Kevin Freeman: Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year
Kevin Freeman: You know, it's that time of the year when cooler weather has finally arrived, albeit briefly. but I've worn some sweaters, and not just in travel. I've worn them in Texas. What it feels like is that winter is coming. Stores are already decked out for Christmas, and when this airs, next Friday will be Black Friday and the shopping rush. Coming before that, however, is one of my favorite holidays. It's warm and friendly, it's family, it's good food. And I hear that turkey prices may actually be down, making a feast more affordable this year. It is, of course, Thanksgiving for believers. There's much more than football and a massive afternoon meal that will put you in a tryptophan induced coma. This is a time for Thanksgiving, literally giving thanks. And to join me in exploring the Christian basis for Thanksgiving is my lovely wife, an incomparable redhead mother of our daughters, and spunky bundle of energy and encouragement, the one and the only Marnie.
Marnie Freeman: Aw, thanks for having me again.
Kevin Freeman: Welcome back.
Marnie Freeman: I love it. I love you.
Kevin Freeman: I love you, too. Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio.
Are we cooking or are we doing takeout this Thanksgiving
All right, so, sweetheart, have you decided what we should do this year? And I point this out, these things are all the women's prerogative. When you go to the house for Christmas, you go to grandma's house. You don't go to granddad's house or Granddaddy's house, you go to grandma's house, for Thanksgiving, Christmas or whatever. So have you decided? Are we cooking? Are we doing takeout? Friends, family combination?
Marnie Freeman: I tried cooking one time, literally one time, and it came out raw in the middle.
Kevin Freeman: No, you've done a great job cooking. Actually. I remember our first Thanksgiving. I remember when we were dating was in California. I was living there at the time you were in Oklahoma and you did cook, and it was probably 1995, so 30 years ago. We're celebrating the 30th anniversary of it. and we had a bet on the Oklahoma State University of Tulsa football game.
Marnie Freeman: I can't believe you're bringing this up.
Kevin Freeman: Oh, no, I am totally bringing it up. OSU was leading, 17 to 3 at halftime, and Tulsa had a furious 21 point fourth quarter rally.
Marnie Freeman: So OSU, traditionally, Oklahoma State University, traditionally wins by decades. Like TU never wins.
Kevin Freeman: University of Tulsa, they won this year, darling.
Marnie Freeman: I know, I remember it well.
Kevin Freeman: All right, so Tulsa, my alma mater, versus Oklahoma State, your alma mater. They pulled it out. We had A Bet. Tulsa won 24 to 23. You'd even given me two touchdowns. and mistakenly I won. I won the bet. It was big upset. And, and you were cooking. You were at our friend Robin's house in Pacific Grove. Do you remember what you wore to Thanksgiving that year?
Marnie Freeman: So you and her son had a bet. Like the bet was Tu would win. And if Tu won, then I would have to wear, no joke, gold LeMay spandex pants and gold stuff in my hair. It's always about the gold, isn't it?
Kevin Freeman: It is always about the gold. And you know what? he said to you, her son said to you, spandex is a privilege, not a right. I thought you looked good. You were decked out beautifully in the spandex. It looked fabulous.
Marnie Freeman: Oh, dear.
Kevin Freeman: You know, and this was our first Thanksgiving together and my parents were there and they were impressed with you. they loved your sense of humor and how you treated their son. They loved the fact that you would lose the bet with grace and dignity.
Marnie Freeman: And still wear that. Oh, my Lord have mercy.
Kevin Freeman: And we've had a number of great Thanksgivings together.
Marnie Freeman: We have. We have.
Kevin Freeman: You know, that first year too. you invited me to your family for Christmas.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: In Oklahoma.
Marnie Freeman: We did the whole switch roo.
Kevin Freeman: I do family that. and I remember you got, you gave me some beautiful clothes.
Marnie Freeman: I did.
Kevin Freeman: You shopped at Dillard's because there were Dillard tags in case I didn't like them to take them back. But they look, I really like them.
Marnie Freeman: They were not matching tags. Like I know you're going to say granimals because my brother in law said, oh, Marty got you some granimals.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah. If anyone remembers that they were granimals in that they all matchy, matchy, matchy, matchy. But they looked great together. And you know, that's.
Marnie Freeman: You looked hot, babe.
Kevin Freeman: That's what a girl girlfriend does for a boyfriend is like. Okay, now that, now that I've got him, I'm going to do the few upgrades and, and get him looking sharp. And you got me looking sharp. So I appreciate that.
Marnie Freeman: You were looking good. Still are.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah.
The Pilgrims initially established a communal communist, socialist economic system
Well, today I want to talk about the history of Thanksgiving more from a Christian view, for families and some lessons for modern day America we can.
Marnie Freeman: Take some lessons from.
Kevin Freeman: Thanks. So I'm all decked out. I'm in my traditional Cherokee ribbon shirt, which is what you would wear to a great feast. So if we were going to visit, visit the Pilgrims, you know, actually they would not have worn a Ribbon shirt. The ribbons came later. When the Europeans brought ribbons, the Native Americans said, oh, we'll sew them on. And they sew them on shirts like this. But anyway, in honor of thanksg. And put. Put that on. the first Thanksgiving, when was it?
