"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe." -- St. Augustine


If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

 Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds to be.

To Handle yourself use your head!
To Handle others use your heart!



Local News

1.  Christian Comedian                                                 Feb. 15

2.  Full Gospel Business Fellowship Breakfast                    Feb. 17/07

3.  Pro-Life Supper & Variety Concert                             Feb. 23/07

4.  Thanks from Elgin Street Mission                               Eva Lachapelle

5.  Cambrian Dental Hygienist Program

 

Provincial News

1.  1 in 6 Ontario Children  Lives in Poverty

2.  Pro Life Prayer Letter for January ......... about marketing

 

International News

1.  Married Couples are a Minority in U.S. Households, Census Report Says

2.  UK, Canada Ran Neck and Neck in 2006 Race to Exterminate Religious Freedom

3.  Spain Fast Becoming Europe's Worst Place for Families

4.  President Bush Proclaims National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2007


Words of Wisdom

1.  Footprints ........ a new version

2.  Billy Graham and Oprah

3.  The U in Jesus

4.  Dear God prayer

 

Local News

1.  Christian Comedian Leland Klassen                    February 15
 
Canadian Christian Comedian LELAND KLASSEN, will be performing LIVE as part of his 20 city cross Canada Comedy Tournament at Valley Pentecostal Church, 231 Martha Street, Hanmer on Thursday, February 15, 2007 @ 7pm. 
Tickets - $10 advance  - $15 door are available from Valley Pentecostal Church 969-7940 or at CJTK 95.5 FM at 674-2585.
 
A unique evening of fun and faith for the whole family will be taped and used for Leland's NEW Reality TV Show!
 
If you have the comedy bug yourself or know of someone who does, this is your chance to compete in the Comedy Tournament happening on the same night.  For more information contact Esther at 969-7940 or go online at www.comedytournament.com.
 
Thank you.
 
Esther Gudrie

2.  Full Gospel Business Men's Breakfast                        February 17, 2007
The next Full Gospel Business Men's BREAKFAST is @ the JADE GARDEN Restaurant,1875 Paris Street, on February 17th @ 9:00 A.M. Call Gerald 566-9708; Rene 525-4726;
 Lou 897-4200 or Ron 866-0466. Guest speaker, Mike Sweeney. All Men, women & young people are welcome. Tickets are $ 10.00 & breakfast begins @ 9:A.M.
 
I thank you,
Ron
 
 
3.  ProLife Supper and Variety Concert                             February 23, 2007
 
Hello everybody,
 
I'm sending this to invite everybody to a ProLife Supper and Variety Concert on February 23, 2007 at Saint-Anne-des-Pins Parish Hall.
 
Richard St. Denis is organizing this because he wants to make money for "Show The Truth/Pro Life".  You can reserve your tickets by calling or e-mailing me.
 
Tickets are $20/person or $35.00/couple.  At the same time he wants to celebrate Evelyne (his wife's) 50th birthday on that day.  This will be a surprise to her because she has been doing different things for Show the Truth/Pro Life for the past 18 years. SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE.  
 
Richard thought it would be a good way to help this Organization by giving them the profits of this event.
 
We would appreciate your reservation before February 12/07.  We need to know how many people will be coming.
 
Richard wants to Thank you all in advance for answering this call.
 
Marguerite Groulx  for Richard St. Denis
 
 
4.  Thanks from 344 Elgin St. Mission – Samaritan Centre

January 2007
To the Media and Churches

from the Elgin St. Mission
On behalf of the people at the mission, I would like to thank the people of Sudbury for their generosity at Christmas – people taking time to make meals for and give companionship to the homeless, and all the people that knitted or donated mitts, hats, and scarves.  Thank you also to the people who made or donated quilts, blankets, and so much more. If I have missed anyone, please forgive me.  May God bless you and hold you in the palm of His hand.

Sincerely, Eva Lachapelle, Volunteers Coordinator

PS  We are still in need of volunteers during the day time.         673-2163
 

5.  Cambrian Dental Hygenist Program
I am passing along amessage for those who need dental care to support the Cambrian Dental Hygenist program.  The message is from a student.

