630 Maple Street

Tehachapi, CA 93561

Phone: 661-822-7541

Fax: 661-822-8557

www.mountainbiblechurch.org

E-mail: info@mountainbiblechurch.org

The Messenger of Mountain Bible Church

Office Manager and Editor: Becky Mason

Contributing Writers: Pastor Slifer

Distribution: Neya Kuithe

Sunday Morning Services at Mountain Bible Church: 10:00 am

Children’s Programs are available at the same times. Infant care (0-2 years) is available in the nursery

Senior Pastor: Dr. Marvin D. Slifer

Children’s Ministries Director: Lori Henry

Youth Ministries Director: Human Resource Director:

Trustees for 2016: Andy Eloff, Bruce Crespo, Robert Garcia, Paul Hughes, David Lange, Paul Smith, and Ed Weston

Elders for 2016: Dennis Collins, Sam Conklin, Ed Dunlap, Dae Lantz, Darrin Mason, Andy McCain , Andy Ohmit and Chuck Reuter

The Messenger is published monthly. All submissions to The Messenger are due the twentieth (20th) of each month. We would like

contributions of news articles, photos and other information from the Youth Group, Men’s and Ladies Bible Studies, Missions Team, Let’s Eat Cafe, Energizers and Praise Team. Please remember to put your name on the article so we can give proper credit.

The Messenger is published by:

Mountain Bible Church 630 Maple Street Tehachapi, CA 93561 661-822-7541

M O U N T A I N B I B L E C H U R C H

stand firm forever; his in-tentions can never be shak-

en.” Psalm 33:10-11 (NLT)

“You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:21

(NLT)

Because I feel certain members of the press pur-posefully stir up dissention among political candidates I also find a measure of assurance in verse 19 of Proverbs six. Verses16-19 give you the bigger context

of verse 19.

“The LORD hates six things; in fact, seven are detesta-ble to Him: (17) arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, (18) a heart that plots wick-ed schemes, feet eager to run to evil, (19) a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.” Proverbs

6:16-19 (HCSB)

Let’s not be found among that number who stir up trouble and dissention! I know you agree, But the question still remains, is there any way we can win in an election year of this

nature? The answer is yes.

Setting Troubles Aside!

“Let us not seek the Re-publican answer, or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for

the future.” J. F. Kennedy

As a Freshman in Col-lege my first job was with the 1st National Bank in Dallas Texas. The heart-breaking assignation of J. F. Kennedy took place on-ly a month after I started working there. It hap-pened at 12:30 p.m. CST

on Friday November 22,

At that time the 1st Na-tional was about 3 blocks from the very spot where the assignation took place. Both when I arrived at work (6: p.m.) and espe-cially when I left (2: a.m.), the sense of evil was so heavy it was crushing. It was like the bastions of hell had all come out to rejoice over such an evil

act.

Sometimes assassins are successful, and fortu-nately most of the time they aren’t. Intense hate

toward JFK spewed out of the mouths of both non-Christians and Christians alike. I understand having strong differences with a President but I don’t un-derstand such intense hate. They had such a passion to destroy what they felt

threatened by.

This year is apt to be similar as such strong pas-sion is already being ex-pressed toward both can-didates. It’s a lose, lose about whether to vote or not vote. If you vote you’re endorsing what you don’t approve of and if you don’t vote you are essential voting for the candidate you saw as the

worst of your two choices.

Here are four ways we

win when we vote.

1st God informs us that man may make plans but it is the Lord’s purpos-

es that are accomplished.

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9

(NLT)

“The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes. (11) But the LORD’s plans

Setting Troubles Aside

August 2016 Volume 29 Issue 8

M OU N TA I N B I B L E C H U RC H

The Messenger

Here’s how you can win. 1st register so you are eligible to vote. 2nd Remember that voting is a sacred privilege and priv-ileges can be both grant-

ed and taken away.

So say a special prayer of gratitude that this privi-lege is still ours. It has been given by God’s fa-vor and it has been se-cured by the soldiers who have fought so we might have this privilege, and remember the thousands who actually paid the ulti-

mate sacrifice!

The 3rd way you can win is to love both your

friends and enemies. Peo-ple will plant fear and seek to manipulate by fear but we can beat them at their own game because; ”Perfect love overcomes fear. Therefore, we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6

(HCSB)

“There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear in-volves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in

love.” 1 John 4:18 (HCSB)

“Honor everyone. Love the

brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor. (18) Household slaves, sub-mit with all fear to your masters, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.” 1 Peter 2:17-

18 (HCSB)

The 4th way we win is through Prayer! Troubles drive us to our knees and

that’s a good thing.

