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I talked to God recently and told Him that I am weary of the challenges that church-planting presents. I reminded Him of what we have been through in the past year with relocating, raising support, gathering a core group, and trying to lead people when you have more questions than answers. So in case He forgot, I rehearsed the details. I’m not sure you are supposed to do that, but I did. I wanted relief. I wanted rest. I wanted calm.

by Norm Olson
Dec. 12, 2008, the last day of the semester! The gray skies and beautiful blanket of white snow on the ground, so typical of Minnesota the weeks before Christmas, reminded me of the last day of my first semester 42 years ago. I had spent the afternoon in my dorm room getting ahead on my Scripture verse memorization for Personal Evangelism class. Occasionally I would look out the window for Dad, who would take me home 90 miles away for Christmas break.

In August a new fundamental Baptist missions effort launched on the Web: Missions Mandate. To introduce this ministry to the SI readership (and because I was curious), I interviewed director Tim Aynes about MM’s history and the reason for being as well as missions matters in general.

The Christmas season is upon us, and some of you may still be finishing up your shopping for gifts. Others of us are hoping that there will be some “book money” in the stocking. By the way, gift certificates are usually the safest way to go when a book lover is on your list and you have no idea which book to select. (They’re also very easy to wrap!) Our favorite bookstores offer gift certificates that can be purchased online. They are as follows: