Getting Real by Pastor Brice

One of the 3 Essentials of Strawberry Community Church is fellowship. We express it this way: Encourage One Another (see below for all 3 Essentials of SCC)! “Encourage one another,” gets at the idea of serving others in real humility and sharing our real lives with one another. Fellowship is a word that tends to roll off the tongue without much meaning. Fellowship is more than donuts and coffee. For many, real fellowship seems absent in the church.

One of my favorite scriptures on fellowship is Hebrews 10.23-25, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching,” (emphasis added)

Much is written these days about fellowship using words like: genuine, authentic, and vintage. Good words all, describing our longing for meaningful connection to others. I want to share some guidelines that foster real relationships that reflect Hebrews 10. These are shared in the book, Building a Church of Small Groups. I’ve taken some liberties describing each element.

• To Know and Be Known – starting point of relationship that leads to real accountability in our walk with Christ. Requires willingness for vulnerability and opening your life to others.
• To Love and Be Loved – even through relational discomfort I choose to love another anyway. I know that I will also be loved – even if I act like a jerk.
• To Serve and Be Served – humility and flexibility are required for true service in Christ’s name. Some opportunities for service are planned, others are unexpected. We’re called to both.
• To Admonish and Be Admonished – we all need people who will tell it like it is. People who will hold a mirror in front of us and ask, “do you see yourself as you really are?”
• To Celebrate and Be Celebrated – to really rejoice in what is happening in each other’s lives. Praise God for his faithfulness!

Let’s all recommit ourselves to seeking, embracing, and living in real fellowship!

The 3ssentials of Strawberry Community Church are:

Encountering God, Encouraging One Another, and Enriching the World

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Life in the Light by Pastor Brice

A reflection of John 8.12

On the streets of Athens a man once carried a lamp, in broad daylight, searching for one honest man. Diogenes lived in 4^th century B.C. Greece. The sight of this strange man carrying a light in the day caused some people to pause and reflect on their life.

Jesus was called “the Light of men.” In fact, John says that, “In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1.4-5).

Later Jesus would proclaim, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life,” (John 8.12).

The word “follow” literally means to walk behind. In Jesus’ day, a disciple would literally follow his rabbi to watch what he did and hear how he talked. He did this in order to start doing as his teacher did.

When you walk behind Jesus you’re following THE light – not just one carrying a light. When you pledge allegiance to the Christ and trust him with your whole life you discover that as He makes His home inside you that the Light of life is in you! The dark places are lit up and you see clearly who you are in relation to God.

A light in Jesus’ day was a small oil burning lamp. It’s amazing how bright a small flame is when light is absent.

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Perhaps part of what we’re to understand as “the light of life” for us is:

-When the flame of Christ’s light burns in you, your soul is satisfied.

-When you hold it near your face, you see yourself as you truly are - beloved by God.

-When you hold the flame to your feet, it purifies like refiner’s fire as you confess failure.

-When you hold it out in front, it lights your path an guides decisions.

-When you hold it above you, it shines so others can see and be drawn to the “Light of the world.”

May the Lord God bless you as you walk in the light!

Pastor Brice

"Love Amidst the Brokenness" by Timothy George

September 11, 2001, is frequently compared to December 7, 1941, as a day that will "live in infamy." But a more appropriate analogy might be August 24, 410, when the city of Rome was besieged and pillaged by an army of 40,000 "barbarians" led by the Osama bin Laden of late antiquity, a wily warrior named Alaric.

Read the rest of the article here

APOLOGETICS: Always be prepared to give an answer. 1 Peter 3:13-18 by Jeff W.

“Christian apologetics lays before the watching world such a winsome embodiment of the Christian faith that for any and all who are willing to observe there will be an intellectually and emotionally credible witness to its fundamental truth” James Sire

Why use apologetics in witnessing?

