As Christians, we are, by God's redemptive work of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, supernaturally transferred from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of God. Therefore, we are commanded by Christ our Lord, to be the light of the world—to be holy (that is, set apart) from the enslaving, self-indulgent deeds of this world. We have been freed to live holy, upright and self-controlled lives—filled with the Holy Spirit—bearing good fruit in the name of our Lord Jesus (Titus 1:8, Col 1:10-14).

"Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

-1 Corinthians 9:25-27, ESV

According to our Father God, there ought to be an unmistakable difference between the way holy children of God live their lives and how the children of the world live their lives. This doesn't mean however, that Christians can't and shouldn't enjoy a hearty and lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family, friends and strangers. What it does mean is that a Christian's Thanksgiving ought to be founded and filled with love, gratitude, and humility toward God Almighty for all His goodness to us, rather than be an occasion where gluttony is celebrated.

So how does one go about making a Christian's Thanksgiving look unmistakably different from the Thanksgiving of unbelievers? That's coming up, but before I share the practical applications of this biblical perspective, I'd like to take a short excursion into the past.


The 'First' Thanksgiving

There are many arguments about when the "first" Thanksgiving celebration took place. Did it take place by the first settlers of our country (the Pilgrims), in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, or was it established by our country's first President, George Washington in 1789? The answer is...yes. Though the Pilgrims did not officially have a name for their three-days of feasting and celebrating, this occasion was specifically held as a time to give thanks to Almighty God who endured them through much hardships (including many deaths) during their first year in the New World.

In 1789, President George Washington made an official proclamation for our country "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness". This was to take place on Thursday, November 26, 1789 (read the full proclamation here). Unfortunately, this proclamation waned as the American people forgot that it was by God's gracious and merciful hand that they prospered, won wars and could freely worship Him as He commanded (much like the Israelites did after God freed them from slavery in Egypt).

Thankfully, exactly 74 years later (to the day, on October 3) President Abraham Lincoln made another proclamation to the people of our country to observe a day of, "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens" (read full proclamation here). Lincoln's proclamation was different from Washington's in that Lincoln suggested a day of Thanksgiving to be observed on the last Thursday of November, annually, rather than on a single, designated day. Lincoln's proclamation was observed every year by Presidents that came after him. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill designating every fourth Thursday of November to be our nations official day of Thanksgiving.



Now, back to the present. How do we, as children of light, celebrate this day of Thanksgiving in a way that's notably different from the way children of darkness celebrate it? For starters, don't plan on making a meal you can't handle. We all have limits and we need to be wise enough to know what our limits are so we're not unkind and/or arrogant towards others (Prov 14:8). Next, begin the night before by reminding your hearts who God is and what He has done for you by reading Deuteronomy 8; Psalms 5, 9:1-2, 27, 40, 103, 116:5-14, 145; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Luke 11:27-28; Acts 4:13; Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 2:3-4; 1 John 2:15-17 and 4:9-12. Then prepare a short devotional to share with those God has blessed you with to celebrate this day of Thanksgiving. Include a hymn or another song of praise to our great and awesome God during this devotional time. Make sure not to choose a song where people will have to do vocal acrobats in order to keep up with the melody. Choose a song of praise and thanksgiving that exalts the name of Christ and can be sung by even a five-year-old.

As you prepare and bring your festive and delicious foods to the table, rather than play the martyr and do it all yourself, select a few helpers (young and old) to set the table and bring out the scrumptious feast for all to enjoy. Once everyone is seated, the head of the household should ask everyone to hold hands, and offer a humble and heartfelt thanks to God for the abundance of His goodness in Christ Jesus and the magnificent gifts we've receive through Him. As plates are being filled, beginning with the oldest person at the table (because you want wisdom to lead) have everyone share what they're most thankful for this season. Encourage your guests to share Scripture verses as they speak about God's goodness to them.

After this time of sharing thanksgiving and praise for God's awesome deeds in the lives of those sitting around your table; delight in conversations that are holy, gracious, appropriate and honorable. Refrain from conversations that include lewd and inappropriate/degrading jokes and other forms of irreverent babble (Eph 4:25, 29-32 and 5:4). If there are some in your gathering that engage in the latter, don't be afraid to lovingly ask them to stop and continue to encourage godly conversations so that everyone might enjoy this time together (Prov 27:5-6).

Once the main meal has been eaten and everyone is enjoying delectable desserts, read a verse or passage of Scripture (like the ones I suggested above, or one that's near and dear to your heart). Then invite everyone to play games, watch football, and/or simply enjoy the goodness of God and the gift of fellowship.

