10 Gifts I'm Most Thankful For With Christ As The Center Of All Thanksgiving!

1. Conversion And The Cross And Resurrection

I am most thankful for God and Him saving me from His wrath and my sins through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, and for adopting me into His family as one of His very own sons! I'm thankful for my parents who first taught me about Jesus and took me to church. You can read the full story of my conversion here.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Jesus is the God-Man, and He is LORD - the name above all names! 

2. Comprehensive Sovereignty of God

While in college, Navy was playing Wake Forest one weekend, so I was headed down with all the Navy fans to cheer on the team because it got me a free trip to North Carolina to see my family. For the trip, my friend, Ben Selph, had given me a cassette tape series to listen to called "A Southern Baptist's Explanation Of Calvinism." As I listened to that series, my eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit, and my understanding of Who God is changed forever! Understanding T.U.L.I.P. was revolutionary for me. God is not a pipsqueak God, subject to my almighty free will. He is absolutely sovereign and in total control of all people, decisions, and events, from the hairs on my head (Matthew 10:30) to the flight paths of little birds (Matthew 10:29). This is not merely what John Calvin taught. This is what the Bible and Jesus teach.

Later I would learn the truth from the Westminster Confession of Faith - that "God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass . . . ." That statement was amazing to me, but I wondered if it was Biblical. God began to show me, time and time again, that this is taught all over the Bible. Here are just a few examples:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will . . . . Ephesians 1:11

Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose," calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:8-11

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Proverbs 21:1

Ben gave me book (Chosen By God by R. C. Sproul) after book (The Sovereignty Of God by A. W. Pink) after book (The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination by Loraine Boettner), helping me understand these truths more clearly, and my understanding of God was changed forever. I truly loved and delighted in knowing that God was this BIG and sovereign and that He does all things, first and foremost, for His own glory! Just read Romans 9 if you have any doubts!

3. Christian Hedonism
In college, I was introduced to John Piper, his ministry (Desiring God), and his book by the same name, (Desiring God). These resources opened my eyes to the great joy God is and that we should pursue our joy in Him.

John Piper summarizes Christian Hedonism with this sentence: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Sam Storms summarizes it here.

John Piper writes:

Christian Hedonism is a philosophy of life built on the following five convictions:

1. The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.

2. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.

3. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.

4. The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with others in the manifold ways of love.

5. To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: The pursuit of pleasure is a necessary part of all worship and virtue. 

That is: The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. (Desiring God, Page 28)

Here are some of my favorite Christian Hedonistic testimonies:

Augustine: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

John Calvin: Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him [God], they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:25

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 

 

4. Christ In All The Scriptures
I listened to a 35 lecture/Q&A series that Tim Keller and Ed Clowney taught called Preaching Christ In A Postmodern World, and seeing Jesus Christ in all the Scriptures was amazing to me because Jesus is amazing!

Jesus taught that all the Bible is about Him:

And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

 Tim Keller's video here drives this point home (see the full text here):

5. Christ And His Gospel Daily
I first heard a man from Capitol Hill Baptist Church respond to the greeting/question, "How are you?" with these words: "I'm better than I deserve." His point was that he knew, according to God's Word, all he deserved was eternity in hell, but because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, he's always better than he deserved. Keeping this in mind has been a rock of stability and a well-spring of joy for me. This devotional by John Piper helped me see this more clearly: The Transforming Power Of Feeling Mercy

I wrote this in 2014, expressing these truths:

I didn't deserve to be born.

I didn't deserve to be born in a country where the Gospel is freely preached.

I didn't deserve to be brought up under the influence of the Gospel.

I don't deserve the family I have.

I don't deserve the friends I have.

I don't deserve the education I have.

I don't deserve the job I have.

I don't deserve the life experiences I've enjoyed.

I don't deserve the health I've been given.

I don't deserve the food, clothes, and shelter I've enjoyed these many years of life.

I don't deserve the material resources I've been given.

I don't deserve the gift of marriage.

I don't deserve the gift of children.

I don't deserve the gift of singleness.

I don't deserve joy, peace, and happiness.

I don't deserve any of the pleasures this life or the next has to offer.

I don't deserve for things to go my way.

I don't deserve health, wealth, and prosperity.

Because of my sin, all I do deserve is death, judgment, curse, loneliness, ridicule, slander, joblessness, homelessness, nakedness, starvation, pain, suffering, depression, despair, brokenness, and everlasting torment away from the presence of the LORD in His love and mercy and in the presence of the LORD in His everlasting wrath and fury for all eternity.

But in Christ, Who lived, died, and rose again, I get what I don't deserve!

I'm born again!

I'm reminded of the Gospel daily!

I have friends and family who love Jesus and point me to Him!

I get educated in the Word of God!

My job is to study and preach God's Word!

Christ is my health, my clothing, my food, and my shelter!

Christ is more valuable than all the earth!

Christ is my great heavenly Spouse Who is more beautiful than all and loves and satisfies like no other!

Christ allows me to disciple spiritual children!

Christ allows me to receive singleness as a gift and cry: 

Whom have I in heaven but You! And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You! Psalm 73:25

Christ is all joy, all peace, and all happiness in and of Himself!

Christ is the pleasure and treasure of life!

Christ makes all things go my way for He works all things for my good!

Christ is my health, wealth, and prosperity!

Christ has forgiven and saved me for Himself!

Christ is all!

Thank You my Eternal Lover!

