Fall spices. I love them. The aroma of cinnamon throughout the house. The punch to the palate of ginger and cloves. The gritty texture of nutmeg and cardamom. When no one’s looking, I usually double their amounts in any recipe whether it’s pumpkin pie, gingerbread, or molasses cookies. And chai tea lattes? My favorite.  Sprinkled…

“Give thanks in all circumstances.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV Yes ma’am. No sir. Please. Thank you. If you were raised in the South, you learned these manners before you could walk. “Thank you” was imperative whether you received the best present ever or Aunt Ethel’s yearly gift of tidy whities. Which of us have never…

Typically, thanksgiving comes after. After the answer. After the reconciliation. After the storm has ceased. After.  If we remember. Yet, in the New Testament, Paul linked prayer with thanksgiving. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every…

Paul knew how to start a letter: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” Philippians 1:3 NIV “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” 1 Thessalonians 1:2 “I always thank my God as I…

Our church fields an extensive staff. Pastors exist for every ministry imaginable. However, Scripture records one office I have yet to see: Director of Thanksgiving. Check out the verses below. “Mattaniah son of Mika, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer;” Nehemiah 11:17 “The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel,…

Sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving gets the squeeze. Even Black Friday sales bleed over into Thursday. Now I’m all about Christmas as long as Jesus remains its focus, but we do harm to neglect Thanksgiving.  “Thanks” and “thanksgiving” pop up over one hundred times in Scripture. Yet surprisingly Hebrew has no specific word for…

“I want all your moments to be punctuated with thanksgiving.” Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, April 16 Punctuation marks. Like chalky erasers, you probably haven’t thought about them since grade school. Punctuation directs the reader. Road signs without the flash of color. Quotation marks designate dialogue. Periods command a full stop while commas mark a simple pause.…

I love Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving helps us to remember, it’s bigger than us. Thanksgiving helps us to remember, it’s not even about us. Could there be any better prep for Christmas? A refocusing on the big picture before Christmas goes into full swing on Black Friday? In 1 Chronicles 23, King David worked with the Levitical…