Technology is a Reoccurring Joy

John Piper recently answered the question, “How do you use iPhone in Christian Growth”. The main thrust of his answer was one of joy found in access to so many rich sources of biblical knowledge at his fingertips.

“My iPad and my iPhone are incredible gifts from God. I could almost come to tears over how precious they are to me.”

I have been quiet the geek for many years now. Sadly for longer than I’ve loved Jesus in return for his love for me. As a young lad, I sold both my Star Wars and He-Man collections to purchase boxes from Nintendo and Sega. The first loan I ever got from a bank was to purchase a 486 speed desktop computer, and that's with no vision of an interconnected network. I even stood in line for the first iPhone, but honestly, who is surprised by that one?

All of my geekness aside, the rapid speed that technology is spreading around the world is alarming and inspiring at the same time. When I was on my first Mission Trip to Honduras in 2004, we were allowed to send two emails home to the entire week. Several years later on a return trip, I was video chatting with my family from my iPhone.

In January, I was in Uganda teaching Hermeneutics. The only technology I took with me was a huge iPhone and the little keyboard I'm currently typing this on. I make documents for class, researched topics, and had access to my entire theological library.... All in a pocket sized device.

Since returning, I've been getting a few messages weekly from some of my students and from the pastor of the church, in which I preached. They are such an encouragement to me.

From: Gita Julius.
Hello Pastor,
Easter celebration in our church was very good, we stated on Good Friday with the all night of worshiping, praising and praying to the Lord,
We be-live that He raised from the death and He will never die again. The death no longer has dominion over Him, so brother, your heart may not tremble because we will be with Him in the glory.
Greetings to you all. 

For all the dangers we can find in technology, there are at least an equal number of joys to be found. The task before us is how to leverage this advancing gift for the kingdom.

Run From Distraction

Run From Distraction

Often I feel everything I write is more about my flaws than anything else. I guess being a mess is just part of who I am, which oozes confidence fore sure:)

When I was in Uganda, there were far fewer distractions because TV isn't a thing and the Internet was sparse or slow at best. I read more, I prayed more, and I talked with people way more.

The same thing happened on vacation with Amber. Laughter with her replaced laugh tracks and status updates or news feeds.

So here I am again, telling myself and anyone who reads this that we are a collectively too busy and too worried about things that don't matter society. I'm not saying that TV is the devil box, or that all social media is bad, but I am saying that God has wired us for relationship with him and with others. When we place any barriers between this truth and our lives, we become rapidly lost and disconnected.

I feel like a broken record. I feel like I should know better. I feel like I'm not alone in these feelings. I know Jesus taught us all how to live.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.* Matthew 6:25-34

We were made for relationship with the father. Think about all the tension points in our lives and what is at the core of them. Is it working to obtain stuff? Is it striving to achieve position or status? Is it maneuvering to be more acceptable? Is it longing or connection with others?

At the core of our stress is attempting to replace God's rightful and sovereign position as Lord of our lives with self.

We are made to hold the universe of our lives in our own hands. We are made to cling to the creator for each and every day. Whatever you are motivated by or worried about, if it distracts you from how you were meant to thrive you can't function for long.

The solution is found in the words of Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Everything else must flow from this truth or we are lost.

What Sustains You?

I've been back in the states for almost two weeks now. The transition back home was filled with hugs from my family, sharing the changing nature of God's word no matter the country, and some shaky stomach issues that have now ended.

Anytime you leave the country and return, you see things with new eyes. Anytime you face a tough trial or struggle, you come through it refined. These things come to us all.
So How Do You Deal With Them?

First is with the continued immersion in God's Word. Nothing make sense at the heart level without it. Without a Christ Centered, Biblical Worldview, all your left with is a hopeless existence filled with doubt an fear. This is why we are told in Proverbs see seek wisdom that lasts, from scripture.

Second is a life/experience that builds from this wisdom. This comes from living for others more than self. It gives legs to wisdom, and it stands through all circumstances.

This is a note Eli wrote for me 5 years ago when he was hanging out with me in my office at the church in West Virginia. I've carried in my wallet from that day forward. It's been all over the US with me and I took this pic of it in Uganda.

When you feast daily in God's Love Letter to his Image Bearers, and let it flow into your relationships, you are sustained by the creator.

