The Encourager Newsletter - Vol.3 Issue 53 - 2009.12.18 - Our Religious Symbols (Part 3) - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

The Encourager Newsletter

Toward Knowing God and Walking With Him

A FREE WEEKLY PUBLICATION with a BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW – Volume 3 Issue 53

December 18, 2009 Dan Carr, Editor

      Our Religious Symbols (Part 3)

The Christmas season produces an explosion of color, music, plays and pageantry, rich food, decorated trees and houses, and a plea for snow. It's a national holiday and families invest time and money to get together. Red and green are the dominate colors of which the Poinsettia is queen and is flanked by the red berries of Nandina and Holly. God is the author of color and celebration and even in our fallen state, there's something about Christmas that draws millions of people to its excitement. We want to enjoy color! We want to celebrate hope!

 

It's the most exciting time of the year and the loneliest time of the year. Suicide rates go up at Christmas time because people are reminded of their emptiness and loneliness and bad experiences they have tried to keep locked up. For them, Christmas overwhelms them with a feeling of failure and futility. No other time of the year has this much power to highlight excitement and despair—and debt!

 

Last week we looked at our incurable exercise of inventing and using symbols throughout our human activity. Industry and commerce is laced with its copyrighted logos and icons. Our computers depend on icons.

 

Status symbols are subtle but powerful and people will labor for them 'till they have a heart attack or kill another human being. These symbols cover clothing, hair styles, cars, houses, neighborhoods, clubs, occupations and our reading and viewing habits. In Detroit and New York City, police records have shown several killings to get the shoes from the feet of the victims because the shoes were coveted status symbols. Religious Symbols  are a small section of the world of symbols.

 

In the earliest days of Christianity the "sign of the fish" was an important part of communication. When Rome realized that Christians were not a mere branch of Judaism, Rome went after Christians to extinguish them. The Empire found it necessary to examine the various religions of the nations it conquered. If those religions would "give licit to Caesar," that is, if the religions would submit to the authority of Rome, they were considered to be licensed by the Roman government.

 

Christians would not "give licit" to Caesar and therefore were considered by Rome to be illegitimate.  Rome said "You can say that Christ is Lord if you are willing to say that Caesar gives you permission to make Christ Lord." Their supreme loyalty was to Christ as Lord, not to Rome as Lord. It cost them their lives.  Christians began meeting secretly and in some situations used the sign of the fish to point to their meeting places. They were also fishers of men, so the symbol was convenient and easy to use.

 

Another major symbol of early Christianity was the symbol of the cross. It was resisted at first but then began to be used.  The Apostle Paul wrote: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14).

 

Today, millions of gold necklaces are in use for the purpose of displaying a cross. The hymn: "In the cross of Christ I glory – towering o'er the wrecks of time" embodies the great feeling of this important symbol.  The cross remains the most widely used symbol of Christianity today.

 

Jesus established the greatest symbol: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35). A gold cross necklace may or may not express who we really are. But love is impossible to fake and is the ultimate symbol of who we are.  …the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5).  …the fruit of the Spirit is love,…(Galatians 5:22)

 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2Timothy 1:7)

 

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins (Proverbs 10:12). It is true that some people are hard to love. However, if I love you I am not going to blab your sins all over the neighborhood.

 

Paul had this to say: Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (2Corinthians 3:2-3).

 

Christmas is a special holiday (Holy Day) that serves as a symbol. It is not in the Bible. Christmas comes from two words: Christ and Mass, of Catholic origin. Aside from the Catholic coining of the term, it means dismissal or mission. Christ's Mission. A Mass is usually a special program of music focused on a theme. The word: Christmas has escaped its Catholic birth and is in the mouth of millions of non-Catholics. The commercializing of Christmas has damaged its public celebration. The importance of snow and decorations and the mythical Santa Clause have kidnapped the birth of Christ and stuffed Him in a closet out of sight.