It is a response to persecution (1 Peter)

It is an explanation and a proclamation (Acts)

It is a deliberate argument (Paul debating with the authorities in Thessanolica)

It is a confrontation

It is a humble spiritual demonstration (Cor. Ch.2)

It is personal participation

It is correcting error and misbehavior (2 Cor.)

It is a personal witness

It is a presentation of Jesus as God (John 20:30)

Apologetics:

1.The truth about GOD
ISAIAH 40:28

2.The truth about JESUS and the RESURRECTION

ROMANS 10:9

3.The truth about the BIBLE

JOHN 8: 31-32

PROOF OF GOD:

1.Argument from Degrees of Perfection

2.The Design Argument

3.Pascal’s wager

4.The Argument from Truth

PROOFS OF JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION: FIVE POSSIBILITIES

1.The Resurrection REALLY happened

2.The apostles were deceived by an hallucination

3.The apostles created a myth

4.The apostles were deceivers who conspired to pull off the greatest hoax in history

5.Jesus only swooned and was resuscitated; he did not really die

Common anti-biblical arguments:

1.Inaccurate population and army numbers

2.Different accounts of how the RED SEA was parted

3.Chronological errors in the life of Christ

4.Different accounts of the angel sightings at the empty tomb

5.The Miracles of the Bible are not possible

TRIALS AS A TRAIL TO COMPLETENESS by Brice

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." God says in the book of James (James 1.2).

Worldly wisdom teaches us to respond to the above statement, "How absurd! That's just pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking! Talk about putting a positive spin on a lousy day!"

The Christian however, James tells us, is to understand personal trials as one of God's means for perfecting or completing our lives and faith - so that we will lack nothing!

The great Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon wrote about his trials of depression saying, "It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity."

God pleads with us to endure the trial. But how?

1. Seek God's wisdom (James 1.5-8). Wisdom in the Bible is practical insight with spiritual implications. You are to ask God for wisdom to see how he intends to shape your life through the trial. Do you need to learn patience? Love? Have a hard edge in your personality softened? Seek God's wisdom for endurance, strength, and courage.

2. Remember your place before God (James 1.9-11). In Christ, the poor are not so poor and the rich are not so rich. In Christ, the poor have far more than their bank accounts, closets, cupboards, and driveways reveal. The poor have the presence of the living God abiding with them. In their humility they are exalted. In Christ, the rich are measured by more than the sum of their possessions, trophies, and accomplishments. The rich are to honor God as provider and not sink into the self-made illusion. Trials help the rich keep their feet on earth. In Christ, God has begun a good work in you and He will be faithful to complete it.

3. Think about the blessing (James 1.12). God promises to complete you in this life and to prepare you for the ultimate blessing - life in heaven in the full presence of God.

It's your choice how you allow God to use trials in your life. You can run, hide, and try to conquer them. Or, you can choose to "let endurance have its perfect result..." (James 1.4a) by seeking God's wisdom to move through the trial so that your wholeness will be certain.

My beloved, choose God!

Brice

Opinion: Retrieving a consistent pro-life ethic by David Gushee

Christians are so tangled up with politics these days that our political loyalties threaten to engulf our Christian commitments. We want the politicians to listen to us and the politicians want us to listen to them. It is nice to be wanted but not nice to be used. It is nice to have an impact but not nice to lose our soul in the process.

The two major political parties are like two suns in the same cosmic neighborhood that fight to pull the in-between planets into orbit around them. The power of Party identity is so profound that otherwise thoughtful people lose the capacity for independent reflection. Christians then move on to confuse that Party loyalty with our loyalty to Christ and biblical moral values. ("Party" is here capitalized intentionally, symbolizing the way a political party becomes an unholy idol.)

We need a transcendent moral vision that can function as its own kind of “sun,” powerful enough to function as the center of our own moral solar system and to help us resist the pull of competitors.

