Thanksgiving Essays
This site annually hosts essay contests in November/December entitled "Why I am personally grateful to God." The essay was to be written including reasons why the author was grateful to God and how He has helped him in his life. Entries were selected on the basis of how they gave glory to God.
| 2001 Essay |
| No Entry Received |
| 2000 Essay |
| There is one real reason I am grateful to God. It is that
I am able to sit here today and type this. My answer is very simple
here. The basic fact that I am able to convey my emotions, and that I
have emotions which I can share is a miracle in itself. Before, when I
was doubting God and Christianity, I had no direction, no reason. Now I
do. I know that everything that happens to me, good or bad, has meaning.
Through my mistakes and talents, pain and happiness, I have learned more
about myself and the world than I ever would have without God. Without
God, nothing kept me from being unfaithful, nothing moved me. Without
God, I became very apathetic and undriven. Now, I am criticized for my
beliefs. I attend school in the engineering department of a university
and few of the students are religious. Often I have a hard time
justifying myself to these people. This has only makes me stronger,
because I am logical myself yet I still have strong faith and emotion
when it comes to my religion. To turn around an individual like myself,
God deserves praise. God deserves praise for allowing me the ability to
convey my beliefs through science. God gave us the ability to find the
truth, to answer questions. God gave us wonderful emotions all for free.
My understanding of God has not only made me more faithful but a better
person in general. But this understanding is only possible by God!
Without God, nothing is possible, but with God, so much is possible, and
I have witnessed this first hand by accepting Christ simply by my own
investigation and questioning, not by force from parents, etc.
Adam |
| 1999 Essay |
| I am personally grateful to God, because I was uncertain in
the path that I had chosen in life. Just under a year ago, I tried to
commit suicide; However, I was unsuccessful, even though I had very high
and dangerous levels of poison in my body. I took this as a sign from God
to change my ways and better myself. A second chance if you will. I'm am
very grateful for this "second chance" that he has given me. I
have used it in a productive way, I went on to graduate high school with
my class, and I am now attending college and maintaining a 3.33 GPA as a
true freshman with 17 credits, while being an active member of the track
and field team. I have become an active member of a local Christian church
that is here near my college campus. I am serving God in any way that I
can through my newly found church, and I feel that he has shown me my true
friends, and how I would have hurt them if I would have accomplished my
horrendous act. Every morning I wake up grateful that I am alive and well,
thanks to God and the second chance that he has given to me.
Joe |
Reflections
We are what we think.
- 12/06/2013 02:20 AM
Quote of the Week: Vern Poythress
Why should we bother to study logic? Spock exemplifies one part of its importance. On the one hand, Spock’s rational analysis gives the Star Trek crew valuable advice. On the other hand, we struggle with an apparent conflict between logic … Continue reading
() - 12/03/2013 02:31 AM
Reflective Thinking: The Noble Art of Rhetorical Persuasion, Part 1
When building arguments, how can we make the most persuasive case for our position (say, for example, that the Lakers are the best franchise in the history of NBA basketball)? What specific elements directly impact persuasion? What separates authentic persuasive … Continue reading
() - 11/29/2013 02:40 AM
Quote of the Week: Richard Purtill
One way of getting a preliminary insight into [C. S.] Lewis’ argument [from reason] is to ask whether nature is a product of mind or mind is a product of nature. If God created nature, as Christians believe, then nature … Continue reading
() - 11/26/2013 02:06 AM
Remembering C. S. Lewis 50 Years after His Death, Part 2
The great Christian thinker and writer C. S. Lewis died the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated—November 22, 1963. Due to the broad coverage of the assassination, Christians in America didn’t learn of Lewis’s death immediately. In commemoration … Continue reading
() - 11/22/2013 02:37 AM
Quote of the Week: C. S. Lewis
If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course … Continue reading
() - 11/19/2013 02:30 AM
Remembering C. S. Lewis 50 Years after His Death, Part 1
One of my favorite present-day Christian philosophers Tom Morris had this to say about the writings of C. S. Lewis: Clarity is power. This is one of the reasons that, for more than half a century, the immensely popular books … Continue reading
() - 11/15/2013 02:29 AM
Quote of the Week: Vincent Bugliosi
After an exhaustive ten-month effort, the [Warren] Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, fired the shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository Building. —Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming … Continue reading
() - 11/12/2013 02:50 AM
The JFK Assassination Plus 50: The Five Most Interesting Books on President Kennedy’s Death
For many of us who lived through it, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was as shocking and emotionally jarring as the events of 9/11. That may be difficult for some people to understand given that the events of … Continue reading
() - 11/08/2013 02:22 AM
Quote of the Week: John F. Kennedy
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. — President … Continue reading
() - 11/05/2013 02:06 AM
November 22, 1963: The Day I Became an American
Love and respect of country were always important virtues in the family in which I grew up. My father served as an American combat soldier during World War II; he and my mother were two of the most patriotic people … Continue reading
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http://godandscience.org/doctrine/thanksessays.html
Last updated November 25, 2001
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