Merry Christmas!

God Bless You All. Anyone desiring to make a year-end gift to the Utah McNutt Church-planting Ministry to Mormons, you can simply click on the "Donate Through MNA" Link to the left for a secure transaction. Keep up your prayers, the battle is hard, but the reward is inestimable. Beseech the Lord of the Harvest.

Mat. 2:2 "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

Kneel down right now (at least in your heart) and worship the Christ. This is what the wise men came to do. Why did they do this? Why would they worship Jesus? Because God was in the manger. The Lord of Glory was sleeping on the hay. Because the King had finally come in person.
As the season of Advent comes again during truly "the most wonderful time of the year", meditate on why it is that God would sleep on straw, why it is that he would leave the glories of heaven to become a peasant. It was for you. It's a shame that you don't have the time of day for Him. Or are you ready to surrender afresh this advent season and lay your life at his feet for his purposes all over again?
I won't lie, I was thrilled after moving out here and discovering that there was full-time Christmas music playing continually on some radio stations starting in November! Who can't enjoy a little Bing Crosby or the thrill of picking out the perfect Christmas tree? The commercialization of Christmas is a fact that upsets some people I suppose. It is what it is. But what I propose to you is the Christmasization of Commercialism. Let's actually take advantage of the fact that people are thinking about "Peace on Earth" and invite your neighbor to come to your house for hot chocolate. Or while you're with your unchurched friend, picking out nice Christmas wreaths, invite them to come to a service at your church where they will have a chance to worship the Christ. So, I say: string up those lights! But with each little bulb that shines around you this season let that simply be an occasion for you to that much more kneel before the one who is the Light of the World.

Cheers, Doug

lots of snow!

we have "enjoyed" lots of snow lately. the kids were having a fabulous time playing in it this morning. i think the girls thought they would get lost forever if they walked too far into it. i guess when you're short and there is that much snow, you just might!

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Mia's 2!

well, i told "someone" that i would post these yesterday during nap time. the only problem was i had no idea that i would be sleeping during nap time too with a migraine! oh well...no pictures posted yesterday. so, i decided to try again. the kids are all down for naps. now you will get to see pictures!

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settling in...kinda

You reach a point after you move when you realize, "Wait, this is where we live. We are not on vacation. We aren't going back to our old house." Well, I've reached that point. This is officially the longest I've ever gone (in my whole entire life) of not seeing my family and friends. Somedays it hits me like a ton of bricks. Tonight is one of those times. Not that I don't want to be here or that I question God as to why He called us here or that I doubt that this is where we are suppose to be. I KNOW we are suppose to be here. I KNOW God brought us here for a reason. And I KNOW that that reason is to tell all these completely lost people about Jesus. Even our kids know that. They even know that God called us here. Moses just doesn't understand why God didn't call everyone he knows and loves out here too! I understand, little buddy, I understand. It is hard. But talking to all the people out here that are living apart from Christ completely breaks my heart. They "think" they are on the fast track to heaven. My heart aches for our Mormon Missionary friends. They are why we are here. They are why we must stay.

Discovery Gateway, Nov. 12, 2010

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more snow and a fun family day

one of my sisters (who shall remain nameless) is anti facebook. not that i can really blame her, i am too, but i did give in to the pull from society and now am a facebooker (not a good one, but i do have an account!). so, all that to say, these pictures are also on facebook, but for the sake of my anti-facebook sister, i shall post all pictures here as well!

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First Utah Snow

moses' prayers were answered! he has been asking God for snow for a year now. they were all so excited this morning when we let them open the front door to see what was awaiting them...their snow! i'm sure we will not think this an exciting event, say in a few months or weeks, but this first snow was a pure delight for the children. it is not as powdery as i think it will one day be since it has been raining for the past 2 days, but they had lots of fun and have been thanking God for it all morning!

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Family day adventures

Like I've said before, Friday is family day. This time we went to Cabela's (Doug and Moses' favorite store on earth!) and then had a picnic in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was beautiful! The leaves were wonderful fall colors and looked even more vibrant against the deep green of all the evergreens! Simply gorgeous! However, since I'm new to this whole Utah thing, Mommy totally forgot that it is much chillier ON the mountain as opposed to the valley. I did not take any jackets, but thankfully we did bring their blankets in the car, so they were able to bundle up with those. To end the day, we actually had a baby-sitter for the first time since moving here, so Doug and I were able to go out to dinner! I'm not sure if it tasted so good because it was just really good, or because we didn't have to cook it and feed children at the same time as trying to enjoy our own meal...maybe both!

