​Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We are having a small family gathering at our house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet rolls and cranberry sauce.  Of course there will also be plenty of gravy… and pumpkin pie for dessert.  It is comforting to keep this annual tradition. 

But some things are quite different. Janelle’s father passed away in July, and our son, Josiah, will be in Spokane at school until mid-December.

Some things are the same. But some things are different.  Very different. And the difficult kind of different. 

But we are still thankful. Thankful for the simple things in life like food to eat and a home to provide us shelter. Thankful for family and friends. Thankful for our church home. 

Thankful also that in the midst of a broken world plagued with war, hunger, and immense suffering, we have the great hope that one day the brokenness will be of the past and we will spend eternity in the presence of our Lord. 

I don’t know what our earthly future holds for us, but I am sure it includes some joys and plenty of sufferings as well.

In the midst of such uncertainty, we do have this certainty: God is with us. For that I am so thankful.

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” -Matthew 1:23 (NLT)

Happy Thanksgiving!  May the Lord bless you in this season with the richness of his presence. 

In His Grace and Love,

-Pastor Steve 

Celebrating lifts one’s soul. Celebrating tells His story. Celebrating is contagious.

Let’s celebrate our first ever “Friday Family Fun” event. It took place on Friday, October 21, 2022, from 6:30-8PM.

The Family Ministry team met, prayed and asked God what would be a fun family focus event for all families to be able to attend - that would capture our six (6) core commitments: warm relationships, best neighbors, Jesus message, prioritize everyone, key chain leadership and empathy. 

“Friday Family Fun” is an example of: “Doing life well. Together.”

“Trunk or Treat” event held on October 31 has been the event for many years. It has always been a fun, well-attended event- by church members, as well as our community. So, our team included many fun things from this event, and added a few fun things to our new event. 

There was a chili cook-off, carnival-like games to play, candy, hotdogs, popcorn, and a fire pit w/s’more fixings, plus Silver Bullet returned with yummy shaved ice. With church members’ help we added a hayride, a pie eating contest, a crafts table, and a goofy crow contest.

Let’s celebrate another year of being able to partner with ‘Operation Christmas Child’. Participation involved four ways: Take. Bring. Give. Join. - ‘Operation Christmas Child’ is another example of: “Doing life well. Together.”

EVERYDAY- there is something to celebrate! 
So. Celebrate!

I’d like to close with a few of my favorite CELEBRATION Bible verses:

Psalm 145:6-8 – Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and merciful.

Isaiah 63:7 – I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us.

Psalm 147:1 – Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

Psalms 47:1 Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Psalm 71:8 My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.

2 Samuel 7:22 How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Psalm 16:2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

Deuteronomy 10:21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.

A few days ago my son emailed me an article titled “The Walls of Jericho did Tumble Down, New Study Finds”.

I’m always encouraged to hear about new archaeological evidence that supports the Biblical account of history. 

And one quote from the article:
''When we compare the archeological evidence at Jericho with the biblical narrative describing the Israelite destruction of Jericho, we find a quite remarkable agreement,'' 
-Dr. Bryant G. Wood, an archeologist at the University of Toronto

One more reason why the Christian faith is intellectually reasonable?  Archeological finds continue to provide evidence that the Bible is historically accurate. 

If you’d like to watch a short (10-minute) video on archeology and the Bible, you’ll find it below. 

​A good chunk of my planning in November is centered around Thanksgiving.  Who will host?  What will everyone bring?  Should we add or take away dishes?  Do we need to modify for allergies? Healthier options? And when the day comes, our family comes together - different mindsets and experiences, different ages and backgrounds - deeply personal and rambunctiously communal. 😊 

So… this month, the freedom writers are joining with our nation to focus on the importance of “giving thanks”. As I was reading the Cold Springs Church Weekly, I came across this quote by Dani “A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset.”  I was thinking about how true this has been in my life and how it begins, for me, with gratitude.

A Story
When my husband John and I got back from our trip to Italy, he came down with COVID.  And then my mother-in-law came down with COVID.  I prayed that I wouldn’t get it so that I could care for them.  I never got sick and I was able to minister to John and Mom through meals and care.  I am so grateful that I had that opportunity to serve and I am also grateful for another gift… Through the experience, I was reminded of how much I love to serve others through food, compassion and care. I can tell you that I have not always been able to be grateful for such things.

A Quote
In Ann Voskamp’s book, 1000 gifts, she defines “eucharisteo” or the giving of thanks like this:
In the original language, “he gave thanks” reads “ eucharisteo .” The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks.

Scripture
Psalm 16 reads, (I picture David writing this with deep gratitude 😊) “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely, I have a delightful inheritance.”
I love that David is writing this – knowing that he faced his share of trials.  It confirms in me what GOD’s Word says,” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:28) So…no matter what I face, and no matter what you face, we can “give thanks” as we see what the Lord has given us as “grace”- a gift.
This Thanksgiving, whether you are eating with others or eating alone, I pray that God will fill you with His peace as you “give thanks” in a gentle whisper, around a noisy table, or among friends.

With Love & Gratitude,
Christina

Do you have a morning routine? Maybe you work out, or solve the daily Wordle, or do your devotion in the Bible App. Is there something that you wake up and know you have to do with no room for negotiations? What happens when you miss that appointment with yourself? Does it throw your day off?

