1 John 4:4, "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world."
 
 
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle!
 

"Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate,

 their political character must soon follow." - Elias Boudinot

 
Sudbury Christian Messenger Table of Contents
 

Local News & Events
 1.  Make Poverty History       Speaker:  Gerry Labelle       Feb. 7
 2.  "His Season" in concert at Glad Tidings Tabernacle          Feb. 10
 3.  Hymn Sing   Night      Feb. 17         Waters Mennonite Church
 4.  City-wide event for Teen Girls, Moms and Youth Workers      "How You Live" Simulcast          Feb. 23
 5.  Ham & Scalloped Potatoes Dinner         All People's United Church           Feb. 22
 6.  Taize Nite next on March 2
 7.  Pregnancy Care Center  ........Call for Volunteers
 8.  Resources for letter writing re: abortion issue
 9.  Whatever happened to "swearing on the Bible"?
10.  Christian Unity event in Sudbury south end churches makes First Page of The Sudbury Star
11.  Sudbury Christian inspired by Apostle Paul
12.  Jan Carrie Stevens' articles from The Sudbury Star on website
13.  Fraud Alert from City of Sudbury Information Technologists
14.  Knights of Columbus trip to Tulip Festival in Ottawa          May 13 - 16
15.  REAL Women of Canada Conference          Ottawa          September 20   (revised date)
 
National News
1.  TVO coverage of abortion issue
2.  Canada: The Only Civilized Nation with No Legal Restriction on Abortion
3.  Physicians for Life comments 20 years after Morgentaler decision
4.  How we lost our freedoms
International News
1.  The Eric Clapton story
2.  Driven a Ford lately?    Not if you're boycotting
3.  National Right to Life: Huckabee has "Strongest Pro-Life Position" Among Candidates
4.  Why some people are happier than others
Your Daily Chuckle
 
More About the Movies
1.  Pro-Life Film Festival to open in California
 
Words of Wisdom
1.  Devotional - Hit Him With The Rock
2.  Devotional - Out of the Shadows
 
 
Local News & Events
 
1.  Make Poverty History        Talk by Gerry Labelle
 
Ending poverty topic of talk Feb. 7

Dear Friends,

Invitation

International Development Week Celebration 2008
International Development Week (IDW), the signature week for Canada’s international development community. It provides a unique opportunity for the Canadian organizations and individuals to show their challenges and successes in international development. IDW 2008 will celebrate all aspects of international development and highlight the results achieved by Canada and Canadian organizations and individuals in many different fields. The week will emphasize the importance of international development and will demonstrate that Canada’s aid efforts are focused, effective, and accountable. In support of International Development week (IDW), the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA), has organized a public lecture and seminar in Sudbury.

All Are welcome.

Guest Speaker:

Gerry Labelle, Make Poverty History

Location: Instructional Media Room
J N Desmarais Library, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON

Editor's Note:  Make Poverty History is supported by most faith groups in Canada        Diane
 
 
2.  "His Season" in concert at  Glad Tidings Tabernacle         Feb. 10

Canada's most actively booked gospel recording artist, HIS SEASON, will be at Glad Tidings, 1101 Regent St. S. on Sunday, February 10.  They will be singing at the 10:30 am Worship Service and will present a Concert at 6:30 pm.  Admission is free.
Website:  www.HisSeason.com
Thanks,
Judy Shepherd
 
 
3. 
Hymn Sing Night
Sunday, Feb 17, 7 pm
at Waters Mennonite Church
Just west of the lights at Lively.
Join us for an evening of favorite hymns and worship.
705-692-7655
--

Dave Nicol, Pastor Waters Mennonite Church
...... mail@watersmennonite.org   website:  www.watersmennonite.org
       705-692-7655
"...let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, ...And be thankful." Col.3:15

 
 
4.  Girls of Grace Nation  "How You Live" Simulcast  Event for Girls of Grades 7-12                       

Glad Tidings Academy will be hosting the Girls of Grace Nation  "How  You Live" live simulcast on February 23, 2008
Although this simulcast is geared for teenage girls, the information presented is beneficial for mothers and those who work with youth.
A Girl's Shop will be available where the girls can purchase the featured artists' music cds and devotional books. Compassion International packets will be available for anyone desiring to sponsor a child.

Girls of Grace Nation Simulcast is being hosted by Sudbury Christian Academy's
(formerly Glad Tiding's Academy) and CJTK. It is being held at Glad Tidings Tabernacle.

Ticket cost is $20.00 including lunch and snack at breaks. They can be purchased at the school and church offices located in Glad Tidings  or at CJTK.  Please purchase tickets by February 17th.

