CONDELL PARK
BIBLE CHURCH
NEWSLETTER:
JANUARY 2011
Just two choices on the shelf
Pleasing God or pleasing self.
Ken Collier
Reflections
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Luke and Jessica on the birth of Noah, and of course to
the grandparents and great grandmother Val. It is truly a blessing for
families to grow and have the opportunity of training and sharing Christ with
a little one.
Also congratulations to Ryan and Sara on their recent marriage. The Lord is
good in bringing couples together and we pray that He will use your lives for
Him.
DR VAUGHN
It was a rich blessing to us all to have Dr Vaughn visit once again. We were
challenged as we listened to the things he shared. Not many of us have
known anything resembling the tragedies that this family has faced, yet
through it all they see Christ. To keep up to date with the Vaughn ministry
log on to: http://johncvaughn.com/. You will be able to read family and
ministry updates and also subscribe to their newsletter.
BUILDING PROGRAMME
We recently conducted our School Recognition and Thanksgiving Service.
It was a time to thank the Lord for His wonderful provision for us. When
we consider the timing of the Federal Government grants for schools, we
can see that the Lord was in it. No matter what our political point of view
or our opinion of Government policies, we know that the Lord can and does
use any situation He wants to bless His people.
We had several visitors present and we trust that they valued the work of the
Christian school in their local area.
Again, we cannot say thank you enough to all who helped this project to be
fulfilled. THANK YOU
SUNDAY SCHOOL AWARDS by Mrs Val Mathis
Our church was full to overflowing with very excited children and expectant
parents, grandparents and friends, and after a welcome and prayer by Pastor
Wenham, our Sunday School Director, Mr. Chris Dhiacou introduced some
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of the Sunday School classes who entertained and edified us with songs about
Daniel, a play about the life of Joseph, well read summaries of Primary
lessons and lessons on life from the Teenage Bible Class, where Mr. Gavin
Dunn once again used humour to remind us that living the Christian life is all
about trusting Jesus for salvation and then looking to Him to strengthen us
for the race set before us. Each of these items was followed by the
presentations of awards, and it was evident that the students had worked
hard during the year.
Pastor Allan Mitchell spoke about the brevity of life and the necessity to
ensure that we have trusted Jesus to save us from the penalty of our sins in
this life, so when our earthly life is over we know that we will spend eternity
with Him.
Once again we were grateful for our cooks who prepared our barbecued
sausages for lunch, followed by ice-cream.
creation reflections by Dr Ralph Matthews
THE STRETCHED OUT HEAVENS
(Information source: Starlight, Time, and the New Physics, by John Hartnett,
Creation Book Publishers, 2007)
Up until several hundred years ago, no one had much of an idea as to how
fast light travelled nor how far away were stars. The accurate measurement
of the distance between earth and various stars has been a challenge to
astronomers. The distance to stars that are relatively close to earth can be
estimated by trigonometry using angles of measurement and the distance
between the half-yearly positions of the earth in its transit around the sun as
the base of the triangle. For more distant stars the estimate of distance is not
so straightforward and there are assumptions involved. Nevertheless, few
scientists today, irrespective of whether they are evolutionists or
creationists, doubt that the most distant stars are billions of light years away.
This creates a problem for Bible-believing creationists since the Bible clearly
indicates that the whole universe was created in six days some six thousand
years ago, and sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day of creation. How can
that be if it takes light billions of years to reach us and the earth is only six
thousand years old?
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This is an important question since some people are prepared to reject the
reliability and authority of the Scriptures on the failure of those who contend
for the faith to give a satisfactory answer to the question. Various answers
have been proposed by creationists including the suggestion that the speed of
light was much faster in the past, only recently slowing to its present value.
During the last decade, creationist physicist Dr. Russell Humphreys has
stirred up much interest in the subject by his “white fountain” cosmology. A
white fountain is a black hole operating in reverse. Dr. Humphreys found
that if the assumption was made that the universe had a centre and an edge
(the opposite to that assumed in big-bang cosmology) then the same
relativistic equations as big-bang cosmologists use depict the distribution of
matter in the universe via a black hole operating in reverse. The
gravitational effects on earth during this expansion result in a massive
dilation of time in the expanding volume while earth days are normal. Thus
one day on earth during the expansion correspond to billions of years in the
expanded region.
In at least ten passages in the Old Testament Scriptures we are told that God
stretched out the heavens, in which all celestial objects are located. Some
examples are:
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the
sea. [Job 9:8]
Who coverest [thyself] with light as [with] a garment: who stretchest out the
heavens like a curtain: [Psalm104:2]
[It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof
[are] as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth
them out as a tent to dwell in: [Isaiah 40:22]
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his
wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. [Jeremiah
10:12]
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which
stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him. [Zechariah 12:1]
Other examples are found in: Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 45:12, Isaiah
51:13, Jeremiah 51:15.
Exactly what this stretching out event was is not absolutely clear, but Isaiah
45:12 tells us that the host of heaven were involved. It seems reasonable to
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assume that it was a great expansion of space and the starry host contained
therein. When did this event take place? We are not told but in Genesis
chapter one we are told that the firmament, or expanse, was created on day
two. The sun, moon, and stars were made on day four. It seems reasonable
to conclude that there may have been stages with major parts occurring on
days two and four. We are told in Genesis 2:1 that the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them, at the end of day six.
Therefore, one of the major events during the six days was this stretching
out or spreading forth of the heavens with all their celestial host.
