THE CHALLENGE OF AIMING AT ALWAYS

In all my years as an evangelist, when my wife and I were on the road traveling, we would sometimes be aware of certain places before we even arrived there.  Any place that had a paper mill fit readily into this category.  They stunk. 

The smell leaked through every crevice.  It invaded the air conditioning system.  And we always looked at each other and knew what the other one was thinking, “How can anybody live with such a smell?”

To live there one is to become accustom to it.  Just driving through is something else.  To live there one is to become accustom to it.  Just driving through is something else.

It is the same with sin.  Live with it long enough and it doesn’t stink anymore. 

At the time we often  had cars that had over 150,000 miles on them.  Obviously, we were trying to squeeze out the last vestige of mileage, but finally there would come a time when they beyond Band-aide treatment.  Their motors on a regular basis developed new an imaginative ways to cease and desist.  Finally, we would admit, what we had already known for quite a long while, they needed to be replaced.  And when we did, things vastly improved.

      Repentance and regeneration are like this.  It requires admitting that some portions of our lives are beyond repair.  That what is needed is even more than a giant overhaul.  What is needed is a replacement of that which was old and at best inefficient - our sins, with something new and shining bright - God’s forgiveness.  Fact is, there is a phrase ready and waiting to describe the process.  It is called Being Born Again. 

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FOR THANKSGIVING DAY 2014

 

BE THANKFUL.  IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO GO

The winter of 1618-1619 had for the Pilgrims been miserable with a capital M.  It had been survival of the fittest and too many had not been fit enough to survive.  But now it was the next fall, and time to harvest not just their crops which had grown with great abundance but also hope and thanksgiving.  With help from their Indian neighbors, everyone gathered together for a three day feast of vegetables, venison, turkey and a great faith in the God that had sent them across the seas. 

And so, the first Thanksgiving Feast in this new land took place.

On November 26, 1789, President George Washington issued a proclamation for a nation-wide day of thanksgiving.  He made it clear that this day should be one of prayer and the giving of thanks to Almighty God.  It was celebrated by people of all religious denominations and everyone agreed that it was good. 

And so, the first official Thanksgiving Day in this new country took place.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made his own proclamation.  Made it more specific, proclaiming that the last Thursday of November should be set aside as a day for giving thanks to God. 

And so, a precedent was set for America to now annually celebrate a national day of thanksgiving.

During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s stay in the White House, when the last Thursday of November was also the last day of the month, he changed it to the third Thursday and then for a few years never could seem to settle on a specific week - much to the wrath of a tremendous number of people.  Finally, in December 1941, after receiving millions of complaining letters, Congress passed a law officially naming the fourth Thursday of November. 

And so, all Americans would henceforth celebrate a unified Thanksgiving Day. 

The matter was settled. 

What had been settled from the very first Thanksgiving Feast was that we all were to give thanks to God.

      Thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving is a memory contest in which God comes out on top.

      The greatest enemy to having a thanks-giving spirit is forgetting some of the reasons why you should be thankful.  Think about it.  You did not get up this morning and have to worry about being blown up by a bomb on your way here.  There are millions in Iraq who go through this every single day.

       

      You consider a Thanksgiving service to give special meaning to the day.  There are millions who could not come even if they wanted to.  They are too physically ill.  There are other places where to attend a Christian service in the morning may find you in a prison cell by evening.

      So be thankful.  It is the finding of a light and who wants to chase after darkness.