First Wednesday & National Day of Prayer

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

First Wednesday Prayer - May 2, 7:15-8:15 PM at New Life Robinwood

National Day Of Prayer - May 3rd, 2007

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Vitamins from the Word

Did you know that God put two new sentences in the Bible? It must be true. I've read it many, many times before and never noticed these things before. These insights are not big enough to constitute a meal, but perhaps can serve as vitamins:

Psalm 50:2b -- "perfect in beauty, God shines forth."

A search for beauty, true and lasting beauty will lead you back to God. He is the perfection of everything beautiful. Why do you experience beauty in a clear Spring day? Because God himself is perfect in beauty.

Psalm 50:23 -- The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me

Glorifying God is not a mystery. One of the ways God likes to be glorified is by our thanksgiving. Thankfulness reminds us who is the source of everything good. The fountain of goodness receives the glory when you take a drink and are thankful.

Del Florea's Celebration!

Del would like to invite you to his "late birthday party". This isn't a party for gifts, it's a party to spend time celebrating with our good friend Del.

Come when you can between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., on Saturday April 28th. The party will be held at the Florea house, 16365 SE Sterling Circle, Milwaukie, OR 97267. Please call 503-653-0294 with questions.

Tug-O-War

Click here to see pictures from last Wednesday's tug-o-war extravaganza for both the high school and middle school groups. High school vs. middle school, guys vs. girls, leaders vs. students, one on one, we did it all! By the way, you might ask Scott Haugen why there is a hole about the size of his shoulder in the wall across from the Manna Cupboard.

A Prayer for Faith

The Saviour

Thou God of all grace,
Thou hast given me a Saviour,
produce in me a faith to live by him,
to make him all my desire,
all my hope,
all my glory.

May I enter him as my refuge,
build on him as my foundation,
walk in him as my way,
follow him as my guide,
conform to him as my example,
receive his instructions as my prophet,
rely on his intercession as my high priest,
obey him as my king.

May I never be ashamed of him or his words,
but joyfully bear his reproach,
never displease him by unholy or imprudent conduct,
never count it a glory if I take it patiently
when buffeted for a fault,
never make the multitude my model,
never delay when thy Word invites me to advance.

May thy dear Son preserve me from this present evil world,
so that its smiles never allure,
nor its frowns terrify,
nor its vices defile,
nor its errors delude me.

May I feel that I am a stranger and a pilgrim on earth,
declaring plainly that I seek a country,
my title to it becoming daily more clear,
my meetness for it more perfect,
my foretastes of it more abundant;
and whatsoever I do may it be done
in the Saviour’s name.


(From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions,
edited by Arthur Bennett, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, p.44)

Half-life!

When an element is radioactive, we talk about its half-life. Wednesday was a half-life of a different kind.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007, marked the day Marcia has been a Reavely more than half her life. She has been a Reavely longer than she was an Amunrud. She has been married to me longer than she was not married to me.

Why I figured that out in the first place -- who knows. But this date has several implications for me. Some of them good and others, not-so-good.

1. Upon hearing this news, she promptly packed her bags and left town!
2. I need to take responsibility. When she does things that bug me, I can no longer blame her family of origin!
3. I have spent longer raising her than her parents did.
   
4. I will say, she has made a great deal of progress in this latter half of her life.
5. I was older than her when we married, and given the difficulty of the task, she will need to train me for a couple more years before I reach a similar half-life. I need all the time I can get.
   
6. If this is possible, she is more a gift from the Lord (Prov. 18:22) now than she was when He first delivered her to me.
7. She is past the point of no return. She's all mine now!
   

Middle School Auction a Colorful Success!

Thank you to all who joined us for our Middle School Auction fund raiser for the students our youth support in India. We were hoping to make $450 to double last year’s auction, and instead the evening left us with over $800! We are so thankful to everyone who donated their valuable time, money, and items to be auctioned. Some of the biggest wins of the evening included a beautiful garden bench donated by Dave Froode, a full house cleaning by Patty Alcutt, an hour harp lesson by Andie Haugen, and one hundred Peeps. As you can see, there were also several colorful wins throughout the evening!