Marnie Freeman: Well, I mean, if you're Talking about when FDR made it legal was 1941.
Kevin Freeman: 1941, Pearl harbor signed it into law. Made it completely legal. Just before Pearl harbor, it was just before. So we had Thanksgiving is a nation signed into law. But. But he based that, on the last few, the last Thursday in.
Marnie Freeman: November, because Washington had kind of already set that precedence. That's right.
Kevin Freeman: Back in 1789, Washington had set that. And President Lincoln also,
Marnie Freeman: He had a proclamation. Yeah.
Kevin Freeman: Yep. Didn't make it legal.
Marnie Freeman: No, but he had a proclamation.
Kevin Freeman: It was a proclamation. And he said, it has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in the heavens. It was designed as a Christian religious.
Marnie Freeman: I love that. He added, not only Thanksgiving, we sit down and pray, but praise. And, you know, I could say further into worship.
Kevin Freeman: I mean, you know, there we've got, We've got friends in Spain, in Madrid.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: And they actually celebrate Thanksgiving, a traditionally American holiday, because they give thanks for America and for the liberty that we've brought to the world.
Marnie Freeman: Right. And they're saying something about what they're having to face.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah. So, you get. Absolutely. This was the first American Thanksgiving was in the fall of 1621. So it's over 400 years ago, but it was the second winter. For the pilgrim of Plymouth Colony, it was the second winter. Why? Because the first winter was miserable.
Marnie Freeman: They lost, what, half the colony.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah.
Marnie Freeman: It was a lot of people. They lost because they didn't expect. They were not the dire conditions, the cold, the harsh weather.
Kevin Freeman: It was absolutely true. The first winter had been devastating. But, you know, more importantly, when they landed at Plymouth that first planting season, they adopted socialism.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: That was a part of the compact that had been saddled on them by the financiers, that everybody would share everything in common. They tried socialism. Even Google. AI knows this. So I said, yeah, is this true or is it false? Did the Pilgrims try socialism? Here's the answer. Yes. The Pilgrims initially established a communal communist, socialist like economic system at Plymouth Colony. But it failed because it disincentivized work and led to starvation. The colony was founded with the goal of sharing everything, but this resulted in a lack of productivity as those who worked hard received the same as those who didn't. Governor William Bradford later abandoned the system in favor of private property and individual land ownership, with which he credited with improving productivity and prosperity. They tried communism and it failed miserably.
Marnie Freeman: The concept of communism just seems so great, but when it plays out, it doesn't work.
Kevin Freeman: It does not. Well, they're about to find that out in New York, unfortunately, under, Mamdani, who just got elected as mayor of New York, who believed in the same thing. Well, let's do this communal socialist type system and we'll have rent controls and we'll take from the haves and give to the have nots and all of that. it was a miserable failure even among the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock.
Marnie Freeman: Now, going back to our friends in Spain, he was raised communist. And when he accepted Christ, he realized it's antithetical to the Christian belief system. It wouldn't work right.
Kevin Freeman: Well, it takes away individual liberty and it takes away individual generosity because you don't have to be giving. So there's no obeying Christian to give to the poor. There's no obeying that because the government takes the money away from you and they give to the poor on your behalf. In other words, the government says, we are God.
Marnie Freeman: I would rather have the choice. I would rather the church take care of what we're supposed to take care.
Kevin Freeman: Of, and the church will do a much better job with it. All right, we're talking about the first Thanksgiving, which was great. Thanks. We'll cover more of this right after this break.
The Pilgrims tried socialism and it failed miserably
M. Welcome back to Pirate Money Radio with your host, Kevan Freeman. Yeah, and we're talking about the first Thanksgiving, which was not the first harvest because the Plymouth colonists had tried socialism. It failed miserably. It caused a lot of death and destruction, as communism always does. And then they said, well, we'll try free market capitalism. I pulled up the daily economy. The Pilgrims tried socialism and it failed. And what strikes out to me right here is Governor Bradford explaining, in Old English, why socialism fails. And do you see the highlighted portion there in the notes?
Marnie Freeman: Yeah. He said they deemed it, a kind of slavery.
Kevin Freeman: They deemed it a kind of slavery. And the Reason they did that is because no matter how hard you worked, you got the same. Yes, no matter how little you worked, you got the same. And so the people that would otherwise be highly productive in society said, hey, I don't want to work as hard because you're giving me the same. What would have happened if they'd gone to those same younger people, more able bodied, and said, hey, look, work as hard as you want and it's yours to do with as you will. And by the way, here's some people over here who may not be able to work as hard and they don't have as much. Well, these were Christian people.
Marnie Freeman: They would have been generous.
Kevin Freeman: They would have immediately been generous and it would have been the love of Christ that was sharing as opposed to, the government mandating.
