Thanksgiving

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples." -Psalm 105:1

Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. In this simple action you have taken oxygen out of the air, used it in your blood and all of your organ. Then you released carbon dioxide which was made by your body but not good for it. Dwell on this amazing process and the God who created it. We have so much to be thankful for! I think at our age we miss it a lot. Teens the world over are known for for always wanting more, for always being discontent, for being unthankful. Look around, why aren't we thankful?!
Deuteronomy 26:11 says "And you shall rejoice in all the good the Lord has given to you and your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you." When was the last time you rejoiced in ALL the good God has given you? Tonight, if you are able, go outside and look at the moon and stars. Look at the grass. Put your hand in cool water. These graces are everywhere! Think about all the people in your life: parents, siblings, extended family, friends, teachers, and leaders. The blessings are innumerable! Where did these blessings come from? In his all encompassing mercy, God gave us life. And not only life, but new life if you are a Christian! Oh the great goodness and mercy shown us! We deserve eternal punishment for the sins against God and he gives us pardon through the blood of his Son. "Praise is due to you O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed."-Psalm 65:1
Sometimes though, it doesn't seem like he's being very gracious. When we're going through struggles it seems like God is ignoring us. Or just not hearing us. Psalm 31:1 says "How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" the psalmist David is crying out to the Lord desiring a response, and then he goes back to Gods character and says in verses 5-6 "But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me." When times are tough we need to remember the same God who blesses us with sunlight and laughter also gives us storms and tears. James 1:17 says "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no shadow due to change." Sometimes the best gifts God could give us are trials. We are sanctified through trials.
Sanctification is growing more like Christ and that should be what we desire! James 1:2-4 says "Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So not only should we be thankful when everything is going our way, but we should also be exceedingly thankful that God is helping us to grow more like him through difficulties.
In the flesh, we are by nature, unthankful. Being unthankful breeds so many sins! Sins of coveting, jealousy, stealing, anger, strife, murder, lust, adultery. This disgusting list shows our depravity. We need ask Christ to make us a thankful people! Some practical ways to remind yourself to be thankful are to have a Thank You Journal. I dare you to write down ten things every day that you are thankful for. On a day when you feel especially unthankful, write down twenty! Another way is to have a Blessings Jar. This is a large glass jar that you fill with small slips of paper. On each one write down a specific answer to prayer. On December 31st opening the jar and reading through all the answered prayers has become a tradition at our home. Recording what God has done is a way that really makes you thankful! Psalm 102:18 says "Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:..." In conclusion, be thankful ye saints, for the Lord has bountifully blessed us.

'"Say also, Save us O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!" Then all the people said "Amen!" and praised the Lord' 1 Chronicles 16:35-36

The Crimson Gate to Eternal Bliss

Hello guys! This is my essay for the Reformation day celebration contest.

So they found him guilty, according to their laws. And after endless indignities, they burned him at the stake. Thus Faithful met his end. But I saw in my dream that, behind the crowds, there stood a chariot and horses waiting for Faithful, who (as soon as his enemies had done with him) was taken up into it, and wafted through the clouds to the sound of trumpets. So, in truth, he fared better than his friend Christian. He would arrive first at the Celestial City, and, having been faithful unto death, the King would give him a crown of life.

