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We started up the grill, seasoned the bird, and flew it onto the grill.
<snip>
The turkey cooks much more evenly and is done in less than three hours for a twenty-pound bird.

Interested ... our 22 lb turkey roasted 6 hrs @ 325 in the oven ... curious what type of grill you used that roasted 20 lb bird in 3 hrs.

This year we remembered the Thanksgiving, thirty something years ago, months after our fifty something year old sainted mother was received to glory.

We attended a Thanksgiving Eve service the evening before, Thanksgiving Day service (yes, in the day when they were indeed two separate and distinct services), followed by a family Thanksgiving meal, and a 400 mile round trip to friends for yet another Thanksgiving meal and we were gifted a small black and white fur ball puppy 🐶

[here]

It was good to see Pastor Weedon in action reading his devotions.  I've known Pastor Weedon to be an Advent guy for many years.  I've learned from him about the 'O' carols.  For another good choice in Advemt devotions. see https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Advent_Devotions.pdf

These four devotions are the work of the presiding bishops of the ELCA, ELCA in Canada, The Anglical Church in Canada, and The Episcopal Church. 

I recommend Pastor Weedon and the. bishops for Advent readings.

Pastor Weedon speaks of the 'O Antiphons' here.

Interestingly enough, I recommended Pastor Weedon's Word of the Lord Advent devotions as I recommended Now, At Last, and Unto Eternity Advent/Christmas Devotion. 

Any reason Mr Teigen overlooked the same courtesy and omitted recommending Now, At Last, and Unto Eternity?

[here]

Carl Trueman's book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self is commented on here by the author.

With a retail price of $ 34.99, Crossway offers a 30% discount for members.  Amazon also provides a substantial discount as well.

Dr Truman was featured on Issues Etc. here.

YouTube has a resource on the book as well.

[Now, At the Last, and Unto Eternity – Advent 2020 Devotions]

Sharing the following, not as an alternative to to Rev Weedon's Word of the Lord Advent 2020 devotion series, as an additional and complementary Advent/Christmas 2020 devotional resource.

Now, At the Last, and Unto Eternity – Advent 2020 Devotions

This year we are hoping to use Advent to help Lutherans focus on the Last Things and specifically the comfort that can be derived from the news of our Lord's coming return in glory. The devotion also includes devotions for each day of the Christmas season as well.

'Now, At the Last, and Unto Eternity – Advent 2020 Devotions' is available in paperback, for Kindle, as well as a free pdf that can be loaded in Apple Books and possibly other tablet readers.

One positive thing about Pandemic Thanksgiving. Since we'll be alone, we mutually agreed last night that there was really no good reason not to break into the pumpkin pie a day early.   

So, make up a bad reason. A pie, still a bit warm from the oven, is better than a day-old pie from the refrigerator.

Like everything else opinions differ .. I've always enjoyed refrigerated cakes, pies, and other pastries .. last checked .. neither commanded or forbidden by God.

As far as waiting until the appropriate day/time to dig in to the desserts, common courtesy would be to respect the desires of the host/hostess .. or spouse responsible for preparing the meal.👀

[The What About Series]

The What About Series ... as timely today as when they were originally released ... truly Biblical and Lutheran in content and confession.

Available individually thru the link above ... or as an almost complete collection in Unchanging Truth in Change Times .. the What about Islam? and What about Mormonism? are in addition to the Unchanging Truth collection.

The Church's loss is Heaven's gain ... and an unanswered email ...

For some years I have been the recipient of devotional texts from a LCMS pastor.

Some weeks ago, I ask the pastor if I could contact CPH about theses texts being used a Portals of Prayer devotions.  Finally Sunday evening I write the email ... now never to be answered.

We thank God that He used Reverend McCain to do great things for His Church and rejoice that the Victory in Christ is now his for eternity.

As Reverend Walther's family and friends celebrate Thanksgiving 2020 with the sure and certain knowledge that Reverend Walther is with our Lord in heaven, may we also thank God for the Christian witness his wife and children gave at the time of his passing ...

While currently on the homepage of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church of Esko MN, the Christian witness of the Walther family is included for the legacy readers benefit in the months and years to follow ....

One last update on Pastor Jeff from Christina, Hannah and Alex

From Christina:  "Jeff is no longer suffering. He is at home with the Lord. I know that God was working through Jeff during his illness. Look at how many people have been praying and growing close to each other and God during the past month. This is what our world needs! Our prayers have not been for nothing. God has a plan and Jeff is a part of it. I already miss Jeff's laugh, his goofiness and his joy for life. Things will be different that is for sure. I am extremely sad and the tears are flowing! I will always love him and I guess our next adventure will be in heaven. As always, God's got this!"

