Tag: Thanksgiving

Be Thankful (Visiting Church #33)

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 5, 2019

We only recently learned of today’s congregation, discovering them in a printed directory of churches. Their rural location seems further removed from us than our 8.8 mile drive.

Their scripture for today is Habakkuk 3:17-19.

Verse 17 recaps the dire conditions of the day, with a transition occurring in verse 18 when the prophet proclaims, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” A verse later Habakkuk affirms, “The Lord is my strength.”

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

It’s four days before Thanksgiving. The minister’s message “Thanksgiving Anyhow!” follows Habakkuk’s tone. This rural congregation seems needy, with the implication that some will only eat one or two meals today.

The message includes mentions of helping others in need. This isn’t to call attention to the giver, but to show how this church family takes care of one another. Behind the church is a sizable garden, planted with the intention to share.

“When God blesses you,” the pastor says, “you need to pass it on.” Though the growing season is over, there are some onions and potatoes remaining in the ground should anyone need them.

Deer hunting season began a few days ago and the pastor has bagged two. If anyone lacks meat for Thanksgiving, he offers venison. From his property, he cuts trees for those needing wood for heat.

He also has two acres of fruit trees. Usually he shares the produce with others, but due to an early spring and a late freeze, the harvest this year was nil. He refers back to Habakkuk’s mention of no fruit. “Yet I will rejoice”

We must “be thankful in hard times…and be thankful for our salvation.” He shares some more verses and additional stories of need and provision. “In everything, give thanks—even on your bad days.”

[Read about Church #32 and Church #34, start at the beginning of our journey, or learn more about Church #33.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags 52 Churches, Habakkuk, holiday, Thanksgiving

Personal Posts

Happy Thanksgiving!

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 28, 2019

I’m thankful for family, friends, and faith.

I’m thankful for food, clothing, and shelter.

Everything else is a bonus—and I’m thankful for that too!

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags family, holiday, Sacred-Secular Divide, Thanksgiving

Personal Posts

It’s That Time of Year…to Make Your Annual Budget

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 18, 2018

With Thanksgiving behind me and Christmas cheer beckoning me forward, it’s hard to think about the new year and the task of making an annual budget. You do have an annual budget, don’t you? I do—and I encourage you to use one, too.

Although I’m an organized person with a penchant for planning, I don’t get too excited at the prospect of making my annual budget. But I know I must.

After all, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” (Goodreads attributes this to Benjamin Franklin.)

I keep good records of my spending throughout the year, so developing next year’s budget only takes me about thirty minutes.

For people without a good understanding of where they spent their money, planning for next year will take a bit more work.

So invest some time in December to gather needed information to make a budget for the coming year. You’ll need most of this for your taxes anyway, so you need to do it at some point.

Here are some thoughts about budgets:

A budget is a guide, not a straightjacket.
A budget lets us know when we can indulge ourselves a bit and how much; it also alerts us when extra spending is a bad idea.
A budget reduces financial stress and removes a source of potential conflict.
A budget urges moderation now, allowing for more freedom later.
A budget is a plan that moves us towards financial contentment.
A budget helps us to live within our means, to be financially responsible, and to plan for future needs.
A budget is also biblical. See Luke 14:28-30.

To be of maximum use, our annual budgets need to be in place before the new year begins. For me, I usually I’ll wait until after Christmas to make my annual budget, and will be finished before New Year’s Day.

Of course having a budget is just the first step. The key to success is to follow it.

May you have a Merry Christmas, A Happy New Year…and a great budget to guide the way.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags money, Sacred-Secular Divide, Thanksgiving

Bible Insights

We Need To Pray For Those In Power Over Us

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 13, 2017

The Bible reminds us to pray for those in authority, which includes our politicians

In Paul’s first letter to his protégé Timothy, he adds an important command. We can likewise apply Paul’s wise instruction as something for us to follow today. He tells us we are to pray for those in authority.

This includes our elected officials, from the highest position to the local ones.

Though I remember to pray for family and friends on a regular basis, I usually neglect to pray for people in positions of authority.