Marnie Freeman: Right.
Kevin Freeman: And so in his own words, Governor Bradford, he said, for the young men were able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without recompense. The strong or men apart had no more division of food, clothes, et cetera, than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter that the other could. This was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked in equalized and labor and food, clothes, et cetera, with a meaner and younger sort of. Though some indignant and disrespect unto them, and for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc. They deemed it a kind of slavery. Neither could their husbands brook it. In other words, hey, this doesn't work. It doesn't work. But the next year they had private property, right? And they had abundance.
Marnie Freeman: They tried that and it was fabulous.
Kevin Freeman: And they had abundance.
Marnie Freeman: They had abundance. Everyone had their own little plot of land and they had abundance. And then out of their abundance they shared with their neighbors. So they traded, they bartered, they did all kinds of interesting things that brought thanksgiving.
Kevin Freeman: And they gave thanks to God because of private property and the success of how God. In fact, Bradford also wrote in there, he said the experience that was had in this common course and condition tried sundry years, and that amongst the godly and sober men may well convince of the vanity and conceit of Plato's and other ancients, Plato promoting communism, that the taking away of property and bringing it into commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing. That's what they thought, as if they were wiser than God for this community, so far as it was was found to breed confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. He basically lays it out. That's a direct warning for New York City right now, today. Yes, there's no question about it. Spreading of the wealth should come from human generosity and godly taxing the rich.
Marnie Freeman: Which is one of the biggest things that he talked about. Mamdani.
Kevin Freeman: Oh, yeah, Mamdani also talked about, eliminating billionaires. And I don't mean to suggest eliminating by shooting them, but by taking away their ability to succeed.
Marnie Freeman: I think it's the billionaires and millionaires and those type of people that actually have the companies that raise up, companies that start companies that help other people start companies so that people can have.
Kevin Freeman: Liberty and then they donate to good causes and they support. If you have godly preaching in the pulpits to where people see the needs of others and you realize they have need and you have have something. If you see your brother in need and you fail to to supply their need, you sin. That's according to scripture. All right, but here's the problem is the real. The first Thanksgiving was celebration of the rejection of communal socialism, communism. Private property has been part of America ever since. Now people want to retry socialism because they see rent is too expensive in New York, or they see food is too expensive. They see a hamburger that did cost $8 now costs $36 in New York.
Marnie Freeman: That's insanity.
Kevin Freeman: It is insanity. The real problem is unjust weights and measures.
Marnie Freeman: That's exactly right.
Kevin Freeman: We're here at Pirate Money Radio. The cost of rent, the cost of food, the cost of, anything that you need, clothing and everything else in terms of gold or silver has actually gone down over time, not up. And so it is actually the fact that the dollar has declined. It's lost 90% of its purchasing power over my lifetime. Over, basically.
Marnie Freeman: So I remember a, ah, 20 cent Hershey bar is now almost $3.10 Hershey bar for me.
Kevin Freeman: Sweetie, that's because you're so much younger than I am. But yes, you pay $2 or $3 or $4 for a Hershey bar in a convenience store.
Marnie Freeman: It's just probably six in New York.
Kevin Freeman: Probably so.
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Marnie Freeman: Absolutely.
Kevin Freeman: And as cousin Will.
Marnie Freeman: And we needed them.
Kevin Freeman: We did. They needed to learn how to grow food. They needed to learn how to survive the winter. but, you know, as cousin Will once said, course, we're not the Americans whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower, but we met them at the boat when they landed. That's a famous quote.
Marnie Freeman: You like to say that all the time.
Kevin Freeman: I used that quote in New York when I met a guy had a Mayflower society pin on his lapel. John Templeton sent me there. I was just a kid. I was in my 20s. And this very wealthy guy.
Marnie Freeman: penthouse.
Kevin Freeman: Penthouse apartment on Park Avenue. And he had the entire top floor with his Saint Bernard and a grand piano in the lobby area of his home. Unbelievable. He walks up, he says, oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. And anyway, is Thurston Howell iii, accent going? And. And I noticed this pen. I was just desperate for something to connect with him. I said, oh, it's a nice pen. He said, oh, it's a Mayflower. Says, oh, there. you can only get it if your ancestors came on the Mayflower. And he says, perhaps you, descendants. And I said, nope, but my ancestors met them at the boat.
Marnie Freeman: That's right.
Kevin Freeman: Because of my Cherokee heritage. You know, I've got a picture here of my, my grandfather and Will Rogers, because they looked. Will Rogers died in 1935. My grandfather was a young man then. That was the year my father was born. but a lot of people say there was a strong physical similarity.
Marnie Freeman: So I think it's awesome. You're related to Will Rogers. And there's Sam Houston in there somewhere, too, right?
Kevin Freeman: Yeah, Sam Houston. Same family. The Rogers. Sam married A, Tiana Rogers.
Marnie Freeman: So look at your heritage. That's amazing.
