Thanksgiving is Really Nesting Farm Animals! part 2

Previously, we visited about how the Greek language can be like "Nesting Farm Animals". When Greek words are examined closely, word chains (words within words) form links that convey a whole scope of actions & emotions. When the original Greeks used such words, many times they communicated a short story. It might be comparable to the difference in you saying "Here's a cup", and you saying "Here's a cup for you I made with my hands because I love you." The Greek language combined words to do just that. Today, we will look at the Greek word for "Thanksgiving" and see what the "Nesting Friends" are when it's opened up. If you remember how our Nesting Farm Animals worked, inside the Cow was the Horse, inside the Horse was the Pig, and inside the Pig was the Chicken. Here is the Word Chain "nesting" for Thanksgiving.
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1. On the outside is thanksgiving or expressing thanks


2. Inside thanksgiving is mindful of favors or full of thanks


3. Inside thankful is well done forgiveness


4. Inside forgiveness is grace


5. Inside grace is joyful.

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So, when you pull it all together, you discover that Thanksgiving is expressing the thanks that fills you as you are mindful of the favors from God because you're well forgiven thru grace and full of joy.
Wow!
That's a mouthful...or perhaps...a heartful? If you notice on both ends of the word chain are emotions. Joy on one end and thankfulness on the other. The "reasons" for both are sandwiched in between. What a beautiful way to exemplify the bonding of heart & head in our relationship with God. I feel because I know what God has done, is doing, and will do to me, for me, and with me. Is it any surprise that Paul wrote:

Colossians 2:7 ...Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done.

When those early Christians said or read thanksgiving: they felt joy, as they thought of grace, and forgiveness, and everything God had blessed them with. And what happened then? It filled their hearts with so much gratefulness and thankfulness that it overflowed. The overflow is what God receives. He doesn't take any of the joy or thankfulness or gratitude from our hearts. He only gathers in what our hearts can't hold anymore. That is what adds to His glory...to His splendor. That is the "joy" fruit of the Spirit that we bear to Him...for Him. May I live my life with thanksgiving overflowing from my heart to God.

Thanksgiving is Really Nesting Farm Animals! part 1

Thanksgiving. A yearly ritual of food, family, and football. Did I mention the food? lol. As fun as that all is, we need to remember that Thanksgiving has it's roots in scripture.

• Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
• Php 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
• 2Co 9:11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

I believe, God's word is inspired...every word. I believe, the Spirit guided the writers in the selection of each and every word. I believe, God safe guards His words today as they are translated into a multitude of languages. The text we use today comes from early Greek manuscripts. Greek is such a descriptive language. Greek words convey so much more than simple meanings. Frequently, a Greek word will bring a series of images & emotions to mind in order to create the mental image of an expressed idea. Greek words build on each another to describe a complete process, event, or outcome. They describe, not only the events & actions, but the emotional response to those events or actions.

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I call it a Word Chain.

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Think of it like Nesting Farm Animals. That was a great toy we had for our kids. Cow, Horse, Pig, & Chicken. The kids could stack them up or "nest" them all together. Nesting sounds like they all bedded down in the barn. What it actually meant was that the toys opened in the middle to form 2 halves. Each smaller animal could "nest" inside the larger toy. The "top" would be put back on to form the whole animal again. The chicken was the smallest one of the lot and did not split. Here is how it worked. The chicken fit inside the pig, the pig inside the horse, and the horse, fit inside the cow. The kids loved it. Even then, they thought they were smarter than the adults. We would ask them "Why is the cow all alone? What happen to his friends...horse, pig, & chicken?" They would laugh and laugh because they knew. Outside was a cow, but Inside, was all the rest. They would quickly open up all the animals, clap their hands, and yell "surprise" as we "found" the missing friends. Then, they would just laugh and laugh. Great game! Great toy! The Greek language is just like that. Outside is the cow and Inside is all the rest. lol

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The Greek word for "Thanksgiving" is a perfect example of a word chain. Next time, we'll look at all of Thanksgiving's "friends" inside and be "surprised" by it's description of our relationship with God. Who knows, perhaps, we will even clap our hands, and laugh with joy before our father.

Worship Forms: Anybody for Change?

Worship forms in our society have utilized varying levels of participation from the worshipers. Some services are very ritualized with limited input from the attendees. Other services are highly interactive with attendees actually moving to the front or on “stage” with those leading or directing the service. Generally, there is a time of music, a time of directed communication toward God, and a directed message to the attendees. The forms may change between churches, but these 3 major functions appear each time an assembly comes together for worship.

Even Christian concerts conform to this structure. As far as I know, every Christian artist considers their vocation a ministry and their concert a time of worship. Have you ever been to a Christian concert (time of music) that someone did not share how important Christ was in their lives (message to attendees) or lead a prayer or indicate that the next song was their prayer to God (directed communication to God)?

For those raised in the church or brought into our fellowships, we have been conditioned to expect those elements in a time of worship. We perpetuate the basic forms we grew up with by passing them on to our children and new converts. While this may be very edifying for the churched, have we asked ourselves, how do these forms engage the lost who have no history with modern contemporary or traditional worship styles? Nothing in their lives corresponds to this form of communication or instruction. Perhaps we should consider if there is a new form or method of worship that moves beyond the 3 fold structure now in use. Is there a new way/form/method which would increase the possibility of engaging hearts & minds to God those who have no memory or experience with "church"?

Coming up with a completely new structure of worship may be difficult for many of us. I got uncomfortable when we left off the closing prayers! lol. I'm not advocating leaving the edifying worships of today behind. I am advocating creating a new time and form that moves the truth into formats and methodology that connects to these specific lost souls.

