Announcement

Collapse

Deeper Waters Forum Guidelines

Notice – The ministries featured in this section of TheologyWeb are guests of this site and in some cases not bargaining for the rough and tumble world of debate forums, though sometimes they are. Additionally, this area is frequented and highlighted for guests who also very often are not acclimated to debate fora. As such, the rules of conduct here will be more strict than in the general forum. This will be something within the discretion of the Moderators and the Ministry Representative, but we simply ask that you conduct yourselves in a manner considerate of the fact that these ministries are our invited guests. You can always feel free to start a related thread in general forum without such extra restrictions. Thank you.

Deeper Waters is founded on the belief that the Christian community has long been in the shallow end of Christianity while there are treasures of the deep waiting to be discovered. Too many in the shallow end are not prepared when they go out beyond those waters and are quickly devoured by sharks. We wish to aid Christians to equip them to navigate the deeper waters of the ocean of truth and come up with treasure in the end.

We also wish to give special aid to those often neglected, that is, the disabled community. This is especially so since our founders are both on the autism spectrum and have a special desire to reach those on that spectrum. While they are a special emphasis, we seek to help others with any disability realize that God can use them and that they are as the Psalmist says, fearfully and wonderfully made.

General TheologyWeb forum rules: here.
See more
See less

The Importance of Giving Thanks

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • The Importance of Giving Thanks

    Why does Thanksgiving matter?

    Link

    -----

    Why does it matter that we give thanks? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    I just don't care for Thanksgiving Day.

    I find it odd that when I say that, that means I have to say I don't care for giving thanks. I don't really. It's just the day itself has never been appealing to me. Being on the autism spectrum, I have a strange relationship with food. It's nothing I am really comfortable around in many cases.

    If you ask me what my best Thanksgiving were, I will point to two. The first one was in 2009. A girl I was dating invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her family. That girl, as I'm sure you know, is now my wife. I, in turn, invited her to spend Christmas with my family and the day before I proposed to her.

    The second was in 1996. This one ranked as awesome to me because The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time had just come out. I also had the flu so I couldn't be around anyone. I spent that evening not being around food I didn't care for, but trying to make it through the Forest Temple. Good times. Good times.

    Today, I'm still not a food person, and that's something that often troubles me about Thanksgiving. Hear advertising about Thanksgiving or a remark on the radio about it and all people talk about is the food involved. There's actually little mention of the idea of, you know, giving thanks.

    Giving thanks is extremely important. Just because I don't care for the rituals around the event doesn't mean the event itself doesn't matter. In Romans 1, one of the reasons the wrath of God comes upon humanity is that we didn't give thanks to God.

    When we don't give thanks for a thing in our lives, we begin to take it for granted. We act like it's just a sure thing and it will always be there. We have no such promise. None of us is promised another minute. I have no promise today that I will go to sleep tonight. Neither do you.

    As I sit here in my office, there are many realities around here. Periodically, my cat will come in here. Sometimes, my wife will come in and if I don't see her, I see pictures of her all around. I have gifts from friends and several books and pictures on the wall and on the bookshelves. I have gifts from Allie all throughout here too.

    None of these have to be.

    Now when it comes to taking for granted, some might say that for a Christian, marriage is to be a sure thing. Divorce is not to be an open option for Christians. Yes. I do realize that there are issues of abuse and infidelity, but generally, most of us think we should avoid divorce.

    That is true, but that does not mean we take the other for granted. Some of you see that on Facebook I post love messages to my wife six days a week. Why do that? I do it not only to express love to her, but for a reason that could be considered selfish. I do it to hold myself accountable before people. See how I treat Allie and make sure what happens in private matches what's in the public social media.

    Doing this also builds up the love that I have for her. If I give thanks for her every day, I do not take her for granted then as much. I have friends who are single and want to marry. I pray that they will, but I am thankful I am not in that position anymore. That is a gift.

    Christianity is something we take for granted. Here we have things like worship wars going on over what style of music should be played, arguments about the color of the carpet, and any number of doctrinal disputes. On the last one, of course, doctrine does matter, but sometimes we think the purpose of Christianity is those disputes. While these are going on, Christians in Iran and China and other places are risking their lives by going to church. Just a suspicion. They're not leaving a church because the children's nursery is less than perfect.

    We have become so familiar with the Gospel, that we even take God's love for granted. We take forgiveness for granted. We have heard the message so often we don't pause to realize what we have been given. If we take those for granted, we will also not take sin seriously. You don't take Christianity seriously if it's just a given to you.

    That ingratitude towards God will lead to a bitter root in our lives. It will make us more self-centered and less other-centered. That keeps us from fulfilling the two greatest commandments of Jesus. We don't need to treat God as a given in our lives. His being in our lives came at the price of Christ.

    So today, do I still care for the food and festivities? No. Does that mean I don't care for giving thanks? Not at all. I think financially, our family is poor, but spiritually, we have blessings beyond compare. I am thankful for them.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters

  • #2
    No comment, Nick, but just letting you know I read and appreciated your article, and feel I understand you just a wee bit more. Thanks.
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

    Comment


    • #3
      I'm kind of curious how you think you understand me a wee bit more.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Apologiaphoenix View Post
        I'm kind of curious how you think you understand me a wee bit more.
        Sure - I guess it's the whole autism (asperger's?) thing -- Or maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. I never really heard of that much before I found Tweb. I didn't understand it at all. You obviously process thoughts differently, and it helps me to understand a little of how you think - how you process.

        Did I miss the runway?
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5
          I'm still curious what it is about my thinking.

          If you want, you can message me on Facebook if that'll be easier for you.

          Comment


          • #6
            I'm curious what you eat for Thanksgiving. The traditional fare seems like something you'd need to work at. Is this another area where Allie has helped?
            Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

            Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
            sigpic
            I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

            Comment


            • #7
              She has helped tremendously, but it’s still not traditional fare. With her parents I have a quesadilla. This year with my family I had salmon.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Apologiaphoenix View Post
                She has helped tremendously, but it’s still not traditional fare. With her parents I have a quesadilla. This year with my family I had salmon.
                Our Christmas fare - we have decided to forgo the traditional and go with FAJITAS!!!!
                The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                Comment


                • #9
                  For Thanksgiving this year we had ham and cheese sandwiches made on croissants.
                  Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Apologiaphoenix View Post
                    She has helped tremendously, but it’s still not traditional fare. With her parents I have a quesadilla. This year with my family I had salmon.
                    Salmon seems like quite a step for you.
                    Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

                    Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
                    sigpic
                    I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Allie is the big influence. She doesn’t even like fish. I have to brush my teeth or something similar before I can kiss her again, which is its own incentive.

                      Comment

                      Related Threads

                      Collapse

                      Topics Statistics Last Post
                      Started by Apologiaphoenix, 03-15-2024, 10:19 PM
                      14 responses
                      75 views
                      1 like
                      Last Post rogue06
                      by rogue06
                       
                      Started by Apologiaphoenix, 03-13-2024, 10:13 PM
                      6 responses
                      61 views
                      0 likes
                      Last Post Apologiaphoenix  
                      Started by Apologiaphoenix, 03-12-2024, 09:36 PM
                      1 response
                      23 views
                      0 likes
                      Last Post rogue06
                      by rogue06
                       
                      Started by Apologiaphoenix, 03-11-2024, 10:19 PM
                      0 responses
                      22 views
                      2 likes
                      Last Post Apologiaphoenix  
                      Started by Apologiaphoenix, 03-08-2024, 11:59 AM
                      7 responses
                      54 views
                      0 likes
                      Last Post whag
                      by whag
                       
                      Working...
                      X