I’m looking for a style to do our family Christmas letter.  Last year I did the letter in “The Night Before Christmas” style.  Of course I changed the wording to match our family.  Any ideas of what style?

Our Christmas Tree.  I love this season.  My wife and our three older girls are shopping on Black Friday.  I went out to WalMart at 5:00 am this morning.  It was absolutely the craziest thing I’d ever seen.  I was able to get everything I went for as I dodged people moving through the aisles.

Flee every form of evil.  That’s advice Paul gave to the Thessalonians.  Today’s generation will ask why.  When we get a taste of the Kingdom of God we’ll understand.  I would much rather live out of my spirit instead of my flesh.  I want God to live and work in me.  In order for that to happen I must be able to see what God is doing.  In order to see what God is doing my heart must be pure.  Thus I must flee every form of evil.

If OJ is confessing is it right to keep him from doing that publicly?  Are we sacrificing our freedom of speech or does freedom of speech have a limit?

The study of Thessalonians has been good.  I’m nearing the end of the first book.  Those people were so in tune to the Kingdom of God, so pure.  I was talking to someone yesterday and we were discussing testimonies.  She told me that she had a testimony that was “plain Jane”.  Pure life growing up. – didn’t come out of anything.  I’ve heard a few others like that.  I love testimonies like that.  I would much rather hear that because it’s pure.  It shows that God can keep people from sin.  It reminds me of the Thessalonians.

What is your story?

We’re had a great time in church yesterday.  We had a lot of new people.  Some returned after being gone awhile.  The kids are going deeper into Jesus.  We’ve been talking about the book of Acts.  I challenged them yesterday to get their own story.  I believe that if kids don’t have their own faith before they graduate they won’t stay in the church. 

Heir Force last night was great.  (Class to the 5th & 6th graders).  We talked about being silent and listening to God.  We actually had perfect quietness for about 5 minutes.  It was powerful. 

Do you ever have any perfectly quiet time before God, not to talk, but to only listen?

Paul in speaking to the Thessalonians said: “You know that day will come as a thief in the night.”  People will be saying peace, peace and then sudden destruction.  Paul also said it would be like a women in child birth.  There is no doubt that the world is tilting on “something”.  It’s in the air.  Darkness is taking no prisoners.  A battle is raging and a seperation of darkness and light is becoming more pronounced.  The night is coming. 

What is that day to you?

I love thinking about the time when we’ll go to be with Jesus.  The trump will sound; the dead in Christ will rise and we’ll meet Him in the air.  I like this part:  “To be forever with our Lord”.  One of the reasons I especially look forward to that time is to be with my Heavenly Father.  My earthly Father died when I was in 3rd grade and my step Dad was never around.  I long for a father’s love. 

What do you long for in heaven?

(Ventura, CA) – “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States.” Those words were not spoken by Osama bin Laden but by comedienne turned talk-show hostess Rosie O’Donnell on a nationally broadcast program in October.         And now …. Elton John came out and said “I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. “I would ban religion completely. Organised religion doesn’t seem to work. “It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate.”        Strong words …  Should they have the right to speak these words?