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Fun Times in Utah

Friday is family day! Each Friday we try to go and do something fun as a family. Last Friday we went up to the Copper Mine! It was amazing. As you look at the pictures, please realize that the "tiny, little trucks" you see driving around in the mine are really 3 stories tall! There are staircases on the fronts of the trucks for the workers to climb up and get inside. They are HUGE! Moses had a blast...as did the girls and daddy! This Friday we went to a pumpkin patch. We all had an amazing time and they had a wonderful market to buy all sorts of fresh produce. As we were walking through the garden area, I saw tons of green tomatoes (still on the vines...of course!) and asked Doug if he thought they'd sell us some. I could really go for some fried green tomatoes! So, we asked and they did, but they did say we were only the 2nd people to ever ask for them. The lady there told me that most people around here aren't brave enough to make "fried green tomatoes"! For us though, tonight we will have what I can only imagine to be wonderful fried green tomatoes in honor of the South!

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Utah at Last!

By God's grace not only have we safely moved to Utah but the Lord has settled us in an apartment complex where we have many people around us who need the Gospel. Four (4) Mormon missionaries came last night to our house and we served them ice-cream and got to know them better. I played a song for them with my guitar "Before the Throne of God Above." It has a great gospel line: "Because the sinless Savior died / my sinful soul is counted free / for God the just is satisfied / to look on him and pardon me" They will come back next Monday and we will get down to the meat of the gospel as I share my testimony and some Scriptures with them. Pray right now for Mormon Missionaries Guardado, Haiosi, Patterson and Randall. Also Pray for Rhett, he has fallen away from Mormonism, has recently been divorced, and really needs Christ, he's my banker. Thank You. God bless you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support...

Genevieve Ruth!

We praise God for bringing life. Genevieve Ruth came into the light Friday at about 2:45 pm. She weighed 7-11 and is almost 19 inches long. The latest model is a cute one, and she is ready for the cold of Utah thanks to her hand-knit beanie that someone made for her!

What work did Jesus want to be continued when he left this earth? Apparently he told us in several places: Matt. 28, Mk. 16, Acts 1...That the work of discipleship should continue was Jesus' desire, that disciples would be made through the power of the gospel, who would be taught and baptized. These disciples of Jesus were commanded to MULTIPLY themselves. That way, more people could experience God' saving grace, and worship Jesus. If there is something in my garden that is not growing it is either dead or it has a disease. Living things grow. Disciples are made to make disciples. What if you made it a goal for your life to disciple three people. Just three people that you could bring to Christ and help grow in Christ. BUT from day 1 you taught them to make it a goal of theirs to also disciple three others. This is why Christianity spread. This is also why Christianity can diminish in any given place (like America)..when Disciples refuse the work of making other disciples. "Joe over there is more gifted than I, he can do that work." But Joe doesn't know the people that you know who need to be introduced to Jesus. If you made it a goal for your prayers, consideration, and actions, that you should make three disciples (or 12?) , here's my question: do you think Jesus would bless this effort or would he oppose it? "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." ~The Apostle Paul (to Timothy)

The Goodness of God and Bears

With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale wall. So said King David. So say I. I have a second cousin who used to work in a zoo. One time apparently through a timing error, he was caught in the bear pin while feeding, when the bears were released back into the cage, story goes, he jumped a 10 foot straight concrete wall to get out when he saw those bears coming for him. I love King David because he is always boasting in God's strength. God is not only hoisting us up over walls to get us to Utah, but I know that his strength is sufficient to defeat the troops that come against YOU as well. He shows unfailing kindness to his annointed one (Ps. 19:50). Christ will do it for you--just believe, fight HIS battles, not yours, and as the day is so shall thy strength be. Check out Psalm 18 sometime if you get a chance...

Praise...

Praise God and thank you to those of you who have begun to join our prayer force and our support team. God is steadily but surely propelling us closer to the mission awaiting us in Utah. But enough about us, I hope you are well, whoever you are reading this, and that God is blessing your life as you trust and obey Him. He is worth it. He is worth every ounce of our devotion and affection. Kelly and I plan to get everyone a little refrigerator magnet with our faces on it so you can see us smiling at you every time you go for food and then you can pray for us and our mission that we are on for the Lord. God bless!

Utah Ho!

Praise God...I've just been confirmed by Mission Utah and Hidden Valley Presbyterian Church to be a church planting apprentice under Rev. Lee Mashburn in Draper, UT (a suburb of Salt Lake City). I just graduated from Beeson Divinity School yesterday, and will be hopefully ordained this coming fall out in Utah. Kelly and I are very excited to go to this home mission field that has approximately an 86% Mormon population and only 5-10% in evangelical churches. Our plan is to move to Utah this September (after baby number 4 comes in August!). I will do a church planting apprenticeship for 1-2 years, funneling into a church plant in the surrounding neighborhoods, Lord willing. People ask me how we are possibly going to lead Mormons to Christ?? But isn't it true that conversion is a miracle, wherever you are?

"Learn to worship God as the one who does wonders, who wishes to prove in you that He can do something supernatural and divine." ~Andrew Murray

...Wake up, O Sleeper, Rise from the dead, Christ will shine on you Eph. 5:14.

The Ressurection-Power of Jesus is their only hope...mine too.

See the Mission Utah link at left for more interesting info...