2012 is Coming!!!

I love the Imagery this pictures brings! I am ready to received the great things God has in store for this next year. You know I love ya and Happy New Year! Don

My Wish For You!

Looking forward to a great year ahead...you know I love ya, Don

Watching Santa is a Great family event!

Norad always produces a great website for families to watch Santa's travels around the globe. It is also great to watch in the US because we are last on the list and can watch it during the Christmas Eve Day. The Link to watch is below:

Watch Santa

Merry Christmas!
You know I love ya, Don

Merry Christmas from the Crane Clan!

God is Speaking!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s have become a great festival time in our culture. It is probably the majority of the people’s favorite time of the year, but it is also the time of year when life moves faster, stress is greater, and the chaos of the season can easily drown out the voice of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. It is this time of year, more than any other, that we need to stop and hear God speaking.

Our desire in Christmas is to be reminded that from the very beginning of time, all our failures and fears were on the heart of God as He sent His only Son to bring us hope and confidence necessary to live life to the fullest. The goal in these few minutes is to pause and listen to the voice of God Speaking.

We truly appreciate your reading of this blog. May you be blessed through all the hard work and dedication it takes to pull it off. May each of us hear God speaking in our lives through a child born in a manger and still working in our lives today.

You know I Love ya, Don

Christmas is a time for living!!!

Christmas is a time for Love; a time for Joy and Peace;
A time to trim the Christmas Tree and a time to stuff the geese.
It's a time when we can come together, however far or near;
To shed a little hope into a world of sorrow and fear.

Yet Christmas could be all year 'round, if only we would try
To gently wipe an old man's brow or soothe a baby's cry.
If we could smile throughout the year as we do on Christmas Day;
Just think what happiness we'd shed along life's weary way.

To give a gift of Hope to one who otherwise has none;
To be a Friend to somebody whom everyone else has shun.
To be Forgiving of our faults, and of our sisters and our brothers;
To Live in Peace and Harmony with ourselves and with each other.

Ah, don't you see that Christmas is more than opening up the gifts;
It's more than singing Christmas Carols and rolling in big snow drifts.
It's a feeling that can stay with you throughout each day, all year;
And all it takes is a loving heart.....and a sensitive little tear...

This poem was taken from http://www.diskworks.com/poem.html

Merry Christmas! Don

I have a sign from God...so do you!

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” - Isaiah 7:14

How many of us can say, "God has given me a sign?" Well, all of us...every person on this planet, of every color and creed, of every age can say they have received a sign from God. It is the birth of Jesus. Yes, he was born 2000 years ago and yes, He is just as relevant today as ever.

How? To the couple hurting from growing apart and selfish living, Jesus is the answer to our self serving desires and gives us the wisdom to think of the other person before and ahead of thinking of our own desires. To the person scorned by bias and prejudice, Jesus is the one that experienced complete and total rejection and He understands the world is not a place that serves, but Jesus will serve. To the outcast living a life of loneliness, Jesus was alone many times and truly felt alone even in a crowd just like when you attend the Christmas parties with crowds of people and feel like you are the only one there. To the parents of the child that is living outside the love of God and living in sin, Jesus cried over Jerusalem and over the loss of those that did not hear the message of hope. To the Muslim wondering why I have such a large religion, yet live with a whole in my heart that is missing the love and compassion that restores my life with my creator, Jesus rises up and declares, "I am the Way, follow me." I could go on and on and on....

You see ... Jesus is the sign to all the world. The virgin conceived a child and they called him Immanuel, God with us. Jesus dwelt among us so that we might know God. As we grow to know Him, we learn to share that knowledge with others....every other person we come in contact with.

It is every Christ-followers task to go and tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ was born. Notice we don't shout it into the hole of our self desire, but we shout it out from the mountains and over the valleys so that everyone in the valleys and on the mountains across the valleys can hear..."Jesus Christ has come." Join me in shouting it out and declaring there is hope for every situation...trust in Jesus and He will get you there.

You know I love ya, Don

God Speaking Devotions!

Deidre Woods has been putting together devotions for our Christmas Musical on December 18th. This is our devotion from Sunday!

I recently got the opportunity to see “A Christmas Carol” on stage in Chicago. A series of events in the life of Ebenezer Scrooge had hardened his heart to the point of no return. I found myself crying as Scrooge’s wife was leaving him. I wanted to shake him. I kept thinking to myself, “Wake up, Scrooge! If you could only see. If you could only see what we see--- A hardened heart, no pity for others, self-centered, and so angry.” But then the tables turn, and he does get to see himself. Each ghost shows him something about himself that he couldn’t see before. As the last ghost concludes her visit, that’s when he realizes how bad it had gotten. You see a sparkle in his eye again, and he can’t move fast enough to right all the wrongs. He smiles again. He runs around town like a crazy man. He seems ready to scream at the highest rooftop through the little town. I think he would have ran to the chapel to ring the bells if he could. Everyone in the town would have stopped to wonder why the bells were ringing. He would have had their attention. He was a changed man, and he wanted everyone to know!

In our times, it wouldn’t do any good to run to the chapel with so much excitement and ring bells over and over proclaiming the good news as they might in Scrooge’s time. No one would even notice today. What would get people’s attention today? The people need to know the good news we have to share. It should get us so excited we can hardly contain ourselves. We should be bursting with happiness as we tell the greatest story ever told. How can you ring your bell this week?

Today’s Prayers: Pray for how you will ring your bell over the next few weeks as we go into the Christmas season with family and friends

Today’s Verse: Matthew 5:16

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Twelve days until our “God Speaking” musical! Thank You, Deidre. Praying God's Blessing on You. Don

The Wonder-Filled God

Sermon Notes to the above Sermon Video.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Mary was an ordinary girl that was given an extraordinary life through the wonder-filled counsellor.

1 - GOD'S WONDERS ARE OFTEN UNEXPECTED.

2 - GOD'S WONDERS ARE OFTEN DIFFICULT TO FULLY COMPREHEND.

Many times we have no idea what God is doing in our lives. But . . . the Wonderful Counselor grants us wonders that are often unexpected and often hard to comprehend...our response is...

3 - WHEN IN DOUBT . . . WE ARE ALWAYS WISE TO TRUST GOD'S WONDERS

Three suggestions on how we can move toward Wonder-Filled faith.

• Remember God's Character.

• Remember God's Track Record.

• Remember God's Gift of His Son.

GOD IS OUR WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

The response, "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said" to God's wonders in your life may change the world, but if not the world . . . they will certainly change you.

www.donaldcrane.com

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You know I love ya, Don