The Bible isn't just an old book, it is the love of God breathed out, pointing us to the word made flesh.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. - John 1:1-4

Eli isn't just my son, he is a gift from God to be cherished, loved, trained, and then sent out to bring Glory to God.

So what sustains me? God's love on display in his Word and through the relationships he grants me.

What else would I need?

Hunger for Truth

I'm writing this while flying over the tip of Greenland. You read that correctly, and I'm amazed by the world of technology that allows for the flying and the writing.

It's hard to encapsulate the last two weeks as I sit here. So many stories, so many moments of grace and beauty, so many times that I was moved to tears in my quite time with the father.

Often when we go to a new place, we marvel at the differences, expound on the things that aren't like home, and sadly we often see each culture through our own instead of through contextually acute eyes. Uganda is different in many ways than my Wyoming home, but not that much different in the greatest aspect....... Truth matters and is slipping away from both.

The trip I was on and the singular mission of Training Leaders International is to teach to things, Hermeneutics and Homiletics, the study of God's Word and the Expository Preaching of God's Word. This is also the singular mission of every pastor, or at least it should be, and it must be the central discipleship plan of every church. We put God's Word at the center and strive for all who would listen, to seek the risen King on every page.

In Uganda and East Africa, the wickedness of the prosperity gospel is having horrific results in this hearty nation. When a people are fed a steady diet of "plant seeds of wealth and God will return in seven fold" they quickly begin to feel that God has forgotten them, when the wealth doesn't come. Sadly, these false teachers do get wealthy< and in turn, live a lifestyle completely unattainable by most of the society.

When the very Word of God is twisted in this way, it makes for a crisis of sound theological training for pastors. It's not just a conference to attend, but joy on this planet and eternal life rest in the balance, for we know that it is through the preaching/teaching of God's word that we are saved.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:14-18

We in the United Stated aren't free from this dilemma either. The prosperity gospel has it roots in our land and still has it's wicked grasp on many. However, it seems pretty clear that an even greater tragedy is sweeping our nation and most of western civilization. Lack of Biblical Truth that leads to an UnBiblical World View.

Albert Mohler recently published an article on Biblical Illiteracy in the United States. In it, he lays out a dangerous reality in our increasingly secular society, people who attend church and claim Christ as savior increasingly know very little from the Bible.

According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. “No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don’t know what they are,” said George Barna. The bottom line? “Increasingly, America is biblically illiterate.

We wax eloquent about the ills of society, how we can fix them, what new cause we should stand with each week, and allow our world views to be shaped by 24 hour news and Facebook likes rather than intelligent thought and Christ centered reflection.

Every Christian should know the cause of all evil..... SIN. This world is broken in every way and will be made perfect only when Christ returns. Until then, we place our hope and trust in Jesus alone, we love our neighbor as ourselves, and seek the face of God in his Word, where we find a hope and a joy that can never be squashed.

Do you Hunger for the Truth? Do you long for this world to be redeemed? Do you long for all to be children of God?

Whether in Uganda or in Wyoming, their is a singular mission. We must all ban together, and keep the main thing of Church and Ministry, the clarion call Paul gave to Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

The Word Unites the World

These are some of the kids from King of King's Church, where I preached Sunday. It was an amazing experience and one in which I felt more humbled as a preacher than ever before. Not so much because of the location, the emotion of being away from my church in Wyoming, or the people themselves.
I was moved by the weight of God's Word.

This happens at some point most weeks as a prepare to preach or when I'm actually taking my spot on the stage, to open the Word I so dearly love. I've preached in multiple states, on barges in the Ohio River, at camps along rivers in West Virginia, at the beach, on the top of a mountain, to pastors in Central America, in nursing homes, at a village in Uganda, in my hometown city park, converted gas stations, and more in between.

What I've learned over the years is that no matter the worship style, age range, temperature, view, language, region, or continent, the ONE thing that is constant is God's Word.

That is the mission of Training Leaders International and Africa Renewal University. To impart the global unifying truth, of the very Word of God, to pastors and leaders in churches and businesses, in Uganda and around the globe. This mission changes the trajectory of whole generations by showing them the centrality of the gospel and how to disciple others through the word.

In my Hermeneutics class there is a young man named Cephas.

He has an amazing story of being raised Moslem, being confuse after hearing the grace of Christ preached, attempting suicide, and then putting the Koran and the Bible side by side in an intense study. The result of his salvation came from reading the Gospels and finding that Jesus was a savior filled with hope, love, and an eternity secured in Him alone. Mohammend only promised blind obedience, hopelessness, and internal despair.

