My family and I live in the United States. Here we celebrate is known as “July 4th” or “Independence Day”.

In the mid 1700’s, when the USA was still quite young, Americans had found it quite difficult to live under England’s rule.

A series of significant events led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence that eventually led to freedom from English rule after America won the Revolutionary war. We celebrate Independence Day on

July 4th as this was the day that the Continental Congress completed the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. People thus began to celebrate. In Philadelphia, bells rang out and firecrackers were set off. We still celebrate in much the same way to this very day.

I marvel at the fact that we, like our Creator have been endowed with amazing creative abilities!

It’s now becoming a tradition in our family to venture to a local amusement park where we are privileged to watch a spectacular display of fire works. Every year they try to out do themselves at Lakemont Park. I must have counted nearly a dozen different colors as they dazzled the evening sky.

I couldn’t help but to marvel, ponder and entertain various thoughts as we kicked back to watch.
I marveled at the fact that we, like our Creator have been endowed with amazing creative abilities. I thought about the skill that is required to set off such a marvelous display of fire works without blowing oneself up in the process, and the ingenuity that is required to create the many colors and patterns. Oh, how we resemble our Maker!

I found my mind then began to think about our very thoughts! How precious it is to have the ability to commune with one another, to share a word of encouragement, to plan an event, share a dream or to teach one another! Oh, how precious this truly is! I thought about those whom we have known and loved that have slipped from our realm and view. Those whom we love who have gone on to be fully in the presence of our Lord. I thought about the way they used to share their thoughts with us and the fellowship that we shared with them together on this earth.

We human creatures can be a very forgetful bunch! If we don’t become pro-active in either recording our thoughts, particularly, of the most vital thoughts on salvation and Jesus Christ the Word, just imagine how easily and quickly how our thoughts about such things can fade away! As a believing Christian, I do not believe that our thoughts vanish altogether when we die, they only vanish from this present earthly life. King David and King Solomon, two very wise men who sought after and loved the Lord provide us with wisdom in this and many others areas of life. The Psalmist admonishes us to put our trust in God and reminds us that in the day that we breathe our last, our thoughts perish.

This is how the Amplified reads:

Psalm 146:4
3-Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4-When his breath leaves him, he returns to his earth; in that very day his [previous] thoughts, plans, and purposes perish.

Some theologians interpret verse 4 to mean that we cease to be completely, that our thoughts are gone for good until the resurrection. Hence, the doctrine of “soul-sleep”. Still others interpret verse 4 to mean that our thoughts are now no longer accessible by inhabitants still on the earth but our spirits & thoughts will return to God. King Solomon, also quoted from the Amplified Bible provide us with these words of wisdom:

Ecclesiastes 12:7
7-Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it.

If our thoughts and plans on this present earth cease when we enter eternity, how important should it be that we actively record our thoughts for our friends and loved ones? How often do we even give thought to our heavenly home? As brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, heaven should be uppermost in our thoughts, for it is there that our Heavenly Father resides. Allow yourself, if only for a moment to consider your great grandchildren. Will they remember you? Will they even have the chance to meet you this side of heaven? Unmarried? Well, how about your siblings? Your nieces and nephews? There is a way to reach beyond our small scope and even past the small amount of time that we have here to touch future generations for Jesus Christ! We are given MANY creative talents for this very reason! To glorify God and to reach BEYOND ourselves. Remember James wrote; ” Faith Without Works is Dead”.

erfully consider how you can reach out and share the Gospel, even in the future!

Dave, Cathy & Annette Nagle

I was so moved as I returned home that morning.  After viewing a dvd from VOM, I found a statement at the end that spoke of a female Christian Chinese prisoner making Christmas lights.   I sought the internet to find out more when it truly hit me.  The tiny lights that we display at Christmas time and maybe even throughout the year for various occasions as I often do, are made by our brothers and sisters in Christ who are imprisoned in China. Most often times they are Pastors of churches there.  They do not ask that we boycott the sale of these lights, but they do ask us to remember them and their families in prayer. 

