Our Quest to Reclaim a Legacy of Thanksgiving

America is a nation of people with a centuries-old tradition of celebrating annual solemn days of Thanksgiving.  Yet, it seems that our current generation has almost no concept of the deeply personal conviction of the crucial importance of gratitude.  And it’s pretty obvious that that gratitude should most deservedly be directed to the Almighty Giver of every blessing and perfect gift in our lives.

The Bible tells us in James 1:17 that

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17

It seems like everybody these days is scrambling frantically to demand that their comforts and material desires be accommodated.  How often do we see people so ungrateful that complaints and cynical dissatisfaction have become society’s idea of “normal?”  Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years, have they?

Do you remember the illustration of ungratefulness in Luke 17:7-19?

Jesus healed ten men of leprosy.  One of them was a Samaritan man.  He was the only one of the ten who came back to Jesus and humbly thanked Him for healing him.  Jesus asked him: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Sadly, my missionary friend in Africa reports that barely 10% of those they help will bother to express their gratitude with even a word of thanks or a note card.  Gratitude may be rare, but those who express it discover the most enriching lives on earth.  Instead of loneliness, poverty and depression, those who express gratitude despite suffering conditions like that, are often the ones most inclined to be enriched, energized, inspired and transformed.

Gratitude goes counter to the ‘victim mentality’ that has deceived so many who think they’re entitled to everything at the expense of others in our culture.  When we give thanks sincerely, we acknowledge that we have received a benefit that is unearned.  We can’t help but look beyond ourselves.

Let me ask you a question.

When you’re stunned with the reality that you survived what could have been a fatal event, how does that make you feel?

Let’s look back to the time of the infancy of our American republic, two and half centuries ago.

Look what 16th Century Reformation Day started

Could the result of today’s sharp divisions in human society in the ‘free world’ lead to an historic reformation matching the one beginning in 1517?

The last day of October is Reformation Day in some protestant circles. It’s obscured in our misguided culture by the more modern celebration of ‘Halloween.’ But election day in America is just around the corner, a few days later on the first Tuesday of November.

The 31st of October each year began to be celebrated as Reformation Day in the late 17th century, a hundred years after a turning point event. It all began when a passionate 34-year-old Catholic priest nailed his 95 critiques of Catholic controversial practices onto the church door in a town called Wittenberg Germany in the Holy Roman Empire. His name was Martin Luther.

Ten years earlier, Luther was ordained in 1507, and earned a doctorate in theology from the University of Wittenberg in 1512. Then he became a professor of biblical studies. But it was his own personal theological crisis regarding salvation that led him to his discovery of the Bible concept of justification by faith alone. That culminated in his 1517 publication of the Ninety-five Theses which challenged the sale of indulgences by Catholic promoters of the renovation of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. And that sparked the revolution that became the Protestant Reformation. It changed the world and culminated in generations of wars and the redirection of the history of Western nations.

Righteous Bold Lions fight for Godly Freedom

Proverbs 28:1 tells us that “The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” … It goes on to say in verse 2, “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.”

What a thought-provoking observation of contrasts! Do you see it? The upstanding Righteous leaders who are bold as a lion… are as different from the wicked who are fearfully looking over their shoulders, because of all the wicked deeds that have earned them many enemies… as the wise, discerning, and organized ruler is peculiarly distinct from the multitude of bureaucratic rulers of a land of cowering rebels.

Benjamin Franklin wrote that “A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”

When you return from a day at work, or out shopping, or driving on the highways, or just interacting with the general public, would you say that the God-fearing, morally pure population of your country is “flourishing” and increasing in authority over the land?

Remember… all that must happen for evil to flourish in a culture is for the good people to keep quiet and do nothing. Light dispels darkness. It’s not the other way around.

It’s no wonder the enemy of humankind successfully deceives so many to think they should just let their little light be hid under a ‘basket’ and cower in the shadows of the evil influences. That’s how to keep low-information voters in the dark, ignorant, and fear-filled by whatever demonic deception they think they can’t overcome by faith in the Giver of all good things from above.

Who Will Rebuild the Ancient Ruins of Godly Education?

Today’s generation can hardly imagine what it was like in the local schools across our nation in the past. Before the dawning of the “age of Aquarius” in the 1960s nobody would have imagined the subsequent plundering of public education by secular atheists. American society once considered it normal to focus on the development of the inner man and personal integrity. Morality in culture was highly esteemed. So was an intense pursuit of Scriptural wisdom. The school teachers and communities of Early American school houses deliberately prioritized those concepts. At their hearts, American communities believed that the education of their children was built on the premise that virtue is absolutely essential to freedom.

The ridiculous problems that every common-sense American sees corrupting our society’s institutions today realizes the source. Even if President Abe Lincoln didn’t really originate the idea, who can doubt the fact that “The philosophy of the classroom today will be the philosophy of government tomorrow?”

