Putting God Back in the Holidays: Celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Birthdays, and 12 Other Special Occasions with Purpose

by Bill Thrasher, Penny Thrasher, Gary Chapman (Foreword by)

Overview

Instead of the joy-filled celebrations that we build up in our minds, the holidays (pick one, any one) can often become stress-filled, money-draining, joy-less days of the year that we just "want to get through." And it is by our own volition that we have refused too many times to allow our holiday celebrations to be the spiritual experience they are meant to be.

This book has been conceived and designed over 30 years as Dr. Bill Thrasher has spoken to thousands of people, helping them realize the spiritual battle that surrounds their celebration of the holidays. Littered with practical thoughts, ideas, experiences, and stories, Putting God Back in the Holidays will help you and your family celebrate holidays and birthdays with biblical truth in mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575678771
Publisher:	Moody Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

BILL THRASHER serves as the lead faculty member in the Master's Program in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship at Moody Theological Seminary. He is a frequent speaker for churches and retreats across the country. His ministry interests include campus discipleship, singles ministry, and evangelism. He is author of Believing God for His Best, A Journey to Victorious Praying, Principles of Christian Living from Romans 5-8, The Attributes of God in Pauline Theology, Living the Life God Has Planned, Putting God Back into the Holidays, and God As He Wants You to Know Him. Bill and his wife, Penny, live in the Chicago area and have three sons—Will, Michael, and David. His website is www.victoriouspraying.com.

PENNY THRASHER- Penny Thrasher was raised in a home given to hospitality and feels privileged to carry on that tradition, especially in hosting large holiday celebrations. She contributed to her husband's book, Believing God for His Best -- How to Marry Contentment and Singleness. Penny is in her 17th year of home schooling and enjoys serving in their church, being part of a prayer group which supports missionaries, and mentoring younger women. Bill and Penny have three sons, Will, Michael, and David.

Read an Excerpt

Putting God Back in the Holidays

Celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Birthdays, and 12 Other Special Occasions with Purpose

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By Bill Thrasher, Penny Thrasher, Pam Pugh

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2010 Bill Thrasher and Penny Thrasher
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-57567-877-1

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CHAPTER 1

Celebrating a New Years

As you read the Bible you will observe in the Old Testament the principles of giving the "first fruits" to the Lord.

Honor the Lord from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
—Proverbs 3:9–10

I once heard a Christian leader share how he had taken this principle and applied it to his time. He showed how as he gave the first few minutes of the day, the first day of the week, and the first part of the year to the Lord, he had experienced great blessing. His words certainly got my attention, and I began to ponder how I might apply them to my life. Though I was already making some attempt to give the first few minutes of each day and the first day of the week to the Lord, I had never thought about giving the first few days of the year to the Lord. On that April evening, I made a notation on my daily planner in the next year's January to give the first few days to the Lord.

THE GIFT OF DAYS

When January arrived I found myself worn out. However, as a professor in a college I had a few days before my classes began, and I told the Lord that I desired to present the days to Him for His purposes. Of course this should be true of any day, but in these few days I was able to be more available to Him.

As I sought the Lord a few ideas came into my mind. One was to go through my belongings and give away clothes and other things that I had not used in a few years. This enabled me to begin the New Year with a uncluttered apartment. As I looked through some past journals written during the last few years, three things began to surface. Then the idea came to me to let these be my key three prayer requests for that year. These three prayer requests became the framework for the goals I set for that year. (See Practical Help 2, page 24.)

How can one get started setting goals? The apostle Paul referred to his salvation experience as having been "laid hold of by Christ Jesus." He described his pursuit of God's plan for him as to "lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12). The idea is that when God saves an individual, He has on His heart a plan for him. Goal setting is not to be an exercise of planning out "our" dreams, but rather laying hold of the dreams that God has put in our minds and hearts as we delight in Him. The achievement of this is referred to as a "prize" that one is to pursue with all their heart (verse 14).

WORTHWHILE RESOLUTIONS

Take out a sheet of paper and on the top of it write this question: "God, what do You desire me to trust You for in regard to my life?" This is the starting place for your goals. It does not need to be completed in one sitting. Keep it before you and trust God to make it clearer as you seek Him day by day. Ask Him to both clarify it and confirm it.