Hello Everybody
I was wondering if you or you know anyone that would be interested in
getting their teeth cleaned at Cambrian College. My fiance Kristin, is
in her last year of Dental Hygiene and needs clients ASAP.  The cost is
$20 which covers a complete cleaning and three apointments is required
to do this.  This is really good for anyone that does not have coverage
and great for students too.  if you need a mouth guard for sports this is
also included with the price.
Client times are
Mon. 9:30 am-12pm, 1:30pm-4:00
Wed. 1:30pm-4:00pm
Thurs. 5:30pm-8:00pm
Any questions or bookings you can call Kristin @ 626-3227 or Cambrian
Dental Clinic @ 524-7366 and book with Kristin or other students.
Thanks
 
 
 
Provincial News
 
1.  One in six children in Ontario is living in poverty
Dear Make Poverty History supporter:
One in six children in Ontario is living in poverty.
We need your help now to try and get the Ontario government to carry through on its promise to end the claw-back of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance.
In Ontario, the provincial government takes away, or “claws-back”, roughly $120 every month from over 170,000 of the poorest children in the form of reduced social assistance payments.
$120 may not seem like a lot. But for families on social assistance in Ontario, where a single mother with one child receives only $987 a month and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $903 a month, $120 could make a big difference in whether mothers have enough to feed and clothe their children and themselves.
In 2003, when Premier Dalton McGuinty was running for office, he promised to end the ‘claw-back’ of the National Child Benefit Supplement from families on social assistance. He still hasn’t kept his promise.
Please take a moment to send a letter to Dalton McGuinty (and to the leaders of the opposition parties) asking him to keep his promise to end the claw-back of the NCBS by clicking here: http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/ontario/.
If you would like more information about the campaign to end the claw-back, visit http://www.handsoffnow.ca
Thank you for your efforts to end poverty globally and in Canada.
Dennis Howlett
Coordinator
Make Poverty History
P.S.
Be sure to forward this message to your friends and colleagues. It is available online at http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/take-action/e-alerts/2007-01-18.html


*Editor's Note ....This initiative is supported by Pastor Bob Walsh of the Elgin Street Mission
 
Un enfant ontarien sur six vit dans la pauvreté.

À tous les participants de la campagne Abolissons la pauvreté,
Un enfant ontarien sur six vit dans la pauvreté.
Nous avons besoin de votre aide maintenant pour tenter de convaincre le gouvernement ontarien de respecter sa promesse de mettre fin à la récupération du Supplément de la prestation nationale pour enfant auprès des familles qui ont besoin de l’aide sociale.
En Ontario, le gouvernement provincial enlève ou « récupère » environ 120 $ chaque mois à plus de 170 000 des enfants les plus pauvres, en réduisant de ce montant leurs prestations d’aide sociale.
On peut penser que 120 $ ne représente pas beaucoup d’argent. Mais pour les familles assistées sociales de l’Ontario, où une mère autonome avec un enfant ne reçoit que 987 $ par mois alors que le loyer moyen d’un appartement de deux chambres est de 903 $ par mois, la somme de 120 $ peut faire toute la différence en fournissant aux mères de quoi nourrir et habiller leurs enfants et elles-mêmes.
En 2003, alors que le premier ministre Dalton McGuinty était en campagne électorale, il a promis de mettre fin à cette « récupération » du Supplément de la prestation nationale pour enfant (SPNE) auprès des familles assistées sociales. Trois ans plus tard, il n’a pas encore tenu cette promesse.
Veuillez prendre un instant pour faire parvenir la lettre ci-jointe à Dalton McGuinty (et les chefs des partis d’opposition) en exigeant qu’il respecte sa promesse de mettre fin à la récupération du SPNE.
Cliquer ici : http://www.abolissonslapauvrete.ca/f/ontario/
Pour plus de renseignements sur la campagne visant à mettre fin à cette mesure, rendez-vous au http://www.incomesecurity.org/campaigns/handsoff/index_f.html
Merci d'agir pour abolir la pauvreté, tant à l'échelle mondiale que nationale.
Sincèrement vôtre,
Dennis Howlett
Coordinateur de la campagne Abolissons la pauvreté
P.-S.
Assurez-vous de communiquer ce message à vos amis et collègues. Il est disponible en ligne à l'adresse suivante : http://www.abolissonslapauvrete.ca/e/take-action/e-alerts/2007-01-18.html
 

