Most Recent Report Figures

I wanted to pass along this awesome testimony from Jim Harrelson of Operation Christmas Child. "Good News of Great Joy! 6,035,032 (and counting!) shoe box gifts and Gospel Opportunities from the USA in 2011 (5,800,000 goal)! WOW! 8,620,009 (and counting) shoe box gifts internationally (8,500,000 goal)! We will not have final numbers until early January, 2012. What an incredible blessing. The Lord has again faithfully provided! The Gospel is being advanced around the world. For such a time as this we are part of a worldwide movement of the Holy Spirit of God to gather children to Jesus so they may hear about and respond to His love and forgiveness, and be sent out to share with others. We are right in the middle of taking the most powerful truth, the Gospel, to the most receptive hearts, the children. Such is our opportunity and privilege!"

After Christmas Sale

Celebrating the extended Christmas season with 30% off all Christmas product in stock. Sale ends on January 7th.

Also for your information. As a tie in with the DVD release of Courageous later this month a new line of T-shirts and hats will be available. Take this incredible family message to the streets with your choice of Courageous clothing.

Host a COURAGEOUS Movie Night for New Year's Eve!
Courageous Movie Event KitPurchase the authorized movie event license for group showings. Kit includes:
COURAGEOUS movie on DVD-includes 2 hours of special features
Authorized Public Exhibition License - 1 full year, unlimited showings
Five (5) COURAGEOUS posters - 18"x24"
Campaign Planning Guide

Avg. Weekly Church Attendance:Which License Do I Choose?
$99.00 = 0 - 100 People (Small)

$199.00 = 101 - 1,000 People (Standard)

$299.00 = 1,000 + People (Large)
* Courageous Church Movie Event Kits Shipping Now!

Go to www.providentfilms.org/courageous for more information

Holiday Hours

It's Holiday season and we've got different hours! We're open until 7pm on Thursday and Friday night. Christmas Eve we are closing at 5pm. We will be closed on Christmas Day 12/25 and Monday 12/26. New Year's Eve we will be closing at 4pm! Closed on New Year's Day 1/1 and Monday 1/2. After the first of the year we will be open until 7pm on Thursday nights.

Operation Christmas Child

Just a reminder to all of our faithful friends of Operation Christmas Child that collection week is next week - Monday, Nov 14- Saturday, Nov 19. We will be collecting daily. Please call the store if you have a large number of boxes you are dropping off. We will attempt to have extra hands to help you unload!
The Lighthouse
761-9658

Join us for this special event - Silversyde live!
Friday, October 21 at 6pm

Courageous the Movie

OCC at the Senior Center

Here are some pictures from our recent craft day at the Glens Falls Senior Center for Operation Christmas Child

2011 Women of Faith "Imagine"

This is an invitation to all women out there; if you are in a place where you need to be inspired, encouraged or just need some fun-filled "girl time" then your going to want to save the date of the 11/11/11 and hop on the bus with us to attend this year's Women of Faith Conference Imagine, in Hartford, CT. Speakers this year include Luci Swindoll, Shelia Walsh, Lisa Harper and Angie Smith. Musical guests are Mary Mary & Natalie Grant. Drama by Nicole Johnson. Special guest will be Dr. Henry Cloud, one of the original "boys" from the New Life Live Ministries. This is a seeker friendly event and is your opportunity to invite that friend, coworker, neighbor or family member that you have always wanted to. Our conference package includes; round trip transportation on a deluxe motor coach, 2 day event ticket, hotel accommodations, lunch both days, and a Women of Faith T-Shirt. All women from the area are encouraged to attend. If interested call Pine Knolls Alliance Church office at 518-793-7101 for more information. We can't "imagine" being there without you! Dawn Palmer

