Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name.
Were you persecuted for attending church this past Sunday? I mean really persecuted? Beaten? Imprisoned? Threaten with death?
In 52 nations of the world, it is a crime, sometimes punishable by death, to be a Christian. On Sept 25, 2011, a 17 year old Christian was beheaded in Somalia. A source, in justifying the murder, said: “I personally know this family as Christians who used to have secret Bible meetings in their house,” This is not an isolated incident. Christians are being starved to death while others have been shot (including a young Christian girl who was shot by her own family for becoming a Christian). SOURCE:
www.persecution.com
We have much to be thankful for.
We hear and speak His Name everyday. We wear his name on our shirts. His Name is emblazoned on our bumper stickers. We worship His Name, sing praises to His Name, and sadly, all too often, His Name is taken in vain. Yet, according to some estimates, there are some 3 million people living in the world today who have never heard the Name of Jesus. They have never heard the Gospel.
We have much to be thankful for.
We are not only free to practice, but to share our faith. We are able to attend church where and when we want to, and can witness our faith to others.
In July of 2009, North Korea executed one of its most hated criminals. Ri Hyon Ok, 33, was publicly executed and her parents, husband and children were all imprisoned. Her crime: Distributing Bibles.
http://www.foxnews.com
We have much to be thankful for.
How many Bibles do you own? The Bible industry in the US is a billion dollar business. Yet…
According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, there are approximately 340 million people who have no Bibles in their native languages. According to one source, the average American home contains four Bibles.
We have much to be thankful for.
Our children sleep in warm comfortable beds. They are safe, and they know they will have a meal when they wake up.
UNICEF reports there are 45,000 children who live in and eat out of a garbage dump in Orlinda, Brazil. In the US, it is estimated that there are 2.8 million children who are homeless…about half of that number are under the age of 6.
http://www.project7.com One researcher said there are countless children who sleep where they can, often in the beds of total strangers, just to have shelter. They are often seen eating out of dumpsters and to exist, often sell the only thing they have…their own bodies…just to have a place to sleep and something to eat.
We have much to be thankful for.
Pastor Smith stops at a local gas station and grumbles while he fills his tank with gas. Something should be done about the high price for gas, he says to himself..
You think you pay too much for gasoline? Check out these gas prices….
Istanbul, Turkey
$9.63 a gallon
Arimea, Eritrea
$9.59 a gallon
Oslo, Norway
$9.27 a gallon
Athens, Greece
$8.50 a gallon
http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...t-gas-prices/5 (June, 2011)
We have much to be thankful for.
Need a raise at work? According to the SSA, the average annual income in the US is over $40,000 a year. The average American worker brings home over 700.00 a week. In 1951, average annual wages were about $2800 (or about 54.00 a week). While we struggle to make ends meet, we forget that…..
Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. UNICEF
http://library.thinkquest.org/C00229...sent/stats.htm
We have much to be thankful for…yet, Americans just can’t afford to support their local churches. Or to help those in need.
Hungry? I mean really. I suspect most of us don’t even know what real hunger is. We often eat because, well, because we want to. We don’t need it… we just eat because we can. When traveling with my young children I would often say that my car would not run without gas, oil, water, Cokes, potato chips and candy. And what about the ubiquitous fast food burger joints? Mmmmmm…. Lets stop for a burger!
A Burger King meal with cheese (double beef), French fries and a Coke has about 1611 calories.
The average daily dietary intake (ADDI) of the US is 3753 calories a day. The recommended daily caloric intake is between 2000 to 2800. In the African nation of Eritea, the ADDI is 1519. In other words, we get more calories in the above Burger King meal than a lot of people in Eritrea get in an entire day.
Yep… we have much to be thankful for.
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