Today, someone many would refer to as a “spiritual giant” (rightly so), went home to Jesus. According to Wikipedia, Timothy James Keller (September 23, 1950 – May 19, 2023) was an American pastor, theologian, and Christian apologist. He was so much more. He authored many books and publications. His wisdom and continuously relevant insights will be sorely missed wherever people seek to learn about loving God and others.
I think about Keller’s family taking time to grieve and thousands who mourn him. Yet we envision a heavenly homecoming celebration taking place too. His powerful and poignant final words have made the rounds on social media. Reading those caused me to reflect upon death, eternity and storylines… Just because you write the end to one story, doesn’t mean you don’t get to start another. Although, it’s often best to pause a bit… no need to jump ahead of the introduction to your next story. That’s really a majority of life’s journey isn’t it? Stories written. It could be as visceral as the death of a loved one. Yet it could be the ending of a relationship, job, career, home or family situation. Death, literal or figurative, is the loss we grieve in life as we go on living. Because on a soul-deep level, we are made to desire life… life everlasting. And in the adventure of following Jesus, we do so with spiritual intentionality. Yes, we are made for life. And in Christ, we are offered it in eternity, which starts… now. “Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.’”(John 6:68-69 NLT) 5/19/23 esther@coldspringschurch.net 3G Faith: intentional, meaningful, spiritual conversations
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Are there contradictions in the Gospels? J. Warner Wallace writes, "Reliable eye witnesses never agree on every detail." In fact, he asserts that if they did agree in every detail they would not be considered reliable but instead guilty of collusion. The Gospels complement each other, and their differences authenticate them as legitimate eye witness testimony. Check out the short video below with J. Warner Wallace. There's also a short video with RC Sproul on Bible contradictions in general - see below. Want to dig deeper? Check out J. Warner Wallace's website: coldcasechristianity.com/ And if you'd like to read an article about errors in the whole Bible, Norm Geisler has a great article online here. Another great resource is a book by Gleason Archer called Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. You can find it on Amazon here. Is Christianity based on a made-up Jesus? Or a historical Jesus? The early Christian Church actually existed (and was thriving!) well before ANY of the New Testament was written. The Christian faith exists not because of the Bible, but because of the resurrection of Jesus. Want to dig into the historical evidence for Jesus outside of the New Testament? Here are a few videos below. And if you'd like to read an article by J. Warner Wallace, you can do so here. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is the resurrection of Jesus an historical event? What is the evidence? William Lane Craig writes: “There are four facts agreed upon by the majority of scholars who have written on these subjects which any adequate historical hypothesis must account for: Jesus’ entombment by Joseph of Arimathea, the discovery of his empty tomb, his post-mortem appearances, and the origin of the disciples’ belief in his resurrection. Now the question is: what is the best explanation of these four facts? Most sholars probably remain agnostic about this question. But the Christian can maintain that the hypothesis that best explains these facts is “God raised Jesus from the dead.” The Apostle Paul wrote: And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:14 The historicity of the resurrection of Jesus is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. If Jesus was raised from the dead, all the promises of God are true, for Jesus has proven Himself to be the none other than God in the flesh. If you’d like to read a fascinating article by William Lane Craig, you can find it here. “In your walk with the Lord, sometimes the greatest hindrance to a new move of God in your life can simply be an unhealthy preoccupation with a previous move of God in your life.” What a perfectly timed message Sunday. Early morning I questioned how I relate to the Lord so differently than I did several years ago. "Lord, I wonder why there's not the height of emotion I used to feel. Does it mean I am slipping away? Do I need to do something?" The Lord answered, "No. It means you don't need hand holding like you used to. Knowing I am real is different than believing or hoping I am real." It came to my mind how He shows up when I am encouraging people who are in hard predicaments or crisis. Routinely, I feel completely inadequate to be of any help. But I show up, and step up, and He does the rest.
I love that He is a Living God. -Kathie Jermstad 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 |
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