Thanksgiving and the Detroit Lions

Fifty-six years of Thanksgiving celebrations and many of them included the obligatory torture of watching the Detroit Lion's "play" football. I just Googled the Lion's Thanksgiving day record and got a somewhat dated but revealing stat. It said: From 1934 to 2007 the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day record stands at 33-33-2. In other words they've virtually cancelled themselves out over the years! I believe that in my life time they were more like 3-30. I will never understand why we spent the afternoon on such a special day watching their futility. However, I believe that it was because there was nothing else to do after we ate. Back in them thar days we had channels: 9, 7, 4 and 2. The Lions were on TV 2. After dinner we were a bit lethargic and so the game filled time.

I thought that Lion's Watching was a necessary part of Thanksgiving until 1997 when I first arrived in Brazil. Thanksgiving was the Hudson's parade and then the Big meal followed by the Lion's game followed by Alka-Seltzer followed by an antidepressant. Over the years I became thankful that I wasn't a dyed in the wool Lion's fan.

I have shared before how that it wasn't until I got to Brazil that I celebrated my first REAL Thanksgiving. It took place in downtown Sao Paulo in a new church plant in a country that doesn't even celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a normal day for the Brazilian population but not for us.

There were many missionaries present and we were new to the field. We felt a bit lost but I will never forget that Thanksgiving. We had a big meal... but wait a minute! There was NO parade and NO Lion's game! WHAT?? How was this Thanksgiving??

What really floored me was what followed the meal. We gathered together to share blessings of what God had been doing in our lives during that year. We sang hymns of praise in the most heavenly choir of veteran missionaries and then we went around the room and each family praised God for His wonderful provisions, protections and presence in their lives and ministries. It changed the way that I looked at Thanksgiving! TG should have always been that way but it wasn't until a radical move to Brazil that it became something other than a hedonistic party.

Since that first Thanksgiving in 97 we have emphasized that type of celebration, whether here in Brazil or in the States. In fact just a year ago we were getting ready for a family get-together that would be spent (at least a part of it) in praising the Lord for His goodness and greatness.

So, whats to be thankful for this year, our first "Empty Nest" Thanksgiving? Much! My lovely wife and I love each other! We know many couples who don't. We have seen God's blessings over every one of our 34 years of marriage. We have daughters and sons-in-law who are born again, who love each other and who are serving the Lord of the Harvest! We have seen God provide in a miraculous way for Abby to be at College. We have three lovely grand kids. We are being used by God to share His Gospel. We have seen Him bring in some of the harvest already!

We are SO blessed! And, one more thing, we don't get the Lion's game down here!!

Happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you all!

Caught up to Paradise - 2 Corinthians 12

Residing in Michigan for over half my life, I had heard about Paradise. Because Paradise is a small town in the Upper Peninsula, you may have never visited there in your life, but you knew it existed. It was WAY up there next to Tahquamenon Falls and nothing else. Where's Tahquamenon Falls? Next to Paradise and nothing else. It's a long way from home. Why all of the talk about Paradise? Because Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 12. There was this guy who had been caught up to Paradise. Not in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but into the REAL Paradise. While there, he'd heard things that he was unable to repeat. What on earth was this? Who was this guy? Here's what was going on. Paul defended his position of Apostleship in chapter eleven and gave the Corinthians an idea of what Apostleship looked like in chapter twelve. It came with great wonders, like seeing or instead hearing unimaginable things. But, too, that position came with a terrible cost. God gave Paul a &q

What to get God for Christmas

Jesus left perfect surroundings, relationships and glory to be born into squalor. He was homeless before birth. His father was a carpenter in a culture where carpentry was a despised trade. His, mother though young and giving birth to her firstborn, had no attendant nurses, helpers or friends. Rather than a pristine hospital, birth was given in the filthy stench of a stable. Romantic? Hardly. This sacrifice brought a life of hardship. Why? Why this odd story? Obedience. God's gift to humanity was His son. Jesus' gift was obedience to the Father. He paid the greatest price. Not because we are special but because he loves His Father. His gift was the perfect gift. Our Father wants obedience for Christmas and every other day for that matter. In Brazil Christmas is becoming commercialized. A phenomenon familiar for years in the United States tickles a growing economy. There is little time for meditation on God's Gift. There are no chestnuts roasting or Jack Frost nippin

Stop Trusting

Isaiah 2:22 says Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? The Prophet is saying that we shouldn't put our trust in humankind because they are so finite. They are not like God, who is infinite. People are fickle. They change their minds. They love you and then hate you in moments. God invites us to trust him completely with everything that we have. He doesn't show himself to us physically or as a spirit. He demands that we have faith. However, he also gives us the faith to trust him. The universe shouts "Creator!" and yet we often ignore the proclamation. This ignorance does not make God's creation any less a physical demonstration of his grandeur. God's boundless being becomes more amazing in his presence within us. How can the infinite God dwell in the mortals he commands us not to trust? Jesus said, "with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible."

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