“My troubles turned out all for the best— they forced me to learn from your textbook. (73) With your very own hands you formed me; now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.” Ps

Setting Troubles Aside Cont.

Page 2

The Messenger

er of thanks before eat-

ing at our house.”

“That’s at our house.”

Johnny explained. “But

this is Grandma’s House

and she knows how to

cook.”

Exciting Palindromes

The topic for my ninth-

grade class was palin-

dromes, words or sen-

tences that are the same

read forward and back-

ward. I asked the ques-

tion "What is the first

thing Adam said to Eve?"I

was expecting the an-

swer "Madam, I’m Ad-

am," but one student had

a better reply:

"Wow."

Asking For Money

The pastor of my church

hates to plead for mon-

ey. But when the coffers

were running low, he had

no choice. "There’s good

news and there’s bad

news," he told the con-

gregation. "The good

news is that we have

more than enough money

for all the current and

future needs of the par-

ish. The bad news is, it’s

still in your pockets."

Good Eulogy

The pastor asks his flock,

“What would you like

people to say when

you’re in your casket?”

One congregant says,

“I’d like them to say I

was a fine family man.”

Another says, “I’d like

them to say I helped

people.”The third re-

sponds, “I’d like them to

say, ‘Look! I think he’s

moving!’ “

Comics Corner

19:71-73 (MSG)

I pray you have a won-derful August. Look for our John Deere pulling our MBC float at the Mtn. Fes-

tival!!

Your Pastor, Marv

Mark your Calenders:

September 11, we will be

Celebrating Mountain Bi-

ble’s 45th Anniversary af-

ter the 10:00 service.

“Holding Forth the Word

of Life”

Little Johnny and his fam-

ily were having Sunday

dinner at his grand-

mother’s house. Everyone

was seated around the

table as the food was

being served. When Lit-

tle Johnny received his

plate, he started eating

right away.

“Johnny! Please wait until

we say a prayer,” said

his mother.

“I don’t need to,” the boy

replied. “Of course, you

do, ”his mother insisted.

“We always say a pray-

Volume 29 Issue 8

For Help and Answers Call the church office-----——————-—————-----822-7541

Crisis Prayer requests————--------—Call Carol, 822-5479

Change address or phone———————————---822-7541

Doctrinal questions-----——————-–————--------822-7541

Wedding questions----———————-————---------822-7541

Hospital visits----------------——————————-—-------822-7541

Counseling Information--———–———————-------822-7541

Child dedication Service -———————————-----822-7541

Student Ministries (Junior High to College)---—-822-7541

Membership/Baptism-----———————————------822-7541

Anniversaries in August

Birthdays in August

Congratulations are in order for Micah Ma-

son! Micah placed 10th in the National

Championships Mountain Bike Race on July

15, at Mammoth, Ca. Her competitors came

from CA, CO., AZ, UT, NV, WA and even

Alaska. The course was four miles long with

900 ft of climbing per lap which they were

required to do three laps. Great job Micah!

Navajo Women

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo wom-an walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Nava-jo woman if she would like a ride. After a bit of small talk while resuming the journey, the Navajo woman noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally. "What's in the bag?" asked the woman. Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, "It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband." The Navajo woman was si-lent for a moment then speaking with the quiet wis-dom of an elder said, "Good trade."

The Messenger

World Vision is a Chris-

tian humanitarian organi-

zation dedicated to

working with children,

families, and their com-

munities worldwide to

reach their full potential

by tackling the causes of

poverty and injustice.

Motivated by our faith in

Jesus Christ, we serve

alongside the poor and

oppressed as a demon-

stration of God’s uncon-

ditional love for all peo-

ple. We serve all peo-

ple, regardless of reli-

gion, race, ethnicity, or

gender. Visit

worldvision.org to learn

more. Through the Fam-

ine, students learn about

real-world issues of pov-

erty and injustice, and

they get the chance to

make a real difference

for hungry children. Plus,

their own lives are trans-

formed as they experi-

ence hunger firsthand —

going without food so

others don’t have to. Dur-

ing the Famine, students

grow closer to God and

each other.

Every $35 raised

will help feed and care

for a child for a month.

