What comes to mind for most Americans when they think of the word “thanksgiving?” Usually their mouths begin watering as they imagine stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and a turkey fresh out of the oven. That definitely crosses my mind too!
This, in my humble opinion, is a problem. Don’t get me wrong! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the American holiday of Thanksgiving. It brings friends and family together for a time of awesome fellowship. But for followers of Jesus, the word “thanksgiving” should provoke much more than thoughts of a delicious holiday meal.
Thanksgiving should be a lifestyle for Christians. Why? Because it causes us to remember what the Lord has done for us. All throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites are encouraged to remember what God did for them (Ex. 13:3; Deut. 15:5; 1 Chron. 16:12) because it increased their faith to withstand whatever circumstances they were in at the time. The same occurs in the New Testament as well (Eph. 2:11; 2 Tim 2:8).
This was a common practice for the Israelites. In order for them to enter the tabernacle, they had to pass through the “Gate of Thanksgiving.” This is what the psalmist was referring to in Psalm 100:4. Considering our bodies are now tabernacles for the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), we too should enter His gates with thanksgiving when we come before His throne in prayer. If we “enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise,” we can’t help but to remember what He has done for us in the past. This will cause us to have faith that He can carry us through the present. Thanksgiving also helps to lifts any burdens we are carrying, allowing us to pray more effectively.
But thanksgiving should not only occur in prayer. It should be an attitude that we carry in our day-to-day activities. Having an “attitude of gratitude” will put an end to any complaints that may arise in your heart. For instance, when that steak isn’t cooked as well as you would’ve liked, instead of complaining, you can be thankful that you even have food on your plate, which is a luxury many people in this world don’t have. Or when your boss is being unfair to you, you can still be thankful that you have a steady job, unlike millions of Americans right now.
If Jesus, the suffering servant, was able to have an attitude of gratitude (Matt. 11:25; Mark 14:23; John 11:41), how much more should we! So I encourage you to make thanksgiving more than a holiday. Make it a lifestyle.
After taking a long hiatus from blogging, I am now returning to bring you news about what has been going on in my life lately. God has been rocking my world like crazy!
First of all, you may have noticed that I am not posting pictures of Nicaragua, nor am I at home preparing to go on internship to the Philippines. That is because God had very different plans for me. Instead of going on internship, He asked me to stay at BCOM for another nine months to be a mentor for the new August class. I had been considering it for awhile, and, given that I have a strong desire for seeing the men of the church step up and be real godly men, I was more than willing to obey the Lord. I guess Psalm 34:7 is true...
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
God obviously knew what else was in store for me while staying here at BCOM. He asked Holly to stick around as well and work with a traveling ministry team called Ring the Bell. It didn't take too long for God to finally give me the green light to pursue engagement with her! As soon as He did, I set my long-awaited plans in motion.
On Sunday, September 20, I took Holly out to Annie's Parlor, our favorite local restaurant. After having a delicious meal there, we began a long ride to Milaca, Minnesota. About 20 minutes before we got there, I blindfolded her. After arriving, I walked her a few hundred feet and stood her in front of a sign that said "Skydive Minnesota" on it. I took the blindfold off and she freaked out! We were going skydiving!
After waiting for an hour or so, we got suited up and went through some quick, basic ground training. After that, we boarded a small plane with our instructors and took off! After reaching an altitude of about 7,000 feet, the door to the plane opened and I jumped first. I free-fell for about 30 seconds before opening the chute. After it opened, we floated for awhile and it was so peaceful. The quietness and the view were both awesome.
After landing on the ground, I quickly got my gear off and began the preparations to... PROPOSE! You see, I had came to the place the night before and spray-painted "Will you marry me, Holly?" on the landing zone. As Holly came in to land, I could hear her freaking out as she read what was written in the grass. After she landed, I ran up to her, got down on my knee and asked her to be my wife. Her response: "Absolutely!"
So along with mentoring, a lot of my time is devoted to planning our wedding, which will be May 22, 2010. So with all that has been going on in my life, it has been hard to keep up with the blog. But now that things are starting to slow down a bit, and I am able to get in a routine, I should be able to update the blog a little more often.
