Kentucky House member Bill Wesley reminds us of the Importance of a Grateful Heart: Thanksgiving’s Timeless Message

Important Takeaways:

  • Thanksgiving Day provides an opportunity for Kentuckians gather around tables and celebrate our blessings with gratitude. It carries a timeless message, one rooted in the rich soil of tradition and thankfulness. As we prepare to celebrate this cherished occasion, let us reflect on the wise words found 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which encourages us to give thanks in all circumstances.
  • Thanksgiving, as we know it today, has deep historical roots dating back to the early settlers in America. These pioneers, including the frontier families who made Kentucky home, took a moment to pause and express their gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon them despite the many hardships they faced. Many arrived after a back-breaking journey across hundreds of miles and marked by danger and loss. Others worked to carve out a new home here, only to face natural disasters and violent attacks. Yet they found a way to be grateful, to thank our Father for all that they had, despite what they had lost.
  • In much the same way, the scriptural guidance to give thanks in all circumstances resonates with the spirit of Thanksgiving. It reminds us that, despite life’s ups and downs, there is always something to be thankful for.
  • For many families, Thanksgiving is a time-honored tradition filled with warmth, laughter, and the delicious food being prepared. As we gather with loved ones, we create lasting memories that become the threads weaving our own family tapestry. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone has a role in the celebration, contributing to the vibrant mosaic of joy and thankfulness.
  • Beyond the delicious food and festive decorations lies the heart of Thanksgiving: gratitude. It is a time to reflect on the simple yet profound blessings that enrich our lives. We live in the greatest country on earth. And, while not perfect, we are a nation constantly striving towards better. The scriptural guidance to give thanks in all circumstances is a beacon, guiding us to appreciate the beauty in the ordinary and the extraordinary moments of life.
  • As we approach this Thanksgiving, let us embrace the spirit of gratitude embedded in the scriptural wisdom in this verse. May we give thanks not only for the abundance on our tables but also for the love in our hearts and the moments that make life truly special. In doing so, we embody the essence of Thanksgiving, passing on this timeless message to future generations.
  • I am reminded of three verses, and in this season of thankfulness, I would like to share them with you;
    • In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
    • Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; — Ephesians 5:20 KJV
    • O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. – Psalms 107:1 KJV

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Power of Prayer: St. Louis carjacker surprised when victim begins praying. Police say thief just walked away

Man-with-Ax

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘God Is Good’: Prayer Saves Man from Axe-Wielding Carjacker in St. Louis
  • A St. Louis man did something unexpected when he found himself in a dangerous situation on October 18.
  • Police say his decision to pray and not let fear overtake him resulted in an axe-wielding suspect leaving him alone after an attempted carjacking in the city’s downtown area on North Seventh Street, KMOV reported Sunday.
  • Social media users were quick to comment on the story, one person writing, “Amen God is good. ALL DAY EVERYDAY.”
  • “The power of prayer, and faith!” another user exclaimed
  • [The Suspect] was charged with first-degree attempted robbery and felony robbery regarding two unrelated incidents.

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The reemergence of this article reminds us Soros sees himself as a god and is comfortable living it out

Soros-as-a-god

Important Takeaways:

  • Flashback: Soros Thinks of Himself as a God, Sees USA as a ‘Threat to the World’
  • A 2004 commentary piece in the Los Angeles Times on controversial Democratic donor George Soros has reemerged lately, and it sheds light on the decision-making process and motivations behind where the billionaire businessman donates his money.
  • According to the piece, Soros has previously admitted that he thought of himself as a god, once writing, “I fancied myself as some kind of god … If truth be known, I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood, which I felt I had to control, otherwise they might get me in trouble.
  • The authors cited a U.K. Independent article from 1993 in which Soros is quoted as saying, “It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.”
  • …pouring millions against the re-election of George W. Bush, writing that he has always “felt that modern society in general and America, in particular, suffer from a deficiency of values.”
  • To Soros, the U.S. was a “threat to the world.”
  • It’s not even a surprise that he would have many who believe in him.
  • We were warned of this 2,000 years ago by Jesus, who said in Matthew 24:24: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”
  • There’s a story in the Bible — in Acts 12:20-23 — about a king who thought he was a god, too.
  • “Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, ‘The voice of a god, and not of a man!’ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”

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Decline in spiritual beliefs: In the time closest to the Lord’s Return how will he find his bride?

Blue Cloudy Sky

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Important Takeaways:

  • Belief in Five Spiritual Entities Edges Down to New Lows
  • The percentages of Americans who believe in each of five religious entities — God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil — have edged downward by three to five percentage points since 2016. Still, majorities believe in each, ranging from a high of 74% believing in God to lows of 59% for hell and 58% for the devil. About two-thirds each believe in angels (69%) and heaven (67%).
  • Gallup has documented sharp declines in church attendance, confidence in organized religion and religious identification in recent years. Americans’ beliefs regarding God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil have also fallen by double digits since 2001. Still, U.S. adults’ belief in each entity remains at the majority level, and regular churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans, in particular, remain largely resolute in their beliefs.