You, O God, are all good things and every good thing . . . You are silver, gold, honor, delight, food, clothing, house, land, peace, wisdom, power, beauty, father, mother, wife, husband, mercy, love, grace, glory, and infinitely more than all these. George Swinnock

6. Christ Is All
Cotton Mather said: "Let the motto upon your whole ministry be - Christ is All!"

My desire is to live out that motto. My hope (and every Christian's hope!) is to desire Christ and delight in Christ above everything else in my life. It's one thing to confess "Christ is all" with your lips, but it's another thing to believe it in the depths of your heart and soul. Sometimes God teaches us that Christ is all by withholding from us some of our deepest earthly longings. I have desired marriage for over 25 years now, and God has chosen to withhold it.

But this withholding is teaching me that Jesus is better. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief! Oh to finally go home to be with Him! May my mind be gone to be with Jesus!

He embraces all things that are lovely: he seals up the sum of all loveliness. Things that shine as single stars with a particular glory, all meet in Christ as a glorious constellation. Col. 1:19, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." Cast your eyes among all created beings, survey the universe: you will observe strength in one, beauty in a second, faithfulness in a third, wisdom in a fourth; but you shall find none excelling in them all as Christ does. Bread has one quality, water another, raiment another, medicine another; but none has them all in itself as Christ does. He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, healing to the wounded; and whatever a soul can desire is found in him . . . . John Flavel

7. Church
I am thankful for the centrality and beauty of the church. I am thankful for my church family who love me and pray for me. I am thankful for their support, friendship, patience, and forgiveness. I am thankful for how they serve Christ and spur me on to love and good deeds. I am thankful for their self-less love and faithfulness to God and His Word. The church is truly how God makes His manifold wisdom known to the world! I am so thankful for men like Tom Thompson, Tom Clemmons, Mark Dever, Kreg Bryan, Bill Harrell, Dechard Stevens, John Piper, and Michael Tan who have mentored me and helped me see these truths and so many other wonderful truths in God's Word as well!

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Ephesians 3:8-10

The Church is the mirror, that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character. It is the grand scene, in which the perfections of Jehovah are displayed to the universe. Charles Bridges

 

8. Christ Humbling Me

I remember reading this chart in college and being profoundly convicted of how proud I was (and still am!):

God has used my service in the Navy and my time as a pastor to continue to humble me and show me that I truly have nothing to boast in except the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ:

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

9. Christ My King

I do not remember exactly when I first heard this amazing description of Jesus Christ, but when I did, I was immediately amazed and somewhat addicted:

It's the greatest description of Jesus I've ever heard outside the Bible, and I'm so thankful for Dr. S. M. Lockridge, and I'm thankful that God gave him these wonderful, poetic words. I heard one pastor say it may be the most listened to sermon [clip] in modern church history because of how many times it's been listened to and downloaded from the internet. As I said, outside the Bible, it is the most glorious, powerful, amazing, beautiful, wonderful description of Jesus I have ever read or heard. Nothing outside the Bible, prayer, and the local church has helped me fight depression, loneliness, sadness, self-pity, selfishness, fear, anxiety, and all manner of other sins more than this glorious description of Jesus Christ. It has helped me fix my eyes on Jesus – "the Founder and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) – like almost nothing else! 

It has also inspired me to write more poetry like it about Jesus, which started by writing down how Jesus is described in various books of the Bible (beginning with the book of Hebrews). Now all my sermon titles are inspired by Dr. Lockridge's description of Jesus. I even self-published a book in his honor and in the honor of our great King Jesus: "That's My King!" Meditations On The Christ Who Is All In All. King Jesus is our greatest reason for thanksgiving!

10. Christ Proclaimed

In high school, I remember one of the first major changes in my life as a new believer in Jesus was a deep burden to tell others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, I'd been saved from hell, and now I enjoyed Jesus as my LORD and Savior, so how could I not warn others and tell them about the glorious God-Man Who saved me?! I remember first seeing this book by Mack Stiles when I was a freshman in college: Speaking Of Jesus: How To Tell Your Friends The Best News They Will Ever Hear. I remember my Baptist Student Union leader, Tom Clemmons, leading a beach evangelism trip to tell others about Jesus with frisbees that had the Gospel printed on the back. This was my first introduction to what some call "cold turkey evangelism." Then, after a few years of being a pastor in Philadelphia, I began street preaching. A man we met on the corner of Broad and Olney while street preaching who started coming to the church regularly, who got baptized and joined the church - he, Lord willing, will be cooking the turkey for our community meal at the church on Thanksgiving this year. May our burden to share the Gospel with others grow!

To learn more about the great King Jesus and His glorious Gospel message, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Some Other Reasons For Thanksgiving

1. I'm thankful for a deeper, clearer understanding of the Cross: In the last 5 years, in response to false teaching, God has pushed me to study the cross more in depth, and it's been a tremendous blessing.

2. I'm thankful for the Trinity: I really enjoyed this study on the Trinity. 

3. I'm thankful for what God has been teaching me about Islam: God has given me an interest in better understanding Islam and pointing Muslims to Christ. These teachings by Nabeel Qureshi have been tremendously helpful. This article on the recent Hamas attacks on Israel shows some of the fruit of that study.

4. I'm thankful for how God's Word continues to challenge me to live a simple, war-time lifestyle for the glory of God.

5. I'm thankful that my parents didn't abort me, and how clear God's Word is on this issue and speaks to how we should and shouldn't vote on this issue.

6. I'm thankful for all the excellent preaching I've had the opportunity to hear over the years. Here are some of the most influential sermons I remember hearing/reading.