 

Nevertheless, there remains a very strong remnant of dedicated Christians who sincerely seek to honor the birth of Christ as the most important advent (arrival) in history to this present hour. We use music, pageantry (plays) special sermons and decorations and many kinds of festivities. The four weeks of the Advent Season prior to Christmas day gives a longer time to reflect on the history and meaning of Christmas celebration. Some do not use Christmas trees and other decorations because of their personal feelings about it and some do not exchange gifts and other symbols of Christmas. I have met many people through the years whose idea of Christmas was to soak themselves in alcohol and really get "plastered." They wake up broke and feeling like a truck has run over them.  I think I can get by without that.

 

One word of caution. If someone has misused something, it doesn't mean that we can never use that item because its image is tainted. In my neck of the woods, bootleggers used glass pint jars to package their moonshine. My mother never stopped filling pint jars with jams and jellies because the bootleggers misused glass pint jars. Trees have been misused and made into wooden idols (Isaiah 40:20 and 44:19). But I have never seen anyone use a Christmas tree like that. Christmas trees symbolize many positive things about God and about us. We have the star of Bethlehem and green for eternal life and a lot of Christian history wrapped up in the symbol.

 

But, if your whole idea of Christmas is a Christmas tree and gifts and partying and artificial exuberance, then you have missed the whole point of Christmas. We use Christmas symbols because of the greater and deeper thing that has happened: Christ has come to die for the sins of the world and eventually to sit upon the Throne of David in Jerusalem to rule over a new world government for a thousand years. That's what all the symbols of Christmas are about. It's not about snow and trees and gifts and cookies.  Christmas is about Christ. He has come! He is coming!  Because He lives, you shall live also. Merry Christmas!

 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

–Barbara Carr

 

Our last Christmas carol before Christmas Day is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.  I have enjoyed looking up the history of several carols but these three are my favorites.

 

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing was written by Charles Wesley.  He was the younger brother of John Wesley the man who began the Methodist movement in the Church of England.  "Upon his conversion, he immediately began writing hymns, each one packed with doctrine, all of them exhibiting strength and sensitivity, both beauty and theological brawn. He wrote constantly, and even on horseback his mind was flooded with new songs. He often stopped at homes along the road and ran in asking for 'pen and ink.'"(R. Morgan)

 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing was first published in 1739 in a book called Hymns and Scared Poems.The version of this carol we sing today is a compilation of the efforts of Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, Felix Mendelssohn and WH Cummings.

 

Wesley was protective of the songs he wrote.  He did not want the wording changed.  He is quoted as having said, "Many gentlemen have done my brother and me the honor to reprint many of our hymns.  Now they are perfectly welcome to do so, provided they print them just as they are.  But I desire they would not attempt to mend them for they are really not able.  None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse.  Therefore, I must bet of them these two favors: either to let them stand just as they are, to take things for better or worse, or to add the true reading in the Margin, or at the bottom of the page, that we may no longer be accountable for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men." (Morgan, 49)

 

However, Wesley's friend George Whitfield disregarded his friend's warning.  The first two lines were "Hark, how the welkin rings, Glory to the King of kings."  Welkin means "The vault of Heaven."  He changed these two lines to read, "Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king."

 

Felix Mendelssohn composed a cantata in 1840 to celebrate the invention of the printing press.  The song was called "Festgesang" or Festival Song."  W. H. Cummings, an organist, adapted Mendelssohn song to the lyrics of Wesley's Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  He organized the song into the ten-line stanzas that we sing today.  The final version was published in 1856.

 

Roy (Sonny) Gamble teaches our adult Bible Study on Wednesday evenings.  He has been teaching on the birth of Jesus.  Everyone has learned  and enjoyed this class.  In our last class, he quoted the first verse of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, stating that it is his favorite carol.  He commented that he wonders how many people sing the song without hearing the words.  In one of my early articles, I had said, "How many of you sing the hymns on Sunday and your mind is on something else?" We who have sung the hymns all our lives practically have them memorized. We can sing them and never hear a word.  Let's read the following words.  Have you really listened to them before?

 

Hark the herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:  "Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!"

 

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:13-14) 

 

The Encourager may also be read at www.biblewalking.blogspot.com .