That is precisely what Christian faith is supposed to provide. The Bible is full of such claims as these: "There is one God." "You shall have no other gods before me." "Our God is a jealous God." "You cannot serve both God and mammon." "Jesus Christ alone is Lord." "We must obey God rather than men." Such exclusivist religious affirmations strike many as dangerous. But they are far less dangerous than the alternative—religious-type loyalty to a secular political Party and its ideology.

I believe in this biblical God. I believe that the Bible reveals his holy will. As a Christian, I believe that no force is to be allowed to compete with God’s Word for the government of my life in any aspect. This includes Party loyalty.

This God revealed in the Bible is the Creator of the cosmos and this gorgeous, precious planet. He demands careful stewardship of it and all of its living creatures. Biblically, we are not free to continue pummeling the Creation and testing its resilience to the breaking point. Therefore I am a Christian “environmentalist.”

This God made every human being in his image. He declared, and in Christ incarnated, the immeasurable and matchless value of every single human life. Therefore I believe in the sanctity of life. This includes every life, from its conception through its death (even after death, if one thinks about the dignified treatment of the dead) and into eternity.

Every life means every life, without exception. That includes two-month-along developing human beings in the womb, poor babies in Bangladesh, impoverished children in ghettos, abused wives and children, civilians in war zones, wounded soldiers at Walter Reed, imprisoned detainees in the war on terror, aging people living in nursing homes, mentally handicapped people, people convicted of heinous crimes. Everyone.

Therefore, I oppose abortion, euthanasia, war, murder, poverty, abuse, lack of adequate health care, torture, cruelty, degradation and the death penalty. As John Paul II said, our God is a God of life, a God for life. Because I am a Christian, I look for every opportunity to avoid adding more suffering and death to our vicious world. If there is any way to solve a human problem that does not involve creating even one more dead body, I’m for it.

God loves people. He made us with the capacity to flourish. He calls us to love our neighbors. One aspect of that love is helping our neighbors to become all that God made them to be.

Therefore I am pro-human wholeness. I support loving and nurturing family life, racial reconciliation, restorative justice, gender equity and quality education for everyone. I support the life of culture and the mind, beauty and the arts, science and technological advancement in the service of human well-being. I oppose structures and behaviors that discriminate improperly between groups of people, block their access to these essentials of human flourishing, and therefore limit the fulfillment of their God-given potential.

Because I am a Christian, I am pro-life, pro-family, pro-creation care, pro-poor, pro-justice, pro-wholeness and pro-peace. There are a variety of names for this ethic. I discovered a great one in the early 1990s -- the consistent pro-life ethic. It term emerged from the Catholic tradition and has been embraced well beyond that communion. No political party on the landscape today articulates this ethic in its fullness. But I believe that this is the moral vision that ought to govern the thinking, living and voting of Christian people.

-30-

-- David Gushee is university fellow and Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. www.davidgushee.com

FIRST-PERSON: The Secret by Don Whitney

FIRST-PERSON: The Secret
Posted on Mar 1, 2007 by Don Whitney
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--I had never watched an entire episode of Oprah until her program on “The Secret.” In the promo for the show, Oprah announced that the program would present “the secret” to making more money, losing weight, finding the love of your life and achieving job success.

Who could resist hearing more about such a claim, especially when it is made by the most influential woman in America and touted as the key to all her success? Apparently I wasn’t alone. After the show, Oprah’s website was overwhelmed, e-mails poured in, and within hours The Secret had become the best-selling book in the nation.

A week later, while unpacking in a hotel room, I powered up the TV. Oprah and two guests from the week before appeared on the screen, effusive about the transforming power of The Secret. Her website called the episode, “A follow-up to the show everybody is talking about!”

People are not only talking about The Secret, they are buying it. I am writing this review in a Barnes & Noble bookstore, and this particular branch has completely sold out of the book -- again. Only two days ago -- so I am told -- a storewide announcement assured a horde of anxious shoppers that another large shipment of the book had arrived and would be brought to the sales floor momentarily. Readers quickly grabbed every copy. Almost impossibly, The Secret is even outselling (at this writing) the final Harry Potter book. And if that wasn’t enough, the audio edition of the book follows these two as the nation’s No. 3 seller.