At the beginning of each year, trust God for goals during the year that will aid you in fulfilling your life goals. I have found it helpful to use these categories (see Practical Help 1, page 22):

GOALS

• Spiritual

• Relational

• Financial

• Intellectual

• Recreational

• Vocational

• Physical

• Family

You should not necessarily feel compelled to use all these categories, and you may find it helpful to add others. These goals are to aid you in staying on course to fulfill God's will.

Andrew Murray speaks of three stages in the Christian life. The first stage is characterized by making resolutions and determining to keep them in your strength. The failure that comes from this leads to the second stage of the Christian life. The first stage of "I can do it" is replaced by "I can't" —when you feel that setting goals will only lead to failure and defeat. The third stage is characterized by the attitude of "I can't, but I must and I am going to trust God to do it."

It is in the spirit of the third stage that one finds freedom in setting goals. Therefore, I state my aspiration for the New Year in prayers and dependence on God. I have sought God for the past twenty-five years to give me three key prayer requests for the year. These three prayers set the foundation for any other goal for the year.

LOVE AS THE FOUNDATION

The first year I did this I came to grips with the importance of love.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1–3)

Whatever love was, I could not help but conclude that it was unquestionably preeminent. I also noted the truth of 1 John 4:19: "We love, because He first loved us."

If love was the most important thing in life, and if my love for God and others is only a response to His love for me, then I sensed what I needed to trust God for that year—"Lord, overwhelm me with Your love for me."

How do you know if you are overwhelmed with love? It is when you sense that He loves you in a way that no one else ever will or can. It is coming to grips with the truth that you desire and need One to love you who cannot get His mind off you. Listen to Psalm 139:17–18:

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.

God is constantly thinking about you!

This familiar passage opened up to me. Even Romans 5:5–10 took on new meaning one summer day that year when emotionally I was feeling ungodly. God set His love upon us when we were ungodly, helpless, sinners, and His enemies. These are not only verses to share with the unsaved but also to digest each day as a Christian!

Every time I saw a verse that encouraged me to love, I began to step back and ask God to show me how He loved me that way first. Remember, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). For example, God tells us that a "friend loves at all times" (Proverbs 17:17). I would respond, "Lord, I know You desire me to be that kind of friend, but first help me to digest that You are that kind of friend to me!"

Include in your plan seeking the Lord and asking Him what He desires to do in and through you that year.

Verse 9 of Proverbs 17 tells us that while repeating past failure is one way to separate intimate friends, forgiveness is a way of seeking to build a relationship of love. This is what God desires for us in our human relationships with each other, and it is based on what He does for us. In our relationship with Him, what would it be like if every time you awakened, God reminded you of every failure you have ever done? That is not how He treats His children because He is seeking to build a loving relationship with them! These are some of the insights God gave me in response to trusting Him that year with the prayer "Overwhelm me with Your love."

How can you celebrate each New Year? Include in your plan seeking the Lord and asking Him what He desires to do in and through you that year. Then trust him to do it (see Practical Help 2 for an example of some of my past years' prayer requests)! Remember that He is a living God and He responds to the humble prayers of His people. We will talk more about goals in the next chapter.

PENNY'S Thoughts

We have friends down the block who followed the leading of the Lord and hosted a gathering with friends to seek Him together as they welcomed the New Year. What a great idea! Here is their invitation:

NEW YEAR'S PRAYER AND PRAISE

But you, dear friends, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests ... building yourselves up in your most holy faith. Colossians 4:2; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20

The occasion was held on the evening of December 31 starting around nine o'clock and going until midnight. In this case, families left their children with babysitters so the adults could spend time praying in the New Year. You might want to hire child care in the home of the host; whatever works for your situation.

After a time of refreshments, the host led out, following the ACTS model of prayer. This model is practical for both personal and corporate prayer, and is adaptable for all ages. That time was so special that the guests wanted to do it again the next year!

ACTS:

A—adoration. Praise God for who He is; His name, attributes, character. If desired, sing hymns of praise and adoration.

C—confession. Humble yourselves before God, confessing any known sins and asking His Holy Spirit to reveal sin you might not be aware of.

T—thanksgiving. Look over the past year and thank God for answers to prayer, specific blessings, and so on.