We usually shy away from news like this don’t we?  Is it because we feel helpless here in the US?  Is it because we ourselves cannot fathom that type of persecution? There is something that we can do and it can be found in the Word.  In Hebrews 13:3 we find this;

Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.  NLT

We are instructed to remember them.  For they are a part of the body.  When they suffer, we suffer. 

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.  1 Corinth. 12:26 TMB

In remembering our persecuted brothers and sisters the focus is turned from ourselves to them and ultimately toward heaven and Christ.  I will now look upon these lights with a deep, deep love and gratitude.  They have been made by a part of our very selves, by the body of Christ in China.  May they sense our love and prayers for them.  May they know by the power of Him who sustains them that we are lifting them up in prayer and supplication.  There are some other ways that you can help support the families of those who are in prison in China. 
Visit the Lights of Christmas website; http://www.thelightsofchristmas.org where you can read more on this topic. 

You can also visit this web site, Treasures From China  http://luciaclaborn.com/?page_id=16  where you can find beautiful pearls made by the underground church in China.  Your support will help these families.

The first gallery here was taken at the Salvation Army Coffeehouse.

Tip! By selecting the "Slideshow" you can view all of the clips at the same time!

Enjoy!

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The Christmas Gift E-Book

Will provide you and your children with some amazing facts that you may not have known about these beloved Christmas hymns.

• The History Behind the Hymns
• Meet the Songwriter
• Lyrics Page for Each of the Songs
• Print Section for use with Your Favorite Watercolors, Colored Pencils or Crayons
• Decorated Copywork Pages
• Lovely Graphics Throughout!

The Christmas Gift Compact Disc Music Audio

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These money saving prices will not be offered after Dec. 31st!

Come into the studio with Dave, Cathy, Cassandra and Annette as they record some of most cherished Christmas songs ever! There’s nothing quite like praising the Lord as a family!

This CD was recorded in 2004 and it includes the Nagle sisters, *Cassandra and Annette* as they join their mother *Cathy* to sing these precious and memorable Christmas classics.

Recorded and Mixed by *Dave Nagle* of Daylight Sound and Studio!

We Have Reason to Celebrate!
Sing along with us and remember the Reason for the Season!

• Go Tell it on the Mountain
• Hark the Herald s sing
• What Child is This?
• It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
• O Little Town of Bethlehem
• We Three Kings
• Silent Night
• s We Have Heard on High
• O Holy Night
• Joy to the world
• Greensleeves
• Christmas Medley

So many of us (Christians included) have misconceptions about heaven will be like. We wrongly believe that when we arrive at the gates of heaven that there will be nothing more to do than float around on distant clouds and strum on a few harps, WRONG! 
  But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].

   Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny].

1 Corinthians 2:9-10  (Amplified Bible)

The Lord wants to reveal His heart and plans to us!  Maybe not everything but certainly we need to know along with those desires He places within  us.  We are servants to the Master and heaven will NOT be boring!!  We will be busily working and serving our Lord AND each other!  What better preparation than right here on this flawed earth!  Our Lord gave His life to REDEEM that which had been lost!  He has not tossed us aside!  His plans are to save us.  He could’ve wiped out everything and started over, but the Lord loved His original creation so much. 

Involvement in the church prepares us for Heaven.  We will not be idle and the work will not be drudgery, it will be our joy.  Imagine for a moment, the temptations and trials that we experience upon this present earth, they will be done away with in Heaven and we will be free to SERVE and WORSHIP in a place where sin will exist NO MORE!!!  In true love & harmony!

I’ve experienced many, many glimpses of a love that runs so deeply through the hearts as we fellowship with the choir at our local church.  We see the love and life of our Savior Himself in the eyes of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  As I grow in His grace, I crave this more and more and find I can’t live without much of the time.

May many lives be touched for His glory through, not only our local Christmas al. May you the reader be blessed the Christmas and may YOU have many quiet nights basking in the Love of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.