"The belief in a God All Powerful wise and good, is so essential to the moral order of the world and to the happiness of man, that arguments which enforce it cannot be drawn from too many sources nor adapted with too much solicitude to the different characters and capacities impressed with it." -James Madison

Inside this issue Marriage Matters Conference - Early Bird Special ends Jan. 31 VoteOnMarriage.org to thank supporters Stand for Life - Tell President Bush you stand with him Court throws out lawsuit against Mt. Soledad cross Upcoming Event: Praise and Worship Assembly Timely Commentary - Hugh Hewitt Buses to D.C. available for March for Life   Marriage Matters Conference - Early Bird Special ends Jan. 31     Massachusetts Family Institute, in addition to the work on Beacon Hill in defense of the definition of marriage, works constantly to strengthen the institution of marriage. For the last five years, the Marriage Matters Initiative, led by Rev. James Ennis, has recruited pastors around the state to sign Marriage & Family Agreements and pledge to use the church to strengthen marriage through pre-marital counseling and post-marriage mentoring.   Last year, a capacity crowd of over 700 heard about ways to make their marriages stronger and more vibrant from relationship experts Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott at the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene in Quincy. This year, Dr. John Townsend will bring his Boundaries in Marriage presentation to the First Congregational Church of Hopkinton on March 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.   Dr. Townsend, a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist, is an engaging and informative speaker. He has helped countless people in many arenas of life, with his unique blend of wisdom, humor, care, and spirituality. He offers keen insight on all aspects of relationship-family, marriage, parenting, dating, and personal growth-and connects with his audience in a very personal way. A prolific writer, he has authored or co-authored eighteen books and has sold over four million copies of his books, including the million-seller Boundaries.   Tickets for this event are $75 per couple, but if you order your tickets before January 31 you will receive the early bird special of $50 per couple. Last year's conference sold out, and we expect ticket sales for this year's event to be brisk as well. There will also be box lunches available for $6 each. Please call Jim Ennis at (508) 740-9595 or email him at jim@mafamily.org for more information and to reserve your tickets today.   Top   VoteOnMarriage.org to thank supporters     The organizers of VoteOnMarriage.org know that the huge victory on January 2nd at the Constitutional Convention would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of volunteers around the Commonwealth who called their legislators, wrote letters-to-the-editor, attended rallies, and did a hundred other things. To thank these citizen volunteers, there will be a victory party on Saturday, January 27, at 7:00 pm at the Belmont Street Baptist Church in Worcester. VoteOnMarriage.org would like to invite you to join them for light refreshments, music and an update on the next step in the battle to protect marriage. We hope to see you there!   VoteOnMarriage.org Victory Celebration Saturday, January 27, 2007 - 7:00 PM Belmont Street Baptist Church - 25 Belmont St., Worcester, MA Please RSVP to (617) 795-2667 or info@voteonmarriage.org.   Top   Stand for Life - Tell President Bush you stand with him       From FRC President Tony Perkins:   In less then a week hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans will be marching in cities and towns across the nation on the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Their message to Congress, the courts, and the President will be loud and clear: STAND FOR LIFE 365 DAYS A YEAR! On the day after this March for Life, President Bush will address the nation in his State of the Union. This is the President's opportunity to challenge Congress on the issues he believes they should confront in the coming year. Family Research Council is asking citizens across the nation to sign the Stand for Life: 365! Petition to President Bush, encouraging him to use his constitutionally granted veto power to stop any legislation from this Congress that would weaken current pro-life law. President Bush has been a staunch defender of life and, as he faces a new Congress beholden to the abortion lobby, it is important that he knows the American people are behind him. Thousands of people have responded; however, many more signatures are needed before we can hand deliver them to the White House. Please sign the petition today and after signing, or if you have already signed the petition, kindly forward this e-mail to at least 15 of your friends and ask them to sign, too. Let the President know that when he stands for life, he doesn't stand alone.   CLICK HERE to sign the petition.   