Martyr means witness or testimony. When John Bunyan penned these words in his Pilgrims Progress, he was in prison. He was willing to be a faithful, unwavering witness even when everything was stacked against him. Saints in times past have been ready to face death or torture for the gospel of Christ. Saints today face the same fate. They stand bold, firm, and true. This scene in Vanity Fair illustrates a painful yet glorious reality that saints past, present, and future have been and must be faithful unto death, receiving as their reward eternal rest with their beloved King.
In the story Bunyan says, “Faithful met his end” but it clearly isn’t the end of his story. The finale of his story is exiting this fallen world and being brought into the Celestial City. Through this bloody murder, eternal life was ushered in. Proceeding his death, he was a pilgrim. He had come to follow Christian on his quest for the Celestial City. As they traveled, they came to a town called Vanity, where a fair is held year round. After much mockery, the townspeople had Christian and Faithful arrested and later brought to court. In court, Faithful was accused ferociously. After the accusations had stopped the judge gave Faithful a chance to speak in his own defense. He proudly and gloriously proclaimed his King and Sovereign. This meant death and he knew it. But that fact did not alter his message nor discourage it. He was found guilty according to their laws and sentenced to death. Before death he was tortured and suffered greatly. When these had ceased he was burned at the stake. Due to his faithfulness unto death he would receive a crown of life.
The high and worthy calling of martyrdom is not for the faint of heart. Martyrs have been giving their lives for the sake of Christ and his gospel for centuries, Jesus himself said, “...if they persecute me, they will also persecute you...”
Not very long after Christ arose the first martyr died for him. Stephen was a deacon, a servant of the church. He is described as being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because of his witness he was brought before many leaders in Jerusalem. Like Faithful he was given a chance to defend himself. The sermon he preached was one of the best preached in history. Infuriated by his words, they sentenced him to death and stoned him. As he was about to enter his blessed rest he said “Behold! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Polycarp lived in first century Rome and was a student of the apostles. He was also a minister to the churches planted by them. He traveled to the sites of churches all over the known world to preach the gospel and encourage the brothers. During one of these trips he was arrested and brought before a tribunal. When he did not recant he was brought to the arena and told to swear by the fortunes of Caesar. ‘He replied, “Since you are vainly urgent that, as you say, I should swear by the fortune of Caesar, and pretend not to know who or what I am, hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian.” His testimony condemned him and he was burned at the stake. Painful as it was, he met Christ that very instant and was rewarded for his faithfulness.
John Huss was a Bohemian priest in 1415. He preached boldly from God’s Word and was a great threat to the church leaders of is day. Because of his beliefs he was arrested and thrown into prison. After nineteen months, he was told he would be executed. He was given a last chance to recant. As he was tied to the stake where he would be burned, he said, “What error should I renounce? I am guilty of no wrong. I taught all men repentance and remission of sins, according to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that gospel I am here, with cheerful mind and courage, ready to suffer death. What I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood.” Huss died that day, he “met his end”, but oh the crown that awaited him.
Gao Zhisheng is a Christian Activist in China. He supported Christians and helped get legal help for those who needed it. The Chinese government arrested him and he was held in a secluded place. After a few months he was returned to his family with stories of endless torture, and a warning not to continue his work. Being faithful to his calling, he continued. He was again arrested and has not been seen by his family for many months now.
Asia Bibi is a mother of two living in Pakistan. She was arrested in June 2009 on blasphemy charges because co-workers said she told them about Christ being the true prophet of God. Those women she worked with beat her before turning her over to the police. On November of 2010 she was sentenced to death. Recently Asia found that one of her captors is a Christian and he has allowed her to have her Bible in her cell. She has not recanted and is being faithful with death looming. A joyous rest will be found on the day she enters heaven.
Martyrs are a large part of God’s plan for this world. In fact, one of the signs of the end of the world shall be that all martyrs have died according to his plan. “When he opened th fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice saying, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth?’ Then they were each given a white robe and told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”-Revelation 6:9-11
Christians of all time have been, and are, willing to die for the gospel. The allegory of Faithful is a reminder that should bring us to our knees. Are we willing to suffer even a little discomfort for Christ’s sake? We should be asking God to give us boldness and courage. Are we bold enough to face a court full of men like Lord Hate-Good, Mr. No Good, Mr. Heady, and Mr. Cruelty among others? What would we say if faced with the same fate? I hope and pray that given the opportunity, we would give Christ all the honor and glory he deserves. All of the honor whatever the expense to us. The reward in heaven would make whatever suffering void. The pain and hurt would pale in comparison to the glory and joy we would find when entering Eternal Bliss.

Reformation Day Essay: "Religion Went in Silver Slippers"

Here's an essay I wrote for this year's Reformation Day essay contest at my church. Savannah's essay won, and she will post hers soon, too.

Their way took them near the City of Fair Speech. Four of its untrustworthy citizens came out to salute them, bowing very low.

“We too are going to the Celestial City,” they said. “We shall be glad of your company.”

Hopeful was for joining them. But Christian had heard of their city - that it was a place where Money ruled, and where Religion went in silver slippers. He also recognized one of them as Mr. By-ends, who had many rich relations; his wife was Lady Feigning’s daughter, and he was a friend to Mr. Facing-both-ways, and to Mr. Money-love. So Christian whispered in Hopeful’s ear: “I like them not as our companions. For they are very knaves.”