He was rejected by his family for years, grew in his faith, became a changed young man, and then was able to be a witness to his brothers, who are all now walking with Jesus. Now he is here being equipped for ministry and praying about where God will have him serving.

The Word of God is what was able to bust through his lonely and confused heart. Not some program, not some well orchestrated service, or some deeply entrenched doctrinal statement that is preached more than the bible.

The very words of our God.
Inspired Inerrant Eternal Universal

East Africa is as diverse in cultural background as the United States, and I imagine that is true for each region of the world. Thousands of languages, billions of people, and a myriad of cultural contexts...... But one true scripture that is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

There are many physical needs around the world, to that I am greatly aware. However, if those who break our hearts because of circumstance, don't also cause our hearts to break for their need of God's Word, we are doing little more than delaying their inevitable & eternal demise, void of God's love.

The Kingdom of Heaven promises relief, but it also demands response. I pray that this truth is a beacon, drawing all who are weary to the arms of Christ, and to the confidence of his love found in His Word.

Core Concepts

In my hermanutics class, yesterday we open the wonderful door of context. Often the rightly claimed core of Hermenutics is described in three key areas:

CONTEXT - CONTEXT - CONTEXT.

When we approach a text of scripture, we are apt to immediately begin to read it from our own culture, our own experience, and our own ideals. This is dangerous, because the bible was written in a specific place, inside a specific culture, to specific people, but it has universal & eternal application. The essential nature of how we approach the word of God should be with humble hearts, sharp minds, and with the attitude that God will speak, not an attitude that we are reading to add our opinion.
This little diagram shows how we start from the passage and work our way outward to finally incorporate it on the entirety of scripture. As we study the specific, we must never lose site of the entire message of Christ.

The quest is to assert the meaning of the ancient scripture and then apply it to our modern lives. Meaning refers to what the author intended to communicate through the text. Because a text’s meaning is tied to the author, it will be the same for all Christians. That has been one to the great joys in teaching here. No matter text or all the different backgrounds in the room, the meaning is the same.

Application refers to the response of the reader to the meaning of the inspired text.  Application reflects the specific life situation of the reader and will vary from Christian to Christian, although it will still have some boundaries influenced by the author’s meaning.[^fn-sample_footnote]

The way to approach any scripture is "What does this passage mean and how do I live out or apply this meaning to my life?” rather than “What does this passage mean to me?" No one grows or finds solice in an opinion of scripture and often great damage is done instead. However, we are changed when God's meaning in His word drills into our hearts through application.

We study Scripture not just to learn more about God, but to know and love God more. He gave us his Word not just to fill our brains with biblical facts, but to change our lives.[^fn-sample_footnote]

[^fn-sample_footnote]: Grasping God's Word

How Great is Our God

Several year ago, Amber & I got to see the live performance of the now classic Chris Tomlin song, but with an amazing twist.

Ok.... Here is a link to go watch it. Do that and come back to read more.

How Great Is Our God

Pretty amazing isn't it. Languages from all over the world, singing the same song to our God. His sovereignty put on display with voices he created. I'm moved every time I hear it. What a beautiful picture of the church global that will sing the praises of God in unison.

It reminds me of the amazing scene reveled to John in Revelation 4&5. There are four winged creatures circling around the throne of God singing:

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!

Then the 24 elders add their voices to the praise

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

Then John begins to weep, because God has the scroll in his hand that will bring the end of the age and the redeemed creation will come, if only someone could break the seals. No one in heaven or earth is worthy. What is to be done?

And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

Jesus walks up to the father seated on his throne, in an amazing picture of the mutually submissive relationship of the Father and Son in the Trinity, and takes the scroll. Like a lamb who was slain, who paid the price for the salvation of his image bearers, he opens the scroll..... And Worship erupts, dripping with the prayers of the saints whose every tear was collected by their Heavenly Father, for this moment.

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

And then all of heaven joins in this new song

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!

And then all of creation joins in this new song

I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!

As I type this in Uganda, surrounded by many different language and dialects from all over East Africa, I can't help but be moved by God's Revelation that King Jesus will come for his bride and redeem all things.

Until he does, I will listen to this version of How Great is Our God and weep because it is a mere foretaste of that great day.

