Just a short time ago we decorated our home for Christmas, just like they did here at our home at Freighter View. We unwrapped the lights, decorations, and tree and made everything beautiful. We even placed a live tree near our porch with snowflake lights that illuminated the area for 24 hours each day beginning December 1st.

I can remember living on Drummond Island and having the pick of almost any tree we wanted, and the smell and fragrance from a live tree is almost unsurpassed when it is placed in your home.

All of our children live many miles from us and it is not often we get together during the holidays. One particular snowing Christmas we had everyone at our home on Drummond, and we all went out to find a tree. We walked and walked and selected many trees but finally we all came to the same conclusion that the very tree in front of us was just the right one and we drug it to our home in the woods. I don't think any tree has ever been as beautiful as that very tree.

The snow was provided, the kids were home, and decorations were hung with care. Old Christmas Carols were played over and over again, and finally Silent Night overcame all of us and Christmas did come that next day. Just like Thanksgiving, the aromas of the roasting turkey, stuffing, homemade bread and pies, filled the air to complete the day, not to mention the gifts that were given with all of the love and desire of our family seeking the warmth of the day and the blessings that brought us together.

Just sitting by the fireplace, with lighting at its lowest level, seemed to be the trade off to reality with few cares or concerns for world happenings. Peace, tranquility and civility seemed to be the order of that particular and most memorable Christmas Day.

But what all led up to that special day or any Christmas day that you recall deals with how we prepare for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Always keep in mind Proverbs 23:26 which says, "My child, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways." From this we can realize that the greatest gift we can give to Christ is yourself.

If you haven't thought about it much what our society would be like had Jesus never been born? Would our church be located where it is? Would we have a place to worship? Hospitals in His name would not exist. Some universities would not be in existence, and even my alma mater, the University of Tulsa, with Presbyterian affiliation, would not be on the horizon. St. John's Hospital where I was born would not be the center of care like it is today. Charitable organizations which pride themselves in helping the needy would be unheard of.

We need to forget about the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and the purchase of toys, household items, and special gifts for your loved ones. Instead, we need to concentrate on the child who was born in Bethlehem where there was no room at the inn, some 2000 years ago. This is the reason for the season of love, peace and harmony of family life as we have always known it.

He has transformed our lives in such a way that we have been given the greatest gift of all, God's Son.

   

Don Myers, CRE
Presbytery Moderator

Click on links below to read newsletters from some of our congregation that send their publications to the presbytery office electronically. (If your church newsletter is not linked here, contact the presbytery office to ask how you may be included)

  

Alpena

Bellaire 

Beulah 

Big Bay

Escanaba 
Florence 

Gaylord

Harbor Springs

Houghton

Marquette 
Northern Lakes Community Church

Petoskey
Pickford

Rogers City 

Sault Ste. Marie

 

 Administrative Personnel Association of the PCUSA web site

 

 

  

  

 

 

For Tom, it was as his wife, Pam, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Please give today to help ensure others like Tom can receive faithful help, too.

Thanks to people like you who share their abundance by way of the Christmas Joy Offering, Tom was able to look after Pam, while continuing to serve as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Alma, Michigan.

That was so important to him. Without his faith and church, Tom couldn't imagine how he could have coped. You can help others like Tom and Pam. Please give a gift today.

This summer, Tom and Pam celebrated their 37^th wedding anniversary. They raised three children together while Tom served both rural and urban Presbyterian congregations around the country, living out his call to serve God.

  

 

 

 

Please give generously this holy season to help others like Tom and Pam.

Blessings to you and your family from those families you are helping.

 

 

 

Last February at the Presbytery meeting in Gaylord -  Living Vision - was the recipient of the Presbytery offering at worship that day of about $650. I "warned" the presbyters when they named us as the recipient, that Living Vision has a commitment of giving any money that we ever had/received away. We have stayed true to that commitment and I would like the Presbytery to know exactly what we did with their incredibly gracious and unexpected gift. So here goes...

    We gave $150 to an organization out of Grand Rapids called "Friends of Charlie" which raises money to help a young boy, Charlie Waller, an East Lansing boy, with inoperable brain stem cancer. The money goes to help his family with their horrendous medical expenses.

    We also gave $100 to the C.S. Lewis Festival in support of their incredible contribution to our community, bringing top flight Christian speakers and scholars like Phillip Yancey to the Petoskey area.

    Finally, we gave $400 to a program within the mission of 1st Presbyterian of Petoskey that they do in conjunction with Camp Daggett and House of Help in Detroit. The particular donation we made will bring two inner-city Detroit children from House of Help to Camp Daggett for a week in the summer of 2014.

  

The Office of the General Assembly (OGA) has been receiving inquiries and questions regarding the November 21, 2013 decision of a federal district court (Western District of Wisconsin) judge in Madison, Wisconsin which held that a portion of Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code is unconstitutional.  Section 107 is the provision dealing with tax-favored housing benefits for "ministers of the gospel."  Specifically, the court held that Section 107(2), which permits ministers to receive tax-free cash "housing allowance," is unconstitutional because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Section 107(1), which allows ministers to reside tax-free in a church-provided manse, was not affected by the court's decision.

In the case,Freedom From Religion Foundation, et al. v. Lew, et al., the United States government was the party which defended the constitutionality of Section 107, a federal law enacted by Congress many decades ago.  As the losing party, the government must now decide whether it wants to appeal this decision to the next level of the federal court system, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.  Based on available information, an appeal is likely.  The court in Wisconsin delayed the implementation of its decision until any appeals which may be filed by the government are concluded or until the deadline for filing an appeal has passed whichever is later.  OGA understands the government will have sixty (60) days to file an appeal, and so the district court's decision will have no effect until sometime in 2014 at the earliest.  Therefore, this ruling should not affect a minister's 2013 income tax return filing or the employer's designation for 2014.  If an appeal is filed, this case could take several more years to be finally decided.  Further, should the ruling of this court stand without appeal, the ruling of this court has limited impact in that its decisions apply only to its geographic district.