Happy Thanksgiving!

Marilyn, Will & I will be at my mom's for the holiday, so I am getting a head start on wishing all of a blessed and happy Thanksgiving! And please know how thankful I am for each of YOU!!!

Here's my prayer for Turkey Day 2014:

Because of Jesus,

Throwback Thursday: New York Trips

For much of my life the weekend before Thanksgiving meant one of two things. I was either going to the National Youth Workers Convention or I was taking a group to New York City. There is something about this time of year that makes me miss the Big Apple more than usual, and this Throwback Thursday seemed like a great time to share this video with you again. Capturing the essence of the more than one dozen New York trips that I took with youth is pretty much an impossible task.The people, the hotels, the restaurants, the sight-seeing stops, the plays and so many other things would take months to write about. But pictures- pictures can capture the feeling much faster and with more clarity. Whether you went with me from NC Yearly Meeting, New Garden Friends, Springfield Friends, FUMC-Kissimmee or Wesley Memorial UMC- you will see friends here. So many great pictures, so many great memories from so many great trips- and the music of Mr. William Joel, whom we once saw on the streets of Manhattan. If these photos trigger any memories for you, I'd love to hear them. For me, it's easy to be thankful and be aware of our efforts to #SaveThanksgivng when watching this look back to wonderful times spent with people I love. For all of you who ever traveled with me to NYC, this one's for you. Be blessed!

Because of Jesus,

It's That Time Again- #SaveThanksgiving

This was my post on November 1, 2013. It generated a ton of response during the month of November, and as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" So with a few updates, here it is again. So read, remember, and  let's spend the next 27 days seeking to #SaveThanksgiving!

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love Christmas. I love the music, the movies, the decorations, Santa, the traditions and the trees. I love that for many people it is still about the birth of the babe of Bethlehem and what that means in each of our lives. I even love shopping on Christmas Eve, one of my grand traditions! I love the Christmas season. But I have to tell you,  what "Christmas" has become in our USAmerican society is really making me a little crazy. Christmas and I have a problem...it's killing Thanksgiving!

Maybe it is the faulty memory of an aging man, but it seems to me like Thanksgiving used to be an actual holiday, one we could enjoy and savor as families. But increasingly it is become the red-headed stepchild to Christmas. Stores have their Christmas displays out before Halloween is over. The TV commercials have already started. A house in my neighborhood already has a frickin' wreath on the door! Thanksgiving used to be the kickoff to the Christmas season. Now it is just a blip on the radar as we scream full speed ahead towards December. It's Black Friday: The Prequel. And I think it's time to do something about it.

I suppose it would help if there were more cultural landmarks associated with the holiday. Eating, The Macy's Parade and football in Dallas and Detroit (plus some other random city from the "can't leave well enough alone" minds of the NFL) are the first things that come to most people's minds. There are few Thanksgiving movies (Planes, Trains & Automobiles is the only GREAT one, although my son Will recommends The Hoboken Chicken Emergency!), no one sings Thanksgiving carols, and even Hallmark doesn't really push the holiday. A couple of years ago I wrote down a few suggestions on how to change all of that (see The Holiday That Time Forgot) but I don't see it happening anytime soon. 

The bigger issue to me is that with all of the attention given to the "Holiday Season," Thanksgiving has lost its meaning.  People fight all the time to keep the "Christ" in Christmas. I am fighting to put the "thanks" back in Thanksgiving!  When the Pilgrims and Native Americans sat down at that first feast, they weren't there to kill time before the Cowboys played the 4 o'clock game or Walmart opened with two big screen TVs on sale for 10,000 shoppers to fight over. They were there to give thanks to God for the simple reason that they were still alive! They could have starved, frozen, been killed by wild animals or killed each other- but they hadn't. They sat down to share in a bounty provided by God and to praise God for all the many things they had to be thankful for in life. They didn't worship the same God- and it didn't matter! They gathered as family and friends to count their many blessings. It was from those beginnings that the Thanksgiving holiday was born. And it is by returning to those roots that we can #SaveThanksgiving.

Every day in November (through the 27th) I will be sharing something I am thankful for in the upper left-hand corner of this blog. You can see I have started today. I will also be tweeting my blessings using the hashtag #SaveThanksgiving. I am asking Marilyn to do the same on Facebook. And I am asking all of you to join us. Share with the world through social media the things in your life that you need to thank our loving God for providing. Let's remind our friends of WHY we have a Thanksgiving holiday. And if you are not the hashtag type, then share with your family and friends around the dinner table or in the car on the way to school, work, dance lessons or wherever you may be headed. The point is that we GIVE THANKS. 

