The Golden Compass

On Dec. 7 film The Golden Compass (starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig) opens in theaters. Although I have not previewed the movie, based on what I hear, I want to discourage those of you reading this blog from going to see this film. Instead of writing my viewpoint on this film, I have provided a link that will go in depth regarding the background of "The Golden Compass". www.pluggedinonline.com/thisweek/a0003516.cfm

No Perfect People Allowed

I just finished reading a life changing book that I want to recommend to everyone. John Burke, pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, TX and president of Emerging Leadership Initiative, wrote this book about reaching out to a post-Christian America.

The book is directed to the church and how we are called to become the healing Body of Christ in the world. John says, "If you are going to minister to emerging generations, you must create a culture where broken people are welcome and healing happens". He goes on to say that "in a postmodern culture, the messenger is the message. How we are perceived is every bit as important as the truth we espouse....The attitude of the church culture will either convey the person of Christ and his attitude, which was outrageously accepting of and attractive to the 'sinners' of his day, or our attitudes toward others will reinforce a stereotype that does a disservice to Jesus. Christ-followers must remember that people are not our enemy...."

This book emphasises the importance of connecting people in church and reinforces the value of small groups. At Living Hope, we call our small groups, "Life Groups". They are a place where we can be real and transparent. A place where LIFE happens!

I want to encourage you to read this book, especially if you are a Life Group facilitator at Living Hope and/or involved in any area of ministry.

One word of warning! It will be hard to put this book down. I had it in the deer stand with me. That might be why I was skunked.

Christmas Series

Christmas Classics
Join us for this years Christmas series starting December 2 at Living Hope, Little Falls and Rice.

Dec. 2nd - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Dec. 9th - Home Alone
Dec. 16th - It's a Wonderful Life
Dec. 23rd - Polar Express

16th Bday

My oldest son just turned sixteen a few days ago. I can't believe it was that many years ago that my wife and I raced down highway 10 from Little Falls to Anoka. The morning of Mark's birth started out with a visit to our Doctor, not much was happening. Darla and I went home and I proceeded to put together our dinner for the evening. Roast, potatoes and carrots.

It wasn't until after dinner that Darla began to experience contractions that were enough to have us call the hospital to see what their opinion was. I remember how the evening began to grow foggier by the minute. Due to what seemed would be tough driving conditions, we thought we should start out for Anoka. We were suppose to go there because of our insurance coverage. Ah, the beauty of HMO's.

By the time we passed St. Cloud, I began to panic. My baby was coming fast. The contractions began to intensify in frequency and pain. "What are we going to do", I thought. Immediately I began to pray and speed. While I was speeding down highway 10 I prayed that I would get pulled over. I'll bet I'm a rare person to pray something like that.

God answered my prayer almost immediately. When the officer finally approached the car, he began to panic right with me. He soon gave me two options. The first was to drive the speed limit to the hospital (wasn't going to happen) and the second was to wait for an ambulance to arrive. Soon we were surrounded by vehicles with lights flashing. They rushed Darla into the ambulance and away they went. I, not knowing what hospital they were taking her to, quickly followed. 10 minutes after arriving at Monticello Hospital, Mark was born. That is a night I will never forget. THANK GOD FOR ANSWERS TO PRAYER!

Now that he is sixteen and about to get his license, I will have to give him a speech about never speeding.

Last Chance

It's finally here. Tonight we begin rehearsal for our multi-media drama, "Last Chance". Our performances will be this Sunday night, November 18-Tuesday, November 20, 7 PM.

Many have seen "Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames". We have done that drama twice here at Living Hope. The same team that helped us with that is assisting us with "Last Chance".

This will be a powerful message that is sure to capture the heart of everyone who attends. Hope to see YOU!

Skunked

Today was the opening of the firearms deer season and as you can see by the title, I was skunked. My daughter Kelsey and I occupied one stand and my son Mark was in another stand. Mark didn't see anything, Kelsey and I saw three big does. Unfortunately the three does were across the road in a posted "No Hunting" area. They were coming our way when the first doe stopped dead in her tracks. "Come on, come on come on" I thought. Suddenly it turned and ran back to the woods from wince it came. The other two followed right behind. I think it picked up our scent (not that we smell or anything) because the wind was blowing from our direction to theirs.

My title is not as true as it sounds. Today I really wasn't skunked. I was able to sit in the deer stand for hours with my daughter. At one point we both got the giggles. We couldn't stop laughing for anything. We may have scared a few deer away but we made some memories that will always be with us.