I guess if I were to say where I fall on the Armenian/Calvinist thing, I'd say somewhere in the middle, but more on the Armenian side. I believe God allows us to make decisions in which both decisions would still be in His will. He just lets us choose which path within His will to take.
In his book "Found: God's Will", John MacArthur says the most important thing is to make sure that you are living in God’s will as it is laid out in His Word. Make sure that you are saved, steeped in Holy Scripture, living a holy life, submitting to right authority, and prepared to suffer for doing right. If all those are in place, then it is a good bet that your desires are attuned to the will of God. Do what you most desire to do. Never assume that God wants you to follow a desire that is contrary to any principle laid out in His Word.
I don't believe God has one set absolute path that we have to follow to be aligned to His will. If we are grounded in the Word and submitted to all those things John MacArthur said, I think God allows us the freedom to choose.
Biblically speaking...
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
--Psalm 37:4
If there was one set path, our desires wouldn't really matter. We'd have to stick to that one path anyway.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
--Psalm 119:105
If we are grounded in the Word, we will know how to make decisions, and we won't make one that is opposed to God
I'm all for being led by the Holy Spirit, and I'm obviously for the power of the Holy Spirit now, but I don't think people take the Word of God as seriously as they should when it comes to knowing the will of God
I'm tired of hearing that there is only one avenue to take that is "God's Will." Any other path is wrong. I think there are multiple avenues within God's Will. As long as you're grounded in the already revealed will of God (the Bible), then you are okay.
If you make a decision and God would rather you go in a different direction, he'll let you know. It happened to Paul in Acts. He was on his way to Asia and the Holy Spirit somehow blocked his path and he ended up going to Macedonia instead.
God's not going to throw a lightning bolt at your head. He's a shepherd; his rod and staff will comfort and guide you. Only in the case of outright rebellion will he break the legs of his sheep.
So my challenge to you is to not get paralyzed in a position of indecisiveness... delight in the Lord, worship Him, and make a decision. Don't stare at the sky like the disciples did at the beginning of Acts.
...for the Father up above is looking down in love. So be careful little mouth what you say.
Sorry, I had to finish the song. Anyway...
"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
--Jesus in Matthew 12:33-37 (NIV)
I was reading this passage of Scripture today, and it just hit me how important our words are. According to Jesus, what comes out of our mouths is the indicator of what's going on in our hearts.
Here at BCOM, there has recently been a lot of negativity going around. I have been hearing many negative, cynical remarks concerning various things. Even things that should normally be good, such as a desire to go preach the Gospel, is being tainted by negative statements that are often putting down the ministry of BCOM. On another note, what we talk about most often shows what we love most. I used to love talking about sports and music (and I still do, to an extent). That was because in my heart that is what I loved most. But, as Christians, isn't our number one priority to love God with everything we are (Matt. 22:37)?
If God is to be our primary love, our hearts should overflow with that love. Therefore, since the overflow of the heart comes through our mouths, most of our words should be related to God. Yet I rarely hear Christians talking about God.
I love engaging in conversations about God, yet they rarely happen. It seems strange, and it often makes people, even Christians, feel uncomfortable. If you truly love God, I encourage you to start a conversation today about Him. You won't be disappointed.
I was reading Deuteronomy this evening when I came across this passage:
If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods", ... do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death.
--Deut. 13:6-9 (NIV)
This just kind of opened my eyes a little more to how serious God is about His people not worshiping idols and other gods. Even if your wife or your children do it... put them to death. Obviously, we are under the New Covenant, and this is not to be applied to us now (literally, anyway), but it shows how jealous God is for our hearts. He will not share us with anyone or anything else.
Oh, I pray I will never turn from the one true God!
This layout has been fixed and returned to normal, so it's back on my blog. Whew! I really like this layout so I'm glad it's back. Sorry for the confusion!
Hey! My name is Adam. I'm a follower of Jesus, the one and only Son of God and the Man who saved my life. I'm also a student of Bethany College of Missions. If you want to know more, feel free to e-mail me at adam.hunter@bcom.org.
