MIND OF CHRIST MINISTRIES, INC.
PASTOR THOMAS E. OGLESBY
P.O. BOX 85
NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY 07028
website: mindofchristministries.net
Phone: 973-818-2750
e-mail: mindofchrist@verizon.net
NOVEMBER 2021
“Let Us Give Thanks”
Dear Believer(s):
In the midst of all the worldly turmoil, the stress, the pressure, and the problems of Our Nation, the troubles of Our communities, the trials of Our families and of course the individual struggles we are confronted with daily. How can I not mention the Covid-19 virus, it has changed our lives. The deaths, the sicknesses, the media news coverage, the politics Who do we turn to? We go to God in prayer. God is still on the Throne. He is All Powerful, and He is still answering prayers of believers. I challenge you to go to God in prayer for all of your needs. The song “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” has some very powerful verses. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
I ask you to join with me on Thanksgiving Day praying for Our Families, Our Communities, Our Nation, and the World. Let us also pray for our business, political and spiritual leaders. Please during Thanksgiving Day spend time in prayer. You decide the time of day and how long you will spend in prayer. You will be blessed by spending time with the Heavenly Father.
I am asking that you mail or e-mail me your desperate and urgent prayer needs. I will be in prayer several hours on Thanksgiving Day. Please get your prayer request to me before Thanksgiving Day.
What do I have to be thankful about? Who really cares about me? Who can solve all of the problems, trials, and troubles I face?
Oh! But there is much more to a Christian’s life than the natural circumstances and the events of the world. I pray that you are a Christian. Jesus said, “And lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20) Our Jesus is with us all the time. It does not matter what we face. Jesus can solve our problems and provide for our needs. The Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) We must put our total faith in God and trust Him. He will bring us through. God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)
We are in the world, but we do not belong to it. Nor are we run by it! The God we serve controls everything and when we give and are obedient to Him, He will take care of you and me. We serve a Higher Power. The God who is love and The God who loves to bless His people.
As I review this year and what God has done through this ministry, it was “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6) It was only by the Spirit of God that we continued spreading the Message of the Gospel and sharing His love in ways we had never done before.
I want you to be thankful. Why Pastor Oglesby? Because God is moving now and performing miracles for His people. I want you to be blessed. Do not forget to send in your prayer request or e-mail it. I know that we will shout the victory together. Why? Because God will answer our prayers.
Many times, we become very apprehensive about things we are faced with and do not want to move out of our comfort zone. But be bold and be obedient to God. There are times we become weary, tired and doubting. But God’s Spirit can lift us up, show us the way and the impossible becomes possible with Him. Praise God! I want to help you by praying with you. Matthew 18:19 says, “And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” As you and I agree in prayer, God will answer our prayer. The key is not to give up! “And let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)
How did Thanksgiving Day come about? Thanksgiving is a day that many spend with family and friends. We eat traditional meals and watch parades and football games. But what was the original meaning of Thanksgiving? It was a Day that was dedicated to giving thanks to the Lord!
President Abraham Lincoln was the one who made the official proclamation, which dedicated the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. But there is a very important story behind Thanksgiving Day.
The story begins when the Pilgrims landed in America. Pilgrims were Christians who left their homeland in search of religious freedom. They were men and women who believed in thanking God in every situation. For example, one group landed on the East Coast, where they discovered an iron pot containing thirty-six ears of corn which had mysteriously been left there. At first, they did not know what to do with the corn, they finally decided to take it on board the ship, and they gave thanks and praise to God for it. Next, they landed in the area where Massachusetts is today; Indians immediately attacked them. Once the fighting ended, miraculously, no one was hurt! What did they do? They got down on their knees and gave thanks and praise to God!
Then they sailed off again, hoping to establish a settlement before winter, but ran into a terrible storm which completely destroyed the rudder of the ship. Finally, they drifted safely into a bay. They were so grateful to God for delivering them from the storm that they stayed on board the ship to pray and give thanks to God! The next day they went ashore and found a twenty-acre plot of land which had been cleared by the same Indians that had attacked them before! The whole tribe had died from disease, so the Pilgrims decided to stay there.
The Pilgrims first winter in this new land was so hard that many of them died. The next winter was not much better. They began with plenty of food from a bumper corn crop that first spring, but halfway through the second winter they had to go on daily rations. Fearing for their survival they turned to the Lord for a time of fasting and prayer! Then something happened which just did not happen in those days, a ship landed in the bay, and they met with the Captain of the ship, who traded corn for their beaver pelts, and they were able to survive the winter!
Notice that during those first years of hardship, the Pilgrims were on their knees praying that they could sustain life in this new land. Why was that so important to them? Because they did not want to go back to England where they could not express their religion freely! And each fall they set aside a day of Thanksgiving to God for all the good things He had done for them throughout the year!
I am encouraging all of my friend’s and your friends, let’s go back to our Christian roots this Thanksgiving Day and give thanks and Praise to God, Our Heavenly Father, just like the Pilgrims did.
Let’s all get on our knees and Pray. Join me now: “Lord, we lift up our hearts to you and say, we thank you for our lives, we thank you for our families, we thank you for America, and we thank you for
your goodness, mercy and love. We truly give you thanks, and praise for all things and all situations. Amen!”
Many times, we take the smallest blessings for granted. We should remember to be thankful for small, as well as, great blessings, for all blessings come from God. Let us reach out with God’s Spirit of love to those in our immediate families, as well as others to proclaim the Good News that Jesus is alive and is still performing great Miracles.
As in previous years, I want to caution Believers how the devil uses the time leading up to, during, and after the Holiday Season to steal, kill, and destroy. The devil is able to do this because so many people seem to lose their focus on God. They instead concentrate more on the things of the world rather than godly things. Let’s be sure to eliminate as much as we can, rushing, stress, extreme pressure situations, and financial pitfalls. We can do this by godly planning and seeking God’s guidance during these times. Please do not put yourself under intense pressure by rushing and being impatient. Please follow all necessary health guidelines and use the wisdom of God concerning the coronavirus.
It’s sad but it is true. Large numbers of individuals will not live to see the New Year. They will be killed by the devices of satan. During the Holiday Season we experience more killings, robberies, and scams by crooks to steal from us. We experience more fires, suicides, and accidents of all types. Individuals experience heart attacks, and other health problems. We see a large increase in bitter family disagreements, and temper explosions which lead to physical and mental harm. The coronavirus also adds to the problems we are facing.
I greatly appreciate all your prayers and financial help. Without your giving and blessing this ministry, we could not bless others by spreading God’s Word and Love. As you give expect to be blessed, according to Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Happy Thanksgiving With God’s Blessings,
Pastor Thomas Oglesby &Family
Pastor Thomas Oglesby& Family
