Happy Thanksgiving

We Gather Together

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen

--Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn (A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

The Great Shepherd is Big Enough

Everyday is a day to be thankful for all that God has given to us. Even in these times of economic uncertainty, there is joy in knowing that we are not alone. God is always with us. He is our Great Shepherd and will lead us into paths of safety and provision. It only remains for us to listen for His voice and trust in Him. He will lead us to green pastures again.

No, I am not being too simplistic about this. We are hearing lots of voices around us and most of the news media is talking fear. But we have to have to remember that God knows all things. He knows the end from the beginning and He is not afraid. He is able to take this situation and turn it around. He knows where there are new sources of energy and how to get new inventions that we can bring to market to put people to work. He can take what we have in our hand and make it work to our good.

Most of us are adjusting to the times very well in that we are watching our spending. When we do spend something, make it count. Get out of debt as well as you can. That will give you some room to work things out as they come. And if things look tight for a time, don't think about not paying your tithes. Our God set things up so that tithes and offerings bring a blessing on us. The Good News translation says this in Malachi3: 8-18

I ask you, is it right for a person to cheat God? Of course not, yet you are cheating me. 'How?' you ask. In the matter of tithes and offerings. A curse is on all of you because the whole nation is cheating me. Bring the full amount of your tithes to the Temple, so that there will be plenty of food there. Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.

I will not let insects destroy your crops, and your grapevines will be loaded with grapes. Then the people of all nations will call you happy, because your land will be a good place to live. "You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'What have we said about you?' You have said, 'It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.' "

Then the people who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the LORD and respected him. "They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not."

No Hot Water Again!

Today we are into our 12th day of not having any hot water. It’s a regular happening in the month of June that they turn off the hot water flowing to homes in the city to make repairs to heating plants etc. that were damaged in the winter cold. Sometimes there is extensive work to do, other times like this year; it's mostly maintenance work and getting ready for the next winter season.

Last winter was a mild one, compared to winter for 2006. A lot of broken water pipes had to be replaced that year and it took some time to get everything working again. Hopefully we won't have to wait the whole month to experience a nice shower again. In hot weather, even a lukewarm shower feels nice, but you don't want to try a cold one here. So for now it’s the "bucket brigade" again. I hear the men working out there now, so MAYBE we will have it back on today.