 

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The Encourager Newsletter - Volume 3 Issue 52 - Our Religious Symbols (Part 2) - O Holy Night - 2009.11.12

The Encourager Newsletter

Toward Knowing God and Walking With Him

A FREE WEEKLY PUBLICATION with a BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW – Volume 3 Issue 52

December 11, 2009 Dan Carr, Editor

      Our Religious Symbols (Part 2)

The Bible is full of symbols and it is God's idea. Symbols are endowed with meaning and are an outstanding teaching tool. John the Baptist saw Jesus walking and said: Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).  The people listening to John knew he was talking about lambs that were sacrificed to Jehovah God.

 

They also knew that there was a lamb-raising industry near Jerusalem that specialized in raising sacrificial lambs. It was more convenient to buy one of those lambs than to bring a lamb a hundred miles to be sacrificed at the Temple in Jerusalem. A lamb was small and relatively inexpensive. If a family was too poor to bring a lamb, they could bring a young goat or two turtledoves or two pigeons (Leviticus 5:7). The lambs easily attached themselves to the families that raised them, just like goats. They became "one" with their caretakers. I raised goats and milked them and know about the bonding. Sheep follow their shepherd. You do not drive sheep as you drive cattle. Jesus would be, in many points, like sheep.

 

The Bible speaks of …the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God. He was bread, water, life, light, shepherd, the word, Son of Man, Son of God, the resurrection, priest, prophet, the I Am. The Bible itself was bread, water, milk, meat, light.

 

There are many symbols in the Bible. The Tabernacle in the wilderness was made up of parts that taught about God. The Table of Showbread, the Ark of the Covenant and covering and its contents; the lamp stands and the oil. Gold overlaid wood. The colors, the herbs for the incense….all of these things were of special significance. The Tabernacle is a virtual encyclopedia of meaning. It was an outstanding teaching tool that taught the people about God. God ordered that the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) were to be made a certain way. No committee designed any of it, including the tools and procedures for doing everything. It was a treasure house of symbols. This was in keeping with the way God made us.

 

In the New Testament Jesus ordained what we call "The Lord's Supper" or "Communion." He ordained water baptism. Those are very important symbols and He said to do them. In the Christian world we unconsciously love and use hundreds of religious symbols. We have designed and adopted symbols that we accept that we don't even think about.

 

The American flag and the Christian flag stand as silent sentinels in the auditoriums of thousands of churches. The cross is etched in stained windows and on church signs on the front lawn. Some churches have a red flame on their church doors and signs, a symbol of spiritual renewal. Probably the most commonly used symbol used by churches for public testimony is the steeple with the spire that points upward to Heaven. The Bible does not ordain it but neither does it condemn it.

 

If you open up Microsoft Clip Art on your computer you may be amazed at how many symbols are there for you to use. The Broderbund company has hundreds of religious symbols available to use in print shops and on computers to reinforce bulletins, tracts, handouts, weddings, funerals, etc. Few if any of these symbols that we use were ordained in the word of God.

 

The Bible does not require us to put crosses in our offering plates and windows and on our communion tables and our signs and bulletins and tracts and Sunday school literature. Neither does the Bible forbid us to use crosses on all of these things. God made the human race to be at home with symbols. Symbols can be good or they can be evil. A symbol is usually a visual shape in which is embodied meaning much greater than the symbol. But a symbol can be a sound or a pattern of activity. Not all symbols are religious.

 

The Babylonian Empire used the symbol of lions. Alexander the Great used the symbol of the eagle as did the Roman Empire and later Russia, Austria, Germany..

 

Industry would be barren without symbols. Our cars and trucks do more than go varroooom. Dodge trucks are not just Dodge trucks. They are Dodge Ram trucks. The car companies use names like Falcon, Pinto, Mustang, Thunderbird, Firebird, Cougar, and don't forget the Stutz Bearcat of 1914. My grandpa's 1929 Model A Ford sported a chromed greyhound radiator cap. It was polished regularly whether or not the car was ever washed. The greyhound radiator cap was supposed to make up for the low-power engine….I think.