Kevin Freeman: And, you know, I didn't buy it. My dad told me it was true. And, you know, he said, oh, come on, dad. Ok. We're in Oklahoma. Everybody revered Will Rogers in Oklahoma. I said, we're not related. Till one day he invited me out to the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, which we visited, and he said, let's go see the birthplace. And sitting on the porch, there was a guy named Jimmy Rogers. I said, oh, related Will. I said, well, I'm his youngest son.
Marnie Freeman: Yeah.
Kevin Freeman: And he said, cousin Kari, who's this? Oh, my gosh.
Marnie Freeman: You are related.
Kevin Freeman: We are related. most people don't know who Will, Rogers is today, but he was huge in Hollywood.
Marnie Freeman: He's a Cherokee kid.
Kevin Freeman: He was known as a Cherokee kid. Yeah. And between 1915 and 1935, Cowboy Philosopher will Rogers is, according to the Smithsonian, brightened the dark days of the Great Depression with words of compassion and common sense. He became a Broadway star, a top male movie box office star, and the highest paid movie star, the most popular radio and the most frequently requested public speaker and the most widely read daily newspaper columnist in the United States.
Marnie Freeman: And he was just downright entertaining, funny, kind. He was awesome to watch.
Kevin Freeman: Darling, I'm funny. I'm the funniest person you know. You just don't realize it.
Marnie Freeman: You are absolutely, absolutely right. You are right. You nailed that on the head.
Kevin Freeman: And his point on the Mayflower and the Pilgrims, needing the Indians. That was accurate. He was right. They met him at the boat and they showed him what to do. It wasn't Cherokee Indians necessarily, but it was Native Americans the first Thanksgiving. And we.
Marnie Freeman: It's Wampanoag or Wampa, however you say it. Wampanoag.
Kevin Freeman: Well, it was Squanto.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: Right.
Who is Squanto and what was his role in the first Thanksgiving
We study Squanto. Here's history dot com. Who is Squanto and what was his role in the first Thanksgiving? You can see a picture there. Squanto absolutely spoke perfect English because he'd been kidnapped and sent to England. And then he returned and he showed the settlers, without Squanto, I don't think they would have survived. And even William Bradford wrote about how important he was.
Marnie Freeman: He called him a godsend in his diary.
Kevin Freeman: He was.
Marnie Freeman: Because he could talk to both sides who had no understanding. Language wise, yes.
Kevin Freeman: And he was a part of the first Thanksgiving. And the reason for Thanksgiving was the Native American. And this was a part of God's providential hand bringing the pilgrims, who had, by the way, lived with the Jewish community in Holland and they saw this as going into the new Israel.
Marnie Freeman: Right.
Kevin Freeman: I've heard that there's so many ties here. Bill Federer wrote that, I mean it's in his American minute. If you don't get the American minute, that's a great resource. Americanminute.com and you can read the writings of how Squanto, literally used by God to help save the pilgrims from Plymouth.
Marnie Freeman: Absolutely.
Kevin Freeman: Yep. So, it's likely the pilgrims didn't invite this is in history.com, the Wampanoag to the first harvest Thanksgiving memorialized in the now popular American holiday. In fact, the 10 days long feast convened to put at ease some 90 warriors who'd arrived at Plymouth fully armed in response to a volley of celebratory gunfire that they'd heard shot by the columnists.
Marnie Freeman: Right.
Kevin Freeman: So the Indians here, they're celebrating because they finally have a good harvest, because they rejected socialism, adopted private property. Then they celebrate, shoot guns in the air and then a bunch of 90 warriors show up. What's going on? That's how the first Thanksgiving, started. And that is a true part of American history. Something we taught our kids when we home, educated them, but something that I don't think they're getting in schools these days.
Marnie Freeman: I don't think they get the full, the full story, the full history, partly due to time because they're all running all over the buildings and trying to do other things and they've inserted other things that are just unnecessary.
Kevin Freeman: They're trying to teach anti Americanism and say Squanto was a bad story, not a good story. Alright, we're going to cover the true story of Thanksgiving and more when we, when we come back right after this break. We'll be right back. Pirate Money Radio helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty security values.
Kevin Freeman: Thanksgiving is a story of redemption and forgiveness
Welcome back with your host Kevan Freeman and joined by the beautiful Marnie Freeman, my wife and best friend and mother of our kids and educator of our children. In fact, she educated you a lot, through our involvement in a school that helped home education parents with two days a week program.
Marnie Freeman: We did and we did talk a lot about Thanksgiving and Indian and particularly because they have Native American heritage.
Kevin Freeman: Well, a lot of them do and just because it's part of all of our heritage, the combined Thanksgiving heritage. A lot of people look at the story of Squanto which we were talking about before the break, and they see colonizers and all sorts of evil, and he was sold into slavery. But you can also see a story of forgiveness, redemption and forgiveness. So Squanto was literally kidnapped and sold into slavery. he was kidnapped by Thomas Hunt, an English explorer sold as slaves in Spain. Squander was purchased by a Spanish monk who treated him kindly, taught him Christianity, and eventually sent him to England to work in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Now this is from the Daily Herald, in 2014. So a few people a decade ago remembered the truth. But we need to continue. Every Thanksgiving we need to tell this story, don't you think?
