I love this time of year. As the summer warmth gently shifts into the coolness of fall and the leaves begin to change colour, it signals a wonderful time of the year: it’s pumpkin spice season! I am amazed at the growing number of pumpkin spice products available. Everything from overpriced lattes at your favorite coffee stop to Cheerios cereal and Kool-Aid. Yes, there actually is pumpkin spice flavoured Kool-Aid! But I must ask, isn't pumpkin spice just cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves? Aren’t these the ingredients you add to mask a yucky taste, like adding more brown sugar to oatmeal so kids will eat it? One popular coffee chain has sold a reported 600 million pumpkin spice lattes since its inception 20 years ago. According to Nielson sales data, pumpkin spice products are a $500 million dollar a year industry. That’s a lot of pumpkin spice!

Now, I don't want you to think I'm anti-pumpkin spice. I do enjoy coffee, probably too many a day, hazelnut vanilla being my go-to! But I see a parallel in society today where the true nature of something, the flavour if you will, is often masked with something more appealing, like adding sugar or other spices to offset the true flavour of some foods.

Masking the flavour of a food or beverage has no negative eternal consequences.  However, in a similar effort to be more likable, more relevant, and more tolerant, some have redefined or diminished parts of Scripture to better align with the shifting and changing cultural values, all under the appearance of being loving and accepting. The question has to be asked: Is it really loving, inclusive and accepting when we mask the truth of Scripture, the consequences of sin, and the lostness of a life without Christ?

As we think about the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, all things pumpkin spice aside, let us give thanks for the spiritual bounty we enjoy each day as followers of Jesus. Let us give thanks that we are not judged on our actions and behavior but rather on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We have all sinned; there is none righteous (Romans 3:10), and it was that perfect sacrifice that took away the wrath of God against each of us. Let us give thanks that our salvation is secure. We have been transformed from death to life eternal. Nothing, not even our own actions, can break the bond of love God has for us. Finally, let us give thanks for the calling each of us has as living witnesses to speak the truth into a masked-covered world. We speak the truth in love with no masks, no judgment, seeing others as God sees them, and upholding the Word of God and the hope it extends to all.

While Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends and be thankful for all we have, let us extend that thanksgiving to the spiritual blessings we enjoy each day, not just at this time of year. Let us also be courageous in reaching out to those who have yet to be thankful for these blessings, sharing the true meaning of Thanksgiving with them.

Now I'm off to get another coffee, perhaps a pumpkin spice this time!

Rev. Bill Allan
AGC President