Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Today's Monday Morning Mentoring is simply the text of Abraham Lincoln's original Thanksgiving proclamation. I have not added my own comments, but I have highlighted a few sections that strike me as especially profound. As you read this proclamation you might ask yourself : What would happen if an American President used this kind of language today in an official proclamation? What in this statement speaks to the heart of our national crisis today?

"The Year that is drawing to a close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke the aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversion of wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.

Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace,

harmony, tranquility, and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Offended?

Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them,

"Does this offend you?".... John 6:61, NLT

I am continually amazed at how loosely Christians use the word "offend" to describe a hurt or perceived wrong done to them by a fellow believer. Please read carefully the following definition of the New Testament word skandalizō (skän-dä-lē'-zō) which is the word most often translated "offend" in the New Testament:

1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may

trip and fall, metaph. to offend

a) to entice to sin

b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to

trust and obey

1) to cause to fall away

2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and

what hinders me from acknowledging his authority

3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another

c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed

1) to cause one displeasure at a thing

2) to make indignant

3) to be displeased, indignant

Have I ever been hurt by another's words? Certainly! Have I been misunderstood, misrepresented, even mistreated? Perhaps! Has anyone ever OFFENDED me? ABSOLUTELY NOT! No injustice ever done to me has the power to "entice me to sin" or "to cause to fall away." I refuse to grant it such authority in my life!

"Great peace have they who love Your law; nothing shall offend them

or make them stumble".... Psalm 119:165, Amplified Bible

Disillusionment

"....How long will you live crazed by illusion?" -- Psalm 4:2, The Message

According to the dictionary, the word "illusion" is defined as "something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality." Therefore, the word "disillusioned" means to be freed from a false impression of reality. Could it be, then, that disillusionment is a necessary part of growing in the truth?

Some of us need to be "disillusioned" when it comes to God! Yes...I meant to say that and exactly that way! It is so easy for people to form their own theologies on the basis of their wishful thinking about God, not on the solid foundation of God's own self-revelation in history. Even those of us who know God through Jesus Christ, and who derive our core theology from Scripture, often believe things about God that simply aren't true. For us, God may be a big ol' friend who is there to give us everything we want....hardly the biblical God. Or perhaps our "God" is harsh and severe rather than gracious and merciful. To some extent, we all need to be "disillusioned" when it comes to God in order to embrace the truth of God's nature as revealed to us through Christ and through Scripture.

If I am fooled by an illusion, if I embrace as true something that isn't, then "disillusionment" might be a painful but necessary step on the road to truth and health.

I wonder which illusions I need to be set free from? Where do I need disillusionment? When it comes, will I accept it as a tough but gracious teacher or will I cling to my illusions?

Men vs Women Brains

Today is a first for Monday Morning Mentoring...I am simply directing you to a link with Mark Gungor of Laugh Your Way To a Better Marriage. He's describing the differences between the brains of men and women. I hope it helps you begin your week with some laughter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxckAMaTDc

"We have drifted away from being fishers of men

to being keepers of the aquarium"

-- Paul Harvey--

Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?" Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

Matthew 9:11-13, The Message

The local church is the hope of the world! If we as church leaders do not embrace the vision to become salt and light in our world, the Church will fail to realize its potential as an agent of change. We will become inwardly focused on meeting the needs of 'insiders' to the exclusion of 'outsiders.' We will become a spiritual cocoon, where Christians meet to retreat from a hostile world, rather than a 'transformation station' whose primary objective is to change the world.

It's not that churches shouldn't minister to their own members, but there should be a balance between internal and external ministry. When our churches become spiritual spas to which we retreat from the world, our salt loses its saltiness and we are no longer able to impact our culture.

Why did God make me? To love, serve, and obey Him--very simple, yet extremely profound. If we all woke up each morning asking, "How can I love, serve, and obey God today?" it might change everything---it might even change the world!

What is Worship?

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father

is seeking such to worship Him...John 4:23, NKJV

For many years Christians have broken fellowship and broken God's heart in the name of worship. We have argued over form, anguished over the opinions of others, and attacked those who looked or acted differently. Meanwhile in Heaven, the search goes on --

When you can give yourself permission to do everything else imperfectly, so long as you love Him completely...that is worship.

When you can come to Him boldly, even at the risk of the disapproval of others...that is worship.

When you can pursue His presence, even when your heart is broken...that is worship.

When you can submit your life to Jesus even when you don't understand all of what is happening around you...that is worship.

When you can love Jesus with ridiculous generosity, offering to Him the finest of your time, your talent, and your treasure...that is worship.

The Father still looks for that kind of worshiper. I hope His search finds completion in you.

Content or Complacent?

The Bible presents contentment as a good thing. It is something learned, though, and doesn't come naturally. Paul once received a generous offering from his friends in Philippi, and in thanking them said, "I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances" (Philippians 4:11, The Message). The operative word here is "learned." Contentment doesn't come easy when there's much to complain about and a lot you would change if you had the power to do so.