One Great Sentence!

This sentence by James Emery White on his Serious Times blog, is one of the most insightful I have ever read:

So the looming crisis in America may not be an increasingly secular culture that wars against the church, as much as the increasingly secular nature of the church itself that has little to offer a seeking world that it does not already have.

Wedding Shower for Unknown Brides!

Thursday night was the Women's Missionary Fellowship evening event, a wedding shower for brides in Moldova and Ukraine. Four wedding gowns were purchased at thrift stores and four women from the church donated their own wedding gowns. Money was collected to pay the cost of purchasing and dry cleaning four gowns, and shipping all eight gowns to Ukraine where they will be distributed between the two countries. Special guest was Irene Sologubenco who is visiting from Moldova. In addition to working in women's and children's ministries, Irene works along side her husband, Eugene, who is president of Moldova Bible Seminary and co- pastors Chisinau Bible Church. The ladies at the shower had fun creating a tissue paper wedding gown for Irene. A highlight of the evening was when our beloved missionary, Cheri Strahm, telephoned from Kiev, Ukraine to thank the women of New Life Church for making her vision of sending wedding gowns to Eastern Europe a reality.

A Prayer for Today

Love Lustres At Calvary

My Father,
Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips,
supply words that proclaim 'Love lustres at Calvary.'
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse, and a sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy
that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell's worst
that I might attain heaven's best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped away from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might for ever live.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
my every step buoyant with delight, as I see
my enemies crushed,
Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
hell's gates closed, heaven's portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross,
mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

(From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions,
edited by Arthur Bennett, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, p.42)

Father's Heart Dinner

Last Tuesday about 50 people from New Life Church joined together for a dinner to hear about a new ministry at New Life Church called Father's Heart. We enjoyed a great meal, but also had a chance to hear about how we can help orphans in their time of need.

Olga and Roman Koran shared about their experience of being adopted into a Christian home from an orphanage overseas. They spoke of the benefits of being in their family and of being in the family of God. The spoke of the love they felt from God and their parents because of being adopted.

Kerri Tefft spoke about the experience that her family had while serving as respite care providers for foster parents. She shared that this was a ministry almost any family can do. She and her husband both work full time, yet they had the ability to give of their time on weekends to bless foster parents who just need a break sometimes.

Sara Pylate told about the "great adventure" of foster parenting. She shared how the journey of foster parenting had stretched her and blessed her. She shared that the journey is sometimes difficult, but that it also holds many joys.

Nancy Agnor recounted her experience of being a CASA (Court Appointed Special Assistant). She shared about the opportunity that Christians have to be an advocate for some of the most vulnerable people in our world, foster children. She told of the special strength God had given her to endure hearing terrible stories and keep pressing on.

As a recent adoptive parent, Kerri Corbett shared her desire to start a support group for foster and adoptive parents in our church. She told of how adoption can be a very lonely journey. We need the support of the body of Christ to help us succeed.


Mark Hanson was the Emcee who graciously guided us through the whole evening. Molly Hanson closed off the evening telling her story of caring for orphans and the impact that it has had on her personally and her whole family. She also shared some vision for the future of our church in this important ministry. If you want to find out how you can get involved, or if you just have questions about the ministry, contact Mark and Molly at markmolly@comcast.net.

Resurrection Sunday at New Life Church Riverfalls

We had a marvelous celebration of Christ's resurrection last week. A journey with Jesus begins many times from a D-tour -- Disappointment, Devastation and Despair. The resurrection offers hope enough to bring us through all the detours of life.

Jesus rooted the reality of his resurrection in what the Scriptures said about him. You can read some of those Scriptures here.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." Ephesians 1:18-21

Buhler Update -- April G.O. Partner

Updated Prayer Requests:

• Noah, their youngest son, got his fingers caught in the front door yesterday. It nearly ripped the index and middle tips off. Fortunately the bones were not affected and 3 ½ hours after the accident the fingertips were stitched back on. The ends are pink again and they'll know by Friday if they will survive. He was very brave.
• They need funds for a replacement laptop ASAP (approx $2000). It is central to Brian's work. Brian's laptop crashed 3 weeks ago and the part to fix it will take at least another 4 weeks to get. He may need to purchase a new one and send it with someone coming from the US to get his projects completed on time.

