Ministering Sisters

            King Hezekiah, the thirteenth king of Judah, was king when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, reminding him of his ruthless, barbaric, unyielding tactics. He suggested that Hezekiah spare his people by making peace, joining him in his conquests, partaking of his spoils, or else he would do to Judah what his mighty war machine had done to other nations. He basically said: “No God can protect you from us. The Gods of the other countries we have conquered didn’t save them” (See 2 Kings 18:28-35 ).             What did Hezekiah do? After he read the letter, “Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it (the letter) before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying…. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God” ( Isaiah 37:14-17 ).      ...

            Every fourth Thursday of November, American families gather to eat turkey and watch football. The holiday is called Thanksgiving. The prevailing reason for Thanksgiving is to remember the Pilgrims’ feast after their plentiful harvest of 1621. But the first and sixteenth presidents of the United States declared a loftier purpose for the holiday.             President George Washington issued a proclamation in November 1789. He declared a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted 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” (See heritage.org/washingtons-thanksgiving-proclamation ).             In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. In his proclamation, he expressed gratitude for: “the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies”; the population increase and...