Author: Odland

Evangelical

May 2013

Volume 59

Eagerly Waiting by Randy Anderson

Pastor’s column	1-2
Reader’s / Corner	2
Library / Book Review	3
Pastor Grant	4
Missions	5-6
AWANA	7
Attendance	7
Coming events	8

We spend much of our lives eagerly waiting don’t we? Eagerly waiting for the next thing. This year we have spent, as of the time of this writing, a little more than the entire first third of Spring eagerly waiting for something like Spring weather to arrive. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, we will all merely be remembering that wait, and not still waiting, but for now that remains to be seen. But that is how it has been this Spring, we have had temperatures 15-25 degrees below normal day after day after day, and we have been eagerly waiting for that to change—complaining a bit about how long it seems to be taking for Spring temperatures to arrive.
As I say, we spend much of our lives eagerly waiting for some version of the next thing. I remember, as the youngest of three children, eagerly awaiting my turn to have a lunch box and run out the front door in the morning and walk off to school like ‘the big kids’ -- I remember eagerly awaiting that ‘big kid’ status. And then it comes and you are eagerly awaiting middle school, and then eagerly awaiting high school and then eagerly awaiting college, or being out on your own, and then eagerly awaiting marriage and then eagerly awaiting children, and then eagerly awaiting the day when the children will reach one supposedly magical age and status after the next, and on it goes.
Some of you are having graduations this Spring and the first or the second or the third or the fifth of your children is heading off somewhere — a status that they have eagerly awaited —or secretly feared — but here it is in any case — it has arrived. So goes life. And more than that, so goes the present age of the created Universe as a whole. This is how Scripture teaches us to think in any case.
I have been reading and rereading the book of Hebrews — getting ready to begin teaching it on Wednesday evenings this fall (Lord willing) — I might even be eagerly awaiting the experience. Among the many passages that are quite striking when I come across them again and again while cycling my way through that letter, is that passage at the end of Hebrews 9 that reads this way,
Hebrews 9:27 - 28 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
(continued on page 2)

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May 2013

Reader’s Corner by Faith Oygard

Take Back the Land is a must read for Christians, though it is directed to homeschooled youth, I believe that it would be beneficial to parents and non-homeschooled teens as well. Though much of this was review for me, I found that this book was very reaffirming. I especially enjoyed how this book was like a warm conversation with a mentor, making the book very easy to read.
This book reminds me slightly of Do Hard Things, but much better! Take Back the Land is honest and opinionated and doesn't apologize for it which was a welcome change from the typical teen non-fiction reads that try to please everyone and don't dig deep enough. Reading this book was like an honest conversation with Mr. Boyer, with a few chuckles on the side. Though there were some things I disagreed with, I agreed with the main point and the call to be citizens who truly make a difference.
Take Back the Land covers the changes in the last few decades that have taken place in Education, the Media, the Church, the Family, the Government, the Courts, and the Arts. All of which we should be very concerned about! If you aren't already, this book will put a fire under your seat to get involved in the way our country is running, to make a difference!
Overall, a wonderful book that is inspiring in so many ways as to how our faith should be lived in our values, which should be put to use in making the decisions that will affect later generations and the world we live in.

We live our lives, as we have noted, eagerly waiting for the next thing; one next thing after another and then another until we find ourselves trying to put on the brakes when the next thing turns out to be the last earthly thing — the next thing turns out to be death itself; but the brakes fail every time — God has sabotaged our brakes and so the brake pedal plunges helplessly down on to the floorboard of our lives and we speed into death without really even slowing down. This happens by Divine design. This is what the author of the epistle to the Hebrews is telling us when he writes,
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment….”
There is no stopping it. There is no getting out of it. It is Divinely appointed and it comes relentlessly on. And if it is more or less the ruination of all of our hopes and dreams then this approaching death will fill us with fear and/or hopelessness. This is the case for many — in fact this is the case for most of the human race. Earlier in this letter the author was referring to the majority experience when he referred to
“…all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… (Hebrews 2:15)
But Christ has come to deliver those who believe from that fear. For we are to be constantly looking beyond the approach of physical death to the return of Christ and the final resurrection from the dead. And we are to be looking for this eagerly — here is the ultimate thing — here is the door that opens on to the final and highest phase of human existence — resurrection existence. Seeing it this way is what is assumed to be the Christian mindset at the close of Hebrews nine where we read these hope filled words.
Hebrews 9:27-28 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
In and through Christ have you come to own hopes that transcend the present age? Do you have hopes that stretch out far beyond your own encounter with death? Do you have hopes that transcend the immediate life after death — what theologians refer to as the intermediate state? Do you have hopes that are all tied up with the second coming of Jesus and final resurrection — the arrival of the New Heavens and the New Earth? Are you looking to this? Are you waiting for this? We are to be eagerly waiting for this in that you are eagerly waiting for Him — the risen Lord and everlasting King —Jesus.
Pastor Randy

