Happy American Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

to all my American friends.

Today's post is by a guest author -- my pastor, Shawn Ketcheson.  He is a great man of God -- willing to preach the hard truths of Scriptures, yet (or because of that) full of the abundant life Jesus came to bring.  He is humble, willing to share openly about his mistakes and brokenness.  He is having a tremendous impact on those around him as he calls us all to bring the Good News to those who have not heard.

This is a newsletter that Shawn sent out prior to Canadian Thanksgiving.

My Dear Friends:
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I’m looking out my office window at home and comparing the colors of the leaves on the trees here to the colors of the leaves on the trees in the banner above.  There isn’t a lot of difference.  The colors are amazing in both.   Isn’t God incredible.  So much to be thankful for.   We thank God for food in a world where many go without.  We thank God for friendship in a world where many walk alone.  We thank God for hope in a world where many walk without faith.  And we thank God for safety in a world where many live in fear.  We are so blessed.  Lots to say thanks for.
Do you always feel thankful?   Are you always thankful?  Do you always appreciate what you have?  I know I don’t.  Sometimes I really don’t feel all that thankful.   When I don’t feel thankful, I remind myself of how fortunate I am in comparison to others and, I rediscover that thankful heart.   I remind myself that I have a loving supportive wife, when some people are in  relationships that are falling apart.   I remind myself that I have awesome children who are fun to hang out with.  I remind myself that I am a part of an incredible church family in a world where many have no faith family.  Is this a “Biblical” approach to Thanksgiving?    Should our thanksgiving be dependent on our having “more” of whatever than somebody else?  Today I am feeling a bit guilty for this approach to being thankful.  Doesn’t it seem rather shallow to be dependent on the miss fortunes of others to have a thankful heart.   Do I need to go a tad deeper?  I think so.
On Sunday we will look at the standing orders of the Gospel.   Here they are,  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).   These are called “standing orders” because they apply to every Christian in every situation.  The Greek makes this very clear because these imperatives are all in the present tense. You could translate it “continually rejoice, continually pray, and continually give thanks.”

This is a great challenge, isn’t it?  After all, we would have no problem if the text said,

“Rejoice sometimes”
“Pray occasionally”
“Give thanks when you feel like it.” 

 It’s the modifiers that trip us up:

“Always.”
“Continually.”
“In all circumstances.”

Want to know if your faith is genuine?  It is not your ability to memorize verses or judge and correct others that proves your faith is genuine.  Your faith is the real deal when your heart leads you to rejoice, pray and give thanks, in all situations.   If we only rejoice and give thanks when there is  money in the bank, when the marriage is good, when the deal goes through, when the doctor says, “You don’t have cancer,” when the kids are doing well, when the church is growing and your friends are glad to see you; if that’s the only time you give thanks then our faith is extremely shallow.  If we are not “rejoicing always”, “praying continually” and being “thankful in all circumstances”;  then our faith is shallow, even if we are quoting Scripture, serving, and tithing.  

How do we give thanks when our hearts are broken? How do we give thanks when we are confused? How do we give thanks when we are angry at what sin has done in the world?  I came upon an amazing list this past week addressing the issue of  “Thanksgivings”.  We will focus on this list on Sunday.  In the midst of all we can give thanks because of these truths:

God is sovereign.
Nothing happens by chance.
God causes all things to work together for good for his children.
That hard times reveal our weakness, break our pride, and show us our total need for God.
That God has triumphed over sin and death through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That God uses the worst that happens to promote our spiritual growth.
That God is faithful even when we are faithless.
That God’s Word will be vindicated.
That God’s promises are true.
That evil will not reign forever.
That heaven is real.


At the beginning of the message on Sunday, Shawn shared a video clip challenging our gratitude in compairison to those who face incredible hardships.  We were all moved by the video.  Then came the real challenge.  Would we still feel as grateful if the clip showed a compairison of our lives to that of the wealthy? Ouch.  If our gratitude is only valid when compared to what someone else has or experiences, it is shallow gratitude and will fail us when our circumstances change.



Shawn also gave us each this incredible list of things we can be grateful for regardless of our circumstances. This is worth meditating on whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend or not.

We can all be thankful and joyful when there are no health, money or relationship issues. God calls us to be thankful and joyful in all circumstances.  “All”.  How is this possible? Thanksgiving and joy comes from the following truths:

That God is sovereign.

That nothing happens by chance.

That God causes all things to work together for good for his children.

That hard times reveal our weakness, breaks our pride, and shows us our total need for God.

That God has triumphed over sin and death through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That God uses the worst that happens to promote our spiritual growth.

That God is faithful even when we are faithless.

That God’s Word will be vindicated.

That God’s promises are true.

That evil will not reign forever.

That heaven is real.

That this world is not the “real” world.

That when we are weak, he is strong.

That his grace is sufficient for every situation.

That nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

That our salvation rests on God and not on us.

That there is no pit so deep that the love of God is not deeper still.

That the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from every sin.

That God delights to save sinners.

That the Lord can soften the hardest heart.

That there are no impossible cases with God.

That even when we feel alone, we are never alone.

That our Father will not test us beyond what we can bear.

That the Holy Spirit abides with us always.

That the Lord Jesus feels our pain.

That the Holy Spirit prays for us when we are too weak to pray for ourselves.

That the Lord Jesus intercedes for us so that we are finally saved.

That God uses everything and wastes nothing.

That our doubts cannot cancel God’s work in us.

That someday we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

That God is faithful to finish his work in us.

That our hardships equip us to minister to others.

That we are invited to come boldly to the throne of grace.

That God’s plan far exceeds our puny imagination.

That weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

That we are still God’s children even when our faith falters.

That while we suffer outwardly, we are being renewed inwardly.

That our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory.

“Thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live” (MSG).

I like that phrase “no matter what happens” 

because it perfectly describes life in a fallen world.

Thank you Pastor Shawn for your love for God and for people.
God has gifted you to be a blessing to so many.