Marnie Freeman: Absolutely, yes, yes. While he was there in England, he learned English. And so that's how he could communicate when he got back here, which made.
Kevin Freeman: Him invaluable to the colonists when he came here. So that was great. So, John realized Squanto was homesick when he was in England. John Slaney. And he was moved with Christian compassion. And so he effected his passage back to the new world in 1619. By now Squanto was fluent in the King's English. He could bring the King James Bible. He excitedly ran to where his village was located, expecting to be greeted warmly by his kin, only discovered his whole village had died of a plague, probably introduced by the settlers. Smallpox.
Marnie Freeman: Yeah.
Kevin Freeman: Wow. He lived for a short time with neighboring Wampanoag tribe, but never felt totally at home. And he left to live on his own in the woods. And the first brutal winter, fully half of the original pilgrims died. You mentioned that earlier. They were woefully unprepared for living the frontier lifestyle in this new world. When spring came, the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit. Massasoit decided to offer friendship to the new settlers and ask Squanto to serve as an intermediary since he knew the newcomers language.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: So what happened then? They had a miserable m. Winter died because of socialism. And they didn't know how to live in the harsh conditions.
Marnie Freeman: Well, that's when he taught them how to grow Indian corn, vegetables, fish, how to use fish for fertilizer. He taught the young boys how to stomp around the mud by the ocean to find eels for meat so they could eat. Isn't that interesting?
Kevin Freeman: Basically, he taught them how to survive. Given by God as a gift.
Marnie Freeman: Godsend.
Kevin Freeman: think of this. Think of the symbolism here. Because here's a guy that was sold in the evils of slavery. And then the kindness of Christianity sent him back. And then he was given an opportunity to bring together unity between the native people and the colonists. This is God's plan. I Believe in the beginning of America.
Marnie Freeman: I do too.
Kevin Freeman: So when Squano caught fever and was dying, Bradford recorded that Squano asked the governor to pray for him that he might go to the Englishman's. God in heaven. Squano even got saved. Yeah, that's the, that's, that's beautiful.
Marnie Freeman: So that's what I'm talking about. Redemption, forgiveness, redemption moving forward. God makes all things work out for his good.
Kevin Freeman: If we look for it, we will see it.
Marnie Freeman: Absolutely.
Kevin Freeman: It's in our American history. So if you're being told or your children are being told that Thanksgiving is a story of repression and colonization and all that, it's actually a story of redemption. And you know, the redemption that we hear. I've talked to some people who are African American descent and they thank God not for slavery per se, but how God used slavery to bring them to America.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: A number have gone back to Africa and they've said, I thank God that I was able to be raised in America and able to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Raised my family in a freedom loving place and where I came from is not where I want to be.
Marnie Freeman: Right. And we are not, you know, saying the atrocities of slavery were fine. They were absolutely not. No disgusting.
Kevin Freeman: Joseph was sold into slavery and look how it saved the nation.
Marnie Freeman: That's right. And so God uses all things together for his good.
Kevin Freeman: I thank God. For example, you know, we've had, right here in this studio, economic war room, we've had Dr. Ben Carson who descended from slaves, that came over from Africa. And yet the twins that were separated, the Siamese twins that were separated at the co. Joined at the brain and separated, they can thank God that he used Dr. Ben Carson who was brought here, educated in America and all of that. They can think. I thank God for what Dr. Ben Carson has done for Housing, Housing and Urban Development, what he's doing for the American Cornerstone Institute. So what was tragedy? What Satan intended for evil, God used for good. And that's the story of Squanto too. You know, I even remember my relatives, talking about the Trail of Tears. They hated the fact that the government at gunpoint drove them across.
Marnie Freeman: I mean your family was on the Trail of Tears.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah, well at, ah, least it brought them to Oklahoma. That's right, that's what they would say.
Marnie Freeman: And where they actually received plots of land and eventually, you know, eventually liberty.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah. Well, my great grandmother was born in Indian Territory around the same time as Will Rogers was born in Indian Territory. Even My grandfather was not necessarily a citizen when he was born. He was born in 1908, after the state of Oklahoma had been formed. He was a two lader, so he didn't get any land.
Thanksgiving has Jewish origins, according to historian Nigel Bigpon
His older brothers got land, he'd got no land. And he may not have even been given a citizenship until he was 16 years old when they passed the Indian Citizenship Act. So. But you know what? He didn't blame America for cheating him out of his land. He didn't blame America for any of that. He served honorably in World War II. He loved America. He's one of the most patriotic people I know. And he's the one who convinced me in my first election to vote for Ronald Reagan.
Marnie Freeman: Really?
Kevin Freeman: Yes.
Marnie Freeman: I didn't know that.
