"Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin."  Proverbs 10:4

 

 

Newsletter

September 2010 Newsletter. Click here to download the full newsletter as a pdf.

1. Jesus Christ, as He is presented to us in the New Testament, and as He stands forth from all its writings, is too single and too great to have been invented so uniformly by all these writers. The force of
Jesus Christ unleashed these writings; the writings did not create the force. Jesus is far bigger and more compelling than any of His witnesses. His reality stands behind these writings as a great, global event stands behind a thousand newscasters. Something stupendous unleashed these diverse witnesses to tell these stunning and varied, yet unified, stories of Jesus Christ.
2. Nobody has ever explained the empty tomb of Jesus in the hostile environment of Jerusalem where the enemies of Jesus would have given anything to produce the corpse, but could not. The earliest attempts to cover the scandal of resurrection were manifestly contradictory to all human experience - disciples do not steal a body (Matthew 28:13) and then sacrifice their lives to preach a glorious gospel of grace on the basis of the deception. Modern theories that Jesus didn't die but swooned, and then awoke in the tomb and moved the stone and tricked His skeptical disciples into believing He was risen as the Lord of the universe don't persuade.
3. Cynical opponents of Christianity abounded where claims were made that many eyewitnesses were available to consult concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. "After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:6). Such claims would be exposed as immediate falsehood if they could. But we know of no exposure. Eyewitnesses of the risen Lord abounded when the crucial claims were being made.
4. The early church was an indomitable force of faith and love and sacrifice on the basis of the reality of Jesus Christ. The character of this church, and the nature of the Gospel of Grace and forgiveness, and the undaunted courage of men and women - even unto death - do not fit the hypothesis of mass hysteria. They simply were not like that. Something utterly real and magnificent had happened in the world and they were close enough to know it, and be assured of it, and be gripped by its power. That something was Jesus Christ, as all of them testified, even as they died singing.
5. The prophesies of the Old Testament find stunning fulfillment in the history of Jesus Christ. The witness to these fulfillments are too many, too diverse, too subtle and too interwoven into the history of the New Testament church and its many writings to be fabricated by some great conspiracy. Down to the details, Jesus Christ fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies that vindicate His truth. 6. The witnesses to Jesus Christ who wrote the New Testament gospels and letters are not gullible or deceitful or demented. This is manifest from the writings themselves. The books bear the marks of intelligence and clear-headedness and maturity and a moral vision that is compelling. They win our trust as witnesses, especially when all taken together with one great unifying, but distinctively told, message about Jesus Christ.
7. The worldview that emerges from the writings of the New Testament makes more sense out of more reality than any other worldview. It not only fits the human heart, but also the cosmos and history and God as He reveals Himself in nature and conscience. Some may come to this conclusion after much reflection, others may arrive at this conviction by a pre-reflective, intuitive sense of the deep suitability of Christ and His message to the world that they know.
8. When one sees Christ as He is portrayed truly in the Gospel, there shines forth a spiritual light that is self-authenticating. This is "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:6), and it is as immediately perceived by the Spirit-awakened heart as light is perceived by the open eye. The eye does not argue that there is light. It sees light.
9. When we see and believe the glory of God in the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that the love of God might be "poured out in our hearts" (Romans 5:5). This experience of the love of God known in the heart through the gospel of Him who died for us while we were yet ungodly assures us that the hope awakened by all the evidences we have seen will not disappoint us.

 

            This past July, Sandy and I attended her family reunion in Moose Pass, Alaska. 
              In 1945, her grandparents brought their seven kids by train and steamship from Long
Island, New York  to Moose Pass, population 60.  Every five years we gather with 80-120 of the 200+ descendents to catch up on where everyone is
living, their schooling, job, troubles, retirement, illness, passings, and meet new family members.  We listen to them recall the old family stories, add new ones and bond together, simply because they are family. 
They recall growing up as a close family in rural Alaska and most of them eventually leaving for schooling, jobs, the military or marriage, noting the sense of separation they felt.  They recount hard times like unemployment, limited money, and doing without.  Some remember painful
family times of conflict, anger, abuse, separation, and divorce. 
As part of the body of Christ, we too have a reunion, but it is every Sunday morning.  Our family can trace its lineage back 2,000 years and our family lines extend throughout the entire world.  We know the family stories, not only from the
Bible, but from those we know: faithful missionaries, Sunday school teachers, co-workers and parents. But our spiritual family has had its own painful times when we have ignored God’s Word and leading and have lived our own way. 

"We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; Isaiah 53:6

We make a mess and blame it on God or ignore Him.  And how does God respond to this? 

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will
I forsake you.'"  Hebrews 13:5

 And how do we sometimes respond to a loving and patient God?  “Well God, I’ve tried and I can’t do it.” or “You don’t understand God, I can’t

change.”  And what is God’s response to our impasse?  An adamant:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 8:37-39


As children of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have hope.  We can change the painful things of our lives and become more like His own Son and then we can guard against passing those generational sins on. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! 
2 Corinthians 6:11

              Jana Didrickson has been leading a Monday afternoon Bible study at Park View Villa Retirement home in Port Angeles for many years. She has a faithful group of about six women.
              Recently she opted to present the children’s version of the Jesus film. Besides her study group, anyone who wanted to come was invited to do so. Around 20 people came. Cherrie Bishop had given Jana some gospel tracts to give out after the showing. The gospel is presented through the eyes of children and the children then ask if anyone wants to make a decision.
Jana had exactly six tracts and six ladies raised their hands to request a tract.
Praise the Lord! Jana sent a thank you to DCC and to Cherrie Bishop for giving her the tracts.

              There is a Light Lunch served at St Luke’s Episcopal Church every Saturday from 11:30 -1 pm. The following churches take turns preparing and serving every  Saturday: 
St. Lukes, Dungeness Valley
Lutheran, Dungeness Community Church
(mostly the Forberg Community Group) and Trinity Methodist.
              These meals are for those who are in need and short of money. This lunch has no strings attached. A hot, home made meal is served with love and kindness.
There is also a dinner the last Thursday
of each month at 6 pm, prepared and served at Trinity Methodist. Reservations are requested by Wednesday, between 9 am and 2 pm. Call 683-5362 to make your reservation. 
These churches are doing what God would do, if He were in human form, as Jesus did when He fed the 5,000. Both meals are like going home to Mom and Dad’s for a meal.
-- Azella (submitted by George Wreggit)