1. The Lord Jesus Christ has washed me of my sins, took the wrath of God away from me, and has made me into one of His worshippers.  Jesus, Thank You.
2. For my wife.  She has carried the brunt of a full pastors-schedule with great dignity.
3. For my new daughter Madeleine.  Born March 11, 2006.  She is crawling and talking a bit already.  She has to move quick to keep up with us.
4. For my two children Liam and Grace.  They are growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.  They are a delight to be with as they are learning how to govern themselves.
5. For our church.  God has given us great joy in our fellowship and passionate resolve as He has surrounded us with co-laborers.  Pastor Doug is a particular blessing to work under and as a mentor.
6. For my call as a pastor.  I have been challenged WAY BEYOND my natural ability as a pastor.  The challenge has been moral, as I have had to deal with the deepening awareness of my own sin.  The more people you work with the more times I realize how I respond sinfully.  The challenge has also been with my ability, as I have had to do things I thought I could not do.  I have dealt with many difficulties I never thought I would deal with.  It has been difficult.  Because of the difficulty, I hope that God has made me into a godlier person.  I believe He has.  That God is changing me is something to be thankful for indeed!

I am unabashedly stealing this from my wife's blog. 

Below I have reproduced William Bradford's Thanksgiving Declaration from 1623.  Bradford was the Governor of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.  Three years after they settled Plymouth he set aside a day of thanksgiving to God.  This was the First Thanksgiving. 

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease,

Notice first their struggles.  We have much to be thankful for God that he gives us abundant food, has cured many diseases, and kept us safe from harm. 

has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

We also can thank God for our country.  Bradford shows why the United States was settled and gives key principles for the formation of our country, so that we may have the "freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience."  As Pastor Doug at New Life in Christ Church has said many times, in America we are free to be as godly as we want, no one will stop us. 

A biblical example of the government ignoring it’s responsibility was in the case of Daniel before he was thrown into the Lion’s Den in Daniel 6.  He was forbidden from praying to God.  When he was found praying he was promptly picked up and thrown into the Lion’s Den.  By God’s grace, he was protected from the Lions.  Darius saw his mistake and changed his decree that the Lord was to be worshipped.

God has given America a government responsible to protect the free expression of the Christian faith.  This is still true in our nation and is a great reason to thank God.

Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

 

--William Bradford
Ye Governor of Ye Colony

Happy Thanksgiving

-- Sean Whitenack

-- Ye Pastor of Ye Church

Ever wonder what people outside the church think of Christians?  A recent article describes an experience of a Christian waiter serving a Christian table.  We are characterized by them (often correctly) as rude, messy, demanding, and cheap.  My two brothers and I (they more than myself) have all worked in restaurants and we know how servers depend on tips to survive.

The Bible calls Christians to be careful in the way we act before outsiders (Col. 4:5-6).  We are a witness for Christ wherever we go and whatever we do.  Anyone going into a restaurant will need to tip, so we should plan to be generous.  15% the standard tip for any kind of meal service - even bad service (period).  20% for good service and above if the service is excellent.  In our generosity and love as Christians to those that serve in our community is a necessary part of our witness.

We are called to care for the poor and not contribute to their poverty.  Earning $2.50 is poverty.  Maybe the tip system is unjust, but we are stuck with it, so we should love and witness through it.

If you don't want to tip, I suggest the following:

• Stay at home.  If you can't afford to tip according to societal norms and expectations, maybe you can't afford to eat out.  Order a pizza and go pick it up.  Get take out from the same restaurant.  You don't need to tip for that.
•  Go to restaurants that don't require tips.  This is where Julie and I almost always go because quite honestly, tipping restaurants don't fit into our budget.  Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Chipotle, The Soup and Taco - all good stuff.
•  Don't pray - I hate to say this, but it is spiritual hypocrisy to thank God for food and promptly steal part of the meal by a bad tip.  It is saying that God did not really provide enough money to pay for the food.

I found this article through this blog article.

http://reformation21.org/Reformation_21_Blog/Reformation_21_Blog/58/vobId__4608/

I know this is a last second invitation, but I am running this Saturday (7:30 AM) in the Young Lives 5K (3.1 miles) run.  Young Lives is a local ministry to young girls who become pregnant in high school and is led by a member at our church, Katie Pirch.  The race will raise money to help these girls.  My kids are running in the Tot Trot later.

I am not a fast runner, probably I will be second to last in my age group, but I can run the 3.1 miles in about 26:30.  I would love to have some people to run with!

More information can be found here.