Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Spinning Wheel of Success

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“It’s just the way things are: shallow––self-centered—and exhausted—by wanting more and more and more. We are part of the great public dance called the national economy. We are totally consumed trying to keep up with all the other publicity seekers around us.” ~ Joan Chittister HERE
 
The Spinning Wheel of Success. In these days, who among us hasn’t been caught up in that at some point? Joan Chittister shares some wonderful perspective HERE along these lines, including the quote above and this one:
 
Amma Syncletica said, “Just as a treasure exposed is quickly spent, so also any virtue which becomes famous or well-publicized vanishes. Just as wax is quickly melted by fire, so the soul is emptied by praise and loses firmness of virtue.”
 
When we get a little too puffed up, help can come from heeding centuries-old wisdom from Amma and/or more recent commentary from Richard Rohr – “I have prayed for years for one good humiliation a day…”   🙂
 
May your day involve spinning of the Spirit…filling of the soul…  

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, October 8, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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Inspiring Quotes…

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Have you heard or read an inspiring quote recently? It seems like a new periodic CP post is worth pursuing based on the number of fantastic quotes out there. Here are a few:

“There’s an old expression: ‘God never wastes pain.’ I can see now, years down the road, how true that was for me. My trauma was the soil from which something beautiful would grow; I simply had to trust, wait and keep responding to life with hope.” ~ Mallory Weggemann, swimmer and five-time Paralympic medalist, as quoted in Guideposts Oct/Nov 2023 edition

“Every melody declares to us that the past can be there without being remembered, the future without being foreknown.” ~   Victor Zuckerkandl, “philosopher of music” quoted by Rabbi Sacks in The Spirituality of Song HA’AZINU

“You can’t change the past, and you can’t predict the future, but you can ruin the present by worrying about both.” ~ Noa Shaw, author of Stop Thinking Thoughts That Scare You

Have some quotes that resonate for you, including some attributable to you? Please send them along to salong_now @ yahoo.com [without the spaces before and after the @ sign 🙂 ] and we’ll plan to use them in future postings.

May your day involve Spirit spurring events and quotes…

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, October 8, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items
  • accept a Call to Action item from Season of Peace devotional posting

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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Peace Requires Food Security

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Peace Requires Food Security was a recent posting from the PCUSA Peace & Global Witness group (click HERE to read the full post). The author, Laura Mariko Cheifetz, mentions:

Whether they’re unable to gain access to fresh healthy food by virtue of location (food deserts) or lack of means (food is unaffordable), people are unable to meet a basic need. We often expect all people to behave a certain way in society, but it’s cruel to expect hungry people to engage productively in their families and communities.

Lest we question the truth of this cruelty mentioned above, all we must do is try a 24 hour food fast ourselves. Have you done one? For most of us, by hour 16 (or sooner) we’re already experiencing fatigue, loss of attention and more. And we usually know EXACTLY where/when our next meal will be available!

More must be done, especially for the children of our world.

Last night was a fundraiser for Whole Again, a program in the Cincinnati, Ohio area focusing on alleviating childhood hunger. When over 1 in every 4 children in this seemingly prosperous region are suffering from food insecurity, there’s a problem – – one we’ll hope these funds and efforts resulting from last night will help solve.

Whether with Whole Again, a Call to Action item from Laura’s posting or an idea listed below in the POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY section, please consider sharing even more of your financial, physical or spiritual support to help nourish Peace for those finding challenges with food.

May your day be filled with the stirring of the Spirit… 
Hummingbird fleeing the feeding scene (bottom left)

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, October 1, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items
  • accept a Call to Action item from Season of Peace devotional posting

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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Ever Eat a Pine Tree?

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Does the idea of a “silent retreat” appeal to you about as much as eating a pine tree? (cue this Euell Gibbons moment)
 
Perhaps recasting this as Spending the Day with God makes it more palatable? 🙂
 
If you’d ever want to consider such an endeavor, the page HERE in the Christian Playbook may help. It shares adaptations to the silent retreat model along with supportive perspectives from 4 sources.
 
One cool satori based on some of these sources? Christian Playbook principles and topics cover many of the elements in such retreats.
 
May this day be filled with the Spirit (and maybe a mini silent retreat?)
Hummingbird fleeing the feeding scene (bottom left)

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 24, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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No Longer Slaves (continued)…

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Don’t you just love it when God’s synchronicity comes into life?
No sooner than yesterday’s CP post with the “Let Go and Let God” message had gone out, what should arrive in the email inbox? This Let Go post from Our Daily Bread, including this line in the context of Psalm 46:  
Israel was not being told to be passive or complacent but to be actively still—to obey God faithfully while yielding control of the situation and leaving the results of their efforts to Him.
As we go about this day, may we find opportunities to be actively still, allowing the Spirit to move through us…
 
——————————————————–
In case you missed it – or want to see it in the context of the Our Daily Bread post above – here is yesterday’s posting
 
The song No Longer Slaves (HERE) shares this message:
 
“I’m No Longer a Slave to Fear…I Am a Child of God”
 
Show of hands – how many feel this way?
 
