Thanksgiving

I have been up early this morning working on a sermon/outline to preach at Arial Baptist Church on Tuesday evening. Our congregation, United Wesleyan and Arial Baptist joins together each year for a Thanksgiving worship service. It starts at 7 PM on Tuesday, November 23. Join us if you can and bring a friend:

Here are some thoughts that I am working on:

Ephesians 5:19-20--"Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1. Many times we lose perspective and cannot give God thanks during "valley times"....I think about the young lady that sent a note home to her mom from college:

"Dear Mom: Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg, when I jumped from he second floor of my dormitory...when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory liveable again, I moved in with him. He has been so nice. I must admit that I am pregnant. Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance. Love,
Your daughter, Susie

P.S. None of the above is true. But I did get a "C" in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its "Proper Perspective!"

2. There are things that steal away our thankfulness: Pride, Complaining, Neglecting to praise God

3. In reading a devotion by Greg Laurie this morning, I came across this reminder: http://www.harvest.org/devotional/archive/devotion/2010-11-22.html

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8 percent of the world's wealthy.

God help me to be thankful not only this week but each day as I depend and rely on your grace, strength and power to guide me!

Just a thought!

Biblical Definition of HATE

Biblical HATE

1Jn 2:11- But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness…

What is this thing that proves we are in darkness? You might say, “I don’t hate anyone in here. Well, yeah, there are a few people who get on my nerves from time to time. But I wouldn’t say I ‘hate’ them.”

Well maybe not- at least not by our definition of hate, but how about by God’s definition?

Part of my sermon at United is about being in DARKNESS...1 John 2:7-11

John mentions that "hating your brother" is a reason why many are still in darkness. I woke up this morning thinking about that word: Hate....Here is what I am finding.

• 1 John 2:11 ho de mison tonadelfon …

Hate- miseo

Meaning: of malicious and unjustifiable feelings towards others, whether towards the innocent or by mutual animosity… Note:In 1 John 3:15, he who "hates" his brother is called a murderer; for the sin lies in the inward disposition, of which the act is only the outward expression.

Here are some thoughts I have this morning:

1. Hate is when we stop holding another’s welfare at heart.

2. Hate is when we simply don’t care; hate is when we justify breaking the unity.

3. Hate is when my thing is more important than your thing.

4. If we hate, God says we are liars and murders waiting to stumble. And even our very best won’t last. Hate kills harmony. Hate kills inspiration. Hate kills others. Hate is suicide.

***But when we agape-love, we are in God’s light. And that light is so bright we can see exactly where we are going- and you know what- we will be going exactly where we need to go.

Have you given much thought to what hatred really is? I pray right now that God will help me to understand what true hatred is and what true love is. Help me Lord, in Jesus name!

If Jesus came to your church, what would you do?

I asked a question this week to our congregation: "What if Jesus came to our church for the next 52 weeks to worship in body with us? What would you do? How would we act?"

My hypothetical answer was:

1. We would probably worship with more fervor, which means no falling asleep, no dozing off, etc. We certainly wouldn't want to be caught falling asleep when Christ is in the house!

2. We would probably sit closer to the front of the church if that is where He sat. We would want to be noted that we wanted to be close to Him.

3. Being that He knows all things we would probably give a full tithe and perhaps a little offering to missions?

4. We might want to tell someone we are sorry for avoiding them since Jesus is all about forgiveness. I mean, who could walk from the church building with hatred brewing for one of God's creatures when we know He forgave us of our awful rebellion?

5. Perhaps we would volunteer for nursery duty?

So, I asked these questions and followed with a fact: Jesus is ALWAYS here with us! So, we might as well quit playing this game and realize that He deserves our best worship, our best offering, our best service, our love for His people...

Is Christ in your church? If so, give Him your best...don't wait until He physically shows up because He is there already...enjoy the poem below:

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two -

If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do.
Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,
And all the food you'd serve to Him would be the very best,
And you would keep assuring Him you're glad to have him there -
That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn't heard?
And wish you hadn't uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder - if the Savior spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up it's usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read,
And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you'd planned to go?
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?
Or would you hope they'd stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do
If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.

