The Alex McFarland Show-32-Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show.

In the New Testament book of Philippians, the Word of God says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Well, welcome to the program.

Alex McFarland here. So glad you're listening. And we just celebrated Thanksgiving.

As I record this, it's Thanksgiving week, and I hope you had a good time with your family. But I'm going to talk about today the benefits of cultivating a grateful heart. The Word of God has so much to say about gratitude and acknowledging the goodness of God, both in Old and New Testaments. I just read that Philippians passage from the Apostle Paul, and you may recall that Philippians are a part of the New Testament that are called the prison epistles.

I mean, you think about it. Paul was incarcerated, awaiting death in a jail cell, but really like a dungeon. It's rather poignant. Paul says, you know, it's cold, it's winter, please bring my cloak. And you can just imagine this valiant minister of the gospel risking death, so many things the Apostle Paul went through in his service to the Lord.

And now he's in a cold dungeon and awaiting death. But he says, do not be anxious. Pray, supplicate, call out to God, and in all of these things give thanks.

And what's going to happen? The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament, Psalm 75 is just beautiful.

Psalm 75 says unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, for that thy name is near and thy wondrous works declare. I mean, you think about the fact that you know who God is. You know there is a God. You've heard about Jesus.

You know that he went to the cross to pay for your sins, and you can put your faith in Christ and be forgiven. You look around. I often, in all my travels around America and the world, I've seen a lot of sunrises and I've seen a lot of sunsets.

And I've seen canyons, the Grand Canyon, the Palo Duro Canyon, so many places around the world that I go and I just say, God, I give you glory for your wondrous works. I think about the leading of God. You know, in Psalm 75 that I alluded to, it says promotion does not come from the east or from the west or the north or south. But God is the judge.

He puts down one and sets up another. Verse 8 of Psalm 75 says there's a cup in the Lord's hand. And there's a cup of blessing, there's a cup of judgment, there's a cup of God's righteousness, there's his providential sovereign control over history, and it says I will declare this forever and sing the praises to the God of Jacob. I want to talk about thanksgiving for just a few moments. I hope, like I said, I hope you had a good time with your family and hope you got to do some things that caused you to pause and pray and be grateful to God. But let's talk about the benefits of thanksgiving. And I'm going to cite a few studies from medical and psychological schools around the country, but I want to share one of the things that was kind of a reality check for me, a wake-up call.

I've shared this story before. Twenty years ago, the Billy Graham ministry had a conference for evangelists in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And I went to that, I was invited, it was a great privilege to be invited, but for two weeks we went to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We heard speakers, Chuck Colson, Franklin Graham, everybody you've ever heard of, many of whom are in heaven now.

Billy Graham spoke via video because he was ill, couldn't be there in person. But imagine Amsterdam 2000, learning song leading from Cliff Barrows, learning personal evangelism from Bill Bright of Campus Crusade. It was just amazing. And there were, I don't know, fifteen or eighteen thousand men and women from all over the world. Hands down, Amsterdam 2000 was the biggest gathering of evangelists in world history.

It was great. So many things I could tell you, and we went out over the city of Amsterdam and led people to Christ, and you've heard of all the seedy, sordid things that go on in Amsterdam, and we saw it all. Drugs, prostitution, violence. I saw a stabbing one morning on the train going into the city at 5.45 in the morning.

We saw a culture that had forgotten their Christian foundations. I went in an A&P grocery store. Do you remember A&P?

Remember those? So I go in there to try to find some gum, and just right there at the cash register for all the kids to see was the worst, most unspeakably vile, hardcore pornography. And I don't mean like a girl in a bathing suit.

I'm talking nasty, horrid stuff. And I just turned away. And there it was, just for people to see and look at.

That's a culture that's forgotten God. And we were there to share the gospel. But when I got my papers about traveling over to the Netherlands, there were a couple of options. You could stay in the city of Amsterdam in a hotel. There was a hotel called the Golden Tulip, and a couple of others. Or you could stay at a place called Jaerbers.

Y-A-A-B-E-R-S. Jaerbers. And they said that, you know, Jaerbers was much more economical. It was a train ride into the city, and we had to be there every morning at 6 a.m., which would necessitate getting up pretty early.

