Update from the President

Regional Ministerial Conference

We held a regional ministerial conference in Stewartville, Minnesota, November 24-26. Forty-six people attended this conference for the North Central region. This region includes the area where I began serving in the ministry more than 50 years ago in South Dakota and Minnesota. It was so heartening to reunite with those in the ministry whom we have known and worked alongside decades ago and share our friendship and experiences. It was a wonderful conference.

Beyond Today Recording Week

The first week of the month is when we produce three new Beyond Today television programs. Tuesday is rehearsal day and Wednesday is the actual recording in front of a live audience. The programs this week were "All About Grace" by Darris McNeely, "Are the United States and Britain in the Bible?" by Steve Myers and "Three Reasons Why Jesus Comes Twice" by Gary Petty.

Reap the benefits of expressing gratitude

I appreciated our Council of Elders Chairman Donald Ward's positive letter to all of us this week that focused on gratitude, particularly being thankful for our calling. In a time that the apostle Paul describes in 2 Timothy 3:1 as the "last days" when perilous times will come, one of the signs of that age would be that people would be unthankful. As Christians, we must continually be aware of this and be ever thankful to God and to one another for life itself and the many blessings that God gives us.

Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged as disciples of Jesus Christ to be joyful and give praise with thanksgiving every day and not just on a nationally-designated day of Thanksgiving! As we read in Psalm 95: "Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving" (Psalm 95:1-2, New Living Translation). The apostle Paul adds: "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17, English Standard Version, emphasis added throughout).

Let's review some interesting historical context. Some 230 years ago, George Washington—then president of a struggling small nation—emphasized the need to recognize the personal relationship between citizens of the young United States and the benevolent God who had made it possible. In his famous national proclamation of 1789, President Washington didn't mince words. He loudly proclaimed: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and to humbly implore his protection and favor." With this declaration, the President created the foundation for the modern Thanksgiving Day. Remarkably, back then he emphasized that the day should be "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer."

Even though we're now past the national Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, I recommend that wherever you are, that you read Washington's proclamation for yourself. It can be accessed here: www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-sources-2/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789/

National Thanksgiving in America wasn't limited to the nation's first President. In the middle of the Civil War, nearly a century later, President Abraham Lincoln issued his own proclamation for Thanksgiving Day.

Why should this be important? Lincoln emphasized that the nation and its citizens should be grateful for the blessings that they enjoyed, especially recognizing that they come from a benevolent supernatural Source. He declared: "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 of 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."

While recognizing the terrible devastation of the War Between the States (more Americans died in the Civil War than in all other wars combined), Lincoln pointed to "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."

Today, we need to understand that this sense of national gratitude to God Almighty has been seriously eroded. We in the Church are to be spiritual lights, standing on a hill as an example of gratitude to God (Matthew 5:14-16).

When Presidents Washington and Lincoln wrote these proclamations, the nation of the United States was tiny and inconsequential compared to the breadth and power of America today. Today, the United States—barely 3% of the world's population—consumes more than 50% of the world's goods. Despite some gaps, people in America generally enjoy a level of prosperity unprecedented in human history.

Despite all of this, as numerous research trends confirm, belief in God—much less gratitude to Him—is in serious decline in the United States of America.

Moses specifically warned against this some 4,000 years ago: "Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 8:11-14, English Standard Version).

Even more so after the national day of thanksgiving as passed, we need to consider that when one allows him or herself to forget God and the blessings He brings, as President Lincoln noted—to "forget the source from which they come"—that is a form of idolatry. When people let physical things come in front of God, they are allowing themselves to fall into a very bad place.

The antidote? Embrace and sustain an attitude of gratitude. Being grateful—even when we don't feel like it—is powerful. Embracing a sense of gratitude hits our mental, emotional and spiritual reset button. By leveraging the power of gratitude, we can banish feelings of resentment, break up any personal "pity party," and be restored.

When we embrace the power of thanksgiving—acknowledging the wonderful things that God has provided for us, including the things He does for us that we cannot do for ourselves, our lives improve! People around us notice and their lives are elevated. Being publicly grateful and thankful is a life changer!

As Paul explained to the Corinthians and to us today, the presence—the touch—of God's grace in our personal lives has a profound effect on us: "As God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory" (2 Corinthians 4:15, New Living Translation).

There exist dozens of Bible verses about the power of gratitude and thanksgiving. If you look up and search the word "gratitude" on our ucg.org website, you'll find more than 6,000 references to articles, Bible study tools and sermons.

Embracing spiritual gratitude has real power and real benefits. Whether you live in the United States or elsewhere, consider that the proclamations of Presidents Washington and Lincoln ring true! We in the Church don't need a national day of thanksgiving once a year to express gratitude. Let us strive to be in an attitude of gratitude year round, thanking God for the spiritual and material blessings that He gives us all.