Ok, let us try to keep this simple and concise.

Thanks.
Thank you for letting me get to know you.
      "     "    "  the world, the sun, the animals, and the plants.
      "     "    "    "   work of your hands.

Thank you for myself.
      "     "    "  my good points and my bad.
      "     "    "   purchasing for me a right relationship with you.

Thank you for Jesus.
      "     "    "  being the loving God that you are.
      "     "    "  not leaving me to justice, but giving inconceivably of yourself.
      "     "    "  living as a man and seeing what I live through.

Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross.
      "     "    "  being there and paying the price.
      "     "    "  the pain, sweat, blood, and the forgiveness.
      "     "    "  completely finishing an act that replaces my error and wrongness.

Thank you for Jesus' resurrection.
      "     "    "  the final complete proof that you have made me right with you.
      "     "    "  hope beyond this life to a better life.
      "     "    "  a living person I can choose to live for and serve.

Thank you for family.
      "     "    "  their good points, humor, smiles, and how wonderful they are.
      "     "    "    "   bad points and efforts to improve themselves.
      "     "    "  being able to love them and express this love.

In the same way, thank you for: friends; pets; church; co-workers; and neighbors.

Thank you for the United States of America.
      "     "    "    "  wonderful way you have blessed the US.
      "     "    "    "  marvelous way America has been your nation.
      "     "    "    "  foundation of God given rights America was founded upon.
      "     "    "    "  for good people, even if they are wrong, trying to make things good.

Thank you for all the people in service to America.
      "     "    "    "  the people in service to me.

Thank you for shelter, food, safety, and comfort.

There is more, but thank you

Thank you that I can be thankful.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

What are you thankful for on this Thanksgiving Eve?

I truly believe that Thanksgiving is a day that should be spent in complete praise of our Heavenly Father for all He has done and will do for us. Although i enjoy the food and family on this day, i think the day should be centered in Christ Jesus and what He has done for us. I hate the fact that we get so swept up in food and traditions, that people think it's silly to go around the table and say what we are thankful for. It's not silly and we should be doing it everyday.

Well since November 1st Daniel, Sienna and I have been writing down what we are thankful for each night at dinner time. We talk about what God has blessed us with and make a point to say it out loud and praise Him for His blessings. We have been keeping a thankful tree and today i wrote down all the things we have been thankful for over the past 25 days. The one rule about the tree is we can't repeat any of the things we are thankful for, this has really helped us to see all that the Lord as given us.

Daniel is thankful for: My Job, My parents, Tickle attacks with Sienna, A creative wife, Saturday's with family, My beautiful wife, computers, A Christ centered church, laughter, Jesus, Being able to have multiple translations of the bible, cell phones that work in our home, Rides to and from work, Our family, warm blankets, 24 hour convenant stores, Eli being healthy, Our Armed Forces, and Encouragement from friends.

Laura is thankful for: Living close to family, Sienna, My camera, being able to have a home birth, my friends, God taking care of us, Our youth group kids both past and present, All that we have been given for Eli, Eli, Baby showers, God protecting us, my sisters, long walks as a family, Daniel being home on weekends, Our Home, ears to hear, massages, God letting me be a mom, and a healthy family.

Sienna is thankful for: Singing & Dancing, school, animals, church, toys, Cubbies, Slides & swings, my lion, Grandma's, Discovery Kids, Papa, Candy, cousins, My mommy, food, grapes, playing, band aids, bread, Daddy, chicken nuggets, not being afraid of monsters and her very special Bear.

So take some time tomorrow and think about what you are thankful for and make a list. You'll surprised what you come up with.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

JOCOBED AND MIRIAM

[18]

Tonight all of us youth leaders were left to run Canvas as Pastor Dan had the night off. He works so hard and makes such a BIG difference in teens lives, that I am so glad he was able to have a night off. So of course since Dan wasn't their i planned a really big messy game! haha, Dan knew about it, but i'm not sure how he would have reacted if he was actually there. We played "Snow Relay". Living in southern California these teens don't get to play in the snow like teens on the east coast. So i thought i would bring a little snow fun to Canvas with a bucket of paper confetti. The teens sat in circles and were each given a cup. They had to pass confetti over there head to each other to fill a bucket. This made for great fun since the confetti did not want to stay in the cups, but rather flouted away every time they poured it. The teens had a blast! After the game was over they all enjoyed a little snow fight. It was awesome to see them play like little kids again and have so much fun at youth group. The mess was so worth it!

