MORNING MANNA              11-25-22

GIVE THANKS

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭

J. R. Miller wrote:Thanksgiving should never be lacking in a Christian life. It is not enough to observe one day in the year for ‘Thanksgiving’ although that is a beautiful thing to do. Nor is it enough to put a sentence of thanksgiving into our daily prayers, although that, also, is proper. 

It is the grateful spirit which pleases God, the spirit that is always full of praise. There should be a note of thanksgiving running through all our life. 

Too many of us go to God only with . . .
  our requests,
  our burdens,
  our worries,
  our troubles
 — while we but rarely go to Him with any word of thanks. 

We are not to be thankful only for the pleasant and agreeable things that come into our days — we are to be thankful, too, for the things that appear to us to be adversities. “Give thanks in everything.” That means . . .
  in the sad days — as well as in the glad days,
  when clouds are in the sky — as well as when the sunshine is pouring everywhere. 

It is said here that this is the will of God for us. The Christliest life is the one that is always keyed to the note of praise and thanksgiving.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful!” Hebrews 12:28 

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA              11-24-22

GIVE THANKS

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”-1 Thess 5:18

David Cooper writes that “Thanksgiving delivers us from a victim mentality and gives us a victor’s mentality. I once read that nothing can help the person with the wrong mental attitude, and nothing can stop a person with the right mental attitude. And the right mental attitude to overcome our obstacles and win our battles is thanksgiving.”

Missionary Benjamin Weir was held hostage in Lebanon and imprisoned under miserable conditions for 16 months. In his first interview after his release, he was asked how he spent his time and how he dealt with boredom and despair. His answer stunned the reporters. He simply said, “Counting my blessings.” “Blessings?” they responded. “Yes,” he explained. “Some days I got to take a shower. Sometimes there were some vegetables in my food. And I could always be thankful for the love of my family.”

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? 

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? 

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, 

And you will be singing as the days go by. 

—Oatman

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OUR LAKEWAY FAMILY!

I pray that God blesses each of you. – Bro. Stone

MORNING MANNA            11-23-22

THANKSGIVING

You may not recognize the name Sarah Hale, but you know her work. Sarah was born in 1788. She was, among other talents, a poet. Her most famous poem begins with the phrase “Mary had a little Lamb.” Her poem became so universally known that Thomas Edison used that opening line as the first recorded words on his newly invented phonograph.

Sarah became the editor of at least two different magazines for women. She used her influence to argue for the end of slavery. And she also appealed to several United States presidents to set aside one day each year as a National Day of Thanksgiving to God.

After decades of persistence, Abraham Lincoln was the president who finally agreed with her request.

Lincoln was the least likely candidate to launch a National Day of Thanksgiving. It was a time in American history when few people were interested in thanking God for anything. The Civil War had been raging for several years. 

But Lincoln proclaimed it so. The first observance was in 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War, and only a few short months after the deadly Battle of Gettysburg.

President Lincoln’s proclamation included these words: 

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States . . . to observe a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up [statements of praise] due to Him for . . . blessings . . . they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience.”

In other words, Abraham Lincoln wanted Thanksgiving Day to become nothing less than a day of national confession and revival.

Since that time, every president has proclaimed Thanksgiving a national observance on the final Thursday of November. Well, almost.

I find it humorous that one year, Thanksgiving was celebrated in December because President Andrew Johnson forgot to make the annual declaration!

The truth is that we sometimes tend to resemble Andrew Johnson. For some, Thanksgiving is just a speed bump on the way to Christmas. To others, Thanksgiving is a day to eat and shop and watch football. It’s easy to forget to be thankful.

This year, don’t forget thankfulness in your celebration of Thanksgiving. Take time to pause and heed the advice of Abraham Lincoln. “. . . Observe a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” – Stephen Davey

David Stone

Lakeway Baptist Church

Humble, Tx.

MORNING MANNA           11-22-22

THE PRODIGAL’S PLEA

Read Luke 15:11-24

THINK ABOUT IT         11-21-22

At least a third of senior pastors in the United States believe one can earn a place in Heaven by simply being a good person, according to a nationwide survey.

The American Worldview Inventory 2022 examined more than three dozen beliefs held by pastors. Researchers found that in addition to believing that people can merit salvation based solely on their good works, one-third or more of senior pastors surveyed also believe the Holy Spirit is not a person but rather “a symbol of God’s power.” Others said that moral truth is subjective; sexual relations between two unmarried people who love each other is “morally acceptable” and biblical teaching on abortion is “ambiguous.”

At least a third of those surveyed also said they believe “socialism is preferable to capitalism and that allowing property ownership facilitates economic injustice,” which researchers say could point to the “increase of cultural and political influence into the church.”

The current report focuses on roughly half of those beliefs, revealing that a shockingly large percentage reject biblical teaching on some of the most basic Christian beliefs.

Among Evangelical pastors, for example, personal accumulation of wealth is provided by God for the individual to manage those resources for God’s purposes.

Another 39% of Evangelical pastors surveyed said there is no absolute moral truth and that “each individual must determine their own truth.” Roughly the same percentage (38%) didn’t answer in the affirmative when asked if “human life is sacred,” while 37% said having faith, in general, is more important than in what — or more specifically, Whom — one has faith.

Perhaps most startlingly, three in 10 Evangelical pastors (30%) didn’t answer in the affirmative if their salvation is based on having confessed their sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their savior.

George Barna, CRC’s director of research, said the results could be linked to another trend he observed in the data.

“While studying the spiritual behavioral patterns of pastors, it became evident that a large share of them do not have a regular spiritual routine,” Barna said. “There was a correlation between possessing biblical beliefs and a consistent regimen of Bible reading, prayer, worship and confession.

“In some of the denominational groupings, a majority of pastors do not engage in those foundational spiritual practices on a regular basis,” he added. “Yet, among the pastors who have the most consistently biblical beliefs, there is also a daily routine that incorporates all of those disciplines.”

The data from this latest report came from a nationwide study of about 1,000 Christian pastors across several segments of churches and/or denominational families and was conducted between February and March of 2022