Hi Folks!

Another busy week at Good News. Thursday of last week we saw our first graduating class of our Pre-School and got to be part of the Spring Pre-School Recital. What a blessing! It is clear that our wonderful kids are led by wonderful leaders that are teaching our kids about love for God and our responsibility to be good citizens of this great country called America!

Then, last evening, almost 70 kids taught us about the importance of Christ as we run the race of life. They reminded us that doing life God's way is the path to happiness and fulfillment. Again, it was clear we have great kids and leaders that take their responsibility to God and Church seriously.

The Bible has a lot to say about children. I think this is the reason I try to stress to our committees and our leadership the height, length and breadth of our responsibility to "train up our children in the way they should go." The Bible tells us if we do this the kids will remember it when they are older. And as we teach the kids and learn the patience it takes to have a church full of kids we find out that we learn too.

I am reminded, as we approach Memorial Day, that what we teach these children now will determine whether they grow up to be self or God-centered. The repercussions are vast if we succeed or if we fail. If we do our job it will result in a better Church and a better America, led by men and women who realize that life is about more than "me." If we fail we will raise up a generation that seeks to meet their own needs to the detriment of their country and, ultimately, their own long-term survival. The stakes are high!

Sunday we will remember men and women who have served our country well and got it right. They weren't perfect. They were just Americans who saw that serving their country as an honor and as an _expression_ of our need to reflect our maker, a sacrificial giver. So they gave. And they sacrificed. They are bigger than life and stronger than death. And they started as children who learned to be good somewhere like Good News.

Remember them for their love, for that trait is eternal and, according to God, is the "greatest" thing! Cry and laugh about who they are and what they did. They are what America is all about, people from every walk of life coming together for a common and greater good.

In Christ's Love, Randy