2.  Pro Life Prayer Letter for January ................ about marketing
January 23, 2007
 
Dear Prayer Partners,
Today I want our prayer focus to be on parents. This week a friend who is raising a teenager is having trouble teaching her teen about materialism. It seems that this teen has attached their happiness with "things". ("I promise that I'll be happy if I can just have….") I recommended that she have a family meeting about marketing. Yes, marketing. Better to arm children against their "enemy" than to make them feel that there's something wrong with them for having all these desires for more and more stuff. I have always said that marketing is one of the most immoral professions in the world.* The main thrusts of marketers is to:
Make you feel dissatisfied with what you have
Expose you to a new item—which in turn creates desire
Associate the new item with fun and happiness (even if it is a pure lie)
Upgrade the item on a regular basis.  
I would say that, generally, marketers have done an outstanding job in our society. We have a generation that just wants more, more and more stuff. Their total happiness seems to be outside of their bodies and dependant on the latest model of whatever.
 
Of course, my thoughts turn to pro-life issues, chastity to be specific, and how marketing has affected it. As of yet, I haven't quite figured out exactly who the marketer is but someone is benefiting from our children being turned into sexual beings earlier and earlier without restraint. Maybe more money is made from "skink" clothing than modest clothing. Maybe the sale of condoms and abortions brings in more money than Pampers and Ivory Soap. I don't know. Someone has a vested interest in turning our children into promiscuous people. **
 
What's a parent to do? Marketers are everywhere. Billboards. TV ads. Flyers. Radio. Magazines. Movies. Music. We'd have to put our children in a sensory deprivation bubble to protect them from all the wrong information out there…or we could do the following:
Be clear-headed and understand what the marketers are doing. Inform our children.
Do a little of your own marketing. Let kids know the devastating affects of promiscuity.
Have greater confidence in the cause. Promote chastity. Speak positively about waiting until marriage to have sex. Keep movies out of your home that promote casual sex (which just about covers all movies from PG13 and up.) Cancel your cable (No, I'm not joking.)
Borrow parent resources from the Life Centre on teaching modesty to our girls.
Google the words "Vicki Courtney" or "Promise Keepers" and see what her ministries have to offer.
Never throw up your hands and accept the lie that "everyone is doing it." If they can convince us that the situation is hopeless and keep us at bay, then they will have accomplished their objective. Pray for our present generation of parents and children.
Please pray for parents today. It's a whole new world out there—very hostile to Christian values. I believe prayer is the key.
Thank you so much for your faithfulness. Remember, I am a parent of teens. Right now I have 4 teens!!! So, I covet your prayers more than you can know.
For Life,
Nancy Bartz
The Life Centre, Goderich, ON
 
*The only exception that I make is if you are trying to be "fishers of men"—and even then I have my limits (no lying).

**I once wrote a letter to Johnson and Johnson (a huge producer of baby products) and asked them why they were providing condoms to Planned Parenthood. Wasn't that a conflict of interest?? Their answer was that they wanted to prevent sexually transmitted disease. Well, wouldn't financing the promotion of chasity and fidelity make more sense? Perhaps they're gambling on the failure rate of condoms to increase the number of teen pregnancies which in turn would sell more baby products???
 

 

International News

1.  Married Couples are a Minority in U.S. Households, Census Report Says
Between 1950 and 2000, married 15-to-24 women fell to 16 percent, from 42 percent

