THANKSGIVING PAST

The turkey has been roasted eaten and deboned. Plastic bowls of stuffing, vegetables, white and sweet potatoes fill the refrigerator. The Chocolate Cheese Cake, pecan and pumpkin pie have all been sampled. Some have settled down for an afternoon nap while the football games continue; the Thanksgiving Day festivities are winding down as I reminisce of past Thanksgivings.

As a child we sometimes spent Thanksgiving Day at one of our Grandparents. There were always aunts, uncles, cousins to play with and mountains of food. The most memorable Thanksgivings were the ones spent at home with Dad, Mom, my brother and four sisters. Mom would get up early in the morning to make her special cornbread dressing, stuff the turkey and get it cooking in the roaster. The family would wake to the aroma of roasting turkey and baking pies. Breakfast usually consisted of a healthy slice of homemade pie with a glass of ice cold milk. Mom continued cooking all the dishes that made Thanksgiving special. Along with the turkey and dressing there were fluffy mashed potatoes that were really mashed with an old fashioned potato masher instead of whipped with a mixer. The sweet potatoes came from a garden instead of a syrupy can. Mom would slice the potatoes and sauté them until tender then serve them topped with butter and brown sugar. Dishes of green beans, corns and cranberry sauce rounded out the meal. The only concession to traditional and homemade was the dinner rolls. On Thanksgiving we had brown and serve rolls. It was my job to butter the tops before popping them in the oven then butter them for each of my sisters at the table. To this day my sisters will still ask me to butter their rolls, they assure me no one does it better!

As a child, Thanksgiving was about fun and feasting. Before eating, we always had to name one thing for which we were thankful. We would all name the usual things like, Dad, Mom, brother, sisters and of course, Mike was always thankful for the Turkey or something only he would think was hilarious. Fortunately, I have matured over the last 51 years. I still enjoy the food; the cooking and the eating, but now I have my priorities in much better order. I have learned to be truly thankful, not just on Thanksgiving, but for the benefits we are “loaded” with daily.

It is easy to thank God for the big, once-in-a-lifetime blessings, but what about waking up in the morning, the smell of freshly brewed coffee or a hot shower? A hug from a grandchild and sticky fingerprints on the glass door are blessings to be treasured any day of the year. On this Thanksgiving Day, 2008 enjoy feasting with your family, watching football, or playing games but set aside a few minutes to be thankful. Ignore the colorful advertisements of tomorrow’s super sales and take a walk. Thank God for the fresh air, healthy lungs to breathe in and out, and strong legs to carry you around the block. Take the time to read the storybook to your grandchild for the tenth time and thank God for that grandchild’s unconditional love and the little life you have been entrusted to help mold and point in the right direction. Take the time to really listen to what your loved ones are saying and rejoice in their successes and incredible wisdom. Finally, as you sit down to rest after the food has been eaten and the dishes washed, thank God that everyone had more than they needed and the cornbread dressing was once again, a success.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

BECAUSE OF GOD'S GRACE

The following is a devotional I received this morning. It left me with a feeling of uncertainty rather than hope. Any rebuttal that I can write would be sorely inadequate, so I asked one of my favorite thinkers and writers to stand in my place. Below the devotional is the commentary written by my son Steven who is much more eloquent then I am. I am so thankful we have all been chosen for salvation and that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Amazing Grace or Random Grace
Tim Challies

A while ago I received an email from a father, concerned about the task of sharing the gospel with his children. Here is what he sent to me:

I have such a hard time grasping the notion of election as a father. I struggle with why so much of Bible addresses us as decision making/choice making creatures, appealing to us to recognize something and depart from sin and accept Christ.
Yet if God is simply "zapping" us with irresistible Grace, it seems to me that our efforts for others to turn away sin and accept Christ is really not genuine. It seems rigged.
Is there anything that can assure me that I have an influence in whether my child's number is called?

I certainly understand the heart behind this question. I, too, am a father and one who is deeply concerned about the eternal welfare of my children. I love them so deeply and desire nothing greater than that they would turn to Christ in repentance and faith
Like this reader, I am sometimes tempted to express frustration with the way God has chosen to save a people for Himself. But through it all I know that his ways are not only good; his ways are best.