S—supplication. This is the time in your prayer to make your requests according to His Word. For New Year's especially, you might direct prayer toward the salvation of family, friends, coworkers; personal spiritual growth; the universal church; the persecuted church; our nation and its leaders; ministry in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods.

PRACTICAL Help 1

Holiday Prayers and Goals for a New Year

This is a sheet I pass out to my family members as an encouragement for each of us to put down our goals for the New Year. These are six possible things to trust God for during the holidays and the coming year.

1. Trust Jesus to enhance your relationship with Him.

2. Trust Jesus to give you rest and refresh you.

3. Trust Jesus to show you how to be a vessel of love.

4. Trust Jesus to keep a measure of discipline in your life.

5. Trust Jesus to prepare you for any special temptations.

6. Trust Jesus to give you His goals for the New Year.

Here is an example of how you might pray:

"Dear Lord, during this year I ask that You show me how to be a vessel of Your love. Develop my character so I reflect Your love. Show me where I need to reach out, perhaps to neighbors who may need kindness." [for children: "Help me be a friend to _____ at school/church. Sometimes the kids make fun of him/her and it's hard for me to be nice. Please help me and help ____ know You love him/her."]

"Lord, You know that I've been critical of my boss. I am often tempted to talk about him to my coworkers, and I usually give in to this temptation. Keep the goal before me of being alert when I am tempted and to call on You to resist." [for children: "Dear God, help me not join in when kids are making fun of our teacher."]

Consider goals in some of these or other areas; here are a few examples to get you started, though your list might look very different!

SPIRITUAL LIFE: memorize ten new verses of Scripture; invite a particular friend or neighbor to an event at church; follow a Bible-reading plan

RELATIONSHIPS: cultivate existing ones and reach out to make new ones; be intentional about spending time alone with each child

PHYSICAL/CARE FOR BODY: walk three times a week

INTELLECTUAL GROWTH: read ten books during the year

FINANCES: make a budget and evaluate purchases each month

RECREATION: sign up for a _____ class with _____

VOCATION: attend a conference; learn a new technique

SCHOOL/ACADEMICS: finish homework before leisure time

OUTREACH: sign up to be a pen pal to someone in prison

OTHER:

PRACTICAL HELP 2

Examples of First-of-Year Prayer Requests

(These are some of the request that I have prayed over the years. Choose a few that are most meaningful to you. You may want to adapt these for your children, depending on their maturity levels.)

• Overwhelm me with Your love so that I can respond by more fully loving You (1 John 4:19).

• Open my eyes to see the beauty of Your character in a way that wins my complete heart to You.

• Restore me to my first-love relationship with You (Revelation 2:4).

• Teach me what it means that all things belong to me in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21–23).

• Free me from any unhealthy compulsions.

• Teach me both the obstacles and the refreshing insights that lead to true joy.

• Enable me to love with Your light load and reject all false burdens that lead to a false compassion.

• Show me how and when to benefit from the discipline of silence.

• Open my eyes to see Your adequacy and generosity.

• May my imagination be fully presented to Your control.

• Overwhelm me with Your mercy.

• Deliver me from my fears by letting me seek God at every point of fear (Psalm 34:4).

• May my eating, exercises, and dress be under Your control.

• Show me how I fail to enjoy the grace of God in the Christian life.

• Teach me Spirit-led praise in my life.

• Guide me in processing all unrighteous anger in my life.

• Build a godly contentment, humility, and fear of You in my life.

• Teach me to enjoy life to the glory of God.

• Lead me into a refreshing and encouraging intimacy with You and Your people.

• Give me an eternal perspective that grasps the reality of heaven and hell and my role as a pilgrim on this earth.

• Show me how to be used by You to raise up prayer among Your people.

• Give me wisdom to understand my role and responsibility as a parent.

• Give me wisdom to have a healthy view of myself.

• Develop in me a Spirit-led initiative and deliver me from an unscriptural passivity that causes me to be influenced in ungodly ways.

• Flood my heart with a knowledge of Your acceptance and understanding.

• Develop in me a fear of God.

• Develop in me a heart of praise.

• Give me godly ambitions for eternal things.

• Show me how to devote myself to refreshing prayer and love the world through my prayers.

• Show me how to honor You by using Your Sabbath principle.

• Guide me to fully obeying You in seeking to win the hearts of my family to the Lord.