Be sure to keep an eye and prayerful heart out for anyone in your midst who needs a warm hug, a loving ear, biblical counsel, etc.

Whatever you do, whether you take any of my suggestions, or have many God-honoring, Christ-exalting traditions of your own, remember it's not about the food (or you), it's about God and the people He's brought into your home. Resolve to love God and others well, so that your Thanksgiving celebration will be a holy, acceptable, and a cheerful offering to God our Father.

"Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart."

-Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, ESV

Happy Thanksgiving!

God's timing is always perfect (cf. Is 30:18, Mt. 6:8).

Needing to recover from a recent erruption of verbal friendly-fire (Christians assaulting Christians), where I was greatly discouraged for sharing the Gospel with anyone the Lord leads me to (family, friends, neighbors, strangers, etc.), the Lord provided me with abundant comfort and strength through His Word, my darling husband, and my oldest son. And as if that weren't enough, my ever gracious Father also provided me more encouragement through soundly biblical and exhorting books*, sermons and articles. One of the articles (below) was shared today, at Ligonier Ministries.

During this recent verbal attack, it was intimated that I was an unloving person because I didn't always seek to first "love" people through acts of service before I "earned the right" to share the Gospel with them.

In our self-indulgent world, love has been desecrated and redefined to mean all that's warm and fuzzy, verses it's true definition, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). And if God is love, then love is holy, it is righteous, it is good (perfectly moral), and it is sacrificial—which is in complete opposition to the world's teaching that love always makes me or you feel good. Sadly, this worldly and defiled definition of love has been largely adopted and happily welcomed by many Christians. And why is this a problem? Firstly, because anyone who adopts the worldly definition of love, is blaspheming God's holy character and causing the unbelieving world to mock and malign God's Word. Secondly, it's a problem because it weakens our spiritual immune system, making us more susceptible to sin and less sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading. And lastly, because it makes us unfaithful children of the Most High God, who prefer to rub shoulders with the world (making people feel good), rather than lovingly offend them with the life-giving power of the Gospel.

God is love and He said the best way to love Him and others well is to share the Gospel. After all, didn't our Father God say in John 3:16 that it was His love for the world that He sent His one and only Son to the earth to suffer and die for our sins? And look what our Lord repeats here in 1 John 4:8-10, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

"And I, when came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom...that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

-1 Corinthians 2:1; 5, ESV

During this recent discouraging and burdensome time with believers, most agreed that one of the best ways to share the Gospel (inoffensively) is to share our testimony. What? Unless our testimony includes the Gospel (which, actually, mine does...purposefully), then it's not the Gospel...it's our testimony...which, I'll say again, is not the Gospel. The Gospel is not about us. It's about Jesus.

Dr. R.C. Sproul, explains this biblically and succinctly.

"So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:24–25).

"This statement, 'Give God the glory!' seems positive until we read the remainder of the sentence, in which the Pharisees revealed that they had concluded that Jesus was a sinner and therefore could not have performed the miracle. They were saying that the man should give glory to God, not to Jesus. The man was straightforward with them, saying: 'I don’t know whether He’s a sinner. I don’t even know Him. All I know is this: once I was blind and now I see.'

"With these simple words, the man bore witness to Christ. He testified about the redemptive work of Christ. However, he did not preach the gospel. What am I getting at? In the evangelical Christian community, we sometimes employ language that is not always sound or biblical. You’ve heard the lingo. It goes something like this: 'I plan to become an evangelist so I can bear witness to Christ.' Or sometimes we say, 'I had a chance to witness the other day,' meaning, 'I shared the gospel with someone.' We tend to use the terms evangelism and witnessing interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. Any time I call attention to the person and work of Christ, I am bearing witness to Christ. But that is not the same thing as preaching the gospel.

"More than thirty years ago, I learned the evangelism technique taught by Evangelism Explosion, and I trained more than 250 people in that program and led them through evangelism efforts in Ohio. One of the finest aspects of that program is that everyone who goes through it must write out and memorize his or her testimony. Your testimony is your story of how you became a Christian. I think it’s very important that Christians are able to articulate to other people how and why they became believers. We all should have a prepared testimony, and we should be willing to share it at the drop of a hat.

