UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES
The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc

1 Chronicles 12:32

NOVEMBER 2001

Christians Should Be Always Thankful and Ever Discerning

A BUSY MONTH

The National Conference on Apologetics and Other Religions in Charlotte went very well earlier this month. Several hundred people attended the conference to hear a host of excellent speakers from all over the United States.

The next conference is scheduled for November 8-9, 2002, and will held at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. The keynote speaker will be Ravi Zacharias. It is not too early to start making plans to attend this event.

The class I had been teaching at Calvary Church called Love Your God With All Your Mind went well and ended the week before Thanksgiving. Thank you to all who participated and learned the importance of loving God with our minds.

UPCOMING EVENTS

On December 16, 2001, I will have the privilege of teaching the Living Word Sunday School class at Calvary Church in Charlotte. I will be speaking on The Messiah of Handel, examining the history and theology of one of the most magnificent pieces of music ever written. The class meets at 9:15 – 10:30 am in the Chapel.

I will be teaching a new class at Calvary on Christian Apologetics starting January 9, 2002, that will last for 11 weeks. The class will be held on Wednesday nights from 7:00 – 8:15 pm each week and is open to everyone. Come and learn the basics of contending for the faith.

PRAYER REQUESTS

We are very close to being able to buy a projector to be used with a laptop computer for presentations. We are so thankful for the donations toward this essential item by several of you. We only need about $1200 more to buy a top-notch projector that will serve our needs for many years. Please pray that the rest of this money will be provided before the end of this year.

Thank you so much to those of you who prayed for us concerning receiving missionary support from a large church here in Charlotte. We were approved unanimously by them!! Their monthly support will help us to come closer to being able to focus on ministry full time.

Please pray that the Lord will open doors for us to help Christians better understand and contend for the faith. When Christians do speak truth about false religions they are almost always pounded by the media and religious liberals. Franklin Graham has been castigated for his recent comments concerning Islam, in some cases by those who profess Christianity. Never has there been such a need for believers to be equipped to contend for the faith in the marketplace of religions, worldviews and ideas.

TROUBLE WITH HARRY

You almost cannot avoid it. It is all over the media, all over your Coke cans and bottles, and even taught in public schools with the full approval of the liberal education establishment.

What am I referring to? Harry Potter of course. The new movie based on the first of four wildly popular books by J.K. Rowling has opened to record-breaking crowds. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone grossed more money in its first three days of release than any other movie in history and should easily become the highest grossing movie ever. Many Christian kids love the books and see nothing wrong with following the exploits of the young wizard. Some churches are even doing Bible studies based on the Potter books.

But should Christians join the world in celebrating these books because they are helping kids discover the joy of reading?

I asked my friend Scott Matscherz, who has studied the Harry Potter phenomenon, to write a summary of the problems with the books. It is included with this newsletter. For the sake of your kids, please read it and pass the info on to others.

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

UNDERSTANDING THANKSGIVING

During this time of year when we pause to give thanks as a nation and as individuals for that which we have, I thought it might be helpful to discuss the roots of our Thanksgiving holiday.

PILGRIMS

In September of 1620, a group of English Christians set sail for America to start a colony in Virginia. Years earlier this group, which came to be known as Pilgrims, had broken from the Church of England and fled from persecution in their homeland, living in Holland for more than 10 years.

After being blown off course, they arrived at Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 11, 1620. On December 21, they landed on the site of Plymouth Colony, establishing the first permanent settlement in New England.

Three years after their arrival, the Pilgrims decided to celebrate a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God who had sustained and provided for them so marvelously. William Bradford, the governor of the colony, issued this proclamation in 1623:

“To all ye Pilgrims: In as much as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest . . . and . . . granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house , on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th, . . . to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”

PROCLAMATIONS

Since the Pilgrims, there have been many other official proclamations that set aside days of thanksgiving for America.

On November 1, 1777, the Continental Congress issued the First National Thanksgiving Proclamation, setting aside Thursday December 18, 1777, for “solemn thanksgiving and praise” because

“it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; . . .”

George Washington, the first president of the United States, issued two proclamations for national days of Thanksgiving, the first on October 3, 1789, and the second on January 1, 1795, because he believed it is

“our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experienced.”

Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth president, is responsible for our modern celebration of a day of Thanksgiving. On October 3, 1863, he issued a formal proclamation declaring a day of Thanksgiving in November, becoming a yearly national holiday. Reflecting on the great things God had done for the nation even in the midst of a terrible civil war, Lincoln wrote:

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are 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.”

Lincoln urged Americans

“to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also . . . fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it . . . to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

Jude 3,
Dave