A wise nation gives thanks for its blessings, and through history our leaders have led the celebration of Thanksgiving.
Author: Scott Chafee
Scott serves on staff at King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.
Thanksgiving is More Than…
Thanksgiving may be a lot of things, but it’s more than …
Here’s the OTHER version:
The Neverending Prayer
The table is set, the turkey is roasted, and everyone’s hungry … but when an especially thankful little girl volunteers to say grace, the family begins to wonder if they’ll ever get to eat. This humorous video is a reminder to give thanks in all things.
Would it Be Thanksgiving
Cooking, decorating, shopping, football, family festivities … these are all ingredients to a full and chaotic Thanksgiving holiday. This thoughtful video reminds us that there are a lot of elements that make Thanksgiving an American holiday, but the main ingredient is giving thanks to God.
National Porn Sunday
Statistics says that pornography use is rampant in America, and the American church is not exempt. It is sort of the elephant in the pew. Take a look at this:
- Men admitting to accessing pornography at work-20%
- U.S. adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites-40 million
- Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in last week-53%
- Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home-47%
- Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction-10%
- Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites is 72% male & 28% female
- Internet Pornography Sales-$4.9 billion
- Pornographic websites-4.2 million (12% of total websites)
- Pornographic pages-420 million
- Daily pornographic search engine requests-68 million (25% of total search engine requests)
- Daily pornographic e-mails-2.5 billion (8% of total emails)
- Internet users who view porn-42.7%
- 89% of porn is created in the U.S.
- $2.84 billion in revenue was generated from U.S. porn sites in 2006
- Over $3k a second is spent on porn worldwide.
- 72% of porn viewers are men.
- 260 new porn sites go online daily.
Source: www.XXXchurch.com
National Porn Sunday – Super Bowl Sunday, February 6
I’ve been thinking about this event, King’s Grant has outreach Super Bowl parties scheduled, but what if the Men of Steel took this farther?
Over 300 churches throughout the country have taken part in Porn Sunday. This is the chance to bring hope to those who are struggling with pornography. For some it is ludicrous to link three X’s with church and for others it is long overdue. The one undeniable truth that can’t be ignored is the blatant push for all things sexual in our society. Porn Sunday seeks to drive the conversation about pornography into our churches, families and lives. This weekend service brings healing to those sitting in churches who are caught up in pornography.
F.A.Q’s
- Will this prepare my church to have accountable relationships? Yes.
- I don’t know if my church is ready for this yet. Take a risk. The freedom and healing for the people in pew is worth it.
- Can I use the kit just as a resource for my congregation? Yes.
- Doesn’t the title and approach trivialize a serious topic? It actually does the opposite. People will laugh a little but in the end they will walk away equipped to deal with a tough issue in their lives.
- Why is an elephant the mascot? Porn is the elephant in the pew. The thing everyone wants and needs to hear from the church on, but continually does not.
- Will the press show up at my church? Maybe. If you send out a press release (included) and promote the weekend well.
- Will some people in my church not understand why we are addressing this issue? Yes, but a few should not hold us back from helping the majority.
- Isn’t pornography a men’s only issue and be dealt with at a mens breakfast? Definitely not. There are women who struggle greatly with pornography and also there are women who need to hear a message of hope because their husbands are in way too deep.
- What age group is PornSunday appropriate for? Middle school and up appropriate. The average age a child sees pornography is age 11.
A Word from XXXchurch.com
The reality is that as men we all struggle. And for some it’s an overwhelming struggle with pornography. We know where to find porn and we know how to keep it hidden. In our culture the line has been blurred on what is porn. The magazines, TV and the Internet put it right in front of us every day of our lives.
It is time to make some decisions. What are we doing with all the junk that is coming at us? Consume it, get in way over our heads or are we going to live for things that are greater? There is a point in which we have to acknowledge that what we keep hidden from our wives, girlfriends, children and even closest friends we are not proud of. The question is simply will you live a life that is transparent?
At the core of consuming porn is selfishness. I will get my fix. No one will know. It is my secret. It is what I do in private. My dad did it. Everyone does it and I am going to as well.
Porn is a fantasy designed to do one thing, keep you completely to yourself. It is a lie. Porn tries to tell you what sex should feel like and look like. Porn will destroy the relationships around you. You will pull away from reality because of this dirty little secret. As you consume porn, it becomes your life and you will eventually lose control to addiction. Stop now. Be done with it all. Change today because there are much greater things than porn to give your time, money and energy to.