The First Gardener

Have the tissues ready. I cried reading "the first gardener" by Denise Hildreth Jones. Finally had to go get the box of tissues. It is such a GOOD read. I was hooked on the story line and could feel for the characters. Jones writes in very realistic prose. You could believe her work of fiction was true. I loved the zany characters of Eugenia's friends. Excellently done. There interactions were consistent and they fully evolved, even though they weren't the main characters. Jeremiah was a quite, wise soul. His gentleness and character made you fall in love with him. His working hand in hand with the "master gardener" showed how we can pray without ceasing and obey His voice, even in our day to day things. I kept thinking there was more to his story. I'm glad Jones wrapped up the book with his "story." Gray and Mackenzie were the perfect blend of lovers and friends. There emotions were realistic and believable. Overall I felt Jones did an excellent job and connecting feelings with actions, as well as showing us the thinking behind those actions. We all act differently but God made us that way. We are worthy of giving and receiving love no matter who we are or where we are in our story.

Beneath the Night Tree

"Beneath the Night Tree" by Nicole Baart. I love the way Baart strings together words to paint a beautiful and poignant picture. The main character Julia has many things to balance. A single mother, an employee, a student, an abandoned 10 year old brother, an aging Grandmother, a boyfriend in medical school, and the newly interested father of her son. Julia thinks she knows what she wants and endeavors to create that life. Her control over everything is an effort to stay afloat. She finds that life is not under her control and God is there all along the way. Yet she struggles with knowing God is there and still trying to be the one to handle it all. As she continues her journey she is faced with her feelings, fears and failures. Near the end of her journey (the book's end) she realizes something "God chased after me, and I ran stumbling in the dark, ignoring His advances. I pined for lost mothers and fell from dizzying heights. I never stopped long enough to turn and look Him full in the face. To see that everything I was looking for had been right there all along." How true that is in real life as well.

The touch

I still haven't finished the book I was reading when I last posted. But I've read 2 others in the meantime! "The Touch" by Randall Wallace was a very good read. Andrew Jones has it all. His life is perfect. His lady, Faith has accepted his proposal and he has "the touch." The rising neurosurgeon is acclaimed for his skill and his talents. But in an instant his abilities as a doctor are not enough. He fails. this begins the next chapter in Jones life. One of walls and fortresses to keep out the possibility of failure or pain. He doesn't trust himself and thus doesn't practice surgery again. He begins to teach and use his skills as a doctor to heal people in non-life threatening ways. The other main character in the story is Lara. She is driven to perfect the unknown, impossible brain surgery technique that takes her mothers life. She pursues Jones in an attempt to do what no other can do. The story line continues from there as each character is challenged to trust in himself and in someone higher, God. Will they use the talents, or "the touch" that God has given them, or will they let fear prevent them from doing what God has created them to do? I won't tell you. You'll have to read it to find out yourself.

The Brotherhood

I really have been reading for the Summer Reading Program. Currently the book I am reading is not holding my attention and it's taking forever to finish. So I read another book in the meantime!! This review is really about "The Brotherhood" by Jerry Jenkins. This book not only held my interest, but I finished it in less than 24 hours.

I really enjoyed a book with strong male characters. So hard to find good Christian fiction with the main character being a man. Jenkins wove a realistic story of how a man has it all, and sees how "he" is the reason he has it all. Yeah, he believes in God, but it's his work that has brought him to the point he is. How sad when Boone Drake losses everything and finds he really didn't have faith at all.

His pastor Fransisco Sosa is a perfect example of what a Christian friend should be. He never guesses at the things he can't answer. He never forces himself on Boone, but also doesn't back down from taking a stand for what is true.

Boone's journey of faith was realistic and emotional. His attempts at prayer (as he puts it. Prayer is prayer.) make him question his own motives and the shaky faith he has. Enter the "bad" guy turned good, PC. As a cop drama it is no surprise that an inmate turns to Jesus and Boone is pulled into the resulting plan of PC's to redeem his past.

Every page of the book takes you further into Boone's journey of faith. Realistic and gripping. I want the next book to come out!