What a powerful statement, if only we could embody it in our lives!
 
It’s difficult NOT to be fearful given specifics in our individual lives and world situations – – health challenges; death of loved ones; financial challenges; justice issues; racial inequity; climate destabilization and weather-related devastation of life (hurricanes, fires, typhoons, floods, …); and/or ____________ (fill in the blank)
 
The point in the song’s lyric is we need not be SLAVES to this fear. Along these lines, a popular phrase that resonates for some is “Let Go and Let God.”
 
Adopting that phrase doesn’t necessary allow flat-out ignoring the issue. Instead, it can provide opportunity to recognize the situation, allow Spirit’s stirring, act as “directed” and then LET GO of the slavery that can endure if we’re not careful!
 
So on this glorious day, may we be freed from fear’s slavery and filled with the Spirit amid full recognition we’re Children of God!

**Interested in other songs to remind you that God has plans? Check out this list HERE

P.S. CP contributor Toni notes regarding Psalmtember: “it’s the reading and the meditation that count!!” That said, the picture accompanying her commentary is powerful too…

unrecognizable man with bulb against sundown sky
Photo by Clement Eastwood on Pexels.com

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 17, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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SONG: No Longer Slaves…

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The song No Longer Slaves (HERE) shares this message:
 
“I’m No Longer a Slave to Fear…I Am a Child of God”
 
Show of hands – how many feel this way?
 
What a powerful statement, if only we could embody it in our lives!
 
It’s difficult NOT to be fearful given specifics in our individual lives and world situations – – health challenges; death of loved ones; financial challenges; justice issues; racial inequity; climate destabilization and weather-related devastation of life (hurricanes, fires, typhoons, floods, …); and/or ____________ (fill in the blank)
 
The point in the song’s lyric is we need not be SLAVES to this fear. Along these lines, a popular phrase that resonates for some is “Let Go and Let God.”
 
Adopting that phrase doesn’t necessary allow flat-out ignoring the issue. Instead, it can provide opportunity to recognize the situation, allow Spirit’s stirring, act as “directed” and then LET GO of the slavery that can endure if we’re not careful!
 
So on this glorious day, may we be freed from fear’s slavery and filled with the Spirit amid full recognition we’re Children of God!

**Interested in other songs to remind you that God has plans? Check out this list HERE

P.S. CP contributor Toni notes regarding Psalmtember: “it’s the reading and the meditation that count!!” That said, the picture accompanying her commentary is powerful too…

unrecognizable man with bulb against sundown sky
Photo by Clement Eastwood on Pexels.com

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 17, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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Recycling things of all sorts…

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As regular CP readers know, we’ve been focusing on climate issues. It’s interesting how such a focus almost attracts topics to our paths…

Conversations with some new Jewish friends brought about information on a number of topics, including their efforts on recycling on the website shomrei-olam.org (HERE). Lots of good opportunities listed here – available to the entire Cincinnati community – are at that page, including this

Shomrei Olam is collecting home electronics for recycling. Our partner Cohen Recycling will join us at the Mayerson JCC Fall Market on Sunday, September 10, 2023, 10:00 -2:00.

Bowling Green (OHIO) First Presbyterian is hosting a similar event on 9/16.

Then, during a recent MWPC “moment for mission” we heard about “The Hub” in Cincinnati. They say: “Our mission is to revolutionize how people think about “things” and to provide a place where almost anything can be recycled or reused.” You can learn more about them HERE, and if you live elsewhere, perhaps you’ll see something about a Hub-like effort in your area (check out the recycle bins below from Florence, Italy!)

ACTIONS OF THE DAYS AHEAD: When starting to throw it in the trash…   🙂

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit and with caring actions for our earth!

Recycling bins – Florence, Italy

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 10, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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The Beauty of Letter-Writing…

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Thank you, God, for people stirred the way the Henri Nouwen Society folks are. We are blessed that daily they share some of Henri’s words that they might “land” powerfully.

Their recent posting about The Beauty of Letter-Writing (HERE) was such an occasion. For those with a penchant for writing letters, this posting resonates. Yet, in a world of higher tech, the art of writing full letters can feel archaic. Henri makes powerful points, including:

The beauty of letter writing is that it deepens friendships and makes them more real. I have also discovered that letter writing makes me pray more concretely for my friends.