For more information call Brenda @522-4485.
Simulcast Schedule

9:15am - Doors Open
9:45 - Announcements
10:00am - Morning welcome and Point of Grace performance
10:05am - Worship by Jaime Jamgochian
10:15am - Speaker: Susie Shellenberger -  
10:35am - Group 1 Crew
10:45am - Speaker: Leigh Cappillino of Point of Grace -

 How you choose - Making better choices : Choicing God's way with Love, Sex and Dating
11:00am - Point of Grace performance
11:05am - Speaker: Chris Wheeler -

 How You Love - We were made to glorify Him and we do that by how we love and live
11:25am - Morning Break/Girlshop Open
11:45am - Jaime Jamgochian performance              
12:00am - Speaker: Shelley Breen of Point of Grace-

 How You Talk - Exploring words that hurt and words that heal.
- Controlling your need to gossip.
12:15am - Announcements                      
12:20am - Speaker: Denise Jones of Point of Grace - How You Give -

Making a difference in your culture by living a life of generosity
12:35am - Compassion International
12:45am - Announcements/Lunch Instructions
12:50am - Lunch/Girlshop Open
1:40pm - Stellar Kart performance
2:10pm - Speaker: Chris Wheeler 
2:25 pm - Barlow Girl    pm - Speaker: Heather Payne of Point of Grace

 - How You Feel - Self esteem and being yourself.
 Feel good about the person God created you to be. 
2:50pm ***Surprise Guest Artist performance***
3:00pm - Afternoon Break/Girlshop Open
3:15pm - Speaker: Susie Shellenberger
3:30pm - Point of Grace Concert
4:00pm - Conference Ends/Girlshop Open
5:00pm - Girlshop Closed
Please forward this information to all families with teenage girls.

 

5.  Ham & Scalloped Potatoes Dinner
All Peoples United Church
400 Antwerp Street, Corner Jean & Antwerp

Friday -February 22/08- 6PM
Adults - $ 10.00, Child - $ 5.00
Everyone welcome.
 
Menu:
Cooked Ham, Scalloped Potatoes,
Salad, Buns, etc.
Desert - Hawaiian Cocktail
Coffee, tea, etc.

If you do not eat pork products, RSVP and Chef Lorne will provide you with veggie-ham.
Tickets available from any church member or by calling 675-8670 or 675-5257.

Jan Carrie Steven
465 Loach's Rd.
Sudbury, ON, P3E 2R2
705.522.5126
www.smallthings.ca

 

6.  Taize Nite next on March 2, 2008


Since January 2007, Taizé prayer evenings have taken place each month at Ste-Anne-des-Pins, usually on the third or fourth Wednesday of each month.

Please note that the next Taizé prayer evening will take place on Sunday evening, March 2, 2008 beginning at 7:30 pm at Ste-Anne-des-Pins. 
It is our hope that this change will allow a larger number of people to attend.
Bring some friends and join us for an evening of quiet reflection and prayer.
If you would like to learn the songs that will be used, come to the music practice that will take place on Sunday, March 2 at 6:30 pm.
Anthony Man-Son-Hing <</span>sonopadre@hotmail.com>
***
Depuis janvier 2007 les soirées Taizé ont lieu le troisième ou quatrième mercredi de chaque mois à la paroisse Ste-Anne-des-Pins.
Veuillez noter que la prochaine soirée Taizé aura lieu le dimanche 2 mars prochain à 19h30 en l’église Ste-Anne-des-Pins.  Nous espérons ainsi permettre à un plus grand nombre d’y participer. Invitez des amis et amies à y assister.  Ils y trouveront un lieu de recueil et de prière et de paix.
Si vous désirez repasser les chants de cette célébration, vous êtes invités à participer à une répétition le dimanche 2 mars à 18h30 à Ste-Anne-des-Pins.

Anthony Man-Son-Hing <</span>sonopadre@hotmail.com>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.  Pregnancy Care Center seeks Volunteers

 We are looking for volunteers to come fill out applications to work in the Care Closet section of the Centre. I can be reached by telephone at 673-5003 or they may come in to fill out an application at 430 Notre Dame Ave. Suite 216.

 Thank you, God bless            Ginette

8.  Letters to The Sudbury Star re: abortion articles
Resources     
a)  http://www.abortionincanada.ca/
It provides recent basic Canadian facts about abortion in an easy to understand way, and would be helpful primer for people who want to respond to real stats

b)  Interesting article from the Star that could have people re-thinking abortion from at least a financial perspetive.
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=886673&auth=John+Williamson
 
*From the Sudbury Christian Messenger Editor:  Thanks to SCM readers who have forwarded these links for our use.   If anyone needs help with his/her letter, I'd be most willing to help.         Diane
 
9.  Subject: Re: Swearing on the Bible Fw.
Question from a Sudbury Christian Messenger reader:
Could you please update us on the "swearing on the Bible" practice?
Is it still done routinely in Ontario courts?
 
