183 Parker RD  Benton, TN 37307  (423) 338-5545  sctreehouseproductions.weebly.com

Beginning with this newsletter and continuing as long asneeded, we plan to address some of the questions that peoplehave asked us (including ones from our children). Hopefullyit will help you understand more of the ministry and itsimportance.

Chris and I (Penny) were recently blessed to be able to attend a Jewish evangelism conference inNashville. The conference was in conjunction with Tikkun Ministries International. We spent the day in a room filled with mostly Jewish people. This was a little different from our normal Sunday activities
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The worship and fellowship time was wonderful.But what was so eye opening for me was some of the things that I learned.

First of all,
did you know that Jewish people are  just as afraid of witnessing to other Jews as you or I?  I sat and spoke with a woman probably aroundthe age of 60 who was afraid of how to approachJewish people with the Good News of the Messiahbecause she had found freedom from the law andJudaism when she accepted Christ. How does she goback to those people and tell them about Him? Howdoes she get them to accept her in their communityin order to hear her? To them, she is no longerJewish because of her new
beliefs. She doesn’t want to return to that life, yet knows she should be reaching out to her people for the Messiah. I really felt for her as she passionately shared this with our prayer group.

Next,
did you know that there are a lot of Jewish 
 people who don’t even know Jesus was Jewish? I know it seems crazy but it is true. I spoke with twodifferent ladies who were raised in Jewish observant homes. They told me that it was well into their adult life (one was over 40!) before they even knew that the Jesus Christians talk about was Jewish!

How can that be you might ask? I asked that myself.
 
Then I began to think about it. In my 41years of life (spent entirely in the
“church”) I can’t remember any program or event in which I oranyone else told a Jewish person that Jesus wasJewish. To them, Jesus is just a person that Christianity is based on. As the Christian churchwe rarely use his Jewish name, Yeshua. I know Ihad never heard it until I began to study the
Jewish roots of Christianity. That’s when it began to make sense to me. Some Jews have no idea that Jesus is Jewish (thus that he could be the Messiah) because we don’t even refer to Him in that manner. I believe the Christian church has done a very good job of “Americanizing”Jesus. He doesn’t even look Jewish in any of thepictures you see of Him. He didn’t have white
skin, you know! Now, it may seem a little drastic to you that our family is going to try to train ourselves to say the name of Jesus as Yeshua. But when you think about it in this way, I pray it makes more sense to you. After all, (if your native tongue was English) would your familyknow whom everyone was talking about if people called ou ose instead of oseh?

Here is a simple history of the name JESUS:

Hebrew/Aramaic
Yeshu’a became Greek Iesous, then Latin Iesus, passing into German and then into English as Jesus.

Prayer Requests are in bold

Gideon is spending his days counting down to his twelfth birthday on Feb 20.  I cannot believe my baby is that old.  Time does fly by when we are not looking L His big achievement this month was that he killed his first squirrel (by himself) using the BB gun his Pe-Paw gave him.  There is nothing better than looking out your kitchen window and seeing your son run through the yard in overalls (and no shoes) pumping his gun while his dog looks back and forth from the squirrel in the tree to his master with the gun.  Please pray for him to continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge and favor with both the LORD and man as he turns 12 in just a few days.  

Jonathan recently celebrated his 14th birthday with a surprise…We had arranged for several of his friends to come over to play Nerf gun war for the afternoon. (One of his favorite activities to do with his friends)  They ambushed him when he went to get wood for the fireplace.  I think it is safe to say he had a good birthday.  Please pray for him as he seeks to be the man the LORD is calling him to be.

Christopher also celebrated a birthday recently.  He turned 16 in January.  He is busy working on two different treatment ideas/scripts for films he would like to do soon.  Please pray that he will get well soon.  He has been dealing with a bad cold and cough for about a month.  Pray for his lungs to strengthen and clear up.   Also, pray that his script writing will honor the LORD.



Susan had a good report at the doctor’s office this month.  She has also been feeling better lately and is gaining some of her appetite back.  She stays knee-deep in her final school subjects and wishes she had more time for the ever-growing pile of sewing projects she wants to accomplish.  Please pray for her as she nears the high school finish line.  Pray that she will discern the LORD’S path for her future and not the one man might set forth.



Chris has been battling since last week the same cold/cough as Christopher.  Thankfully he was able to rest over the weekend and feel some better before the workweek started.  He received a fifty cent an hour raise at his part-time job and we are VERY grateful.  Please pray for him to continue to feel better and for the work needed to meet our bills.



I (Penny) have been able to successfully avoid (with the LORD’S blessing) the cold/cough that has taken over my household.  Susan and I are the only ones that escaped its clutches!  I am praying over a big step I feel I need to make for my family.  Please pray for me to do the right thing and seek the LORD’S will.