Jesus

Called to Idaho Falls – Dr. Joseph Gulick

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Written by Charles Barnes:

In the history of the churches in Idaho Falls, the pastor with the longest record of service, at 50 years, is Rev. Donald Austin.  The pastor with the second longest period of service in Idaho Falls is Dr. Joseph Gulick, who served here from 1923 to 1959.  Here is a brief account of his story.

Joseph Isaac Gulick was born on a farm near White House, New Jersey in 1890.  One of his earliest memories, before he turned three, was seeing his mother frantically trying to revive his father, who had come into their house from farm work and collapsed onto the floor from heart failure.  Following his death, the family, with 4 young children, moved to his grandparents’ farm.

Joseph writes that when he was about 12, became tired of school and decided to quit.  I could see no use in “wasting time” on such things as grammar, learning to phrase and diagram.  So he went to work on neighboring farms and later learned the blacksmith trade.  After several years working as a blacksmith he was overcome with the desire to go to college, and prayed to God for months to make it possible.

God answered his prayers when after a church service, the minister pulled him aside and told him, “Joseph, I can’t understand it, but something has been working on me, pushing me, telling me that I ought to talk to you about going to college and preparing for the ministry! Have you ever thought of it?” So Joseph started the long process of finishing grade school, completing high school, and going on to college and finally seminary.

His college years were interrupted by a year of sickness.  Joseph came down with a severe case of typhoid fever, and was cared for by his mother and brothers.  At one point his heart stopped, and his mother dropped to her knees and prayed desperately for God to give him back to them.  Another time when he was sinking low, he sensed he was floating through a tunnel.  He writes, “At the end of the tunnel, light was shining.  I floated slowly toward a ball of indescribably beautiful colors!  Around about were equally beautiful sounds!  Instinctively I knew I was drawing near a theophany—a manifestation of God!”

His illness left him weak from a loss of weight and angry with God for getting even farther behind in his education and also because of a broken engagement.  He writes, “God was letting me pass through the furnace so I would understand lives of people who later came to me for help.”

He also had an experience one Sunday afternoon when he went out into the woods to “wrestle with God and while there, I had a dramatic conversion experience, not unlike St. Paul’s on the Damascus Highway.”  Many years later he wrote of it, “What a powerful evangelist I might have become had that Pressure of God’s Presence remained with me as I felt for some days after that experience of joy and inner illumination in the woods.  But though it gradually faded, I had been given both new conviction and a new life direction by it!”

Prior to his final year in Princeton Seminary, he took a summer assignment in Soda Springs, Idaho.  Back at Princeton he received many letters from individuals in Soda Springs asking him to return, and Joseph tried to persuade other students at Princeton Seminary to go.  Finally he prayed to the Lord for guidance and had an immediate answer, “Go, and I will go with you!”

Borrowing money for the trip West, Joseph arrived in Soda Springs on May 31, 1920.  In the nearly three years he spent there, the congregation grew from 36 to 105, and for the first time in their history, became self-supporting.  He began raising funds for a new building, but ran into opposition within the congregation and the community, and sensed it was time for him to move on. Soda Springs’ loss was Idaho Falls’ gain. However, just before coming to Idaho Falls, Joseph married a member of the Soda Springs congregation, Winifred Louise Ferebauer, and gained a family, as she had two young sons.

On an earlier visit to Idaho Falls, Joseph had been impressed by the architecture of the newly constructed Presbyterian Church.  He writes in his autobiography, “As I left the sanctuary, a sudden prophetic insight swept my soul, ‘This is yours!  God will call you to this church to serve it!’”

In 1919, Idaho Falls was in the midst of the post-World War I boom, enjoying a period of prosperity.  The town was growing and churches were flourishing.  The First Presbyterian Church had been organized in 1891, and that same year they built a small building at Shoup and A Streets.  They met there until 1917, when they had grown to about 260 members and were cramped in their building.  Temporarily meeting in a building hastily constructed on Eastern Avenue south of the present Museum, they began construction at their current location in 1918 and dedicated the building on April 11, 1920.  Then the depression of 1920-1921 hit.  Jobs were lost, people were leaving Idaho Falls.  The congregation of First Presbyterian, which had grown to 366 by 1920, was reduced to 155 in 1923.  Pledges that had been made toward funding the building were not being fulfilled.