I am not familiar with the practice that is talked about in the article. Remember that in Toronto there is now a majority of people who are
not "Christian", i.e. they are Hindu, Sikh, Moslem, etc. The practice here in Sudbury is the same as it always has been.
Witnesses are asked whether they wish to swear on the Bible or wish to solemnly affirm to tell the truth. If they indicate a desire to swear
on the Bible (as the vast majority do) there is the standard oath that we are all familiar with; otherwise, it is an affirmation to tell the truth as
the one being complained about.
Personally, as a Christian, I do NOT take oaths on the Bible and when I swear someone else's affidavit I do an affirmation rather than have them
swear on the Bible. This takes many people by surprise as they know I am a born-again believer. However, I tell them that if you take the time to
actually read the Bible it tells you not to take an oath on it. I refer them to Matthew 5:34-37. Jesus would have us have a heart and a reputation
that our "Yes" really means "Yes" and our "No" means "No" without splitting up our words into "sworn" testimony and everything else we say.

Just my opinion - Andrew Slater
 
10.  Sudbury Christian Unity event makes Front Page of The Sudbury Star
Pat & Bonnie McNally thought you may be interested in this!
Front page news! Hallelujah!
Click the Link below to view the content
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=876716
You can check out the website at http://www.thesudburystar.com.
 
 
11.  Sudbury Christian inspired by Apostle Paul 
Please feel free to share the idea of the year of St Paul:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3227638.ece
 
Editor's Note:  A Sudbury Christian Messenger reader recently told me that he is honoring St. Paul by writing letters on Christian issues, just as the Apostle Paul did in his time. May this catch on with many Christians! It's a great idea, and we need to hear The Way expressed out there in our community and world.
 God bless this mission!  - Diane

 
 
12.  Jan Carrie Steven's articles from The Sudbury Star Faith and Ethics page are now on Jan's website
 
Hi Diane!  I finally finished posting "my" Faith and Ethics articles on my website.  HUGS!
http://www.smallthings.ca/default.asp?id=1741

Jan Carrie Steven
465 Loach's Rd.
Sudbury, ON, P3E 2R2
705.522.5126
www.smallthings.ca
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.

 
13.  Fraud Alert from City of Greater Sudbury Information Technologists
Many city users are receiving hoax email asking that users verify their PayPal or other financial information by clicking on a link embedded in the email. There are a number of spoofing sites that look identical to PayPal but are a hoax. These spoofing sites trick a user into believing they are on the real PayPal website, the user then provides their PayPal user ID and password, after which the users PayPal account will then be compromised.
 
When connecting to PayPal or any financial site, always ensure that the web address is secure by ensuring that the address is HTTPS and not HTTP. Also ensure that the site shows a valid security certificate. Look for the security certificate lock with the certificate registered to PayPal. There are many of these types of emails circulating over past months for various banks and financial agencies.  For your security, Never enter your personal banking information in response to an unsolicited email of any kind.
 
 
14.      Knights of Columbus
Ottawa Trip    
TULIP  FESTIVAL        
 May 13th to May 16th
4 DAYS AND 3 NIGHTS          
2 Bedroom Suites      
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Rideau Hall Byward Market, War Museum, Hull  Casino and much more!!
$590.00  A Couple
Call Tony Sottile at 673-2854 to book Knights of Columbus St. Patrick’s Council 11522 




For more events that might interest Christians, please go to www.cjtk.com
___________________________________________

National News
 
 
1.  National Day Care Plan
 
UNITED MOTHERS, FATHERS & FRIENDS
NEWSLETTER
 
 
February 1, 2008
Stop Bill C-303: Taxpayer Funded Universal Childcare
 

I)                    Good Intentions Gone Astray – The Early Learning &  Childcare Act

II)                 What We can Learn from Quebec’s $7 Childcare

III)             Recent Research on Daycare and Parental Preferences in Care Giving

IV)             Take Action:  See How Your MP Voted and Send Your 1 Click Letter Opposing Bill C-303
 
“Parents are not convinced that institutions are best for their young children. In fact, Canadian research shows that group day care is the last form of care parents choose – after a spouse, family members, or home care in the community.”
Andrea Mrozek, Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, Manager of Research and Communications 
 
PLEASE ADD mail@unitedmothers.ca TO YOUR CONTACTS/SAFE LIST
TO ENSURE NEWSLETTER DELIVERY
 
 
Hi Anthony
 
Within the next 10 days a Private Members’ Bill which would enshrine universal, not-for-profit (government controlled) childcare in Canada at taxpayers’ expense is expected to have 3rd reading and final vote.  Cost estimates range from $10 - $15 billion annually.
 
The bill is expected to pass unless some of the MPs who currently support the bill can be persuaded to change their vote, or “miss” the vote.
 
Victoria MP Denise Savoie’s (NDP) Bill C-303 provides no support for other caregiving options such as parents who choose to stay home to care for their children, relative care, neighbour care, or private licenced childcare (only grandfathering existing ones).
 
According to Statistics Canada only 13.1 % of children are in the form of institutional childcare that Ms. Savoie advocates.
 
The bill disregards both parental rights and what most parents want for their children.  It infringes on provincial jurisdiction and shows a profound disrespect for Canadian taxpayers.
 
Most troubling, C-303 fails to consider fully what is in the best interest of children.  The preamble implies that one of the goals of quality “child care” is to ensure that parents can be away from their children earning money!  How does increasing the level of parental absence serve the best interests of children? 
 
