What Thanksgiving Is Really All About

This week we celebrate the first of the three major holidays in Thanksgiving. So many traditions have come from this holiday. The most common one is the turkey.

Along with the turkey comes the mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, cranberries, yams, and of course Pumpkin Pie.

Another tradition that has become synonymous with Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. That precedes my favorite Thanksgiving tradition.

Every year the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys treat football fans with an extra day of football for fans. Then Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving wraps up most of the college football season as traditional rivals such as Michigan-Ohio State,  Florida-Florida State, USC-Notre Dame, Alabama-Auburn, etc. are matched up on Thanksgiving weekend. Then there is more NFL action on Sunday. It is a whole weekend of football.

Finally, there is my least favorite Thanksgiving tradition. That is Black Friday.

It is a crazy day at malls and department stores where the deals on electronics and other items can be bought  at a really low price. People camp out over night. I dislike it because I don't feel the line is worth the wait and I usually get stuck working security.

As great as all these traditions are, it is important to never forget what this day is really all about. It is the memory of how our great country began. Christians in England were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. To avoid that any further, they made a pilgrimage to the new world. They became known as Pilgrims.

When they arrived on the Mayflower, the pilgrims had no idea how to live off the new land that they landed on. It was the native Americans who really saved them and taught them how to hunt, fish, and grow crops. Thanksgiving was a day that was created as a way to give thanks not only to the Native Americans but also to God for giving them a new beginning in a new home.

There was a feast every year. While wild turkey was one bird served, there were also duck, goose, and chicken. Deer and fish were also commonly eaten on Thanksgiving. Every year they gave thanks to God. Those who settled in these new colonies lived by very strong Christian values. They lived by that all the way through the Revolutionary War and ultimately wrote the Constitution that was based on biblical principles.

This nation was in every way intended to be a Christian nation, contrary to what Mr. Obama or any other liberal/history revisionist wants to tell you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

If Everybody Tithed

Often times people do not like to go to church because of the tithe. They feel that the church is taking their money and it puts a negative vision of church in a person's mind. Others take the attitude that "I would tithe if I could but I can't right now." Others just do it once in a while.

The problem with that is that is another way for people grow dependent on the government. There never used to be welfare or other government assistance agencies. The church took care of that. They were able to because everybody tithed.

1 Chronicles 29:11-17 states;

¹¹ Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.¹⁵ We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. ¹⁶ Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

God knew what he was doing when he made the rule 10%. If everybody gave that amount, that would be enough to provide for those who are in need. Unfortunately, we now have a very small amount of people tithing and that has resulted in churches just being able to pay their staff with the tithe. 

As a result that has forced the government to have to step in and create those assistance agencies. There are a couple problems with that. First, every time you add government you add spending. That creates debt. Second, when you add government you become more dependent on  it. The more dependent you become on government, the more you allow it to control you. That means less freedom. 

These are just some things to think about next time you don't feel like tithing.

Vote Your Christian Values Today

That is the question every Christian should ask themselves for every single race. We know that Jesus is God in the flesh and that God decides what is right and wrong not man. God decided that killing the innocent is wrong. Nothing is more innocent than an unborn baby.

God decided that marriage is between a man and a woman living in covenant with him. If you know candidates who break one or both of those, than do not vote for them. The fact is that if they go against God here and make up their own rules on what is right and wrong, they will do so on all issues. Most candidates who break one of these rules will break the other one too. Research shows that.

It is God's will for us to prosper. Only in a free enterprise system can that happen. We need to vote for the candidates who understand that.

Remember to pray first, then vote.