A Victorian Vacation with Denise!!!!!!!

Here's a few pics of our recent trip back to my home town of Victoria,Bc.Once again we were inundated with a mass of green color.Where we live in California doesn't afford such as this.Our main color here in Hanford is yellow and brown....yuck!!!!........We had a great time,with realization that we probably won't be back for quite some time.We have decided that we need to see the USA and perhaps other parts of Canada as well..I hope by this time next year I will have received my dual citizenship.

Take the Quiz here!

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

Travis worked very very hard and received an award from school.He was an academic all star and was invited to march in the annual Homecoming day parade. We are very proud of Trav ,as he really has to work harder than most for every good grade he gets.Way to go Travis!!!!!

Great Music!!!!!!

Great place Denise found the other day....We put this on and just let it run....many great artists can be heard,such as Sinatra,Bennett,Buble,Krall,big bands,cool Jazz etc...Just sit back and relax to some wonderful sounds...

Just click here,then once you are at the site click on the button that says "Listen Live"...Then hit the play button on the player....and voila,you are inundated with sweet sounds...enjoy!!!!

http://www.martiniinthemorning.com/page.php?50

Here is a great testimony we found

Just click here and watch. It takes a moment to get started be patient. The writing on the screen is chinese i think, but the words spoken are in english. In the end i think it is worth watching

Denise



http://www.wretch.cc/video/ritahsia&func=single&vid=2282608&o=time_d&p=0

modern christianity

The world is moving at a fast pace. New inventions, new technologies and new lifestyles persistently outdate what was previously considered as traditional and, while they point to the future, they indirectly compel us to forsake our past. It seems as though there was never a yesterday, that traditions are no longer necessary in a hectic world and that all that matters is living according to the latest trend.In this fast moving world, values seem at stake. Morality is apparently subject to the fluctuating demands of the rat race. The dominant worldview is secular: Life is short, so work hard and play hard. In this scenario, religion unfortunately becomes just another type of commodity that can be bought and used whenever it pleases and when it is not demanding.Church attendance seems to be on the decline, although the Church building is still sought after as the ideal backdrop for ceremonial events such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. Despite the fact that many claim to believe in God, few seem to understand the need to incorporate this into their daily lives. As a consequence, issues of morality are veiled in confusion and subjectivity.Like many other lifestyles, so Christianity entails some rather unpleasant and difficult choices. Either conventional Christianity is authentic and is a faith that faithfully represents its New Testament roots, or else it is a pick and choose way of life, subject to the whims of its adherents and the shifting sands of cultural interpretation.It is hard to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ when we disagree or feel that our way is easier. As a result, some Christians honour Christ lip service, while they follow or teach other acquiescent doctrines. Christianity is being continually reshaped to suit the needs of modern life, and the truth of Christ's Gospel is being systematically masqueraded under new forms of belief, practice and worship.The Gospel should be the source of faith and inspiration for the daily life of Christians. Finding an acceptable method of understanding and applying the biblical message to our contemporary culture is, however, controversial.We need to avoid the extreme of interpreting the Gospel so literally that we make the New Testament cultures, rather than its timeless principles, the norm for our lives. We must recognise that various literary styles exist in the four Gospels as well as in the Bible as a whole, and each must be interpreted appropriately. The Bible was not given to us as an object to be worshipped, with our interpretation, but rather as a guide to proper spiritual behaviour.As we use the Bible to help us to come to the knowledge and understanding of God, we also need to continuously apply some of the normative and hermeneutics of the Bible in order to shed a better light on the understanding and better evaluation of our modern culture. The literal application of every biblical text without contextualisation is a pitfall we all need to avoid. However, we also need to avoid the opposite extreme of spiritualising the Bible away.All this requires wisdom and understanding. We have to learn to discern the word of God correctly. For instance, we cannot discount the Bible's reports of the miraculous and the supernatural as unpalatable. We cannot expect to understand the Bible without allowing the book to simmer into our daily life with the consequent demands on us not only as hearers of the word but also as doers. We are certainly not at liberty to alter the essential teachings and doctrines of the Bible in a misguided attempt to fit them to a morally decadent culture.For all the talk of a secular and materialistic culture, there is still room for the spiritual. This is because the real important questions that are the flesh and bone of religion still confront us: Is there a God? Is there an afterlife? Why do evil and suffering exist at all in the world?While traditional Christianity claims fewer and fewer adherents, Christian renewal communities at the personal and small-group levels are sprouting up remarkably. Perhaps in a world that has become too chaotic and identity-consuming, modern Christians feel the need to belong to some group where one can find oneself, and be oneself, and be felt in the other.An authentic Christian life in the modern world is a truly demanding daily struggle against self Christians should not be alarmed. At the strategic centre of Christianity stands the supreme paradox of the cross, of the crucified Christ, the theology of the cross, the raison d'etre of our following of Christ, the hope and guarantee of our final victory. We as Christians believe that Jesus displayed his greatest powers in order to save us and reconcile us to God and among ourselves... through a most humiliating and annihilating death. These, however, stand in firm contradiction to the culture around us, one which subtly tends to efface and avoid subjects such as God or spirituality - bent on deriding and eroding life of its real and true significance.With the Golgotha in vision, Christians need not be surprised, but rather fortified. There can be no real life without suffering and problems. Yet these seemingly adverse conditions do not rob life of its meaning as long as this is characterised by the paradox of the cross and the subsequent resurrection.Today's world alienates us with a comfortable life, while at the same time it fails to provide us with a meaning to life. Christianity does precisely this... He is come to give us life in its fullness.

A few more pics of our snow trip

Last weekend we went up to the snow in the Sierra's.This particular place is at Sequoia park Giant Forest Museum.It is actually the first time Travis has ever seen first hand up close real snow.He loved it.However I had to explain to him that when it actually snows the sky isnt clear and the temperature tends to be a lot colder than this day that we went up.You might notice in one of the pics,Travis isnt wearing a coat.We just got out of the car and decided to take a quick photo-op.He quickly grabbed his coat right after this particular pic.Denise and I absolutly love it up in the mountains.Fresh,clean,crisp air....Something we miss in the San Joaquin Valley......

A Great Time was held for Denise's Grandpa Curry at our Church.In fact it was a wonderful sight to see the church full for this occasion.There is a great feeling of growth and renewal being seeded at CCC.We are still small but each week we have new people coming to check us out.Great music,presentation and unburdened with tight scheduling have produced a relaxed feeling.Our Pastor has brought with him a wonderful worship team that has helped instill this refreshing new feeling here.

I've never made a fortune

and it's probably too late now

But I don't worry about that much

I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's way

I'm reaping better than I sow

I'm drinking from my saucer'

Cause my cup has overflowed.

Haven't got a lot of riches

and sometimes the going's tough

But I've got loving ones around me

and that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for his blessings

and the mercies He's bestowed

I'm drinking from my saucer

'cause my cup has overflowed.

O, Remember times when things went wrong

My faith wore somewhat thin

But all at once the dark clouds broke

and sun peeped through again.

So Lord, help me not to gripe

about the tough rows that I've hoed

I'm drinking from my saucer

"Cause my cup has overflowed.

If God gives me strength and courage

When the way grows steep and rough

I'll not ask for other blessings

I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy

to help others bear their loads

Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer

"Cause my cup has overflowed.