounce protests carried out since Election Day.The backlash has included calls for a boycott of Utah ski resorts and California businesses whose owners donated to the cause."Our opponents do not like the outcome and that is to be respected. They fought hard and they feel defeated and that is understandable," said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign. "What they do not have the right to do, however, is to harass and intimidate people. And they do not have the right to commit acts of domestic terrorism against our supporters."Meanwhile, five civil rights groups asked California's highest court Friday to annul the ban on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the change from taking effect.The petition is the fourth seeking to have the measure invalidated. But it's the first to argue that the court should step in because the gay marriage ban, which overturned the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay unions, sets a precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial minorities.Eva Paterson, president of the San Francisco-based Equal Justice Society, said the election raises the specter of voters deciding to bar illegal immigrants from public schools, disenfranchising black voters or otherwise using the ballot box to promote segregation."The court ruled that to discriminate in the area of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and violated our guaranteed equality," Paterson said. "Why should a slim majority of Californians be able to put discrimination back into the California Constitution?"
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=321402
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 11/13/2008 11:35:00 AM
A Christian musician is bringing more awareness to the problem of pornography addiction among believers.
Somebody's Daughter: A Journey to Freedom from Pornography is a combo CD/DVD project by the organization Music for the Soul. The 62-minute project includes interviews on the subject of porn addiction, testimonies from Christian men who were once addicted to pornography, and four music videos. Steve Siler, director of the project, says it goes beyond statistics and offers healing and hope. "The DVD has four music videos and it has 45 minutes of interviews with folks who have been through the struggle with pornography and come out the other side and survived it -- so they tell their stories, of course," he explains. Siler says the church in America needs to do a better job of dealing with this issue. "I think we're uncomfortable with sexual sin. But here's the thing about that: we have the victory over this. It's as simple as turning on the light," he contends. "Jesus told us to live as children of the light, and I don't know why we think that sexual sin is worse than gossip or gambling or drinking or any of the other sins we can talk about; but Jesus has given us victory over this sin as well." According to statistics, pornography in America is a $13 billion a year industry.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=315602
Last week i put an article about a radical group in Michigan, here is another they don't want tolerance that want approval and acceptance, if they don't get it they will hurt you to get it.
Homosexual activists accused of 'domestic terrorism'
Paul Foy - Associated Press Writer - 11/15/2008
SALT LAKE CITY - The Mormon church on Friday blamed opponents of California's homosexual marriage ban for sending hoax mailings containing white powder to temples, while a group that also supported the measure condemned "acts of domestic terrorism against our supporters."
Investigators have not publicly cited any evidence that the mailings were linked to the Mormon church's support of the measure, and a gay rights group in Utah disputed that gay protesters were involved.The letters were sent to the Salt Lake City headquarters of the church, where powder spilled on a mail clerk's hand, and to a temple in Los Angeles. Both packages tested nontoxic, the FBI said Friday.The two temples were sites of recent protests against the church's support for a California ballot initiative that superseded a court decision allowing gay marriage. The Mormon church, whose official name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it is stepping up security."We call upon those who have honest disagreements on this issue to urge restraint upon the extreme actions of a few," church President Thomas S. Monson said in a statement.The Utah Pride Center, a gay rights group, put out its own statement calling the powder hoaxes and acts of vandalism "deplorable."However, the group said, "It is false to conclude that yesterday's suspicious package came from gay protesters. Overwhelmingly, gay and allied Utahns have expressed their pain, frustration and commitment to securing rights through peaceful demonstrations and marches."The coalition that ran the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 also issued a condemnation Friday."The NO on 8 campaign was about civil rights and seeking equality for all Californians. We have said time and again that the Mormon church deserves the same respect as any other religion," said Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for Equality California, the state's largest gay rights group.The FBI is still investigating both cases, spokesman Juan T. Becerra said, noting that it's a crime to release a substance to threaten harm and stoke public fear."Even if you send a hoax threat, you're still in violation of federal law," Becerra said.Anthrax mailed as a white powder to lawmakers and media members killed five people and sickened 17 in 2001. Since then, hoaxes modeled on the anthrax mailings have popped up but usually turn out to be harmless.Separately, the coalition of religious groups behind the successful measure held a news conference to denounce protests carried out since Election Day.The backlash has included calls for a boycott of Utah ski resorts and California businesses whose owners donated to the cause."Our opponents do not like the outcome and that is to be respected. They fought hard and they feel defeated and that is understandable," said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign. "What they do not have the right to do, however, is to harass and intimidate people. And they do not have the right to commit acts of domestic terrorism against our supporters."Meanwhile, five civil rights groups asked California's highest court Friday to annul the ban on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the change from taking effect.The petition is the fourth seeking to have the measure invalidated. But it's the first to argue that the court should step in because the gay marriage ban, which overturned the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay unions, sets a precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial minorities.Eva Paterson, president of the San Francisco-based Equal Justice Society, said the election raises the specter of voters deciding to bar illegal immigrants from public schools, disenfranchising black voters or otherwise using the ballot box to promote segregation."The court ruled that to discriminate in the area of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and violated our guaranteed equality," Paterson said. "Why should a slim majority of Californians be able to put discrimination back into the California Constitution?"