Gray Matter

I LOVE this doctor. Gray Matter by David Levy is an excellent book. I may not have even thought about reading it if a customer hadn't special ordered it. It looked good and was on the list of Tyndale's summer reading program so why not? Dr. Levy's transparency and humility on his journey of faith is inspiring and convicting. You could understand his fears and the pressures on him as a neurosurgeon. Knowing that God was calling him to pray with his patients not just for them was a HUGE leap of faith. I was drawn into the real life drama of the patients and a genuinely caring doctor. You had to keep reading because you didn't know where God would take him or a patient next. Never have I heard of a doctor putting himself and his faith on the line, as Dr. Levy did. Spiritually the book applies to you no matter where you are in your life. His insight and passion about forgiveness and relationships changes him, his patients, and you the reader. God is good regardless and we all need to learn that and be reminded of that. A must read!

Growing Up Amish

I just finished Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler. A relatively quick read full of emotion to keep you involved. I liked reading an Amish story from a male point of view. Better still was that Ira lived it. It isn't fiction. It was so hard to read his spiritual struggle; trying so hard to feel at peace. Within a super strict Amish community he felt his life was strangling him. Outside that community, feelings of home and the desire to belong pulled him back. He was in a constant tug of war between freedom and stability. Ira was never happy in either world, as his condition was spiritual not physical. How sad that in such a religious upbringing he constantly felt lost and so alone. Feeling God was so distant and removed from his life, Ira didn't know if there was a God. Even with a large family he never learned to communicate and therefore never knew how to let someone in. Thus became a pattern of leaving and returning. Never begin content anywhere. Ira stated "a mental choice, absent real internal change, is no choice at all." He tried to be Amish, but could never change the way he felt deep inside. Again, it was spiritual not physical. Ira knew he was lost, but didn't have any idea how to change that. I was so relieved when Sam walked into his life, and shared Jesus with his life and his words. What a revelation that Ira had when he realized he could leave and not be lost. "That the box of Amish life and culture might provide some protection, but it could never bring salvation." His yearning to be free was finally achieved when Christ set him free.

The Twelth Imam

I've checked another one off the list. The Twelth Imam by Joel C Rosenberg. I cannot believe that I read a book with well over 400 pages only to have it end abruptly. I screamed, "what? How could you end like that?" The story doesn't have a conclusion at all! There better be a sequel. I was drawn into the political novel, that reads more like current events. The story centers around the return of the Muslim Mahdi (Messiah) or the Twelfth Imam. Characters like David/Reza are constantly in a state of guilt, or conviction. David/Reza hates the life of lies he lives as a CIA operative, yet is driven to protect the world and prevent another 9/11. It was interesting to think about the Muslim's point of view versus the Christians in the rise of the anti-Christ - the Twelfth Imam. So much of Christian literature, fact or fiction, is from the point of view of the Christian. The novel spent time in Muslim eschatology, giving facts to a fictional plot. What a powerful portrayal of the lengths Christ will go to show His love to the lost. I loved the "visitations." An equally powerful portrayal of the power and influence the anti-Christ will have. As typical with Rosenberg's writing you could easily imagine things happening just as he portrays; a prophetic novel of sorts. I highly recommend this book. Just be prepared to be left hanging!

The boy who came back from heaven

I've just finished reading The boy who came back from heaven by Kevin Malarkey. Wow! This book was not only an amazing story, but thought provoking and convicting. Alex Malarey's testimony of God's continual presence and involvement in our lives is real and powerful. Pictures say a thousand words and looking at the x-rays of his internal decapitation and then his pictures now. Only God could do that!! Alex's story is full of glory to God and the power of prayer. This book made me think about how a little child should lead them. Alex's lack of spiritual "education" made his experience even more powerful. Only through the power of prayer and God's miraculous intervention could Alex still be here. As a family member of someone who was involved in an awful accident, I could relate to the emotional rollercoaster that the Malarkeys were on. Each victory is another lesson in care and adjustment. I too know that through the power of prayer and the body of Christ, one can make it through things you'd never imagine you could. God equips you when you need it. An encouraging read. Highly recommend!