The Australian author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, introduces the book by admitting, “A year ago, my life had collapsed around me.” Through searching for answers in a variety of books new and old, she began to trace what she believed was a common thread in them all. She dubbed it the “Great Secret -- The Secret to Life.”

Byrne became convinced that this was the key to explaining the success of “the greatest people in history.” As she started practicing this secret, Byrne says her life immediately began to change in ways nothing short of miraculous. She decided to make a video called The Secret to share her discoveries with others. In March of 2006 it was released on the Internet, but soon went to DVD. By late autumn, the phenomenal success of the video placed it on two episodes of “Larry King Live.” Shortly after, two of the teachers featured on The Secret were guests on Ellen Degeneres’ daily TV show. Before Christmas, The Secret DVD had spun off a book by the same title which Oprah Winfrey catapulted to the top of the charts in February.

The essence of The Secret is “the law of attraction.” According to Byrne and the 29 co-contributors whom she quotes extensively, everything in the Universe (which is always capitalized and usually synonymous for “God”) vibrates on a particular frequency. When you think in harmony with the frequency of something, you attract it to you. If you think about wealth, you will receive wealth. If you think instead about your debt, you will receive more debt. You attract what you think about; your thoughts determine your destiny.

Byrne restates the law of attraction in various ways: “Nothing [good or bad] can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts” (p. 28). “Your thoughts are the primary cause of everything” (p. 33). “Your current reality or your current life is a result of the thoughts you have been thinking” (p. 71). According to the product description on the DVD, “This is The Secret to everything -- the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted.Byrne promises with ironclad certainty: “There isn’t a single thing that you cannot do with this knowledge.... The Secret can give you whatever you want” (p. xi). By it “you will come to know how you can have, be, or do anything you want” (p. xii). But in the final analysis, The Secret is nothing more than so-called Name It-Claim It, Positive-Confession, Prosperity Theology (minus God and the Bible), built on a foundation of New Age self-deification. In other words, the book is just a secular version of what some TV preachers have taught for decades: Namely, if you will sustain the right thoughts, words and feelings, you will receive whatever you want.

But The Secret adds this important twist: your thoughts can bring anything into your life because you are god.Books that promise health and wealth for their practitioners are published every day. But few associate such promises with Byrne’s breathtaking audacity. She proclaims to her readers, “You are God in a physical body. You are Spirit in the flesh. You are Eternal Life expressing itself as You. You are a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet” (p. 164).If that weren’t blasphemous enough, realize that the book your neighbors and co-workers are reading more than any other also tells them, “The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret” (p. 183). This would be beautiful if it were addressed to the God of Heaven.

But as Byrne thinks this is what we should say to the person in the mirror, it is the heresy of heresies. Her “Secret” is nothing less than Satan’s original lie in the Garden of Eden, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). It is no exaggeration to say that this book implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) denies virtually every major doctrine in the Bible. For starters, the authority of Scripture is undermined in The Secret, because the Bible apparently has value only insofar as it (according to Byrne) teaches The Secret. Moreover, the Bible is neither unique nor supremely authoritative, for Byrne maintains that the holy book of every religious tradition contains The Secret. Thus Byrne’s teaching is eclectic, that is, she believes that all religions and their scriptures are equally valid in their authority and basically teach the same thing. Without mentioning Jesus, she quotes Him from Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:24, claiming that the teaching to ask, believe, and receive in prayer is the way to “create what you want in three simple steps” (p. 47). And of course, it is not God we’re to ask, but “the Universe.” Thus The Secret is pantheistic, that is, it teaches that God is not a Person; rather, He is to be equated with the totality of everything.