• Develop in me the heart of a "Mary" who knows how to enjoy You and live in peace (Luke 10:38–42).

• Put in me a trust in Your sovereignty in my life.

• Let me give You the firstfruits of my money and my time.

• Let me remember the truth that I walk with an all-powerful God each day.

• Put in me a trust in regard to the results of all ministry efforts (Mark 4:26–29).

• Build in me a heart of worship, to love, fear, and seek God.

• Enable me to fulfill my vows to You.

• Build the sense of responsibility in me and my family and grace us with the capabilities to do our responsibilities.

• Put in my heart an awe of You that leads to an intimacy with You.

• Teach me and my sons what it means to be a man and prepare us for all that it is to lead.

• May I be emotionally focused on Christ and not an idol.

• Give me the time alone I need to stay refreshed in You.

• Give me an understanding of what it means to live under grace and let me display this to my loved ones.

CHAPTER 2

Setting Goals for the New Year

If you have not taken out a sheet of paper and written on the top of it the question, "Lord, what do You desire for my life?", plan when you will do so. If all you do is to simply write the question, it is a start. As you live life before the Lord, be open to conversations, experiences, and insights from Scripture that will prompt thoughts that will help you clarify your deepest heart longings. Commit these to the Lord in prayer and trust Him with them. "He is able to guard" what we entrust to Him (2 Timothy 1:12).

I try to take two days a year to devote to trusting God to confirm my life direction. I may not always be able to clear myself from all other responsibilities on these days, but I do trust the Lord to confirm the direction of my life and adjust any pursuits that need to be omitted or added. At the end of the day I write down any thought that I desire to record for further reflection.

One year, at the end of a summer that, at best, would be evaluated as mediocre in regard to my relationship to the Lord, I looked at the papers where I had written down what I was trusting God for in my life. As I read it I came to two conclusions. One was that my life goal was not as clear to me as I thought it was, and secondly I was not as committed to it as I thought. I rewrote all that I had written, and it was at that time that I began to take two days a year—one in December and one in May—to trust God to confirm and adjust my life direction.

TOO MUCH INFO?

My life vision is due in large part to a prayer that God did not answer. I earnestly prayed for God to show me His plan for my whole life. I told Him that if He would allow me to envision my future work, I would use all my schooling to consciously prepare for it. It seemed to me that God had given Hudson Taylor a clear vision to work in China, which enabled him to diligently prepare for this work while still living in his homeland of England. I cried to God for this, but He never gave it. As I shared this experience with a pastor I was working with, he replied, "You are the kind of person that if God gave you that, you would miss out on the present in thinking about the future."

THE TRUE GOAL

John Wesley instructed his followers, "Don't seek for a ministry but anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life." If God had given me as clear a vision of what He wanted me to do, as I desired, I would have missed out on the developmental aspects of God's will for me—what He wanted me to become.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Putting God Back in the Holidays by Bill Thrasher, Penny Thrasher, Pam Pugh. Copyright © 2010 Bill Thrasher and Penny Thrasher. Excerpted by permission of Moody Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

SECTION ONE – NEW YEARS
1. REALIZING THE SPIRITUAL PRESSURE OF THE HOLIDAYS
2. CELEBRATING A NEW YEAR
3. SETTING GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

SECTION TWO - BIRTHDAYS
4. CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAYS OF YOUR CHILDREN
5. CELEBRATING SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAYS
6. HOSTING A “BLESSING” PARTY

SECTION THREE – GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER
7. ENTERING INTO THE MEANING OF GOOD FRIDAY
8. LIVING IN LIGHT OF THE MEANING OF EASTER

SECTION FOUR – THANKSGIVING
9. IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING
10. UNLEASHING THE SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL OF THANKSGIVING
11. CULTIVATING A SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING – PART I
12. CULTIVATING A SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING – PART II

SECTION FIVE – CHRISTMAS
13. WELCOMING THE LORD TO YOUR HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
14.  ENJOYING THE LORD IN THE HOLIDAYS
15. MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE IN THE HOLIDAYS
16. ENHANCING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST IN THE HOLIDAYS
17. TRUSTING GOD FOR REST AND REFRESHMENT IN THE HOLIDAYS
18. LEARNING TO BE A CHANNEL OF GOD’S LOVE IN THE HOLIDAYS
19. NOT FORGETTING THE “D” WORD DURING THE HOLIDAYS
20. PREPARING FOR TEMPTATION DURING HOLIDAYS