 

In our food supermarkets many of the products we buy are marked with symbols. Margarine sports the Indian woman and an ear of corn. The box of soda displays an arm and hammer. Carnation milk comes from contented cows. Morton's salt pours when it rains. And there's the little Dutch boy on cleanser and other products. Kellogg's corn flakes always leave the store with a rooster on the box.

 

The outstanding symbols for Bible believing Christians are probably the Cross and the lamb. I've already mentioned the church steeple and its spire pointing to Heaven. But we also have seasonal symbols for special days and seasons such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. When using a symbol, it should be for the glory of God, should communicate, and should edify the body of Christ.

 

O Holy Night—Barbara Carr

 

Last week I wrote that Silent Night is my favorite Christmas carol.  But then, O Holy Night is number one also.  The history of its writing is interesting.

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure was known more for his poetry than his church attendance.  He was a commissionaire of wines in a small French town.

What is a commissionaire of wines?  After much searching, I found the answer in Wikipedia.  They are agents hired to negotiate prices with vine growers.  They were paid according to how low a price they could negotiate and some employed unsavory tactics to achieve their means—including violence and intimidation.

He may have been taken by surprise when the parish priest asked him to write a poem for Christmas Mass.  The poet was pleased to be asked to share his talents with the church.  While traveling to France's capital city, Roquimaure began to think upon the request.  Taking out his Bible he used Luke as his guide.  As he read and thought about actually being present on that blessed night, he was inspired to write.  By the time he reached Paris, he had completed O Holy Night.

Roquimaure was moved by his own work and decided this was not just a poem, but a song and needed a master musician to write the music.  He asked Adolphe-Charles Adam for help.  Adam's father was a classical musician and Adam had studied in Paris.  He accepted this as a challenge.  Adam was of Jewish ancestry; therefore, these words represented a man he didn't view as the son of God.  However, he set to work and wrote a beautiful musical score for O Holy Night.

At first the song was accepted by the church of France and the song quickly found its way into many Catholic Christmas services.  But when Roquemaure walked away from the church and joined a Socialist movement and the leaders of the church also discovered that Adam was a Jew, the song was denounced by the church.  The leaders of the French Catholic church deemed O Holy Night as unfit for church services.

And, yet the French people continued to sing it and a decade later an American writer brought it to America.  John Sullivan Dwight thought this wonderful Christmas carol needed to be introduced to America.  Dwight was an abolitionist and the verse: "Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace.  Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and his name all oppression shall cease."   Dwight was an owner and publisher of a magazine.  In his magazine he translated O Holy Night and it quickly became one of America's favorite carols.

As I read the history of O Holy Night, I was reminded of how God can use people--people that don't know Him or believe in Him or in some way "not straight as an arrow."  As we see in this story, the Lord used two unlikely men to create a beautiful carol to honor and glorify Him.

A study of Cyrus, the Persian king shows how the Lord used this king as His instrument.  "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying," Ezra 1:1

Long before Nebuchadnezzar knew the Lord these words were penned:  "Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations."  (Jeremiah 25:9) 

If you haven't read all the verses to O Holy Night, please do.  It is a very worshipful song.  Did these writers know the Lord? We cannot see in their hearts as only the Lord can see. It is obvious that they were given words and music; telling the story beautifully.  We as His children need to obey and praise Him because He sent Jesus that we might have eternal life.  We have memorized Ephesians. 4:31  so let's obey this verse and this Christmas be free of everything that might mar our relationship to our Lord and Savior.

 

"O Holy night!  The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.  Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O holy night, O night divine!"

 

The Encourager may also be read at www.biblewalking.blogspot.com .

 

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The Encourager Newsletter - Volume 3 Issue 51 - 2 009.12.06 - Our Religious Symbols - Silent Night

Our Religious Symbols

There is something univerally built into the human race, like breathing, that compels us to express our inward feelings outwardly so that other people can see them at a glance. In every nation and every century this is true. The way we dress, the way we wear our hair, the cars we drive, the associations of people we join or shun, the flags we salute, and the uniforms we wear. Our music and art and pastime says a lot about who we are. It's part of being human. National holidays are important. God appointed holidays (holy days) for Israel because in God's sight they were important.

