Altar of thanksgiving

I like to read Nehemiah, He had a heart for Israel and Jerusalem, I see His heart throughout the book.

Without spending more time on my appreciation of Nehemiah, I want to say something about “thanksgiving.”

First; I don’t know of a scripture that says “Altar of thanksgiving” yet I hope the choice of wording will have some inspiration with it.

An Altar in our modern Christian settings may most commonly be the table on which the Sacraments are placed for Communion. Until the mid to late twentieth century most protestant churches often had “alter benches” down front, with the increase of nondenominational and the mega churches “Altars” are no longer necessary for a repentant sinner to humble oneself by kneeling in confession or a symbolic kneeling before one's “Lord” and “Saviour.”

The Minor Prophet Amos seems to say; offer a sacrifice upon an altar for thanksgiving.

Amos 4:5

And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.

King James Version (KJV)  by Public Domain

The reference is very similar to the instructions from the law of Moses in Leviticus 7:13 the item of “sacrifice” need not have an intrinsic value but be of value to the giver. Thus it cost the giver! In the Old Testament is “first fruits” or on offering without spot or blemish and the “Widows mite” in Jesus’s parable.

Now add this definition of “Thanksgiving” in the text from Nehemiah:

The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon/ Strong's concordance Number: 03034

Definition:

Nehemiah is telling the downtrodden remnants of Jerusalem that in the day of King David “thanksgiving” meant action.

Like throwing flowers on a stage, laying flowers at a loved ones resting place. Like shooting arrows with streamers (the forerunner of fireworks?) Casting something at one's feet as a sign of respect (remember the crowds cast palm branches as Jesus rode into the city on a donkey)

It is all action throwing, shooting, casting, giving, confessing and thanking!

It is going out of one way. Giving that pair of shoes that fit & feel good (the ones you like to wear) Giving time you don’t think you have!

Maybe in between the joyous celebrations of eating and ball games we can do some THANKGIVING

Lets Pray!

“Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.” Psalm 95:2-3

God is God ! Christ is Lord

     R. C. B. Lewis; 2012-14   © All rights reserved

In contrast to the 44th president of these United States of America many if not most of the previous PotUS' had conventional Christian beliefs. Admittedly not necessarily the same as twenty first century evangelicals of these times.

Records indicate that we have had:

4 Baptist, 1 Catholic, 2 Congregationalists, 3 Disciples of Christ (including LBJ & Reagan), 2 Dutch Reformed, 12 Episcopalian (including FDR,Ford,Geo. H.W. & "dubya")  4 Methodist, 7 Presbyterian, 2 Quakers, 4 Unitarian, and 6 nondenominational (including Pres. Obama) http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Religious_affiliations_of_United_States_Presidents.html

Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Short on October 31, 1819, he was convinced that the fragmentary teachings of Jesus constituted the "outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has ever fallen from the lips of man."

A Prayer in Dark Times

"Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity..." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Oh! How we need a national leader, a person of bold, humble Faith in God and Jesus to inspire us as a nation and people to respect one another as our selves. A leader with similar qualities of states-men-ship and faith of Washington, Lincoln, and others for the future.

Lincoln is quoted saying; "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

I pray that the Lord raise up the faithful, honorable person for the presidential position that will pray as the predecessors have prayed.  

 

- George Washington -                  April 30th, 1789

2014       All rights reserved.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution accords Congress the power “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Reciprocity and the Creation of Sui-Generis-Type Intellectual Property Rights for New Forms of Technology’ [2003] 6(6) The Journal of World Intellectual Property 827-859, ISSN: 1422-2213

 

By, Sheri Rose Shepherd

Dear Precious Friend,

If Jesus were to write you a personal love letter it may read something like this:

I AM YOUR ETERNAL HUSBAND

My Eternal Bride,

I want to reveal a sacred secret to you, My beloved. Although I am your God, I am also your eternal Husband. I will come soon to carry you over the threshold into eternity. My desire is to lift the veil from your eyes that you might see who you really are, My Princess, My Bride. I am the Lover of your soul. I long to get close enough to give you a glimpse of My eternal love for you. If you will seek Me with all your heart, I will reveal Myself to you in extraordinary ways. If you will come before Me and ask, I will give you a new hope in your heart that will change your view of Me, of yourself, and of the world around you forever.