So by all means, look forward to the turturkeykey (a shout out to all the HIMYM fans) and the trimmings. Remember the Mayflower and the history of the day. Make an elaborate styrofoam cornucopia for your table centerpiece. Boycott shopping on Thanksgiving Day and by all means take the day to be with your family and friends. But all along the way, remember the reason for the season (stole that one from Christmas- HA!). "Count your many blessings- name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done!" If we do that, my friends, we just might accomplish something heroic. We just might #SaveThanksgiving.

Because of Jesus,

Thank You, My LORD!

A few years ago my Canadian friend Tom asked me to write a guest post for him for "American Thanksgiving," I admit the sound of those words hit me a bit funny. I knew that Canadian Thanksgiving is in October (I just saw an old episode of How I Met Your Mother in which the very Canadian character of Robin comments that Thanksgiving in November just seems odd). But truth be told I never really think of Thanksgiving as "our" holiday. I know the history of it all- the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sitting down over a feast to celebrate surviving another year. I, like so many others, will enjoy sitting down today with family and friends for a feast- and I will eat way too much. There will be parades and football games to watch, and there will be the happy realization that the Christmas season is now officially welcomed in my house. I realize that many USAmericans (technically, Canadians are Americans too.  So are Central & South Americans. I'm just saying...) manage to turn most every holiday into an excuse for patriotism, but I do not think of Thanksgiving as a day that belongs to God and country. It simply belongs to God.  It is a day to give thanks for the many blessings in each of our lives, even in times when we do not feel as blessed as we might hope.  

I have always used a very simple exercise to help keep me focused on the meaning of this day, and I thought I would share it with you all today.  We used to sing a song at camp and youth group that went like this:

"Thank you, my LORD for the day, 

Thank you my LORD for they day.

"Cause you've given me your Son 

and you know I've just begun,

Thank you my LORD for the day."

We would sing those words over and over again, but each time through we would ask for suggestions on words to substitute for the words, "the day."  For instance, we might substitute "friends" or "turkey" or "family."  The list of things we were thankful for was usually endless. Each year on Thanksgiving I use this song as my morning devotion, taking time to list many of the things I am thankful for.  Taking time to thank God for our blessings is at the very heart of this day, whether you live here in Tampa, Florida or you live in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.  Today, even more than usual, we should remember the words of the psalmist in Psalm 118 when he tells us that "this is the day that LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Live today in God's glory, filled with the love and grace of Jesus Christ, and no matter where you are or what you are doing it will be Thanksgiving Day! Be blessed! And thank all of you for your efforts to praise God in every day life and #SaveThanksgiving!

 "Thank you, my LORD for Jesus!!!"

My Top 11 New York City Memories

An FUMC-Kissimmee crew loving life in NYC!

For many years the week before Thanksgiving meant one thing to me: New York City.  Beginning with my own high school United Nation Seminar experience on this week in 1976, I spent many of the next 20 years with groups of teenagers in NYC. In the later years of my ministry the trip often took place during Spring Break for school purposes. I would like to share with you today 11 of my favorite memories from those trips. Most of these stories I have shared before here on the blog; links to those posts are included. Here we go:

1. On one of the earliest UN Seminars (1978 or '79) we were discussing the concept of bringing peace to the Middle East. Due to a scheduling conflict, the representative for the Palestine Liberation Organization (the PLO was a radical Arab group) and the representative from Israel were, for a few moments, in the same room. We almost got to see what war looked like up close and personal...
2. On the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty in 1982 a group of us turned our Paul Newman look-alike leader Wallace Sills into an instant celebrity with Asian tourists. That's also the same place where Alan Brown and I sat on Liberty Island watching mentally defective seagulls crash into the rocks off the island while diving for fish. That inspired another Brown/Jones unreleased classic song, Watching the Seagulls Crash!

3. Over the years we saw many of the greatest shows that Broadway had to offer, including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Cats, A Chorus Line and Rent. We also saw shows like Shenandoah, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, Movin' Out!, Good Vibrations, The Scarlet Pimpernel, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Beauty and the Beast and Once Upon A Mattress. And with the exception of Cats they were all wonderful...
4. We saw the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular a number of times. Almost every person who sends me their memories of these trips mentions the living nativity in that show, complete with live animals- including camels. Very moving and truly spectacular!

5. The food was always memorable, whether it was eating at pizza places, Chinatown, tiny deli/stores or from street corner carts like we did in the early years, or dining at Mama Leone's, Carmine's or Ollie's Noodles like we did later on. We also often had meals at Planet Hollywood, The Hard Rock Cafe or The All-Star Cafe. For my favorite food-related story, check out the Chinatown Chicken Head.
6. Several of the most memorable moments of our New York adventures were provided by the dynamic duo of Charles Freedle & Mike Mercadante from Springfield Friends Meeting. You can read 3 such tales by clicking here and checking out a great vintage post!