For several nations of the world, Christmas is an important time of the year. It is now tarnished and degraded from its original meaning like the human race is tarnished and degraded after being made in the image of God. Even so, we maintain some likenesses of God even in our fallen state. Christmas is like that. In recent years we have seen intense public struggle over Christmas trees and Holiday trees. What appeared at first to be a decision of little consequence, Target and Walmart stores and many others, decided it would be less offensive if they sold Holiday trees. Big mistake!

The Christmas tree issue was greatly underestimated. The executives were there to turn a buck for the stock holders and their own CEO paychecks. "Don't offend people. It's time to get rid of Christmas trees. People will be broadminded and buy holiday trees and give holiday gifts, and go to Grandmother's house for the holidays." This year I've seen Target ads for Christmas shopping at Target. Walmart got the message the very first year and pulled back. "Come on over to Walmart…we've got lots of Christmas gifts at Walmart!"

So, with all of America's corruption, we are not yet ready to give up Christmas—whatever that is. I'm sure that Grinch could not possibly steal the real Christmas which is about the Christ child in the manger who came to die on a cross to save sinners and who will one day rule the world from the throne of his father David in Jerusalem as the angel promised Mary and as God spoke to Joseph.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21).

For the next three weeks I would like to examine a few of the religious symbols of Christianity and Judaism. Someone has said: "the New Testament is in the Old contained, and the Old Testament is in the New explained." We'll begin today by including an untouched speech by President Obama before he pulled the switch to light the National Christmas Tree, a 40-foot Colorado Spruce, on December 3, 2009. This annual event began in 1923 and has continued every year by every president for 86 years. It continues as a national tradition. You can read the short speech printed below from the Los Angeles Times as provided to them by the White House, or follow the links to read the larger story from the Times or to watch the seven-minute video.

"In 1923, the Washington, D.C. Public Schools wrote a letter to the White House asking if they could put up a Christmas tree on the South Lawn. And First Lady Grace Coolidge said they could use the Ellipse. (Laughter.) And in the eight decades since -– in times of war and peace, hardship and joy –- Americans from every corner of this nation have gathered here to share in the holiday spirit.

Tonight, we celebrate a story that is as beautiful as it is simple. The story of a child born far from home to parents guided only by faith, but who would ultimately spread a message that has endured for more than 2,000 years -– that no matter who we are or where we are from, we are each called to love one another as brother and sister.

While this story may be a Christian one, its lesson is universal. It speaks to the hope we share as a people. And it represents a tradition that we celebrate as a country –- a tradition that has come to represent more than any one holiday or religion, but a season of brotherhood and generosity to our fellow citizens.

It's that spirit of unity that we must remember as we light the National Christmas Tree –- a tree that will shine its light far beyond our city and our shores to every American around the world. And that's why tonight our thoughts and prayers are with the men and women who will be spending this holiday far from home –- the mothers and fathers, the sons and daughters of our military who risk their lives every day to keep us safe. We will be thinking of you and praying for you during this holiday season.

And let's also remember our neighbors who are struggling here at home -– those who've lost a job or a home; a friend or a loved one -- because even though it's easy to focus on receiving at this time of year, it's often in the simple act of giving that we find the greatest happiness.

So on behalf of Michelle and Malia and Sasha and my mother-in-law, Mama Robinson -- I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. May you go out with joy, and be led forth in peace."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/12/obama-national-christmas-tree-xmas-tree.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4uICocZ3sA&feature=player_embedded

Silent Night—Barbara Carr

Lord willing, we will publish three issues of the Encourager before Christmas. Christmas is a time for singing and praising our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The carols are so beautiful and we all grew up hearing and singing them. Today we have some beautiful Christmas songs that are not spiritual songs. We love Christmas carols played by Dino on the piano and Kenny G with his soprano saxophone. But we love best the old carols sung by choirs and carolers. We need to teach our children to love these carols because they teach about the birth of Jesus and all the glorious events at that time.