Despite this brief nod to the Bible, Byrne’s book is marketed upon the implication that readers probably would never discover The Secret on their own. “It has been passed down through the ages, highly-coveted, hidden, lost, stolen, and bought for vast sums of money.... Now The Secret is being revealed to the world” (from the back cover). Thus the book is Gnostic, that is, it makes you dependent upon a small, elite group (namely, Rhonda Byrne and her panel of enlightened experts, “avatars,” and relatively obscure historical sources) to tell you what you need to know. In fact, in true Gnostic style, Byrne and her illuminati expressly refer to what we need to know as a secret -- “the Great Secret.” And of course, you must pay -- in this case, the price of the book or the DVD -- to learn The Secret.

There’s no mention of sin in The Secret. The cause of all the problems in the world and in our individual lives is merely bad thinking, specifically the failure to recognize and appropriately use the law of attraction. Therefore the solution to everything lies within us. And that, of course, eliminates the need for a Savior, a Substitute, or a Sacrifice. The cross and resurrection of Jesus become irrelevant.

Curiously, there’s not a single reference to death or the afterlife in the book. Apparently this is a non-issue for contributors to The Secret, for one of them assures us, “no one will stand in judgment of [your life], now or ever” (p. 177). Another, when questioned about this on Oprah’s second show on the book, suggested that Heaven and Hell were present experiences, not future destinations.

So as with nearly all false teaching, the flaws of The Secret are most visible when you examine what it has to say about the Bible and Jesus.

If I had to commend something about The Secret, I would mention its emphasis on gratitude and the importance of the thought life. Byrne devotes several pages to “The Powerful Process of Gratitude” (pp. 74-80). Though she does not base it on the Bible, Byrne nevertheless encourages just what the Bible teaches in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in everything give thanks.” She says that regardless of the situations awaiting her, “By the time I am ready for the day, I have said ‘Thank you’ hundreds of times” (p. 76). Remarkably, she never says to whom thanks should be given. Nor is her motivation kindred to the one stated in the verse above: “this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Regarding the thought life, The Secret reminds us that there is a powerful connection between our thoughts and our actions. While the thoughts Byrne wants us to repeat are typically contrary to Scripture, she rightly observes that the thoughts we constantly affirm influence our feelings and our behavior. This conforms to the declaration of Scripture that Christians are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). For us to live for the glory of God and in increasing conformity to Christ requires not only that we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, but also that we constantly reaffirm specific truths of Scripture, despite feelings or circumstances that contradict them.

The problem with The Secret is that it focuses our hope selfward and not Godward. It is all about self-empowerment, self-fulfillment and getting whatever we want. But Jesus warned, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). The Secret disregards the fact that God has a Law and we have broken it (James 2:10). What Byrne fails to realize about her law of attraction is that our sinful hearts deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9) and attract not only more sin and guilt, but ultimately, the wrath of God.

However, God in His mercy sent His Son to receive this wrath as a Substitute for all who will repent of their self-centeredness and believe in Him. And “through the true knowledge of Him” -- not Rhonda Byrne’s book -- “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

“The Secret to everything” (to use Byrne’s term) is God Himself. And The Secret has not been hidden, nor waiting to be uncovered in a 21st century book. God has been revealing Himself since the beginning of creation, and for thousands of years He has freely told us everything we need to know about Him in the Bible. And He remains an unknown Secret only to those who will not look for Him there.--30--

Don Whitney is associate professor of biblical spirituality at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is the author of several books, including “Family Worship” (Center for Biblical Spirituality, 2006). This article and others can be downloaded as free bulletin inserts at his website, www.BiblicalSpirituality.org.

Pride Without Shoes by Pastor Brice

About half way through my Lent journey this year the Lord began to raise an awareness that He wanted to work on pride in my life. Not the type of pride I take in my wife that helps me cherish her as an undeserved gift. Nor the pride that swells in my heart when Owen accomplishes a great feat – like counting to ten with only one hand…1, 2, 3, 9, 10 – amazing!

No. The pride God is dealing with is much more sinister. If this pride were a botanical disease it would attack the plant’s roots, choking its ability to absorb nutrients, causing decay and eventually a funeral.