By Gudrun Schultz
UNITED STATES, January 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Married couples are well on their way to becoming a rarity in the United States, a New York Times report on the Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey in 2005 found, with married couples a listed as a minority in U.S. households for the first time.
Fifty-one percent of women over the age of 15 said they were living without a spouse in 2005--having either never married, being divorced, separated or living apart from their husbands for some other reason.
That means 59.9 million women were single or had husbands who were not living at home when the survey was taken in 2005, out of the more than 117 women over the age of 15 in the U.S, compared to 57.5 million women who were living with a spouse.
In 2000, 49 percent of women over the age of 15 were living without a spouse-- in 1950 the number was just 35 percent.
While 63 million women are married, of those, 3.1 million are legally separated and 2.4 million said their husbands were not living at home. .
“This is yet another of the inexorable signs that there is no going back to a world where we can assume that marriage is the main institution that organizes people’s lives,” said Prof. Stephanie Coontz, with the nonprofit research group Council on Contemporary Families. “Most of these women will marry, or have married. But on average, Americans now spend half their adult lives outside marriage.”
A higher percentage of men are married and living with their spouse , the survey showed— about 53 percent compared with 49 percent among women
Between 1950 and 2000, the share of women 15-to-24 who were married plummeted to 16 percent, from 42 percent. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, the proportion dropped to 58 percent, from 82 percent.
While the U.S. has the world’s third-largest population at 300 million people, following China (1.3 billion) and India (1.1 billion), social trends that weaken the foundation of family life threaten to destroy the country’s relatively healthy birthrate of 2.0 children per woman. (A replacement birth rate would be 2.1 children.)
The population crisis facing Western European nations, whose birthrates have plummeted to an average of 1.5 children per woman, may soon be a factor in the U.S. if the institution of marriage continues to deteriorate in the country.
See related Census Bureau statistics:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_DP2&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-_lang=en&-_sse=on
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
U.S. Population: 300 Million and Counting
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06090807.html
The Inherent Racism of Population Control
http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inherentracism.pdf

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2.  UK, Canada Ran Neck and Neck in 2006 Race to Exterminate Religious Freedom

