Again we had a blessed fall attendance drive. We saw an average of 2,356 ride our buses each week with a good number of men, women, boys, and girls accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour. We are now working hard to follow up on all of them and complete the Great Commission.

Our 34^th Anniversary celebration was wonderful with hundreds of guests joining us, and some getting saved. We had a picnic in the afternoon, and our good friend, Pastor Dave Dunbar, from Auburn, New York, preached a great message that night.

Dr. John Stormer spoke at our I Love America Sunday on October 10^th. He is the author of None Dare Call it Treason and None Dare Call it Conspiracy, among other books that were used to help wake up Christians and conservatives decades ago. He was later saved and became a pastor. Many government officials along with hundreds of other visitors attended and heard a clear gospel message.

Again this year during the Christmas season, we are having a concert and inviting the community to join us. It was a wonderful blessing last year, and this inspired Pastor Voegtlin to produce a Christmas CD entitled The Glory of Christmas. I guarantee you will enjoy it. You can order it through our office for $12. Just call (219) 926-6636.

Our third major building project in only four years was begun this month. It is a 58,000 sq. ft. building that we call a multi-use recreational facility. Included in the plans are a new library, gym, swimming pool, racquetball court, running track, and ice cream shop, among other areas. We are looking forward to spreading out our Sunday School classes, junior churches, and gym classes.

The building is expected to take 18 months. When it's complete we will renovate the interior of the present classroom building. A chapel and lecture hall will replace our present gym, and a new lunchroom the old library. We are excited about God's blessing in so many areas of our ministry.

Thanksgiving begins my favorite season of the year; however, we should be thankful year around. The Scriptures read in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Did you know that the words gratitude and grace come from the same root word? A person who has experienced God's grace through Christ should surely be thankful. But there is more than heaven for the believer who trusts God and lives according to His precepts-there is a wonderful marriage, godly children, real friends, and even generous provisions. Praise God if you were born in America, for your health, and so much more.

What an example of thankfulness David is for us. He wrote in Psalm 103:1-5, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Praise God He forgives our sins. Every one is wiped away. Peter in his second epistle reminds those who are "blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." How eternally thankful we should be.

But David goes on to describe how God "healeth all thy diseases." I have seen God heal directly, but I also thank Him for modern medicine. I would have liked to be born 100 years ago, except for the remedies of medicine. However, doctors repeatedly say, "I can only treat the symptoms, nature has to do the healing." God made the body to heal. He is the Great Healer. I have seen several times when the doctors could do no more-they had no remedy, but God miraculously healed. Everyone who has a good appetite, gets a good night's sleep, and has healthy children should praise Him.

But next, David wrote that we should thank God "who redeemeth thy life from destruction." He was probably thinking of fighting the lion and bear or even Goliath and Saul, and he tells his deepest soul-"Don't forget." We should remember the tens of thousands killed each year in auto accidents alone in America, not to mention industrial, fire, and water mishaps. I have been in traffic accidents where I should have died, and as a boy I was also pulled out of the Des Moines River not breathing. I thank God His Scriptures say in Lamentations 3:22 and 23, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Next, we are told not to forget God's "loving kindness and tender mercies." I praise God for a wonderful wife, children, and grandchildren. The old song goes, "Count your blessings, name them one by one." The honor of pastoring Fairhaven Baptist Church and having the college, wonderful friends, a beautiful, warm home. Just being able to see the beauty God puts all around us-what if you were blind?

And then, "who satisfieth thy mouth with good things." God willing, we will all sit down to a delicious Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. In fact, we as Americans can eat what would have been considered a very special meal 30 years ago every night if we choose to. That little group out in Jamestown, Virginia, had made it through to harvest time. They were thankful that most would live through winter; so someone shot a deer and someone else a wild turkey, and they gathered nuts in the woods and rejoiced in God's blessing. They didn't have a "Butterball" or oranges or strawberries from Florida; but I'm afraid they were far more grateful than we are, as we must stay on a perpetual diet because of eating so much ice cream, pies, cakes, pizza, steaks, etc.

He is the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. I Timothy 6:17 reads, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."