After the game we had a guest worship leader and speaker. I think it was nice for the teens to see other people in the church interested in them and wanting to be a part of their lives. They know all of us leaders love them, but they need to know they are loved and appropriated by other church members and staff. So often youth groups are shoved aside by adults in the church and brushed off as not a "real" ministry that the teens feel separated from the church, and after high school never become a part of the church. So having others outside of Canvas come, serve and love the teens was a blessing!
When we were almost done for the evening three count them three teens were baptized! Now that is AWESOME. We have had four teens baptized in the past three weeks. God is working in this group, teens are bringing friends to youth group and teens want to be baptized or make new commitments to Christ. I am so blessed to be apart of what God is doing at Discovery church and Canvas!

Pastor Scot gave a great lesson on Temptation tonight, he also showed a really hard hitting video. Check it out by clicking here. 

The Battle Within week 3
Bottom Line: We are tempted to believe we know how God works and how we think we can work Him.

In the boxing world, sometimes things aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes the winner is known before anyone walks into the ring. Sometimes the outcome is pre-determined by a person who has manipulated things behind the scene. Sometimes a fighter takes a dive. Sometimes a boxer throws the fight. And if each one of us were completely honest, sometimes we try to work things as well in our fight with temptation. And who or what we are manipulating isn’t the temptation, it’s God.

Scripture References: Matthew 4:5-7; Psalm 91:12; Exodus 17:2-3

Question for the week: Are you cooperating with God or are you manipulating him?

Today I came across a tale of courage in the face of persecution and grave danger. It involves a man who was drafted into the Japanese army near the close of the war. He said he didn't consider refusing the mandatory service, not because it would have been futile but because, as he put it, the Bible says everyone must submit to the governing authorities. 'But I was determined to refuse (to do certain things) without reservation, if I faced a situation where I should do so based on my faith.'

It was not long before his conviction was under fire:

In April that year Watabe faced his first test. One morning, a senior soldier announced that as part of the recruits' training and to test their nerve, they were going to bayonet Chinese Eighth Route Army prisoners of war.

Watabe said he could only pray to God for guidance.

Later, when the first POW was brought to the execution site, an officer instructed the trainees to thrust their bayonets upward when they stabbed, and demonstrated the technique. Watabe said he couldn't believe the horrific sight.

The recruits were ordered to follow suit. Watabe recalled how the first one shook as he ran to bayonet the Chinese victim. The soldier's first attempt failed, or at least it wasn't the way the officer had shown them. The commander shouted at him and ordered to do it again. And he did.

"No one had killed others before this. Murder was a crime that resulted in a life sentence or the death penalty, but now it was an act of service to the Emperor," he said. "I just feel that there were actually few people who could accept that without much hesitation."

But one after another, the recruits took turns executing the POWs. Watabe's turn was approaching.

Right before his turn came, Watabe said he heard the voice of God: "Put on Christ. It is a sin not to follow God's teaching. Refuse the slaughter with your life."

Watabe later heard that the human body can feel pain when one is under extreme pressure, but he believes it was God talking to him. And on hearing his voice, Watabe did not move.

The commander came to him and asked: "Are you telling me that you refused to kill the POW because of your faith?" To this, he replied "Yes, sir!"

Several hardened troops cursed Watabe and spat on him. One seized him by the collar. The ranking officer stopped them and ordered the training to resume. He said Watabe would be punished later.

Watabe said he was not court-martialed or locked up. Nor was he condemned. Instead, he was subjected to torture. It began at night a few days later and it came in many variations.

Ranking officers would take any occasion to beat him, using gaiters, boots and belt buckles. They also kicked and punched him. On other occasions, he was made to hold a wash basin with a hole over his head and bear the water dripping from it in the cold weather.

...

He secretly kept a diary in the form of tanka. Soldiers were strictly prohibited from keeping diaries and their belongings were inspected, but Watabe wrote his poems in a small notebook when he was in the latrine. Luckily, it was never found.

After the war, Watabe worked as an official at the Board of Audit. He kept quiet about his experiences until about 15 years ago, when his granddaughter sat on his lap and innocently asked him whether war was scary.

