By John Sweet

In a society that is ever expanding the commercialization of Christmas, and a nation that is laced with hedonism. It is refreshing to see children, who despite horrible circumstances dealt them by their natural caregivers, become aware of other children in poor life conditions and feel compelled to give sacrificially to meet a need. This is the phenomenon that is occurring in the cottage with lead houseparents Keith and April Underwood.

Sky Angel, a national provider of faith-based and family-friendly television and radio programming, is pleased to announce their participation as a Platinum-level sponsor of the upcoming Golden Halo Award honoring Christian educators. The event takes place on Saturday, November 15, 2008 from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at Pelican Preserve Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla.

On May 31, 2005 at the age of 23, Shelby Kennedy went home to be with the Lord after an intense struggle with cancer. Shelby was described as a “one-in-a-million Christian who had an unusual spiritual gift of faith–a special person who radiated joy, life and hope to everyone she met.”

By Robert D. Crick, Director, Chaplains Commission

ROMANIA — I recently returned from a significant one week trip to Romania. The Romanian church, the Apostolic Pentecostal Church, is in partnership with the Church of God. They have more than 500,000 adult members and a spiritual force needed not only for Europe, but also around the world.

The leader of an Arizona-based ministry is asking Christians to commit themselves to praying for a smooth transition for Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president-elect.

Dumfries, Va. — A group of 26, including Youth Pastors Brad and Erica Lewis and Senior Pastor Gary Caruthers, left Virginia on Monday, August 11. Ron and Kathy Countryman, Church of God missionaries to the Native Americans took us to the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. While on the reservation we held a Kids’ Crusade and encouraged the people.

Are public school coaches permitted to pray silently alongside their players? The Rutherford Institute is taking this question to the U.S. Supreme Court for a decision.

Army Chaplain, Captain Danny Claypoole, a recent graduate of the Church of God Theological School, shared the following report of his ministry with our military troops on the battle front. Here is what a typical day of ministry as he serves Task Force Iron Shield in Iraq:

Alpha Omega Publications® (AOP), a leading publishing company committed to providing Christian curricula to homeschooling families worldwide, is heading up a holiday gift-giving opportunity to help hurting or needy homeschooling families with Operation Homeschool Gifts of Hope.