Kevin Freeman: He was a. He was a postman. He was a mechanic. He did whatever he could to survive during the Great Depression. He would run down, he'd see somebody get a flat tire. He would race to repair the tire so he could get enough money to pay for food for my dad and his wife, my grandma. And yet he wasn't even born a citizen.
Marnie Freeman: So, I mean, you had troubles in there. Hardship, but also turning around for the good. and then, you know, there's been a movement over the years by Nigel Bigpon and some others bringing Native Americans together in Washington, D.C. to pray over the land, to forgive, you know, some things that happened.
Kevin Freeman: Yes.
Marnie Freeman: And it's been beautiful to watch.
Kevin Freeman: And I got to be one of the very first speakers at the first event he had. I love Nigel and the work that he does. And, you know, it's interesting because there's, another group that, is concerned in New York. It's the Jewish community in New York that they're concerned. but, you know, Thanksgiving is a holiday that Jewish people really embrace, as do Christians, because it has Jewish origins. I don't know if many people know this.
Marnie Freeman: I don't think a lot of people.
Kevin Freeman: Know that the Pilgrims were inspired by the holiday of Sukkot, that when they founded the Thanksgiving holiday, they did that because they lived with the Jewish community in Holland when they'd been persecuted out of England. And they adopted a lot of the Jewish, customs. They read it in the Bible about the great feasts and the feasts of the Lord. the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, was, a harvest holiday. And so they decided, you know what? We're going to have a harvest holiday.
Marnie Freeman: It's all about harvest.
Kevin Freeman: That's right. And so they celebrated the harvest in a modern day Version of the Israel's holiday today, we might say they identified as Israelites.
Marnie Freeman: Yeah.
Kevin Freeman: Chased out of their, homeland. Out of their homeland and coming to, coming to America. They compared the voyage across America to the children of Israel's crossing the Red Sea. And they compared the hardships of the new land to the years of wandering in the desert. The Puritans did not, and I'm quoting here from, Anne Greene, where she said, the Puritans did not believe in fixed holidays. If it was a good season, they would announce a Thanksgiving. so they were literally celebrating because they had a good harvest, because of what they learned from Jewish settlers when they were hiding in Holland.
Marnie Freeman: And they understood all of those holidays. Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths. They understood all of that.
Kevin Freeman: They did. William Bradford led the service of Thanksgiving and recited Psalm 107. Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good, for his grace continues forever. In fact, Bradford's Bible included notes from an English clergyman who, who quoted the most well known medieval Jewish scholar based on Psalm 107.
Marnie Freeman: So amazing.
Kevin Freeman: This is.
Marnie Freeman shares her favorite Thanksgiving memories with us
All right, Marnie, what are your favorite Thanksgiving memories?
Marnie Freeman: Oh, I have so many of them, but just growing up with my family and, watching football. The turkey. I think one thing that was really funny with our families, half of our, clan was M. Oklahoma State, and the other half was University of Oklahoma. So it was always bedlam at that time. And we were always wearing our outfits. I always had orange. Orange and black on, which is more like Halloween than Thanksgiving. But that's the colors of Oklahoma State. and so there was always that going on and that was fun.
Kevin Freeman: And the Oklahoma Sooners, and they were called Sooners because they came in and took the Indian's land from them.
Marnie Freeman: Exactly.
Kevin Freeman: I just want to point out the Indian giver doesn't, necessarily mean that the Indians were the ones that were. Hey, you know, to be an Indian giver, you gave it to the natives and then took it back. But all right, that's part of the history, and we can be thankful for all that. I remember my favorite Thanksgiving, holiday, may have been when we went to, Philadelphia and I spoke, at Wharton School and we visited Valley Forge with our little girls.
Marnie Freeman: That was so awesome. Just the rich history of Valley Forge and what happened there. I mean, it was, it was powerful time. And that was part of our homeschooling. It was, it was fabulous.
Kevin Freeman: Yep. Yep. My favorite Thanksgivings are the ones I've had with you.
Marnie Freeman: Those are my favorite.
Kevin Freeman: I do remember when the whole family gathered when I was little and we all had to go make a cassette recording for Aunt Farrell, who couldn't be there. So everybody had to go in and hold the mic and we had the little realistic Radio Shack, cassette recorder and we press record and play. And I remember, I. And we love you, Aunt Farrell. And I remember just a little kid saying that and, and we had to send that tape to her. But with so many, so many memories.
Marnie Freeman: I. Yeah, well, and then there was one where, well, another time, so I attempted to cook a second time and that came out raw. And we literally had to find a barbecue restaurant down the street so we could go get meat, of some kind to go with our food. That tells you how my cooking is.
Kevin Freeman: Thanksgiving is more than the food. It's the fellowship, it's the gathering, it's the giving thanks to the Lord who has done so much for us. And I remember in 2023, it's the last time I saw my dad alive was Thanksgiving and Friday after cuz he died on the Saturday. It was a tough year.
Marnie Freeman: He said he would make it to Thanksgiving and he did.
