We’re going to pick up where we left off from the movie Courageous!

The men’s group of First Church invites you to a free family dinner and movie night on Saturday, March 3, at 5:00 pm. The movie Courageous: Honor Begins at Home was recently in the theatres and is an action-packed police drama.  Four law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson, and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.  When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God … and to their children?  Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous!

Guys make plans to be here on March 3^rd for an awesome meal and a movie that will challenge you as a father and a husband.  PLEASE bring your children! The movie is age appropriate for 11 yrs. and up but there will be free child care during the movie for ages 10 years and under. Please you must RSVP to the church at 937.233.5595.  For more information contact Rob Combs or Don Peterson.

For the movie’s trailer, go to http://courageousthemovie.com/themovie

Continue reading…

Because no child should die from a mosquito bite.

More than 2,000 children under 5 ─ or one child every 40 seconds ─ die from malaria each day. Malaria kills nearly 1 million people each year; 85 percent are children under 5. Malaria is the fourth-leading cause of child deaths worldwide and second-leading cause of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.  One $6 treated mosquito net can save the lives of two children. With enough people, churches and organizations working together, malaria can be wiped out by 2015.

I am pleased to announce that First Church’s participation with World Vision and Open Bible Church’s “End Malaria!” campaign was able to contribute $6180 for 1030 Malaria Nets!  That’s equivalent to saving the lives of 2060 children.  The total was a combination of the various ministries of First Church along with the generous individual giving of the congregation.  To all who gave to this great project, THANK YOU!

Expect God in 2012!

The word of the Lord came at the beginning of 2012 to Tim McCarty, one of our church elders. He received only two words “Expect God”.  The two words immediately struck a witness with me and the rest of our elders that this was a  for our entire church for 2012.  Following that determination, I came across the following scripture during a time of study ….                                                                      But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God! Psalms 42:11 (TLB) Numerous individuals have indicated a witness as well for both the prophetic word and the scriptural reference that it is indeed from the Lord.  One confirmation pointed out recently was that we more than doubled our goal of 500 malaria nets for the Stop Malaria project!                                                                                             I want to challenge you this year to EXPECT GOD like never before!  One of the greatest Biblical examples of obedience and expectation is recorded in Genesis 22…

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.          Gen 22:6-8 (NKJV)

Abraham had full expectation that God would provide the necessary sacrifice and he confessed the same to his son.  At the last moment God provided a ram for the sacrifice!  Dare to believe God, dare to expect God, dare to confess that God will provide!  Challenge yourself to believe and to expect the Lord God to do that which is above your asking and thinking…                                                                                                                   Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,   Eph 3:20 (NKJV)

EXPECT GOD!      PG

I sure think so. It is important for two reasons:

1) Most people who are already sympathetic to the creation model nonetheless would probably admit that they could use a good ‘summary case’ for why and how science is supportive of scriptural creation.

“I don’t need to know all the details, much less all of the arguments — just get me up to speed on a few of the most important questions, like: What about millions of years? What about the fossil record? What about biology – does that really support evolution? If not, how can I argue that, and what evidence speaks against it (quickly and shortly enough so I can remember it!)?”

2) While many of us feel that creation science is an amazingly coherent and explanatory model, most us recognize that one of the greatest challenges is simply finding the opportunity to communicate that evidence to others who are not sympathetic to the notion of biblical creation. Even when those opportunities arise, the window of time we have is usually very narrow. Having a single article that lays out the case for the main scientific issues is a great way to quickly communicate just how plausible — how credible and believable — the case for creation really is. It takes great effort to get past the obstacles mainstream science and society have set up. They equate our message with absurd things, like believing in a flat earth. It is great to have one power shot, one article or message, that swiftly punches through those decoys, while demonstrating just how credible our case really is. Will that be enough then to change their mind? No, but it will have removed some major roadblocks to the notion that God really might be the creator, that life cannot, in fact, evolve (‘biogenesis,’ for instance, is in every sense of the word ‘impossible’), and that the evidence from the earth can actually powerfully support our case (that, for instance, the geologic record and its fossils testify of a catastrophic flood, not of billions of years of slow processes).

Without further ado, the following article, originally written by Dr. John Baumgardner (and expanded by myself) does all of this. The first time I read it, it struck me as a superbly argued summary case for creation science. Dr. Baumgardner addresses five main questions, which roughly cover some of the biggest issues that stem from the three main fields of science: biology, geology, and cosmology:

*Can random molecular interactions create life?
*How do coded language structures arise?
*What about the geological/fossil record?
*How is geological time to be reckoned?
*What about light from distant stars?

Read the article here:
The-Los-Alamos-Origins-Debate

Cheers,
Nick