And to be painfully blunt, even when I remember to do this, there are some politicians I simply don’t want to pray for.

I should push past that and pray for them anyway, but often I don’t.

When we consider how to pray for our elected officials, Paul breaks it down. He says to make petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving. This is a curious string of words.

Thanksgiving is something I understand. It’s just that I’m not always so thankful for those in elected positions. Too often I don’t respect them or even like them. This makes it hard for me to be thankful, even though I should.

Intersession and petition are about the same thing. Intersession is intervening in prayer on behalf of another. Contrast this to petition, which carries the idea of a solemn entreaty.

Prayer seems to encompass all three—thanksgiving, intersession, and petitions—yet the text lists prayer separately. Of course, with prayer we expressly realize that we direct our thanksgiving, intersession, and petitions to God.

This focus on God serves to remind us that regardless of the actions, beliefs, and character of those in authority that God is the ultimate authority.

He’s in charge. And as the one who’s ultimately in charge, we need to pray to him about all the authorities who are under him.

May we do just that. Let’s start today. Join me in prayer.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is 1 Timothy 1-3, and today’s post is on 1 Timothy 2:1-2.]

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Tags pray, Thanksgiving

Personal Posts

The Season of Giving

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 14, 2017

Around 2008, the economy wasn’t looking good, the markets were in the pits, and there was general concern about the future. Given all this, it was easy to be self-focused and forget about other people and their circumstances.

Today, at least in the US, things are much different. The markets are booming and businesses are growing at their fastest rate in the last decade. However, whether the economy is good or bad, we need to think about others.

The reality is that there are folks out there who are struggling. To be direct, they are homeless, depending on the generosity of others just to eat.

Every major city has organizations and outreach programs to help these people—and that is good. However, these groups continue to address people who need their help, which means that they need our help.

If you can make a donation, now is the time to do so.

If a monetary gift isn’t possible, then give of your time. With people in need, they are in need for volunteers. Of course, you can give both your time and your money.

As the holiday season approaches, the spirit of giving and sharing typically increases.

Please do what you can to help, but just remember that the homeless don’t only need help at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the year around.

I hope you enjoy the holidays—and can help others do the same.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags Christmas, give, holiday, Sacred-Secular Divide, Thanksgiving

Christian Living

One Way That Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 10, 2017

Jesus Turns the Celebration of Passover into the Celebration of Communion

As the Israelites prepare to leave Egypt, Moses instructs them to have a special meal with their families and neighbors. They celebrate the first Passover. From then on Passover becomes an annual celebration.

Fast forward a couple millennia. Jesus gives his disciples instructions to celebrate Passover together. As they eat the Passover meal, Jesus adds something new to their tradition and gives it fresh meaning.

Taking the bread they’re eating, Jesus uses it as a metaphor for the sacrifice he’s about to make. Then he repeats this with the wine.

The Bible records this event in Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, and Luke 22:15-20. Paul also gives instructions about this remembrance in his letter to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 11:22-29.

These passages provide us with the basis for how we celebrate Communion. We may also call it the Lord’s Supper, The Holy Supper, Holy Communion, the Eucharist, or Holy Eucharist. They all mean the same thing.

They all direct our attention on Jesus and what he did for us to reconcile us with Papa.

When Jesus institutes what we turned into the sacrament of communion, he fulfills the Old Testament practice of the Passover. That means he takes something old and adds his own twist to make it something new.

From this we see three key elements of Communion:

Part of a Meal

We see the practice of Passover and Communion in the Bible as part of a meal. Matthew and Mark note that Jesus’s reflections happen as they eat. Luke adds some additional detail. He records a second mention of the cup after the meal.

The key point is that communion is part of a shared meal, not an act separate from it.

With Family

Neither Passover or Communion take place in a large church gathering or religious ceremony. Both happen as a private gathering within a community of family or close friends—our squad.

The people celebrate Passover in homes with family (or with neighbors).

The Communion Jesus shares with his disciples occurs in an intimate setting with his close friends. This shows us Communion isn’t something that happens at church but apart from it, usually in homes.