By John-Henry Westen
TORONTO, January 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The UK wins for the most bizarre case of religious repression in 2006 with the case of the banning of hot cross buns as offensive religious symbols. Oaks Primary School in Ipswich, insisted the two strips of decorative icing intersecting in the middle be removed as they might offend Jehovah's Witnesses who attend the school.
UNIVERSITIES
However, Canadian Universities, those institutions of higher learning which were once thought of as "bastions of freedom", have outdone their UK counterparts in anti-Christian bigotry.
A Cape Breton University (CBU) professor is the target of a human rights complaint by a homosexual student. Comments posted by the professor at his private web site critical of the Anglican Church of Canada for its permissive and condoning stand in relation to same-sex "marriage" are the cause of the complaint.
The University of Saskatchewan student newspaper, The Sheaf, published a cartoon depicting Jesus performing oral sex on a pig with the caption reading, "Go on, it's ok, it's kosher if you don't swallow". The decision to publish the outrageously offensive "Capitalist Piglet" cartoon came after the same newspaper refused to print cartoons mocking Mohammed out of respect for Islam. Similarly the University of Toronto Victoria College newspaper The Sheaf used the Islamic cartoon controversy to dream up a cartoon offending Christians and Muslims simultaneously. Accompanying an article on the cartoon controversy, the paper published a cartoon of its own depicting Jesus smooching with Mohammed in the "Tolerance Tunnel".
The University of Toronto also forbade its campus pro-life club from including its materials in 'frosh' kits for incoming students while at the same time allowing controversial materials from the homosexual club.
Two universities in Canada banned pro-life clubs in 2006. At the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia the student union refused to use the normal procedure to grant pro-life students official club status and insisted on a vote on the matter by the student body. The vote was a sham however since only official groups were allowed to publicize about the vote on campus, the official group in question was the pro-abortion women's group.
A couple of weeks later, the student union at Carleton University in Ottawa approved a motion forbidding support for any displays or events "that seek to limit or remove a woman's options in the event of pregnancy."
At Ryerson University in Toronto there was an uproar over the granting of an award to ethicist Margaret Somerville. The award to the highly credentialed ethicist, said the University in the wake of the kafuffle, would have been reconsidered had the university known of the honoree's slight deviation from support of same-sex 'marriage'. Somerville supported legally equivalent same-sex civil unions rather than altering the traditional definition of marriage.
Somerville dared to step away from the strictly orthodox line of the homosexual political agenda, making a presentation to Parliament opposing changing the definition of marriage. Somerville supports the recognition of homosexual partnerings in a legally equivalent "civil union."
The CBC reported this morning that the university administration said they would have reconsidered granting Somerville the award had they known of her views. The Toronto Star reports that the committee responsible for the award has said that had they known of Somerville's stand against same-sex "marriage" it would have resulted in giving them "serious pause before approving the award."
Not to be outdone, Scotland's University of Edinburgh officials banned students with the Christian Union from holding a six-week course teaching abstinence on campus grounds saying it was "contradictory to our equality and diversity values."
INDOCTRINATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN
In the province of Quebec, the government ordered private Christian schools to teach sex education and Darwin's theory of evolution or else face closure.
In British Columbia it was revealed that the Ministry of Education had legally signed over to two homosexual activists unprecedented curriculum review powers. The province signed the settlement contract with the gay couple after the couple launched a human rights complaint in 1999 which alleged "systemic sexual discrimination" in the classroom with implementation beginning last year.
Also in British Columbia, the public Teachers' Federation urged that the province stop financing independent faith-based schools, arguing that the institutions teach religious intolerance. On its website, the teacher's federation published lesson plans for children promoting homosexuality based on the movie 'Brokeback Mountain.'
In the UK a new policy was put in place ensuring all schools - primary and secondary - would have nurses to dispense contraceptives to schoolchildren and refer girls for secret abortions.
Also a Catholic school in Scotland was fined £2,000 since it forbade an atheist teacher from applying to be 'acting principal teacher of pastoral care.'
Christian girls in various schools in England were barred from wearing crucifix chains and Christian-themed rings signifying a pledge to remain chaste until marriage.
RESTRICTIONS ON CHRISTIANS IN THE MARKETPLACE
The UK seems to have bested its former colony in this category in 2006.
A new UK law prohibits restaurants from preventing homosexuals from public displays of affection under pain of prosecution. The same law mandates that bed and breakfasts and hotels give rooms to same-sex couples or face legal backlash.
Andrew McClintock, a Christian and an 18 year veteran in magistrate court on the South Yorkshire Bench, is suing the British Department for Constitutional Affairs for discrimination against his religious beliefs. McClintock says that he had no option but to resign when his superiors told him that he would not be permitted to refuse to place children in adoptive homes with homosexual parents.
New guidelines for doctors unveiled by the Labour Government forced doctors to comply with euthanasia directives. Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor of England warned doctors that they may face prison sentences if they refuse to starve and dehydrate patients to death by removal of food and hydration tube. "If you are satisfied that an advance decision exists which is valid and applicable, then not to abide by it could lead to a legal claim for damages or a criminal prosecution for assault," he warned.
Nine firemen in Glasgow Scotland were disciplined for their refusal to represent the fire department at a gay pride event.
Meanwhile in Canada one of the largest unions, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) denied the request of Susan Comstock to divert her union dues to a charity, a request she made on the grounds that PSAC's open support of Bill C-38, the bill to legalize gay marriage, went against Ms. Comstock's personal beliefs.
An internationally noted Catholic doctor in Canada, Dr. Robert Walley, also went public with the fact that doctors who refuse to perform abortion in Canada are pressured to quit their practices.
Finally, a Manitoba marriage commissioner who lost his licence when he refused to perform homosexual "marriages" took his case to court last year.
ATTACKS ON CHRISTIAN CLERGY OR INSTITUTIONS
In South Wales, Stephen Green, national director of the evangelical organization Christian Voice, was arrested for handing leaflets entitled "Same-sex love - same-sex sex: What does the Bible say?" to festival goers attending the homosexual celebration held in Bute Park.
In Canada a Catholic hospital in the province of Saskatchewan faced legal threat for discontinuing elective tubal ligations, a procedure which is forbidden by the Catholic faith when it is performed for contraceptive purposes.
 

3.  Spain Fast Becoming Europe's Worst Place for Families
Result of aggressive anti-family policies of Socialist government