7. On my last trip in 2005 the group from Wesley Memorial UMC was waiting at LaGuardia airport. I convinced them we were waiting on a shuttle bus or van, when in fact I had pre-arranged limos. When they pulled up and the kids saw my name on the signs (see picture) they went nuts! 
8. When we first started going to NYC, Times Square was a terrible place full of hookers and drug dealers. By 2005 it was one of the safest, most tourist friendly places in the city.  Walking to the Virgin Megastore (and sticking those Virgin: $9.99 sale stickers on each other) became a very late night tradition. That and cheesecake at the Celebrity Deli located in our hotel.

9. Speaking of hotels, from the late 1980's on we stayed at the Milford Plaza in the heart of the Theater District- 45th & 8th. But before that I also had groups at the Hotel Tudor (42nd & 2nd) and the Madison Towers (38th & Madison). The Towers had phones in the bathrooms (that's me on that very phone in 1982, pictured), which we thought was the ultimate in luxury...
10. In the early years we used to go worship on Sunday morning at 15th Street Friends Meeting or Marble Collegiate Church. At 15 Street the "silent worship" often turned in to a political debate. One year at Marble Collegiate (despite the preaching of the legendary Norman Vincent Peale) we had a guy sitting near us who snored so loudly we couldn't help but laugh. Shorty afterward, we started doing our own worship...
11. Great stories from the Kissimmee years include the year we lost Jennifer Johns; the strange incident of the well-dressed African-American man photo-bombing our group picture at the UN; Angie Whalin carrying a gigantic stuffed animal all over town; Jacob Lupfer nearly being arrested for buying illegal t-shirts; Jerry Hanbery horrifying Teresa Reep on the stairs ou the Statue of Liberty; Jill Souther on crutches navigating NYC; and around 63 stories about Jocelyn Sessions! And who could forget the magical hot chocolate that started every day from Oh-La-La?  Great memories and great people!

There is so much more, including mission projects handing out sandwiches to the poorest of the poor in the depths of Grand Central Station and working in the coldest place anyone has ever been with Habitat for Humanity- but that's it for today! Great memories from some great years. But I will forever regret not staying just once for the Macy's Parade...maybe someday! Tomorrow's the big day! Enjoy and be blessed!!!

Because of Jesus,

The No Turkey Thanksgiving Feast

During my 28 years in youth ministry the Sunday before Thanksgiving always held a very special significance. For many years I was often in New York City (come back for tomorrow's post) with some of my youth in the days preceding the holiday. Some years it was because I was attending a National Youth Workers Convention during that weekend. And for a few special years it was because the Sunday before- and on at least a few occasions the Sunday after- Thanksgiving was the home of The No Turkey Thanksgiving Feast!

The concept of TNTTF was very simple and elegant. All of the youth and their families were invited to the church during our normal Sunday evening youth group time to share in a meal and worship together. Every one was asked to bring food to share, and there was only one guideline- NO TURKEY! We knew there would be enough of that in the days to follow- or we didn't want their leftovers. It just depended on the year. This was a way of seeking to connect with the families of our students, many of whom were not church members. It was also a simple means of celebrating all we had to be thankful for, as families, individuals and a group. I tried to be as creative as possible with worship, allowing lots of participation and sharing- never a sermon! Over the years we only got to do this a handful of times, but each experience was significant and meaningful. It was just one more way that we helped a youth group become a FAMILY!

I should start this remembrance by telling you that while my memory for such things is VERY good, it is entirely possible (in fact, likely!) that the story you are about to read happened over the space of two dinners, not all at once. But it makes a better tale this way, so I'm sticking with it! As with many student ministry functions, the heart and soul of the event was food. And one particular year at the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee. one of our families made the food the most memorable thing to ever happen at a TNTTF.  The Esry family was a big part of our ministry. Caitlin and Bethany were part of our youth family, and their parents were very involved as well, with their mom serving as the church's Children's Director for a time. There were also younger brothers who were not of youth group age yet. They had a very unique sense of humor. Adhering to the letter of the "No Turkey" rule, Craig brought SPAM to share with the crowd. But not just any SPAM. He had put several cans together and molded the mystery meat into the shape of- wait for it - a TURKEY! It was at once creative, fascinating and more than a little repulsive, but it was the talk of the meal. For at least a little while. As with any church potluck, the really important part of the meal was the dessert table. As folks grazed through the plethora of options one of the things they came across were what appeared to be truffles, coated in delicious looking chocolate- some dark and some white. They were quickly snatched up by the vultures hovering around the desserts. A few moments later, there were gasps, moans and shouts of disbelief. It seems that the Esry's had struck again! Under the scrumptious looking chocolate outside was not a cake or gooey dessert filling, but a BRUSSEL SPROUT! The shock and surprise on the faces of those biting into them was absolutely priceless. It gave us a huge laugh, a great memory, and yet another reason to be thankful for the family we had become and the sense of community we shared. 