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=321402
Overflowing with Thankfulness by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
I hate organ recitals. Not pipe organs, especially, but this kind:
"How are you today, Gladys?"
"Terrible, just terrible? Did I tell you about my gall bladder acting up?"
"Yes, Gladys."
She doesn't seem to acknowledge my, "Yes," but launches into a full-scale report on gall bladders around the world, and hers in particular. When she sees my eyes beginning to glaze over, Gladys falters for a moment. She knows she has to switch gears quickly to keep me from nodding off.
"And I have this terrible skin rash that drives me so crazy that I can't sleep at night."
I am trying hard to be polite. "Oh, I'm sorry…."
I attempt to stop myself, but it is too late. The ill-fated word has crossed my lips -- "sorry" -- and now I have fed Gladys her first morsel of real food for the day. She seems to take new energy, and as she describes her itching, I begin to sense little crawling things in my scalp. I unconsciously reach up to scratch my head, but nothing gets by Gladys. Oh, that's the first sign…." she begins.
You've met Gladys, haven't you? It might be a different name. Gladys goes under a number of aliases and dons many disguises. But it's the same complaining, self-centered woman.
Too often, however, I meet Gladys in me. I want people to sympathize with me, so when something is going wrong, -- and when doesn't it? -- I begin to complain. The 49ers are having a bad season. The morals of our nation are terrible. The election was depressing. My spouse is in a bad mood. It doesn't have to dwell on the interior plumbing of a sick Gladys. Normal complaining comes all too easily to my lips.
So when I read Colossians 2:6-7 it hits home. The phrase, "overflowing with thankfulness," begins to repeat itself over and over in my mind.
"Overflowing" -- "abounding," some translations say -- brings the mental picture of the Thanksgiving cornucopia spilling out an abundant harvest blessing. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." What is in my heart? Complaining? Selfishness? Pride? -- or Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is the mark of a Christian, because thanksgiving points out and up while my complaining points only back to me and feeds my pride and dissatisfaction. Thanksgiving towards God and man fits the Great Commandment like a glove, to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. What better vehicle than thankfulness to express love?
The Pillsbury Doughboy® has that endearing quality that when you poke him he doesn't flare up but automatically responds with a friendly, perky, "Oh!" I want to be like him. Not so plump, mind you, but that full of friendliness. When someone pokes me I want my first instinct to be thankfulness rather than anger. I want people to find thankfulness oozing out of me. I want thanksgiving to mark my conversation and manner. I want to abound with it, be full of it. I want to overflow with thankfulness.
How about you?
Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
"How are you today, Gladys?"
"Terrible, just terrible? Did I tell you about my gall bladder acting up?"
"Yes, Gladys."
She doesn't seem to acknowledge my, "Yes," but launches into a full-scale report on gall bladders around the world, and hers in particular. When she sees my eyes beginning to glaze over, Gladys falters for a moment. She knows she has to switch gears quickly to keep me from nodding off.