When God slowly lifted the curtain to reveal I had a pride problem I was surprised. After all, I’ve always prided myself on being humble. But the Master began to slowly point out that somehow an unhealthy judgmental attitude had entered the back door of my personality, took his shoes off, and decided to stay a while. How do you get rid of an unwelcome guest? Pride is sort of like the Cat in the Hat. He causes a big mess.

As I asked the Lord how pride was evident in my life he pointed first to the freeway. Why was it I was getting so ticked off when people didn’t drive the way I thought they should? Often my anger at other drivers because they don’t obey certain traffic laws isn’t righteous anger like Jesus driving the money changers from the temple (I would sometimes like to take a whip to the driver of that red car…simmer down now!).

My anger was a symptom of an underlying attitude malfunction. This attitude was evident in other areas as well, far from the freeway. You see my heart was eager to point out others faults and quickly judge their actions with no real interest in their well being or offering encouragement. In some devious way it seems I was looking for a way to prop myself up by leaning against the pile of what I perceived to be the shortcomings of others. Pride was encouraging me to think too highly of myself and too little of others.

The Lord brought me to the familiar teaching in Matthew 7 about judging others. Jesus asks, “how can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?” Good question, don’t you think? Jesus continues, “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye (emphasis added)”

The issue is not that I am prohibited from exercising judgment on issues and even people’s behavior. As Christian brothers and sisters we are called to encourage, correct, and hold one another accountable to our commitment to Jesus and the life He calls us to live (1 Cor 5.12). There’s an order to things – a “first” and a “then.”

The issue is whether I’ve “first” taken a hard look in the mirror and seen myself in the full light of my own shortcomings (Rom 3.23). Praise God, my failures aren’t the end of the story because Jesus’ grace covers them. And “then,” with an eyeful of Jesus instead of timber, my pride is removed and an attitude of true love blossoms. Now, I am ready to try and lend a hand to someone else.

When my heart is calibrated properly on the great grace I’ve received in Jesus and I allow the Holy Spirit room to operate inside me, then I’m ready to love the people around me in Jesus’ name. It’s time for me to help pride get his shoes back on and show him the door!

A Planted Seed by Aurora C.

My dad was in the Air Force in the 1960's, and when he
went through training, he was stationed in Kansas and
had a girlfriend named Dianne. They dated a bit while
he was in training, then haven't seen or spoken for 45
years.

Well, my Dad (a well-known artist, google Kent
Twitchell) just got this email the other day. I
thought it was really neat. It's rare we get to see
the trees of the seeds we've planted along the way. My
dad was 19 years old when he planted this seed, and
now at 64 he knows that through others' work, that
seed has taken root and grown.

Here is the e-mail....

I did a Kent Twitchell search on the internet and could not believe my eyes. For over an hour I have devoured the information about you. I knew you were a good artist but WOW.

Who am I? Well, to take you back to Hutchinson, Kansas 1961, I am Diane Mallory. Don't faint on me now. Over the years I wished that I knew how to contact you, but today was the destined day.

The reason and only reason that I am writing you is to thank you. Thank you from the deepest being of my God given soul. I owe you my life. Do you remember the night you confronted me about my salvation? It is one of the clearest memories I have. You came looking for me at the local "bar" that everyone went to. And standing there in the doorway you asked me if I was saved. To rid you I said, "Of course." Needless to say God used you a second time, the first when you took me to the Baptist church you attended in Hutchinson and sitting in the balony I heard the gospel. I didn't go to church after that, but in November 1972 (at the age of 30), a pastor took me through the scriptures and showed me that I was a sinner (which I knew) but that I could be cleansed and given a new life in Jesus Christ. I knew then that my deeds were not going to get me there. It was the most beautiful day of my life. Didn't attend church for almost 2 years, however as time went on, it became a central part of my life. I have been divorced a couple of times, and have been single since 1979. Raised two children and have 6 grandchildren. I have thought of you hundreds of times over these years wishing I could contact you to say thank you. Instead I just prayed that God would let you know somehow.