I am going to give a short account of how three of these carols came about. Silent Night is my favorite, so that is where I will begin.

The words to Silent Night were written December 24, 1818 by Joseph Mohr. Father Mohr lived in the Austrian Alps. He had planned a Christmas Eve program for the midnight service in the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf near Salzburg. While he was going over the plans for the service, he discovered that the organ was broken. As he wondered and prayed about what he should do, these words came to his mind: "write a new song, a song that could be sung without the organ."

Father Mohr sat down and wrote Silent Night. He took the words to organist, Franz Gruber and explained about the organ and asked for his help. He wanted Franz to write a simple tune that could be sung with a guitar.

When Karl Mauracher came to repair the organ, they told him of the near disaster Christmas Eve. He asked for a copy of Silent Night and spread it through the Alpine region of Austria.

Silent Night was first published for congregational singing in 1838 in a German hymnbook. It was brought to America by German immigrants and was sung in their German speaking church services. Later it was translated to English in a book of Sunday school songs in 1863 in the middle of the American Civil War.

What Father Mohr considered to be a problem, turned into a great blessing that continues to this day. The song tells of a virgin giving birth to a son; it tells of the shepherds seeing the glory of Heaven and it tells of the Son of God. Father Mohr must have known the Old Testament scripture that reads:

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

God can use anything or anyone to bring glory to Him. In this case He used a broken organ.

With the angels let us say/sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)

I have already begun preparing for Christmas—making & freezing breads, making candy and dragging out decorations. Which is a good thing, but the most important thing I can do is prepare my heart. I need to ask my Lord and Savior to cleanse my heart. My Sunday school teacher in Southern Pines has said, "If we had a movie screen at the front of the church and our thoughts could be projected onto that screen, how many of you would be willing for your thoughts to be projected there for all to see?" If we truly want a clean heart, it's confession time before the Lord.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psa 51:10)

Supplementing material for the above article was taken from Then Sings My Soul written by Robert J. Morgan.

The Encourager News Letter - Volume 3 Issue 50 - 2009.11.26 - George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

The Encourager Newsletter

Toward Knowing God and Walking With Him

A FREE WEEKLY PUBLICATION with a BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW – Volume 3 Issue 50

November 26, 2009 Dan Carr, Editor

 

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

 

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

 

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

 

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

 

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

 

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The Encourager Newsletter - Volume 3 Issue 49 - The Tradition of Thanksgiving - Two Vloices

"The tradition of Thanksgiving as a time to focus on God and thank Him for His blessings dates back almost four centuries in America. Colonists held Thanksgiving services in Texas in 1541, in Florida in 1565, and in Virginia in 1607 and 1619.

"But it is from the Pilgrims that we derive the current tradition of a Thanksgiving that includes prayers to God, a meal with friends, and a time of athletic competition.

The Pilgrims arrived in America in December 1620 and experienced a harsh winter of extreme hunger and starvation in which half of them died. The following summer, the Pilgrims reaped a bountiful harvest. As Pilgrim Edward Winslow (who later became their governor) affirmed, "God be praised, we had a good increase of corn. . . . [and] by the goodness of God, we are far from want." (David Barton – http://www.wallbuilders.com/.

The First National Thanksgiving

"America's first national Day of Thanksgiving occurred on September 25, 1789. It was the nation's first official act set by Congress after that body completed the Constitution and Bill of Rights. According to the early equivalent of the Congressional Record:

Mr. [Elias] Boudinot said he could not think of letting the session pass without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining with one voice in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings He had poured down upon them. With this view, therefore, he would move the following resolution:

Resolved, That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer. . ." (Christian Law Association)

President George Washington agreed with this request to publically give thanks to God. Not only did he share the same reasons our other leaders held; he also had his personal reasons when he remembered the bullet holes in his uniform and the horses that had been shot out from under him. . He issued the first federal Thanksgiving proclamation, declaring in part:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor. . . . Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 . . . that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.