Here's the 3-part answer I gave this father:

First, I think we need to have much greater confidence in God's sovereignty than in the ability of our children to choose God without his foreordaining grace. Without God's grace, none of us could ever turn to him. So we need to take refuge in God's sovereignty and not make it an occasion of fear or dread.

Second, I think it is helpful to see predestination as something that is of far greater concern to God than to us. While we see from Scripture that God has predestined his elect to eternal life, I'm not sure that it is helpful for us to think too much about who is among the elect and who is not.

Third, we need to be careful in how we understand God's work of election. Scripture does not say that certain people "had their number called" and others did not. Instead, we read that God chose some because he had special love for them. There is nothing random about it.
Take adoption for example.

When a couple sets out to adopt a child, they have a large number of potential children available to them. But somewhere in the process of adoption they set their heart on a particular child. It is not that they have chosen this child randomly, but rather that they did so because their affections were set upon him.

Their selection of a particular child is not unfair to the other children. One child was graciously selected for the special blessing of adoption while many others were not. Giving a gift to one person does not make it unfair to withhold a gift from another.

While God has, indeed, ordained who will be saved, he has not told us who he will save. And so we are called us to take the gospel message far and wide, preaching it to all men and allowing God to work the gift of faith into those whom he has chosen for life.

Our task in evangelism is not ultimately to win people to Christ but to faithfully preach the gospel message. If we preached that message, we have done what God calls us to.
As believers, we must learn to rejoice in his goodness as well a sin his sovereign choice and grace. His grace is not random.

It is amazing.

HERE IS STEVEN'S COMMENTARY:

The view expressed in the devotional is a most unfortunate viewpoint. Not only does it do nothing to assuage the fears the father has for his children, it paints a picture of God who is anything but sovereign. True sovereignty rises above emotion and reaction.

1. A sovereign God does not fear that some will not choose Him...He cannot have His pride hurt. Though this is not stated outright, the concept of God fearing that He will lose control is underlying in Calvinism and that is why we as mere humans cannot possibly have free choice. God will never lose control regardless of the decisions we make. His sovereignty means that we must play by His rules no matter what. God's sovereignty is not in the least bit threatened by our choices.

2. The metaphor of adoption is poor because it makes God passive. God is always active, because He is the highest power and nothing can act upon Him making Him passive. A couple wanting to adopt is given a choice from what is available. They are passive in that they have no control over the range of selection. They did not create the children and then select which ones would gain their "special love". God is the Creator. He is active in Creation, not a passive bystander. He does not pick and choose out of a fixed set over which He had no control, and then pour out "special love" based upon some inherent, attractive quality that we possess. Instead, He created each individual with the same opportunity and elements of spirit required to come to Him.

If he did not create us equally, then God must be a vindictive creator that is simply toying with our lives. He then would have created those who have no choice or opportunity to worship Him, to praise Him, and to call Him Father. Likewise, there would be no value in our praise because it would not come out of a recognition of God's sovereignty and worth, but would rather come out of obligation to our nature. Following that line of reasoning, Calvinism falls apart because it states that we are in a state of Total Depravity. If it is our created nature to worship, then we are not in Total Depravity. This causes acts of sin and righteousness to differ none at all...they are simply destiny and foreordained of God. We, as the created, have no choice in the matter of our actions. All of this leaves creation without value, worship without value, and, on the other side, sin without a negative value. It removes moral consequence from our actions. A consequence is the result of a sequence of actions. If created without choice, there exists no consequence dependent upon action; instead, there is simply destiny. No matter the choice, all actions lead to the same end. Given that knowledge, there is now no guilt to be found in acting in sin because you are either chosen or not chosen. Of course, you can see the slippery slope and danger of thinking too coherently about Calvinism. Calvinists would try to deny this line of reasoning by talking about God's sovereignty and justice, but it all ends up being double speak.

3. God is no respecter of persons; therefore there can be no single, inherent quality that one possesses that will gain God's love. God's love is universal, as well as equal for all. His grace is also universal, as well as equal for all. The concept of grace is misunderstood by Calvinists. They view it more as a force that God uses to pull us to Him. Grace is simply the unmerited favor of God. It is not a force; it is the state in which each of us lives. It is by the grace of God that we live though we have sinned. It is by the grace of God that He provided Himself a sacrifice for our sins. It is by the grace of God that we have the opportunity to be saved. It is by the grace of God that we receive blessing. God's grace is available to all that are willing to receive it, but it does not actively force us toward God. God's grace entices us to Him, but does not push us.