As an Annual Celebration

Jesus says we are to celebrate Communion in his honor to remember him. Paul adds to this, writing that Jesus also said, “do this, whenever you drink it” (1 Corinthians 11;25).

Though we may interpret Jesus’s words to mean every time we have a meal, the context is Passover, so a better understanding is every time we celebrate Passover, which is an annual event.

When we observe Communion every week at church, even once a month or quarterly, it can become routine and lose its meaning. Instead we should treat it as an annual celebration that we greatly anticipate and highly revere.

When we add this to the concept of a family meal, Communion could elevate to the level of a treasured family celebration similar to Thanksgiving or Christmas: a special time with family gathered.

The ancient practice of Passover and Communion bears little similarity to what we do today. I can’t ever recall celebrating communion in church as part of a meal.

Communion was always a ceremonial representation, included as part of a church service.

The bread was reduced to a small bit of bread or a cracker. The wine was reduced to a mere sip, barely enough to wash down the morsel of food we ate just before it. In doing so we trivialize Communion by making it less than what it should be.

Let’s take back Communion. We can return it to an annual celebration in our homes with our family. And we will do it in remembrance of Jesus.

Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags communion, Jesus, Passover, Thanksgiving

Christian Living

What Are You Thankful For?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 27, 2016

Take Time to Tell God What You’re Thankful For on Thanksgiving and Every Other Day Too

The church I attended several years ago had a Thanksgiving practice of having members stand to share what they were thankful for. From my perspective this never went well, with too much silence or too much forced sharing and sometimes both.

One year a man kicked things off by saying how thankful he was for his wife, spending too much time listing her many attributes, which I perceived as overly generous exaggerations.

Though I’m sure he earned points from his beloved, his gushing made me squirm.

With the precedence set, the second man to speak did the same thing for his wife. Now we a had a pattern.

Going forward, each person—both male and female—who spoke, opened with a spousal tribute. Anyone who did not do so would surely look like a clod and risk spending the night on the couch.

This all came to mind a few days ago when church asked us to write a note of what we were thankful for.

As a writer, you’d think I’d be all over this, but I write in solitude and can’t come up with a single cogent thought when trying to write in public.

Besides, my wife was sitting next to me eyeing my blank paper. I had to list her first, right? (By the way, I am thankful for her.)

After her, I’d need to follow with all members of my immediate family. (I’m thankful for them, too.) But how far should I go?

At whatever point I stopped, the implication would be that I wasn’t thankful for the next person in my family tree. It’s a slippery slope.

Next I thought about friends: best friends, close friends, valued associates, casual acquaintances, the neighbor I wave to but haven’t yet met, the clerk at the post office, my best friend from high school who I haven’t seen in years, and that one guy I met one time who God keeps reminding me to pray for.

Where do I draw the line?

Then I thought about things. Yes, I’m thankful for them, too, but to make a list of valued possessions would paint me as materialistic. Can’t have that.

What about less tangible things: good health, a job, the ability to work, the chance to help others, having family nearby and all living in the same state, a comfortable life, and so on?

Listing these things might seem like boasting of God’s blessings on my life, thereby causing pain for others who weren’t so fortunate. I would never want that.

I was running out of time to make my list. Some people had finished theirs, but my paper was still blank. Then I came up with a great idea. What if I wrote down the one thing I am most thankful for? That might be doable.

The answer came quickly: God. But he’s the answer to most everything. I needed to be more specific. Then I found clarity: I’m thankful for the love of God.

If we have God’s love, which we do, everything else is secondary. Yes, I’m thankful for family and friends and possessions and blessings, but mostly I’m thankful that God loves me—and that God loves you, too.

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Tags holiday, thank God, Thanksgiving

Bible Insights

What Do People Remember About You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 1, 2015

Faith, Hope, and Love

When Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica he professes three things he recalls about them.

He remembers them and their characteristics before God, presumably as he prays, offering thanksgiving to God for their lives and the examples they provide.