World Vision puts the

funds you raise to work

by bringing emergency

food aid to disaster

zones and equipping

families with the tools

they need to overcome

hunger in their communi-

ties. With your help,

we’re partnering with the

poor and empowering

them to change the direc-

tion of their lives. What

does this change look

like? Parents equipped to

30 Hour Famine World Vision grow healthier, more

abundant crops and live-

stock. Communities gaining

access to clean water for

nutritious harvests. Children

receiving basic medical

care. Kids going to school.

Families getting on their

feet — and standing

strong.

Mountain Bible Youth

group will be participating

in the 30 hour famine on

August 5& 6th if you

would like to help please

call the church.

Mountain Festival

some ideas for our

float but more are

welcome, also if

you would like to

be part of the

float, write it on

your attendance

slip. Its always fun

to see all the floats

and entries up

close.

Mountain Festival

this year is August

19-21 with the pa-

rade being held on

Saturday, August

20th. This years

theme is Geniune

Mountain Style,

“Best by a Country

Mile”. We will be

participating with

Jerry Harris’s 1931

Ford Model A , his

Western Flyer Bicy-

cle and the church’s

1945 John Deere

tractor. We have

Volume 29 Issue 8

Christmas in July with a growing heart for

world missions

The story of the Good

Samaritan (Luke 10:30-

37) gives a clear picture

of God’s desire for us to

help those in desperate

need wherever we find

them. After describing

how the Samaritan res-

cued a hurting man whom

others had passed by,

Jesus told His hearers,

“Go and do likewise.” For

over 40 years, Samari-

tan’s Purse has done our

utmost to follow Christ’s

command by going to the

aid of the world’s poor,

sick, and suffering. We

are an effective means of

reaching hurting people

in countries around the

world with food, medi-

cine, and other assistance

in the Name of Jesus

Christ. This, in turn, earns

us a hearing for the Gos-

pel, the Good News of

eternal life through Jesus

Christ.

As our teams

work in crisis ar-

eas of the world,

people often ask,

“Why did you

come?” The an-

swer is always

the same: “We

have come to

help you in the Name of

the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our ministry is all about

Jesus—first, last, and al-

ways. As the Apostle Paul

said, “For we do not

preach ourselves, but Jesus

Christ as Lord, and our-

selves as your servants for

Who is Samaritans

Purse?

"Let my heart be broken

with the things that break

the heart of God." Bob

Pierce wrote these now-

famous words in his Bible

after visiting suffering chil-

dren on the Korean island

of Koje-do. This impas-

sioned prayer is what

guided him as

he founded

and led the

ministry of

Samaritan's

Purse in

1970. His

mission for

this organiza-

tion was "to

meet emer-

gency needs in crisis areas

through existing evangeli-

cal mission agencies and

national churches."

In the summer of 1973,

Bob Pierce met his eventu-

al successor, an adven-

turous young student

named Franklin Graham

Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthi-

ans 4:5, NIV).

Mission Statement

Samaritan’s Purse is a

nondenominational evan-

gelical Christian organi-

zation providing spiritual

and physical aid to hurt-

ing people around the

world. Since 1970, Sa-

maritan’s Purse has

helped meet needs of

people who are victims

of war, poverty, natural

disasters, disease, and

famine with the purpose

of sharing God’s love

through His Son, Jesus

Christ. The organization

serves the church world-

wide to promote the

Gospel of the Lord Jesus

Christ.

It’s that time again” IT’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY” time to start collecting and making shoes boxes, if you don’t want to make a box consider purchasing items (I have a list of things you can get or making a donation for shipping) The kids can pack the boxes which they love to do! I have some hats, gloves and toothpaste and brushes out to help you fill your boxes out on the table most of these items were donated by the children at VBS. Start looking for the back to school sales, the Dollar Tree has some really great small stuffed animals and drawstring backpacks right now and the dollar general has some toys 75% off. Help reach our goal of 300 boxes, we had 291 last year!! We can all make a difference in a child’s life! Thank you Tammy McCain

Part I Again, we are studying the Church Leaders in the first to fourth cen-tury. The Apologists In the second century conventionally educat-ed converts began to produce two kinds of writings that help us understand the devel-oping shapes of Chris-tianity — works aimed at a broad audience of educated non-Christians and works aimed at those who considered themselves inside the Church. The writing for non-Christians is usually called apologetic in the same sense that the speech given by Soc-rates in his defense before the Athenian assembly is called his Apology — the word in Greek meant "speech for the defense" rather than the modern more limited denotation of "statement expressing regret". The Apolo-gists, as these authors are sometimes known, made a presentation for the educated clas-ses of the beliefs of