Next Steps:
1. Confess
Go before God with everything. Confess your struggles through prayer. He already knows it all anyway, right? You have to put all your junk out on the table and acknowledge that you can’t handle it anymore-you need God. You cannot handle it on your own.
2. Get Accountable
Find someone in your life that you trust and let him or her in on your struggles. Such as a close friend, pastor or family member. You are not alone. You are not supposed to deal and carry this on your own. God has placed people around you that will walk with you as you move toward freedom. As men we naturally want to keep it all to ourselves. It it is time to own up to those closest to you.
Download XXXchurch’s free accountability software X3watch. It’s simple and completely free. This software monitors what is accessed online and sends a report of any questionable websites to your accountability partners e-mail addresses.
Download X3watch – www.x3watch.com.
3. Clean It Up
Throw away the porn stash. Delete it all. Literally get rid of the things that are tripping you up. It is time to break that pattern of the things that make you stumble, the things you go right back to.
Maybe you need to cancel your cable or internet altogether, move the computer out of the basement to the kitchen or get a filter on your computer. Take solid action steps toward moving away from your places of struggle. The process of cleaning it up is continuous and will not happen overnight. Define the specific situations you struggle and take tangible steps to eliminate those places from your life.
Source: www.XXXchurch.com
Act on Your Thankfulness
Years ago in college I was a part of a musical called Bright New Wings, and was able to play the character of the healed leper. The story is in Luke 17, where Jesus heals 10 lepers, yet only one returns to thank Him:
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.” (Luke 17:11-19)
This story illustrates the importance of being thankful for things that others may take for granted. To me, it also speaks of the importance of living in the moment. How many times do we carry on about our business, neglecting the wonder of the moment we are in? Perhaps that is what happened to the other nine lepers. Selfishness and a casual attitude toward Christ kept them from returning to give thanks.
I believe that during this time of Thanksgiving, we need to put into practice what we have learn learned. Act on it. How about today, each of us finding five people and thanking them for something specific. Not around the thanksgiving table, but now. Will you pick up the phone, get on Facebook, or write a note to someone you are truly thankful for? Tell them specifically why you are thankful for them (and no, just for “being you” isn’t specific enough). Your Thanksgiving weekend will get off to a fantastic start, and maybe have more to talk about around the table.
Early Christian Heresies
My Bible study group on Sundays has been going through Second Peter for the past several weeks. In chapter two we get a pretty good description of the false teachers that crept into the church (2 Peter 2:1). I believe that people are easily led astray by persuasive arguments when they fail to develop a first hand faith (Colossians 2:4, 5, Acts 18:4, 19:8, 26:28, 28:24, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Galatians 5:7-9). Faith that is built upon convictions will not be moved, whereas a second hand faith can be tossed around by the waves (James 1:6).
Second hand faith looks like this: I believe that Jesus is the Savior because my preacher says so. My parents taught me that the Bible is the Word of God. My Sunday School teacher told me to stay away from this sin or that belief.
First hand faith develops a conviction that will not be persuaded when we get a knock on the door and are told that there is another testament of Jesus Christ in North America. First hand faith will not fall when someone reads books from authors like Richard Dawkins, who teach that God is only a delusion.
So, let’s take a look at some of the heresies that threatened the early church:
Most of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry had died by the time John composed this letter. Some of the second- or third-generation Christians began to have doubts about what they had been taught about Jesus. Some Christians with a Greek background had a hard time believing that Jesus was human as well as divine, because in Platonic thought the spirit was all-important. The body was only a prison from which one desired to escape. Heresies developed from a uniting of this kind of Platonic thought and Christianity.
A particularly widespread false teaching, later called Docetism (from a Greek work meaning “to seem”) held that Jesus was actually a spirit who only appeared to have a body. In reality he cast no shadow and left no footprints; he was God, but not man.
Another heretical teaching, related to Gnosticism (from a Greek word meaning “knowledge”) held that all physical matter was evil, the spirit was good, and only the intellectually enlightened could enjoy the benefits of religion. Both groups found it hard to believe in a Savior who was fully human.
John answers these false teachers as an eyewitness to Jesus’ life on earth. He saw Jesus, talked with him, touched him, he knew that Jesus was more than a mere spirit (1 John 1:1, 2, 3). In the very first sentence of his gospel, John establishes that Jesus had been alive before the world began (John 1:1) and also that he lived as a man among men and women (John 1:14). In other words, he was both divine and human. That’s the incarnation; that’s what Christmas is all about.
