A Week at Camp

If I had more time I would take it to tell of God's work at Ironwood over the last 20 years of our church.  This is God's place.  When you are coming in on the old Ironwood Cherokee Road and see the facilities for the first time it is breathtaking.  Most new wooders say things like how could a place like this be here in the desert.  There is only one reason-God did it.  God used a man named Walt Brock to have a vision for a place for kids and adults to get away from the things of the world to have chance to get to know the Savior and Creator of the universe.  Of folks from Bullhead City-I was the first person to visit Ironwood that first year as a counselor in 1983.  God worked in my life.  I grew more as a Christian that summer then perhaps any other except possibly since my days at Prescott Pines as a Junior High Camper when I dedicated my life to serve God!)  This is  God's place.

So the rest of this note is to our Trinity kids.  Many of us are praying that God would do a great work in your life and challenge you to serve God!  I pray that God would be real to you this week; that you would be open and honest with your counselors and the staff and that you would seek the answers to the tough questions in life-and above all listen to God working in your heart.  Have a great time, enjoy all the games-but listen to the Spiritual messages that you are hearing.

We all love you and are praying for you  earnestly!

A Great Perspective From a Pastor from Canada

What a tumultuous week for the church in America.  The Supreme Court ruling concerning marriage has seemed to have turned everyone into debaters and experts on the subject of marriage.  No matter what the SCOTUS has ruled we as believers must stand firm in the truth.  May we be strong in our faith and not be discouraged by the so-called  liberal experts on God's Word who despise those who believe in a inerrant infallible an inspired foundation(basically, this means that we believe all of God's Word is true, without error and comes from God Himself).  Our view of right and wrong is not changing like shifting sand in a Colorado River sand bar.  When it comes right down to it-one of the most important principles in this debate is if we are willing to say yes to the reliability and trustworthiness of God's Word.  I've been reading the liberals who would try to tell me that I believe my religious conviction about marriage between one man and one woman based on the book of Leviticus.  God gave us all of His Word for instruction-but thank God the law-based faith of the OT believers has been overtaken by the New Covenant and the gospel of Grace when Jesus came.  It doesn't mean I get no more teaching from Leviticus-but it does mean many of the practices of Leviticus are now done away with.  I seek out the New Testament story of grace for guidance.  I also look at the definition of marriage found in the very beginning in Genesis.  It is pretty clear-marriage is between one man and one woman.  Any other interpretation questions the true foundation that God's Word is.

With that being said-I'd like to share an article from a Pastor in Toronto.  Canada has been dealing with same-sex marriage for over a decade.  This pastor's perspective is encouraging and hopeful.  May we, the true Christian church in the USA, stay vigilant for truth no matter what obstacles our government may put in our way:

http://www.churchleaders.com/daily-buzz/257355-advice-sex-marriage-us-church-leaders-canadian.html

About Doubt

I'm currently reading my way through Tim Kellar's book The Reason for God.  To start off with I want everyone to realize that he has one problem and that is that he believes in the long day of creationism.  It does poke some holes in some of his reasoning-but generally he has put together some excellent arguments for today's skeptic of Christianity.  I've been trying to pull out his most quotable quotes to help us answer the hard questions about our faith.  The first is Keller's way of challenging questioners to really seek truth.  So many want to answer a question that doesn't jive with their own personal feelings.  Unfortunately, instead of really seeking truth, many just finish the discussion there.  Instead of truly seeking truth-they give up and let a simple doubt destroy their entire foundation.  Here is Keller's statement.

In fairness you must doubt your doubts. My thesis is that if you come to recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for theirs— you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first appeared.

Keller, Timothy (2008-02-14). The Reason for God . Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.        
In fact, your doubts should crumble amid solid reasoning and clear thinking.  I hope you will seek out this book and read it.  It will strengthen you if you are solid on your beliefs and it will clear things up if you are willing to confront your doubts with the truth.

Getting Up With God

This morning I got up at 5:00 am.  Age has brought me to early rising.  The best part is more time with God.  When we read of the great men of God of history, almost always they write of their early rising to meet the Savior.  I get it.  The best times in my quiet time is when I rise early with little distraction, in the cool of the morning.  God is there with me.  I also was blessed on a river bike ride just after my quiet time.  A

little exercise and being near God's great creation helps to make His presence even greater! Sleeping in can be nice-but I am always more refreshed in God's morning.  Today I've been grappling over Tim Kellar's "Reason for God".  My mind and Spirit have been reaching out for those answers for the tough questions.  Kellar does a great job of answering them with confidence and intellect.  If you are questioning this read is good. He does take the long day theory of evolution but holds on to a personal God and creator who is real, loving and just.  Looking forward to mornings this week. God use them so I can get to know you better!

Divine Appointment

Today right before we started Sunday School a young man called from a travelling singing group wanting to minister to our church on Sunday night.  Feeling a little pressure to help this group out I agreed sight unseen.  At 4:00 pm a large travel bus showed up at church and began unloading all this audio equipment and our small stage hosted a group of nearly twenty for some pleasant encouraging Spiritual music.  The group was very sincere in their presentation.  Probably the most impressive thing is when they came into the audience and each person prayed with a different one of our folks.  We were blessed and encouraged in the Lord.

It appeared that these young people had a sincere relationship with the Savior.  We praise God for touching our lives through this apparent Divine Appointment.

Summer Update at Trinity

It is hard to believe that three weeks have flown by in the summer.  With our ever decreasing summer vacations over the last several years at school-it seems that this high school teacher doesn't have enough time to catch his breath and act like a pastor for the summer.  Hopefully this summer will be different.  A couple of things are helping me to focus a little bit more on the ministry at Trinity Baptist.  One, we do have two more weeks for summer than last year.  Two, I have help doing ministry related things with our summer interns, Andy and Alex.  They have been such a great help in sharing much of the the things I normally do every week.  Trinity is investing in these two young men's lives this summer with the hope that they will be trained to share the Gospel with the incredible talents that God has given them.  So blessed by their willingness to be a help.

One of our biggest projects for the summer is the Musical/Drama Team Presentation.  The kids have put together an amazing selection of God honoring songs and challenging dramatic presentations that could be an entire church service for any churches that are looking for a fresh change for a summer Sunday night, Wednesday night or even a Sunday morning service.  Please message me if you are interested in us sending our young people ot minister to your church this year.  

Finally this summer we are doing some sizzling Bible Study on Wednesday.  We are studying "Walking in the Spirit" n Galatians and it has been a great time of growth and learning for all of us.  Wish everyone could be there on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.