There's also something that looks like contentment but isn't. Complacency is ugly -- it's not resting in the Lord, it's snoring! While contentment is desire under surrender, complacency is desire under siege. A. W. Tozer said,

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must

be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He

waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so

very long, in vain.

Are you content or complacent?

Be A Difference Maker!

Leadership expert John Maxwell says that the average person influences 10,000 people - either for good or bad - in the course of a lifetime.  That means all of us are difference-makers.

Miss Amy Whittington would certainly qualify as one who directly and indirectly influenced thousands of people.  At age 83 she was still teaching a Sunday school class in Sault St. Marie, Michigan.  She learned that the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago was offering a seminar to teach people how to be more effective teachers.  She literally saved her pennies until she had the necessary money to buy a bus ticket.  She rode the bus all night to attend the seminar to learn new methods and procedures so she could do a better job.

One of the professors, impressed with her age, enthusiasm, and the fact that she had ridden the bus all night to attend the seminar, engaged her in conversation.  He asked her what age group she taught and how many were in her class.  When she responded that she taught a class of junior high school boys and there were 13 in the class, the professor asked how many kids belonged to the church.  Miss Whittington replied, "Fifty." The professor, astonished that this little lady taught over 25% of the church youth, responded, "With that kind of record we should have you teach us how to teach."  How right he was!

People who are already good at what they do are far more likely to work at getting better than are those who are marginal performers.  What kind of impact did Miss Amy Whittington have? Eighty-six of those boys she taught in her Sunday school class through the years ended up in the ministry! Can't you just imagine the thousands of people she directly and indirectly impacted for good?  She truly was a difference-maker. 

You are too ... so make it a "good" difference!

Significant?

"Something's wrong with your work." A member of the denomination's hierarchy delivered the critical review to a faithful old pastor during a prescribed periodic evaluation. "Only one convert has been added to your church this year, and he is just a boy," the denominational official said.

Later that same day, the pastor languished alone in his study, praying with a heavy heart, when someone walked up behind him. Turning around, he saw the boy - his only convert that year.

"Pastor," he asked, "do you think I could become a preacher or a missionary?"

That boy was Robert Moffatt - the missionary who later opened Africa to the gospel. Years later, Robert addressed a group in London, where a young doctor heard him say, "I have seen in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been." That young doctor, deeply moved by Moffatt's message, himself sailed for Africa in 1840, where he labored for more than thirty years. His name: David Livingstone.

Back to that pastor...Was he a "success"? Was he "significant"?

I guess it all depends on whether you're adding or multiplying.  On a surface level, at least in that particular year, he had precious little to advertise statistically. Fortunately, God keeps a different scorebook.

When John Wesley died, all he left were two silver spoons, his glasses, preaching bands, cloak, prayer book and the usual odds and ends common to an elderly person. But fortunately, his writing had also been preserved. Today his journals, letters, essays, sermons, and tracts are available for all subsequent generations. And, I almost forgot...he left for his legacy the Methodist Church!

My responsibility and yours is to leave a heritage of faithfulness. God will keep score and take care of the results ... if we'll only trust Him with them. Can you do that? If so, then a great harvest awaits you, even if it seems obscure and unimportant to the world.

Leave a legacy!

The Wellspring of All Learning

"Show me how You work, God;

   School me in Your ways."

Psalm 25:4, The Message

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts"

John Wooden, legendary UCLA basketball coach

A young man often had the occasion to walk by the home of a well-respected professor in his community. He noticed that most of the time as he passed the professor's home, whether early in the morning or late at night, he could see the professor poring over books in his study.

One day he had an opportunity to talk to the professor and he asked him, "Doctor, what keeps you studying? You are at the top in your field -- a professor with many opportunities to speak at major universities. Yet, you never seem to stop learning."

The professor replied, "Son, I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than from a stagnant pool."

The wonderful thing about the Word of God is that no matter how many times a person reads it, there's always something new to learn from it. Take a daily drink from the wellspring of all learning and wisdom -- the Bible. Its truths will make you a champion!

The Main Thing

When multimillionaire financier J.P. Morgan died in 1913, he left a will that contained 10,000 words and thirty seven articles. During his lifetime, Morgan made countless financial transactions, some of which impacted the economic equilibrium of the entire world. Yet in Article 1 of his will, he wrote about the one transaction he considered supreme above all others:

    "I commit my soul into the hands of my Saviour, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious blood He will present it faultless before the throne of my heavenly Father; and I entreat my children to maintain and defend, at all hazard, and at any cost of personal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of the complete atonement for sin through the blood of Jesus Christ, once offered, and through that alone."

Although one of the most significant men in history, Morgan had the right priorities - the right purpose. So as you begin your week today, I challenge you to be busy about the right things, for the right purpose, and you will get the right results! Remember to keep the MAIN THING the MAIN THING!