Thank you!

http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php#

Set Apart 07

Something that could only be orchestrated by God himself.....Zach was able to set off with a group of about 30 other students from around the East Michigan district and head to Orlando for the next 5 days. Over the next several hours, (24 for E. MI.) thousands of teenagers, youth leaders, and young adults from across the United States and abroad will be getting into church vans, chartered buses, and airplanes and converging on Orlando, Florida for what promises to be an experience like they've never had before.

Please Pray....

you can click on the the following link to find out more about Set Apart and how to pray specifically for the next 5 days.

http://setapart07.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1


Thanks J for all your hard work and for allowing Zach the privilege...I am praying Great things!

Christmas changes everything

Have you ever noticed how a change in light can transform the world around you? You see it especially at this season, indoors and out. Look around you. Ordinary houses and yards emerged as illuminated wonderlands. Downtown lights become decorative sentinels. Strings of white lights wink on porches and dip from eves, while colored lights cast multi hued reflections off snowy sidewalks, candles glow in windows. No wonder people drive around just to see the sights even though we have seen them millions of times during the previous 11 months. Everything look completely different when the Christmas lights are on.....even indoors houses have been transformed.

In our own home Micah stares with wonder at the difference. Tiny lights twinkle on the trees and above the windows the mantel and the book shelves. Tree lights casting a glow o the ceiling and the walls Candles glow on stove tops, bathroom sinks and in the Windows. Fire light dances on the hearth.

Our world seems somehow warmer, more beautiful, more joyful when the house is lit for Christmas, dust disappears, "kid proof, battered furniture looks new again, even the clutter of four children and two adults living under one roof seems lovely instead of annoying. to me the whole process is captivating...... to me it brings the reminder that the light of Christmas is suppose to change everything. The light of the world has conquered darkness, life has overcome death. The coming of the Christ child has transformed the universe and we are just now in the process of trying to catch up.
Christmas afternoon we spend time as a family, the room looks like a gift wrap display exploded, the floor is strewn with wrapping and presents paper, ribbons and bows, the pile is high and the boys love the mess, we will pick up enough to find the floor but now is time for the afterglow.

We were new clothes we breathe the December air, we listen to the chatter of the boys about there new gifts, listen to new music, play new games , we enjoy the after glow. After we have talked to all our family, the phone stops ringing, and daily demands like laundry come to a halt. so enjoy this afterglow of Christmas choose to resist the culture a bit , leave your tree up, the lights on and take time out just to be- it is worth the effort, Savoring the after glow!

Merry Christmas

Contrary to the Christmas critics, Christmas is a time fore extravagance.

"For unto us is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord" went the greeting from the angel Gabriel.

What an Outlandish, extravagant gift! A gift of life itself. A gift that would forever change the history of the human story. The incarnation is extravagant grace. We prepare. We shop. we again await the hearing of these familiar words we can almost recite from memory- because we are preparing a celebration of God's extravagant love. Yes, Christmas is a time to be extravagant.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas eve 2007

Silent night, Holy Night all is calm all is bright....Sounds like Christmas eve at your house? Not mine! at least not this year.

In a house full of boys two of them being teenagers it is still a time of simmering excitement. The day is almost here! The house has been decorated, the presents have been wrapped- well almost, We have been to church- this year Kensington Troy campus was the church of choice, we have read the Christmas story. Now all that is left is to climb into bed and drift off to a peaceful sleep and wait for morning.

But sleep that is the problem! Who can sleep on such a night?

I remember well trying to sleep as a child, that last minute drink of water or questions or something we forgot to say during the previous 24 hours.......It must have been a trial for my mom with just the two of us- I HAVE FOUR.......at one point we even resorted to opening one present on Christmas eve as a little preview to what was to come, (I am not sure it ever worked then- but it is a tradition I still carry and it still does not work today:))

Today Matt and I relish our shut eye -we finally fall into our beds about 1:30 am but we still tend to wake a bit sleep deprived our boys no less hyper than my brother Acey wake us at 6:45AM yet we don't seem to mind a little Christmas insomnia, it reminds me there was little sleeping done that first Christmas eve.

After all a woman was having a baby- hardly conducive to sleeping even with an epidural:) Surely Joseph was pacing- then later the Shepard's stirring about, animals baaing and mooing ......Surely everyone was to keyed up to sleep!

and yet there was peace....just as there is peace on this Christmas eve when every "mouse keeps stirring and wont go to bed for Santa to come"Amid all the noise and the hubbub of Christmas eve comes the shining moment of wide awake yet perfect peace. The peace of knowing that good news has come to earth. The peace of knowing that all is truly well, the light has shined in the darkness, that Christmas comes weather or not we get to bed at a decent hour. Sleep or no sleep it is truly a heavenly peace.

Gingerbread houses with Micah

whew.....

We wanted to alert you to a new movie that is coming out today. It has a strong anti-God and anti-church theme, and would not be one that we think would be acceptable for any person to support through attending or watching. The movie is called the Golden Compass.

The movie is based off a the first book of a trilogy called “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman, who is a renowned atheist. He said in 2003 that “My books are about killing God...” and in 2001 the he is “trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

Despite the exciting, harmless previews, Pullman presents Daemons (pronounced demons) as cool and neat. A daemon is a child's best friend, confidant, and co-adventurer in life. Every kid needs and wants one. A child and his daemon are like an invincible team. By contrast, children without daemons are unhappy, miserable and pathetic. They're like zombies without any personality.

The goal of this movie is to have kids watch the movie, then go to their website, or worse yet, ask for the books for Christmas. The website tells you “To discover your very own Daemon, look into your heart, and answer the following 20 questions openly and honestly. Your true character and the form of Daemon will be revealed, ready to be taken with you into your virtual world."

The real danger is in the books. In the books it goes farther explaining that “Yahweh” is the ultimate evil. It says that the Church is engaged in a conspiracy to separate children from their personal daemons. Look to the demonic for fun, excitement, companionship, adventure, and freedom. Pullman's work is about to bring millions of children into contact with the demonic. In the last book, the kids set out on a mission to kill God, which they succeed in, making the world a better place for all.

We want to encourage each of you to do more than not go to the movie. Talk to your kids about being careful with what the watch and listen to. Even though something may be entertaining, it may not be worth it if it promotes compromise or goes against what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says ""Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive." The Bible also teaches us to separate ourselves from evil. 2 Corinthians 6:14 - 17 says “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.”" Teach your kids how to determine for themselves what is right and holy, and they will rise to the challenge!