MPs voted 138 – 112 in favour of this bill, at 2nd Reading on November 21, 2007, with NDP, Liberal and BLOC support.  Only the Conservatives oppose the bill. 
 
Send your 1 click letter today!  “Stop Bill C-303: Universal Childcare is NOT the Answer"
http://unitedmothers.ca/links/1click/ 
 
All it takes is 5 minutes to make a difference.
 
Read Bill C-303 here:  http://tinyurl.com/2tl6yg
 
 

I)                  Good Intentions Gone Astray – The Early Learning and Childcare Act
 
“An Act to establish criteria and conditions in respect of funding for early learning and child care programs.”
 
The “Early Learning and Childcare Act”, is focused on only one very narrow view of childcare – a one-size-fits all institutional approach to caregiving which disregards parental choice and preferences, and empowers the government to set and monitor national standards.   
 
Childcare advocates and MPs who support national government operated childcare are generally well-intentioned.  They would like the government to step in to ensure that all caregivers are certified and children receive, at the very least, a set standard of care.  They are concerned about the lack of available spaces in “quality” childcare facilities.  They are aware of the sub-standard care that some children receive in caregiving environments, and they recognize there are children and families at risk who could benefit from additional support. 
 
Universal childcare is not the answer to these concerns.   
 
 

II)              What We can Learn from Quebec’s $7 Childcare
 
“For almost every measure, we find that the increased use
of childcare [in Quebec] was associated with a decrease in their well-being relative to other children.”
C.D. Howe Institute Study 1997
 
Launched in 1997, Quebec’s childcare program is often held up as a model for the rest of Canada. 
 
Quebec parents pay $7/day, the province pays $47.50 more, and thus the actual cost is $54.50 per day.  Annual Cost of child care in Quebec is $14,224 per child ($12, 397 province & Parent $1,827.)

 
Quebec’s $7 per day child care costs taxpayers $1.5 billion annually, (National Post March 22, 2006).
 
Staff to child ratio in Quebec day care
 
1 year old – one worker for five children

3 year old – one worker for eight children

5 year old – one worker for ten children
 
Here is a summary of the findings of a July 2005 study by the C.D. Howe Institute analyzing the effects of child care policy in Quebec.
 
Impact on Children
Levels of aggressive behaviour among two-to-four-year olds in Quebec rose by 24 percent, compared to just one percent outside Quebec. 
 
Quebec children registered a substantial increase in hyperactivity, fearfulness and anxiety, combined with a decline in certain social and motor skills.
 
Throat and nose infections in newborns to two year olds rose by about 20 per cent in Quebec and remained unchanged in the rest of Canada.
 
Impact on Parents
“Our analysis also suggests that the new child-care program led to more hostile, less consistent parenting, worse parental health and lower-quality parental relationships.”
 
The proportion of Quebec mothers working outside the home rose by 21 percent – more than twice the rate in the rest of Canada.
 
They also found that the Quebec program failed to address the needs of those children most at risk, but rather heavily subsidized the cost of childcare for middle and high-income families.
 
CD Howe report http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/ebrief_25_english.pdf
 
 

III)             Recent Research on Daycare and Parental Preferences in Care Giving
 
“The overall results clearly indicate that parental choice is paramount in the minds of Canadians. 
They prefer to either take care of their children themselves or have a family member do it for them.” 
David Quist, Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, Executive Director
 
In 2006, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada commissioned GPC Research to conduct a survey about Canadians’ child care “preferences.”
 
They found that 77.9% of respondents preferred to have one parent stay home to look after his or her pre-school children.  
 
For those where the stay-at-home option was not viable, over half (52.7 %)  said they preferred to have a relative look after their children, followed by a neighbour’s home 20.4%, non-profit day care 16.6%, and for-profit daycare 6.9%. 
 
According to Statistics Canada, the most popular form of childcare in Canada is… Parents!
46.4% of Canadian children between 6 months and 5 years are cared for by a parent in the home.

 
Of the remaining 53.6%, what form of child care are they receiving?
33.9% Someone else’s home by a non-relative
31.5% Cared for by a relative (17.1% Someone else’s home by a relative; 14.4% Child’s home by a relative.)
25.0% Daycare Centre*
09.5% Child’s home by a non-relative

*Thus, in Canada less than 15 % of children between 6 months and 5 years are actually in institutional daycare, which is the only type of care Bill C-303 recognizes.

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050207/d050207b.htm

 
Vanier Institute of The Family indicates that 90 percent of Canadians rank daycare centres as their fifth choice in child-care options. (From most popular to least popular were: parent, grandparent, another relative, home daycare, daycare centre, friends, and lastly a sitter.)

http://www.vifamily.ca/newsroom/press_feb_10_05_c.html#endnote

 
A leaked Federal discussion paper from the Department of Health in 1999 estimated the cost of a universal institutional day care at $12 to $15 billion dollars per year.

