Controversy Aside We Have A Lot To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving. What comes to mind?

For most of my life, Thanksgiving was a day to give thanks to God for the bounty that we have been given in this land and to enjoy a bounteous feast. It has been a time of family, friends, football, and fond memories.

I grew up with the image of the pilgrims and the Native Americans from the Wampanoag tribe enjoying a fall harvest celebration together. The images associated with Thanksgiving relate to my early years of education and pictures associated with that event such as The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie Brownscombe.

My image of Thanksgiving was always positive, innocent, and uplifting. If you had asked me, “Is Thanksgiving controversial?” I would have been surprised that the question would have been asked.

However, I have learned that our national day of Thanksgiving is indeed controversial. I learned of many facts and number of controversies associated with the day by reading, Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience by Melanie Kirkpatrick.

The controversies concerning Thanksgiving range from minor details to significant issues, at least in some people’s minds. Some examples of the controversies:

• The offering of Thanksgiving was probably not in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.
• The giving of thanks was a part of Native American harvest celebrations long before the Pilgrims.
• Additionally, cases can be made for pre-Plymouth thanksgivings, by Spanish, Huguenot, and other English immigrants from Europe.
• It is doubtful Thanksgiving took place on the fourth Thursday in November.
• It is possible turkey, which is Thanksgiving mainstay, was not a part of the Pilgrim thanksgiving.
• There are some Native Americans who reject the holiday viewing it as the beginning of the end for the indigenous peoples of North America.
• The Zinn Foundation provides schools with an essay on the history of Thanksgiving which informs students:
• The holiday is used by government leaders as a political tool.
• Governor William Bradford’s On Plymouth Plantation is a “fable” and an “early example of ‘Euro think.”
• As for Thanksgiving Day itself, students are informed the day celebrates “aggression and enslavement.”

I don’t site these controversies to put a damper on Thanksgiving, but to make a point about the way things work in our world. Man seems to be able to make a mess of even a day of thanksgiving.

However, we, as Christians, we seek to look beyond this world to our Creator. Looking to the Creator of heaven and earth is what a day of thanksgiving is all about.

If you observe Thanksgiving on this coming Thursday, tune out the controversies, the football, and other worldly distractions. Seek to focus on your thankfulness to God who has given you life, family, blessings, and, if you are feasting that day, all the food on the table.

The Bible is replete with the word “thanks” which is worthy of our exploration before Thanksgiving. Psalm 136 is especially meaningful in that it reminds us to give thanks to God.

Why?

Because God’s great mercy upon us and all mankind, endures forever.

Have a truly thankful Thanksgiving Day.

Gary Smith

A Wasted Mind Can Be Transformed

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste” is a slogan coined by Arthur Fletcher, the former head of the United Negro College Fund.

A mind is a terrible thing for anyone waste especially if the mind is focused on murder.

Last Sunday, a man with serious mental health issues walked into a church meeting and opened fire on those gathered there. Sadly, this act of murder was the product of a long journey: arrest for abusive actions, dishonorable discharge from the service, incarceration, mental health treatment. Even though the man had his problems addressed, they were not resolved.

From a Christian point of view this act of murder began in the man’s mind. The sixth commandment tells us, "You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13). But keeping the sixth commandment in the letter, literally not committing the act of murder, is only the first line of defense against this sin.

Jesus Christ explained that the sixth commandment is to be kept not only in the letter, but in the spirit. Christ explains the full application of the sixth commandment in Matthew 5:21-22, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Christ is saying that murder begins in the heart with anger and hatred. When anger and hatred reside in a person’s heart they eventually burst forth in derogatory words and eventually into murderous actions.

Jesus described the point of origin of murder and other sins in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

Evil thoughts, fueled by unresolved anger, fester in a person’s mind until murder seems to be the obvious course of action.

Recently our nation has been plagued by a couple of mass murders. Why? Because something has gone very wrong in the minds of those who have perpetrated the slaughter of their fellow man.

The mind is a terrible thing to waste on hatred and rage that manifests in murder. Imagine the bondage and turmoil of someone with this mindset.

Jesus Christ came to set us at liberty from such life-destroying thinking. Christ’s work is to set us free from unresolved anger and hatred. As Christians we are told, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). It would seem that the man who murdered the church-goers was entangled in a yoke of bondage.

Following Christ’s example and admonition, we can forgive those who have sinned against us (Matthew 6:14-15). Instead of nursing anger toward another, we can forgive them of their sin and allow God to deal with the sinner in his mercy and wisdom. We don’t have to carry the burden of anger and vengeance.

In harmony with Christ’s teaching Paul tells us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). In other words, as we humble ourselves before God, we can reject the worldly way of anger and hatred, and be renewed in godly thinking.

Thankfully, the path that is “good and acceptable” and in perfect harmony with God’s will is available to us as followers of Jesus Christ.

Additionally, we know that there will come a time when the young man with the mind so twisted by hatred will be able to enjoy the liberty we now enjoy. At that time his mind will no longer be wasted by anger and hatred.

It is why we pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

Have a pleasant Sabbath,

Gary Smith

Consider Where Our Minds Are Set

Last Wednesday night was a late night for many living in and around Houston. Why? Because the Astros were in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the 56th season of Major League Baseball in Houston, there’s no need for the Astros or their fans to shrug their shoulders, drop their heads and mutter, “Wait till next year.”

With the final out of the game, my wife and I jumped for joy over the victory. Being baseball fans, we have done the same in 1988 as the Dodgers beat the Oakland A’s on a Kirk Gibson home run, and in 1990 as the Cincinnati Reds topped the Oakland A’s.

We’ve also endured the crushing loss of the Texas Rangers (our favorite baseball team) to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2011 World Series. They had three chances to win it all and failed. It was agonizing for us. It is still a bad memory.

In the exhilaration of victory and the agony of defeat, what does it all mean in the greater scheme of things? In actuality, not much.

There will be another baseball season in 2018 and another World Series. Hopefully there will also be an Astros victory, but life, with all of its good and evil continues on.

For example, a large number of victims of the Hurricane Harvey flooding continue to struggle with getting their lives back in order. As stated in the previous paragraph, good and evil continue on relentlessly.

Baseball is entertainment and while it offers us the joy of a victory at times, we still have to get up, go to work, and deal with everyday life. Most importantly, as Christians, we must never allow entertainment or temporary things to divert us from the ultimate purpose for which we have been given life by our Creator.

Is watching a baseball game wrong in God’s sight? Watching the World Series is not a bad thing as long as we keep our priorities straight. Paul tells us what is important in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The World Series is something that we can see in this visible world and it is temporary. We must keep this in mind as we go through life as Christians.

We realize that there are things that are of far greater value than a ball game. In fact, the things that really matter are eternal.

While the 2017 World Series clash between Houston and LA was quite the exciting drama, it is still something temporary and of far less value than eternity.

Where must we focus? “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)

As we observe the Sabbath, we might consider where our minds are set.

Have a pleasant Sabbath,

Gary Smith