But, you know, it was way, way, way, way more affordable, so I opted to stay at Jaerbers. Well, flew to Amsterdam. My plane was delayed by 24 hours. By the time I had gotten to the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, I'd been up about 30 hours.

I hadn't had a bath or brushed my teeth. I was really tired, really worn out. So we take a bus, we ride, we ride, we ride forever, and we're at Jaerbers.

Well, let me tell you, Jaerbers was this. A heavy equipment warehouse with a dirt floor. And into this, they've put like 10,000 steel cots. And there were 10,000 men from all over the world, every ethnicity.

And I'm just going to tell you, my pampered little American sensibilities, people didn't smell like I smelled, they didn't bathe and look like I was used to being around, but they were God's servants from around the world. So I'm looking and I think, well, at least I'll get a shower. And there were 400 people ahead of me in line for the shower.

And I thought, I cannot do this for the next two weeks. Well, I go, I walk, I walk down alphabet letters, numbers, I find my steel cot. And there were these little quads with like eight cots per little cubicle. On my cot was a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and several bottles of water. And they said, notify a steward when you need more. I mean, it was sparse. Well, a Texan that I didn't know was looking and like myself, he was like, look, let's go in halves and we'll go up to town and we'll get a hotel room. I'm not going to stay on a steel cot in a warehouse for the next two weeks. And I said, yeah, right.

As soon as I get up to the main conference, we'll fan out, we'll find us a hotel. Well, about that time a man came and he looked like the Maharishi. He was a little diminutive Indian man.

If you've ever seen like the Beatles' Maharishi, this guy could have been his stunt double. And I watched him and he stared at the cot and he stared at the block of cheese and he stared at the piece of bread. And he fell to his knees weeping. And I could hear this man barely audible saying, Oh God, thank you. Thank you. Oh Lord, such bounty.

I'm not worthy. And he rubbed his hand over this two inch thick mattress on a steel cot. Look, any mattress in solitary confinement in a jail probably would have been a thicker mattress. And one of the stewards of the building looked at me and he said, you got to understand, for many of these people from North and South Korea, all over India, developing nations, a steel cot and a block of cheese and bottles of water, this is the finest accommodation they'll enjoy in their entire lives. And conviction fell over me and I found my Texas friend and I said, you know, I'm not going to get a hotel.

Frankly, I'm not even worthy to sleep next to these guys, giving their life for the gospel, grateful to have two weeks of Bible training and eat bread and cheese and then go home and die in the cause of the Great Commission. Folks, we've got so much for which to be grateful. We've got to take a break. We're going to come back. We're going to talk more about the psychological benefits of being grateful on this edition of the Alex McFarland show. Don't go away. We're back right after this.

Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. What are you doing next summer?

Hey, how about this? I want to invite you to join me in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, August 6th through 11th, 2023, for the faith and family retreat. It's going to be awesome. We'll talk about foundational things. What does it mean to be a disciple?

How can you defend your faith, family time, concerts, renewal of wedding vows? It's going to be great. Then fun, a trip to Dollywood.

Who wouldn't like that? And then faith in action. There'll be a mission outreach talking to people about Christ. So again, August 6th through 11th, 2023, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Go to faithandfamilyretreat.com. I hope to see you there. He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarland show. Welcome back.

Alex McFarland here. I hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving week and weekend. And, you know, there's a French proverb that says gratitude is the memory of the heart. And giving thanks is healthy. It's good for you. Not only is it biblical and it's appropriate, but I've got a study here in front of me, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 14, 2021.

So just a little over a year ago. And you can read this at health.harvard.edu. This is a study from Harvard Med. It says gratitude, giving thanks can make you happier. The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness or gratefulness. And here's what they say, quote, in positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive, more positive emotions.

They are able to relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships. Gratitude is good for you. Now, the thing we're going to discover here is that really gratitude is a choice. Now, more research on gratitude in addition to the Harvard Med School. Really, the guru of gratitude in our lifetimes, at least from a medical and mental health standpoint, is Dr. Robert Emmons, E-M-M-O-N-S, UC Davis, University of California, Davis. Along with Dr. Michael McCullough of the University of Miami, they've done much research into gratitude.

Now, listen to this. In one study, they asked participants to write a few sentences each week just focusing on particular topics. And they were to write things that they were grateful about. Now, a different group was instructed, write down two or three things of irritations, things that displease them. And the third group was just to write about events of the week. It doesn't matter, positive, negative, just write things.