According to the history of the First Presbyterian Church, “Dr. Joseph Gulick came to the church in 1923 on a starvation wage, supplementing his income by teaching history at Idaho Falls High School.”  Joseph Gulick actually taught three history classes and one English class, and for it received a salary of $150/month.  Still there came a time when he needed to withdraw the last cent from his bank account to buy groceries.  Many years later he reflected, “This was to be the story of our years of ministry in Idaho Falls—through daily prayer attempting to secure God’s guidance, and in every crisis, going into the sanctuary at night, lifting our eyes to the beautiful dome above and beseeching God for help!”  He also wrote that his time teaching at Idaho Falls High School “caused me to be favorable known by both Mormons and Gentiles.”

Rev. Gulick served at the First Presbyterian Church of Idaho Falls for 36 years.

“The first thing that needed to be done,” he wrote, “was to encourage a very discouraged congregation and to make them aware of God’s presence with them.”

 One of the first needs he focused on was building a youth group.  When he came to the church there was none, and the “Old Guard” had no interest in teens.  Within three years, over 70 were coming to the youth group meeting he started.

One of the next needs he saw was to pay off the debt for their building.  In January 1925, after his sermon he invited all the men who wanted to be part of a campaign to reduce the debt to come into his study. Nearly every man showed up; many couldn’t get in.  Both men and women took up the challenge, and Joseph later reflected, “It was a demonstration of the presence and power of God in the life of His Church.”

In January 1929, Rev. Gulick began broadcasting worship services over KGIO radio (which later became KID).  According to his autobiography, it was the first religious broadcast in Idaho.

Two of the goals of the church in 1931 were: (1) a 25% increase in average attendance and (2) a new experience of the Presence of Christ in our lives, and a new loyalty to the church and the Kingdom.  The church made that year, which was their 40th anniversary, a year of prayer.

In 1932, Joseph asked for a year of leave, in order to work on his Master’s Degree.  He took his family to Washington DC where he and his two sons all studied at George Washington University.

Coming back to Idaho Falls alone, while his sons continued their studies and his wife stayed with them, he threw himself into his ministry.  “One thing that contributed to the work pressure upon me was my inability to delegate responsibility to others.  It was my custom to pitch into every project and do everything possible that I myself could do.”  One Sunday night he discovered a leak in the church roof. As he worked to minimize the damage, he became angry at the church trustees for not repairing the roof, and an elder and his wife who were leisurely visiting with his wife instead of helping him.  The following day, as he was walking to Emerson School to give an address to the Parent Teachers Association, he became disoriented.  He eventually got to the school but as he began his talk, he felt weak, sat down, felt sharp pains in his cheeks, and then collapsed.  It was the beginning of long days of both mental and physical pain and depression.

In his words, “It was a jagged, wounding, storm-covered mountain top experience in my life, but God was in and throughout it all, hammering and tempering His instrument as the blacksmith tempers his metal in the heat and cold.”  He gives much credit to his wife for getting him through this period of weakness.  He also came to understand that because of it he could better minister to people with mental problems, and it taught him not to try to carry so much responsibility on his shoulders.

In 1947 Joseph completed his Doctor of Divinity Degree through the College of Idaho.

Remembering the years 1947-50, Dr. Gulick writes, “If certain important events were like mountain peaks on the skyline of Idaho Falls Presbyterian Church history, the “New Life Movement” launched by the General Assembly in 1947 was the Mount Everest of them all! It was the period in the Idaho Falls Church’s history when the Holy Spirit’s directing Presence and Power, like that reported in the Book of Acts, was felt more vividly than at any other time.”