The New Gentiles

Our lives are touched by sadness, sickness, praise, joy, and frustration. Sometimes you just have to catch the wave and ride with the Lord....and what a ride it is! Today I have been actively trying to think out side the box. If you know me that's a scary thought. Many of my friends consider my box fairly non-existent! lol. I have been considering the early church's dilemma over synagoue worship & traditions and Gentile worship & traditions. In the end, God may it clear that is a matter of heart and not form. I wonder if we, the Gentiles, haven't turned the tables with our modern day concept of worship. Many in our society don't do and probably don't understand the "church" thing whether it's traditional or contempory. The forms we use in our assembly don't occur anywhere else in society. Some one lectures (we call it a sermon) but it's not school, there's music but it's not a concert, sometimes you eat tiny portions (communion) but it's not a meal, they ask for money...then say you don't have to give...but then make sure the bucket passes in front of everyone?...

How many of us like to go to new places with confusing things going on. It's sad to say, but if the menu at a new restureant is to hard to figure out, I usually don't go back. If the service or food is not remarkable, I rarely give it a second shot. I stick with what I know. Perhaps the time has come to place the food of God in forms that are familar and easily understood for the new "Gentiles"....the unchurched. While overall church attendace is up, the "churched" are continuing to be a smaller and smaller percentage of society. Since worship is matter of heart not form, what new forms might we utilize that will connect the hearts of the unchurched with God's heart?

Claude Greer: God's faithful servant

Claude Greer, a long time member of Tenth & Broad Church of Christ, died yesterday in a single car accident. Claude had run for various local political offices over the years. His last political race was 9 years ago. The local TV news media chose to cover his death 2 ways. One station's story line was focused on the accident, the tragic consequences and Claude's dreams of helping the community to be a better place to live. The other station chose to "politicize" the death and did a little mud raking about Claude's past campaigns. Where did that come from? The man's dead. What point was there in taking one last shot at him? Needless to say that really bothered me.

I knew him as a member of my Christian family at TNB. He was always there. Come rain or shine, sickness or health, Claude was there and ready to serve. Claude moved with pain most days because of several medical issues. It hurt me to watch him walk sometimes. But each Sunday morning when it came time for individuals to get up from their seats and help serve communion, Claude was up and moving at the 1st verse of the song before communion. If you didn't see Claude passing the trays, he wasn't there. Claude lived to be 79 years old. Long before he became a "senior", Claude had a heart for our older brothers and sisters. Many, many years of service at Texoma Christian Care Center attest to that. He taught bible classes out there for years. Claude was a mainstay in teaching, preaching, and make sure the worship went off at TCCC without a hitch. Even though support for serving the residents at TCCC dwindled over the last few years, Claude never faltered and continued to serve and encourage others to join in that loving service. He will be missed.

I will remember Claude as God's faithful servant. Today Claude moves without pain and joins in with the heavenly host in a worship that we can scarcely imagine. I don't know if God ask for volunteers to help out in the heavenly worship, but if He does, the other saints there had better be quick on the draw to beat Claude. Like all of us, our time to pass will come. We will be remember by those who knew and loved us. But someday even those individuals will pass and no living memory of us will remain. But God's memory knows no bounds. God will know his children for all eternity. God knows Claude.

How long will it take?

Today, the VW Bug wasn't running right. I took it in first thing to the dealership to have the service department fix it. Not that I could tell you (or them as it turned out) what needed fixing. The service rep came out with his clip board and listened patiently while I tried to explain in my layman's language what my bug was doing. "It's running louder than it was before and sometimes there's a slight shake," I said. "Uh Huh," he said. "But not all the time" I said quickly. "When you let off the gas it stops." "The car?" he asked. "No, the loudness and the shaking...sort of stops...sometimes..." I trailed off. He looked at me for a moment and said "No problem. We'll fix you up." I have to admit, right up front, I asked my next question without thinking. "So how long do you think it will take?" After my crystal clear explanation of the precise nature of the mechanical failure(s)(?) of my car, anyone should have been able to give the precise time and cost to fix my problem...ya' think? Not. The thought must have crossed his mind that I was a complete dufus about cars. However, he was very gracious and politely said it would take time for the service department to diagnose the problem. He would call me as soon as he recieved word from the techs.

Our lives can be like this little drama of mine this morning. Life can get us all out of kilter, where things are not horrible, but not quite right either. We just seem to be unable to connect or we feel slightly on edge. Often, we look for the quick fix....night out on the town...round of golf...little shopping...or another favorite past time. Or perhaps, we get us a quick "spiritual" boost by cranking up our favorite christian music or having a good philosophical discussion about biblical issues with our religious friends. Which are not bad things to do, but may not be addressing what's "out of line" in our life. Getting "busy" may very well blind you to what God is trying to tell you or to do in you. Perhaps your feelings of unrest are God's way of saying "Be still and know that I am God". Time spent in reflection, introspection, searching the Word or in prayer may be the very thing you need to do to reveal what needs "fixing" in your life. "How long will it take?" God will let you know.

In Him, Jeff

What's on My Calendar?

Acts 17:26-28
"Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after Him, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. God doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; He's near. We live and move in him."

God's promised us plenty of time.

If we find ourselves constantly running out of time...could that indicate something about what's keeping us so busy? If everything we did was in the name of Jesus and for the glory of God...would our daily calendar of events change? How does one "live in God" everyday? If we forwarded our schedule to Jesus for prior approval...what would we put on it? Just a question to stir the mind and help us think on things above.

In Him, Jeff