Eagerly Waiting (continued from page 1)

May 2013

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Library — Summer Reading Challenge
We recently added to the E Free Library Vishal Mangalwadi’s book “The Book That Made Your World – How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization.” On page 88, Mangalwadi poses the question of why Catholic nations like Portugal, Spain and France, the greatest naval powers of the sixteenth century, lost out to smaller Protestant nations like England and Holland. The idea is proffered that, when the common man on the street was given the Word of God in his own language, (something opposed by the Catholic Church hierarchy), he began to understand values that resulted in a life more worth living. “By producing an unprecedented hunger for the knowledge of truth, biblical revivals lifted Protestant countries out of the poverty that was chronic worldwide.” (Page 89) The following passage sounds like something we have heard from our own pulpit: “Christians studied the Bible and other great books because they believed that the Creator himself had communicated his thoughts in a book and fashioned the human mind in his own image. God gave the gift of reason to all human beings so that we might love him, know all truth, and understand and manage his creation.” (pp 90-91) (Find Mangalwadi’s book at 220.9/MAN).
It is with encouraging statements like the above that we look forward to the sixth annual summer Reading Challenge. Reading is one of the fundamental skills that helps keep us in a right relationship with God. To read the Bible and books that explain and exemplify the concepts expressed in God’s Word protects us from believing the many lies promoted in the world around us. While listening to good teachers is to be desired, to determine what is good can only be done by weighing their teaching against Scripture…and if you can’t read it on your own…? This is why many evangelists go to other countries to put their language into writing and to give them the Bible in their own tongue. May we not lose our own salvation because we have not retained literacy here at home.
The Reading Challenge is divided into three divisions: Beginning Reader, Junior Reader (through 6th grade) and Senior Reader (through 12th grade). Parents and other adult supervisors are asked to register their readers and select the division that best suits their child’s reading ability (which may not necessarily correspond to their “grade”). A separate packet of instructions is provided for each division with differing rules, ways of earning points, and various rewards. The library ministry offers the Challenge as a tool to help parents and supervisors to further reading skills. Some supervisors have added their own encouragement to their reader by supplementing the rewards the library gives and even extending their own reading program throughout the year. This year the library Challenge runs from May 19 to August 18. Registration begins May 19 but is accepted all during the summer.
For a Beginning Reader who has learned to sing “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” but has not yet learned to read that Bible, we have continued to search for books that parents can use to help establish basic reading skills. Most of these books address the Gospel directly in word. This year we have added some books that are mainly “reading skill books” many of which are actually the Dick and Jane books that some of us recall from our own school days. Though the words do not speak of the Gospel, the pictures clearly depict good morals like getting along with siblings, caring for pets, or rescuing those in danger. They even show Mother and Father very much part of their daily activities; a concept almost foreign even in today’s Christian media. Parents can easily interject Scriptures that support pictured concepts as the child reads “SEE SPOT RUN”. A participant in this division is not limited to beginning books; marked by a green or rose-colored circle on the spine. Points are generally earned per book read.
Junior Readers are encouraged to read from the youth section and not use the beginning readers’ books as our supply of the latter is limited. The Youth Section of the library contains a variety of fiction, biography, and devotional books. Throughout the library, there are books with white circles on the spine which direct readers to “youth friendly books” similar to older materials found in the Youth section. The Biography section, for instance, has a complete set of the books by Janet and Geoff Benge all labeled with white circles as these books are good for both youth and adults. Points are generally earned per page.
Senior Readers are presented with many options and should exercise their more mature reading skills first by thoroughly reading the instruction booklet. There they will find books with extra points and books that have been combined with others for projects that give more points than when read singly. The greatest challenge of all is to read the entire Bible; a goal accomplished in the last two years by five young people.
We look forward to this summer’s Challenge and welcome suggestions and comments as to how we can
continue to improve the program and assist our patrons to improve their reading skills and interests.
Pam Myers