 Prior to this date, for many years the church had not been adding more than 20 members annually.  And over the years Dr. Gulick had become sort of a “Community Pastor,” with an increasing load of funerals, counselling sessions and community demands. [He was also called “The Fishing Preacher,” as he spent one day, and sometimes two days, each week during fishing season on the river.]  One focus of the New Live Movement was personal witness.  Following a 5-day training session at a Regional Conference and a sermon series focused on an individual’s relationship with Christ, teams were ready.  On Monday, November 17, 1947, 18 men went out in pairs to share the gospel.  Though 16 of the 18 men had never spoken to anyone about a relationship with Christ before, that day the teams led 21 people in decisions to become followers of Christ.  The following Sunday 50 people became new members of the church, and over the next 13 months more than 175 people found Christ.  Dr. Gulick writes, “Though I had always relied upon the Holy Spirit, I needed to realize that the Holy Spirit can work through others as well as myself, and it is wisdom to involve others, especially the men, in the work of church visitation.”

After 30 years of ministry in Idaho Falls, Dr. Gullick took a sabbatical in 1953 to study for six months in Israel, Egypt and Europe.  After getting home he showed slides of his trip 96 times and gave 21 lectures based on what he saw and learned.

Dr. Gulick’s final Sunday in the pulpit at the Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls was June 28, 1959, but his ministry was not over.  The first year of his “retirement,” Dr. Gulick served as the District Governor of Rotary.  During the next seven years he led churches in Swan Valley, Ririe and Rigby.  In 1967 he entered into complete retirement in order to devote himself completely to the care of his wife, who was suffering from declining health, and passed away in September, 1969.   Joseph Gulick died in Idaho Falls on March 3, 1972.

[Note: My primary source for the above was a copy of the first 118 pages of his autobiography, Joseph I Gulick, God’s Missionary, privately published and undated.  I have not been able the find the remaining 152 pages.  If you have a copy or know of one, or have memories of Dr. Gulick that would add to this story, please contact me.]

 

Eagle Rock and Resurrection

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Written by Charles Barnes

All the names of this community we call home can be an encouragement to us, the body of Christ in Idaho Falls, to remember what Jesus has done and what our mission here is.

The first name for this place was “Flathead Crossing.” This story is well documented in Chapter 27 of Barzilla Clark’s, Bonneville County in the Making, published in 1941.  In a nutshell, this is the story of an unreached people group hungry for the gospel, so hungry they would send several delegations, the first two of which lost their lives, on long journeys to learn the gospel from what, at the time, was known as the “White Man’s Book.” And it’s a reminder to us that there is still a harvest; God is at still work drawing hearts of residents of Idaho Falls and elsewhere to Himself.

The name “Idaho Falls” is a reminder of God’s hand in transforming a place that all the early explorers called desolate and inhabitable into the city we have today through water.  The pioneers dug the irrigation ditches, but God supplied the water to sustain life, just as he supplies the water of His Spirit to give new life to barren lives.

During 25 years or so prior to 1891, this place was called “Eagle Rock.” Eagle Rock is the place that eagles live.  One history of the city reports that 20 eagles were seen at the site of the Eagle Rock Ferry. Recent Idaho Fish and Game studies indicate that there are more nesting eagles along the South Fork than any other place in Idaho.  At least 23 businesses and 2 churches in town incorporate “Eagle Rock” into their name.

Of Scripture verses that mention eagles, two in particular are rich in meaning.  In Exodus 19, when Moses climbed Mount Sinai to meet with God, the first thing God tells him to tell the people of Israel is “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you on eagles wings, and brought you to Myself” (Ex 19:4). Many translations, instead of “lifted” read “bore” or “carried” and the Hebrew word can mean any or all of these.  But it’s the same word that used in Ps 24:7, Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in!  The word is used in Isaiah 6:1, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and it’s the word used in many Psalms referring to lifting up hands or hearts or eyes to the Lord in worship.  Why did God use eagles, rather than camels or horses or oxen, to illustrate how he brought His people out of slavery and to the mountain where He chose to dwell?  Because eagles fly; eagles fly high, and God needed to lift His people up to where He was.