I am blessed to have so many fond memories of so many creative moments in student ministry, and each TNTTF came with its own special memories. As I have written 1000 times before, I believe that the primary purpose of a youth ministry is building relationships that connect us all to Jesus, and TNTTF was another means to that goal. Having a SPAM turkey and brussel sprouts for dessert certainly gave us a very unique connection- and for at least one evening, we ate, worshiped and celebrated as family. And that was something to be thankful for. Be blessed my friends!

Because of Jesus. 

Saturday Shout Outs! (#SaveThanksgiving Edition)

Can you believe November is almost over and that Thanksgiving is upon us?  2013 has been a blur, and today seemed like a good time to take a step back and remember some of the people, places and things I have to be thankful for this year. It's one more step in my drive to #SaveThanksgiving in my heart by remembering the blessings God has placed in my life. I hope it will encourage you to make a similar list. So here we go...

I am thankful for...

• Marilyn, Will & Conner. Obviously. :)
• Jun & Jennifer (Bob) Kuramochi having a healthy baby boy (Noah) this past Thursday morning. Mom and baby are both well, and I am certain big sister Josephine is excited as well. Praise God for a wonderful family!!!
• My Mom arriving is tomorrow and spending all of Thanksgiving week with us, and we are all so excited. She will be coaching Will as he prepares the feast again this year!
• Speaking of the feast and of Will, his girlfriend Michelle will be joining us for the first time. I am so thankful for her and the love and joy she brings into our son's life. What a blessing!!!
• Old friends like Ann Saunders Hale, Jeremy Godwin, Marie Allen Duke, Cindy Martin, Cyndi Reep Browning, David Hobson, Jan Purcelle Koerner, David White, Jennifer Wood Jones, Rebecca Jackson, Mike Newsome, Lauren Carr Cacciatore, Susie Thomas, Lisa Kraus Spires, Laura Wheeler, Jill Painter Watson, Edith Shepherd and others who have checked on me, encouraged me and picked me up when I was down at various times over the past year. You guys ROCK!!!
• The nurses and staff at St. Joseph's Hospital here in Tampa. I love you all and hope to never see you again!
• The reunion of old friends from FUMC-Kissimmee this past April was one of the great weekends of this year- or any other! It is a true gift from God to have so many people who have left footprints on my heart and are still part of my life.
• And speaking of that reunion, the 5 days I spent with Teresa Reep Tysinger before and after the event are days I will never forget. It is so true- "the miles may separate as the years roll along, but the bond between friends will remain ever strong!"
• Millie Simmons. It's been a rough year for Millie, and yet she is a fountain of strength and encouragement to myself and others. As well as the very BEST secretary any youth pastor ever had!  :)
• Dr. Welch, who I continue to see every Monday morning and who is taking such good care of my right foot. The healing continues nicely, and he is a joy to talk to as well.
• Todd & Kristin Willis, and and their unwavering support of both me and this blog. Knowing you are reading makes it fun for me to write.
• Some of my oldest friends will be gathering the day after Thanksgiving in Greensboro, and I hate we will miss it again. But I am always thankful for you all- Steve, Carl, Alan, Denise, Tammy, Beth and all the rest. Some bonds will never be broken.
• Another wonderful friend from way back is back in my life this year, and I couldn't be happier to be chatting with Sabrina Perry on a regular basis. She challenges and inspires me- and cracks me up!  What more could you ask for?
• The constant support of my ever-growing Twitter family. They give me love and make me smile so often. Staying connected with old friends like James Robinson, Ashley Goad, Brent Bill, Jill Gilbreth Bryant, Scott Wagoner and Brook Teoli Phelps is a blessing. I look forward to meeting people like @jasonbhuffman, @itslizawithaz, @tljones91, @amykiane, @pyschomomi and @gasface99 & @citrus_sunshine in person some day. And I can't wait for Spring Training 2014 and a family gathering with @RLDamron, JGanley3 and @JCClay24 here in Tampa! Even if they are all Yankees fans...
• Taco Tuesdaze, Wacky Wednesdays, Soulful Sundays and every other day we get to share with Lisa Jewett. She is such a big part of of our family!
• Van Dyke Church. To quote Pastor Matthew, "I LOVE my church!"
• Susan McBane Tuggle, who keeps me on my toes and makes my life a little more interesting with every text and e-mail. Love you, Boom-Boom!
• The Gastler Family for honoring me by asking me to participate in Jen & Will's wedding a few weeks ago. What a wonderful day and a wonderful family!
• Jerry Hanbery. He is ALWAYS there when I need him. Thanks for being you, Sundance!
• And finally, if you are reading this and don't see your name listed above, please know I am thankful for YOU! I love writing this blog, and I love knowing people enjoy it. It's a real blessing in my life.