Christians, often cou-pled with an attack on the beliefs and practic-es of the pagans. Other writings had the pur-pose of instructing and admonishing fellow Christians. Justin Martyr (AD100–165) Also known as Saint Justin was an early Christian apologist, and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos ("discourse" or "reason") in the 2nd century. He was martyred, along-side some of his stu-dents, and is consid-ered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Eastern Ortho-dox Church. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The First Apolo-gy, his most well known text, passionately de-fends the morality of

the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical argu-ments to convince the Roman emperor, Anto-ninus, to abandon the persecution of the fledgling sect of Chris-tians. Further, he also makes the theological suggestion that the "seeds of Christianity" actually predated Christ's incarnation. This allows him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato), in whose works he was

well studied, as un-knowing Christians. In the Dialogue with Trypho, after an intro-ductory section, Justin undertakes to show that Christianity is the new law for all men. In this work, Justin as-sociated Satan with

the Serpent that in-duced the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis. He was the first interpreter of the Scripture to make this association. Justin's use of the idea of the Logos has al-ways attracted atten-tion. The idea of the Logos was widely fa-

Early Church History by Jerry Henry

The Messenger

miliar to educated men, and the desig-nation of the Son of God as the Logos was not new to Chris-tian theology. The significance is clear, however, of the man-ner in which Justin identifies the histori-cal Christ with the ra-tional force operative in the universe, which leads up to the claim of all truth and virtue for the Christians and to the demonstration of the adoration of Christ, which aroused so much opposition, as the only reasona-ble attitude. It is mainly for this justifi-cation of the worship of Christ that Justin employs the Logos-idea, though where he explicitly deals with the divinity of the Redeemer and his relation to the Father. During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161), Justin arrived in Rome and started his own school, Tatian (an Assyrian early Christian writer and theologian of the

Volume 29 Issue 8

2nd century) was one of his pupils. In the reign of Marcus Au-relius, after disputing with the cynic philos-opher Crescens, and was denounced to the authorities, ac-cording to Tatian and Eusebius. Justin was tried, together with six companions, by Junius Rusticus, who was urban prefect from 163-167, and was beheaded. The martyrdom of Justin preserves the court record of the trial:

The Prefect Rusticus says: Approach and sacrifice, all of you, to the gods. Justin says: No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety. The Prefect Rusticus says: If you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy. Justin replies: That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at the more terrible univer-sal tribunal of Our

Lord and Savior. And all the martyrs said: Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols. The Prefect Rus-ticus read the sen-tence: Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and behead-ed according to the laws. The holy mar-tyrs glorifying God took themselves to the customary place, where they were be-headed and consum-mated their martyr-dom confessing their

Savior.

Tertullian (AD 155–230)Tertullian was born in Carthage (modern Tunis) at about the time of Pol-ycarp’s death and probably trained as a lawyer. He convert-ed from his pagan background and de-voted himself to writ-ing impassioned books (more than 30 in total) in defense of the true faith. He at-tacked the pagan re-ligions of the Roman

Empire, and chal-lenged heretical ver-sions of Christianity. He was one of the generation of “apologists,” second-century theologians who wrote for a hostile readership in an at-tempt to challenge pa-gan misunderstanding and prejudice, showing that Christianity was reasonable and re-spectable, not a

shameful secret society.

Among his apologetic writings, the Apologeti-cus, addressed to the Roman magistrates, is a most pungent defense of Christianity and the Christians against the reproaches of the pa-gans, and an important legacy of the ancient Church, proclaiming the principle of freedom of religion as an

“inalienable human right” and demands a fair trial for Christians before they are con-demned to death. He argued that the gods have no existence and thus there is no pagan religion against which Christians may offend. Christians do not en-gage in the foolish wor-ship of the emperors. They do better: they pray for them. He is perhaps most fa-mous for being the old-est Latin writer to use the term Trinity (Latin: Trinitas), though a simi-lar word had been used earlier in Greek, and giving the oldest formulation of the Trini-tarian terminology lat-er adopted as the modified Nicene Creed at the 2nd Ecumenical Council, the First Coun-cil of Constantinople in 381 AD. Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are "three persons, one substance."