Through the centuries, many heretics have denied that Jesus was both God and man. In John’s day people had trouble believing he was human; today more people have problems seeing him as God. But Jesus’ divine-human nature is the pivotal issue of Christianity; 100 percent God, 100 percent man, not half and half. Before you accept what religious teachers say about any topic listen carefully to what they believe about Jesus. To deny either his divinity or his humanity is to consider him less than Christ, the Savior (1 John 4:2, 2 John 1:7).
The Advent Conspiracy
I like the idea of spending less on ourselves and more on the poor, hurting and lonely in this world around us. I wonder what Jesus would think about what the church (and America) is doing in celebration of His birth.
At King’s Grant we have a Missions Catalogue that lists a half dozen opportunities to give in order to make an eternal difference. Remember that John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave…”
Worship Fully This Christmas
The season is upon us, and so is the need to spend more than we have to give gifts to people who already have so much. Can we get back to modest gifts of love and appreciation in the celebration of the Father giving the greatest gift of all, His Son?
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. –Galatians 4:4
This is a time of giving, not a time of extravagance.
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16
Could it Happen to You?
If you wanted a study of character, nobility, wisdom, courage, and devotion; you could not find a better man than David. The Bible calls him, “… a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22).
Yet there was a dark chapter in David’s life. Even though he was a great man and lover of God, David committed a horrible sin against God and others. He entered into an adulterous relationship with another man’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3, 4). Then, in an attempt to cover his sin, he arranged to have her husband, Uriah, killed (2 Samuel 11:6, 15).
We need to be warned! If it could happen to David, it can happen to us. First Corinthians 10:12 says, “…let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” So, we need to see how and why this happened in David’s life to help it not happen to us.
Second Samuel 11:1-2 says, “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.”
The Sin of Casualness:
What was David’s sin? In the beginning, it was simply the sin of casualness. The harvest time was over, and there were battles to be fought; yet David remained at home. He did not do anything wrong in itself; he just failed to do what was right. He was a king, but he lay around in bed all day while others fought.
Maybe the battle-scarred veteran thought, “I’ve done my time on the battlefield; I need a little rest and relaxation.” Don’t ever think you have done your service to Jesus and you can quit.
The Sin of dis-Connectedness:
I think David was also alone; he did not have another man to keep him accountable or faithful. A man who is disconnected will fall for lack of focus and counsel. Life unchecked will often lead to ruin. Had David been in an accountability relationship, perhaps this whole scenario could have been avoided. Every man needs to be connected to other men, or he will be led astray by his own desires, passions and weaknesses.
The Sin of Carelessness:
It was also a sin of carelessness. David had failed to keep up his guard. How different David was from Joseph. When tempted by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph immediately fled (see Genesis 39:11-13). He obeyed what later would be an imperative by the apostle Paul, “Flee fornication” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Jesus also warned the apostles in Matthew 26:41: “Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation.”
You will have times in your life when everything is going just fine and you don’t feel any unusual temptation, but watch out for the sin of carelessness.
The Sin of Compulsiveness:
David’s sin was also a sin of compulsiveness. It has been said that sin is an undetected weakness, an unexpected opportunity, and an unprotected life. That was true in David’s life. He didn’t intend to sin; it just happened. He looked over the wall and there she was. He called his servants and said, “Get her for me” (2 Samuel 11:4).
You may say, “Well, that couldn’t happen to me.” David would have said the same thing before he compulsively fell into sin. There are three people seated in your seat right now: the person you are this very moment; the person you could be for God; and the person you could be for evil.
The Sin of Callousness:
The sin of David doesn’t end with Bathsheba. David became calloused and tried to cover his sin. When he found out Bathsheba was pregnant, he attempted to hide the fact that the baby was his. When that failed, he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband to be placed on the front line of battle and killed (see 2 Samuel11:5-17).
Can you imagine this is David doing such a thing? When he committed adultery with Bathsheba, that was bad enough; but it was a hot-blooded sin. Now, what he does to Uriah is cold-blooded murder. See where his carelessness led him. David had been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
It Could Happen to You!
This is a sad story, and God was grieved by it (2 Samuel 11:27). David also grieved over his sin and finally cried out to God for mercy. And as we read about the rest of his life (2 Samuel 12 through 1 Kings 2), we see that the consequences of David’s sin followed him; but David received forgiveness from God.
You very well might say, “That’s an interesting story; maybe I can pass it on to somebody else who needs it.” Then you missed the point. David got into trouble with the sin of casualness. He didn’t go roaring into sin. Don’t ever think it couldn’t happen to you. Is your heart cold? Get it warm. Have you been lazy? Go to work. Have you been careless? Keep the fire burning for Christ and His mission.
Don’t take that first step toward sin. It will cost you more than you want to pay.