There's no separation of church and state issue in these proclamations and no one on that day complained that God should be kept out of our national holidays. It reminds me of the woman who was overheard saying, "Thanksgiving would be so much better if these religious people would just stay out of it so we can enjoy our turkey and pumpkin pie."

"So much for any hint of the desire for a "separation of church and state" to be found in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights! While our Founders wanted to prohibit the establishment of an official national church, they quite obviously had absolutely no intention of separating God from the American government.

"Following President Washington's initial proclamation, days of Thanksgiving were sporadically proclaimed. Another by President Washington in 1795; · One by John Adams in 1799; · Others by James Madison in 1814 and 1815.

But most official Thanksgivings in early America were observed at the state level. By 1815, the various state governments had issued at least 1,400 official calls for prayer and thanksgiving or for prayer and fasting" (CLA)

This year we have chosen to focus on the history of Thanksgiving and have used material from two of the most recognized and respected sources: The Wallbuilders and the Christian Law Association.

Two Voices—Barbara Carr

Georgia and I spent four days in Pigeon Forge, TN last week. We had a great time! While there we attended a play "The Miracle." The play begins with Satan appearing as an angel and ends with Jesus ascending to Heaven. Satan was stripped of his white, shining angel clothes and exposed as the devil that he is.

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." (Isa 14:12-14)

The "morning star" is bright and beautiful. He was once a glorious angel. In this scripture he is shown falling from his place in Heaven to earth. His glory is gone and his brightness extinguished. Satan arrogantly said, "I will ascend into Heaven." He intended to set himself up as the highest to be worshiped. He acknowledged no authority of God in Heaven or earth. He would be making the laws and reigning supremely.

In the play, Satan appeared in every scene whispering into the ears of people. He began in Genesis with Eve. "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen 3:1)

There were several other examples in the Old Testament but let's skip to the New Testament. When the angel appeared to Mary, Satan may have whispered to her, "Don't believe him. How could you be with child? You have never known a man." Then said Mary unto the angel: How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (Luk 1:34)

He may have whispered to Peter in the court yard, when Jesus had been taken. Jesus had told Peter he would deny him three times before the cock crew, but Peter vehemently denied Jesus' warning. However, when he was asked if he knew Jesus, did Satan whisper, "Better say you don't know him or you will be arrested also?" "And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not." (Luke 22:57)

All of this whispering into the ears on stage was a wake-up call for me. I think we forget that Satan is ever ready to whisper ideas and instructions to us. He cannot indwell a Christian's body as he does an unsaved person, but he can suggest things to us and he can oppress us and discourage us. For example: Do you ever say, "I thought about saying this thing or that thing?" Guess who may have planted that thought in your mind?

Or, perhaps you don't just think about saying it—you just blurt it out! You say it before you think about it. How often do you miss a chance to witness to someone because you think that person will not listen to you or may become angry? Where did that idea come from? And the list goes on. Satan is geared up to lead us away from God anyway he can.

But, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1John 4:4)

We are of the family of God and have embraced His Word and His Spirit indwells us. God dwells in our hearts and His strength and grace alone can enable us to have victory over Satan's whispering. God is mightier than Satan's seductive efforts. Even though we have trials and temptations with sin, we don't have to despair. Our God is infinitely stronger than Satan.

Let's listen to the voice of our God. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:27-29)

Jesus is speaking of us. He is saying "my church, my people those who are my followers." We are His sheep. We are to hear and obey His Word. He knows us. Like the song, "He Knows My Name." Sheep will stray, get tangled in the brush and sometimes be cast down, but they know the Shepherd's voice. We need to yield ourselves to His guidance and seek to be led by His voice. The song "Open My Eyes Lord" has the following phrase: "Open my ears Lord and help me to listen." Let's listen for our Lord's voice and respond as did Samuel: And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth (1Samuel 3:10).

Or as Isaiah did: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8). The Lord may not speak to us exactly as He did to Samuel and Isaiah and many others. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord rides upon the pages of His word today, giving the words personal meaning and application to our hearts. Ω