"But we shouldn’t confuse our personal testimonies with the gospel. Sharing our personal testimonies is not evangelism. It’s merely pre-evangelism, sort of a warm-up for evangelism. Our testimonies may or may not be significant or meaningful to those with whom we are speaking. There are lots of folks who can relate to my story; they say, 'Yeah, I know what he’s talking about because I used to live like that too.' But not everyone can relate to my story. In any case, the gospel is not what happened to R.C. Sproul. God makes no promise that He will use my story as His power unto salvation. The gospel is not about me. The gospel is about Jesus. It is the proclamation of the person and work of Christ, and of how a person can appropriate the benefits of the work of Christ by faith alone.

"We see this from our passage in John’s Gospel. The healed man could say, 'I once was blind, but now I see,' and that was a wonderful testimony. But it was not the gospel. The man could not tell the Pharisees about Jesus’ saving work and about how they could be delivered from their sins by faith in Him. So we need to learn not only our testimonies but the concrete elements and content of the biblical gospel. Evangelism takes place when the evangel is proclaimed and announced to people—that is the gospel."

-Your Testimony Is Not the Gospel

Ligonier Ministries article by Dr. R.C. Sproul,

11/23/2015, excerpt from commentary on John

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Mk 1:14-15). We are all sinners who have broken and are incapable of keeping the commandments of a holy, righteous and just God. Therefore, our eternal crime has earned us eternal suffering—the wrath of God—Hell, where the worm doesn't die, the fire is never quenched and where the Lake of Fire eternally burns without consuming you so that you will suffer for all eternity. But God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world, not to condemn it because we are already condemned (John 3:16-18), but to suffer our punishment and die the excruciating death we deserve. Christ Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that all who repent and trust in His name, will be saved from the wrath of God and be granted everlasting life.

If you're a Christian, you've already "earned the right" to share the Gospel because Jesus Christ already gave you the authority/right to do so as a demonstration of your love and gratitude to Christ for your eternal salvation (Mt 28:18-20). Therefore, any Christian, who isn't prayerfully seeking opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter how nice or loving they or others think they are, according to God, the only person they're loving, is themselves.

Don't ever allow anyone, believer or unbeliever, deter you from faithfully sharing the Gospel with whomever the Lord leads you to share with.

"If you believe there's a Heaven and Hell and people could be going to Hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think 'Well, it's not worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward' ...How much do you have to hate somebody to know that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" -Penn Jillette (Illusionist/Comedian, and self-professed atheist)

*The Crook in the Lot: The Sovereignty and Wisdom of God Displayed in the Afflictions of Men, by Thomas Boston (1676-1732)
The Practice of Piety, by Lewis Bayly (1575-1631)
Keeping the Heart: How to Maintain Your Love for God, by John Flavel (1627-1691)

"The purpose of a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?...The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it where he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." -Proverbs 20:5-6; 21:1-3, ESV

Too often when Christians talk about voting, we talk about having to vote for the lesser of two evils. This usually forces us to vote based on our fears (financial security, health, etc.) and affinities (worldly comforts), rather than simply and confidently voting our faith, in accordance with the Word and precepts of God.

Throughout biblical history, when God’s people have waned from wholeheartedly following His Word, He lifted up pagan leaders (e.g., Pharaoh of Joseph’s time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, King Cyrus of Persia, etc.) to care for and discipline His wandering flock, so that they might turn back to Him and flee from all wickedness. Since January 20, 2009, we've had a type of King Nebuchadnezzar rule over our great country because too many of God's people have become comfortable and lazy; compromising with the ways of this world that satisfy our fleshly desires to be healthy, wealthy and safe. And just like the Israelites experienced, the saints of America foolishly trusted the feign promises of our current president, rather than trust the LORD God Almighty for what is best for us—whether in plenty or in want.

It would benefit all of us to commit Proverbs 30:8-9 to memory; and learn to pray it continuously.

"Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

-Proverbs 30:8-9, ESV

• Protect and provide God’s people with the freedom to worship the Almighty as He has commanded in every aspect of our lives;
• Uphold God’s commandments to honor the marriage union (which is essential because it's the earthly paradigm of Christ’s relationship with His Bride—the Church);
• Protect and defend the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves (unborn babies in their mother’s womb);

Prior to taking this quiz, I thought I most sided with Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio or Carly Fiorino who really seemed to know her stuff in the last debate (which after I doing some research, I found that much of her solutions were not feasible, numbers were inaccurate, and her tenure and accomplishments at HP weren't exactly what she purports). To my surprise, I most side with Senator Ted Cruz. After taking this quiz, I did some research on Ted Cruz, and found that yes, I indeed side with him on most issues. I'm grateful to the Lord for this resource, because my conscience is now clear in casting my vote for Senator Ted Cruz in the upcoming primaries and prayerfully, the presidential election on November 8, 2016.

