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WEREWOLVES, VAMPIRES AND GRACE

  Werewolves, Vampires, and Grace   Yep, werewolves and vampires.   A werewolf is usually an ordinary person who is under a curse or is bitten by another werewolf. This person, who may be a decent, law abiding citizen is changed into an evil, destructive beast during the three days of the full moon.   Likewise, a vampire may have started out life as an exceptional human being, but after the bite of a vampire, in death, that person becomes a despicable terror of the night.   They didn’t choose their fate.   My wide experience with fantasy literature has shown me that these creatures are not always the villains of the story.   Sometimes they choose to be the heroes.   Likewise, that holy knight or white wizard, hero types, can sometimes be hiding or struggling with a villainous side of their nature.   Like us.   We are all have a mixture of hero and villain, whether we want to admit it or not.   Sometimes, we might even...

LOVE LIKE JESUS - HEAVY SHEEP

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        Luke 15:3-7    This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.   If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?   Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.                                                                                                          1  John 3:16-18         The strained glass window pictured above is located in the front of the sanctuary, ...

TURNING UP THE HEAT

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Revelation 3:14-18 T o the Church in Laodicea “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!     So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.     You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.   I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.       HERE in north central Michigan, we're just coming off a period of very snowy, dreary and cold days.  Even with just two cats, the thermostat is a matter of daily conversation....