Another year has come and gone, with a new year stretched out before us. Let’s take time to pause and consider what the Lord has done for us, giving Him the thanks due unto His Name. Let’s also earnestly seek His guidance and grace for the coming year.
It is interesting to observe how those around us respond to this annual change. One local sign read, “We hope all your New Year’s resolutions come true.” Come true? Doesn’t that sound as though they view resolutions as some sort of “making a wish before blowing out candles on a birthday cake”? An online advertisement read something like this, “Make your New Year’s resolutions a reality…”, by using their proffer of a special deal on financial credit. With all this hype each year regarding resolutions, I wonder what our Lord thinks. Most likely the outcome would be better if we made commitments based upon the Bible’s teaching, rather than making resolutions based upon the desires and opinions of ourselves or others.
Here’s a word from one of our board members:
Happy or Blessed New Year
In the last few weeks, we have probably been wished “Happy New Year” many times. Is it our hope to be happy in all the experiences of this coming year? Probably not. However, it is our hope to be content and blessed knowing that our Father which art in Heaven is in charge of all things concerning us.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose. -Romans 8:28
To have a blessed year, we must first break it into its smaller pieces, for this is the way it comes to us. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months. These are the building blocks of the year.
The little situations of everyday life, and our responses to them, build our relationships and attitudes for better or for worse. Our caring looks, words, and decisions, all add up to make a blessed moment. While on the other hand, uncaring looks, words and decisions all add up to make the opposite.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. -Proverbs 3:5-7
HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR [moment by moment]
~Brother Joe Tindall
A Need for Godly Writers
From time to time, we run a bit dry on our supply of articles for certain sections of the magazine. These include articles for the children, for the youth, and for the sisters. We are also looking for personal testimonies of lives that have been changed by God. If God is prompting you to write as a blessing for others, please contact us for our specific writer’s requirements and article guidelines. One main point is that all our material is free for passing on and for making copies as long as no changes are made to the published edition. We ask that all writers agree with this policy if they wish to write for us.
If you desire to write but are unsure how to start, feel free to contact us for pointers and tips for beginning writers. There is material we recommend that will help with this. Also, articles do not need to be perfect, since we edit all articles for grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. We gladly work with new writers to help them grow in these areas. Then once each article is edited, we send it back to the writer to ensure they are okay with the revised edition prior to publishing it. It is our goal to encourage and help this ability which seems to be declining in our day.
Discipleship Column
With this printing of the magazine we are starting a new column on Discipleship. Over the last number of issues, we have written some about our burden that churches would consider helping their own people instead of sending them away to counseling centers. We have also shared our view that a Discipleship Model of helping people is more in line with the teachings of Scripture than the commonly understood perspective of a Counseling Model.
As we have written about these matters, we have received numerous requests for more specific teaching on this topic. After discussing these requests, we decided that (as much as possible) we would try to have a column, which is focused on these matters, in each issue.
Vaccine Articles
Also, with this issue, we have reached the end of the series on “vaccines”, written by Dr Miggiani. These articles have generated a good bit of discussion, some of concern, but most of interest and appreciation. A big thank you to all who have responded.
Towards the end of the article, Dr Miggiani shares that he is open to anyone who desires his input on practical ways for churches to put together written policies on this matter. It is his opinion that written policies would be more legally binding in any possible future situations.
Currently, in the U.S, there doesn’t seem to be any viable alternative options available for those wishing to maintain the herd immunity through vaccinating their children. Years ago, Dr. Miggiani’s family found vaccines available from Japan, that were ethically safe. Since that was years ago, there needs to be new research done on the matter. If there are those who see this as an important matter needing attention, Dr Miggiani would be interested in communicating with you to see what could be put into place for the benefit of the greater Anabaptist community. If anyone wishes to dialogue with him on these matters, please contact us and we will pass it on to him.
Booklet Project
In the last several months, some of our readers have been asking if we could send all these articles to them in a PDF format. That way they can go back to review them or make copies to pass out to others who may have interest.
Upon considering these requests, we concluded there will be more people who will want to have these articles available as well. So, we decided to compile this series into a booklet. It is our goal to have this project completed within a month or two. If you have interest in receiving copies, please contact us with a phone number or email address so we can let you know when they are finished.
Stocking Our Inventory—CDs & Printed Literature
Inside the back cover of this magazine, you will see that we have installed a new office and storage facility to better suit the growing needs of our ministry. There have been many folks who have heard about this developing need and have donated time and money to make it possible for us to start moving forward in this way. A big thank you to all who joined us in this project.
For those who missed out and still want to help, we are needing to stock up our inventory of books, booklets, and CD sets to have available to send out upon request. The projected cost to finish up the new office and to stock up our inventory, will be around $5,000.00. Then it will take approximately $300.00 per month for the ongoing needs of maintaining the inventory and sending out these resources to those requesting them. These are extra financial needs we will have in an ongoing way. Please prayerfully consider getting involved with this part of our ministry.
Financial Needs
Towards the end of last year, a number of you sent financial contributions for our ministry. A big thank you to all who have so generously donated. All our material is provided free of charge; however, it still costs money to make it all happen. Many of our costs are procured on a monthly basis, while some are quarterly. All our current work requires ongoing support in order to flow efficiently.
We are at the point of needing to start expanding some of our efforts and work. Up until now we have produced most of our information on specific topics (such as counseling concerns, godly homes, the N.T. church, godly courtship, etc.) in audio format and sent it out via CDs. However, we have been receiving numerous requests from folks who would rather have that same information put into books or booklets. We are planning to move forward on these projects as finances and time become available.
Please prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you partner with us both for our ongoing needs, plus the extra needs we will incur as we expand to meet the growing needs and requests.
Upcoming Event
In the last three years we have traveled to different communities to share a series of meetings on counseling concerns and about how churches can effectively help their own people. Several churches in Pennsylvania have asked us to share in July of this year in Lebanon County, close to Myerstown. This event is scheduled for July 26-28, 2019 at the Fairview Reception Center, in Lebanon, PA.
The topics we are planning to cover will include: churches successfully helping their own, a biblical view of negative emotions such as anger and fear, biblically understanding panic attacks and racing thoughts, preventing problems through maintaining godly homes, understanding the placebo effect when dealing with depression and anxiety, a biblical understanding of mental disorders, effectively overcoming addictions, understanding a safe use of psych meds, a biblical view of adoption and fostering issues, a simple, practical, and biblical view of dealing with molestation and immoral habits, plus more. If you have interest in these subjects, mark your calendar. Also, please let others know who might be interested. We will have more details in the next issue of this magazine.