Kevin Freeman: He did. All right, we're going to cover reasons to be thankful right after this break with the great Marnie Freeman. We'll be right back. Pirate Money Radio, helping you give, spend and invest in ways that align with liberty, security and values.
Kevin Freeman shares 15 biblical reasons to give thanks ahead of Thanksgiving
Welcome back with your host, Kevan Freeman. Right, and I'm talking with my beautiful, fabulous wife, love of my life. We're talking about Thanksgivings that we've celebrated over the last 30 years of Thanksgiving with you. It's just amazing.
Marnie Freeman: As I say, we're young.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah, we're young. Half of my life, approximately, has been spent with you. The best half of my life. And I'm so grateful.
Marnie Freeman: It's been amazing.
Kevin Freeman: God brought you in. I'm thankful for you, darling.
Marnie Freeman: I'm thankful for you.
Kevin Freeman: So that's one of my thanks. So I looked up, biblical reasons to be thankful. And I love the Internet for this. I'm thankful for the Internet. You can do this and just do a web search. And I came up with, ag dot org. It's not ag dot org. It's Assemblies of God.
Marnie Freeman: Yeah, Assemblies of God.
Kevin Freeman: But 15 reasons from scripture to give thanks. from 2023. This was, this was the year my dad died. And the year your dad died. I lost my dad at Thanksgiving. You lost him the day after Christmas.
Marnie Freeman: Yes, that was a hard, hard time. But I'm grateful for the time we got with them, I'm.
Kevin Freeman: I'm grateful they're both in heaven.
Marnie Freeman: Me too.
Kevin Freeman: And my mom, too, and your Aunt Wanda, and, you know, and my dad's, second wife after my mom died. My dad's second wife is in heaven. Donna. And my dad's wife, my mom, my dad. I miss them all. But, we have reason to be thankful. We have reason. We have our health. We have our family. And not every family has their health. And so I'm grateful for that, and I pray for those who don't. If you have health needs and you want prayer, write right into us. you can send them to [email protected] and we'll take your prayer requests. But we also need to give our request with thanksgiving. I'll, read, quote Philippians 4, 4, 7. Rejoice in the Lord always. It's not easy to do that when things are going wrong. I will say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything. And Thanksgiving's in time to. To get rid of the anxiety. I remember the anxiety when we were first married over the hanging chads of who won, Al Gore or George W. Bush. It seemed like the biggest deal in the world at the time, and now it's just, you know, just a footnote in history.
Marnie Freeman: It is.
Kevin Freeman: but in every situation, by prayer and petition mean with thanksgiving. Present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So if you have prayer needs, take them, make your petitions known, but do it with thanksgiving.
Marnie Freeman: There's so much in the Bible about being grateful for having a thankful heart, for approaching God with thanksgiving, which is in Psalm 100. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.
Kevin Freeman: Now, I can't imagine that Squanto was super thankful when he was first kidnapped and sent to England. I can't imagine that my ancestors were super thankful when Andrew Jackson ordered them out of, out of the Southeast and into Oklahoma. I can't imagine they felt thankful. I can't imagine that.
Marnie Freeman: But it has weaved such a beautiful tapestry.
Kevin Freeman: It has. And all of those trials, as bad as they were, have come to an end. Yes, I was not thankful for my father's cancer, or your father's dementia, but I can be thankful that they have eternity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Marnie Freeman: That's right. As I was driving into the studio today, I was just overcome with gratitude because I was talking to the Lord, praying and saying, lord, just let me. Let our hearts be thankful for this time. Let us really see what you see in compassion towards people, in loving people, in being grateful for an eternal life with you, for you sending your Son for us so that we could have eternal life. So all the things that Christ came to do, which is to weave that beautiful tapestry, is I. I was just overcome to the point of tears on the way in. And, yeah, I'm almost to that point.
Kevin Freeman: Again, we are thankful. It sometimes takes an act of the will, though. you have to recognize truth, and it's where you set your mind. If you set your mind on all the problems, you may not be thankful. And you'll vote in socialism into New York City, and it will lead to more problems.
Marnie Freeman: Well, and then all your personal problems that are, you know, you can just go to bad places. That's why you have to overcome.
Kevin Freeman: Everybody hates me. I'm gonna eat some worms. yes, it's the kids. Just think. But.
15 reasons from Scripture to give thanks for God's grace
All right, so here's 15 reasons from Scripture to give thanks for God's grace. 2nd Corinthians 9, 15. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. He's given us grace. We don't deserve heaven, but he gives us a chance to go to heaven.
Marnie Freeman: For our inheritance in Christ, which is Colossians 1:12. And giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance, and me and everybody listening, of his holy people in the kingdom of light, not the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of light.
Kevin Freeman: Yeah. You know, my Father left an inheritance, to my brother and my sister and me, and it was great. It was nothing compared to the inheritance of what Jesus has given us all. Right. For strength. First Timothy 1:12. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. If you have any strength in your life, give thanks to God for it.
Marnie Freeman: And if you don't have hardship in the midst of plenty, thanks.