Top   Court throws out lawsuit against Mt. Soledad cross     Last Friday, a seventeen-year-long lawsuit supported by the ACLU against the Mt. Soledad cross in San Diego came to an end. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the lawsuit was moot because President Bush ordered the transfer of the memorial site to the federal government.   "At long last, this part of the crusade against a memorial beloved by our nation's veterans and their families is finally over," said ADF Legal Counsel Tim Chandler, who authored the friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of The American Legion and The American Legion of California. "Now that the cross is under federal control, the 9th Circuit agreed that, with regard to this lawsuit, it was time to end the ACLU's protracted legal attack on this symbol dedicated to our nation's fallen heroes."   Unfortunately, the court's decision is just the end of one more chapter in the ongoing legal battle over the cross. There is still another case brought by the ACLU pending in the court system about the constitutionality of the cross, so the battle is not yet over.   Top   Upcoming Event: Praise and Worship Assembly     A Message from Covenant for New England: Covenant for New England is inviting God's people from all over New England to gather at Tremont Temple on Friday, January 19, 2007 for a service of worship, intercession and proclamation of God's Word. The purpose is to continue promoting the unity of God's people in this region, to clamor for a visitation of the Holiday Spirit upon our spiritually dry land, and to continue pressing in toward the renewal of the Church of New England.   The history of revival shows that when God's people gather across denominational and geographic lines to seek His face in a sustained way, major blessing takes place.  Covenant seeks to be an instrument to facilitate such gatherings in the future.  We want to make these gatherings as meaningful and purposeful as possible.  We want them to reflect the diversity of Christians in this region.  They should be an opportunity for Christians of all denominational backgrounds to be refreshed, inspired and instructed on the dynamics of a Spirit-filled life, a life that is contagious and impacting.   If we covenant together, as God's regional Church, to seek Him with all our heart until He pours the blessing that He intends, I believe that we will see major change in the spiritual condition of this land. Please come on Friday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. to Tremont Temple and invite others.  Pray that the Lord will pour out His blessing upon us that evening, and that we will all be refreshed and strengthened.   Information: http://www.covenantfornewengland.org/CFNE/events.html#january19   Top   Timely Commentary - Hugh Hewitt     Syndicated columnist Hugh Hewitt writes this week ("The New New Bigotry") about the bigotry that some are purveying nationally against Mitt Romney, specifically his Mormonism. He cites a piece by Jacob Weisberg, the editor of the online magazine Slate, titled simply, "A Mormon President? No Way." In Weisberg's piece he explains that "objecting to someone because of his religious beliefs in not the same thing as prejudice based on religious heritage, race, or gender."   Read an excerpt from Hewitt's column:   Thus does the left casually open the door to the baldest sort of bigotry, a first cousin of the anti-Catholicism thought buried in 1960, or the anti-Semitism that continues to plague Europe and of course the Middle East. The not-so-deft substitution of "religious heritage" for "religion" is supposed, I guess, to protect Jews willing to abandon the outward display of their faith, but for anyone believing in the miraculous of any sort, well, those days of the great tolerance in American politics are over.   And another:   Weisberg's attack on Romney is exactly the sort of attack on other Christians and believers in the miraculous that the secular left would love to make routine. To mainstream Protestants and Mass-attending Catholics, the virtual mob against Romney because of his LDS faith may seem like someone else's problem, but it is really another step down the road toward the naked public square. Legitimizing bigotry by refusing to condemn it invites not only its repetition, but its spread to new targets.   CLICK HERE to read the full column or visit www.humanevents.com.   Top   Buses to D.C. available for March for Life     There are buses available to transport pro-life marchers down to Washington, D.C. on January 22 for the annual March for Life. Here are the details with contact information:   Red Eye Buses: Springfield, Susan Lopes, (413) 583-5034 or (413) 592-6015 Berkshire County, Jack and Linda Kinsey (413) 663-7005 Blessed Sacrament Church, Greenfield, Larry and Maureen Filiault (413) 863-4777   Overnights Weymouth, Donna O'Reilly (781) 337-5307 St. Margaret Church, Burlington, Janet Callahan (781) 324-3564 Dedham & Andover, Theresa Gorey, Jane Flynn (978) 475-6673, (978) 658-6115   Top

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