Comments on: Thanksgiving Derailed

By: Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 20:44:53 +0000

In reply to Stephanie Smith. The comment came on my Thanksgiving blog, but you've given me an early Christmas present: an eloquent, generous reminder of why I do what I do. Bless you, Stephanie, in your own ministry.

By: Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 19:44:04 +0000

After reading (lending and recommending) so many of your other books, I couldn’t pre-order “Where the Light Fell” fast enough. I made myself read slowly and take breaks to absorb material instead of devouring it!
Thank you for choosing in all your books to ponder, investigate, and analyze meaningful topics and then share thoughts of depth without pretense, formulaic answers, or simplistic interpretations. I have benefited from your candor, vulnerability, and efforts to understand and respect the complexities of people, issues, and Christianity.
Your work has nurtured my faith immensely, and I thank you for developing your craft to a level of excellence and investigating aspects of Christianity with courage and thoughtfulness. I believe one test of truth is whether it remains constant under intense scrutiny, and it’s refreshing reading material which has been poked and prodded under a floodlight and not just swept over with a flashlight.
May you find joy in knowing your work is earthly relevant and eternally significant for many people — including me.

By: Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 00:19:06 +0000

In reply to John Israel. Thanks, John. And I'm still a hacker on the golf course!

By: John Israel

John Israel — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 22:56:18 +0000

Philip,
I am reading through your Memoir for the second time. Thanks for laying bare your life for us all, must have been a deep journey for you to write. I can see segments that obviously impacted all the books you have written. Your Mother was right…you are a missionary to the world of every believer. Thanks for writing it!
John

By: Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 00:03:26 +0000

In reply to Joann Kern. To add to the "God-incidence," you now attend church with another speaker at the International Club in China!

By: Joann Kern

Joann Kern — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 23:53:50 +0000

We were in Beijing Thanksgiving 1988 and on the Sunday, worshipped at the International Club there. At the close of the service newcomers were asked to stand, give their name and home town, and say when they were leaving China, not to take out any contraband but rather to take mail / packages out to be mailed because the mail in China was so very unreliable. I stood and said, “My name is Joann Kern and we live in Greenwich, CT and will be leaving from Shanghai Dec. 2. Soon afterwards a woman came up to us, introduced herself and said she was the wife of the speaker that morning. She said she heard that we were from Greenwich, CT and by any chance, had we ever known Cathy and Dave Philips? We sure did! Dave was our pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Old Greenwich from 1980 until he and Cathy and family moved to Illinois! The woman said that she and her husband, who was with the World Bank, were in a Bible Study in Ethiopia with Dave and Cathy, when they were missionaries. She also said that the only time they were in Greenwich, CT Dave took them to a cottage in the woods for fellowship and prayer. We told her that the only time they were in Greenwich, CT, they were in our cottage! We all just stood in silence for a few moments, amazed at our God and His extraordinary gift to us of the Body of Christ.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 05:38:17 +0000

On Thanksgiving day when my daughter received a positive COVID test we prayed for God’s mercy as she needed to return to her family in Canada from a visit to your State in Boulder. After much prayer another test showed the first test was a false positive. This turned out to be a time of prayer for our entire family which in the end was a time we all came to realize that God is our source of All Thanksgiving. As I prayed the day away & spent time with Grace Notes, Scandal of Forgiveness and Vanishing Grace & your other inspired words to see me through the darkness. Praise God for your faithfulness to His calling on your life which again gives me reassurance of His hand in your life & mine! God bless you!

By: Brent Brindley

Brent Brindley — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 20:40:26 +0000

Thank you Philip. I also much enjoyed your memoir. Happy Thanksgiving.

By: Carla Vornheder

Carla Vornheder — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 18:24:48 +0000

Thank you for telling this story. It made me think of all the common things that I have to be thankful for. The thing I thank God most for is the lessons he has taught me about thanking Him for everything. It started as merely something I was learning to do as part of the verse I needed about being anxious for nothing. After I started carrying out God’s command though, it started to become a lifestyle. It’s hard to be depressed as you are thanking God for every blessing you see as you walk along the sidewalks. Long ago. I read a book by Tim LaHaye about How to Win Over Depression. He talked about exercising our will to choose what we are going to let occupy our minds. This in turn controls our moods, which then control our bodies. And I know from studying psychology for years that what we do with our bodies, in an interesting feedback loop, makes ou bodies produce Serotonin and the other neurotransmitters that allow us to continue feeling whatever we choose to feel. Philippians 4:8 comes to mind. If you fill your mind with Thanksgiving, it is such a wonderful gift. Sometimes my mind is contrary, wanting to whine about how poor people have told me I am. But I remember that if I got what I deserved, God’s word says that I deserve hell. Every good and perfect gift comes down to us from the Father of the Heavenly Lights, with whom there is no shifting shadow. If God is the source of everything in our lives, and if He is ever good, then He is always good. This verse insists that every single thing that we experience in this reality is, in His wise eyes, good. Maturing as a Christian is about learning to accept that, I think. So, as I said Thanksgiving is an every day gift of His training us to see life through His eyes.

By: Charles Castle

Charles Castle — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 17:13:15 +0000

Your Thanksgiving story reminded me of a trip I took with my parents to Mexico City for a Thanksgiving weekend. At age 20 I was by myself for one evening. Some events happened that made me feel unsafe, vulnerable and thankful for the blessings we have in America.