Love,

Your Creator and Husband

 

"The Lord All-Powerful, the Holy God of Israel, rules all the earth. He is your Creator and husband, and he will rescue you." - Isaiah 54:5 (CEV)

Proverbs 4: 23   "23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Single Friends:

May your heart get so lost in Jesus that a man has to go to your Lord to find it. If you are currently in a relationship with a man, please ask yourself these questions before moving forward in your relationship:

    Is this a man after God's heart?

Where is He leading my heart and where am I leading his...Closer to God or away from Him?

    Is this relationship a distraction, destructive, or a detour from what matters most to me or what God may have planned for my life?

    Do his words (spoken, written, or typed) or actions mislead me or manipulate my heart? Do I try to manipulate his heart?

    Do I feel free to be myself or do I have to become someone I'm not to connect with him or get him to love and accept me?

    Is this a pure relationship with pure motives that I will one day be proud of or do I compromise my moral convictions to feel connected to    him?

    Do I have peace about this relationship knowing God is glorified in this relationship or do I feel guilty about this relationship?

    Where is the relationship going and where will it lead me in the next 5, 10, 15 years of my life. Is it worth the work it takes and the invested time to get there?

    Do my friends and family believe He is the one for me and what would I think or how would I advise a friend if I was on the outside looking in to this relationship?

His Princess Bride

Ok now, GUYS;

            All of this is applicable for you too!     You are God's prince!

Just think of it in reverse,        "are you a Man after God's own heart?",

"where are You leading Her?",

Can She see Christ Jesus, through You?

 

© R. C. B. Lewis; 2012 - 2014      All rights reserved.

A Moving Memorial

            I attended a Memorial for WWII Veteran on Fri. 3 January 2014. I had only met Him twice yet they were impressive meetings.

Samuel C. Hunter, Jr.; 1 Sep. 1919 - 26 Dec. 2013 at the age of 94. Born Crocket, TX.

I had only met Mr. Hunter twice, the first time was at a non-profit open house where He was being recognized as a benefactor. He was in his mid to late 80's standing stately yet humbly with a pleasant expression. The next time was at an annual banquet where He and Mrs. Hunter were the guests of honor, with the same pleasant features, soft spoken and gracious but now He walked slightly stooped with a cane, white hair and gray mustache.

That was when I first learned of Mr. Hunters service in the US Army air corps as one of the "Tuskegee Airman"! I had learned early on that He served in the Army during world war two in an all black unit. The president of the non-profit spoke after the meal about dollars and veterans served then introduced Mr. Hunter and ask Him to say something.

Mr. Hunter stood, stayed at his table politely thanked the president for the introduction and simply said He was honored to be part and just a little part in helping other veterans needing a little encouragement through a rough patch. And sat back down.

It was then that the president said; what Mr. Sam didn't say was that He was not only a fellow veteran but a U.S. Army Air Corp Pilot and flew B-25 Bombers. And one of the distinguished Tuskegee Airman!

His obituary read in part:

Sam served his country during World War II in the US Army Air Force. He graduated in the class of 44-J as a 2nd Lt. B-25 pilot and cadet captain of his class. He separated from the United States Army Air Force in November 1945 with a commercial pilot license and was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force Reserve as a Captain in September, 1959. He is a DOTA (Documented Original Tuskegee Airman) and a recipient, with other DOTAs, of the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded in 2007.

Sam assisted his father and then directed the operation of Hunter Mortuary and later was a funeral director affiliated with Evergreen Funeral Home. He was also the first black real estate broker in Colorado Springs, operating Hunter & Company Real Estate firm until 2000. He pioneered multi-family housing for minorities by developing the Payne Chapel Housing program and was chairman of the board when Prince Hall Housing was implemented.

