lifestyle-religion

We have an incredible group of neighbors. Doesn’t everyone? I suspect not, but here we have enjoyed a great relationship with most of our neighbors ever since we moved here. The first winter after we moved to Florida from Ohio, I had an encounter that literally changed our lives and our neighborhood.

I heard the story about a large downtown church in a big city that was building a live nativity scene for the community to enjoy. One day a group of boys who were enjoying their Christmas break gathered together on their bikes to see what was going on. They saw the various props being built and placed in the scene. Finally, one kid said, “What are they building?” One boy replied, “I think my mom said it was going to be a live “fertility scene.” Well, that was humorous, but obviously wrong, and it is pretty clear the boy missed the real message that was being communicated.

How are you with surprises?

With the passing of Thanksgiving, we now enter the season of Advent. For the uninitiated, that means that for Christians everywhere this time of the year is a time for preparing for the Christmas holiday, emphasizing through this season of time the “true” meaning of this very significant holiday.

In the middle of his benediction and closing to his first letter to the church of Thessolonica, Paul gives three commands that seem impossible to fulfill. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) it reads: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving! Yes, Turkey Day is finally here! And if tradition holds true, on this one day, the sin of gluttony is conveniently and joyfully ignored! And we are thankful for it, aren’t we?

I have read and heard many reactions to the recent passing of Issue 1. Most pro-lifers I know have expressed anger, shock, frustration, and grief.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am convinced that every person alive has much for which to be thankful. Oh, there are plenty of things which we can complain about. There are a multitude of reasons to be or become depressed. And, if we so choose, we can worry about anything. If it is not an international crisis in Israel or Ukraine or China or wherever, it may be presidential politics or state and local issues. We can find ourselves discouraged over the stock market or the price of dairy products in the grocery store.

Let’s talk about God. More often than not, when tragedy strikes, as it did for the nation of Israel just about a month ago, our thoughts turn to God, and why would He let such devastating circumstances happen. I for one do not claim to have a corner on the “God” market, or even a majority of “God” stock, but I do know, from the Scriptures three things that are true about God.

All eyes are turned toward Israel, a relatively tiny country whose entire area is only about 20% of the state of Ohio. This country would fit five times inside the borders of Ohio. Geographically speaking, nothing makes this little sliver of land particularly desirable, and yet this tiny region has been the center of conflict for millennia. There is not a lot to attract anyone to that land geologically either. Prime Minister Golda Meir was once quoted as saying, “Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil!”