And of course mostly I am thankful every day for a loving God who brings all these blessings to my life and who gave us Jesus so that we might live life together through him. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, one and all, and be sure to offer praise to the bringer of the feast- whatever that feast may be!  Love you guys!

Because of Jesus,

The Greatest of All-Time!

People make lists all the time of the "greatest this" and the "greatest that." Such lists are wonderful fodder for discussion and argument, as they are all based on personal opinion and taste.  But today I offer you a list with NO room for debate. With apologies to several Thanksgiving episodes of Friends and the Slapsgiving episode of How I Met Your Mother, I present the single greatest sitcom event in the history of the holiday. In fact, not only is it the greatest Thanksgiving episode ever, it is in my top 5 sitcom episodes of all time. Many of my readers are too young to remember WKRP in Cincinnati, and it is hard to find even in reruns. For the uninitiated, it is the story of a ragtag radio station run by a station manager (Arthur "The Big Guy" Carlson) who is totally inept and afraid of the owner- his mother. In this episode he decides to pull off a big Thanksgiving promotion for the station on his own- without the help of any of the semi-sane members of his team. He rents a helicopter and distributes live turkeys at a local shopping center, as an unsuspecting (and always clueless) Les Nessman reports live from the scene. From there, things go horribly wrong. As Les reports at one point, "OH THE HUMANITY!!!" Watch this 30 second highlight reel of The Turkey Drop, and then find the full episode somewhere. Experience the wonders of Turkey Day as only the Big Guy, Les, Andy Travis, Jennifer Marlowe, Bailey Quarters, Herb Tarlek, Venus Flytrap and Dr. Johnny Fever can give them to you. And then tell me I'm wrong.

BEST. THANKSGIVING. EPISODE. EVER! And getting to see this every year is just one more reason to #SaveThanksgiving! Have a blesssed day!

Christian Chicken Gone Wrong

We have only reached the weekend before the weekend before Thanksgiving, but already Christmas is everywhere. The music is everywhere. The commercials are everywhere. The sales are already underway. And the decorations are starting to dot the landscape of our cities. Surely in this time of commercialization that kicks off the Christmas season far too soon there must be some last bastion of hope.  In the midst of all the Black Friday muggings still to come at your local Wal-Mart, all the Miley Cyrus holiday specials and all of the neighbors trying to make their house look like the home of Clark W. Griswold, there has to be one place we can count on to #SaveThanksgiving and help us keep the Christ in Christmas.  One place that will take a bold stand for being grateful in November and celebrating Jesus in December. One stalwart institution that will say NO to commercialization and YES to praising God. The home of all things pure and good.  The home of conservative family values.  The home of Christian Chicken.  Chick-fil-A!

But wait...last night our local Chick-fil-A on Waters Ave. here in Tampa (NOT the one where Will works!) did something awful.  The home of Christian Chicken succumbed to the evils of a VERY EARLY secular Christmas.  There were lights everywhere.  Some of them depicted (GASP!) Santa Claus.  You can see it in the picture above- Santa, a Christmas tree and the holy Chick-fil-A sign.  All of these pictures were taken in a previous year on the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving.   Seeing that they were starting last night startled me. I was so confused.  If Chick-fil-A has gone over to the dark side of the holiday season, what chance do the rest of us have?  What chance do we have to #SaveThanksgiving and honor the true meaning of Christmas?

I hope by now you have felt the sarcasm in my writing today. If the heart of Thanksgiving is praising God for the many blessings we have in our lives and the love we feel in our hearts, then there is nothing some Christmas decorations and barking dogs doing Jingle Bells can do to stop it!  The campaign to #SaveThanksgiving is not about fending off the early onslaught of the Christmas season- that ship has sailed. It is about reminding ourselves that this is a season of praise and gratitude- and it leads to the season of celebrating the thing we should be most thankful for in life- the gift of the love of God whose name is Jesus!!! The lights at Chick-fil-A, whether they be lit last night or on Halloween, can do nothing to change the way we keep Thanksgiving in our hearts. It is also my firm belief that we can enjoy the trappings of the Christmas season without forgetting Jesus.  In fact, if we are that easily distracted, we need to re-think our commitment to the Child of Bethlehem. There is a battle to be fought about remembering the "reason for season."  It's just that the battle is not with stores, restaurants or Santa.  Our struggle is not with those who choose to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." The fight is not about arguing with the world over "saving Thanksgiving" or keeping the "Christ in Christmas."  The battle is in our own hearts.  Do we live like are we thankful for all God has given us? Do we live like we know Jesus? If we do those things, then the "battle" can be trusted to God. And I like His chances of winning...

