First Christmas Craft of 2009

I got the idea from one of those little pull-off flyers I found at Joann's. I bought some paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them a brown red. I chose my photos and printed them in a Sepia one. Then I used Modge Podge to decoupage them along with Chrismas scrapbook paper. It turned out much better than I thought it would!

A Consumer Culture

Some stats from Mark Driscoll's The Radical Reformission:

In ninety nations, people spend less each year than we in the United States spend on our garbage bags.

Each year more Americans declare bankruptcy than graduate from college.

We have twice as many malls as high schools.

We spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches than on higher education.

Our supermarkets have 250 percent more items than they did twenty years ago.

Parents spend six hours shopping each week, and forty minutes playing with their children.

Seventy percent of Americans visit a mall each week; that's more than visit houses of worship.

Something to Think About

From the annual Status of Global Mission, Presence, and Activities report:

The number of Christian martyrs in 2008 was 175,000. That's 479 Christians every day who lost their lives as a result of being a Christian.

May we be encouraged to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for the gospel, be prepared to suffer ourselves, and be evermore crying out, "Come, Lord Jesus, come!"

Optimism vs. Hope

Some reflections in this essay on the difference and why hope is the better alternative.

Little Boys and Mud

A Magnetic Attraction