By Peter J. Smith
MADRID, January 17, 2007 - Spain is fast becoming the most hostile place in the European Union for traditional families thanks to the aggressive anti-family policies of the Socialist government.
Pro-family advocates are alarmed at the prejudice demonstrated by the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zaperato against lending support to encourage traditional families and improve the birth rate at a time when Spain’s total fertility rate with Italy is the lowest in Europe (1.28 child per woman) and far below 2.1 replacement levels.
The Institute for Family Policy (IFP) in Spain has demanded the Zaperato government make “an immediate adjustment” in its family policies and “learn how to imitate the family policies our of European neighbors that have been successful,” especially Spain’s neighbor across the Pyrenees, France. According to IFP president Eduardo Hertfelder, France has achieved “a level of generational replacement” and now sits “at the top of the birth rates in Europe” due to the government’s policies promoting family and childbirth.
“It’s the logical result,” Hertfelder told the Catholic News Agency, “that one gets when, first of all, there is the political will to help the family, and second, the means are put in place through different organizations and budget allocations.” Hertfelder praised France for its Ministry of the Family, which is been implementing norms and laws in support of the family during the last 20 years.
Hertfelder explained that the French government provides a family with three children in France with $491 a month, regardless of income, but Spain provides that family with a paltry $93 per month, and only if they are a low-income family.
“A couple in Spain would need to have 16 kids and be in a low-income bracket in order to receive the same assistance a couple with three children is eligible for in France regardless of their income,” Hertfelder said.
Ever since coming to power in the aftermath of the 2004 Madrid Islamic terrorist train bombings, Zaperato’s government has rapidly pushed radical policies opposed to the traditional family by legalizing homosexual “marriage” and adoption in 2005, approving no-fault divorce, liberalizing abortion laws and promoting embryonic stem-cell research.
In March 2006, the government mandated the terms “father” and “mother” be replaced by terms like "Parent A" and "Parent B" in a new format for the Family Book (Libro de Familia). Later, the Minister of Justice issued a clarification that the traditional model was to co-exist with the new model of the family.
That same month Spain’s general secretary for education, Alejandro Tiana, launched an attack on the rights of parents as primary educators of their children saying “the State cannot be given a subsidiary role with respect to families.“ The following July Tiana announced the government was mandating schools teach the homosexual lifestyle to schoolchildren as young as 10 to emphasize the normalcy of homosexual relationships.
In a statement representative of the feeling of the Catholic Church in Spain, Bishop of Avila Jesus Garcia Burrillo described the changes in Spain as “a violent cultural earthquake” in a 2004 pastoral letter.
"It is not easy to find in history, in such a short space of time, so many changes affecting morality [except] in time of coups d'etat."
See LifeSiteNews coverage:
Spain's Socialist-Led Descent into Darkness
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/nov/04111503.html
Spain to Teach Children From Age 10 to Accept Homosexuality
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06071701.html
Spain Legalizes Same-Sex “Marriage” and Homosexual Adoption
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05063003.htmlSpain"http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05063003.html
First Gay 'Marriage' Legalized, Now Spain Bans Terms 'Mother' and 'Father'
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06031001.html"http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06031001.html
Spain Continues Cultural Tailspin—Abortion Rates Soar 72%
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06010308.html"http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06010308.html

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4.  President Bush Proclaims National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2007

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America:

White House Staff/AH (Jan 21st, 2007)

America was founded on the principle that we are all endowed by our Creator with the right to life and that every individual has dignity and worth. National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate society that respects the value of every human being.

Among the most basic duties of Government is to defend the unalienable right to life, and my Administration is committed to protecting our society's most vulnerable members. We are vigorously promoting parental notification laws, adoption, abstinence education, crisis pregnancy programs, and the vital work of faith-based groups. Through the "Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002," the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," and the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004," we are helping to make our country a more hopeful place.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day serves as a reminder that we must value human life in all forms, not just those considered healthy, wanted, or convenient. Together, we can work toward a day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 21, 2007, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

— GEORGE W. BUSH

Source: White House

 
 
Words of Wisdom
 

1.  FOOTPRINTS...A New Version 
Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road  together.  For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace. 
            But your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures, and returns. 
           For much of the way, it seems to go like this, but gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling His consistently. 
     You and Jesus are walking as true friends! 
           This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: Your footprints that once etched the sand next to Jesus' are now walking precisely in His steps. 
           Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are becoming one. 
           This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice another change.  The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger. 
           Eventually they disappear altogether. There is only one set of footprints. They have become one. 
           This goes on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time it seems even worse! Zigzags all over the place.   Stops.  Starts. Gashes in the sand.   A variable mess of prints.
           You are amazed and shocked.
          Your dream ends. Now you pray:
          "Lord, I understand the first scene, with zigzags and fits.  I was a new Christian; I was just learning.  But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with You." 
           "That is correct." 
          "And when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps, following You very closely." 
           "Very good.. You have understood everything so far." 
          When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way." 
           "Precisely." 
          "So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse than at first." 
           There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice. 
          "You didn't know?  It was then that we danced!"