Okay, after ten weeks, listen to this. Those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic, felt better about their lives, they were exercising more, had better metabolism, less visits to the doctor, and they just had a general, better sense of well-being. Those who had written down the two or three things that bothered them, aggravation, negative, they were more depressed, more lethargic, less energy. I mean, clearly, being intentional and thinking about what you're grateful for was correlated with better mental health and just a better outlook.

Now, another leading researcher in this field, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, S-E-L-I-G-M-A-N, if I'm pronouncing that correctly, I'm not sure if I am or am not, but he is a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Well, he tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people and compared this with a control group who was assigned to write about some of their early memories. Alright, now, one of the assignments of the week was to write a letter of gratitude to someone in their past that had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness. And what was interesting, the people that were instructed to think back, and this goes back to my quote about gratitude is the memory of the heart, many people were able to remember things, kindnesses, that people had done years past that had never been properly thanked. And what it did, as people consciously remembered things for which they were grateful, it made them think of other things that they were grateful for. And then one group was instructed to try, if they could, to deliver a letter of gratitude, and what was interesting was that for more than 30 days, people felt better, they had a brighter outlook, they were more cheerful, and not only remembering and reflecting on things they were grateful for, but tangibly taking to the people and reconnecting, and in person, eye to eye, saying, hey, you remember this? Thank you.

Very, very healthy. Now, psychologists are always looking for cause and effect, and psychologists are reluctant to say, okay, there's a direct correlation between this action and that effect, but overall, unequivocally, psychologists say that gratitude is positive. Now, another outcome is that, quote, being grateful improves relationships. For example, there was a study of couples, and individuals that took time to express appreciation to their spouse not only felt more positive toward the other person, but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about the relationship. In other words, gratitude made for healthier, more fruitful communication.

And anybody will tell you, and I will tell you as a counselor and as a pastor, one of the biggest things that any relationship needs is communication. And an avenue toward more healthy, more consistent, and more respectful communication is gratitude. Now, let's talk about the workplace. Another study says managers who remember to say thank you to the people who work for them find that those employees are motivated to work harder. Researchers at the Horton School at the University of Pennsylvania randomly divided different workers, and these happen to be people in the endowment program of the school.

These people were making phone calls to alumni, donors, things like that. A second group worked on a different day, and the second group would get a thank you from the director of annual giving. They found out, and the workers were not told that they were being studied, but in this and several other contexts, employees that were given just a very small daily thank you, hey, I'm proud of you, you're doing a good job, we appreciate it, just a little, like we say, attaboy, were 50% more productive. And this held true for a number of different disciplines. Now, interestingly, children and adolescents who were taught to write a handwritten thank you letter, just something simple.

Children, they were happier, had a better sense of well-being, and were generally more stable in their emotions, their attitudes, and their behaviors. Psychologists said, quote, gratitude is an attainment associated with emotional maturity. Well, when we come back, we're going to talk about gratitude, and seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude from, yes, the Word of God says things like this, but from the field of mental health and medicine.

Stay tuned, we're going to come right back, and we're going to talk about the benefits of being grateful. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com, or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. You know, we often celebrate Thanksgiving, we talk about the pilgrims, and we've done many, many programs on that, and I've written a lot about that. The signing of the Mayflower Compact, our first document of civil government, which may have been signed November 11, may have been signed November 21, or may have been signed December 11, 1620.

I don't know if you know that. There is dispute over when the Mayflower Compact was signed, but the people disembarked from the Mayflower. You may recall the Speedwell ship didn't make it across the Atlantic, and the pilgrims set up camp by spring, half the pilgrims were dead, and nevertheless, by the next fall they were giving thanks to God, and our nation to this day has been a nation of gratitude and thanksgiving. And this message I felt led to do today is for each one of us, because we've got so much for which to be grateful. Life, family, neighbors, salvation. I want to say we have a lot to be thankful for in terms of responsibilities. Do you know it is a blessing to have responsibilities?

It really is. And I want to say this. I am thankful for each one of you all who pray for this ministry. You know, Alex McFarland Ministries, Truth for a New Generation, the viral truth clubs, television, radio, publishing, events. We've got youth camps next summer, and frankly, we need to raise about $50,000 to bring roughly 1,000 kids to camp next summer.

