Feliz Navidad

I Watch My Heart

They are taking our liberties away
This seems to be the worry of the day
Christmas is now Happy Holidays
And marriages now can be gay

Is it really important the day that baby Jesus was born
In the bible we don’t know the time, evening, night or morn
If it really were so important the time would be spoken
So that the celebration of His birth would never be broken

The time, the day, the hour, or the season
Really don’t change what truly is the reason
His birth and his death, are really quite a story
Impossible to believe if you’ve never been sorry

It’s the sin that I have left that makes the old man die
Not the Christmas time story that many think is a lie
What the world needs to celebrate is not another familyget together
Rather on our knees we really need to get our act together

Let them make Christmas a holiday and Easter a spring break
That won’t make the least little change in what really it takes
To make the new birth come true, right down in your heart
Soon you will know that this is more than a story made for art

It’s Christmas, it’s Noel, Navidad or Bonart
It’s not a name that places it down in my heart
It’s an experience that only a Savior can bring
In knowing that my life is now fresher than spring

The birth of my Jesus isn’t really my worry
It’s my new birth that day that I really, really was sorry
Now every day I have to die, to make it really worthwhile
Knowing that Jesus can bring me much more that a smile

The day that they take this belief from my heart
Is the day when the worrying really should start
All the laws in the land and the police there could be
Will never let the Christmas story be lost to me

It’s not a story, a play or a special holiday
Not a tree or a manger where the little Jesus lay
It’s my belief, it’s an experience, it’s really my life
Though they change it all, I still know that my Jesus is alive

Philip Tolman
12-21-06

I Work Because I Serve - Nov/Dec 2006 newsletter

The other day a young man came to one of our outdoor meetings and when asked if he was serving Jesus, he said: “I am really close to God”. As we continued to talk, I found out that he didn’t know the Lord Jesus nor was he serving Him. In his mind he was O.K. but as he saw that what he was doing - his works, were not in accordance with true Christianity, he had to admit that he wasn’t serving Jesus. It is easy to see errors in others but as we turn the microscope around we must ask ourselves the question: Are my works a sign that I am serving our Lord and Savior?
This last month we have focused on promoting special activities to help each sector of the church family to focus on their areas of service and to analysis the areas of their lives that need attention.
 In the month of October, 13 men from two of our churches traveled 10 hours to participate in a Promise Keeper’s (Hombre a Hombre) conference that had over 4,000 men in attendance. We were not only edified by the teaching and the testimonies, but we also had a good time together to talk, form friendships, and even share hotel rooms together.
The women had to work harder. Lucy did an excellent job in organizing and carrying out a great Ladies Conference, with the help of Destiny Church, our home church, sending two ladies to minister at the conference. Friday evening through Sunday proved to be a short time to answer all the needs that were presented.
On the 18th’ of November we had our church get together or what we call a ‘convivio’ in one of the ranch churches. After many years of following the same format for the activities we made major changes in this one and it worked out really well. Normally our convivios have been an all day activity with praise and worship, teachings and preaching. This time we started in the early afternoon, taking into account that many people have to work Saturday morning. Instead of our times of teaching we created a time of sharing with special questions
The people responded well and we all had a really edifying time. The only problem we had was on the way home our old Dodge van that we are trying to sell blew it’s engine and it finally arrived home on a tow truck at 3 AM .
As Christmas time approaches we want to make sure that Christ is the center of this holiday time. Each church has a Christmas party and a time of fellowship. Without the birth and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas wouldn’t exist. We tell the church family that this is the most important time to be together because this is our opportunity to exalt the Lord.
Also on the 23rd of December we will be celebrating Damara and Agustin’s wedding that` is a first in our family. We will also have a time together as an extended family as some of my brothers and their families will be here for the wedding. Please remember Damara and Agustin in your prayers as they start this new stage of their lives together.
Again we thank you for standing with us so faithfully in prayer and giving during 2006. If you would like to send a special offering at this time to help us to give each child in the different churches a few candies and a small gift, please designate your offering to this cause. For many of the children it is the only gift they will receive.
May you and your families enjoying all the blessings of this season and may you continue to serve with us in the ministry here in 2007 is our prayer.


Philip, Lucy, Damara, Simri & Vanessa Tolman

Seedtime & Harvest Ministries

8635 Callaghan Rd, San Antonio TX 78230 or
APDO 351, 63000 Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico
E-mail: philip@s-h-ministries.org

Volume 1, Issue 1