 

·        90% of Canadians feel that, in two-parent situations, ideally, one parent should stay home and take primary responsibility for raising pre-schoolers. http://www.vifamily.ca/newsroom/press_feb_10_05_c.html#endnote
 
 
For further analysis, see “Daycare Fact and Fiction, Ideology and Agendas” by Helen Ward of Kid’s First Parent’s Association of Canada.
 
3 Page Summary of Report:  http://kidsfirstcanada.org/condensed-links.pdf
 
Full report:  http://www.kidsfirstcanada.org/daycarerecommendations.pdf
 
 
 
IV) Take Action:  See How Your MP Voted and Send Your 1 Click Letter Opposing Bill C-303
 
Bill C-303 is expected to have 3rd reading and final vote within the next 10 days. 
 
At 2nd Reading on November 21, 2007, MPs voted 138 – 112 in support of this bill, having the support of the NDP, Liberals and BLOC.
 
With only the Conservatives opposing the bill, it is likely to pass unless some of the MPs who currently support it can be persuaded to change their vote, or “miss” the vote, and all MPs who support it ensure that they are in attendance.  (Conservatives have only 124 seats in the 305 seat Parliament.)
 
Step 1:  See how your MP voted on 2nd reading of this bill so you can hold him, or her, accountable:  http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2&DocId=3127508&Language=E#Div-13
 
(If they voted “yea” it means they support universal, state controlled daycare.  If they voted “nay” it means they oppose it.)
 
Step 2:  Send your 1 click letter today.   http://unitedmothers.ca/links/1click/ 
 
Step 3:  Forward this email to others and encourage them to send their own 1 click letters opposing C-303.
 
Step 4:  Follow up your letter with a phone call to your MP’s office.
Contact information available here:  http://tinyurl.com/32zaax
 
 

V) Partner with Us in 2008 

 
To be as effective as we must be in our work to defend children, family, faith and freedom in 2008, it is critical that we receive your support.
 
Will you help?
 
Can you share $35, $85 $150, $500?  We need your help today!
 
By committing as little as $8 a month ($25/quarter) you will greatly help us in our efforts to impact our nation for the better.  Please consider becoming a quarterly door today. 
 
To become a quarterly donor or send your one time donation, please visit our secure website:  http://www.unitedmothers.ca/donate.php
 
To donate by mail:
United Mothers
P.O. Box 234
339-10 Ave., S.E.
Calgary, AB
T2G 0W2
 
United Mothers is a registered not-for-profit organization. However, due to the advocacy based nature of our work, we are unable to issue tax receipts.
 
Thank you for your support and continued efforts!
 
Michele Dow
 
 
http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/sendstudionx/unsubscribe.php?M=366566&N=47&L=22&C=68442e75e594958d9c37ffce78892b70">http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/sendstudionx/unsubscribe.php?M=366566&N=47&L=22&C=68442e75e594958d9c37ffce78892b70">Unsubscribe me from this mailing list

 
 
 
 

 
2.  TVO coverage of the abortion issue
 
Even if you missed the three broadcasts of The Agenda each day, you can still watch the pod-cast of Tuesday’s episode “Morgantaller: 20 Years On”  In twenty five minutes, it presented a fairly even debate that abortion is rarely a choice that’s taken lightly and is not always the choice made. Andrea Mrozek spoke well for the pro-life view on  the four-member panel.
 
Or set your 8-Track to record Alan Greg In Conversation on Friday at 10 pm as he talks with a former Anglican minister about his book titled Jesus For The Non-Religious.
 
Find out more about these programs and many others at tvo.org
 
*Thanks to Geoff for this item
 
 
 
3.  Canada: The Only Civilized Nation with No Legal Restriction on Abortion
Physicians for Life comments 20 years after Morgentaler decision

By Will Johnston, President Physicians for Life

OTTAWA, January 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Since the Supreme Court's Morgentaler decision in 1988, Canada remains the only civilized country in the world with no legal restraint on abortion.
Abortion advocates in and out of the medical profession continue to falsely claim a consensus on this open practice, yet polls repeatedly show that 2/3 of Canadians want some legal protection for the unborn child; the Morgentaler justices themselves stated the state's interest in this goal.
As physicians, we see how our justice system lags behind science:
- there is no medical indication for abortion;
- there is no biological difference between a "wanted" and an "unwanted" child in the womb;
- a fetus born prematurely at 24 weeks becomes a "baby" with the full protection of Canadian law, while a fetus 4 months older, still in the womb at full term, has no legal rights at all;
- genocide against female babies in the womb, with ultrasound and abortion as the weapons, are a reality in certain cultures in Canada, yet cannot be questioned (unless hypocritically) by an uncompromising pro-choice ideology.
Abortion is not only fatal for the unborn child, but dangerous for the pregnant woman who makes this choice. The only true choice is an informed choice, yet we question the validity of a woman's informed consent for abortion when its advocates deny or attempt to cover up the true complication rate.