In 1994, Watabe published "Chiisana Teikou" ("Small Resistance"), a compilation of around 600 of his wartime tanka. Each describes what he saw or felt as he lived through the ordeal.

Since then, Watabe has given numerous speeches and has written about his experiences and thoughts on the war in the hope that young people will not repeat the same mistake.

Even in today's Japan, refusing an order from a superior is essentially unheardof. Ryozo Watabe's faith and conviction should be an inspiration to us all. It would have been so easy for him to comply as his personal suffering continued and grew. I am hoping to find a copy of his collection of tanka one day.

JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

Poll: Should Conservative Christians Renounce Carrie Prejean's Lewd Pursuits?

The conservative Christian groups that embraced Carrie Prejean over her public stand against gay marriage at this year's Miss USA pageant would presumably be appalled by revelations that she participated in racy photo shoots and made obscene videotapes for her boyfriend.

Should those groups be expected to renounce Prejean's erotic endeavors?

Should Christian groups that embraced Carrie Prejean for her stance on marriage renounce her appearances in racy photos and obscene videotapes?

Yes No

Vote and view results here.

Some conservative ideologues play the Victim Card like a master Tex Hold Em player reads their opponents' cards in Vegas and tosses out a Joker. Sarah Palin has mastered the art of "the liberal is attacking poor little ME!"

Conservatives use this technique more as a rallying cry to their base. A way to squeeze money out of the fringes and make themselves a hero to their cause. Carrie Prejean has been trying to do just that, but her efforts are really weak.

The playbook is pretty standard. Say something racist, misogynist or homophobic which the public doesn't like and claim that you're just voicing your views and the dirty hippie liberals want to silence you from speaking your mind. It doesn't hurt to have the looks Carrie does, but it appears like she'll need some extra media training in the Conservative Whiner schtick.

She's trying to be the new star on the far right conservative circuit, but she's had a very controversial start to her run at it.

As you know, she was running for the Miss USA title, got asked about gay marriage, said she was against it and then got into a very public fight with Perez Hilton over it. She was immediately embraced by the religious right, and as she was acting as Miss California started to film commercials against gay marriage. This is a violation of her contract as Miss California, because you cannot take positions on religion and politics, but she does what most conservatives do, she played by her own rules.

In the middle of it all, topless pictures were released about her, which is no biggie, except when you want to be a leading figure in the morally superior evangelical set. Donald Trump came to her rescue and didn't fire her for breach of contract when she failed to show up for scheduled events. A firestorm erupted between the pageant people in California and Prejean, and it so infuriated Shanna Moakler she resigned.

She was finally fired by "The Donald" while she was doing a radio interview because she failed to live up to the terms of her contract.

You can see why Sarah Palin is her hero. They both love to quit. Then she brought a lawsuit against the pageant.

Now the fun really begins because she made a sex tape for her boyfriend and TMZ reported that it was this tape that got her to back down and the suit was settled.

In the above video, Hannity tries to whitewash it for her, first saying that the ex betrayed her, at which Prejean naturally smiles and says, "Yes, he did. I loved him." Her book is called "Still Standing," which is of course an attack on the media, and her thesis is that everybody wanted her to not express her views. And that, as you can see by this, video is a joke. She has never been silenced at all. She's on every TV show possible.

Her ex told TMZ that Carrie tried to get him to lie about her age so she could say it was a youthful mistake to appease the right wing Christians.

Listen, Carrie, nobody cares about your sex tape (except in a voyeuristic way) or the money you spent on fixing up your body to win beauty contests, or how many nekked pictures you took, because it's your life. Bravo, I say! Will there be Late Night on Cinemax?

She has to concentrate on her religious base because that's where her money is going to come from. If she cons them into thinking she's another "conservative victim," she'll succeed mightly in that arena.

Watching her on Larry King was also pretty funny. Larry King is the King of the softball interviews, and she picks his show to try and pull the old, "Storm off the set routine," but can't even find her microphone to rip off herself. King was trying to find out why she settled her court case -- because as we know, it looks like the sex tape made her capitulate.

In the above video, we have her then trying to pull what appears to be a preplanned stunt on Larry King for more attention.

If it wasn't planned, then, well... she's just nuts.

Source:  Crooks and Liars

JOSEPH