"And I have this terrible skin rash that drives me so crazy that I can't sleep at night."
I am trying hard to be polite. "Oh, I'm sorry…."
I attempt to stop myself, but it is too late. The ill-fated word has crossed my lips -- "sorry" -- and now I have fed Gladys her first morsel of real food for the day. She seems to take new energy, and as she describes her itching, I begin to sense little crawling things in my scalp. I unconsciously reach up to scratch my head, but nothing gets by Gladys. Oh, that's the first sign…." she begins.
You've met Gladys, haven't you? It might be a different name. Gladys goes under a number of aliases and dons many disguises. But it's the same complaining, self-centered woman.
Too often, however, I meet Gladys in me. I want people to sympathize with me, so when something is going wrong, -- and when doesn't it? -- I begin to complain. The 49ers are having a bad season. The morals of our nation are terrible. The election was depressing. My spouse is in a bad mood. It doesn't have to dwell on the interior plumbing of a sick Gladys. Normal complaining comes all too easily to my lips.
So when I read Colossians 2:6-7 it hits home. The phrase, "overflowing with thankfulness," begins to repeat itself over and over in my mind.
"Overflowing" -- "abounding," some translations say -- brings the mental picture of the Thanksgiving cornucopia spilling out an abundant harvest blessing. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." What is in my heart? Complaining? Selfishness? Pride? -- or Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is the mark of a Christian, because thanksgiving points out and up while my complaining points only back to me and feeds my pride and dissatisfaction. Thanksgiving towards God and man fits the Great Commandment like a glove, to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. What better vehicle than thankfulness to express love?
The Pillsbury Doughboy® has that endearing quality that when you poke him he doesn't flare up but automatically responds with a friendly, perky, "Oh!" I want to be like him. Not so plump, mind you, but that full of friendliness. When someone pokes me I want my first instinct to be thankfulness rather than anger. I want people to find thankfulness oozing out of me. I want thanksgiving to mark my conversation and manner. I want to abound with it, be full of it. I want to overflow with thankfulness.
How about you?
Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
http://www.joyfulheart.com/thanksgiving/overflowing.htm
It makes me sick to even have to post this blog entry. I have known it for years, it is very sad. This is what public schools will get you. They teach you how to use a condom, but won't bother to teach you how your government works.
Americans don't know civics
By Michelle Healy, USA TODAY From high-school dropouts to college graduates to elected officials, Americans are "alarmingly uninformed" about the USA's history, founding principals and economy — knowledge needed to participate wisely in civic life, says a report scheduled to be released Thursday. The study, the third in a series by the non-profit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, finds that half of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government, and 54% know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly said that it belongs to the president. Those who have held elected office lack civic knowledge; 43% do not know the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. One in five thinks it "trains those aspiring for higher office" or "was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates." "Without knowledge of your country's history, key texts and institutions, you don't have a frame of reference to judge the politics and policies of today," says Richard Brake, head of the institute's American Civic Literacy Program. Earlier reports focused solely on college students; the new study expands the focus and concludes Americans across all economic, educational and political/social backgrounds are equally lacking. Among findings: • 71% earn an F; the average score was 49%. Ages 25 to 34 had an average score of 46%; ages 45 to 64 had a 52% average. Of 164 respondents who say they have held elected office, 44% was average. • Those with bachelor's degrees had an average score of 57% vs. 44% for those with a high-school diploma. The average score for advanced degree-holders inches up to 65%, or a D. • Civic knowledge declines in proportion to time spent using passive media, such as TV. Reading and talking about history and current events, using the Internet and being involved in political activities has a positive effect.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-11-19-civics_N.htm
It makes me sick to even have to post this blog entry. I have known it for years, it is very sad. This is what public schools will get you. They teach you how to use a condom, but won't bother to teach you how your government works.
