Giving Thanks

I want to start my thanks (as in Thanksgiving) early. First, I want to thank God from whom all blessings flow.

There was a time when I was in college when a girlfriend and I talked to a young man at our opponent's school. He took about one half hour discussing how he felt that there was no God. They seemed logical arguments and in that time, my friend and I were "lost at sea." We talked in the car on the way home and soon, both of us were on our way back.

Logic has nothing to do with God. He works with the heart and soul. During the "lost" time, I felt such a deep sorrow. It was if my best friend were gone. In fact, if this guy's logic were true, I had lost the only irreplaceable thing in my life. I felt like the kids in The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis who were under a similar spell and one said something like: even if there is no Narnia, I am going to love it and live like there were. And then when my sorrow was greatest, I recalled things God and I had done together, our lovely relationship, the fact that I needed Him as the air I breathe, and then He was there smiling and welcoming me back.

Since that time, I have had many more intimate times with The Lord, reading His Word and building the kinds of things one has in a relationship.

So let me say that I am thankful for God, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. And I am also thankful for my church, the churches I have previously attended. I learned so much from each. I am thankful for the early church, the leaders of the reformation, the heroes of the first and second Great Awakening, and for all of the church past and present. The whole of God's Kingdom is so glorious and I am truly blessed this Thanksgiving and always.

This lovely church window is inside a Lutheran church in Frankenmuth, Mi. More on that city later.