So enjoy the turturkeykey (a small turkey stuffed inside a larger turkey...it's going to be a thing!) and the football. Enjoy the lights. Enjoy the music. Enjoy the shopping. But sing your PRAISE to the LORD and WORSHIP Jesus!!! It truly can and should be the most wonderful time of the year.  Even at Chick-fil-A...    

Because of Jesus,

#SaveThanksgiving

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love Christmas. I love the music, the movies, the decorations, Santa, the traditions and the trees. I love that for many people it is still about the birth of the babe of Bethlehem and what that means in each of our lives. I even love shopping on Christmas Eve, one of my grand traditions! I love the Christmas season. But I have to tell you,  what "Christmas" has become in our USAmerican society is really starting to make me a little crazy. Christmas and I have a problem...it's killing Thanksgiving!

Maybe it is the faulty memory of an aging man, but it seems to me like Thanksgiving used to be an actual holiday, one we could enjoy and savor as families. But increasingly it is become the red-headed stepchild to Christmas.  Stores have their Christmas displays out before Halloween is over. The TV commercials have already started. A house in my neighborhood already has a frickin' wreath on the door! Thanksgiving used to be the kickoff to the Christmas season. Now it is just a blip on the radar as we scream full speed ahead towards December. It's Black Friday: The Prequel. And I think it's time to do something about it.

I suppose it would help if there were more cultural landmarks associated with the holiday. Eating, The Macy's Parade and football in Dallas and Detroit (plus some other random city from the "can't leave well enough alone" minds of the NFL) are the first things that come to most people's minds. There are few Thanksgiving movies (Planes, Trains & Automobiles is the only GREAT one, although my son Will recommends The Hoboken Chicken Emergency!), no one sings Thanksgiving carols, and even Hallmark doesn't really push the holiday. A couple of years ago I wrote down a few suggestions on how to change all of that (see The Holiday That Time Forgot) but I don't see it happening anytime soon. 

The bigger issue to me is that with all of the attention given to the "Holiday Season," Thanksgiving has lost its meaning.  People fight all the time to keep the "Christ" in Christmas. I am fighting to put the "thanks" back in Thanksgiving!  When the pilgrims and Native Americans sat down at that first feast, they weren't there to kill time before the Cowboys played the 4 o'clock game or Walmart opened with two big screen TVs on sale for 10,000 shoppers to fight over. They were there to give thanks to God for the simple reason that they were still alive! They could have starved, frozen, been killed by wild animals or killed each other- but they hadn't. They sat down to share in a bounty provided by God and to praise Him for all the many things they had to be thankful for in life. They gathered as family and friends to count their many blessings. It was from those beginnings that the Thanksgiving holiday was born. And it is by returning to those roots that we can #SaveThanksgiving.

Every day in November (through the 28th) I will be sharing something I am thankful for in the upper left-hand corner of this blog. You can see I have started today. I will also be tweeting my blessings using the hashtag #SaveThanksgiving. I am asking Marilyn to do the same on Facebook. And I am asking all of you to join us.  Share with the world through social media the things in your life that you need to thank our loving God for providing. Let's remind our friends of WHY we have a Thanksgiving holiday. And if you are not the hashtag type, then share with your family and friends around the dinner table or in the car on the way to school, work, dance lessons or wherever you may be headed.  The point is that we GIVE THANKS. 

So by all means, look forward to the turturkeykey (a shout out to all the HIMYM viewers) and the trimmings. Remember the Mayflower and the history of the day.  Make an elaborate styrofoam cornucopia for your table centerpiece. Boycott shopping on Thanksgiving Day and by all means take the day to be with your family and friends.  But all along the way, remember the reason for the season (stole that one from Christmas- HA!). "Count your many blessings- name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done!" If we do that, my friends, we just might accomplish something heroic. We just might #SaveThanksgiving.

Because of Jesus,

My Christmas Movie List

Now that Thanksgiving is over (and all of those "Black Friday" commercials will mercifully cease) I can get into the spirit of the Christmas season!  I am a serious Christmas lover in every way.  I love the music, I love the shopping, I love Santa, and of course, I love Jesus!  We always break out the Christmas DVD's and videos on Thanksgiving Day, and we watched ELF last night to get us started!  So today I thought I would share with you my Top 10 "must-see" Christmas movies and specials. And yes, I realize in my Top 10 I have listed 13- but it's MY list!  Not included is It's A Wonderful Life, because it's just so obvious! So here we go:

10)  Four Christmases-There is nothing so funny as other people's families at the holidays...


10a)  Jingle All the Way- A Christmas movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger- what could be cooler that than? Includes the classic Arnold line, "Put that cookie down!"  Awesome!