Americans don't know civics
By Michelle Healy, USA TODAY From high-school dropouts to college graduates to elected officials, Americans are "alarmingly uninformed" about the USA's history, founding principals and economy — knowledge needed to participate wisely in civic life, says a report scheduled to be released Thursday. The study, the third in a series by the non-profit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, finds that half of U.S. adults can name all three branches of government, and 54% know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly said that it belongs to the president. Those who have held elected office lack civic knowledge; 43% do not know the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. One in five thinks it "trains those aspiring for higher office" or "was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates." "Without knowledge of your country's history, key texts and institutions, you don't have a frame of reference to judge the politics and policies of today," says Richard Brake, head of the institute's American Civic Literacy Program. Earlier reports focused solely on college students; the new study expands the focus and concludes Americans across all economic, educational and political/social backgrounds are equally lacking. Among findings: • 71% earn an F; the average score was 49%. Ages 25 to 34 had an average score of 46%; ages 45 to 64 had a 52% average. Of 164 respondents who say they have held elected office, 44% was average. • Those with bachelor's degrees had an average score of 57% vs. 44% for those with a high-school diploma. The average score for advanced degree-holders inches up to 65%, or a D. • Civic knowledge declines in proportion to time spent using passive media, such as TV. Reading and talking about history and current events, using the Internet and being involved in political activities has a positive effect.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-11-19-civics_N.htm
It is amazing why people would spend money trying to disprove that something they don't, no are sure does not exist, does not exist. Sounds crazy to me? i believe you should be good, would it not been more of a service to "humanity" to give the money to the poor?
God, humbug: Humanist holiday ads say just be good
DENVER — Ads proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," will appear on Washington, D.C., buses starting next week and running through December, sponsored by The American Humanist Association.
In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.
"We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you," Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group, said Tuesday. "Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."
To that end, the ads and posters will include a link to a website that will seek to connect and organize like-minded thinkers in the D.C. area, Edwords said.
Edwords said the purpose of the $40,000 campaign isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."
The group defines humanism as "a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity."
Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
In Washington, the humanists' campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic "holiday" greetings.
In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say "It's OK to say Merry Christmas." The humanists' entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.
"It's a stupid ad," he said. "How do we define 'good' if we don't believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what's good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what's good, it's going to be a crazy world."
Also on Tuesday, the Orlando, Florida-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group, launched its sixth annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Liberty Counsel has intervened in disputes over nativity scenes and government bans on Christmas decorations, among other things.
"It's the ultimate grinch to say there is no God at a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Christ," said Mathew Staver, the group's chairman and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. "Certainly, they have the right to believe what they want but this is insulting."
Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in "the new atheism" — a more in-your-face argument against God's existence.
Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92% of Americans believe in God.
There was no debate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over whether to take the ad. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency accepts ads that aren't obscene or pornographic.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-11-12-humanist-god_N.htm
In lifting lyrics from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.
"We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you," Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group, said Tuesday. "Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."
To that end, the ads and posters will include a link to a website that will seek to connect and organize like-minded thinkers in the D.C. area, Edwords said.
Edwords said the purpose of the $40,000 campaign isn't to argue that God doesn't exist or change minds about a deity, although "we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people's minds."
The group defines humanism as "a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity."
Last month, the British Humanist Association caused a ruckus announcing a similar campaign on London buses with the message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
In Washington, the humanists' campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic "holiday" greetings.
In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say "It's OK to say Merry Christmas." The humanists' entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.
"It's a stupid ad," he said. "How do we define 'good' if we don't believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what's good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what's good, it's going to be a crazy world."
Also on Tuesday, the Orlando, Florida-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group, launched its sixth annual "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign." Liberty Counsel has intervened in disputes over nativity scenes and government bans on Christmas decorations, among other things.
"It's the ultimate grinch to say there is no God at a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Christ," said Mathew Staver, the group's chairman and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. "Certainly, they have the right to believe what they want but this is insulting."
Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in "the new atheism" — a more in-your-face argument against God's existence.
Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92% of Americans believe in God.
There was no debate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over whether to take the ad. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency accepts ads that aren't obscene or pornographic.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-11-12-humanist-god_N.htm
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment