Happy 9th Birthday to Elizabeth!

It’s 5 a.m. on a clear, cold Thanksgiving morning and the frost is melting off the smoker as it heats up for a turkey, pulled pork, ribs and sweet potatoes to come. As usual, husbands all over America are up before dawn doing all the work while their wife and children sleep.

I wanted to write and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully you’ll take a few moments today to rejoice, give thanks, and meditate of the goodness of God. We are blessed. An if you’re a believer today, you are truly blessed. The fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self Control are all available to you as we stay attached to the vine of Jesus.

It’s about 5:30 now and the bird and pork shoulder have been on for about 15 minutes. In 8 or so hours it will go from pasty white to a dark brown and will be a turkey to remember. (hopefully in a good way) So I’m going to sit back with my hot chocolate, watch the sunrise in a while and think about the goodness of God. That should take a good 8 hours I think.

Check out this Thanksgiving message from our General Superintendent.

VIDEO

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 27:21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Quote of the Day: If you count all your assets, you always show a profit. – Robert Quillen

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. – Robert Caspar Lintner

WOW! What a great day yesterday.

-Great SS classes. The adults were able to meet in the new cafe for the first time. Not quite done, but the dust isn’t too bad anymore.

-Full house for worship with a great spirit.

-We took in new members.

-Celebrated and gave thanks by ending with communion.

-Lots of great food for the Thanksgiving Sunday celebration.

-Raised money for our missionaries with a Speed the Light Servant auction.

We didn’t squeeze in a baptismal but there’s one coming up in December and we just had our fall outdoor one in August. I felt like King David who said, “I rejoiced with those who said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.'”

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 23:30-31 30 I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 1:1-4 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Quote of the Day: Thank God every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. – Basil Carpenter:

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. –H.U. Westermayer

Some complain that roses have thorns-others rejoice that thorns have roses! –Unknown

The apostle Paul (while a prisoner) writes to the church at Philippi, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

It’s been a rocky year for America. A longgggg election season, struggling economy, the dipping Dow, high gas prices (lower now!), the faltering Cubs, and more. But a prisoner reminds the Philippians of a great recipe for peace. Rejoice. Live with gentleness. Don’t be afraid. Pray. Give thanks. And the result is an unexplainable peace that only God gives. Plus that peace guards our hearts and minds in Jesus.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, you ought to be one of the most thankful people on earth. Grace. Joy. Peace. Hope. Forgiveness. And all are provided by our heavenly Father. I am blessed.

Sonya had done home health care for a lady for the past 8 years. The lady recently passed away and now Sonya is out of a job. One of Sonya’s first comments was, “I don’t want to cut back our giving.” We’ve cut other things out already, but missions and generosity are too important. There’s a difference between frugal and cheap or stingy. I like to think of ourselves as generously frugal. Did I mentioned that I am blessed?

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 23:6-7 6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Scripture of the Day: 2 Corinthians 9:11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Quote of the Day: We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill

A boy doesn’t have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn’t like pie when he sees there isn’t enough to go around. – Edward W. Howe

Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can. – John Wesley

I’m thankful today that no one was injured on the Uth hayride last night:) I’m sure many are sore and thawing out today, but no injuries. I’m also thankful for no wind last night. It’s a little late in the year for hayrides, but even at 20 degrees with no wind and a big fire, it wasn’t too bad. I’m also thankful for great Uth leaders. I have a friend at a church larger than ours and he has very little help. Our Uth have 5 workers plus myself part time. THANKS Nathan, Kris & Heather, and Ron & Beth! You guys are awesome!

Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 22:9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

Scripture of the Day: Philippians 2:5-8 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Quote of the Day: Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. –Estonian Proverb

You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. –Charles Haddon Spurgeon

With all the doom and gloom, Thanksgiving seems even brighter this year. Unfortunately blessings many times seems to make us lazy and selfish and lean times bring us back. Israel never quite learned this lesson in the Old Testament although they went through the cycle many times. So without being too preachy (is it too late now) I’m dedicating the next week to Thanksgiving.

GAS IS UNDER $2 A GALLON! Give thanks! It also reminds me how perspective plays a part in Thanksgiving. Not that long ago $2 a gallon gas was a crisis, now we’re rejoicing. One of the reasons I took Ethan to East St Louis on our men’s mission trip this past March was perspective. Not everything looks like Sycamore and not that far away is another world. Sin is not a fun, shiny toy, it destroys lives and causes chaos. Teenagers (not Ethan) often struggle with rebellion and independence, but maybe your life and parents aren’t that bad after all:) Perspective.