An independent Ontario study revealed that in the first 3 months after abortion, a woman falls victim to:
* a 4-times rate of hospitalization for infection
* a 5-times rate of hospitalization for another surgical procedure
* a 5-times rate of hospitalization for psychiatric care, in a health care system when only the most dire psychological cases can get a hospital bed.
The world literature is replete with the reported increased risk of infertility, breast cancer, and subsequent premature delivery and its associated higher rate of cerebral palsy after an earlier abortion.
Abortion advocates are frustrated by the dearth of new young physicians willing to perform abortions. They are organizing radical new plans to indoctrinate medical school curricula with their agenda, and defy any alternate voice. Most sinister of all, they cry out to punish doctors of conscience who resist plans to force them to be part of the abortion referral network.
They cannot accept the real reason why most doctors do not go into abortion: very few young, intelligent and caring medical students go into the wonderful field of medicine to kill.
Has it all gone too far?
We see another pressing social need that rarely commands much media attention: the long, heartbreaking lineup of couples who want to adopt a newborn baby. When the adoption option is considered, there need be no such thing as an "unwanted" child, and therefore no need for abortion. That is a society we'd like to see, and care for.
Can Canada do better? Twenty years after Morgentaler, we think so.
 
4.  How We Lost Our Freedoms

http://www.noapologies.ca/2008/01/how-we-lost-our-freedoms.html
 
International News
 
 
1.  The Eric Clapton Story
Greetings Diane,
 
This is something I found very uplifting and thought I'd share it.
EC is my favourite musician! Its humbling to hear the world's
greatest guitarist acknowledges God.
 
I think this is something worth forwarding on your mail list!



http://www.wcr.ab.ca/columns/rolheiser/2008/rolheiser011408.shtml
 

Eric Clapton's Conversion Blues

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recently some friends gave me the autobiography of Eric Clapton (Eric Clapton, The Autobiography, N.Y., Random House, 2007) I generally shun the biographies of the rich and famous, but his story interested me. Eric Clapton is perhaps the best blues guitar player in the world, I have been a long-time fan of his music and I knew nothing about his life. So I picked up the book.
I wasn't disappointed. The book gives insights into the inner world of rock music, but, more importantly, Clapton tells his story with a wonderful intelligence and disarming self-effacement.
This isn't a cheap celebrity, ego-trumpeting, book, but a story of art, youth, restlessness, search, falling, near-disaster and life-saving conversion. And its real interest lies exactly in that latter element since, as Heather King puts it, sin isn't interesting but conversion is.
Clapton fans won't be disappointed either at how seriously he takes his art. Throughout his whole career, however fuzzy his head may have been about other things, he was always clear and single-minded about his art, the blues, willingly sacrificing popularity and money for the sake of his craft.
For him, art is pure, something near to God, and is meant always to remain pure. His words: "For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality had always proven to be music. It cannot be manipulated or politicized, and when it is, that becomes immediately obvious."
I knew that on my own I wasn't going to make it, so I asked for help and getting down on my knees, I surrendered.

- Eric Clapton
Those are the words of a good artist, but his real struggle was never with art but with his obsessions, addictions, ego and sobriety.
Success came to him early and the world of rock-and-roll bathed him in a culture of alcohol, drugs and irresponsibility. He was soon an addict, with everything in his life other than his music spinning out of control. Eventually grace intervened and, during a second trip to an alcoholic clinic, he found grace and sobriety.
Here are his own words:
"Nevertheless, I stumbled through my month in treatment much as I had done the first time, just ticking off the days, hoping that something would change in me without me having to do much about it. Then one day, as my visit was drawing to an end, a panic hit me, and I realized that in fact nothing had changed in me, and that I was going back out into the world again completely unprotected.
"The noise in my head was deafening, and drinking was in my thoughts all the time. It shocked me to realize that here I was in a treatment centre, a supposedly safe environment, and I was in serious danger. I was absolutely terrified, in complete despair.
"At that moment, almost of their own accord, my legs gave way and I fell to my knees. In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no idea who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether, I had nothing left to fight with.
"Then I remembered what I had heard about surrender, something I thought I could never do, my pride just wouldn't allow it, but I knew that on my own I wasn't going to make it, so I asked for help and getting down on my knees, I surrendered.
"Within a few days I realized that something had happened for me. An atheist would probably say it was just a change of attitude, and to a certain extent that's true, but there was much more to it than that. I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in.
"From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night to express my gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray and with my ego, this is the most I can do.
"If you are asking me why I do all of this, I will tell you . . . because it works, as simple as that. In all this time that I have been sober, I have never once seriously thought of taking a drink or a drug. . . . In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.
"You are never more of a mature adult than when you get down on your knees and bend humbly before something greater than yourself."
I read those words in a catechism book when I was a little boy and knew, already then, that they contained a truth that perennially needs to be asserted in the face of human pride. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin says something similar. At a certain time in your life, he says, you realize that you have only two choices: Genuflect before something greater than yourself or begin to self-destruct.
Eric Clapton, I think, would agree.

