Henri Nouwen: “Here we touch on the most important quality of Christian leadership in the future. It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerless and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest.”
Pastor Dewey Note: My spirit has always been disturbed by this term ‘Black Friday’. To me it means darkness, more darkness in a darkening world. I can hear people now saying, “Oh Dewey! you are so old fashion! Get with it!” Black Friday also brings out the GREED in Americans. We already suffer from a huge consumer debt. The message of Black Friday does us no good. Jesus is of LIGHT!
We are suffering from record consumer debt and a record Federal deficit, which the Republicans and Democrats are ignoring as they fight in the mud. This really gets to me that NOBODY IN D.C seems to care! I have never seen such a mess in my life. Will Rogers would have a heyday with the mess in D.C. I feel bad for you if you do not know who Will is. Will Rogers was a great communicator with the American people! We no longer in America have nonpartisan news reporting, we work hard to here at FGGAM to provide a Biblical Worldview, nonpartisan reporting. He did not care if you were Republican or Democrat and I feel the same way. We are a ministry. We stand for Jesus! We stand for good stewardship, it seems to me that the Dems and Republicans better read the Bible on that!
Where’s the fruit?
1 Corinthians 4:2: Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.
A biblical world view of stewardship can be consciously defined as: “Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.” The central essence of biblical world view stewardship is managing everything God brings into the believer’s life in a manner that honours God …
With consumers expected to spend as much as $1.1 trillion this holiday season, despite near-record credit card debt levels, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released the following reports to help holiday shoppers save money and avoid a financial hangover in the new year.
2019 Holiday Shopping Survey – 35 million Americans still have credit card debt from last holiday season, and nearly one third of consumers will spend less on holiday this year than last year.
$13.86 trillion
Total U.S. consumer debt is at $13.86 trillion. That includes mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student loan
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. John 1:4
Light not darkness.
Sharon and I do not take part in Black Friday.
To us, everyday is about Jesus and what He has done and is doing for us.
Now I understand there is a movement in America from some to change the name of Thanksgiving. Oh my goodness! Do not ask what is next.
I have not shared this much at all, but now the Lord has told me to share it today……..years ago in Asheville, NC at a “Time to Revive” Revival, headed up Founder and Pastor Kyle Martin it was prophesied over me one night that I would become a watchman on the wall for Jesus. I can see what the Lord has done with me over the years and what he is doing in the present days. A watchman on the wall for Jesus is nonpartisan, no politics, a Biblical Worldview. The ways of Jesus! Amen!
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
Love this powerful quote by Henri Nouwen: Jesus has a different vision of maturity, it is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go”
This post is from 2016 but sure still fits today! Love Dr. Jim Denison! We love you also! Happy Thanksgiving!
Jim Denison, Ph.D., speaks and writes on cultural and contemporary issues. He produces a daily column which is distributed to more than 113,000 subscribers in 203 countries. He also writes for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Post, Common Call, and other publications.
Today is “Black Friday,” that infamous wall-to-wall 24/7 feeding frenzy that turns stores into boxing rings and shopping into a martial art. Then there’s online shopping, which took in more than $2 billion yesterday. As our culture descends into the maelstrom of materialism, let’s note that the Christmas season officially begins every year on Black Friday. And let’s remember that the One who was born in a manger died on a cross.I love the holiday season. However, Jesus didn’t come so we could celebrate Christmas, but so we could experience Easter. Good Friday was the true Black Friday that became good because of grace.
Let’s conclude this Thanksgiving week by considering the connection between gratitude and grace. I’ve chosen author Anne Lamott to be our guide. Her parents were atheists, but she and her siblings have been following Jesus for decades. As a result, she says, “someone at our holiday tables always ends up saying grace.”
Why? Lamott explains: “I think we’re in it for the pause, the quiet thanks for love and for our blessings, before the shoveling begins. For a minute, our stations are tuned to a broader, richer radius. We’re acknowledging that this food didn’t just magically appear: Someone grew it, ground it, bought it, baked it; wow.”
Lamott continues: “We pray to be mindful of the needs of others. We savor these moments out of time, when we are conscious of love’s presence, of Someone’s great abiding generosity to our dear and motley family, these holy moments of gratitude. And that is grace.”
Anne Lamott is on to something that matters long after yesterday’s quiet holiday fades into the cacophony that is the Christmas season. All week we’ve explored reasons why God calls us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We’ve learned that thanksgiving encourages our humility, increases our faith, and provides a wonderful opportunity for witness.
Let’s close with one more fact: gratitude empowers our service.
When we give thanks to someone for something, we implicitly acknowledge that we owe them this debt of gratitude. We give thanks not for what we earn but for what we don’t. And we want to repay our benefactor for the kindness we receive.
The way we repay God for his grace is by paying it forward to those who need what we have received. As Lamott notes, “We pray to be mindful of the needs of others.” We give thanks for our food because we know we do not deserve what so many do not have. We give thanks for our family because we recognize the fragile grace that binds us together. We give thanks for our blessings precisely because they are blessings. And we are moved to give what has been given to us.
I don’t know a more powerful motive for service than gratitude. Guilt fades; fear can be conquered; but grace received will always be grace. Paul served Jesus because he could never forget what Jesus did for him: “‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’—and I am the worst of them all” (1 Timothy 1:15, NLT).
Your last sin forgiven should motivate your next service rendered. When you “count your many blessings,” you’ll want to be a person someone else names when they count theirs.