SECTION SIX – OTHER HOLIDAYS
21. CELEBRATING MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
22. EXPERIENCING CHRIST’S LOVE ON VALENTINE'S DAY
23. HONORING A SOVEREIGN GOD ON PRESIDENTS' DAY
24. CULTIVATING A MISSIONARY SPIRIT ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY
25. HONORING YOUR LORD AS YOU HONOR YOUR PARENTS (FATHER'S DAY & MOTHER'S DAY)
26. REJOICING IN THE FREEDOM THAT WE HAVE IN CHRIST (INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS)
27. HONORING THE LORD ON LABOR DAY
28. RETHINKING HALLOWEEN

Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

FOR THE BACK OF THE BOOK ONLY:


This is a book that is long overdue, and I am grateful for the time and energy that Bill and his wife Penny have put into its preparation. It is my prayer that this book will help many Christians do what they sincerely desire to do: take every opportunity to receive and reflect the love of Christ to family and friends.

From the Foreword by New York Times #1 Bestselling author: Gary Chapman, Ph.D.

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This book will draw you closer to Christ and to each other and help you celebrate milestones in meaningful ways. I highly recommend it.

Chris Fabry
Author and radio host

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It’s one thing to keep your kids focused on God during Christmas and Easter, but quite another to help them see the spiritual significance of Valentine’s Day or Arbor Day.  Bill and Penny Thrasher’s book will help families think biblically about holidays throughout the calendar year.

Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family

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FOR THE INSIDES:

It’s one thing to keep your kids focused on God during Christmas and Easter, but quite another to help them see the spiritual significance of Valentine’s Day or Arbor Day.  Bill and Penny Thrasher’s book will help families think biblically about holidays throughout the calendar year.

Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family

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"I love holidays! They are filled with family, fun and an opportunity to step away from my “day job” for a change of pace. Yet sometimes our anticipation of the holiday outweighs the actual experience. For some, holidays are full of haunting memories of the past. So how do we make the best of holiday celebrations? Bill Thrasher has some helpful ideas that will take your holidays to the next level."

Joseph M. Stowell
President, Cornerstone University

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“We often give but a passing nod toward traditional holidays without realizing that they were intended originally to be ‘holy days.’ This book will help put devotion on the agenda for our regular rhythms of life throughout the year, a sorely needed issue for many of us.”

Josh Moody
Senior Pastor
College Church, Wheaton, Illinois

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“If you are concerned that the Christian holidays are becoming muted in the midst of the growing welter of state and national holidays—do not despair. Bill and Penny Thrasher’s Putting God Back in the Holidays shows how you can better exalt Christ through the great days of the church calendar and, likewise, infuse the secular holidays with an elevating, life-giving spirit. What a positive read this is! And, because I know the Thrasher family, I can say that they live it out. Read this book and be encouraged and enriched.”

R. Kent Hughes
Senior Pastor Emeritus
College Church, Wheaton, Illinois

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“The Thrashers have written a very valuable book to help with holiday advice and direction. An important and timely read.”

Pat Williams
Senior Vice President
Orlando Magic

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“One of the most practical books ever on relationships and celebrating God’s love through the holidays all year round. This book will draw you closer to Christ and to each other and help you celebrate milestones in meaningful ways. I highly recommend it.”

Chris Fabry
Author and radio host

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 “Holidays are often endured, not enjoyed. While anticipated, the net outcome for families today is usually fatigue and frustration. Having navigated, often unsuccessfully, my family through the maze of holidays, I rejoice in this important work by Bill and Penny Thrasher. Any parents who wishes to transform their holiday experience needs to ponder their words carefully. They speak as practitioners, not theorists. They offer encouragement, not judgment. May you find refreshment in this book!”

Paul Nyquist
President
Moody Bible Institute 

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“Holidays are some of the busiest times of the year. It is so easy to get caught up in the details of preparing for the events surrounding the holiday. Bill and Penny show how each holiday can have spiritual significance for the body of Christ as well as each of us individually. Then they give us practical ways we can glorify God through the holidays and be conforming ourselves to the image of His dear Son.”

Mike Smith
President
Home School Legal Defense Association