9)  Christmas With the Kranks- One of the those rare movies that I liked better than the book it was based on, John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. Tim Allen is the king of Christmas movies. Free Frosty, Free Frosty!!!

8)  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The classic original! It's a great story with great music and Yukon Cornelius and The Bumble- what else could you ask for!

7)  Home Alone 2: Lost in New York-I like this sequel even better than the original (which for some reason we do not own.  This must change.). Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the "Sticky Bandits" are my favorite part of both movies.

6)  How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The animated version with Boris Karloff narrating is amazing, but we also like Jim Carrey's live action Grinch as well.

5)  Elf- We're just walking around the house saying today saying, "Buddy the Elf- what's your favorite color?" There is also a great message about believing when those around you do not...

5a)  The Santa Claus- I actually liked all three of these, but the first one is still my favorite. You gotta' love the elves!

4)  Scrooged- Bill Murray is great, Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present just cracks me up, and the story is timeless. A very underrated movie.

3)  Christmas Vacation- I feel a certain connection with Clark W. Griswald. We both manage to screw up most everything, but we mean well! And the lights-  ohhh the lights!

2)  The Toy That Saved Christmas- The first and best of the Veggietale Christmas stories. The Veggie's learn the true meaning of Christmas from Buzzsaw Louie. And after a sledding accident Bob the Tomato gets to utter these great lines: "Mousetrap.  I wanted to play Mousetrap. You roll your dice, you move your mice- nobody gets hurt!"

2a)  A Charlie Brown Christmas- More people have heard the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Luke from Linus than from any other single media source in history. Think about that...

1)  A Muppet Christmas Carol- Easily number one for all of my family. The music is awesome, the story is terrific, and it has Muppets. What else do you want? We own the VHS, the DVD, and the CD of the music. "After all there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas..." And BTW- we're seeing the new Muppet Movie this afternoon!  I can't wait!

So there's my list. I know many of you would include A Christmas Story but I don't share your love of that one. What else would you add? Let me hear from you. Enjoy your favorites, but don't let the reason for the season slip away from you. Listen to Linus- the little dude with the blanket knows what he is talking about!

Because of Jesus,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100 (The Message)

A Thanksgiving Psalm

On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, 

sing yourselves into his presence. 

Know this: God is God, and God, God. 

He made us; we didn't make him. 

We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 

Enter with the password: "Thank you!" 

Make yourselves at home, talking praise. 

Thank him. Worship him. 

For God is sheer beauty, 

all-generous in love, 

loyal always and ever. 

Today, I encourage you to act on the words of the old hymn:  "Count your many blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God has done..."

(For more thoughts on Thanksgiving, check out my guest post over at http://tomzalatnai.blogspot.com/ )

Because of Jesus,

7 Things I'm Thankful For

Here on this beautiful day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to share with you a list of 7 things for which I am thankful.  There are many more, but I'll stop at seven.  Not included is the radical, overwhelming and amazing grace and love of Jesus Christ, which makes all the rest of this possible.  Thank you Jesus!  Here we go:

1)  Every day I thank God for my wife Marilyn and my son Will.  Not just because they are my family, but also because they are my best friends and the people who taught me what real grace looks like when you put skin on it.  I love you guys!
2)  I am thankful for food.  I love to eat, and I really enjoy the communion of sitting around a table sharing a meal with family and friends.  I especially enjoy Taco Tuesdays at Tijuana Flats with our dear friend Lisa Jewett. It's often the highlight of the week!  And tomorrow, with my sister-in-law Carol and her hubby Bill here, and my Mom here to cook, the meal will be one of the highlights of the year!
3)  I am thankful for the home we live in and the neighborhood (Key West Circle) in which that home is located.  You don't know much how it meant to us to find a place where we are accepted and treated like part of the neighborhood, and now over 4 years later to feel like we have good friends here.  Given my circumstances, to able to say all of that is somewhat of a miracle.  Praise be to God!
4)  Words cannot express how thankful I am for all of you who read this blog.  With nearly 110,000 hits in just over 2 years, it has been such a blessing to me.  I am so thankful for all of my old (and by old I mean former, not OLD) youth group members who keep showing me love even though I don't deserve it, and to all of my newer Twitter friends who frequent this site quite often.  I am especially grateful for my surrogate Twitter family- Christie Weatherby, Jason Huffman, Jenn Ganley, Angie Battle, Robert Damron, Stacey Rocque, John Claybrook, Tracee Persiko and so many more- and the love and encouragement they give me each and every day.  You guys rock!