There were some political issues I wasn't very familiar with, and therefore was delighted to find that iSideWith.com provides you with all the information you need to make a decision. There were of course, some issues, I was still undecided on, so I skipped those.

Part of my daily Bible Reading today was Proverbs 18. As I read this chapter, I stopped at verse two and began to earnestly pray for the Lord to keep me from being a fool in His sight. Whether I am a fool in the sight of people is of no grave consequence to me. Being a Christian doesn't mean I don't care what people think about me (who doesn't want to be liked?). It means I care more what Christ thinks about me (Gal 1:10).

Knowing the days are evil (Eph 5:16), I strive to live every day in view of That Day...when I will see Christ my Savior in His full glory. I long to hear Him say that I have done well in His sight and that my life was a beautiful offering (Mt 25:21, Mk 14:6). I pray this article is well pleasing to my Lord, and that He will use it as an instrument to sow peace and wisdom within the Body of Christ, while proclaiming the undefiled Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

Like many of you, I've seen the video (below) of Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Dallas and Dr. David Jeremiah, Senior Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church join false teachers like Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Jentezen Franklin, etc., in prayer for 2016 GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

But before I share what I learned regarding Dr. Jeffress' participation in this meeting that took place in New York, at Trump Tower on Monday, September 28, 2015, I want to share these words from our Father God so that our hearts and minds are well-established on His precepts and not on our opinions or personal affinities.

"The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving...A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

-Proverbs 14:8; 18:2, ESV

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

-Romans 12:1-2, ESV

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

-James 3:17-18, ESV

Now that our hearts and minds are firmly established in God's Word and His perfect precepts, let me share why I reached out to Dr. Robert Jeffress and not to Dr. David Jeremiah. Dr. Jeremiah has already proven to be an unorthodox and untrustworthy preacher/teacher of the Word of God by aligning himself with many false teachers including New-Age, Roman Catholic Roma Downey (with his participation in the making and promoting of A.D. The Bible Continues), and heretical Word of Faith preachers (pictured below). However, Dr. Jeffress hasn't been known to do the same, so I wanted to extend him grace (Matt 7:12) and provide him the opportunity to review and share his thoughts regarding his participation in last week's meeting with Donald Trump.




How did this prayer meeting come about? Who invited you?



I'm not exactly sure how/why I was included on the invitation list. I was with Mr. Trump several weeks earlier at his rally in Dallas because I was asked to pray at the event. As I said to The Christian Post, I am willing to pray for any presidential candidate who asks.

Does your participation in this two-hour meeting and prayer alongside well-known heretics like Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, etc., mean you're now in agreement with their false teachings and abominable practices?

No, it does not. I had no idea who was attending this meeting and my participation isn't an automatic approval of the theological viewpoint of every person in the room.


Are you concerned that your involvement with this group of false teachers might inadvertently mislead the flock you're called to shepherd at First Baptist Dallas to begin following/listening to these false teachers, if they don't already?

No, I'm not concerned at all. My congregation knows me and they know my commitment to biblical accuracy.


Can you say with a 100% assurance that your entire congregation has the spiritual discernment to know these are false teachers without you telling them, and in hindsight, if you could do this all over again, would you; or do you regret your involvement?


I think my congregation would know. I have no regrets about any aspect of my participation in the meeting last week with Mr. Trump.


I'm not wavering on my convictions that light should not partner with darkness (2 Cor 6:15). But that doesn't mean I'm going to drag Dr. Jeffress, who I believe to be a brother in Christ, through the hot coals of "Live out your Christian life, exactly the way I live mine...at the moment." None of us has perfect theology, therefore, none of our convictions are perfect and none can claim that at every point in our lives, that any of us, has worshiped Christ as we should. I don't want to judge my brother Dr. Jeffress based on what I would or wouldn't do (Pharisaical judgment), but I want to judge him based on God's perfect Word and precepts because that's the measure I want to be judged by.

And God's Word tells me to be gracious, patient and understanding. God says that His wisdom is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, and is impartial and sincere. That is what I'm working to demonstrate here.

I lovingly and unequivocally disagree with Dr. Jeffress that his participation in this meeting with false teachers was wise or that it would not endanger his flock. And therefore, I pray for, rather than rally against my brother, that God would move His heart to do what's most pleasing to Him, no matter how uncomfortable or humbling that experience may be. I also pray that all of us would deal with Dr. Jeffress in the loving and understanding way we would want to be dealt with if we were found to be in error (Prov 15:1, 21:1, 22:11).