The below was sent to me from a wonderful family that moved to another state.  (Names have been changed to protect the innocent! LOL)  It was so encouraging I had to share!

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Hello Pastor,

I hope this email finds you, Sister Donna and the girls well.  We really miss you guys and the rest of the CRCC family.  Please send them our love!  We have connected to a local church here, but when we say Pastor in our conversations, we are still talking about you.

I've been meaning to reach out to you for several weeks now to let you know that you would be so proud of Tim.  I hope that some day you and him will get to connect about the details (because they are too many to list), but I just wanted to mention a few things.  I guess I can sum it up by saying that Tim is changing from the inside out.  I can hear the change in his prayers and I see it in everything he does on a daily basis - EVERYTHING.  It is clear that whether at work, or at home with us and the kids, he filters everything through his Jesus lenses and what comes out is the most patient, loving, gracious husband and father that I have seen in the almost 7 years that we have been married - and I thought he was already worthy of the "most wonderful husband/father" title, so this says a lot.

The extent to which he takes the lead spiritually in our home right now cannot be captured in words - mainly because some of it is tangible, but a lot of it is not.  Here's what can be captured . . . before we would have family devotions because I would gather the kids, come get him and he would participate (sometimes unenthusiastically).  Now, he's the one gathering the family, leading devotions, helping the kids memorize scripture, reviewing catechism questions, purchasing (AND READING) christian books, initiating discussion between the two of us about our marriage, etc.  He's also the one motivating everyone on Sunday mornings and making sure we get to church on time . . . that's huge!  I mean, Tim enjoyed going to CRCC because he always felt challenged and knew you were going to preach the Word, but he could have easily gotten the notes from the church website and have been content.    I am not telling you anything he would not tell you himself - lol.

So not only have I seen his approach to church attendance change, he is even helping the facilitator of an Apologetics class we are taking on Wednesday nights at church.  Did you catch that?  LOL.  He went from a Christian with lots of questions and doubts to a defender of our faith!  He even has scripture painted on our walls now - not framed - I am talking wall art here - that covers entire walls in some rooms of the house.  My personal favorite . . . Romans 1:16 in the family room ("For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ . . . ."). Wow!!!!  What an awesome reminder of what God has done in Tim and our family!  Praise the Lord!

I have already told Tim how proud I am of him for taking the journey that he did and being open to wherever that journey would lead.  I know this journey is not over, but I wanted you to know what has taken place because I know you invested one-on-one time with him to help him start to find the answers to those tough questions that most Christians (and non-believers) have but are afraid to ask.  I thank you for taking him under your wing and getting him started down this path.  I thank you (and the rest of the pastoral staff at CRCC) for your prayers.  I prayed for years that God would bring Tim a circle of men that would challenge him and keep him accountable. God started that work at CRCC and He is picking up where He left off at our new church in our new state.  We knew that our move here was bigger than a new job and being closer to family, but I personally did not expect to see the changes I've seen happen so quickly.  To that we give God *ALL* of the glory and we pray that as God continues to change us from the inside out, that he will use us to help change others in our community as well.

In Christ,

Susan

 Lord, please forgive me for the many times I misunderstood this....

Some VERY wise words by Doug Phillips.  I wish I had known them 14 years ago...

The Fruit of Modern Youth Culture from NCFIC on Vimeo.

Friends,

Our Simple Vision has one element that we've not been able to produce on our own for CRCC members.  If you look on the "3rd side of the triangle," we promised a "bible and apologetics class."  My original thought was to create one in-house.  But the course put together by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron lays it out beautifully, and captures well our doctrine and evangelistic philosophy concerning what the true Gospel is, how people are saved, and how we are to lovingly and compassionately reach out to others with the Gospel. Plus, many major doctrines are covered, and from an apologetics perspective, it includes information on how to defend the Bible, refute evolution, deal with hard questions, and witness to those in other religions.

Therefore....(drum roll please)...the "official CRCC "3rd side of the triangle" bible and apologetics class will be The School of Biblical Evangelism! 

All CRCC members will be encouraged to go through the class (it's online).  There is a cost ($150), so the "when" will be up to each individual family.  But in all new members classes from now on, we'll encourage every member to begin taking the class within their first year with us. I am also encouraging every current member to save up and start in 2012. The class is at your own pace.

(Note: For those who find the cost prohibitive, the book "The School of Biblical Evangelism" is $16 on Amazon and has all the lessons without the online stuff, and the book "The Way of the Master" is $10 on Amazon. If you cannot take the class, please purchase and read both books.)

(PS - This doesn't mean wait until class is over to start witnessing.  Do it now! )

Soli Deo Gloria!

In 1954-1955, Christian writer J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the epic novel, The Lord of the Rings, which pictured the epic struggle against light and darkness, and even had a “Satan” character: Sauron, who was the “lord of the ring”.  A few years ago, this was turned into a three-part movie series.

If you saw the movies, you might remember one part that I think is very appropriate to use as an illustration for our church right now.

In the third movie, The Return of the King, Aragorn (the King) and his men had come through many battles, including an epic one at the city of Gondor, which they won.  But many of his men had been killed and the enemy still had lots of demons at his disposal, his strength far from exhausted.

Aragorn and his advisors met on what to do next.  Keep in mind again that even though their numbers were small, they were victorious but battered and bruised. Conventional wisdom said pull back and recuperate; rest; consolidate gains; relax for a minute.  But Aragorn, feeling this was a moment of destiny, decided to do the unthinkable.  Vastly outnumbered, unaware of the whereabouts of Frodo (who had the key to destroying Sauron), his men exhausted….he decides to march on the Black Gate!  Essentially, he decides to gather up the remaining warriors and march INTO the DEVIL’s territory!

And that is just what he did. They ride out of camp, march into Mordor (basically, Hell), and BANG ON THE GATE, demanding the enemy come out to face justice!

Well…after the gate finally opens, there are 10,000 demons in battle dress ready to fight on their own territory…with the enemy Sauron looking down on the whole deal.!!  Aragorn’s troops are understandably nervous…so he steadies them with a electrifying speech.  I’ll paraphrase for our context...

“CRCC…hold your ground! HOLD YOUR GROUND! Men and Women of CRCC…my brothers and my sisters….

I see in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me.  Our enemy wants the day to come when the courage of God’s holy people fails....But it is not that day!  He wants us to forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship....But it is not that day!  He wants an hour of wolves and shattered shields when our faith fades, the glory of God is dimmed, and the mission of His Kingdom comes crashing down.  But it is not that day!  Today we fight!!  Stand on God’s Word…people of God!!!”
 

A bit melodramtic?  Maybe!   But still so true...

D6 is an assault on the devil's kingdom.  Getting serious about personal evangelism...same thing.  Preaching the Word without political correctness...same thing.  Missions and taking care of widows...same thing.  Getting people of out debt...yep...the same thing.

Let's March!