Angelo, Robin & Taylor Shusko Dedication

We ask for your continued prayers for Angelo & Robin Shusko as they seek to raise their precious daughter, Taylor for the Lord. They dedicated themselves to providing a Christian home so that Taylor might come to know the Savior, and we dedicated ourselves as a church family to support them in this awesome undertaking. We gave them a Children's Story Bible with 365 stories so that they might start teaching Taylor at an early age the truths of Scripture.

Operation Christmas Child ~ Thank You!

Thank you to all of you who participated in "Operation Christmas Child." Let's pray that those who receive these gifts come to know Christ.

Jack Shillingberg - Celebration of Life Service

Jack went to be with his Savior on Wednesday morning about 9:00 am. We are planning a Celebration of Life service for Jack on Saturday, November 14 at 11:00 am at Valley Grace. A fellowship meal is to follow. If you have a memory of Jack you are encouraged to leave it in the comments section.

Note: if you are planning to come to the service, it would really be helpful if you would park in the "lower lot."

Reflections on Veterans" Day

My earliest memories of American soldiers occurred during our time in the Philippines. Clark Air Force Base and Subic Naval Station were located on Luzon, the main island of the Philippines. We would have the privilege to interact with these young men who had come for some R&R from the battle in Vietnam. They were only a few years older than I was, and I respected them for their response to the call. As we often have heard, "Freedom Isn't Free" - someone paid for it. I salute our military personnel at home and abroad, those veterans who have serve in foreign wars, and those who have given their lives so that we might enjoy the freedoms which we share.

From time to time it has become the popular thing for some of our own people as well as foreign nations to discredit our military and our country. Peggy Noon wrote (here) an interesting piece in which she observes the following:

... America has gone to Europe twice in the past century to fight for peace. This is an old concept, and has to do with killing killers so they can't kill anymore. It cost America a lot to do this, and we kept no territory, as they say, beyond the graves where our soldiers lie. America then taxed itself and gave its wealth not only to its allies but to its former adversaries, to help them rebuild. We didn't actually have to do this. We did it to make the world better. We did it to foster peace. (They should give us a prize.)

America hasn't just helped the world, it literally lit the world with its inventions, which are the product of its freedoms. The lights under which the Peace Prize judges read, and rejected, the worthy nominations? Why, those lights were invented by an American. The emails the committee members sent to each other, sharing their banal insights on leadership? They came through the Internet. Who invented the Internet? It was a Norwegian bureaucrat with a long face and hair on his nose and little plastic geometric eyeglasses? Oh wait, it was Americans. The members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee are healthy because they have been inoculated against diseases such as polio. Who invented the polio vaccine, an enfeebled old leftist academic in Oslo? Nah, it was a man named Jonas Salk. He was an American.

Today, we salute you who have served our country and served us by risking your lives. May God Bless You in a special way!

Seeing the Harvest

Jesus said, to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." (Matt. 9:37-38 NASB)

Ed Stetzer writes about the church, "We’ve sped up the music, spiced up the messages, & spruced up the barns, but the wheat is still not harvesting itself."

This is a good reminder for us to continue to be on mission for Christ in introducing people to Him. Many of you are involved in this on a regular basis. Let's continue to focus on the harvest! We live in days of great opportunity.

A "Thank You" to Valley Grace!

Pam and I want to express our gratitude to the church family at Valley Grace for your expression of kindness for Pastor Appreciation. There was obviously a good deal of thought placed into the items which appeared in the basket, and we will enjoy the gift certificates. It is a privilege to be on assignment here by Our Lord!

Valley Grace Hayride clip

Thanks to all who made this possible, and for those who participated. What a great evening God gave us!

Planned Parenthood Director Quits After Watching Ultrasound

Twenty-nine year old Abby Johnson worked as a director at Planned Parenthood in Bryan Texas. She watched an abortion take place via ultrasound and realized as she watched the fetus being vacuumed out during "procedure" that it was time to leave. She declares that she was extremely "pro-choice" prior to observing her first abortion. She also shares some of the inside motivations behind Planned Parenthood and although education is supposed to be part of the mission, there isn't much money to be made in education. The goal of the pro-life movement is to help eliminate the crisis, not the child. Therefore we need to look for opportunities to help girls and women who find themselves in situations that seem to be beyond their ability to cope. An abortion seems to offer immediate relief to the crisis, but only creates much greater problems in the future. You can read more from Foxnews here.