News From The North...

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Greetings from the schizophrenic North

From an early frost in late September to unseasonably warm and dry in late October. Weird! But that’s Southeast Alaska. The only thing we can depend on is lots and lots of rain!

As I (Mark) write this I am struggling. I really don’t want to address what I feel compelled to address, but I know that Voice, so I’m going to go for it and trust that His grace and love will overshadow any failing on my part.

No doubt many of you are aware of the StrangeFire conference that was held last week. For those that are not, here’s a brief summary. A well-known and influential leader hosted a conference for the (apparently) primary purpose of condemning those that believe that the gifts of the Spirit are still valid and active today. In the lead up to this conference, the leader stated, in no uncertain terms, that those in the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement are at best heretics, and that, in fact, most of these are not even Christians. The fall-out from this is exactly what you might expect. Many are hurt, offended and wounded. There is a sense of betrayal, akin to being disowned by family.

But as grievous as the charges hurled at the Spirit-filled believers were, their response, for the most part has been wonderful! Instead of returning fire, most have responded with a call to prayer, love, and forgiveness. This, one would hope, will be the real legacy of  this conference.

I don’t want to leave the impression that there was no truth brought forth at this conference. There was. There are teachings, doctrines and practices within the Spirit-filled church that need to be examined in the light of scripture. But that is true of every steam of Christianity that exists. However, this is not why I bring this up.

I’m sure that some of you reading this have felt the bite of this wound. So have I. But let’s not allow that pain to become bitterness, or the doubt sowed to become unbelief. We stand on solid ground and we have a Comforter that rejoices in turning our wounds into sources of healing for others. Let’s not deny our pain or our doubt but give them to the One that will turn any burden into a blessing.

This coming year promises to be a full one. As of right now, we are working toward at least 3 trips, Romania, India and South Sudan. The tentative schedule is Romania in mid-February, India in April and Sudan in the late summer or early fall. If all this is going to happen we’re going to need a lot of the Fathers’ provision and a lot of help from His family. The cost of the trip to Romania is going to be about $3000.00. Would you ask the Lord if He would have you help with this? We would also like to see some folks join us on these trips, so let us know if any of these pique your interest.

You folks are the BEST! Year after year you are faithful to give and pray and for that we are truly grateful! God has truly blessed us with a great family.

Yours for the Kingdom,

Mark & Julie

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