The Need for the Word

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I wrapped up teaching my first day, and I'm excite and exhausted at the same time. A bit excitausted if you will. (If Stephen Colbert can invent truthiness, then I can make up this one)

Today I introduced the class to Hermanutics or Inductive Bible Study if you fancy that better. We began with the writing of the scriptures: the who, when, where, how, of the divine inspiration of our inerrant Bibles. Stories were shared, favorite passages studied through new lenses, and often mishandled texts like Jeremiah 29:11 brought into the light of context.

It was awesome!! Not just the time in God's word, but watching students begin to open up to the intense and important task of systematic study of scripture. Washing away the years of shared "knowledge" and letting the very word of God speak instead of opinion, is of utmost importance. These students love Jesus and want others to know him too, but they need a firmer foundation to lead and love their congregations well. That doesn't happen outside of the right teaching of God's word. You can care for people and lend some comfort, but eventually that runs out when the world is shaken.

The core of the Gospel is that Jesus saves up through his work on the cross, and we know that because of the scriptures. Paul restates this fact twice here:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:3-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Without God's word, you can't begin to understand the depths of His love for you.

The work that TLI is doing here and around the world is eternally important. By strategically sending pastors to train other pastors, the theological and gospel spreading impact is exponential!! What a blessing to each nation that gets newly trained and equipped pastors to spread the name of Jesus.

Well, I'm so excitausted that I need to head off to get some rest. I will leave you with this illustration I got from Grasping God's Word. It's the core principle we are using this week for each passage, and a great tool to keep handy if you are diving in deep.

Global Purpose

If there is one thing getting out of the United States teaches you, it is that the world is much bigger than you imagined. From roaming around airports teaming with people from all over, to sitting on the plane next to a guy from Eastern Europe, or just looking out over the campus of ARU, you begin to understand that God has a global purpose that is beyond our little individual lives.

We must all come to grips with the reality that life isn't about us. This is a hard pill to swallow, since I was the apple of my mom's eye since birth. (and my brother Chris too, of course:) Our mission in life, the very purpose for our breath, is to bring Glory to God and enjoy him forever. This sets us on a path that bends and twists wherever our Lord pleases, for his Glory and for our joy, with him right by our sides.

When I look back upon my life, I am amazed at what God has taken through and gotten me through, often at the same time. High school rebellion, grace poured salvation, college intellectual challenges, getting married to Amber, becoming a teacher, leaving being a teacher, Eli, my first step of becoming a pastor, moving my family to WV, Savannah, developing amazing friendships, more education, called to leave, moving to Wyoming, leading a church, developing amazing friendships, snow drifts, Uganda, etc. At every step, God was directing my path, holding my heart when I was scared, and ultimately He got the glory from my obedience and my trust that He is good.

However, if you just read that whole list, it's very specific to me isn't it. That's the beauty of God. All our lives tell individual stories, but they all point to our one King, Jesus. We are all part of a global church, chasing after the heart of a global God, who has a singular purpose, His Glory.

This morning, I was blessed to attend the church plant meeting here at ARU. We worshiped through music and expository preaching, we clapped, we sang, and we enjoyed the knowledge that wherever we are in this world, we are part of a global movement of God's children falling more in love with our father in heaven, through his word.

Tomorrow class begins and the course I'm teaching here is Biblical Interpretation. Pray for me. Pray for my students. This course is the foundation for everything else in ministry and in life..... How to read and understand the scriptures.

It is a global imperative that all God's people are rightly taught the truth of scripture. This is often done through the preaching & teaching of God's word, so equipping pastors to handle the text is essential for deep and abiding affection for Christ to flourish in the life of the church.

Pray that God's Love Letter to His Children comes alive in their hearts and that they are equipped to lead their families and their people well.

From Passion to Uganda

Several years ago, Amber and I took a group of students to Passion in Washington D.C. They had decided to do several regional gatherings over a few months instead of one huge event in Atlanta. It was a model for the big news they announced that year.... A Global Passion Tour.

The prayer was to use each U.S. gathering as a catalyst for a corresponding global gathering. The church here praying for and sending leaders to the global church. It was a beautiful vision and the subsequent world tour of God name and his renown being championed had eternal consequences in many lives.

