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posted by James on 01/29/08

Recently, I was going over some pictures I took from around Christmas-time and really liked the ones of this incredibly colorful and creative ginger- bread house Daniel, Jonathan, and David made. I wasn’t there when you guys made it but I’m sure you had tons of fun building and decorating it! Here in Chicago temperatures have hovered around 0 for awhile so I deemed posting these cozy pictures very appropriate.

7 Comments » | posted in Art Work, Photography

posted by Robert on 01/26/08

What do the following seven people all have in common? They’ve all endorsed Mike Huckabee for President!

Zig Ziglar, internationally acclaimed motivational speaker/teacher who has written 26 books, endorsed Huckabee and said, "I’ve observed him throughout his political career and believe he is the best representative of the conservative movement on the American political scene. I will be encouraging all voters to look closely and seriously at Mike Huckabee, the man I believe will best represent the values and beliefs of conservative Americans." Watch the video!

Jerry B. Falwell, Jr., the chancellor of Liberty University, endorsed Huckabee and said, "My father supported Huckabee before he was number two in the polls. We’re just proud, honored to have you here."

Michael Farris, cofounder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, endorsed Huckabee, saying, "As governor, Mike Huckabee was the first to appoint a homeschooler to the Arkansas State Board of Education, and to our knowledge, he’s the first to do so in any state".

Daniel Webster, Florida Senate Majority Leader, has endorsed Huckabee for President: "Governor Huckabee is a principled, conservative leader who has proven he has the leadership qualities to be the next president of the United States."

Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, has endorsed Huckabee.  He writes: My endorsement of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was not decided over night. It was six weeks in the making. Governor Huckabee came to me…solicited me for help. Although I personally sent every candidate for president a certified, registered, return receipt query about his or her position on the immigration chaos, only Governor Huckabee bothered to reply. Not only did Governor Huckabee solicit input from minutemen, he also published on his web site http://www.mikehuckabee.com a written "plan" on how he will address the more salient issues of illegal immigration. When I read his published statements of position on the issue, it seemed as if I had written the "plan" myself. It is tough. It is demanding. And it leads America back to its heritage as "a nation governed by the rule of law".

Beverly LaHaye, founder of Concerned Women for America, endorsed Huckabee with her husband Tim and said, "I support Mike Huckabee because he is genuinely pro-life – true to Biblical morality – a man of absolute faith in God and courageous enough to try to do something to bring America back to its foundation."

Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series and former vice president of Moody Bible Institute, endorsed Huckabee and said, "This is the first time I have ever publicly endorsed a candidate, that’s how strongly I feel about Mike Huckabe. I resonate with his values and personal character and believe he is the kind of man who can guide the country through difficult times."

9 Comments » | posted in Politics

posted by Robert on 01/25/08

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? (Job 38:22)

God’s creation is full of wonder! Consider the snowflake…

Water vapor cools into a drop and then freezes into a tiny hexagonal ice crystal smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

As the crystal becomes larger, branches begin to sprout from the six corners of the hexagon.

On a microscopic level, the formation of the crystals is a complex process, and it leads to an almost infinite number of possible variations. So no two snowflakes are exactly the same.

Think about it. How many snowflakes fall in one single snowstorm? Some estimate approximately twenty trillion. That’s 20,000,000,000,000!

Wilson A. Bentley, "The Snowflake Man", was the first person to ever photograph a single snow crystal in 1885. He went on to take pictures of more than 5000 snowflakes during his lifetime. And he never found any two alike. He wrote:

"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

As I photograph the beauty of the snow around me in the magnificent Northwoods of Michigan, I am left in awe at the wonder of God’s creation.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

6 Comments » | posted in Photography, Tidbits

posted by Esther on 01/20/08

Last week I asked God to teach me self-control so that I could be an example of self-control to those around me. The area He brought to mind was the need to replace my tendency to let my mind wander with the discipline of thinking about His Word.

Verses like Psalm 63:6 emphasize how the last moments of your day are an ideal time to turn your thoughts to the Lord by rehearsing and meditating on scripture. My problem is that I tend to proctrastinate by thinking “I don’t need to do that until I’m in bed, I’m just getting ready now.” The Lord showed me how abominable those thoughts are! Here the God of the huge universe notices not only the tiny earth but also me, not even a speck on the planet, and desires to communicate with me. When the idea pops into my head to quote scripture it is not just an idea, it is an invitation from God; The same God who walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8), who invited Abraham out to look at the stars and give him a promise (Gen. 15:5), and the same God who called Moses up into the fiery mount to receive the commandments (Ex. 19:18-20). What am I thinking when I procrastinate with “Just a minute God”, or “I don’t feel like it now”? Anyway, it has really helped recently to take those promptings to meditate as an invitation to tap into the blessing of fellowship with Him. How thrilling that the invitation is open day and night.

Thank you all for your prayers as we now take these lessons on self-control into daily practice throughout the coming week.

4 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Robert on 01/18/08

"The people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches." John Witherspoon
(signer of the Declaration of Independence) 

Today WallBuilders released a very helpful, clear, and concise voter guide that covers where each of the Presidential candidates stand on the key pro-faith and pro-family issues. Download the full PDF.

Should Christians vote? Yes!

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."
- Proverbs 14:34

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" – Edmund Burke

2 Comments » | posted in Politics