Thanksgiving

The barracks where Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy were kept in the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbruck were terribly overcrowded and flea-infested. They had been able to miraculously smuggle a Bible into the camp, and in that Bible they had read that in all things they were to give thanks, and that God can use anything for good.

This classic, soaring hymn was written in the mid-1600s by a German minister named Martin Rinkart.

Whatever our challenges and disappointments, we give thanks to God for His many blessings and we remember that no matter our circumstances, God has provided the ultimate blessing in Jesus of Nazareth. For that gift and for that Savior, no amount of thanks is sufficient.

It was the beloved English writer G.K. Chesterton who once observed that the critical thing is whether or not we take the turns of life for granted or with gratitude.

Although we tend to associate the modern holiday of Thanksgiving with the proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863, the first presidential proclamation declaring a day of Thanksgiving actually dates back to 1789 and was promulgated by our first president, George Washington.

A chronicle of the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth, as recorded by Nathaniel Morton.

The details surrounding the Pilgrims were such that they had much to be grateful for. Here is just a sample.

The greatest source and object of our gratitude this Thanksgiving should be God.

Jim Wallis' suggestion to use churches as sanctuaries for the Occupiers is historically ironic and naive.