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Messianic Rabbi takes a stand for the rainbow and calls on all Christians to do the same

Rainbow over Ark

Genesis 9:12-13 “And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘I’m Going to Take the Rainbow Back for the Glory of God’ — Messianic Rabbi Says It’s a Call for All of God’s People
  • “First they were in the closet, then they demanded rights, then they took away our rights. And you know what? Now we’re in the closet.” Messianic Rabbi K.A. Schneider said Christians need to “come out of the closet” and speak up against the LGBT agenda’s use of the rainbow. Schneider is the host of the television program Discovering the Jewish Jesus. He also started a campaign called Taking the Rainbow Back.
  • ‘It’s God’s Rainbow’
  • Christians need to understand, “Satan wants to shut us up, he wants to shut you up. I would first of all say if [LGBT activists] can claim the rainbow, why can’t we claim the rainbow? I mean, it’s God’s rainbow. It was a covenant that God gave to His people, a covenant that was symbolized and still [is] with the rainbow. So why should we not use the rainbow? When God gave it first — and He gave it to his people — it’s a manifestation of His glory. So don’t shut up. That’s the thing. Don’t shut up. Speak out and stand up.”
  • Taking the Rainbow Back
  • One way people can make their voice heard is to participate in the Taking the Rainbow Back campaign. Visitors to the website can purchase t-shirts with the campaign name and rainbow. They’ll also have an opportunity to purchase tracts that share the biblical significance of the rainbow, as well as the Gospel message.
  • Then, on Collective Action weekend, July 28 through July 30, all who wish to participate will wear their t-shirts and pass out tracts in a collective effort to take the rainbow back from LGBT groups. He explained:
    • So on the weekend of July 28th through the 30th, what’s called Collective Action Weekend … we’re asking God’s people to go together in groups to public places, whether it’s your Bible study group, your fellowship group, just your friends, your youth group, your church group to get the shirts, get the tracts, go in public places just to make a statement to gather curiosity.

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So what would happen if AI really could think for itself?

Revelations 13:14 “…by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth…”

Important Takeaways:

  • Is AI a Threat to Christianity?
  • While most theologians aren’t paying it much attention, some technologists are convinced that artificial intelligence is on an inevitable path toward autonomy
  • In fact, AI may be the greatest threat to Christian theology since Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
  • For decades, artificial intelligence has been advancing at breakneck speed. Today, computers can fly planes, interpret X-rays, and sift through forensic evidence; algorithms can paint masterpiece artworks and compose symphonies in the style of Bach. Google is developing “artificial moral reasoning” so that its driverless cars can make decisions about potential accidents.
  • “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Stephen Hawking told the BBC in 2014. “Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded.”
  • While concerns mostly center on economics, government, and ethics, there’s also “a spiritual dimension to what we’re making,” Kelly argues. “If you create other things that think for themselves, a serious theological disruption will occur.”
  • If Christians accept that all creation is intended to glorify God, how would AI do such a thing? Would AI attend church, sing hymns, care for the poor? Would it pray?
  • Does God receive prayers from any intelligent being—or just human intelligence?

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General Society Study shows only half of Americans believe in God

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Does God exist? Only half of Americans say a definite yes
  • General Social Survey, stands out among several nuggets of new data about religion in America.
  • Not quite 50 percent of Americans say they have no doubt about the existence of God, according to the 2022 survey, released Wednesday by NORC, the University of Chicago research organization. As recently as 2008, the share of sure-believers topped 60 percent.
  • Thirty-four percent of Americans never go to church, NORC found, the highest figure recorded in five decades of surveys.
  • Another new report, from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), said that 27 percent of Americans claimed no religion in 2022, up from 19 percent in 2012 and 16 percent in 2006.
  • The General Social Survey found 29 percent of Americans claiming no religion in 2021, up from 23 percent in 2018 and 5 percent in 1972.
  • Mainline Protestantism, the backbone of faith in many American communities, is “collapsing,” Burge wrote in a recent article on the decline of Baptists, Methodists and other denominations.
  • Since the 1970s, the share of Americans who identify with Protestant denominations has declined from nearly 1 in 3 to around 1 in 10.
  • To some extent, declining faith is a generational trend. The share of Americans who claim no religion rises with progressively younger age groups: 9 percent of the Silent Generation, 18 percent of baby boomers, 25 percent of Generation X, 29 percent of millennials and 34 percent of Generation Z, according to data from the Survey Center on American Life.
  • But the rise in nonreligious Americans is too steep to be fully explained “in terms of generational replacement; that is, religious old people dying and secular young people taking their place,” said David Campbell, the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame.
  • Changing societal norms may also explain why half of Americans can now say they aren’t sure there is a God.

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Study shows Americans trust their pocketbook over belief in God

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Biblical Foundations Rejected by Most Americans in New Poll – Money Has Now Replaced God
  • A new poll from the Wall Street Journal and NORC finds only 39 percent of Americans say religious faith is a top priority. That’s down from 62 percent back in 1998.
  • Only 31 percent of those under age 30 said religion is very important, compared to 55 percent of people 65 and over who feel that way.
  • Belief in the value of patriotism, community, and having children are all down as well.
  • The study did find one value that’s grown in importance over the last 25 years – the love of money. The percentage of Americans who now put their trust in money has risen from 31 percent to 43 percent.

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Church of England votes to change the language in reference to God; must be gender neutral

Church of England

Romans 1:28 “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”  2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears

Important Takeaways:

  • Gender-neutral God to be considered by Church of England
  • [Calling for] reference to Our Father, to be scrapped in favor of either gender neutral or female alternatives.
  • Claiming that “a theological misreading of God as exclusively male is a driver of much continuing discrimination and sexism against women”.
  • The news comes amid tensions within the Church of England as the Synod prepares for a historic vote on blessings for same-sex couples later this week.

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A dangerous divide when one party completely rejects God: A Nation divided cannot stand

Romans 1:28 “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”

Important Takeaways:

  • How the Democratic Party Divorced God and the America of 1776
  • The Democrat Party’s divorce from God has become final. In 2019, the Democrat National Committee (DNC) unanimously passed a resolution affirming atheism and declaring that neither Christianity nor any religion is necessary for morality or patriotism. In other words, “We don’t need God!”
  • The Democrat Party’s divorce of God should come as no surprise. At the 2012 Democrat National Convention, a majority of the delegates wanted to remove a reference to God from the party platform

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