Three things stand out as the testimony of the Thessalonian church, their witness to the world around them:

Faithful Work

Their faith in God produces their work. They don’t work for the sake of working or do things just to do things. They work with intentionality because of their faith.

They couple actions with belief, with their actions springing forth from their spiritual moorings.

Loving Labor

Their love for others prompts them to help others. They don’t love in name only or in theory, they show their love by their deeds. For them love is a verb.

Because of their love, they toil for others, laboring for the benefit of those around them.

Enduring Hope

They persevere because of Jesus, through their hope in him and the promises he offers. This hope inspires their endurance; it motivates them to persist regardless of the situation or circumstances. Their hope propels them forward.

When Paul thinks about this church, this is how he remembers them. He recalls their faith, their love, and their hope.

In another letter Paul upholds all three of these ideals and then adds that the greatest of them is love.

(1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 13:13)

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Tags faith, hope, love, Paul, Thanksgiving, witness

Bible Insights

How Often Do You Give Thanks to God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 24, 2015

When Paul writes to the church in the city of Colossi, he says he always gives God thanks when he prays for them. He doesn’t just give God thanks for them occasionally but always.

This is because of their faith in Jesus and their love for all God’s people—not some of them or the ones they agree with, but all of God’s people.

Their faith and love stems from the hope they have in heaven because of Jesus (Colossians 1:3-5).

This is one of many of Paul’s references to prayers of thanksgiving he makes for other servants and followers of Jesus. See Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 1:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, and Philemon 1:4.

This gives me pause. Is my life one that would cause someone to give thanks to God? I fear not. Furthermore, when have I given thanks to God for the example of someone else’s life?

Implicitly, perhaps, but I doubt if I’ve ever done so explicitly.

I’m not sure which bothers me more: my failure in producing God-honoring actions or my forgetfulness in praying God-honoring thanks.

In even more general terms, how often do I thank God overall? Sometimes I remember to thank him for his blessings and provisions.

Sometimes I remember to thank him for answered prayer. But it is much easier to persist in making requests, than to persist in giving thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Tags Paul, pray, thank God, Thanksgiving

Christian Living

Will You Pray For Me?

Three Outcomes to Consider

When people ask for prayer, I’m eager to do so. Prayer is important; prayer makes a difference. God wants us to pray, and it’s part of our spiritual formation.

So when someone asks, “Will you pray for me?” I pray. Often I pray right away, either silently or out loud, depending on the situation. And I try to pray again later.

Sometimes this may be just once or twice. In other instances I feel a prompting of the Holy Spirit to intercede multiple times throughout the day or over the course of many days.

Then, after investing so much in praying for someone, I’m anxious to learn what happened. I hear one of three responses:

Yes! Often I hear glowing reports of God’s amazing answer, either exactly as we prayed or in ways beyond what we hoped. Then I breathe a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus. God is good; I’m so glad I prayed.

No! Other times, the person is downcast. God seems to have been silent, not responding in any discernable way. I’m disappointed when this happens, but it doesn’t dissuade me from praying. I persevere.

Prayer isn’t about getting our way; prayer is about aligning our thoughts with God’s will.

Sometimes we fail to see his perspective. Navigating this is a tricky path, but it’s part of our spiritual journey; it hones our faith. I press on. I thank God that he is growing me.

What? A few times—too often, in fact—they give me a blank stare. This is something they asked me to pray about, but they forgot. It was a passing thought to them, one quickly disregarded.

I invested time, emotion, and faith into something for their sake, and God was part of that process, but they went AWOL: not joining in prayer, not listening to God’s direction, and not doing their part to move towards resolution.

I was more faithful in praying for them than they were. They didn’t follow through or keep me updated. This minimizes prayer and demeans God; it makes me sad.

At times we can be too casual when asking for prayer. While prayer should be common, it is not trivial. When we ask someone to pray for us, it is serious business; God is involved. After asking for prayer, our role is to pray, too.

Next we listen to God, and then we do our part to move towards resolution. This honors God and respects those who pray for us.

Don’t ask someone to pray for you unless you truly mean it and are willing to take part.

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Tags faith, faithful, prayer, Thanksgiving