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First Evangelical Free

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records record for ‘amount of times having asked Jesus
into your heart,’ I’m pretty sure I would hold it.” – JD Greear
If you’re anything like me, you can sympathize with Greear. Growing up I remember lying awake in bed, asking Jesus into my heart again, and again, and again, and… well you get the point – it was a never ending process. A process shrouded with doubt and uncertainty, continuous nervousness – wondering: was I sincere enough? Did I say the right words? Did I have the correct motivation? Can you do it more than once? Should I feel something when I’m done? Can other people tell if anything has changed?
How can I be assured of my salvation? This is truly the million dollar question. There are two major errors to avoid in this discussion:
1) False Assurance of Salvation
Jesus warns us in Matthew 7 that many people will come to the end of their lives and be rejected by Him even though they thought they were safe: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
False assurance is possible, according to this passage. There will be some who come to Jesus at the end of time and will assume to be embraced by Christ, instead they will be rejected as Christ will tell them he actually never even knew who they were. This seems like the greatest danger, because of what is at stake. Although the second error is just as problematic and displeasing to God, the eternal destiny of a falsely assured person is horrifying.
2) No Assurance of Salvation
God has many labels for his people: children, friend, bride – all of which contain deep assurances. There are certain friendships I have that need no maintenance, they just work and those are the friendships I love and long for in life. My relationship with Alissa is one of trust and acceptance, which motivates love and respect. If you take any of these relationships and inject doubt they begin to be dysfunctional – a child can’t obey a parent he/she doesn’t trust, nor can a wife respect a husband who makes his love a mystery.
Our ability to trust God with our whole lives, and therefore obey him with our whole heart, does depend on our assurance of his love and acceptance – just like our earthly relationships depend on it. This systematic philosophical explanation of the importance of assurance is not the end of the argument. The New Testament does find it important for the believer to obtain peace and rest in the gospel. God does want us to have assurance, but for the correct reasons. This summer, I will be teaching a Sunday school class called: Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart, based on JD Greear’s book with the same title. Some of the things we will discuss:
Does God even want us to have assurance? How does God see me, today right now? What is repentance? What is the gospel? What is belief?
As you can see the questions are endless! I am excited; personally, to explore this topic with you this summer as it has been something that has perplexed my heart and mind since I was little. We will do our best to find the bedrock truths of scripture and present them clearly, accurately and confidently. Hope you can come!

Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart by Grant Sather

Where did ‘asking Jesus into your heart’ come from anyway? Can you lose your salvation? What are evidences of belief? What do you do when doubt persists? What is the role of baptism in the assurance of salvation?

May 2013

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Brian and Sherri Hofer, New Tribes Guinea
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of our Savior and King, the Lord Jesus. We hope and pray you are doing well. We wanted to send a quick update about the village construction project we told you about last month.
As soon as we called our contractor about getting started, he got the ball rolling so that by the time we left Guinea for our business trip to Dakar, Senegal; the foundation of the house was already poured. Since then they have made very good progress with the baked brick walls. The inside and outside walls should almost be finished when we get back there next week! We were also able to hire someone to hand-dig a well, which should be about 12 meters deep when finished. When we called our contractor a few days ago, the digger had just found a little water! We praise the Lord things are advancing.
Thank you so much for your prayers. Please continue to pray for the building project, but more importantly don’t forget to keep praying for the hearts of the Konyagi people to know and serve our Lord Jesus. It’s exciting to see a building go up, but let us keep praying for the building up of Jesus in the eyes of the Konyagi people. I was recently reminded of our position before our Holy God when I read Matthew 19. The disciples end with “Then who in the world can be saved?!” Jesus calmly puts us on the right road saying, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” We need the Lord’s help as do the Konyagi.
Please also pray for my, Brian’s, back as I woke up in a lot of pain and it is evident something is out of place. We were planning on packing up tomorrow and heading back to Guinea on Tuesday morning. However, we might have to delay our return trip to find a chiropractor here in Dakar.
In His Service,
Brian and Sherri

Dear Ministry Partners,
Tough Lessons from Back Surgery
As I write this, it has almost been two weeks since my back surgery. I am happy to say that it seems things are going well in terms of my recovery. One day at a time. I am still sore, but each day it feels better. These two weeks have been hard for me, and I have been forced to look at a sad fact about myself.....I often define myself by what I do....rather than who God says I am. I remember taking a walk a few days after my surgery and the Lord asked me, "Tim, if this is what I had for you, for the rest of your life, would you be content in that?" In other words, am I content with simply being loved by God, or is my drive in life fueled out of my accomplishments. Honestly, the answer scares me at times. So these two weeks I have had a lot of time to read, relax, and simply not do much. It has been hard, but good as well! I finally managed to finish my 100th devotional, and will be sending it to the editor soon. Traveling with Lewis and Clark has inspired me so much to grow in my walk with Jesus and these devotions will reflect that. I'll keep you posted on how the process goes, but be sure to get ready to order a copy when they come out! Thanks for your prayers everyone, I will go back to the office on Thursday...don't worry...one day at a time.
We have been praying for a larger vehicle because we are expecting baby #6 in October! One night before an outreach, we ran into a store to get supplies. When we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a Honda Odyssey in the parking lot. I knew that those vans were one of the only eight-seaters on the market along with the Toyota Sienna. So I decided to walk up to the van and ask the driver if I could look inside to see how the layout was. To my surprise, it was a friend of mine who used to go to our church! We have not seen them for about two years. We spoke for about 10 minutes, caught up with life, and said goodbye. Two days later he called me and said that I was supposed to meet him at his house that night with the car title to our van because they wanted to swap vehicles! So, we now have a 2005 Honda Odyssey. God provides in the most amazing ways, and I am always blown away at the generosity of those who follow Him. So, we have a baby on the way, and a vehicle to accommodate our growing family.
We just wrapped up a great Spring Break week with four different Mission Adventures groups. I would like to share a few brief stories, they are a few of the many amazing things God did. During our last evening session, one of our college group participants called his parents and spent an hour on the phone with them mending a very broken relationship. During our commitment service, He felt the Lord asking him to ask forgiveness from his parents, and mend the relationship. Two other high school participants have applied to do a DTS with YWAM, as they felt God's call to go into missions full time. It is amazing how many students we have who have never once shared the Gospel with another person! This is the great privilege we get to see in Mission Adventures.
These are just a few stories of what God does on mission trips in the lives of young people. We are truly blessed to be a part of this ministry. Thank you all for your support, prayers, and belief in our family and ministry. God Bless!!!
Tim, Sarah, and the A-Team