I've read another - My Foolish Heart

My first 5 book reviews were all accepted so I just chose my first free book from Tyndale's Sumer Reading Program. Woo Hoo! I've just finished my 6th book - My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren. I've read most of her novels and once again enjoyed her writing. The plot was a little predictable. Boy meets girl. Sparks fly. Etc. Etc. Yet as with Warren's books the storyline is worth a read, sprinkled with gems of truth along the way. I like the characters struggles; believable and understandable. Each character in their own way was trying to love themselves, others and God. They struggled to accept themselves in God's gracious, or as Warren puts it, foolish love. She states "God loved most foolishly. He came into the dark world to rescue peple who might never love Him back." In the author's notes at the end she says, "It felt blasphemous to write that. God is not foolish. But He is love. Big, overwhelming, incogruous love that looks foolish. A love that, even now, doesn't seem wise.... But see that's the amazing part. His love is perfect. Not messy. Not uneven. Consistent. Overwhelming. Freeing. Life-changing. And He offers it to us, no strings attached." That was really the whole point of her book. Our foolish heart tries to do everything ourselves to be worth of love and we miss the point. God's love is offered to us, no strings attached. "My Foolish Heart" is worth the read.

Look to the East - Summer Reading Program

I've just finished reading #5 on my list for Tyndale's Summer Reading Program. "Look to the East" by Maureen Lang. Julitte is a very complex character that draws you into the story line. There is mystery and intrique into her personage. Why do the townspeople treat her they way they do? Why does she have the faith she does? What compels her to live life as she does? Set in occupied French territory during World War I, the plot surrending Julitte deepens and becomes more dangerous. Once again you question what Julitte will do. The story is filled with misplaced faith and the quest for real faith in God. Definetly worth your read. I look forward to the next book in the Great War Series "Springtime of the Spirit."

While the world watched - Summer Reading Program

I've just finished number 4 on my list... While the world watched by Carolyn Maul McKinstry. It wasnt' my favorite story. Being as I was not alive during the civil rights nightmare of the 60's I was reading history I knew very little about. Historically I was facinated by the story and disheartened by how little was done for so very long... But the story was difficult to follow. She went in no particular order and I was constantly wondering where this event fit in the overall story. I had to often refer to the timeline in the front of the book. I also felt the placement of letters or excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were distracting. She quoted so many of his speeches, yet not always by the copy of the speech. Maybe an appendix in the back of the book, listing his speeches would have been better? A good read for the historical facts and first hand accounts from Carolyn Maul McKinstry a surviver of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing.

Her daughter's dream - Summer Reading Program

WOW! What an incredible book. I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I got angry. The characters were so realistic. Rivers has done it again. I was drawn into the story and couldn't put it down. There were enough twists and turns in the plot that I wasn't able to "predict" what would happen next. You must start with the first book, "Her Mother's Hope" before "Her Daughter's Dream" as they trace the family for 5 generations. All to often we find that family history repeats itself, as was the case in this story. Marta said in her journal, "we try to do a little better than the previous geneneration and find out in the end we've made the same mistakes without intending. Instead of striving to love as God first loved us, we let past hurts and grievances rule." I walked away from this series challenged to examine my heart, my motives, my words. One line I particularly liked was "It's not about what you've done. It's about what you're going to do now." May we examine ourselves, ask for forgiveness where needed, and let Christ shape our future.

Tyndale's Summer Reading Program

Tyndale has a Summer Reading Program in which you get rewarded with free books. For every 5 books, from their list, that you read and review on social media sites you earn a free book. I signed up and will be sharing my thoughts over the next few weeks. check it out at http://mediacenter.tyndale.com -Cindy