At this season of Thanksgiving, we are grateful to be in on this beautiful island with family and friends once again. Mark’s Thanksgiving message to the Beijing International Christian Fellowship is below.
L to R – Mark, Dayna, Nathan, Heather, Ala, Kerrine, little Kingston, Tavia, and Aaron
We have a US mobile phone until we leave the States in February – 808 315 5364. We’ve begun to share with our supporting churches. Hope we see you along the way….see schedule below…
Health News
Mark had a CT scan just before leaving Beijing which showed him still cancer free!
Sadly, news of our family is not as good. Mark’s brother-in-law Larry passed away this month after a long illness. Please keep Mark’s sister Judy in your prayers.
Also, Dayna’s sister Gaylyn has cancer and an aneurism in her heart. Your prayers for her and her husband George are much appreciated. They are currently in Pennsylvania, trying to get home to Hilo.
Our Schedule
November 21 Puna Covenant Church, Keaau, Hawaii
PM - Kalahikiola Church, Hawi, Hawaii
November 28 AM - Waipuna Chapel, Kula, Maui, Hawaii
PM – Wailuku Door of Faith Church, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii
December 5 Sierra Presbyterian Church, Nevada City, California
December 9 Biola Congregational Church, Biola, California
December 12 Meadowlark Community Church, San Marcos, California
December 19 New Life Presbyterian Church, La Mesa, California
December 26 First Baptist Church of El Segundo, El Segundo, California
January 2, 2011 Montrose Community Church, Montrose, California
January 9 Valley Presbyterian Church, North Hills, California
January 16 La Canada Presbyterian Church, La Canada, California
January 30 Hawaii Kai United Church of Christ, Hawaii Kai, Oahu, Hawaii
February 6 North Shore Christian Church, Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii
February 11 – Return to Beijing
Very Gratefully in Him, Mark and Dayna Blair
Our Email blairstan2@gmail.com
or markblair@bicf.org or blairstan@psmail.net (secure)
Our Mission
Pioneers - 10123 William Carey Drive - Orlando, FL 32832 – USA www.pioneers.org
Our Blog www.blairstan.blogspot.com
Skype: blairstan
Our Ministry
Beijing International Christian Fellowship - www.bicf.org
Hear Mark’s sermons at: http://bicf.org/sermon-zgc
Our Mailing Address
Beijing International Christian Fellowship / Zhong Guan Cun
Raycom Infotech Park, Tower C, Room B115,
2 Kexueyuan Nanlu, Haidian District, Beijing, China 100190
Thanksgiving. In some lands it is a holiday. But many do not know who – or what – to ‘thank.’ We hear their ambiguous appreciation, “Higher power, Mother God, Lucky Stars, Blind Force, God of My Nation Only…whatever you are - I am just lucky to be alive…I guess.” Sounds like Bart Simpson’s prayer, “God, we worked really hard for this stuff, so thanks for nothin’!”
Amidst a staccato of final commands, the Apostle Paul tells the followers of Jesus in Thessalonica, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.18). According to the Bible, Christian thanksgiving is far different from the Simpson’s or the society.
Most important, we know who we are thanking. We are a people instructed by Holy Scripture. By the wonder of His grace we know the central person of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ. We hold the greatest promise from the book, everlasting life. We are now alive by the greatest power declared in its pages, the Holy Spirit. For some reason we will never fully know, this God we love as Father, Son, and Spirit is ours. We do not know Him exhaustively – eternity will not be long enough to do that – but we know Him truly.
Second, Christians thank God as an act of trust. Not all of life is ‘happy clappy smiling all the way.’ Sometimes life stinks. Last year my Thanksgiving ‘dinner’ was in I.V. bottles of chemo, with side orders of fear, uncertainty, and nausea. Paul is not asking Christ-followers to give thanks ‘for’ all things. We don’t thank God for cancer, misery, or any of the junk this life sometimes holds. But we are commanded to thank God ‘in’ all things. This is a declaration of faith. It is a confession of God’s sovereignty, spoken from an eternal perspective. We know life holds no surprises for God. We see through a glass darkly, but He has seen the end from the beginning. He works in and through all things for His glory and our good. Do you believe that? Joseph did – even after suffering ‘underground’ much longer than the 33 Chilean miners. He told his guilty brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50.20). Joseph trusted God ‘in’ good and bad.
Third, saying ‘thanks’ is a way to keep us thankful. Scripture indicts the ungrateful, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1.21). But speaking His praise changes our posture – He leads us from grumbling to gratitude, from whining to worship, from darkness to light. The glass may be half empty, but it is also half full! And for people that deserve to burn in hell – like me – that ‘half’ is a marvelous undeserved gift. Lift your sights heaven-ward. We may not be healthy, but our God is the Healer. We may not be fully supplied, but our Father in Heaven owns it all. “The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us…You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 118.27-29). Declaring His praise directs your heart to Him. May we at BICF be a grateful people, in every season.
Thankful to be in His family at BICF with you, Mark Blair, Pastor ZGC
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