From Hannah: "Today, Dad went to be with the Lord. We surrounded dad with love, songs and prayers as he passed away peacefully. Dad will have no more suffering – no more fear. Today, it feels like a loss, but we know it's not. Dad wins. God wins. As I try to wrap my brain around this new normal, I am reminding myself that it is indeed not the end; it may be the end for his earthly life, but dad is in the best place he's ever been – the place he's been preaching about and talking about his entire life – Heaven. I won't stop praying and I won't stop believing. I can't wait to see you again, Daddy. I love you."

From Alex:  "I love you Dad. You have taught me so many things throughout my life. Never once did I expect to say see ya later this early on in life. However, I will certainly see you later, some day. I will keep praying about you and text you every day. Your passion for nature and the outdoors, camping, fishing, and hiking in national parks will forever be in my heart. I will cherish every moment we spent together as they are all already replaying in my mind. You have given so much to everyone else and cared so much for others before yourself. Now you get to enjoy your stay in Heaven's National Park. I miss and love you Dad. Rest in Peace."

May our good and gracious God continue to support the Walther family and others who mourn.

[here]

The passing of Reverend Walther was originally announced here.

Various Presidents have issued Thanksgiving Proclamations .. President Lincoln led the country through much more trying and deadly days that we are living in today.

Unlike the over secularized society of today, President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation was anything but mythical ... it focused of acknowledging thanksgiving to Almighty God.

Proclamation of Thanksgiving

This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving.
Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74-year-old magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on September 28, 1863, urging him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." She explained, "You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition and authoritive fixation, only, to become permanently, an American custom and institution."

Prior to this, each state scheduled its own Thanksgiving holiday at different times, mainly in New England and other Northern states. President Lincoln responded to Mrs. Hale's request immediately, unlike several of his predecessors, who ignored her petitions altogether. In her letter to Lincoln she mentioned that she had been advocating a national thanksgiving date for 15 years as the editor of Godey's Lady's Book. George Washington was the first president to proclaim a day of thanksgiving, issuing his request on October 3, 1789, exactly 74 years before Lincoln's.

The document below sets apart the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise." According to an April 1, 1864, letter from John Nicolay, one of President Lincoln's secretaries, this document was written by Secretary of State William Seward, and the original was in his handwriting. On October 3, 1863, fellow Cabinet member Gideon Welles recorded in his diary how he complimented Seward on his work. A year later the manuscript was sold to benefit Union troops.

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. 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. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, 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, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

[I'm Proud To Be An American]

I'm Proud To Be An American Lyrics

If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.
I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away.

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee,
across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea,

From Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA,
Well, there's pride in every American heart,
and it's time to stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I'd gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.

Possibly a bit more appropriate for July 4th .. but the title fits this thread.😎

[UPS Will Make Dry Ice, Offer Freezers for Vaccine Distribution]

UPS Will Make Dry Ice, Offer Freezers for Vaccine Distribution

United Parcel Service Inc. has set up its own dry ice production and will provide portable, super-cold freezers to its health care customers as the courier prepares for the massive roll out of vaccines against Covid-19.

UPS can make as much as 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of dry ice an hour near its Worldport air hub in Louisville, Kentucky, and can ship it the next day to U.S. and Canadian hospitals and clinics, according to a statement Tuesday. UPS will also source dry ice from third-party makers near air hubs in Dallas and Ontario, California.

Looks like the private sector logistics apparatus is all geared up to distribute the ultra cold China virus vaccine.

Are they doing this all on their own in anticipation of profits from the Vaccine distribution or is this investment courtesy of US taxpayers (and massive debt holders) through the CARES Act?

Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789

Washington issued a proclamation on October 3, 1789, designating Thursday, November 26 as a national day of thanks. In his proclamation, Washington declared that the necessity for such a day sprung from the Almighty's care of Americans prior to the Revolution, assistance to them in achieving independence, and help in establishing the constitutional government.

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-sources-2/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789/

I for one already am already proud to be an American and pray that nothing changes that.

It's great that we are in agreement ... being already proud to be an American and stating that America never ceased being great is saying the same thing in a slightly different manner.

Progress towards unity.👏👏😎