Tag Archives: thanksgiving

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Why the Holy Spirit Connection between Morals and Thanksgiving Matters

Encore Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Forty-Eight

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Why the Holy Spirit Connection between Morals and Thanksgiving Matters

This is Thanksgiving week, and it just so happens that we are coming to a verse in Ephesians chapter five that contains an admonition to thankfulness. How cool is that? Right on time — right on target. So, thankfulness is the subject today, and Mark Tidd of Webster, New York, describes an experience from his college days in line with this theme. He said, — An old man showed up at the back door of the house we were renting. Opening the door a few inches, we saw his eyes were glassy, and his furrowed face glistened with silver stubble. He clutched a wicker basket holding a few unappealing vegetables. He bid us good morning and offered his produce for sale. We were uneasy enough that we made a quick purchase to alleviate both our pity and our fear. To our chagrin, he returned the next week, introducing himself as Mr. Roth, the man who lived in the shack down the road. As our fears subsided, we got close enough to realize it wasn’t alcohol but cataracts that marbleized his eyes. On subsequent visits, he would shuffle in, wearing two mismatched right shoes, and pull out a harmonica. With glazed eyes set on a future glory, he’d puff out old gospel tunes between conversations about vegetables and religion. On one visit, he exclaimed, “The Lord is so good! I came out of my shack this morning and found a bag full of shoes and clothing on my porch.” “That’s wonderful, Mr. Roth!” we said. “We’re happy for you.” “You know what’s even more wonderful?” he asked. “Just yesterday I met some people that could really use them.1

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Who Do You Say Jesus Is to You?

[Tweet “When it comes to being compassionate, there is no better example than God the Father.”]

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Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God Encore Podcast

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Twenty-Seven

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Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God

If you want to know how to grow up spiritually, if your heart desires to know what God’s will is for your life, you’ve come to the right place today. On the heels of knowing God’s will, comes this illustrative story from the lips of F.B. Meyer. Myer was a Baptist Pastor and Evangelist whose life spanned England’s 19th and 20th centuries. When crossing the Irish Channel one dark starless night, F. B. Meyer stood on the deck by the captain and asked him, “How do you know Holyhead Harbor on so dark a night as this?” He said, “You see those three lights? Those three must line up behind each other as one, and when we see them so united we know the exact position of the harbor’s mouth.”1 We are going to see in this week’s podcast that there are three things — three lights if you would — that have to line up in your life to be able to guide your ship into the harbor of God’s will. Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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The Value of Casting Your Care on the Lord

[Tweet “All Jesus’ followers should rejoice, pray, and give thanks.”]

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Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Forty-One

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Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God

If you want to know how to grow up spiritually, if your heart desires to know what God’s will is for your life, you’ve come to the right place today. On the heels of knowing God’s will, comes this illustrative story from the lips of F.B. Meyer. Myer was a Baptist Pastor and Evangelist whose life spanned England’s 19th and 20th centuries. When crossing the Irish Channel one dark starless night, F. B. Meyer stood on the deck by the captain and asked him, “How do you know Holyhead Harbor on so dark a night as this?” He said, “You see those three lights? Those three must line up behind each other as one, and when we see them so united we know the exact position of the harbor’s mouth.”1 We are going to see in this week’s podcast that there are three things — three lights if you would — that have to line up in your life to be able to guide your ship into the harbor of God’s will. Three Things You Can Do To Operate in the Will of God. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

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The Value of Casting Your Care on the Lord

[Tweet “All Jesus’ followers should rejoice, pray, and give thanks.”]

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Why the Holy Spirit Connection between Morals and Thanksgiving Matters

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Forty-Seven

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Why the Holy Spirit Connection between Morals and Thanksgiving Matters

This is Thanksgiving week, and it just so happens that we are coming to a verse in Ephesians chapter five that contains an admonition to thankfulness. How cool is that? Right on time — right on target. So, thankfulness is the subject today, and Mark Tidd of Webster, New York, describes an experience from his college days in line with this theme. He said, — An old man showed up at the back door of the house we were renting. Opening the door a few inches, we saw his eyes were glassy, and his furrowed face glistened with silver stubble. He clutched a wicker basket holding a few unappealing vegetables. He bid us good morning and offered his produce for sale. We were uneasy enough that we made a quick purchase to alleviate both our pity and our fear. To our chagrin, he returned the next week, introducing himself as Mr. Roth, the man who lived in the shack down the road. As our fears subsided, we got close enough to realize it wasn’t alcohol but cataracts that marbleized his eyes. On subsequent visits, he would shuffle in, wearing two mismatched right shoes, and pull out a harmonica. With glazed eyes set on a future glory, he’d puff out old gospel tunes between conversations about vegetables and religion. On one visit, he exclaimed, “The Lord is so good! I came out of my shack this morning and found a bag full of shoes and clothing on my porch.” “That’s wonderful, Mr. Roth!” we said. “We’re happy for you.” “You know what’s even more wonderful?” he asked. “Just yesterday I met some people that could really use them.1

Listen to the Audio

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Who Do You Say Jesus Is to You?

[Tweet “When it comes to being compassionate, there is no better example than God the Father.”]

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Praise and Worship: Sundry Spirit Lessons for Everyday Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eight Episode Seventeen

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Praise and Worship: Sundry Spirit Lessons for Everyday Life

Have you ever thought about what praise and worship will be like in heaven? An evangelist asked all who wanted to go to heaven to raise their hands. Everyone in the audience did so, except for one older man sitting near the front of the auditorium. The preacher pointed his finger at him and said, ‘Sir, do you mean to tell us that you don’t want to go to heaven?’ ‘Sure I want to go, but the way you put the question, I figured you were getting up a busload for tonight!’1 Heaven is the most wonderful place ever, and as a believer in Jesus, it is your eternal destination. And trust me, you want to go there. The praise and worship there is out of this world.

