In case you missed it, "60 Minutes" ran 2 great segments Sunday night -- one on the Orthodox monasteries perched on Mount Athos in northern Greece, the other a tour of the Vatican Library and its ancient manuscripts, rarely seen by outsiders. You can view the reruns at www.cbsnews.com. The web site also has a 1968 rerun showing Harry Reasoner discussing images of Jesus.

Scott Maxwell at the Orlando Sentinel wrote an excellent column following up on the 60 Minutes show on destitute families living in cars near the theme parks. This is happening everywhere. Some day our politicians will decide enough is enough. Here is Scott's column:

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Poverty lurks in the shadows of Fantasyland

Just finished reading Rob Bell's book "Love Wins!" for the second time through. Our Daytona church is organizing a God Gab discussion of the book, probably in late January. Just wondering if other people in our group have read it and what you thought of it. I found it tremendously liberating and insightful. His analysis of the Prodigal Son parable helped me understand how every day our choices and attitudes move us toward either heaven or hell. The book challenges us -- can we dare to…

Hi Guys...Just fyi, am posting the Convo report I wrote for our congregation in Daytona. It's wordy, but maybe some of it will help you if you have to deliver a similar report to your church. I am trying to make sure we have more NCF people attending next year. Incidentally, our new Convo Travel Fund already has more than $200. One way we're supporting it is holding a 50-50 raffle at each of our monthly potluck lunches. -- Tom

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ICCC Convocation 2011…

 New Church Family welcomed as its guest preacher Aug. 21 Pastor Troy Ray, who leads an interfaith relief effort called Halifax Urban Ministries in the Daytona area. I wanted to share a few of his observations:

For his sermon, Pastor Troy used the story of Ruth and Naomi to illustrate a form of traditional “homeland security’ that has been effective for centuries. Naomi wanted to make…