When I don’t do my morning routine I definitely feel off. My morning just doesn’t start off on the right foot. I’m going through a season where I’m trying to “reset” my morning routine. My girls have various extracurriculars that have them to school at different times each day of the week. On top of that, my husband’s work schedule changed for the past month, which altered our mornings even more! I need consistency in my morning now more than ever!

I know that when I have a plan and stick to it, my mindset for the day is so much better. It sets the tone for the day, and feels like I’ve accomplished something, even if it was just the daily puzzle! Having a commitment, no matter how big or small, and achieving it first thing, is an immediate win.

If you don’t already have a morning routine I encourage you to pick one thing to do before the rest of your day starts. If you’re like me and need a reset, this is your encouragement to do just that! If you're unsure of what to do, talk to God about it. Ask Him how he wants you to start your day.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” - Hebrews 13:8

J Warner Wallace was a cold case homicide detective in Los Angeles. And he was not a Christian. His Christian friend told him to use his detective skills to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to find out if they are reliable eyewitness accounts.

What happened?  J Warner Wallace became a Christ-follower!

He summarizes four tests that he was trained to apply to eyewitnesses. He applied these tests to the Gospels and realized that they are trustworthy accounts, and therefore Jesus really is God in the flesh who died and rose again. Here are the four tests:

• Were they really there?
• Can they be verified?
• Have they changed their story?
• Do they possess bias?

Following Jesus is intellectually satisfying because the Gospels are reliable eyewitness accounts of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Check out the short video below with J Warner Wallace!

I’m sitting in the dark writing this blog post by candle light. I came home to another power outage. There was only enough time to put my groceries in the refrigerator and light a candle, before the sun disappeared behind the hills and shot it’s colorful rays into the twilight.

As I sit here watching the flickering flame cast its dancing shadows across the paper, I can’t help but think of the blessing of light. It’s something I don’t always appreciate until I’m sitting in the dark. There is so much I can’t see! I lived a portion of my life that way- “spiritually” sitting in the dark. I didn’t know what I was missing, because I couldn’t see it. Darkness hides a lot of things.

Just one candle lights this page enough for me to write, and it was just one Name that brought light into my life enough to cast out the darkness and expose everything hidden there. One Light shines bright enough to change a life and He is Jesus. He’s the light of the world and the light that shines in our hearts.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” -2 Corinthians 4:6

It’s one thing to sit in a dark house when the electricity is off, it’s entirely another to live in the dark. Jesus offers us life in the light. All we have to do is follow Him, and He lights the way!

Charlotte ❤️ 

​Is the Bible a reliable source of information about historical events?

Many people would say “no” simply because the Bible records miracles: Walking on water, turning a few fish and loaves of bread into a feast to feed thousands, turning water into wine, and the list goes on. 

But as we already established, miracles are possible if God exists. And the evidence is overwhelming that God does exist!

So if miracles are possible, are the miracles written about in the Bible historically accurate?

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 
-2 Timothy 3:16

Below is a short video that answer the question “Is the Bible reliable?”  I hope you enjoy it!  

​If God is real and my eternal destiny depends on believing in Him, why doesn’t he prove Himself to me and to more people?

This is not a new question. People have asked this question for centuries.

The 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote regrading this question:

"God so regulates the knowledge of Himself that He has given indications of himself, which are visible to those who seek Him and not to those who do not seek Him. There is enough light for those to see what only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition." -Blaise Pascal

And more recently, C.S. Lewis answered this question in his book Screwtape Letters.  In order to wrap your mind around this quote, it is essential to remember that this is written from the perspective of a demon giving advice to a younger demon:

"You might have wondered why the Enemy (God) does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are the two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to over-ride human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo."
-C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters)

The Bible says that God had already done more than enough to reveal Himself to us, but we choose to reject such knowledge as we are afraid of what the truth might mean for our own lives.

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. -John 1:18

If you want to watch a short video on today's topic, see below. 

Happy October!  This month the freedom writers are writing on harvest blessings. 😊
When thinking about harvest blessings the first things that comes to my mind are apples, pumpkins and persimmons.  But what about special things that occur to make an ordinary day extraordinary?

A Story…
Mom and I have lunch together on Fridays.  We were finishing up our meal at a local restaurant and she asked if I could go to the counter and pay the bill.  The woman behind the counter looked sad, so, I asked her how she was doing and she said “okay”, but not very convincingly. I decided to ask a few more questions and she shared that she had had to do a hard thing that morning but she knew the outcome would be good.  I felt compelled to tell her that if she was doing a hard thing with a good outcome then she was showing a lot of courage.  The woman’s eyes instantly filled with tears and she said that “She needed to hear that.”  She allowed me to console her with a hug…

Spending time with God allowed me to show up with love.  I noticed and asked questions and He gave me a word that I couldn’t have known that she needed to hear.  My harvest blessing.  

A Scripture…
Going out from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.  Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?  How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!  Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  So, he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. – Matthew 12: 9-13

An observation…
Harvest blessings.  They abound! – and if we look a little deeper and act with God, they provide meaning and purpose to our lives in all season of life!

Harvest Blessings to You!  
With Love, Christina