No serious theology posts today! Just some funny thanksgiving pictures. Enjoy!
Happy (Funny) Thanksgiving!
23 Thanksgiving Food Facts to Smarten Your Brain While you Stuff Your Belly
What’s this video about? Just read that REALLY long title.
Enjoy! (Both the video AND your food today)
Thank God for Models for Christ
As people around the country stop to sit down with friends and family and a bunch of other strangers while we wait in line for the doors to open at Best Buy, it is good to remember all that we are thankful for.
One of the things I am thankful for is “Models for Christ.” They do such a good job representing Jesus. (Read that statement with sarcasm.)
I was listening to the radio and heard about how a group of volunteers gathered in New York to serve a Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. The radio show host was there as well, and he said that the food was hot and ready to serve, the homeless were all lined up ready to eat, when all of a sudden, the whole event had to stop so that local newspaper and magazine publishers could take pictures of some “Models for Christ” serving food to the homeless.
The radio show host said that though he had been there all morning helping to prepare the food and the auditorium for feeding the homeless, he hadn’t seen any of the “Models for Christ” do any work earlier. During the picture shoot, all they did was smile, post, and hold paper plates full of food that someone else had prepared. Then, when the photo shoot was over, all the “Models for Christ” left… without serving a single plate to a single homeless person.
The real volunteers, who had been there all morning cooking and preparing, were the ones who served all the food, sat and talked with the homeless people, and stayed around afterward to clean up. Of course, nobody took any pictures of them for the newspaper or local magazines.
The radio show host said, “I am not saying that all ‘Models for Christ’ act like this, but it just seemed so rude and arrogant, to show up just when the food was about to get served, and then stall the whole event while some fake pictures are taken, and then leave without actually serving any food.”
I don’t think anybody was fooled that day, except for maybe the Models for Christ. Though they bore His name, they did not bear His image. Though they may have been “Models for Christ” they were not models of Christ.
I suppose we shouldn’t blame them. Their schedule was probably pretty tight. They probably had some guest appearances on Television shows, a photo-op with the Mayor, and then they had to get home to their glittering mansion and perfect family to eat a catered Thanksgiving meal.
Ok, ok. I’m getting a little worked up now.
Look, one of the constant themes on this blog is that if you are going to bear the name Christian, please, please, please, try to actually look like Jesus. Please try to model Christ to others, who had no beauty that we should desire Him, no riches and wealth that we should seek His favor, and no form or comeliness which attracted people to Him (cf. Isaiah 53:1-3).
But people were drawn to Jesus because He was full of grace and truth, love and mercy, hope and forgiveness, generosity and joy.
If we are truly models of Christ, this is how we too can live.
PS, No, I am not in line at Best Buy. My wife and I pretty much boycott the entire “Black Friday” shopping frenzy… not because we think it’s wrong… we just dislike crowds and stores.
Scripture on Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!
As you enjoy time with family, eating lots of food, watching football, playing games, or whatever it is you do on Thanksgiving, remember to focus on what today is really about: giving thanks to God for all His blessings He showers upon us.
To help you do that, I want to direct you to one of my other websites: Scripture On.com, specifically, the page on Thanksgiving. If you want a few verses or devotional insights to encourage you about Thanksgiving, you might find some of the Scriptures on this page helpful.
One of my joys in life is studying and teaching Scripture, and while I have Grace Commentary.com for this, it requires too much study to write regular posts. So last week I launched Scripture On.com where I could write daily insights from Scripture on various topics and Bible passages. As I add more content, it will not only serve as a place for you to find Scriptures on these various topics, but I will also try to write daily posts which could serve as a daily devotional for you and your family.
So this week, I focused on Thanksgiving. Here is an excerpt from the post on Psalm 107:1:
When you feel like you have been abandoned in the wilderness, or have been exiled to a foreign land, read through this Psalm and give thanks to God for the ways He has delivered you in the past.
If you are facing tough decisions in life, read through this Psalm, asking Him for wisdom and discernment, remembering that He has provided direction for you in the past.
If life’s storms are howling about you, throwing the full force of their winds against you, remember that God has delivered you from storms in the past, and will calm this storm as well.
When you are in need of food and daily sustenance, trust God to provide for your needs as He has done in the past.
And when rich and the powerful people oppress and enslave, remember that God is on the side of the poor.
Give thanks to God, for He is good. His mercy endures forever!
Head on over to Scripture On.com to read the others.