Merry Christmas Beloved! 

In this season of giving, Deanna and I are so thankful for the gift of Christ's abounding love manifest in you, evidenced by the faithfulness of your prayers and the generosity of your partnership.  These are pivotal days for our mission.  Indeed, these are pivotal days for the American Church... 

Breakthrough is at hand; it is in our hands, that is, in our joined hands.  Ephesians 4:16 says that as the body of Christ, we are "fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies."  As we co-labor together in unity, it is these "joints" that connect us one to another, our friendships, through which God will accomplish His perfect will.  Our best Christmas gift to each other is our mutual heartfelt prayer...that God would enlarge and enrich our circles of friendship.  

We are actually seeing (with our own eyes) the baby-steps of this kind of friendship-based unity within the body of Christ...not just in the pews, but in the pulpits!  Not just in a church (or two or three), but in the Church...right here in America!  All glory and honor to Jesus! 

Pivotal times...
God graced us to re-launch our national mission on the Central Coast of California this fall, where we debuted the Apology from the Pulpit.  God is doing a new thing...something we've not experienced before.  Neither Deanna nor I have said much about it publicly (or even privately) and frankly, we're still not ready.  I don't even know what to say...

For now, just this...  God is visiting us in a holy and wholly supernatural way.  It's not that we've never seen similarly sweet manifestations of body-unity, or even "repentance-in-unity" before.  But this is different...deeper...fearful...holy.  Together with the pastors and leaders of that region, we are truly witnessing the birth pangs of what can only be described as breakthrough. 

We've only been home a couple days, the first reasonably-paced days for some months now.  (Even though I'm on a plane for a quick day-trip as I write this.)  We've barely unpacked from the last three months; we don't even have our hands on any photos to show you yet.  Sorry.  Things have been escalating so quickly, we're doing our best just to catch up. For example, our spiritual "papa, " Pastor Jack Hayford, shot some special video-footage for us a few months back, inviting every pastor in America to sign onto the Apology.  We haven't even had the chance to produce the finished video yet. 

Precious new beginnings...

And just to make the holiday frenzy even more exciting, the wedding plans for our precious baby-girl, Michelle (26), just got moved up from next February to next week, due to her fiancé's training and deployment schedule-changes in the US Army.  I get to marry them in our living room during his Christmas-leave before he moves her back to Fort Carson, CO, where they will make their first home together as newlyweds.  We'll have a big renewal ceremony and reception in Franklin (TN) this spring, before Adam deploys in June.  He's an honorable, God-fearing Christian man who absolutely adores our daughter.  (Smart guy; handsome too.)  Deanna and I are honored to be welcoming him as a son. 

Present hurdles...

Now, back to missional news... (Mind you, nothing is more "missional" to Deanna and me than our calling as parents, but you know what I mean.)  If I may, please allow me to share about our mission's current practical needs...  

The immediate challenges we're facing are (mostly) the kind we want...the kind brought on by an increase in work-load due to an increase in God's favor on that work.  Nonetheless, these needs are immediate and substantial.  Further, as many of you know, they are exacerbated by the residual financial backlog of recent health issues. 

Beloved, we are sensing God's momentum like never before...would you please consider a special year-end gift to help us move ahead unfettered and undistracted? 

By God's grace, I'm feeling pretty strong lately.  (Deanna's doing a little better, too.)  Last summer, we told you how we believed God was directing us, regardless of special challenges, to "re-launch" full-speed-ahead in the fall...so that's exactly what we did.  Now, in the aftermath of these birth pangs of "breakthrough" in those inaugural efforts, we are confident that we heard Him correctly.  He has certainly shown Himself faithful, as always.  He is so good to us...way beyond mere words.

I said the following last time, but it bears repeating:  God is building His Church.  If you and I are wise, we will stay out of His way.

Peace on earth...

Thank you for considering our special request today.  Throughout this blessed season, may God fill your home with the sweetness of His peace and the splendor of His presence. Please know you are greatly loved and appreciated.

Tom & Deanna

Footnotes...

Here's a homemade video of our recent Pismo Beach prayerwalk.

Here's a copy of the thank-you letter I recently sent to supporters.

Here's a copy of a behind-the-scenes update about our health issues, etc. (includes a response tear-off)