I got this as an email forward, kind of cute, whether it’s real or not…

This was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista , CA . He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to ‘explain God.’ 

EXPLANATION OF GOD

‘One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.’ Continue reading a little boy’s explanation of God

Apparently, in my three year Bible reading program I somehow forgot to include 1 John.
You know, the ‘God is love’ letter which is all about God’s amazing love.
And I forgot to include it… OOPS!
Just wanted to assure you that this was purely accidental, I was not cutting out a part of the bible I didn’t like.
Believe me, if I did cut out parts of the bible, it wouldn’t be this one (try Leviticus).
Anyway I have adjusted the readings for the next few days to include reading 1 John.
Thankfully it’s only 5 chapters I have to fit in, imagine if I had skipped Ezekiel!
Enjoy!

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

July 2011
Hello Everyone,

I am back in Toronto and I am so glad. My new roommates are a British guy who is pretty much a stand-up comic, and a Canadian dude who just finished a year at Culinary College (he made the most amazing vegetarian pizza from scratch), so you could say I am pretty happy with them. I have completed a week of camp and its amazing. The kids are absolutely adorable, and reasonably well behaved. Continue reading update from Nathan

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AJAX — Town approves agreement to develop southwest corner of Harwood Avenue and Bayly Street. A Mel Lastman Square-type public space and six towers containing more than 1,800 residential units are slated for the southwest corner of Harwood Avenue and Bayly Street in a deal between developers and the Town of Ajax passed at a council meeting on Thursday. Read full article here.

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

June 2011
Hello Everyone,

May 20^th was our last day of camp. We had a BBQ and we had all the kids from camp invite their friends and families. We had a great turnout, and had a lot of fun. It only rained a little bit, and we had an awesome water balloon fight. Continue reading update from Nathan

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

April 20, 2011

Dear Friends, It has been far too long, and for this I apologize. I will do my best to make up for lost time.

In March, Urban Promise put on a march break camp, combining all three different Camp’s Children programs (Camp Hope, Camp Freedom, and Camp Victory). I was in charge of planning and helping run an hour of games each day, for just under 100 at risk kids. I must say this was indeed a harrowing experience, and I learned a lot about myself from the experience. Thanks to the very qualified staff of Urban Promise it turned out quite alright. I had the opportunity to work with the 5/6 year old boys, and we came in 4th place for most group points (each group were given points based upon behaviour). The 1st place team at the end of the week was allowed to pick 3 leaders that they wished to see pie’d (whip cream in a pie dish) in the face. Second place got to pick 2, and third place got to picked one. The first place team was full of 7/8 girls from my camp, and out of all the leaders from my camp, they picked me. I am still not sure if I should see this as a good thing or a bad thing, but I like to think they picked me because they like me the best. It was a good week. We taught about King David, and through that we taught a lot of valuable lessons about Jesus. A video was made about the week, and it turned out really well. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this email. (watch specifically at 1:54 to see me chase after 2 of my boys as they try and steal fallen goliaths sword in the middle of the skit) Continue reading Update From Nathan

Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”

February 2, 2011
Hello Everyone,

As you probably know, I found out I had shingles last Saturday. As such I have been sentenced to go home for a week or more of relaxation and recovery. However I think I’ll manage. The hardest part of Shingles is knowing that right now, as I am writing this, the kids are showing up at Camp Freedom and I cannot be there. On the Brightside, kids tend to like you more if you have been gone for a while, so hopefully that will be the case. Continue reading update from Nathan

Iraqi Christians gather defiantly to mark Christmas in church where many killed
Saturday, Dec 25, 2010 | Rebecca Santana, The Associated Press

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Christians gathered Saturday to mark Christmas in the same church where less than two months ago dozens from their beleaguered community were killed by Muslim extremists intent on driving them from Iraq.

The walls were pockmarked with bullet holes, plastic sheeting covered gaps where glass windows used to be and small pieces of dried flesh and blood remain stuck to the ceiling.

In front of the alter were photos of the dead parishioners, and twin black cassocks hung from the walls representing the two priests killed in the October bloodbath.

“No matter how hard the storm blows, love will save us,” Archbishop Matti Shaba Matouka told the congregation.

The storm has blown violently against Iraqi Christians this fall. Continue reading christmas in iraq