News

Note from Pastor Tim:  This testimony is the powerful and gripping story of the difference Jesus Christ has made, and is making, in the life of the man who's story it is.  All reading it will be greatly impacted.  Some may be left feeling unsettled or vulnerable due to the stirring up of recent or long past memories.

Paul said in Romans 5:20&21, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  The testimony that follows is indeed a testimony to God's grace.

(Note from Pastor Tim:  I met Septer Sanabuky - pictured on the right with his wife - when he and a group of singers from Indonesia ministered at our church in February of 2000.  I have fond memories of the meal we shared at church with the group and the time we spent together the next day showing them some sites around our community. I count it an honor to have gotten to meet such a faithful man who so totally offered his life to and for Jesus Christ.)

Some years ago there was a documented case in the British Medical Journal about a man who laughed himself well. He actually had a terminal illness, and through the employment of laughter therapy, he allowed his body to successfully fight the disease. While we may grudgingly acknowledge the merit of such a case, for the most part, we find such an incident almost incredible. Can laughter really be that good for us? The Bible definitely supports such a notion.

Dear Cybersalt List Members,

First of all, my apologies to those of you who are on more than one of my e-mail lists and will receive multiple copies of this message. I have no easy way to send one message to each of you and so opt for the repeats.

From the bottom of my heart I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a blessed and peaceful New Year.

Collectively, the year 2001 has been a hard one for all of us. As we pause to observe Christmas, may the Hope of God's gift to us - His Son Jesus - be renewed in your hearts and the way in which you live the rest of the days of
the year. Individually, many of you have had or are having difficult times this year. Some of you have shared those struggles in personal notes you have sent me.

Christmastime is like a magnifying glass of sorts. For some, it reveals the blessings of life they possess and for others it reminds of the blessings of life still hoped for or lost. For some it projects the light of their dreams, hopes, and wishes and for others it reruns the sad dimness of what could have been, isn't yet, or is no more.

Regardless of what this Christmastime exaggerates in your life, I want to encourage you all to use Christmas like a telescope. Gaze into it and discover again the mystery of God's love given to us before we loved Him. Stare back just a few thousand years and see the gift that shapes the eternity of everyone who will receive it. That Baby in the manger is the source of everything bright in life and the solution to everything that is dim and dark in this world.

And so, wherever and however this e-mail finds you may Jesus, the Hope of the whole world fill your heart with everything that is noble, true and brings peace to your life.

God bless you all.

Pastor Tim