Last summer of 2022, we had 650 youth. This upcoming summer, 2023, more than 1,000 teenagers will learn biblical worldview from what we do, and really, all things considered, it costs about $450 to $500 to give a child a week at camp. Your tax-deductible donation will be very, very fruitfully handled to impart a love of God and country to the kids before us. And so I want to ask you to give.

You can give securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You can mail a donation in to PO Box 485, Pleasant Garden, NC 27313. And for each and every one of you, you drive to see me when I'm on the road all over America. You send emails, well wishes, and you financially support. You enabled us in this year that just passed to lead several thousand people to Christ, to ship out thousands of pieces of literature to people all around North America, many of whom are incarcerated, many young people.

You're helping us start youth clubs where we're equipping middle school and high schoolers to win their friends to Christ. I want to say thank you one and all. I truly thank God for each one of you.

But right now, we have so much for which to be grateful. Let me tell you an article that I read that I felt like it was just amazing. Psychology Today. Amy Morin, she's a psychotherapist whose work has been translated into over 20 languages. Her TED Talk on gratitude has been viewed more than 16 million times, and she's the author of a book called 13 Things That Mentally Strong People Don't Do, like grouse and hold grudges and be ungrateful. But here's what Amy Morin says in Psychology Today, quote, mentally strong people choose to exchange self-pity for gratitude. Whether you choose to write a few sentences in a gratitude journal or simply take a moment to silently acknowledge all that you have, giving thanks will transform your life.

All right, now listen to this. And she has done so much research and years and years and years of study. Seven things that scientifically documented that a grateful spirit, appreciation, humility, and just saying thank you. All right, for one thing, gratitude opens the door to more relationships. Not only does saying thank you constitute good manners, she says, but showing appreciation will help you win new friends, according to a study published. A study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to invest in the ongoing relationship. Secondly, gratitude improves physical health. Now listen to this. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains.

Isn't that amazing? You want to beat arthritis? Be grateful. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier. A study published in a journal called Personality and Individual Differences, grateful people enjoy better overall physical health. Thirdly, grateful people enjoy psychological health. Gratitude reduces toxic emotions from envy and resentment to frustration to regret.

One of the emotional toxins regret that gnaws at people. Robert Emmons, whom I mentioned, a leading researcher, has conducted multiple, multiple studies between gratitude and well-being. He confirms gratitude increases happiness, reduces depression. Number four, gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression. There was a study at the University of Kentucky who ranked people on gratitude scales. Grateful people are less likely to seek revenge, show aggression, to be negative overall.

Now listen to this. Number five, gratitude helps people sleep better. There's a journal called Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being, spending just 15 minutes writing down two or three grateful sentiments before you go to bed.

You sleep longer and you sleep better and more restfully. Gratitude improves self-esteem. Another journal, the Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, found that gratitude increased athletes' self-esteem, an essential component to optimal performance. And then finally, gratitude increases mental strength. For years, research has shown that gratitude not only reduces stress, gratitude plays a role in overcoming trauma. A study published in, quote, Behavior Research and Therapy found that war veterans, 9-11 survivors, PTSD, to be grateful, to consciously think of things about which one is grateful, reduces stress, helps people deal with trauma. Finally, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology says that gratitude is a major contributor to resilience.

And this is what one researcher said. Overall, rather than complain about the things you think you deserve, take a few moments to focus on the things you have. Developing an attitude of gratitude improves your overall satisfaction with life. Well, the Word of God says in 2 Corinthians 4.15, All this for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Folks, today, take a moment and pray. Even the Harvard study I quoted said that one of the ways to cultivate gratitude is to pray. Isn't that something?

Harvard Medical School. You want to be grateful? You'll be healthier. You want to learn how to be grateful? Pray. Thank God for life, salvation, the Bible, the Word of God. Thank God for His presence. Thank God for those around you. Thank God for His forgiveness, if you haven't been grateful. And today, as we are out of time, I'm thankful for you, and I'm thankful for God. Thank you for listening, and may all glory go to our wonderful Creator and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we praise.

and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at AlexMcFarland.com. You may also reach us at Alex McFarland, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404, or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.