Kevin Freeman: And if you give thanks, I'm telling you, God will give you strength to endure the hardship. Because you know there are good things that are happening, whether on this earth or in the earth to come.
Marnie Freeman: Eternal life and for his reign. So in Revelation 11:17, we give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your Great power and have begun to reign.
Kevin Freeman: Well, that's what we need. We need God reigning. When God is on the throne, which he always is.
Marnie Freeman: Yeah. He doesn't get down.
Kevin Freeman: when God is on the throne, that then he reigns. And when he reigns. And that's manifest on the earth, it is manifest for our good, not for our evil.
Marnie Freeman: That's right.
Kevin Freeman: Okay. And for hope. And that's what we have. Psalm 71:14. As for me, I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more.
Marnie Freeman: I would also say to that if you retain your footing and your relationship and being in the word and prayer with the Lord in the good times, it is, I would say easier. And you're more focused on the Lord in the hard times. And we all have hard times.
Kevin Freeman: And, you know, without hope, all seems lost.
Marnie Freeman: That's right.
Kevin Freeman: So, hope sustains us. It does not disappoint us. So during the hard times, make sure that you do have that hope. What else can we be so.
Marnie Freeman: And for what he's done. So in Psalm 107:22, let them sacrifice, thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
Kevin Freeman: What has he done? He's given his life for us. Jesus gave his life for us. He suffered rejection by men. He suffered ridicule. He would go and heal people and get blamed. I feel sometimes I do a good deed sometimes. And then I was like, and you.
Marnie Freeman: Get blamed for it.
Kevin Freeman: You get blamed for it. in this case, he gave a blind man's sight. And he got blamed for it.
Marnie Freeman: He got blamed for it.
Kevin Freeman: The lame were made to walk. He got blamed for it. He raised the dead, and they hated him so much that they wanted to kill the one. He raised Lazarus just to take away the glory that God was getting. Because he raised someone from the dead.
Marnie Freeman: That's right. And I'm thankful for the Word of God, because if we didn't have that as our guide, it would be difficult. Like seven times a day, I praise you for your righteous laws. And that's Psalm, 119, 164.
Kevin Freeman: And I want to thank him for Psalm 119:99. That got me through college.
Marnie Freeman: Yes.
Kevin Freeman: I have more understanding than all my teachers because I meditate on the testimonies of God. I did my studies, but I would equal time Testament study God's Word. And I got an A in that class.
Marnie Freeman: Right.
Kevin Freeman: much unexpected, for life.
Marnie Freeman: For life itself.
Kevin Freeman: Yes. Psalm 71:6. From birth I have relied on you. You brought me forth from my mother's Womb. I will ever praise you. And we. He knew us in the mother's womit us together. Pro life. Yes, pro life verse.
Kevin Freeman: Give thanks to God for everything. Give thanks in all circumstances
All right. For fellow believers. Ephesians 1:16.
Marnie Freeman: Community we need. I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in our prayers. My prayers.
Kevin Freeman: I'm thankful for the church and the community. I'm thankful for peace. Colossians 3:15. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body, you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Marnie Freeman: We're grateful. And for bearing our burdens. Oh, my goodness. Praise be to the Lord. To God our Savior, who daily, moment by moment, bears our burdens. And I literally was praying that on the way in. As another topic I was discussing with.
Kevin Freeman: The Lord, we're casting them on you. Yeah, that. Psalm 68. 19. We can. We can be thankful for his goodness. Psalm, 136. 1. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever, even in the hard times.
Marnie Freeman: And for victory in Christ, like, he's our banner of victory. but thanks be to God. He gives us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Kevin Freeman: And that's First Corinthians 15:57.
Marnie Freeman: And for the Holy Spirit who counsels us. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. That's in John 14:16.
Kevin Freeman: Let's pause on that one for a moment, because the greatest gift of all, the one that happened at Pentecost, they said, where did this amazing gift come from? The one that happened was God dwelling in man.
Marnie Freeman: Is that, you can't even wrap your mind around it.
Kevin Freeman: You ask, you ask Jesus into your heart, literally. He sends the Holy Spirit to guide us. So you have that still small voice telling you, don't go here, don't go there. The ability to do things that you never would. How did you do that? Well, the Holy Spirit made it possible. And even down to the small things, I can't find my loss to whatever I say. Holy Spirit, help me find it. And how many times have I walked in and said, the Holy Spirit knows everything?
Marnie Freeman: A lot. pretty m. Much daily.
Kevin Freeman: It. Pretty much daily. And then we can give thanks to God for everything. First Thessalonians 5:18.
Marnie Freeman: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Kevin Freeman: And that ties us into first Thessalonians 5:16. Also rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances. That is the bottom line. That's what God has called us to. So we're grateful for you, our audience. If you have questions, if you have prayer needs, if you have comments, email [email protected] and pray. Pray for America and the world to return to God's principles and in doing so, his divine protection. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, etc and check out piratemoneyradio.com it's Kevan Freeman and Marnie Freeman for Pirate Money Radio.