I’m even rejoicing for $4 a gallon gas this past summer! I don’t want it to come back, but I got an awesome deal on a full size 2005 GMC conversion van with a 5.3 L V8 engine. It was a trade in on a Honda lot when gas was at its peak and no one was going to Honda lots looking for full size vans. The kids are giving thanks that they don’t have to touch each other in the van. Ethan is giving thanks that he can sit with his legs straight forward now.

So turn off the evening news, take a walk around, and give thanks. If that doesn’t work I can get you some cheap property in East St Louis.

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Scripture of the Day: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Quote of the Day: Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

After me and the four kids raking, mowing , and blowing leaves for 7 hours at mom and dad’s, we were almost 2/3 done! Here’s a couple of shots.

That’s just a tiny little corner of our day. Here’s a shot of the yard from the spring. Wherever you see green grass we rake. (Plus the hill you can’t see behind the house.) The raking pictures are off the back corner of the house. It would have been beautiful to have been here a few weeks ago when the colors were full, but the whole idea of the trip was to wait till they fell so we could rake them.

I worked the kids pretty hard because it was supposed to rain on day two. Most of the rain held off so I took them exploring around the old place. Mom and dad have about 16 acres. It’s long and is bordered by the highway on one side and a cliff and creek on the other side. Here’s a look down from the top.

The cliff tapers off towards the end of the property. Here’s where we climbed down on our trek.

Further up the creek it gets higher. All along the right side is mom and dad’s.

Here we are fording Burton Creek.

The great explorer Jeremiah.

The kids had fun and it brought back some great memories for me. They want to go back in the summer and have a picnic and swim in the creek. Tony (my neighbor growing up) and I spent many summers fishing, crayfish hunting, swimming, skipping rocks, exploring, and getting muddy. Ah the good old days when we only had 2 TV channels and no video games, cell phones, Internet, or computers. What did we ever do?

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 15:17 Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Scripture of the Day: Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Quotes of the Day:

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~Sam Keen

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

We’re heading to mom and dad’s after church tonight to rake leaves the next few days, so the Blog will be taking a much needed rest. I’ll make it up to you with some pictures when we get back.

Be Refreshed!

Thanks to all of our veterans today. Here I sit unafraid in my church office, writing whatever I want, worshiping freely, a dozen plus Bibles on the shelf, and listening to the unfiltered news on the radio. About noon I’ll head home to the house I own, driving on good streets, to a pantry filled with food, and a family I love. I won’t live in fear today. I won’t be whisked away by the thought police for reeducation. I won’t gather sticks for a fire to keep warm. I am blessed. We are blessed. It’s been a rough year in the financial markets, but the vast majority of the world would move here in a second. Give thanks.

Thanks to all of our veterans and those who’ve passed on before who have helped build and protect our country and our freedoms. Thanks to my dad who served in the Navy in Korea. Thanks to my brother Roger who was (and always will be) a Marine. Thanks to my other brother Robert who was career Navy. I’ll see you on the other side.

We are blessed. Hug a veteran.

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Scripture of the Day: John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Quotes of the Day: It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. ~Dick Cheney

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot. ~Gary Hart

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die. ~G.K. Chesterton

Our fall series The House God Loves is slowly winding down. We looked yesterday at Gideon and the fact that God loves a challenge. Israel is backslidden again. The Lord allows the Midianites to overrun them and reek havoc for seven years until Israel begins to repent and call out to Him. God raises up Gideon to overthrow the invaders. But God knows Israel is likely to take the credit themselves, so He has a better plan. Soon 32,000 soldiers become 10,000, and then eventually just 300. God uses 300 soldiers with pitchers, torches, and trumpets to rout the enemy as they destroy themselves.

300? God loves a challenge.

-David and Goliath

-Israel and the Egyptians at Red Sea

-Paul and Silas in jail at midnight

-Jesus in the tomb

God loves a challenge.

Be Refreshed!

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 10:4 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Scripture of the Day: Judges 7:22 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,”

Quote of the Day: “God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the IMPOSSIBLE.” William Booth

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” Corrie Ten Boom

“Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation.” Andrew Murray