           To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
          Ecclesiastes 3:1,4.


2.   Billy Graham and Oprah


Last year I watched Billy Graham being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on television. Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she use to watch him preach on a little black and white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor.
She went on to the tell viewers that in his lifetime Billy has preached to twenty-million people around the world, not to mention the countless numbers who have heard him whenever his crusades are broadcast. When she asked if he got nervous before facing a crowd, Billy replied humbly, "No, I don't get nervous before crowds, but I did today before I was going to meet with you."
Oprah's show is broadcast to twenty-million people every day.  She is comfortable with famous stars and celebrities but seemed in awe of Dr. Billy Graham.
When the interview ended, she told the audience, "You don't often See this on my show, but we're going to pray." Then she asked Billy to close in prayer. The camera panned the studio audience as they bowed their heads and closed their eyes just like in one of his crusades.
Oprah sang the first line from the song that is his hallmark "Just as I am, without a plea," misreading the line and singing off'-key, but her voice was full of emotion and almost cracked.
When Billy stood up after the show, instead of hugging her guest, Oprah's usual custom, she went over and just nestled against him. Billy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her under his shoulder. She stood in his fatherly embrace with a look of sheer contentment..
I once read the book "Nestle, Don't Wrestle" by Corrie Ten Boom. The power of nestling was evident on the TV screen that day. Billy Graham was not the least bit condemning, distant, or hesitant to embrace a public personality who may not fit the evangelistic mold. His grace and courage are sometimes stunning.
In an interview with Hugh Downs, on the 20/20 program, the subject turned to homosexuality. Hugh looked directly at Billy and said, "If you had a homosexual child, would you love him?" Billy didn't miss a beat. He replied with sincerity and gentleness, "Why, I would love that one even more."
The title of Billy's autobiography, "Just As I Am," says it all. His life goes before him speaking as eloquently as that charming southern drawl for which he is known.
If, when I am eighty years old, my autobiography were to be titled "Just As I Am," I wonder how I would live now? Do I have the courage to be me? I'll never be a Billy Graham, the elegant man who draws people to the Lord through a simple one-point message, but I hope to be a person who is real and compassionate and who might draw people to nestle within God's embrace.
Do you make it a point to speak to a visitor or person who shows up alone at church, buy a hamburger for a homeless man, call your mother on Sunday afternoons, pick daisies with a little girl, or take a fatherless boy to a baseball game?
Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you look when you're looking for what's beautiful in someone else?
Billy complimented Oprah when asked what he was most thankful for; he said, "Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ" then added, "and the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful."
When asked his secret of love, being married fifty-four years to the same person, he said, "Ruth and I are happily incompatible."
How unexpected. We would all live more comfortably with everybody around us if we would find the strength in being grateful and happily incompatible.
Let's take the things that set us apart, that make us different, that cause us to disagree, and make them an occasion to compliment each other and be thankful for each other. Let us be big enough to be smaller than our neighbor, spouse, friends, and strangers.
Every day, may we Nestle, not Wrestle!

 

3.  THE U IN JESUS
         
Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.
       
And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.
       
You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.
      
And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.
 
Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?
      
The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.
           
When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.
     
"Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U."
     
So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?
     
It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.

 
4.  DEAR GOD:
I want to thank You for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears ; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job; I am going to thank you right now. I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now. I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more
and do better.  
I'm thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.
                  ___________________________________________________
 
 
Major Announcement
 Sudbury Christian Messenger is delighted to announce an update of our website  www.sudburychristian.ca       Check us out, and please comment!   Thanks to Dan Thomson, our Webmaster, and Karen Marcotte, our local church liaison builder, for devoting time and talents to this God-inspired ministry/mission.
Diane Ikonen, Editor

Sudbury Christian Messenger presents local news, as well as provincial, national, and international news that you might not find in Northern Life or the Sudbury Star. You may not agree with everything included.Our desire is to engage in thought and discussion about issues relevant to Christians, and to present a Christian point of view to our community.

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