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2. Driven a Ford lately?       Not if you're boycotting.
 
 http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/fords_pc_march_to_the_brink_co.php
 
Ford Co. boycott in USA
Title: Driven a Ford Lately? Not if You're Boycotting
Link: http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/fords_pc_march_to_the_brink_co.php
 
 
3.  National Right to Life: Huckabee has "Strongest Pro-Life Position" Among Candidates

WASHINGTON, January 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The following statement has been issued by the National Right to Life PAC, the nation's largest pro-life political action committee:

National Right to Life PAC urges all pro-life Americans to do what is necessary to see that a pro-life president is elected in 2008. National Right to Life PAC does not want any of the pro-abortion Democratic candidates - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards - elected president. Nor does National Right to Life PAC want Rudy Giuliani to become the Republican nominee for president.

National Right to Life is grateful for the strong pro-life record established by Mike Huckabee as governor of Arkansas, and recognizes that Governor Huckabee has taken the strongest pro-life position on all of the life issues of any of the remaining candidates for president.

National Right to Life is also grateful for the strong pro-life voting record on abortion of Senator John McCain, and appreciates the pro-life position he has taken in his Senate campaigns and in this presidential campaign.

National Right to Life also appreciates the pro-life position taken in this presidential campaign by former governor Mitt Romney.

National Right to Life urges pro-lifers in the individual states to do what is best in their particular state primary to help see that the Republican Party nominates a pro-life candidate.

National Right to Life will always be grateful for the strong pro-life record on all of the life issues Fred Thompson established as a U.S. senator, and for the strong pro-life position he has taken throughout his political career. Fred Thompson conducted his campaign with integrity and honor, and we know that America will be well served by him in any future public role he is called upon to fill.
 
4. 
Why Some People Are Happier Than Others

Surprisingly, the answer isn't wealth, beauty, relationships, or careers.

By Marci Shimoff



From 'Happy for No Reason' by Marci Shimoff with Carol Kline. Copyright 2008 by Marci Shimoff. Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
If you and I were sitting over some tea at a sidewalk café and I asked you, "Are you happy?," what would your answer be?
A few of you might say, "Absolutely—if I were any happier, I'd be twins!" (Okay, that would be a very few of you.)
A lot of you would probably reply, "Sometimes."
But I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that at least half of you would say, "No, not really."
Some people enjoy their lives no matter what happens, while others can't find happiness no matter how hard they try. Most of us fall somewhere in between.
 
The reason for this puzzling disparity is the happiness set-point. Researchers have found that no matter what happens to you in life, you tend to return to a fixed range of happiness. Like your weight set-point, which keeps the scale hovering around the same number, your happiness set-point will remain the same unless you make a concerted effort to change it.
In fact, there was a famous study conducted that tracked people who'd won the lottery—what many people think of as the ticket to the magic kingdom of joy. Within a year, these lucky winners returned to approximately the same level of happiness they'd experienced before their windfall. Surprisingly, the same was true for people who became paraplegic. Within a year or so of being disabled, they also returned to their original happiness level.
Whatever the experience—positive or negative—people return to their happiness set-point. Further research has shown only three exceptions to this phenomenon: losing a spouse, which can take more time to recover from; chronic unemployment; and extreme poverty.
Okay, you may be thinking, if my happiness level is set—how did it get there? Dr. David Lykken, a scientist at the University of Minnesota, had the same question. To determine how much of a person's happiness comes from nature and how much from nurture, Lykken and his team, in the late 1980s, began studying thousands of sets of twins, including a number of identical twins who had been raised apart. After extensive testing they found that approximately 50 percent of our happiness set-point is genetic and the other 50 percent is learned. Half of the reason you walk around generally cheery or perennially dreary is that you were born that way, the other half is determined by your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs formed in response to your life experiences.
In a recent review of the literature and studies on happiness, positive psychology researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky, Kennon Sheldon, and David Schaade confirmed Lykken's earlier findings that 50 percent of our happiness comes from our genetics. But more exciting was the new information they uncovered about the remaining 50 percent. It appears that only 10 percent of our happiness set-point is determined by circumstances such as our level of wealth, marital status, and job. The other 40 percent is determined by our habitual thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. This is why it's possible to raise your happiness set-point. In the same way you'd crank up the thermostat to get comfortable on a chilly day, you actually have the power to reprogram your happiness set-point to a higher level of peace and well-being.
The discovery of the happiness set-point and our ability to change it turns everything we've all believed about being happy upside down. We spend our entire lives searching for happiness, yearning for it, trying to get the things we are sure will make us happy: wealth, beauty, relationships, career, and so on. But the truth is, to be truly happy, all you have to do is raise your happiness set-point.
I sure wish I'd known I was just one of those people who had a low happiness set-point before spending so much time and energy chasing after reasons to be happy. From my interviews, I've come to see that genuinely happy people are Happy for No Reason.

