A Day After Thanksgiving

I thank God today for the undeserved, abundant joys of yesterday’s Thanksgiving Day! Our table was filled with food enough to feed several families for several days! I enjoyed cooking all morning with my dear, God-sent wife! (By the way darling, the pie was wonderful!) My partner in ministry at FBC, Paintsville and his family spent the day with us enjoying the food, good conversation, and playing with the kids! (We had a great time Roger!) A close friend stopped by for chocolate cake, which I baked believe it or not! And to top it all off, I ended the day with my little girl snuggled under my left arm, my little boy snuggled under my right arm, and we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving! I am among a world of people who knew not some of these blessings or even any of the blessings in which I was granted the grace to enjoy. I must, I have to, I will give thanks to God for each one!

In terms of common graces, it was a most joyful, blessed Thanksgiving Day. And if these temporal blessings can bring so much joy, imagine the overflowing bounty of what will be when God’s special blessings in Christ blossom from the unseen to the fully known?

Give thanks to the Lord. For He is good. For His mercy endures forever!

Uncommon Thanks this Thanksgiving

Influenced by this practice at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, I encourage our church members to memorize and meditate on a “Fighter Verse” each week. In light of Thanksgiving, our Fighter Verse for this week is Psalm 69:30, “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

For my sermon this past Sunday, I purposed for us to reflect on the wondrous glories of God in praise and to remind us of the numerous blessings we enjoy in order to refresh a humble, grateful spirit among us for thanksgiving. We do grow so accustomed to the thousands of graces lavished on us that we take them for granted and fail to recognize that many of our comforts, such as status, income, health, and daily provisions, are fleeting and could disappear overnight!

The many blessings God has given us in Christ range from the physical and material to temporal, relational, spiritual, and eternal! Our thanks as believers is unending because His goodnesses toward us in Christ are beyond number and endless! In short, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

But allow me if you would to probe even deeper. Beyond the blessings in which we enjoy, see, or grasp by faith, there are two other categories of blessings that we often are unaware of or miss embracing as a blessing altogether.

Blessings unaware. The Lord brought to my mind to be thankful not only for the blessings which we have, hold, and cherish, but for the hundreds of unseen, unknown blessings. Only the Lord knows the zillion accidents, tragedies, mistakes, and failures that his preventative grace allowed us to avoid this year! What about all that we could have experienced that we did not experience - because of his grace and mercy? There is a world of activity beyond what we can see and common graces surrounding us daily that we are not even aware exist. But they are there, and many trials are withheld by the merciful hand of our heavenly Father. And each and every one of these items, which number in the millions for us all, are provisions of grace purchased by Christ and granted by God!

Blessings Hidden. There is another category that deserves our thanks but seldom if ever hears a note of thanksgiving from our lips. It is our heartaches, troubles, and trials to which I am referring. Thanksgiving is not the normal response to bad news, tragic news, the loss of neglected blessings, or terrible circumstances. We are human. We are emotional. We do operate on feelings. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that! Hearts should break under heart-wrenching trials! However, for the believer, we have an uplifting hope and promise in the Lord Jesus Christ for which a hint of hope and joy remain even in the worst of times. For he does promise to work all things for the good of those who love him! (Rom 8:28) I just read an insightful quote in a Spurgeon sermon this morning. The great preacher said, “To the righteous man every providence is a blessing. A blessing wrapped up in all our curses and in all our crosses. Our cups are sometimes bitter, but they are always healthful.” Amen! There is somewhere underneath the pain and disappointment you experienced this year, a hidden blessing. God is looking out for you even on the days when it appears to you that he is nowhere is sight! It will all turn out for his glory and for your good.

Give great thanks dear child of God. Make a long list of the things and people and experiences and promises of faith that you posses! And worship God through this list. And then, list two more items before you head to the Turkey feast. Thank God for the things for which you cannot make a list, that is, the many ways he blessed you and you were unaware. Thank him then for the upsets and low times in which he was working good for us, and we just failed to thank him for it.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Ps 136:1

Three More Testimonies from Myanmar!

Please pray for these pastors! The Lord is doing a marvelous work in Myanmar!

Pa Rual Testimony

With great joy I am sent in the shain state at Noamoon where full of darkness.Before I serve to this place, I have had crusade in the Chin state at Tlankhua village and there 35 peoples are saved and immediately baptized. After that I moved toward Khampat own and have crusade again and there 42 peoples are saved and shared their testimonies with tears of joy at a church.