A couple of weeks ago my Pastor, in his sermon told us that we should write a person that had a significant influence on your life. Tonight I just googled your name. Now is that a God thing or what. Here I thought I would have to write a letter to God and have Him deliver it.

For the past 12 years I have had a ministry in my church as a youth sponsor to junior high girls. God has entrusted me with 7 girls (7-9 th grades) to teach biblical principles and to be a Godly influence. That really needs working on :) But I am so thankful for my savior.

I trust that you have a wonderful family. Be sure and let them know that because of you, myself along with my children, my mother, my grandchildren, and others that will come behind us, will be spending eternity in heaven. May God richly bless you.

Diane ( I still have the picture that you drew from a photo of me)

DIGGING FOR THE TRUTH by Jeff W.

I am a history fanatic. One of my favorite shows on television is a program on the History Channel called, “Digging for the Truth.” The premise of the show centers on an investigator who uses archaeology to find the “truth” about certain claims, myths, and legends of history. Many of the featured topics include stories from the Bible. If you have seen the show, and even if you have not, you can guess what the outcome of the show usually is: the authority of the Bible is debunked and its message vilified. Why would, I, an evangelical, Bible-believing seminary graduate enjoy this show? Because it helps me to understand where the common agnostic or atheist might get his or her information about Christianity! My generation is a wired one, and nine times out of ten, a well-meaning, but misinformed person will quote information that usually stems from the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, or other stations featuring documentaries.

Recently, the Discovery Channel featured a documentary called The Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by James Cameron, director of Titanic. In it, Cameron and documentary director, Simcha Jacobovici, film and discuss certain ossuaries found in Jerusalem, claiming that these ossuaries contain the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, and their supposed son. In the tomb, Amos Kloner, an archaeologist from a university in Israel, found 10 stone burial boxes (ossuaries). Some of the boxes had names inscribed on them: "Jesus, son of Joseph;" "Mary;" "Judah, son of Jesus," and other names. With DaVinci Code-like intrigue, Jacobovici and Cameron use re-creations and testimonies from experts to make a claim that supposedly blows Christianity out of the proverbial water.

In their claim, the producers suggest that the ossuaries in the tomb prove that Jesus and Mary were actually married and had a son. How do they try to accomplish this? The producers employ two main methods to prove their theory. First, they used statisticians to calculate the odds of having the names of “Jesus” and “Mary” in the same tomb. According to the producers, the odds are too high to be a coincidence. Second, the producers use DNA experts to compare the DNA of the “Jesus” bones to those of the “Mary” bones. The resultant DNA (as expected) does not match, so Mary could not have been Jesus’ mother. The producers, then, make the claim that the “Jesus” (who they now assume to be the Jesus) was probably married to Mary. There are several problems with this claim.

First, statistics are derived from lists of numbers or names (in this case a list of Jewish names from the first century). But in order for statistics to be complete, the probabilities must be derived from accurate cross-sections of burial names being studied. This is impossible since the majority of the names on first century ossuaries belonged to wealthy families. Most poor people in the first century did not have the means to purchase ossuaries with engraving and markings. Since Jesus was poor, even if he had been buried, it is not likely that his tomb would have been one of these. Also, according to James R. White, a popular Christian apologist:

Given that the number of entire families that have been unearthed is but a tiny percentage of the actual number of people who lived, it would be like concluding that a family with a father named Earl and a mother named Sarah and a boy named Michael could only have existed once in a particular part of the country, never twice. It is the kind of argumentation that while mildly interesting, is really only produced by those who are weaving a tapestry of wild possibilities, hoping you will be so mesmerized you won't notice you are having your pockets picked. (From James R. White, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” found in http://www.aomin.org/index.php?itemid=1790 )

Second, the producers of the show claim that DNA evidence suggests that “Jesus” and “Mary” were married. The interesting thing here is that only two samples of DNA were taken: Jesus’ and Mary’s. This raises several self-evident questions. How do the producers deduce that these two people were married based solely on the fact that they did not share DNA? Why were the other people in the tomb not tested (especially “Judah, son of Jesus”)?

