My Daughter's Favorites!

My oldest daughter wanted to have her own blog which I said NO! I did concede she could write on my blog provided I proof it. So here you go;

Anna’ s Favorite Things:

· Full Name: Anna Leigh Strahan
· Birthday: April 23rd
· Siblings: Katherine (sister)
· Favorite Color: Pink and Lime Green
· Favorite Food: Baked Potato
· Favorite Subject: LUNCH!!!
· Favorite Day of the Week: Friday
· Pets: Belle (dog) and Jasmine (cat)
· Favorite Sport: Softball
· Grade: 6th
· Favorite Holiday: Christmas
· Favorite Band: Jonas Brothers
· Favorite Guy Singer: Joe Jonas
· Favorite Girl Singer: Taylor Swift
· Favorite Guy Actor: Mitchel Musso
· Favorite Girl Actress: Selena Gomez
· Favorite Movie: National Treasure 2
· Favorite Number: 88,888
Favorite Animal: Panda

Merry Christmas to each of you! May the Lord Jesus Christ reign in your heart and home this Christmas!

The Christmas Season

Most of us get excited during the Christmas holidays and rightfully so. If you have children the celebration of giving gifts during Christmas seems to be taken up a notch. Having said that, many folks in our wonderful country experience difficulty at this time of the year. The reasons are many.

• Many people have buried loved ones and you especially miss them during the Holidays
• A lot of people can't afford to provide Christmas gifts for their children let alone exchange gifts with friends
• I know personally of families who will be separated during Christmas because of the wars
• I know others who have little or no family with which to share the holidays
• Many people will celebrate Christmas but not celebrate the Christ child because they don't have a personal relationship with Him
• Missionaries will celebrate Christmas but very far away from any family

There is a family who left our church to go to the Mission field 3 years ago and I received an email from them. I want to share a portion of that with you.

This will be our third Christmas away from friends and family. This season is probably the most difficult time for most missionaries. HOWEVER, the Lord laid something on my heart and I thought I would share it with you. Christmas is an amazing holiday but we often forget what it's all about...So, yesterday in my quiet time the Lord laid something on my heart. Here' goes...

Typically, Easter is the time that we focus on the days leading up to Calvary and the pain that Jesus experienced. Yesterday I realized that the sacrifice began at Bethlehem and not Calvary. It is my prayer that God will give me the strength to submit myself to Him daily and that I would find great joy in sacrificing myself for the sake of my Lord and King.

What a merciful, and loving God we serve. It is our prayer that FBC experience the true joy of this blessed season by remembering the great sacrifice that was made at Bethlehem.

We love you in the Triumphant and Blessed Name of Jesus!

Jeff and The Girls

Jesus Loves You Chiyawo: Isa Akunonyela Wawo gajenji

I pray as you share with your family the celebration of Jesus that you include others who need to be reminded that Jesus came for all people.

Merry Christmas!

JUDGEMENT DAY!

The bible speaks plainly about a judgement day for all people which includes followers of Christ and those who reject Him. In Hebrews 9:27 the Bible says; 'It is appointed once for men to die and after this comes judgement.' God's Word teaches that He will judge lost people(those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord) for their sin and He will judge saved people(those who recieve Jesus Christ and follow Him) for their works. Nevertheless, we will all be judged.

I had sort of a "judgement day" on Friday. Last month I received a warning for speeding and given a ticket because I could not find my insurance card. I was to appear in traffic court on Friday morning. I was told by the Policeman most of the time if you will simply show your insurance card to the judge they will dismiss your ticket. That is what I was hoping would happen.

Well I showed up for court on Friday with somewhere around 75 other folks each with traffic tickets of some kind. I took my place in the pew (yes, they have pews for you to sit in while waiting for the Judge) near the front row and made small talk with the lady next to me. She informed me she had not had a ticket in several years and was a little apprehensive about what would happen to her. I couldn't say that.

As we all sat waiting patiently for the Judge to appear, it occured to me that one day I and everyone else in that room would be facing another Judge which the Bible mentions. I then began making some comparisons with my present experience to the judgement the Bible describes in the future when this life is over. Here is what the Spirit of God reminded me about our appointment with God.

• One day we will all find ourselves before God and give an account of our lives. (Romans 14:12) The apostle Paul says good or bad we will give an account of everthing.


• He will either be our Judge or Savior depending on what you have done with Jesus Christ.
Your judge if you reject Him or your savior if you receive Him.


• There will be but one plea for all.................GUILTY as charged. (Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned")


• There will be no attorneys pleading our case.


• However, for followers of Christ the Bible teaches that there is one mediator between God and man. His name is Jesus! (1 Timothy 2:5) John calls him our advocate. (1 John 2:1)


• I felt more at ease than most of the people in the room that day and the reason was; I knew the judge personally and the judge knew me. I am glad to say that I know the God of creation who will judge the living and the dead.

Are you prepared to face the judgement day in eternity? The best preparation is to know God. Do you know Him? The Bible promises you can Him. Listen to what the Word of God says.

'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23)

'but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' (Romans 5:8)

'For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 6:23)

'because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.' (Romans 10:9-10)

'For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)

JUDAS ASPARAGUS

A friend of mine gave this to me and I wanted to pass it on. Even if you have seen it enjoy it again.

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible. The title is

THE CHILDREN'S BIBLE IN A NUTSHELL

In the beginning, which occured near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world.

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methusaleh, who lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a big boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There was also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was'.)

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.

Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.