Lois Blanchard Eades

Sometimes we just miss out!

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t428

I HAVE BEEN MISSING OUT!!!

This past Saturday, 30 friends from United Wesleyan's Men's Ministry went to a Greenville Drive baseball game.

Well, I really wanted to be with my friends for fellowship, bonding and just to hang out. Several of us at at Golden Corral before going to the ball field.

Now you have to understand, baseball was always a sport that I find very boring, slow and non-entertaining. To make a long story short: BASEBALL HAS CHANGED!

I used to think this same thing about the sport of golf; why would anyone find it interesting try to get a ball into a hole 500 yards away? Now, one golf membership later, it is my favorite pastime (I emphasize pastime! I am in no way consistent enough to compete but love the sport!)

Anyway, we got to the ballgame and I was captivated by the excitement, enthusiasm and overall atmosphere. The entertainment between innings was just great. Gymnastic teams, clowns, dancing to the music, the crowd clapping in chorus, etc...

I was even more captivated by the efforts of these young men (baseball players) as they performed and try to work their way up into the majors.

Needless to say, I was convinced that a Greenville Drive baseball game is an awesome place to take your family and just relax....I am going back real soon...hopefully when the WV Power minor league team comes to town!

My question is:

1. What are you missing in life because of some mindset? Something happened in your past to dampen the thought of trying again?

2. Pastors and Ministers: Are you trying to draw people in to church, to Christ today like you did it twenty years ago? Bring some excitement with your message of salvation....

Just Tim with a thought! (and a lesson learned...I have been missing out on some good baseball!)

American street evangelist jailed in Scotland - Reformation21 Blog

American street evangelist jailed in Scotland - Reformation21 Blog

The Decline of an Empire

Some recent reading led me to think about what history would tell us that leads to the fall of a nation. I found the following:

In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, completed in 1787, Edward Gibbon (English historian and Member of Parliament) lists the following reasons for that fall:
1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within: the decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form—losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide the people.

My question is: How are we doing? Do the facts listed above sound familiar in our day? What can we do to make society better?

Here are some statistics about Christianity and religion in our world:

http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/p/christiantoday.htm

What do you think?

Do we need another Great Awakening?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Awakening

http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1657&C=1653

What I find interesting is that this first great awakening (1738-1740) helped lead to America's independence. After the Revolutionary War (1783-1800), our country went into a tailspin as public sin prevailed like never before:

"According to the late church historian, J. Edwin Orr, in the post Revolutionary War years, drunkenness was of epidemic proportions — of a population of four million, three hundred thousand were considered drunkards. Bank robberies occurred daily. Street crime, rape and murder was rampant and citizens were afraid to go out of their homes at night. Profanity was the worst imaginable, shocking in its filthiness.

The spiritual climate of the nation was disparaging. The Presbyterians met in general assembly to deplore the ungodliness of the country. Both the Methodists and Baptists were losing more members than they were gaining. The Lutherans and Episcopalians were struggling, and even considered a merger for the sake of survival. Episcopal Bishop of New York, Samuel Provoost, had confirmed no one for so long that he quit the ministry. Samuel Shepherd, a pastor in Lenox, Massachusetts, said that he had not taken one young person into church membership in sixteen years.

A poll at Harvard revealed that there was not one believer in the entire student body. At Princeton, only two believers were discovered among the students. Christianity was generally ridiculed. A mock communion was conducted at Williams College; Anti-Christian plays were performed at Dartmouth; In New Jersey, a Bible was taken from a Presbyterian church and burned in a public bonfire. Christians were such a minority on campuses that they met in secret and kept minutes in code so they wouldn’t be caught or persecuted.

The Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall, wrote that the Church was “too far gone ever to be revived.”

Well, another Great Awakening happened 1800-1840 that led to great revival...sin wasn't completely eradicated but it sure did help to have another Great Awakening!

Somebody asked Evangelist Billy Sunday this question: "Why do we always have revival meetings? Revival doesn't last." Rev. Sunday answered: "Neither does a bath but it sure does help!"

May God Almighty continue to work through His people and bring blessing to America!

Just a thought................