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First Evangelical Free

Tim & Sarah Walter, Youth With a Mission, Salem, Oregon

Duane and Penny Unruh, EFCA in Belgium
Dear friends,
We’ve been back from Outreach English Camp for almost two weeks now so it’s time to share a report.
Years ago we decided on the principle not to make any major decisions within the first two weeks after camp because the exhaustion or thrills or other emotions may unduly color our ability to think clearly.
So, now we are refreshed and thankful to God for His provision and especially for a really fun group of students, teaching team and cook team!
Report:
The bus broke down and had to be replaced, but it happened at a time of the week that it didn’t interfere much with the activities.
I was sick for all 9 days of camp and had the role of ‘director’ this year. But with such a good group of students and easy staff teams it all came off without a hitch.
We had great conversations in the classes and rooms. The devotionals took us through Mark 4-6 and what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God and how Jesus is calling us to go out with that message.
The students seem really enthused about coming back next year … one mother emailing to sign up her three girls before they even got back home.
Our bus driver said he would put his trust in Christ if a lost necklace was found because it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. They prayed, it was found in short order. He is … believing more and more.
We trust God was honored and had His way with us. It’s usually in the years to come that we hear of testimonies from ‘back at English camp in 2013 …’.
Thanks for your prayers!!! Duane & Penny

May 2013

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“I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes....” Romans 1:16a
Oh what great and precious promises we have available to us through the Word of God! As we come to the finish of another Awana year we reflect on the blessings of this ministry. Whether that be seeing a clubber just start to attend in March, and be able to work through an entire book by the end of April, or a younger clubber be so enthusiastic that we go to the "old" material to help supply enough verses to fill up his desire to learn, or to see a high school student go all the way through the curriculum to earn the highest award Awana has, the Citation Award. Truly it is a blessing to see so many children learning the Word of God and hopefully one day they will be able to say with the psalmist, "The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold." (Psalm 119:72)
Many competed in the annual Bible Quizzing and Awana Games this spring. The annual "Building a lego-cy" contest saw the clubbers donating close to $700 to the Malachi Dads program that Awana has started in prisons across the nation. That is a program that leads incarcerated men to faith and then disciples them to grow in the Lord and encourages them to help their families grow even though they are behind bars. If you are interested in finding out more about this wonderful program we encourage you to go to awanalifeline.org and check out some of the videos posted there.
We will begin planning the new club year soon so if you are interested in helping out this fall please give us a call.
Craig & Chris Herman, Commanders, 605-978-1656

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed
(2 Timothy 2:15)

Church Attendance
Numbers shown are the total attendance for each Sunday of the month:
February 664, 475, 731, 656
March 656, 615, 676, 646, 835
April 663, 734, 736, 728

First Evangelical Free Church
2601 West 69th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
www.knowinggodsf.org

First Evangelical Free

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Nonprofit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
Permit No. 638

Deadline for next newsletter is
July 26, 2013 office@knowinggodsf.org

May 19, Communion at 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM
May 20-July 15 Pastor Randy is on sabbatical
May 26, Worship services at 8 AM & 10:45 AM; no Sunday
School and no evening service (Memorial Day)
June 7-9 Church camp-out, Lewis & Clark
June 15-21 Rocky Mountain Getaway for youth, Estes Park, CO
June 16, Communion at 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM; Father’s Day
July 4, Church office closed
July 13-21 BUMP for youth, Minneapolis, MN
July 29-Aug 2 Eagle Lake Day Camp on our property