{"id":642,"date":"2025-11-25T18:12:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/?p=642"},"modified":"2025-11-25T18:12:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:12:53","slug":"above-all-else-im-thankful-for-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/?p=642","title":{"rendered":"ABOVE ALL ELSE, I\u2019M THANKFUL FOR JESUS!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every thanksgiving, it\u2019s common, and certainly good and appropriate, to be thankful for our family and friends, our health, our home, perhaps your job, your faith and church, living in a great country, and certainly all the great food on Thanksgiving Day, etc. (And for many, hopefully a win for the Lions!) BUT, as I prepare for the 73rd<\/sup> Thanksgiving Day of my life, I recognize more and more that by trusting my life to Jesus as a 16 year old high schooler, every significant thing in my life after that is due to that decision and Jesus directing my path from that day forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was like most kids at that age: pretty self-centered, and because I got good grades, I thought I knew everything and was at times obnoxious. (At least that is what my sister and brothers told me!) But as I began to actually know Jesus and discover who he was and the power he offered me to change and become more like him, my whole view of life changed and I really wanted to be part of his plan for the world and not just live my self-centered plan for me. One of the best descriptions of Jesus in the Bible is found in Colossians 1: 15- 20:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 <\/sup><\/u><\/em> He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. <\/u><\/em>16 <\/sup><\/em> For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities\u2014all things were created through him and for him. 17 <\/sup> And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together<\/u>. 18 <\/sup> And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 <\/sup> For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 <\/sup> and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. – Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)

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In my case, Jesus called a stuttering, introverted 16 year old to become a pastor and tell others about him! I laughed at the idea at first, but gave in and the rest is history. After college and seminary, I was appointed to a church in Redford Township where, in the first month, I met my future wife Claudia. We went on to get married and have our 3 wonderful sons, Josh, Scott, and Jason. They grew up, married 3 great daughters-in-law, and from that had 3 children each, giving Claudia and me 9 beautiful grandchildren. Through serving 6 different churches, we met a lot of wonderful Christian people and have many great friends from that experience today! And, since our lives in this realm include hardship and eventual death, we experienced Claudia\u2019s death to cancer 5 years ago, a devastating blow to my family and Claudia\u2019s as well. However, in the disappointments and losses of life, God will always give us a hope and a future. In my case, God (through the wild adventure of on-line dating) lead me to find Ellen, my beautiful Christian wife of 2 years now!  Ellen also has a wonderful family, and now I\u2019ve gained 2 wonderful daughters and a great step-son, as well as 4 more wonderful grandchildren! And so here we stand, looking to serve Jesus together and finish the story God has for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I consider my brief \u201cgenealogy\u201d paragraph above, I realize today that in my case, more than anything\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED WITHOUT JESUS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without Jesus\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– I would have never dreamt of becoming a pastor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– I would never have met Claudia and had my 3 sons, leading to their families and 9 grandchildren<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– I would have never have had the opportunity  to meet and marry Ellen and enjoy this new life I have now together with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOW, I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE ALSO SEEN JESUS GUIDE YOUR LIFE AND CIRCUMSTANCES! <\/strong>YOU HAVE SEEN HIS HAND LEAD YOU IN THE JOYS OF LIFE, AND YOU HAVE FELT HIM CARRY YOU IN THE TRAGEDIES OF LIFE WHEN YOU HAD NO STRENGTH LEFT TO DO IT YOURSELF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OTHERS READING THIS HAVE NOT KNOWN JESUS YET, AND HAVE TRIED TO LIVE YOUR LIFE ON YOUR OWN BEST EFFORT! <\/strong>I encourage you to consider trusting in Jesus now, and let him guide the rest of your life from this day forward. If you do, Jesus will not only give you wisdom and direction, he will be with you, take you through any crisis, and give you a new life that will last forever. Paul encourages us in Romans 8:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8:31-32 (ESV) <\/em>
31 <\/sup> What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 <\/sup> He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8:35, 37-39 (ESV) <\/em>
35 <\/sup> Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? \u202637 <\/sup> No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 <\/sup> For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 <\/sup> nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to remember God, the Giver of all good things, and look only to him for wisdom and direction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 <\/sup> Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 <\/sup> In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

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Enjoy this Thanksgiving with family and friends!<\/strong> Be thankful for all the good benefits of life and appreciate each day the Lord gives you. I leave you with a great passage of how Jesus wants us to live like him, and be thankful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 <\/sup><\/em> Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 <\/sup> Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 <\/sup> And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 <\/sup> Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 <\/sup> Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 <\/sup> And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  – Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

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Every thanksgiving, it\u2019s common, and certainly good and appropriate, to be thankful for our family and friends, our health, our home, perhaps your job, your faith and church, living in a great country, and certainly all the great food on Thanksgiving Day, etc. (And for many, hopefully a win for the Lions!) BUT, as I … Continue reading ABOVE ALL ELSE, I\u2019M THANKFUL FOR JESUS!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boomers4jesus.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}