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Amazing Pointers on the Road to Lifting God Higher

[Tweet “We praise God for what He is doing or has done — we worship Him for who He is.”]

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Why Thanking God Always Is the Right Way

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Eight

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Why Thanking God Always Is the Right Way

I heard a really funny story on the subject of thanking God. As it turns out, an ATHEIST professor was walking through the woods one day, admiring the accident of evolution. He looked at the trees and the flowers; he observed the rivers and the animals, and he marveled at the magnificence of evolution. All of a sudden, he heard a rustling in the bushes, and out pounced a seven-foot grizzly bear. Immediately, the bear began chasing him. He ran feverishly to save his life, huffing, puffing, and crying, with the bear catching up with him after every step. He tripped and fell. Now the bear hovered over him, ready to pounce. That’s when the atheist cried out, “O my God, help me!” All of a sudden, a light came out of heaven. The bear’s paw was in the air, ready to swipe at him, but the bear froze. The river stopped flowing. The wind stopped blowing. Everything was perfectly quiet and perfectly still. That’s when the Voice spoke. The Voice through the light said, “Sir, do you really believe that after all these years of denying Me, after all these years of believing that this universe is merely a cosmic accident, and after all of these years of teaching your students why I do not exist that I would help you now?” The man peering at the light said, “You know, You’re right, my track record is bad, and it would be hypocritical of me to call on You now, but maybe we could approach this a different way. Even though You can’t do anything for me, perhaps You could turn the bear into a Christian. If you did that, things would still turn out differently for me.” The Voice from the light said, “As you request.” Suddenly, the river began to flow, the wind began to blow, and the trees began to rustle. The bear sat back, picked up its two paws, and clasped them together. It looked up and said, “O God, thank You for this food I am about to receive.” Things can get scary sometimes. When things get bad enough, it’s amazing the new direction people are willing to look.1 Why Thanking God Always Is the Right Way, that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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Becoming The Good Man God Wants You To Be

[Tweet “Praise should have a reason; that way, it doesn’t degenerate into a mindless repetition of words.”]

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Is Praise and Thanksgiving Pillars of Your House?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Five Episode Eight

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Is Praise and Thanksgiving Pillars in Your House?

Recently, I ran across this illustration that ties into what praise and worship are to our spiritual lives. In the Chilean village of Chungungo water is nearly as valuable as precious metal. The region is arid and parched, forcing the village to truck in freshwater over dirt roads from miles away. Until recently the average person could afford a mere four gallons a day (compare that to the average American who uses ninety gallons a day), and buying even that meager amount soaked up 10 percent of household incomes. In Chungungo bathing was a luxury. But then scientists experimented with an ingenious new system for obtaining water. The 330 residents of Chungungo now drink water—the freshest they have ever tasted—from high above, atop nearby El Tofo mountain.

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Schemenauer, a Canadian cloud physicist, workers hung on eucalyptus poles a “wall” of finely woven propylene nets, each the size of eight queen-size bed sheets sewn together. Seventy-five such nets sift the clouds that sweep in incessantly from the Pacific Ocean. A close look at the plastic nets reveals propylene fibers meshed in tiny triangles. Like dew collects on grass, infinitesimally small water particles from fog collect on these fibers. Ten thousand such water particles must coalesce to produce one drop of water the size of a tear. Still, each water net collects forty gallons of water a day. The seventy-five nets on El Tofo sift a total of three thousand gallons daily from the drifting clouds and fog.

Sometimes our lives feel as dry and parched as the rocky soil around Chungungo, where only shrubs and cactus grow. What we need are spiritual water nets. Few things will flood the reservoirs of your soul like giving thanks to God.1 It’s that Thanksgiving time of the year. Worship, praise and thanksgiving, that’s what we’re talking about in this week’s Light on Life.

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Why It’s Important to Flow in Faith’s Domain

[Tweet “The higher you go in God, the stronger, the more stout your pillars need to be.”]

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What Ten Things Are You Thankful For?

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Here we are again, another Thanksgiving season – this is my 61st year celebrating this holiday. Every year, at this season, I like to address the topic of being thankful. No need to break the string now! The character trait of being thankful is right to have because it strikes at one of the key elements necessary for success in the human person, attitude.

[Tweet “A thankful attitude can be taught which means you can school yourself into having one.”]

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#S4-008: What Ten Things Are You Thankful For? [Podcast]

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Be Thankful Unto the Lord

Here we are again, another Thanksgiving season. I turn sixty in a few days. Man, am I thankful unto God. I am thankful unto God for good health. At this age, my father was in the throes of battling cancer and had been so for many years. He went home at age 61.   Every year, at this season, I like to address the topic of thankfulness. No need to break the string now. The character trait of thankfulness is right to have because it strikes at one of the key elements necessary for success in the human person, attitude.

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[Tweet “If thankfulness is anything – its attitude.”]

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#S3-009: Encore Episode: What Ten Things Are You Thankful For? [Podcast]

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Here we are again, another Thanksgiving season – this is my 59th year celebrating this holiday. Every year, at this season, I like to address the topic of thankfulness. No need to break the string now. The character trait of thankfulness is right to have because it strikes at one of the key elements necessary for success in the human person, attitude.

Listen to the Audio

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[Tweet “If thankfulness is anything – its attitude.”]

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#S2-010: What Ten Things Are You Thankful For? [Podcast]

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Here we are again, another Thanksgiving season – this is my 58th year celebrating this holiday. Every year, at this season, I like to address the topic of thankfulness. No need to break the string now! The character trait of thankfulness is right to have because it strikes at one of the key elements necessary for success in the human person, attitude.

Listen to the Audio

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