His Report

When I am sent in the mission field, I greatly wonder that what the Lord's plan for me is. When I fasted 20 days, some of the Chinese interested about Jesus but not yet changed.Here one thing my trouble is that here is no friend,relative and any acquaintances who care me when I am in helpless except Jesus Christ who died for me.

Please pray for me with all Bible students.

Nei Khum Testimony, his testimony is by letter indirectly to us.

Before I am prisoner, I was a simple christian. Suddenly I got marriage with a buddhist woman and one day we have a son. Then we were very poor and we decided to sell our home and do economical by commission of opium. And then we went to the Shain state and did it and we have success three times. Unfortunately one day we were both arrested by police and my wife was released by them because we have a baby and my case was higher and higher. Unexpectedly my wife remarriage to other boy and I cried out day and night from the prison. One night he changed my life and I was comforted from all my groaning and sadness. And then I was full of joy and I gave thanks to the Lord daily and prayed to Him and I began sharing my testimony and preached to my Friend prisoners. And then some peoples changed and praised the Lord together with me. At that time the jailer got angry too much and he separated us to different jail and I am sent to the jail of That Kung. We are 800 peoples at this prison big campus. But 60 peoples are who became christian through my preaching. We daily go out for work and here is much no time. So please pray for us so that we can have Christmas' celebration to 60 prisoners and get the chance for preaching.

Josiah Testimony

First of all I give thanks to the Lord and to you. I was a simple man and who did not know about Jesus Christ who is. But by the grace of God when I could study the word of God at Emmanuel Theological Seminary, I know clearly Jesus who He is. And before long He changed my life and when I have finished my B.Th. course, I am His vessel in this darkness place and He lift me up from the dust.Nevertheless the light of the Gospel to started to shine our area.

His Report

With great joy the chief council defends me from others who hate christian even though he and his family are still buddhist. Then two families became Christian from Buddhist background and tree worship.

Aung Mint Thing from Myanmar!

Please enjoy this testimony from Myanmar and pray for Aung!

"I have began to be a monk since I was 12 years old. My purpose was being a permit and a famous monk rather than others. I was who said myself that I am a right man and there is no sin, no mistake and no any fault in my life. One day I have reached studying 7 laws that our god command. He said that if you can not keep these 7 laws, you are not worthy to come and bow down even at my feet and I can not save you also. When I compared myself right with 7 laws, I was unable to be in Nirvana or Nubian. Then I was fully sorrowed and depressed by it. Lastly I thought that why our god can not save me this much right person and how all the others is?

Before many day passed I heard that there was Christian training in Kalay city and I went there and attended that training. At that time a pastor preached about “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” As soon as I heard that message and I compared with our laws practices, I accepted and believe Jesus is my Savior and Lord. When I became a christian, my parents heard about it and when I went back and came to the courtyard, they said me proudly that if you come inside, we will behead you.Then I stopped walking and my mother said me take off soon your clothes which you wear and go out with naked. I responded to them that if you kill me, I will go up in heaven. We, our family, separated and please pray them."

His Report

By the grace of God seventy heathen became Christian through my preaching before I joined with Emmanuel Mission. Before last two week I touch a family for two days and they became Christian.

Evangelist Nyi from Myanmar!

For the next several days, I will be posting incredible testimonies from Emmanuel Ministries in Kalay, Myanmar from Pastor Joseph. As you read each one, rejoice in the spread of the Gospel and pray earnestly for these dear believers who are striving to win Myanmar!

Testimony from Nyi who works in Kalay valley.

“I was a Buddhist who became a Christian from Buddhist background. I was studied Bible in Tamu for three year and I graduated Bachelor of Ministry. After that I became a free Evangelist to only Burmese tribe as my mother language is Burmese.In my Evangelism the Lord changed many peoples and they left their religion and became Christian. May he change more peoples in Myanmar through your prayer.”

His Report

“when we are gather together at Ko Muang’ home and when we worshiped and praised the Lord, a monk and council leaders came against us and banished us and said that here is not Christian place. Don’t worship Him here any more. They threaten us that we will prosecute you to the centre court. But We considered it and prayed that our last decision is not to stop worshiping our God and praising Him in the truth and in the spirit as before.”

Photos from the Philippines!

Search And See is prayer partners with Pastor Antonio Decena of the Philippines. Our prayer is that we will be able to partner with him in further ways as the Lord leads. His vision is to strengthen existing churches and establish healthy churches throughout the Philippines. The photos are of church services and pastors. Please pray for the Gospel to advance and the churches to grow in grace throughout the Philippines!