In his classic theological book, Pilgrim’s Progress, reformer John Bunyan recorded a dream he experienced while imprisoned in England for his faith. The book follows the quest of a man named Christian to reach the Celestial City, a place of freedom and salvation from the City of Destruction. Along the way Christian meets few friends and many foes, and even loses his friend Faithful, who is martyred in Vanity Fair.

After he escapes the city with his new ally Hopeful, Christian meets four men from a nearby city who seem eager to join them in their quest. Bunyan’s description of them is cautionary, calling them “untrustworthy” and implies they are false and over-flattering by “bowing very low.” Hopeful, a recent convert and new pilgrim, is caught off guard and wishes to take these counterfeits along as fellow travelers. Christian knows better, however; he recognized them as citizens of the City of Fair Speech, “...a place where Money ruled, and where Religion went in silver slippers.” When the reader first reads this description, he might be taken aback; why is Religion implied as evil? Why is Religion’s place of honor in the city compared to Money’s rule? This is an example of the difference between works-righteous religious practice, and “religion that is pure and undefiled before God,” described in James 1:27 (ESV). In this essay, I will examine three examples of how man-made religions counterfeit true faith, and why this facade does not stand up before God’s standards.

Man has had “religion” problems since the Fall of Man, when Adam made the fatal decision to take his relationship with God into his own hands and ate the forbidden fruit. All have tried to take salvation into their own hands before Christ took His elect as His own, and the lost continue to believe they will “win” heaven by their good works on Judgment Day. In Genesis 11, all the men of the earth gathered to build a tower, named Babel, to reach heaven, so they could reach God and their descendants would remember them for their work. Genesis 11:4 says, “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’” God looked down on their feeble attempts to reach His throne, and confused their language to foil their plan and dispersed them to populate the earth. God doesn’t share His glory in our salvation, and any attempt to save ourselves is condemned by God as a form of idolatry.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day are perhaps the clearest picture of self-righteous religion than any other. They had invented their own code of Judaism by extending God’s law, weighing men down with man-made laws, while making loopholes for themselves in the original law. Because of their seemingly strict moral system and haughty appearance, the rest of Israel and Judah held them in the highest esteem, until Christ unmasked their hypocrisy and showed them who they really were. In Matthew 23:4, He accuses the Pharisees, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” Later in the same chapter, in verses 25 and 26, our Lord says,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

Jesus knew their problem; they were striving to keep up good appearances before fellow men, were caring more about pleasing men than pleasing God, and were relying on their “good” works and sonship of Abraham to earn their seat in God’s kingdom. Because of these evil motives they had Jesus tried for blasphemy and crucified Him on the cross at Calvary. In His divine plan, God used Christ’s sacrifice for our own redemption.

In more recent times, the Roman Catholic Church imposes a works-based religious system that resembles true Christianity, but relies heavily on works and appearances, as did the Pharisees before them. Although they claim to believe in Christ’s atoning work on the cross as all-sufficient for our salvation, they believe that their “good works” complement His atoning work, and reduces the time they must spend in Purgatory, an imaginary place they have created to fill this gap in their theology. Basically, Purgatory is a reformatory type of hell, where all men must spend some amount time to pay their sentence for their sins. This notion, that we can pay for our sins without needing Christ’s gift of repentance and faith in Himself, blatantly contradicts Scripture. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” If we claim to have any hand in our own salvation, or even our sanctification as believers, we take credit for what God has freely given us, and the Lord considers that glory stolen. It is a serious matter to take the glory of perfect God, and ascribe it to fallible men.

In the passage I quoted above from Pilgrims Progress, it says, “He [Christian] also recognized one of them as Mr. By-ends, who had many rich relations; his wife was Lady Feigning’s daughter, and he was a friend to Mr. Facing-both-ways, and to Mr. Money-love.” Lady Feigning is a picture of this kind of false religion and piety; Mr. Facing-both-ways and Mr. Money-love illustrate the attitude of keeping one’s foot in the world, while pretending to be striving after the things of God. God knows our inward thoughts and motives, however, and He is not fooled as fallible men as to outward appearance. Acts 15:8-9 says, “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our atonement is to His own glory, and His glory in this divine act is not to be shared with imperfect men’s pitiful acts of “religion.” John Bunyan was a great man of faith, and his insight into Man’s self-saving efforts is just a small sliver taken out of his theological masterpiece, Pilgrim’s Progress.