4. If Calvinists are correct, then God has acted against His own will. The Bible states that it is God's will that none should perish. If it is God's will that none should perish and we have no choice to make (since God has made it for us), then none will perish. Calvinists will say that "none of God's chosen" will perish, but that is not what the Bible says. If God is sovereign as Calvinists define it, then nobody will suffer hell since God doesn't want anyone there.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this guy is confused in his concept of God's self-revelation to man. Jesus is the revelation of God to man. He came to seek and save that which is lost. Do we not all fall into that category, even those not "chosen"?

Steven Niswonger
sdniswonger@foremosteng.com
Feel free to send any comments to Steven. I’m sure he will be happy to reply.

It is up to each one of us to accept what God offers as a free gift by obedience to His Word. Make the right choice today!

STILL THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH

The long political season culminated in a history-making election yesterday. The last battle of the hard fought campaign has been waged and the dust is starting to settle. Over the next few days there will be celebration, gloating, bitterness and microscopic analysis to determine why one side won and the other side lost.

As a Christian/Republican, I am sad that so many people voted their own self-interest rather than biblical principles, but as a Christian/American, I am hopeful. I am hopeful that all Americans will come together to preserve the ideals that make this the greatest nation on earth. I am hopeful that all Americans will not allow precious freedoms to slip away; the freedoms that allow us to disagree yet live in peace with each other. I am hopeful that one day we can finally put the race issue behind us and as Martin Luther King stated, actually judge one another not on the color of our skin but of the contact of our character. I am hopeful that the Republicans will finally get their act together, learn something from a “community organizer,” coordinate a ground game and win in 2012.

As you all know by now, my candidate did not win, but I refuse to repeat the behavior of the Democrats toward George Bush over the last 8 years. I refuse to show disdain and hatred toward the next leader of this great nation. Daniel 2:21 says, “And he changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings.” When we understand that all power and authority come from God, it is not so difficult to show respect to all our leaders, regardless of party affiliation.

We need to push past the anger and disappointment and obey I Timothy 2:1-3 which instructs us to pray for those in authority. “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks, be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” This verse commands us to pray, intercede and even give thanks for all men, without regard to party or agreement, so that we may lead peaceable lives. If for no other reason, be obedient because it is good and acceptable in the sight of God.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning; we will go to work and come home to our loving families; we will still live blessed lives because our hope is in the Lord.

PRAY ON MONDAY; VOTE ON TUESDAY

On Tuesday, Americans will go to the polls to cast their vote for the next President of the United States. I believe this will be the most important election in my lifetime. The people we choose to place in power will have lasting effects on our culture and liberties.

Our Constitution provides for three branches of government with distinctly different responsibilities. The Executive Branch is responsible for enforcing the laws. The Legislative Branch is to make the laws and it is the duty of the Judicial Branch to interpret the constitutionality of the laws. In today’s government, the duties have become skewed. We have the Legislative branch holding hearings and issuing subpoenas and the Judicial branch legislating from the bench making it impossible for the Executive branch to carry out its enforcement responsibilities. Many feel this president will possibly appoint up to 4 Supreme Court Judges. John McCain has stated that he will appoint strict constructionist’s judges. Judges who will interpret the law according to the wording laid down in the constitution by our founding fathers. Barack Obama has stated that he believes a judge has to bring in his or her own perspectives, ethics or moral bearings. He also believes that a judge should be sympathetic enough to those who are on the outside, those who are vulnerable, those who are powerless, those who can't have access to political power and as a consequence can't protect themselves from being dealt with sometimes unfairly. While the rhetoric may sound appealing, bringing your own moral bearings, ethics and sympathy into constitutionality decisions is not included in the powers of the Judiciary branch.

You are not just casting a vote for a personality; you are casting a vote based on your morals and core values. There are clear differences in philosophy that will affect many of the things we hold sacred; life, marriage, rewards for success, our children’s economic future, building a strong nation of achievers or producing a nation of government-dependent citizens.

Your vote on Tuesday cannot change your relationship with God but it can change the American way of life. Prayerfully consider your vote on Monday, then go to the polls on Tuesday and cast your vote as a proud American.