5)  I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to be in the picture you see here.  Being part of this amazing wedding on 11/11/11 reminded me of how much I love and miss ministry in general and sharing in the spiritual lives of friends.  Plus, this is about as much of me as I like to see in a picture.  The top of my head looks GREAT!  :)
6)  I have lots of great friends I am thankful for, but my old buddy Jerry Hanbery is something special.  I am blessed to have him in my life after all of these years.  And as I have said before, his wife Melissa is a candidate for sainthood.  Marilyn, Will and I are so glad they are part of our family.  
7)  And finally, I am thankful for music.  We live in a world filled with noise, but nothing can can bring peace to my heart and mind quite like a great song.  We may differ on what constitutes a great song, but there is some truth to the old saying, "Music makes the world go 'round!"  Every day as I listen to my I-pod and let some of my favorites wash over my soul, I am reminded what a gift it is.  So add some music to your day.  It's so cool that we can use sounds to block out the noise.  Deep, huh?


So there's my list.  What are you thankful for?  


Because of Jesus,

The Holiday That Time Forgot

How many of you out there remember Thanksgiving?  It used to be a major USAmerican holiday.  Now...well, not so much.  It's been swallowed up by the ever growing Halloween season and the now endless Christmas season. It is a day to pause for a huge meal, watch some football and to rest up for the horror that is Black Friday.  It used to be a day to stop and thank God for all of the blessings in our lives- thus the catchy name!  It was a major religious celebration right from the beginning, with pilgrims and Native Americans bonding over a meal- you know, the whole "they call it maize but we call it corn" kind of thing.  Now we are more often thankful that the last of the turkey has finally been eaten or that the in-laws have finally gone home.  It has fallen so far that the school board in Tampa (which fights about every religious holiday) closes schools without a single argument about whether or not it is a religious holiday.  The day holds that little significance.  So with Thanksgiving a little over 2 weeks away, is there any way we can return it to its former glory?  Here are a few of my thoughts...

•  Give it a new icon.  The turkey and the pilgrim just don't cut it in this fast-paced world.  How can they expect to compete with the horror movies, goblins and ghouls of Halloween or with lights, trees, Santa and the elves at Christmas?  I'm open to suggestions.  Perhaps a superhero with turkey-like powers, like a "Sonic Gobble" or a Tryptophan Breath that renders you sleepy.  I'm just spitballin' here...
• Get some musical legends (Bono, JLo, Justin Bieber, Weird Al, Randy Jackson, etc.) to do an album of Thanksgiving songs, complete with videos.  Give the holiday a little street cred! 
• Make NBC show the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on a continuous loop all day long. And while they're at it, bring in Robin Williams to do the commentary- and throw away the scripts. Make every other non-football network loop the "Flying Turkeys" episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (if you don't what I'm talking about, go to YouTube right this minute!).  Now we're talking!  And while we're talking TV, let's do away with the night football game.  No one gets the NFL Network anyway, do they?
• Make every store put up a Thanksgiving display from November 1 through the 4th Thursday of November.  No Christmas ads, displays, decorations and above all music will be allowed until Turkey Day is done.  Let's get Hallmark in on this one- if they pushed Thanksgiving cards a little harder we might not be in this mess...
• Some big Hollywood director needs to make a Thanksgiving movie that we actually want to watch. You know, a big action/adventure/comedy/drama starring Brad Pitt, Mila Kunis, Adam Sandler and Betty White in a story about a family that is falling apart, only to come back together when they save the world from aliens with the help of their wacky neighbors (played by Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco, because The Big Bang Theory rules!).  In the end,  a local pastor (played, of course, by the always sensitive Will Ferrell) unites them as as family, and everyone sits down together- actors and aliens- for a big Thanksgiving meal.  Prayers are said.  Tears flow.  Fade to black...

This stuff might actually work... NOT!   The things that have always made this holiday special- faith, family and food- are just not the kinds of things that "sell" in 2011. But they are definitely the kinds of things we should celebrate!  Thanksgiving was never meant to be about a single day- it is meant to be about a year of giving thanks for the things that are important in our lives.  It is meant to be the celebration of our "attitude of gratitude," which should be with us 24/7, 365.  So for these next 2 weeks, let's kick it up a notch!  Be thankful, and live like you are.  Share your attitude of gratitude with others.  Enjoy time with your family. Thank God everyday.  And work on that new icon and a few Thanksgiving carols.  It can't hurt...


Because of Jesus,

Give Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Give thanks to the LORD, our God and King-
His love endures forever!

And be sure to turn your leftovers into a sandwich like this one from The Stage Deli in NYC, being enjoyed by Sandi Lynch!  I promised Anonymous this picture today, so here it is! Any other requests?  Have a blessed day!

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

Psalm 100 (The Message)

A Thanksgiving Psalm


On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.

Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn't make him.
We're his people, his well-tended sheep.

Enter with the password: "Thank you!"
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

Today, I encourage you to act on the words of the old hymn:  "Count your many blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God has done..."

Because of Jesus,