How God is using them:

• LaVonne continues to help with a local kid's club in our neighborhood. They have split the kids into language groups and now more children than ever are attending. The Telugu speaking group has grown from zero to 25 the first week and is now up to 65 boys and girls. The kids are hearing the Good News for the first time in their own language.
• Brian has also been leading a Life Group in our area with 6 families and 9 children. There has been great interaction and growth.
• LaVonne has picked up new responsibility to help bring teams to India to help with the schools and sit on the school advisory board. She hopes to be helping with a number of teams coming this year.
• Brian has completed two pastoral sponsorship websites which should go live this month. He also hopes to be teaching a week long computer training course for all the teachers of their partners school at the end of April when school is out.

Middle School Auction

Middle School Auction –
All are Invited!

You will not want to miss the fun this Wednesday at the Auction with the New Life Middle School class. These commodities aren’t just for 13 year olds. Here is just a sample of what we will be auctioning:
• 36” Television
• 1 hour harp lesson
• One house cleaning
• A new Bulova mens watch
• Garden art by Dave Froode
• And many more miscellaneous items!

All the proceeds are going to the children our middle school have been sponsoring in India for almost two years! The child sponsorship through Dalit Freedom Network (dalitnetwork.org) provides clothing, food, and most importantly, Christian education to children who are a part of the lowest caste system and would otherwise have no access to education.

Join us this Wednesday, April 11th, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Middle School room (upstairs).

Last year’s auction raised $225 for our students. This year, we are hoping to double that amount. Please join us for good prizes and a great cause!

Messianic Prophecy

I was asked about my sources for the messianic prophecies. I found the number of prophecies to be greater than 300 from Hope of Israel. Jews for Jesus has a video about prophecies of the Messiah. Clarifying Christianity and Messianicprophecies.net are sources you may also find useful.

Risen with Christ!

Every Sunday morning I rise early and pray. I also add two things to my quiet time regimen. I read a couple prayers from Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers (That is why so many of them end up posted here on Sundays). And I read a chapter in Charles Spurgeon's, The Pastor in Prayer. The Pastor in Prayer is a collection of Sunday morning prayers by the Prince of Preachers.

This morning it was a particular blessing. Just by "coincidence" I read his prayer from Easter Sunday Morning entitled, Risen with Christ. The great thing is that Easter wasn't referenced only the date, March 28, 1880. I used yesterday's post to learn that that particular Sunday in 1880 was Resurrection Sunday!

Empty Tomb

Any celebration of Easter apart from the Resurrection would certainly be meaningless and empty. Here are some resources you may want to consider as you think about whether Jesus truly rose from the grave.

Chick Publications offers an online comic book tract about the Empty Tomb. I had the whole collection of these tracts when I was a boy. This Was Your Life was the most well known.

Here are some excerpts from the Case of Christ that focus on the resurrection of Jesus.

Here is a summary and outline of Josh McDowell's evidence for a resurrection. The layout on this page is exceptionally good. You can explore questions you are particularly interested in.

Dr. William Lane Craig of Talbot Seminary offers these two articles for those who want a more scholarly consideration of the empty tomb. Here is the sequel.

May your meditation on and hope in the resurrection of Jesus be sweet! See you on Resurrection Sunday!

Dates for Easter?

It is a mystery to many of us when Easter will be. Here is more explanation than you ever wanted to know about how you can know the dates for Easter from the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Wondering how often Easter falls on Ken's Birthday (4/8) or Judy's (4/16) or Allie's (4/2) or Nancy's (4/23) or Cris's (3/22) or Rowena's (4/11) or Hannah's (3/31) or any day between March 22nd and April 25th? Suppose, say, Judy was 125 years old, here you can see the number of times her birthday would fall on Easter, even if she lives to be 250! This page lists dates by number of occurances, percentage of occurances, and sorts by date or by year when her birthday would be on Easter.

Wanting to prepare for Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? Here is a site that explains the different types of calendars and how they impact the dates for Easter.

