Many pastors who avoid debatable or political/social topics, claim they are ‘just called to preach the gospel.’ Others avoid contemporary arguments in society by sticking to their preaching and teaching schedule. These seem to be noble practices to most Christians, but do you think it’s only fair that those who sit down to dine at the table of where they get their spiritual food each week have a responsibility to humbly challenge their spiritual teachers to address controversial topics that are relevant to the issues we all struggle with that are going on in our world today?

The gospel Jesus preached demanded total surrender. He told people to count the cost (Luke 14:28). He said following Him might cost family, comfort, reputation, maybe even life itself (Luke 14:26-27). He never chased crowds by lowering the standard. When people walked away, he let them go. Contrast that with today’s approach. Churches compete for attendance. Sermons are shortened. Sin is renamed as struggle. Holiness is replaced with becoming religious, whatever that means. And the cross is softened into a mere icon of identification, or worse yet, to some, a symbol of good luck. But the gospel is not about self-improvement. It’s about self-crucifixion. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?” Luke 6:46.

That question still echoes today. The gospel Jesus preached demanded total surrender. He told people to count the cost (Luke 14:28). He said following Him might cost family, comfort, reputation, maybe even life itself (Luke 14:26-27). He never chased crowds by lowering the standard. When people walked away, he let them go. Contrast that with today’s approach. Churches compete for attendance. Sermons are shortened. Sin is renamed as struggle. Holiness is replaced with becoming religious, whatever that means. And the cross is softened into a mere icon of identification, or worse yet, to some, a symbol of good luck. But the gospel is not about self-improvement. It’s about self-crucifixion. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24-25.

How many Christians actually think of anything like that, when they put on their “Christian” jewelry to publicly show they are a blood-bought child of the living God?

Most of us in modern church traditions have been unknowingly influenced by much lack of knowledge of historical and cultural backgrounds. It’s unfortunate that many well-meaning evangelicals take such hard positions without being Bereans to “test all things” and realize we all suffer from a “lack of knowledge” in many areas. Our opinions must not be presented as ‘dogmas’ when careful diligence in research exposes glaring inconsistencies that can make our positions embarrassing.

New Testament believers actually continued celebrating Passover as a memorial of the redemption accomplished by Jesus in His death.

This divine foreshadowing is further shown during the Last Supper, where Jesus and his disciples were celebrating what we know as the “Passover Seder.” Jesus introduced a powerful new dimension to the historic Passover feast that Moses recorded in the book of Exodus. He explained profound meaning for the sacrifice of himself that he was about to endure, symbolizing his body and blood as the fulfilment of God’s new covenant (Matthew 26:26-28).

People commonly say the Bible flood is just a myth, a legend borrowed from ancient Mesopotamia, or just symbolic spiritual ideas. If that were true, wouldn’t you expect the story to dwindle away over time, rather than get stronger? But now, we actually have more evidence than ever, pointing to historic reality more amazing than any legend. And it’s not just from one or two isolated places, not from one culture. It’s from all over the world. When you start looking at ancient sites, things get uncomfortable fast for the skeptical atheist.

They’ve become so fed up with the modern paganization of Christmas in our society that they’ve stopped participating in Christmas celebrations, thinking of the possibility that some holiday traditions might have their roots in pagan customs. Their sincere hearts want to please God, so they’ve even given up on the idea of trying to “keep Christ in Christmas.” I certainly respect these sentiments, but as with so many things… especially the controversies of our generation… there’s nothing to be gained by allowing a lack of knowledge to destroy our family’s delight with the celebration of our Savior’s birth. The solution to the controversy… like with other controversies… is taking the time to be like the Bereans in the New Testament book of Acts (Acts 17:11) and “test all things” (1 Thes 5:21), searching the Scriptures and digging into history to see what’s true.

The modern make-believe fable of Santa began only 5 or 6 generations ago, in 1823. Would you believe that? It began with the publishing of a children’s poem called “A Visit from Saint Nicolas.” It’s pretty familiar to many English-speaking people today.
Though many additions have been added on, there really was a godly, courageous man who became a Bishop in the Christian church in 4th century in Asia Minor. His name was Nicholas. He loved Jesus enough to go into the ministry, but more than that, he was imprisoned for his faith by the Romans. He stood for the doctrine of the Trinity, and he preached against sexually immoral pagan temples, and was very generous, giving to the poor in their time of need!

America’s Declaration of Independence is a covenant document that joins member states together under a common frame of government. On a deeper spiritual level, the Declaration of Independence is a spiritual covenant between a people and their God. To state this concept of the spiritual covenant with God another way, America consists of separate sovereign independent member states that voluntarily joined under a covenantal framework of government as “One Nation Under God. “They,” the American people, as John Quincy Adams stated “were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct. They were bound by the principles which they themselves had proclaimed in the declaration.”

To better appreciate the roots of this special season for us as a people, let’s unravel the chain of events that helps us understand the implications of what led to the divinely innovative beginning of a whole new national identity.

Nobody I know does that better than my friend Bill Federer – Listen as he describes parallels between the treacherous 16th century time of the Pilgrims and our time 400 years later.

Is Thanksgiving in America a legacy worth reclaiming?
We all know the traditional Thanksgiving story of the Pilgrims, but have you considered the little-known experiences of the his-story that COMPELLED those humble believers to take such risks, posed by tyrants, to make the choices they did?