On The Jordon Road-Haiti Sending Service, Lunch and Baptism

Dear LAF Family and Friends:

This is an open letter to explain what will be taking place next Sunday the 21, as well as invite you to be a part of it.

As you may or may not have heard next Sunday August 21st starting at 11 am Lost and Found Church will be gathering at the Jordon Bridge Park on Jordon road in Arlington going through Granite Falls for a Community Sunday. Three things will be taking place, a time of Worship including a sending service for our Haiti mission team that will be leaving next week. A cold cut potluck. Then we will conclude our time together with the first Baptisms in the history of Lost and Found Church. Yesterday I had a chance to go and visit the area and this is what I found. We will need to brings chairs or blankets to sit on. The area where we will be will be a sandy area. To get to that area involves some walking. First over a suspension bridge, then down some very large steps with a hand rail. The area itself has no hook ups what so ever, so worship will be an ole fashion camp meeting which begins at 11 am. Included in the worship will be a sending service for our Haiti mission team. After service we will play and eat or eat and play. So if you have games or cards feel free to bring them. Speaking to the meal itself, we will have to bring everything in, I am thinking chicken, salads, sandwiches and fruit. LAF will supply the drinks and eating utensils. After eating we will be having a Baptism. Our first as a Church. Baptism will conclude the formal stuff, but you are welcome to stay as long as you would like. I realize that some of you have places of worship and you are just planning on coming to the meal and Baptism. We will not start eating until 12:30, I promise.

Directions to Jordan Bridge Park 14300 Jordan Rd Arlington, WA Turn off Highway 9 right on to Highway 92 Granite Falls and follow it until you reach the first light after the roundabout. Take a left at that light on to Jordan road. Follow that road for about 6 miles. One thing to watch out for is the roundabout that you will come to, it is the second right to continue on Jordan.

One other thing, please be in prayer for the 21st.

God Is Pro Choice

Yesterday during the sermon, I mentioned Hell. (yes, there are still some Christian Churches that still mention Hell during a service) But I digress, at the end of Church one of our newer teens was hanging around while I was talking to some other people. I finally got to her and she asked me a question that has plagued many a believer. "Why does a loving God condemn people to Hell?" A loving God does not send people to Hell I reassured her. We (meaning people) send ourselves to Hell. If God had His way no one would ever go to Hell, but He loves us so much, that He lets us make our own decisions. Then He allows us to suffer the consequences of those choices. You see God gives us free will. That is what makes Christianity unique among all the world’s religions. God says I gave you a brain now use it! It is known as free will. I went on to explain that a lot of other religions want you to check your brain at the door. Turn your mind off as you head to nirvana. If I were God: I told her; the first thing I would do is take away free will. She looked at me with a shocked face that only teenagers can create and said, “That would be terrible, then all we would be are puppets!” “Exactly! God does not want puppets, He wants living thinking followers. Who came to Him and stay with Him because they want to.” One of the hardest things I have to do as a Pastor, I explained to her is work with parents who raised their children in a Godly manor, giving them free will. Then those kids take that free will and make horrible choices, becoming jerks! I have to reassure those parents that they did their best. God is the same way, He gave us the gift of free will and every day we have to decide how we are going to use it. When we make poor decisions it hurts God, the same way those parents are hurt watching their kids make wrong, hurtful decisions. No parent wants to see their children suffer. Our God does not want to see His creation suffer. Yet there comes a point where both parents and God stand out of the way and allow that which they created make choices that could lead to their destruction. For the earthly parent, it may be death. For the spiritual parent it may be Hell. But those are the consequences of the gift of free will.