Many scholars have fervently debated this documentary and have hailed it as false and attention-grabbing, just as the Da Vinci Code was. Da Vinci Code attempted to claim that Christianity, as an organized religion, was a sham. In a similar vein, this documentary claims that Jesus had a wife and was buried with his family, thus rendering his death and resurrection completely false. If this claim were true, Christianity would have been null and void from its very inception.

The problem with this documentary is that the producers pick and choose evidence, leaving out many crucial pieces of the puzzle, which would paint a completely different picture. In the manner of the Da Vinci Code, the producers take evidence out of context in order to bolster their case. This is a huge taboo in the academic world, but when ratings are involved, anything goes.

In the same way, the Bible should be read in its entire context, taking into account the author’s intent, the genre of the particular passage being studied, and reading the verses within the context of the chapters preceding and following them. If we read the Bible, we find that Jesus died for our sins, and then rose from the dead. There are many proofs of the resurrection which render the Discovery Channel’s “proof” as fallacious (for a good article about proofs of the resurrection, go to: http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/jesus-resurrection.htm ). The one proof, though, that has stood the test of time is the Bible. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul confronts a church that has been invaded by heresy. Paul discusses the primacy of Christ’s resurrection in 1 Cor. 15: 14-17:

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Many heresies such as this current one will arrive in the form entertainment in movies, books, and television. They may be compelling, they may even be believable (on the surface), but if they contradict the Bible, they are heretical. You and I will be confronted by many people in our generation who will claim these stories as fact. How will we respond to these heresies? The only way for us as Christians to prevent heresy from creeping into the church is to become archaeologists ourselves and dig for the truth in the ultimate site: the living word of God.

Enriching the World....in Marin

God has definitely been answering prayers! It was my turn to take Jay's Dad to his doctor's appointment on Thursday. Previously these were times I dreaded; I never knew if the 30 minute ride would be in silence or there would be tension. God went ahead of this time for sure.

Jay's Dad was in a talkative mood so that was good. I felt my heart racing as I knew God was leading me to ask him about what he thought it took to go to heaven. I was obedient to God and asked. Jay's Dad answered that he tries not to think about God or heaven. He said he believes that he is living a simple life, not craving material things, and that he tries not to cause problems with other people. He shared that belief in the church is folly and the only thing that is true is the Bible (following the narrow but crooked road). I felt that was a wonderful start. As I asked him questions about why Jesus died, he said to save people (then he shared the story of the 99 in the field and the one that was lost that the shepherd went to find - but that he was not that one that was lost). God reminded me of other scriptures to share.

I asked him if he has ever asked God to show him what was true and how to get to heaven. He again told me that heaven and God were not in his thoughts and to ask God for something was beyond him. We talked about how in the Bible Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that He alone is the gate to the narrow and crooked road that leads to heaven.

Some seeds were planted and as I dropped him off he said, "This was a good talk and I look forward to doing this again." Pray with me that Jay's Dad, Mel, would feel a yearning in his heart towards the God who created him and loves him just as much as he does you and me. Pray that in the quiet Mel would seek the Lord and the truth in His Word.

submitted by Christine 3.16.07

Women's Bible Study

Are you seeking to know Jesus more clearly? A new Bible study on the book "We Would See Jesus" by Roy and Revel Hession is meeting on Monday afternoons twice a month. Childcare will be provided for a small cost. Contact Heather at heathmom@aol.com "The message is one sorely needed in every Christian life - only Jesus is worthy of our attention and adoration, that seeing Him is the solution to every problem of our lives. He is an unfailing Source of life and liberty. All else fades into insignificance as we fix our spiritual vision upon Him." Amazon Review on "We Would See Jesus"