Is there any astronomical evidence of this stretching out of the heavens or
expansion of space? Up until about a century ago there was no indication
whatever of any such expansion of space. In the 1920s Edwin Hubble
observed that the light from distant stars was shifted into the red region of
the spectrum. That is, the light had been moved towards longer
wavelengths. This is known as the Doppler effect and is a characteristic of
objects moving away from an observer. Has this been interpreted as
confirmation of those puzzling verses in the Scriptures and used to glorify
God? Oh no. It is part of the evidence for the big bang cosmology and is used
to question the authority of the Scriptures
gems from history
RESCUED FROM THE CHILE MINE
During October 2010, all the world was mesmerized by the ongoing
"miracle" rescue of 33 miners trapped deep underground in the San Jose
mine in Chile for 69 days, a process that took weeks to prepare and an
agonizing 22 hours to complete.
More than a billion people around the world sat glued to their TV sets to
watch the amazing rescue attempt. Fox News Channel had its highest
viewers world wide in ten years, drawing more viewers than the combined
US NBC ABC & CBS.
While the facts of the rescue have been covered in great detail by the
mainstream media, here are some things you might not have heard. Or
possibly, missed completely by the secular news media. When the miners
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were rescued—when they came up one-at-a-time in that rescue capsule—
most (perhaps all) of the miners were wearing special yellow T-shirts.
These had been created by the Chilean
branch of Campus Crusade for Christ.
Emblazoned boldly across the front of
the T-shirts were the words, in Spanish,
"Thank you, Lord." The miners, in
fact, had requested these words. The
shirts were made and sent down the air tube while they waited for rescue.
But that's not all. A quotation on the back of the shirts which began "porque
en su mano estan..." was actually Scripture. It was Psalm 95:4: “In his hand
are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.”
Campus Crusade had also provided the trapped miners—while still deep
underground—with MP3 players with the audio version of the "Jesus"
film. They also received the Bible in audio format.
Now here's the good news. Rev. Aldredo Cooper, the chaplain to the
President of Chile, said of the rescued miners, "They're all wanting to testify
to the Lord Jesus Christ. All 33 of them are saying
that they found God in the mine. Five or six were
already Christians and held services down in the
mine. Many went down with no faith at all but they
all say remembering Daniel in the fiery furnace: 'We
were not 33; we were 34 because Jesus Christ was
with us down there.'"
One miner, Mario Sepulveda, told reporters, "We never lost faith. We
knew we would be rescued. I have been with God and I've been with the
devil. I seized the hand of God. I always knew God would get us out of
there."
One interesting point that I had missed was that a medic actually was sent
down in the rescue hole cage before the other miners could be brought up.
Isn't that a picture of what God did? He sent His Son down to us before we
could be rescued. We all, like the miners, were in darkness.
But as Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12). And, “I am
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come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not
abide in darkness." (John 12:46).
I can only imagine the reaction, if those miners, trapped deep underground,
came across Psalm 88 on their audio Bibles, when these words rang in their
ears: 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that
hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave,
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 8 Thou hast
put away mine acquaintance far from me; I am shut up, and I cannot come
forth. 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called
daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 10 Wilt thou shew
wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? (Psalm 88: 4-10,
selected portions)
And Jesus Himself went to the depths to set us free. “For when we were yet
without strength [trapped in sin], in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners [trapped], Christ died for us.”
(Written and © Copyright by Campus Crusade. Used by permission. Photos public
domain. Forwarded by Evangelist Les Nixon, Outback Patrol)
News and Notes
FOR SALE
Following the purchase of two secondhand kitchens for the new school
building, there are some kitchen whitegoods for sale, at a cheap price.
There has been some interest shown to date, so please contact Sue Leys if
you are interested in a rangehood, a cooktop or an oven.
HELP!
We have heard some announcements over the last few weeks, requesting
help on the Crèche team. Mrs Kassel, Mrs Mathis and Mrs Matthews have
served faithfully in this ministry for many years and it is time for them to
forgo this area of ministry. We need more ladies who are willing to help out
in a support role as well as some ladies who would be willing to take some
leadership. Mrs June Irvine will now be in charge of organizing the roster
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and functioning of Crèche, so please see her if you can help in any way. You
may even be willing to take some leadership on a non-regular basis.
However you feel that you can help, please let June know. You may also
email June at [email protected], as she will be away for the next
two Sundays.
As a mother who has had children in crèche in the past and has been a crèche
helper for many years, I know the need to have volunteers for this ministry.
Sometimes we forget that others have served us and our children, once our
children are no longer in crèche. Please consider that many ladies may have
served you and your family and maybe now you can do the same for the
current young families.
THE SNEEZE
This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.
They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the
already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and
the traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt.
Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away
tears. This class would NOT pray during the commencements --- not by
choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.
The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines
allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but
no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the
graduates or their families. The speeches were nice, but they were routine
..... until the final speech received a standing ovation.
A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and
silent for just a moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every
single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!! The student on stage .... simply
looked at the audience and said,
"GOD BLESS YOU" !
And he walked off stage...
The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found a
unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the
court's approval.
GOD BLESS YOU!
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THE LITTLE THINGS
As you might remember, the head of a company survived
9/11 because his son started kindergarten.
Another fellow was alive because it was
His turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her
Alarm clock didn't go off in time.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike
Because of an auto accident.
One of them
Missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take
Time to change.
One's
Car wouldn't start.
One couldn't
Get a taxi.
The one that struck me was the man
Who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,
Took the various means to get to work but before
he got there, he developed a blister on his foot.
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
That is why he is alive today.
Now when I am
Stuck in traffic
Miss an elevator
Turn back to answer a ringing telephone
All the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself,
This is exactly where
I'm meant to be
At this very moment.
Next time your morning seems to be Going wrong,
The children are slow getting dressed,
You can't seem to find the car keys,
You hit every traffic light,
Don't get mad or frustrated;
It may be just that
Someone is watching over you.
May you continue to be blessed with all those annoying
little things and may you remember their possible purpose.
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