Great Thanksgiving Quotes

I got these off one of my pastor websites and thought I would share them in my blog. Which one is your favorite?  I'm pretty fond of John Wooden's. I hope and pray all of you enjoy your Thanksgiving and remember to change the "g" to an "l" and have an attitude of thanksliving the rest of the year.

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest." ~ William Blake

"We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country." ~ C. S. Lewis

"Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books—especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day." ~ John Wooden

“You can't be grateful for something you feel entitled to." ~ Steven Furtick

"It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful 'in general.' It's very strange. It's a little like being married in general." ~ Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

"Thou who hast given so much to me, give me one more thing—a grateful heart!" ~ George Herbert

"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness."~ Charles Spurgeon

"Gratitude is the least of the virtues, but ingratitude is the worst of vices." ~ Thomas Fuller

"If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem small or mean, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the most high God." ~ Thomas à Kempis

"The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

"We have received too much from God to allow ourselves opportunities for unbelief. We have received too many gifts and privileges to allow a grumbling, murmuring heart to disqualify us of our destiny. In contrast, the thankful heart sees the best part of every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress." ~ Francis Frangipane

"Gratitude ... goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy." ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen

"God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart."  ~ Izaak Walton

"It’s not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, that is the true measure of our thanksgiving."  ~ W.T. Purkiser

"It is delightfully easy to thank God for the grace we ourselves have received, but it requires great grace to thank God always for the grace given to others."~ James Smith

Got Church? A Blog Message to my Unchurched Friends

Okay, here’s the deal.  I am a Pastor and I am also the son of a Pastor so I may have a little bias when it comes to attending church, but I hope you will hear me out on this one.  I know you’re busy.  Who isn’t these days?  And Sundays certainly aren’t what they used to be.  Stores are open and more and more businesses are opening, which means more people have to work.  And don’t even get me started on the whole sports thing.  Having two kids who are into sports myself, games on Sundays is an issue we’ve had to deal with.  Whatever your activities are on the weekends, ultimately attending church is about making it a priority.  We all have time for what we prioritize.

Then again, maybe your reason for not attending church has nothing to do with how busy you are.  There are plenty of other reasons out there.  As a matter of fact, I’d like to list a few of those reasons and address them from my perspective.

1.     “Church is full of hypocrites” – Okay, you’ve got me on that one.  Every church is always going to have some hypocrites in it; people who act one way on Sunday mornings and then live an entirely different lifestyle the rest of the week.  But if you want to learn about the Christian faith should you really let someone else’s shortcomings stop you?  And remember one other thing; there will always be hypocrites in church because everyone is a sinner.  At the very core of the Christian faith is the idea that all of mankind is far from perfect, and this has separated us from an all holy God.  But that God loves us so much that He showed us His grace by giving His son to die for our sins so that we can still have a relationship with Him.  So because God has loved us so much we can choose to live our life for Him following the example of His son Jesus Christ.  So if you are wondering about Christians, please don’t think they think they are somehow better than you, because they are not.  They’re just forgiven.  And we go to church to learn more about loving God and to learn more about loving others; nothing too hypocritical about that.

2.     “Churches are always asking for money.” – Okay you got me on that one too.  But when you come to learn what the Christian faith is all about, you’ll stop seeing it as asking for money and you’ll start seeing it as opportunities to give.  At my church we have lots of opportunities to give.  You can give to our local food pantry, you can give to help former inmates get their life on track, you can give to help programs for those struggling with addiction, you can give to people who are helping those in need around the world and sharing the truth about Jesus Christ, you can give so needy children around the world can have Christmas presents, in some cases for the very first time, you can give to help young mothers afford diapers and other baby needs, and of course you can actually give to our church which supports and promotes such causes and more.  I’ve missed a few, but you get the idea.  As one grows in their Christian faith, becoming more generous is a very natural part of that growth.

3.     “Church is boring.” If that’s your impression then you’ve obviously been to church in the past, and let me respectfully suggest you were going to the wrong church.  There’s a famous Christian leader who once said “it is a sin to preach a boring sermon.”  I don’t know if I would take it that far, but I get his point.  If you haven’t been to church in a while, you will find that many of them are not your Father’s church.  A lot of churches have full bands to lead the songs, provocative video presentations, and sermons that are actually interesting and relevant to the life you are living.  If you decide to start looking for a church to attend these are great things to look for, but let me add two more things when it comes to what the Pastor is preaching.  1. He or she should actually be preaching from the Bible.  It’s the bestselling book of all time for a reason.  It’s withstood the test of a couple thousand years and its going stronger than ever.  It’s full of amazing wisdom and practical life application.  And oh, by the way, some of us actually see it as God’s Word given to mankind.  So why in the world would you ever want to listen to some “feel good nonsense” when you can hear from God’s truth in His word.  2. He or she should actually preach about Jesus Christ.  If you try out a church for a couple weeks and the Pastor has yet to mention the name of Jesus Christ, stop going to that church.  A Christian church should be exactly that; Christian.  And you can’t be a true Christian church if you’re not talking about what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

I’m sure there are other excuses for not going to church.  Those were just the ones on my mind today.  Those of you who know me know I’m not some kind of religious nut job.  I’m actually pretty normal.  You might be surprised how many of us normal folks are going to church.  We’re your co-workers, friends, fellow sports team parents, school mates, and more.  We’ve just realized how valuable it is to commit to a church that teaches about the Christian faith.  It’s brought us peace, contentment, and joy, even in the midst of difficult life circumstances.  So give church a try.  You might be surprised by just how much you like it.