Thanks to Jan for sharing this item

Jan Carrie Steven
465 Loach's Rd.
Sudbury, ON, P3E 2R2
705.522.5126
www.smallthings.ca
 
Your Daily Chuckle
 
1.  While shopping in a food store, two nuns happened to pass by the beer,
wine, and liquor section. One asked the other if she would like a beer.
The second nun answered that, indeed, it would be very nice to have one,
but that she would feel uncomfortable about purchasing it. The first
nun replied that she would handle that without a problem. She picked up
a six-pack and took it to the cashier. The cashier had a surprised look,
so the nun said, "This is for washing our hair." Without blinking an
eye, the cashier reached under the counter and put a package of pretzel
sticks in the bag with the beer. "The curlers are on me."
More About the Movies 
 
1.  Submission deadline nears for first-ever pro-life film festival
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=a0b244c5-4759-4f82-9310-2cf6ab5b57b1
 
 
Words of Wisdom
 
 
1.  Hit Him With the Rock "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."
(Psalm 23:1-2)

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Have you ever thought about David and wondered how a shepherd boy could become a man after God's own heart? A man so strong in spirit that God chose him to be king of Israel? I have.
In fact, I asked God about it, and He showed me that revelation was what turned David into such a spiritual powerhouse--revelation that came to him through hours of thinking about the things of God. I imagine the day he wrote Psalm 23 he was just sitting and singing praises to God and meditating on His goodness. Just fellowshipping with Him when suddenly the anointing of the Lord came upon him and he said, "The Lord is my Shepherd!"
Suddenly he thought about the sheep he watched over as a boy, I faced death for those sheep. I led them where pastures were green and waters were cool, clean, deep, and peaceful. He kept on meditating on that until it started to thrill him. When the lion and the bear came, didn't He prepare a table before me in the presence of those enemies? He gave me victory. "My God! My God will fight for me. The Lord is my Shepherd! I shall not want!"
That revelation welled up in David so strong that the devil couldn't beat it out of him. So when Goliath tried to make a fool out of Israel, David went after him. Goliath was able to scare off everyone else, but he couldn't shake David because he had a revelation inside him that said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for my God is with me." That revelation enabled David to say, "I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts" and to send a rock sailing into that giant's brain.
Is the devil out to destroy you? Do what David did. Meditate on God and His Word. Sing praises to your King. Fellowship with Him until the revelation of who He is in you starts to thrill your soul. Then tell the devil, "You're not going to kill me. The Lord is my Shepherd!" Hit him with the rock of revelation knowledge, and you'll knock him flat every time.

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Scripture Study:  Psalm 23

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2.  - Out of the Shadow "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
(John 1:29)

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Jesus came to take away sin. Do you realize what that means? It means that God, through the blood of Jesus, has so completely done away with the power of sin that you, as a born-again believer, can live as if it never existed. You can step out from under its shadow once and for all.
Understand now, stepping out from under sin's shadow doesn't guarantee living a sinless life. You still might stumble sometimes and fall into sin. But you have a promise from God, sworn in the blood of Jesus, that says when you confess that sin, He's faithful and just to forgive you of it and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
You don't have to live under the shadow of that sin five seconds if you have sense enough to repent and receive God's forgiveness.
"Oh", you say, "I just feel so bad about it!"
It doesn't make any difference how you feel about it. Do it by faith. Learn to be quick to repent. Then stand up and laugh in the devil's face.
I remember one time in particular when I was in that spot. I'd missed it something awful, and I was supposed to go preach that night. I felt so guilty that I just told the Lord I wasn't going to go. "Lord, You'll just have to get Yourself another preacher tonight because I'm not going over there to that service."
Suddenly the Spirit spoke up inside me. "Did you confess that sin before Me?"
"Yes, I did."
"Do you account the blood by which you're sanctified as an unholy thing?"
"Oh, dear God, no!" I answered.
"That's what you're standing there doing," He said. "I gave you My Word that when you confess your sin before Me, I would not only forgive you of it, but I'd cleanse it and cast it into a sea of forgetfulness. Now it's not good taste for you to keep bringing it up."
I'm telling you, I dropped the matter right then and marched into that service and preached for two and a half hours on the forgiveness of God!
Don't let feelings of guilt and unworthiness rob you of the power of Jesus' blood. Repent and step out by faith from under the shadow of sin into the mighty light of God's forgiveness today!

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Scripture Study:  John 1:1-34

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3.   - "Thank You, Lord" "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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Notice that this scripture instructs us to give thanks in all things, not for all things. When tragedy or temptation strikes, we are not to thank God for them. He is not their author. He's the One who provides our way of escape from them. He's the one who enables us to overcome them.  He's the one who strengthens us and sustains us. And that's what we're to thank Him for.
If you read the four Gospels, you'll find that Jesus never gave thanks for sickness or death. Instead, when He encountered them, His response was to overcome them by God's power. So give thanks as Jesus gave thanks--not for Satan's activities but for the victory God has given you over them.


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Scripture Study:  John 11:1-48

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"For this and other devotionals, please see http://www.kcm.org/studycenter/devotional/f2f/index.php ."
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