I want to read you a Scripture, Psalm 50 says, Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows to the Most High. And call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee. And thou shalt glorify Me. That's Psalm 50:14,15. And I want to read you Psalm 69. This is good. Psalm 69:30, I will praise the name of God with the song. And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. Hallelujah.

Song: Living Sacrifice [650k .wav file, 30 sec]

You know, we celebrate Thanksgiving. We want to give thanks to God. For He is great and greatly to be praised. You know, there is no other savior apart from the Lord Jesus. No one set me free except for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I owe Him everything. People call me rowdy. They say [I put my hair back today], but sometimes they get on me about, 'You wear a ponytail.' Or, You do this. Or, 'You wear your hair down.' Or, 'Sometimes you wear a black suit.' Or, You dutty dut, dit, dot dot..... Bottom line is Jesus came to set the captive free. And here stands somebody, who was at one time, a captive. And now, I've been set free. And he who is free, who the Lord sets free, is free indeed. I'm gonna tell you somethin'. I go into prisons, and do concerts inside the prisons, and I'm tellin' you the truth. Look into my eyes. I'm tellin' you the truth. Some of these guys, all of these guys, inside prisons, who have given their hearts to the Lord, they're more free inside their heart then some of these people that are in ivory towers outside, who are runnin' around thinkin' they've got it made in the shade in the world. The Word of God says in Psalm 95 [as we're celebrating Thanksgiving], Oh, come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

You know, more and more as I go and travel throughout the country and around the world. We get calls from Siberia. I guess I'm headin' to Siberia next year [1998], doin' five concerts. Goin' up to Canada. I'm gonna do 30 Indian reservations next summer, with the Cree Indians. I want you to be prayin' for that. It's gonna be absolutely wonderful. The Chief and Deputy Chief love the Lord up there. 640,000 Cree Indians. We have missionary fields, we have places to go all over in our own back yard, too. I'll be headin' to Sweden for eleven concerts here, comin' up pretty soon. I guess, London. But you know, No matter where we go, we hear the same thing. We hear, that there seems to be trouble. People talk about society comin' apart. People talk about the kids, that our kids are in trouble. Let me tell you somethin. Jesus said, In the world you're gonna have trouble; but, fear not for I have overcome the world.

A lot of my friends, when I stepped out of the rock'n'roll scene [and myself included] thought, you know, duh, 'it's gonna be tough out there.' I'm not gonna be travelin' with a heavy rock group, or any of this stuff. And I'm not doin' tours for Andrew Llyodd Webber, or any of this stuff anymore. Where are the crowds? Who's gonna do what? And, I've been staggered by the response, and the people that are comin' out. And the reason there comin' out, they're not comin' out to see some guy that, duh, used to be in rock, or used to be this, or used to be that. They're comin' out because they are so many people that are in need. I know, like you. I know you have needs in your life. Oh, you might, if I'm talkin' to a guy out here, you might be tryin' to be maucho, or somethin'. The bottom line is, we all have needs. Some of you daughters out there, you have needs. Maybe you have a broken heart, maybe you've been hurt. Let me tell you somethin'. Jesus died of a brokenheart. His heart broke for you.

The Word of God says, in Psalm 95:3, For the Lord is great, He is a great God, and a great king above all gods. Let me read Psalm 100 here to you, Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord is God. It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pastures. Enter unto His gates with thanksgiving. And unto His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him. And bless His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endureth to all generations. You're a part of all generations, aren't you? So, His mercy endureth to you. And, if the Lord doesn't come soon, His mercy will endure to the generations to follow you. Well, I've had people say to me, 'Well, I don't believe in the end of the world.' I say, 'Hey, Dude, you're end of the world comin' soon. You might live fifty more years; you might live, oh you know what, seventy more years? You might live seven more minutes. But we're all comin' to the end.'

The Word of God says in Philippians 4:6, Be careful [or anxious, if you will] for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. And the peace that passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. It's good to be saved. I know, I'm hittin' you with a lot of Scripture here. But, I want to tell you, God's got the Word for you. Revelation 7 says, And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and four beasts; and fell before the throne on their faces. And worshiped God. Saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and forever. Amen.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I want you to think, what do you have to give thanks for. You have, you can give thanks that God loves you. You can give thanks that Jesus is on the throne, and that He is risen from the dead. You can give thanks that He has imparted to you His spirit. When you call on the name of the Lord, that you are adopted into the family of God. That you can cry out, Abba, Father. You can speak to your Father in heaven through Jesus Christ. And that you can be filled with the Spirit of the Living God. The Holy Spirit will guide you; He will protect you; He will keep you; He will comfort you in your times of lose, in your times of trouble. We think of Thanksgiving and we know that it's a wonderful time to celebrate with our families the abundance and what has been given to us. And the Word of God says, That every thing that we receive comes from God. Sometimes, we think, Well, we strive to achieve this, or we strive to achieve that. But God's given you the ability to receive and prosper. God's given you a mind to think, a voice to speak, legs to walk. You say, 'Well, there are some who can't walk, or maybe can't see, or even to speak this holiday season.' Some of you have suffered lose in your life. Some of you have lost a loved one. Some of you are divoriced, or are apart from your family and you're cryin' and you're hurt. Well, you have a God who Loves you. You have a Lord and Savior who said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Give thanks to the Lord that you are not in desolation; that you are not destitute; but, that you are embraced by the Lord Jesus Christ who gave His life for you that you can have life. I pray and ask the Lord Jesus to wash you in His blood, the blood that was shed on the cross for the remission of our sins, my sins and your sins. And now, I ask you to call on the name of Jesus, if you haven't done that, and give Him your heart. Say, Jesus, I receive You as my Savior. Give thanks unto the Lord.

My Deepest Love,
Jeff
Thanksgiving Show, Standin' On The Rock, November 1997