Serval years prior to this Passion, I had attended Passion in Nashville. It was 2005, I was teaching high school, but was being clearly called to full time ministry. The call to help others see the truth in scripture, instead of floundering through it or being completely mislead by charlatan "pastors", became the beat of my heart.

Fast forward to today, living in Wyoming with the same fire in my heart, and an opportunity to help equip leaders leaders in Uganda through Training Leaders International happened. I will be teaching Hermeneutics (fancy word for how to read and study the Bible) for two weeks at African Renewal University. This journey is going to be hard and exciting for so many reasons.

However, the one thing I know for certain, is that God ordained this years ago. This card was given to me at that Passion gathering 8 years before.

I carried it in my backpack for years, and then it ended up in the top drawer of my desk. Honestly, I haven't seen it for a few years, but the other day while cleaning out that drawer, it was found again. I'm so thankful that Jesus is directing my path instead of my cluttered nature.:)

Sometime tomorrow, I'll land in Ugnada, praying the passion for truth would ooze from my soul to my students.

Pray for me.
Pray for my family while I'm gone.
Most importantly, pray for the truth of the Gospel to be put on display and carried to the nations.

Gift of Perspective

For over a decade, I've grown more in love with the mountains.  This began the first time my wife and I treked to Winter Park, Colorado to ski fresh powder instead of the ice found in our midwestern home state.  

I'll never forget that view.  Standing above 10,000 ft, and then plummeting down the frozen, hard packed snow at the top, only to take a breather when we enter the fluffy stuff in the trees.  Multiple trips have been made back to that spot, and many others like in in the Rockies.  Each time we are seeking that rush, but for me, that moment of standing on the top, with my tips pointed down, brings everything back into perspective for me.  

We no longer live in the midwest, making Wyoming our home, with the mountians a constant view from our front door.  Each and every day, like John Muir so elequantly stated, "the mountians are calling, and I must go."  

Last weekend I answered the call, and the one to chase elk too, and spent several hours quietly making my way through the trees.  I saw signs of the elusive ghost, but no meat was put in my freezer.  It could have been a frustrating morning, except for the gift of perspective found in the view.  

25 miles away from where I stood and 3000 feet lower in elevation, is my home.  My wife, my kids, the church I shepherd, the community I love, and countless individual stories that are all part of God's overarching story of himself.  Sometimes I forget that I'm not the center of the universe and that all things aren't about me.  

God gives me the gift of perspective each time I'm in the mounatians.  

Jesus often withdrew to pray and rest after long days of entering into the story of his rebellious creation.  He was constantly seeking to connect with his father in Heaven, and to regain perspective.  

Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed

John 6:15 Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Where do you gain perspective?
Where do you connect with the father who loves you more than you can fathom?
When do you feel the deepest connection to the story Jesus is writing through you?

My prayer is that you'll stake a claim on the life giving place that grants God Glorifying Perspectibe to your soul.  

Go there.
Be with God.
Let the overflow guide every step.
Then return often until the final day is upon you.

Thanksgiving Matters

I'm sure we are all full from our festivities of Thankfulness. Turkey naps have been taken, shopping is all done, and the Christmas tree has been cut down (or taken out of the box).

But do you feel thankful? Really thankful?

Paul tells us in Romans 1 that our thankfulness matters. It is the key to Obedience. It is the key to Joy. It is the key to Eternity.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things -- Romans 1:21-23

A heart filled with self, is a recipe for a dark and foolish heart. This has led to the greatest tragedies in history and the saddest personal days in all of our lives. We weren't created to be focused on anything other than our creator and being stewards of all that he created.

C.S. Lewis wrote often about this heart issue. The last paragraph of Mere Christianity summarizes the biblical truth of giving up our lives for the truth of Jesus.

The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and the death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find him, and with him everything else thrown in.

It is not in our self-interest to be selfish. Rather, self-denial is in our self-interest.

In Lewis's classic sermon The Weight of Glory, he poses this same dilemma of wicked and sad selfishness. In that context, he gives what has become my favorite Lewis quote:

Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex, and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Are you Thankful that your savior loves you?
Are you Thankful that you have breath?
Are you Thankful that you have been created for a purpose?
Are you Thankful to the point of living life with open hands and paper thin agendas?

Thanksgiving matters not just once a year, but each day. Our Thankfulness is the key to really living and the source of all our Joy.

Happy Thanksgiving Today and I Pray EVERY Day