On Thankfulness and Generosity

"Thankful people are generous people; We, of all people, ought to be the most thankful." Our pastor, Jim Laird said this morning. He went on to point out that we have so many things to be thankful for that all else is negligible.



So I thought I would list some of those things.

• Family and friends who love us. Coming from a large family, and being a member of the FGBC gives me a huge list of these. The only problem with that is that I am not able to dedicate to each of you the time I would love to.
• Salvation. Just this morning our Sunday School teacher was reminding us of the security we have in our relationship with Jesus, because it is not based on our merits, but rather on the finished work of Christ on the cross. We don't have to "justify" our own salvation. Jesus has done so by means of a "declaration of righteousness" guaranteed by His blood.
• Jobs. We have been so blessed as a family in this area. Not only have we had steady, secure jobs, but as a general rule they have been enjoyable. How many do not have this privilege.
• A nation with a government that is stable. Even when we do not always agree with what goes on, we can be sure of one thing. Our nation is as stable as a free nation can be, and for that we are thankful. Many nations have greater stability, but it is based on lack of individual freedom, and in many cases on oppression.
• Food clothes and a roof over our head. The Scriptures challenge us to be content if we have those three things. In fact, I actually added one, because the roof is not mentioned. However, we have much much more, and I am thankful for these.
• God's Word in our own language and the freedom to read, study, and obey it.

Having so much to be thankful for, we ought (owe it) to:

• Tell others about the righteousness they, too can enjoy by trusting Christ as their Savior.
• Communicate with our family and friends. (Oh, how miserably I have failed in this area!)
• Seek to do our best at our jobs, not only for enjoyment's sake, but also to glorify God.
• Pray for our leaders. They are not perfect, and we may dislike their ideologies, but we can ask for Divine Intervention in their lives, and for wisdom for them.
• Conserve as much of what God provides, and then strive to share with those in need. As a nation, we will sooner or later pay for our wastefulness.
• Read, study and obey God's inspired Word, not as a great piece of literature, but as what it is... His lifebreath exhaled for our benefit, and meant for our good at all times, not only when it suits us!!!

May this THANKSGIVING Season bring to our rememberance many more reasons for thanks and ways to be generous.

Real life Illustrations of Biblical Truth

I just finished reading my dear sister-in-law's interesting post about having to go to the Civil Register to 'get married again'. It brought back memories of a time almost thirty three years ago when we arrived in Argentina with three children and eight years of marriage (proved by a marriage certificate which was notarized, legalized and had all the other legal requirements applied to it), when I went to pick up our National Identity Documents, and found that, although Mary's had a notation to the effect that she was married, mine showed me as single. I was especially provoked because of the trouble I had taken to get every i dotted and every t crossed, and to top it all off, I did not think to have a photocopy, but gave them the original, which they did not return.

So here I was, a 'single' man, living with a married woman with three kids, and serving as a missionary in Argentina. What to do? I couldn't marry her, for she was already married. I couldn't leave her because I loved her, had promised to care for and protect her, and she had three children by me.

This crazy state of affairs was, of course only an international bureaucratic snafu. But several years later, as I was teaching through the book of Romans, it became clear that there was more to it than that.

Because I was present when our marriage took place, (boy was I ever... it rained cats and dogs that afternoon, and about two hours before the wedding found me mopping up the foyer of the church where the torrents of rain had come in through a broken window) I knew that I was married. I also knew that Mary was my wife, because when I lifted her veil to kiss her, I recognized it was she and not one of her sisters.

So in my personal history book, these facts took precedence over anything any Civil Registry officer could say. Maybe they thought I was not married because the person married was Lynn Arthur Hoyt, and they had me listed as Arturo Lyn Hoyt but the fact remains that my marriage was deeply etched in my memory, and they could not take that away from me. I can, and I will, live as one who 'considers' himself married. Even if I wanted to experiment, there would be no loophole which would give me any right to a dalliance based on the laws of Argentina.

The Apostle Paul challenges us to live on the basis of what we know to be true. We know that our salvation is a sure and guaranteed fact because the guarantee comes from our bridegroom himself, who bought us and paid for us. Therefore He himself challenges us to "reckon" ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto God. His work on the cross made our salvation possible, and because of this we have every right to make an entry in our memory book which says that on such and such day, when we became part of the Bride of Christ through trust in Him, His righteousness was applied to our account, and we can set our course of action on the basis of that entry, paying no heed to the insinuations and accusations of the Enemy of our souls.

As we set our course of action in that direction, the next logical step is for us to yield our entire being to Him to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, who will just naturally prompt us to obey the Scriptures and be totally sold over to Him for His control.

Those are the theoretical facts of the case. So my question to myself is: Have you made that notation in your little black book that says: 'I am now the property of Jesus Christ, and there is noone else who can take His place'? Do you live that truth in spite of the enemy's slander and opposition? I pray this is so, both in my life and yours.

What is your definition?

The events of the last two years, with the constant posturing by candidates, speculation by pundits, musings by those of us who are acquainted with Bible prophecy have been bothersome, a motive for concern, laughable, scary, revealing, and many other things at different times.

I found them bothersome in that an expression has come to the forefront which has been used to a point of causing weariness. This expression is "person of faith". What is the new usage of the expression? May I point out that for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, this is not even an understandable expression, as it lacks the personal touch that comes from a walk with the Savior himself.

But in its use by the world around us, it can be used to signify anything from the simple trust a child places in his/her father and mother all the way to a deep confidence which gains its strength from having its taproot sunk very deep into the source of that faith.

For the past few elections, nearly all the participants have claimed to be persons of faith. Depending on who gave them that title in their written or spoken communications, the expression can be used as a term of reverence, derision, suspicion, hatred or love. The facial expressions involved can show pity, a feeling of superiority, a snarl of dislike or in isolated cases a wide-eyed look of unbelieving respect.

It is for the reasons above that I do not choose to call myself a person of faith. You see, faith is of no value unless the Object of that faith is worthy and trustworthy. Mankind, education, money, other persons, corporations, political systems, philosophies and creeds are not a good enough object for my faith. Faith, in my understanding, is not "believing in spite of evidence", a condition which the world seems to ascribe almost universally to Christians, but rather "Obeying in spite of possible consequence."

As the events of the next few hours, months or years unfold, it will be necessary to have the obedient kind of faith that weighs the possible consequences, but chooses to do God's bidding nonetheless. It will have to be the kind of faith demonsrated by Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah, who chose not to act out their world imposed names of Shaddrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but rather made a deliberate decision to live like servants of the Most High God, and said "O king, our God is able to deliver us...but if he doesn't choose to do so, we will still obey Him".

I am quite sure that, if and when the occasion comes when I must make such a conscious decision, God will give me the grace to do so. My concern, however, is whether I will do so with the right attitude, a conviction that I am on the winning side, not the 'whining' side.