A recent Letter to the Editor in the Guideposts magazine shared similar perspective about the power of connecting with others. These stirrings prompt the following…

ACTION OF THE DAY: Reflect on your “prayer list.” Which of them are you stirred to connect with today?

  • If at a deeper level, maybe via letter?
  • If vocalizing is valuable, perhaps it’s time for a phone call? Or voice text? Or a new favorite – 60 second video sent via text!?!
  • If connecting with someone who is “not a talker” or who prefers technology interactions, maybe it’s a quick text (with a picture attached perhaps?), SnapChat, Instagram, FB message or ???
  • Whatever form the connection takes, make it happen! 🙂

Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit and with caring connections that arrive uniquely through you!

P.S. Sorry to have missed in our last CP post mentioning our thanks to CP friend Toni for putting us all on to Psalmtember. Even the less-artistic of us can find loads of value from that Psalms-filled experience!!!

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 10, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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Psalmtember is right around the corner…

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With August almost complete, that means Psalmtember is right around the corner…
 
What is Psalmtember, you say? Here’s a little about it:
 
No matter what, if you’d like to join, I encourage you to read the text of the whole Psalm each day, consider what emotions it stirs up in you, choose a medium that speaks to you, and make some art! Folks have painted, used ink, drawn with colored pencils, taken photographs, written haikus, and much more. Choose what stirs delight in you! If you want to use a hashtag, so we can all see what we’ve made, use #psalmtember2023. 
~ Marc Hong August 16th Facebook post HERE (or, scroll down to Tuesday, August 22nd post on the PC-USA Facebook site)
 
So, find the selected Psalm and the word Marc has selected for each Psalmtember day from the table HERE** (or use one of your own.) Now consider how that speaks to you artistically. Who knows where the Spirit might lead…

May you enjoy your one day at a time, filled with the Spirit! (and maybe a little artistic work too?)

** if that photo doesn’t post, you can see the table  at Marc Hong August 16th Facebook post HERE (or, scroll down to Tuesday, August 22nd post on the PC-USA Facebook site)

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 3, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

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SONG: One Day at a Time…

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Many years back at New England Club (NEC) senior living residences, good friend and resident Margaret told Chapel Folk “you should learn and play the song One Day at a Time.”

None of us knew it. So, we checked it out.

With a wise and memorable chorus line – One Day at a Time – it’s been a favorite for almost 15 years during NEC worship services, especially with the chorus:

One day at a time, dear Jesus, That’s all I’m asking from You,
Just give me the strength to do ev’ry day
What I have to do;
Yesterday’s gone, dear Jesus,
And tomorrow may never be mine,
Lord, help me today,
Show me the way one day at a time.

Do you know this tune? First recorded by Marilyn Sellers in 1974 (have a listen HERE,) it won a DOVE award in 1975. In 1981, a rendition by Cristy Lane was #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

More on this song and its background is HERE as a Wikipedia post [and HERE – with hopes we can believe it – as a Facebook post…] The power of collaboration between mentor and student is always fun to see (in this case with Kris Kristofferson and his mentor)

May you enjoy your one day at a time, filled with the Spirit!

P.S. After doing this song a few times, an extra verse** has found its way into the NEC Songbook, reflecting a future-facing tone:

But it don’t hurt Lord,       if we think past today

Help us to think,               that we’re not on the brink,

showin’ kindness each day,

And if we do Lord,           Pass along your good grace

Maybe we make,     the actions folk take        

better day after day

Seeking rest while admiring God’s creation? Maybe it’s time for a field trip visit to a place with beautiful flowers?

Lectionary Texts for Sunday, September 3, 2023:

POTENTIAL ACTIONS – FOOD INSECURITY: This season will likely find increasing numbers of folks looking for food, presenting opportunities to

  • share financial and/or food offerings with a local food pantry
  • check with your faith community about upcoming opportunities to feed community members
  • volunteer to help with a local mobile food pantry or community dinner
  • find a Little Pantry in your area and help stock it with shelf-stable food items

NOTE: for those in the Cinci region, some food organizations are listed HERE

Know someone who might like receiving Christian Playbook messages like this?  If so, please forward this message and they can sign up WITH THIS LINK

CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK HUMOR – click HERE for MORE humor, updated periodically

Including Creation (according to Non Sequitur) …  plus toonfever like this one:


Click on the cartoon above to visit toonfever.com!

STREAMING WORSHIP SERVICES – Cincinnati, Bowling Green and more!

CLICK ON ICONS BELOW FOR LINKS TO CHRISTIAN PLAYBOOK PAGES ON DEVOTIONALS, PRAYERS, MUSIC, STUDY AND LOVE

DevotionalPraying handsSingendes Quartett3StudyMobius strip