It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.

We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
​
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God 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 as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

If I can’t do anything to enhance you, (uplift you or make you better) I’m not going to do anything for you. That’s the way everyone ought to live (Philippians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 10:24, 13:5). Too many people are hurting and destroying others, and these victims brought to sorrow, inconvenience and hardship didn’t deserve it (Romans 12:17). Now I’m not referring to offenders who need to be put in their place, but to innocent people who become the victims of oppressors who have their own selfish and violent agenda (Psalms 37:14,32,35).

Make it the focus of your life to value others as you wish them to value you. And if you have issues with someone, try to sit down and talk it over in a reasonable way. If that cannot be done, forget it and walk away because that is the way it has to be at times. Tomorrow will be another day (and if the Lord wills) plan to do something to make things better for others.

It is a lot easier then you think, so take up the challenge and cause it to happen, and you will go to bed feeling good.

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

Noah’s Ark might not had been as good looking as other boats of that era, And it might not had been as comfortable inside as other boats of that era. It might not had been as big as other boats of that era. But it was the only boat in which one could be saved from the flood (2 Peter 2:5, 1 Pet. 3:20). That was true because it was commissioned and built by God though the hands of Noah (Genesis 6:12-22).

The construction of the Ark was the mind of God at work, with each part being crafted to fit the time of Noah who would be inside the Ark for little over a year (Genesis 7-8). Other boats might have been deployed by the general population to try and escape the flood, but those boats sank and the people perished because those boats had no saving power.

My point in all this is, men may have something they hold dear, but if it’s not established by God, all will be lost (Psalms 127:1; Acts 5:34-39; Matthew 15:13).
​
Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

Jesus Christ is the Son of Almighty God (Matthew 14:33, 16:16, 27:54).

It is pointless to look elsewhere for salvation because He is the One whom the Old Testament scriptures foretold as the Messiah (John 1:29-30, 3:2, 6:14, 8:23-25; 1 Timothy 1:15; Acts 4:12). He and the Father are one in purpose and equal in the Godhead (John 5:18, 8:58, 10:30-39; Colossians 2:9; John 6:38, 8:29).

Presently, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, ruling over His Kingdom (the church) and will do so until He returns to judge the world on the last day (Col. 3:1; Acts 17:31; John 12:48, 5:22; 2 Tim. 4:2). In order to die for our sins, Jesus left heaven and came to earth in a body of flesh and lived among men (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 10:5; Philippians 2:5-11). Yes, Deity living among man with all divine attributes (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Micah 5:2-3).

Jesus was more than a man and often said so (Matt. 12:6-8, 11:3-6, 9:2-7; John 5:37-46, 8:23-24, 6:35-65). Not just a great teacher or prophet; but the One before all things! The great eternal God of heaven and earth; the Alpha and Omega! (John 20:28, 1:1, 17:5, 17:24; Col. 1:13-19; Revelation 1:5-8).

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.