With only four days left until Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for this year? Multi-colored leaves on a crisp afternoon? Football? Turkey, cranberry-sauce, and pumpkin pie? Friends, family and freedom?

I read about a young family this week that had always spent Thanksgiving at grandma’s house. But this year, the young mother wanted to try cooking Thanksgiving dinner all by herself. Before serving the dinner, she announced: “Now I know this is the first turkey I’ve ever cooked. If it isn’t right, I don’t want anybody to say a word. We’ll just get up from the table without comment, and go out to eat for dinner.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back into the dining room, bearing the turkey, she found her husband and son seated at the table—wearing their hats and coats. Read more…

In many churches, just like ours, there stand two flags—the American Flag and the Christian Flag. These two flags represent two types of freedom. One is a freedom that allows us to go where we want to go, say what we want to say, to live where we want to live, to dream big dreams and pursue them. Someone once wrote:

It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.

It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

Veterans over the centuries have sacrificed so much to obtain and preserve this precious freedom—which also includes the God-given right to worship our Creator anytime anywhere. That leads us to the other type of freedom, represented by the Christian Flag—a greater freedom that can only be found in Christ, who died as a ransom to set us free. This is a freedom from a life of futility, freedom from the tyranny of sin, regret, hate, and bitterness. It’s the freedom to love God and love our neighbor. Read more…

With the Presidential election just a couple of days away I’m guessing most of you are pretty tired of all the political ads and campaign coverage flooding your television sets.

I heard a good story this week about a four-year-old girl whose dad who had been watching the presidential campaign coverage. She tugged on his pant leg and begged him to stop and read her a fairy tale. Weary from all the political ads, he agreed and began reading the fairy tale. No sooner had he begun, however, than she interrupted him and asked, “Daddy, do all fairy tales begin with ‘Once upon a time?’” He responded, “No, sweetheart, most fairy tales begin with, ‘And when I’m elected…’” Read more…