Volume 3 Issue 18

• Rebecca turns eighteen today, leaving our household void of any legal minors! That night in Flagstaff, Arizona, a new ray of hope and sunshine entered our lives, and she continues to be a source of joy and wonder for her mother and me. You may send your birthday greetings to: beccascreename@aol.com

• Joe Klein continues to be one of my favorite columnists, and his remarks in “The Values Gap” certainly strike me as germane to the overall mission of Growing in Christ. You may decide for yourself by going to the following link: http://www.time.com/time/election2004/columnist/klein/article/0,18471,782067,00.html#Anchor-top
  
• In the Christian tradition today marks the beginning of Advent, the season of preparation for the Christ coming into the world. It is such an appropriate time to closely examine our understanding of what the Christ even is in order to ensure a welcoming place in our hearts and minds. The traditional Christmas story tells how easily ignorance can unintentionally turn the Christ away, a lesson that is still pertinent today.
  
• It is regrettable that a note of warning is necessary to those viewing the Guestbook. Purveyors of pornography seem to have taken a greater liking to the format than anyone else (immediate family excepted), and legitimate visitors are cautioned against clicking on the links that accompany these unwanted entries; to date they have been quite obvious. The Guestbook is being continually monitored so that these illicit intrusions can be deleted as quickly as possible. If it becomes evident that this feature is not going to be used by the Growing in Christ audience—as is now the case—it may make sense to just eliminate it. As always, you will have an active role in making that determination.
  
• The Growing in Christ archives are nearly complete now, and when you have the time you are invited to “browse” through the relatively short history of this ministry. Because of the new blog format, it is now possible to retrieve past newsletters as well as sermons. I have been encouraged by the comments that readers have felt free to make, and certainly use this feedback to shape future messages. A helpful hint: use the “back” icon to return to the previous screen, and you can click on the “my profile” link to get you all the way back to the home page is you have wandered too far into the archives.
  
• Until next week…….Shalom!