Being active in business, civic and fraternal activities, Sam received numerous awards, acknowledgements and citations. Among them were the Colorado College Diversity Award as an advocate for equality in housing and contributions to the community, business, education and civic activities of Colorado Springs and the NAACP Living Legends Award for Civil Rights Activism in the Colorado Springs community. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?pid=168836036#sthash.7RlLaLYV.dpuf

I feel honored having met Sam, If only twice in my life I ate a meal and shuck his hand twice. How many people have had the privilege to have been introduced to, much less talk with a decorated Tuskegee Airman!

 The Padre

© R. C. B. Lewis; 2012-14       All rights reserved.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution accords Congress the power “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Reciprocity and the Creation of Sui-Generis-Type Intellectual Property Rights for New Forms of Technology’ [2003] 6(6) The Journal of World Intellectual Property 827-859, ISSN: 1422-2213

 

Thanks Giving 

              Giving thanks for one thing or another goes back for ever, in China: "Chung Chiu" Moon Festival is believed to date back ten to twenty thousand years ago.

Any one that has been around a ranch or farm or gone to sea knows about the cycles of the moon. Fishermen watch  it to know the tides. Farmers watch the moon in connection with planting crops.

What does one have to be thankful for?     

      The recent rash of tornado's in the mid west              is fresh in my mind. With all of that destruction, even some deaths yet many were interviewed and said they were thankful. Thankful they had a seller or safe room. Those that survived were thankful they were alive.

Vietnam: Têt-Trung-Thu Festival: 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Asian lunar calendar. Celebration of the harvest or thanksgiving for rain and sun that produce a bountiful harvest.      Tết Nguyên Đán (1st morning after 1st new moon of the 1st month of the Vietnam lunar year.)

The first murder recorded in the Bible was related to a harvest offerings and jealously. Was Able more thankful than his brother Cain? Was Cain less obedient than Able in his offering? Who knows for sure? Let's leave that to the theologians.

The point is we as human beings have recognized the occasion, opportunity or need for giving thanks within civilization for many millennia.

What should we be thankful for?

              Leviticus 7 is full of offerings. Offerings of all kinds, the how's and why's. For the sake of time and the subject we will just consider the giving of thanks. In verse eleven it says they (the Israelites) could be thankful with a "fellowship" offering "to the Lord." May we consider then that one may be thankful for fellowship with God. Actually that is a great and mighty thing to be thankful about!

For any one of all creation to find or have a relationship with the Creator is a blessing above all any other of all of civilization. The ancients of all civilizations made offerings to what they or their leaders saw connected to the power they felt or believed in the moon or sun or seasons.

Through the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we find the idea of a Mighty yet Merciful God. Able to breathe life into every living thing on earth and even communicate with mankind or (for those of the liberation mind set) "Human Kind."

What greater thing to be "thankful" for than a relationship with the loving and caring Creator!

Who should be Thankful?

              I am mindful of the many times that I have read that God called on those skilled in crafts to build the Ark or the temple in the dessert, the City of David and the Temple of Solomon.

Fellers of timbers (1Kings 5:6), Masons  (2Ch 24:12), Carpenters  (2Sa 5:11), Gem cutters (Ex 28:11), Goldsmiths (Isa 46:6), engravers, designers, embroiderers and weavers, (Exodus 35:35), oarsmen (Ezekiel 27:8), Potters (Ro 9:21),

Skilled workers and Artisans            "and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts." (Exodus 31:3-5)

The Bible says all of these skills, wisdom and knowledge comes from God. It doesn't seem like a stretch that everyone has skills, gifts and life to be thankful for. And for all of this to be thankful to God.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe," Hebrews 12:28 NIV

LET US PRAY.

 

Yours in Faith,

     The Padre