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It’s 18f (-7.7c) and this was my greeting as I headed out to shovel…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1-5‬ ESV)

As many Americans gather with family and/or friends for a big meal tomorrow, many will be asked to state what they are thankful for. Many, unprepared for such, might stutter and stammer and say they are thankful for their family or for the cranberry relish or their dog or whatever. Now these are valid and in many cases honorable things to be thankful for, they are probably even heartfelt. But, that we stutter and stammer may mean we have to think about something we have not thought of to date. Which leads me to the question. Why are we not more thankful more often?

Perhaps if we made a more regular practice of being thankful, we might have better outlooks on life in general. Paul said to “give thanks in all circumstances;” (1 Thess. 5:18a) he did not say give thanks for everything. The idea is to look to God and be thankful. In his very recent book on prayer, Tim Keller exclaims: “It is remarkable that in all of his writings Paul’s prayers for his friends contain no appeals for changes in their circumstances.” (Keller. Prayer, p. 19) Paul’s emphasis is the inner life and that if we focus on it, the outer life will take care of itself. This is how he can say “give thanks in all circumstances.” If we are viewing the circumstances of life filled by and strengthened by Christ living in us, we have much to be thankful for.

So, take a moment and give thanks. Not sure for what? Your heart is beating, right? You just took a breath didn’t you? Did you have to plan either of those? Someone taught you to read didn’t they? Or is this being read aloud to you? If so, be thankful for that person. Look around, in the midst of the pretty awful stuff that is going on, we really do have much to be thankful for, especially those of us who already have Christ in us.

In everything, give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving.

N.T.Wright on a global view of man and woman in the Bible… great stuff… take 17 minutes, watch, absorb and think.

This week there has been an uptick of news Russian.

It seems to be coming from a lot of places that are not near Ukraine…

Australia doesn’t give Putin a warm welcome, click here

Gulf of Mexico is new destination for Russian bombers, click here.

And inside the U.S. there is a different kind of offensive as some well meaning Christian evangelicals hang out with Russian Christian leaders, some of whom apparently hang out with Putin. Read this and see if you are as suspicious as I am. CLICK HERE

And of course Ukraine

What is a faithful partner?

I would suggest that it is one who sticks with you and helps you through thick and through thin.

For over a decade our organization has been in faithful partnership with Twin Oaks Church in San Jose, CA. This church heard about our vision when they were new and putting together their foreign missions outreach program and have faithfully partnered us through thick and through thin. Pastors from this church have traveled with me in years past to orphanages in Ukraine and to churches in Hungary and Croatia. I am incredibly thankful to God for this church and for their leaders and for thier partnership.

They have a helpful website HERE that include a video by their pastor that helps you understand what they are all about. I will be visiting these faithful partners this weekend and if you are in the Bay Area, I’d love to see you! Here’s Pastor Philip’s welcome to Twin Oaks…