The Platinum Rule – Helping Others Reach their Goals

“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Phil. 2:4
Imagine how refreshing it would be to be surrounded by people who really think like that and actually live that way.
How would you like to work for a company where that is the resounding mission that resonates from every coworker? How would you like to have a church family where that is the conviction of every leader and every parishioner? How would you like a community where that is the code of ethics practiced by all your neighbors? How would you like a family where that is the lifestyle from morning until bedtime? How would you like to be the embodiment of that concept and participate in a complete reformation of your culture? Imagine… thoughtfully and intentionally helping people reach their goals. What a relationship-building concept. And it all starts with you. Could this be hidden in the Bible for those who pursue the righteous path of the LORD’s “chosen fast?”
“And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” Isa 58:11
Sounds like a pretty good result doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want that for themselves? So, how does this manifest? Check out the verse immediately preceding that promise. Like most promises from God, there is a condition… it starts with the little word “if.”
“And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.” Isa. 58:10
But a charitable attitude is something you can have toward not only destitute people. Why not have that attitude toward those we interact with on a daily basis?

Education without virtue ruins its home culture with seeds of inevitable destruction

For the first two centuries of America’s existence, almost everyone could read and ‘cipher’ (do basic math)… and they did it without ANY public schools, as they’re known in our time. The institutionalized indoctrination centers of today were unthinkable to early Americans. Past generations of Americans had high value for the education of their children — much more than Americans of today. What was the difference? A lot! But rather than handing over their children to the state to be “educated” by the state, and for the goals of the state, almost all education then was handled by families, religious organizations, tutors, community-run and private schools. And it was done within a free and open market mentality, without top-down controls from a faraway bureaucracy.

Reclaiming Your Legacy is A Mission to Plant God’s Ways in the Next Generation

It’s easy to realize that we all live in a very broken world … filled with broken people … suffering varying degrees of brokenness and dysfunction. Few of us have the rare privilege of being coached from birth by a mother AND a father who also grew up in a God-fearing family who lived close to God’s earth, watching how His natural creation worked – learning what was once called common sense, humane decency, and the grace and peace of the Master Teacher of Divine Righteousness and Eternal Truth… Jesus our Lord.

That’s why Reclaiming our Legacy is a righteous goal. And, of course we’re talking about a righteous legacy… one that was ultimately received by any of our early ancestors who discovered God’s Kingdom and surrendered their lives to our Redeemer, God’s Son, Jesus, the Messiah. We acknowledge that our generation is in a mess. But we have a truly heavenly roadmap… and it’s filled with hope. It’s more like a blueprint to guide us in the rebuilding of a lost masterplan for life… life as it was meant… by Our Creator…  to be lived. And that’s because it was His idea to have a family… a family of sons and daughters… And those children are designed uniquely to be eager to discover and learn all the wonderful insights that would give them the wisdom and skills to train up families of their own.  And then, those families would grow in the Master Designer’s love and understanding just how life was meant by the Creator to be lived.

Awakening to the Reality of Spiritual Warfare

As Abraham was blessed to be a blessing, God’s signal blessings on America are a vivid testimony of our legacy to bless the entire world. We’re part of God’s providential strategy to redeem our sin-sick planet. Abraham’s righteous descendants gave us the Messiah, who redeemed us all by God’s grace. America’s calling is to advance the good news of our Messiah’s finished work to the forgotten people groups throughout the world. Nothing is hated by the Devil and hell’s demons more that this.

Our Ambassador Assignment to Stand Strong in the Culture War

Secularism and paganism permeate every influential part of society: Science, Education, religion, Medicine, Industry, The Marketplace, Entertainment and journalism. Unfortunately, most of the soldiers on the traditional Biblical side of the war are AWOL – absent without leave. Many of them don’t even recognize there’s a war on. And most of them have no idea what the enemy is doing to effectively anesthetize them and win the prize of this war. What is the prize?

How can God’s People be a Calming Influence in a Society filled with Fear? #361

Are you a listening reader – a reader who spends time searching the Scriptures for insight and wisdom? Are you being careful not to waste time listening to proven dispensaries of deception (like the MSM)? Are you investing your life in discovering the truth about the world and the times that you’re living in? Then you are no doubt troubled by the tragic ignorance in our culture today. It’s no surprise that the great spheres of influence in society are rotting in confusion and corruption.

Daniel’s prophecy about the time of the end (Daniel 12:4 ), when he was told that many people will travel to and fro and knowledge would increase… it helps us understand some things. But there’s a paradox. While modern humans have more knowledge at their fingertips than any humans in the history of the world, it’s clear that the vast masses of people are abysmally swimming in a sea of delusion and lost in willful ignorance. They don’t know history. They don’t know logic. Even Christians are at an historic low in their knowledge of God’s Word, the Bible. Most people you pass on the streets, especially those from a lifetime of public education, don’t even seem to know common horse-sense.

Proverbs 15:14 tells us:
“The heart of him that hath understanding seeks knowledge: but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”

Does that tell you something? Is effort required to seek knowledge over pleasure and entertainment? Did it say that the search begins with “a heart of understanding?” How do you get that? Do you think it depends on parents and mentors and the encouragement to press in to finding the treasures that lazy people will never discover?
It’s no wonder that whole societies world-wide today seem to have lost their senses. It’s like they have no ability to discern what’s true, what’s right, what’s sensible.

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