The Quiet Time

In some of my Spring cleaning I ran across some pamphlets that I'm throwing away. They are about how and why to have a quiet time written in 1973 by Hal Schulz. I do want to keep the wisdom, but don't want to keep the pamphlet, so here are the main ideas:

What is a quiet time? "A quiet time is a time alone with God, having fellowship with Him through the Bible and prayer."

Preparation:

• Time. Start with five minutes per day.
  
• Place. A place where you will not be disturbed.
  
• Materials. Bible. Notebook, pen, paper or diary.
  
• Attitude. Confess all known sin (1 John 1:9). Expect God to meet you.

Procedure:

• Realize . . . the power of the Holy Spirit's teaching.
  
• Read . . . the Word accroding to a plan. Any plan that works in your available time is a good one.
  
• Record . . . on paper what God is teaching you.
• Record a favorite verse.
• Record the primary application. Is there a. . .
• Command to obey?
• A sin to forsake?
• An example to follow?
• A promise to claim?
  
• Reply . . . in prayer.
• Use a prayer list.
• Use the A.C.T.S. acronym. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication).
• Record answers to your prayers.
  
• Respond . . . to the primary application.
• Obey what the Lord showed you. (James 1:22-25).
• Meditate on the primary application during the day.
• Share it with someone else.
• Memorize the key verse.

What great advice! Anyone who does this simple plan that I uncovered will make progress in their walk with the Lord.

No Whitewashed Tombs!

Saturday was a fun day at New Life Robinwood. Over 30 people showed up for our Church Beautification Project (AKA Work Day). For over 5 hours these volunteers worked very hard to make the church look beautiful for Easter.

It struck me that this was one of our best attended non-Sunday events in a long time. The church property really looks great! We truly do want to put our best foot forward to the community on Easter.

The question that occurred to me was whether we would put the same amount of effort into preparing our hearts for worshiping our Risen Savior this Easter. I was reminded that Jesus had some of his harshest word for the Pharisees who wanted to look good on the outside but were full of hypocrisy:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Would you take some time this week to prepare your heart to worship Jesus on Easter Sunday?

Jesus and Holy Week

Here is a map that lists the events of Jesus' last week. I hope it helps you love him more for what he suffered for you! (Click on the picture to enlarge).

Baseball Season has Started!

First Wednesday Prayer - April 4th

First Wednesday Prayer is this week at New Life Robinwood. Come pray with us from 7:15 PM-8:15 PM.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Eph 1:15-19 NIV

Cosmic Bowling

Here's an update from high school group's Cosmic Bowling excursion. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Everyone seemed to have a psychedelic time...including Sponge Bob!

Check Them Out!

New in Our Library:

CDs:
Avalon: Oxygen
Lifescapes: Praise & Worship Live!
Songs 4 Worship: Holy Ground

Magazines:
Sports Spectrum/ March & April 2007
(one is in children's library & one in regular library)

Children's Library:
The Animated Stories: The New Testament (audio cassettes)

Main Library:
Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel
The Music of His Promises by Elisabeth Elliot
The Road Unseen by Peter & Barbara Jenkins
Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History by Francis A. Schaeffer
World Aflame by Billy Graham
A Future and A Hope by Lloyd Ogilvie

Joeleen Montgomery, New Life Librarian

April G.O. Partner

Brian and LaVonne Buhler
Josiah, Emily, and Noah
Serving with Ideas in SE Asia

Brian and LaVonne work with a group called the Dalits, the lowest Hindu Caste. These people are considered outcasts and are not given opportunities such as education and jobs because of their family caste. Brian and LaVonne partner with an organization that is providing education and advancement resources for the Dalits. Brian works on computers, helping to keep up a child-sponsor webpage for the students in the education classes. LaVonne teaches courses training Dalits who want to be teachers.

Please pray for:

• Their children’s education. Their oldest, Josiah, has had problems with bullies at school, and there have been problems with his teacher as well.
• With additional ministry needs, they are in need of an additional $465 a month in support.
• Students in LaVonne’s classes, and students in the elementary schools who are striving to change their lives and their place in the caste system.

Fools

He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose! -- Jim Elliot