Weekly Once-Over (11.27.2013)
Early Post of Weekly Once-Over (11.27.2013) - Have a save Thanksgiving
Thankful For The Gift or the Giver?: If the foundation of our thankfulness is that we get God, then you and I will give thanks always for everything, because we're always getting God. However, if the foundation of our thankfulness is the gift, and not the giver, then our gratitude will ebb and flow based on how much of our true treasure we are getting.
A Table Of Forgetful Remembrance: On some level, every gathering of family around a table is a shadow of this idea of remembrance, a time when we recall our collective history, making days like Thanksgiving ones we anticipate with a mix of joy and dread, depending on who will pull up a chair to the feast. Why? Because our collective history is often dotted with land mines—difficult personalities, past hurts, broken relationships.
Proud People Don't Give Thanks: Desiring God put together a 10 minute clip of a sermon by John Piper he did nearly 30 years ago. This is definitely worth listening to.
Giving Thanks In Hitler's Reich: The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
The First Thanksgiving: McKenzie concludes with the observation that, unlike the Pilgrims, we are too comfortable in this world. American Christians today rarely hunger for heaven. The Pilgrims, despite any of their faults, help us remember that we must “set [our] minds on things above” (Col. 3:2) and “lay up treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20).
Sabbath Rest and the Moral Limits of Consumption: Each year it seems like the Christmas season starts a little earlier. I'm not talking about the four weeks of Advent or the Christmas season that begins on December 24. The church calendar and the liturgical year remain the same. It is, rather, the Christmas shopping season that seems to be pushed forward bit by bit with each passing year.