Isaiah 40:31 is another verse mentioning eagles – Those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired; they will walk and not become weary.  God’s people, who would be taken captive to Babylon, would need to get their eyes off of their captivity and onto God, and to “see” that he would deliver them like he did His people from Egypt, that He would give them strength to return to the land, to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.  But before they could run and walk and build they needed to ascend like eagles into God’s presence, to grasp the work that He was doing and involving them in – “Get yourselves up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily” (Is 40:9), to proclaim the news of His return to the mountains (powers or kingdoms) of the world.

Jesus was lifted up on the cross; He was raised from the dead; He ascended into heaven and seated at God’s right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named.  And God raised us up with Him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6).

As God lifted up the Israelites to the place where He dwelt, so God has raised us up in Christ, has brought us to Himself, so the eyes of our hearts can be enlightened.  So we can see farther.  So we can see clearer.  So we can see in His light and not be blinded by the darkness of the world, the lies of the world, the gods of this world.  So we can get a perspective that’s normally hidden from us by the sinful world we live in.  So we can receive new strength, strength that transforms us and enables us to be His priests.

So whenever you see the name “Eagle Rock” or see an eagle soaring above the city or the South Fork, remember that God raised Jesus and has raised you up in Christ to where He dwells, to see, understand and be empowered to do His work in this city.

 

Idaho Falls Rescue Mission

Friends.

In an Idaho Falls Rescue Mission office in the city downtown, John Howze has been posting a weekly story on the IFRM facebook page.

Here is my nudge of encouragement to you:

  1. Like the IFRM facebook page so that you may receive these inspiring stories of hope that give glory to Jesus.
  2. Share with others these stories.
  3. Pray for the men and women who are having their lives shared publicly before you.

May Jesus reign in hearts in our river city,

Todd Wood

 

Sent from Idaho Falls

Charles Barnes writes today about those who are being sent out from Idaho Falls:

1.      Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson is a high school student at Watersprings School and a member of the worship team of Eagle Rock Vineyard.  Over Spring Break, Joe is going to Guatemala on a mission trip, associated with Potter’s Field Ministries, which has a permanent outreach ministry near Antiqua.  Joe and his classmates will be involved in construction projects, helping prepare the facility for Holy Week (which is celebrated for 3 weeks), helping teach English in some classrooms, and using his music skills in ministering to children.  Joe hopes to raise a total of $800 by March 8 (he leaves a week later); you can learn more, see his progress and contribute at https://www.gofundme.com/7fseu5a4.

2.      Mitch and Amanda Chaplin

Mitch Chaplin was the only Christian in his family until a few months ago.  God brought together Mitch from Nova Scotia, and Amanda, from Idaho Falls via Boise and then Alaska, joined them in marriage in Michigan, and after a number of years of training and preparation, is now sending them to disciple and encourage a new generation to become missionaries to unreached peoples.  Mitch and Amanda have hearts to serve and enthusiasm to take the gospel where it hasn’t gone.

While Mitch’s family was marginally involved with the United Church of Canada, Mitch did not hear a clear presentation of the gospel until the summer after 7th grade.  A group from North Carolina had come north to Nova Scotia to do a summer Vacation Bible School. Much older than the kids that came to the VBS, Mitch hung out with the staff and from them heard the gospel and responded.

In high school he became friends with Christians who went to different churches, and this group would make the rounds of going to several church youth groups each week.  A leader of one of the youth groups joined New Tribes Mission and was headed to Brazil, and he encouraged Mitch to go to a NTM Bible School after graduating from high school, and even took him to visit the school.

Amanda spent the early years of her life in Idaho Falls, and most of her relatives are LDS.  Some are still very committed Mormons, others marginal.  When Amanda was very young, a man her dad worked with invited her parents to go to a concert in Idaho Falls.  The concert turned out to be a revival meeting, and they both responded to the invitation to be saved.  Amanda’s family moved to the Boise area when she was 6 years old and she came to saving faith in Jesus while living in the Boise area at the age of 11.  The family then moved to Alaska as she entered High School.  It was there that she got plugged into a strong youth group, was mentored and discipled and where her heart for missions grew.  As she heard missionaries share in her youth group, she knew that was what she wanted to do.  After high school she attended Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon.  One of the teachers there was a New Tribes missionary who shared about their 2 year Bible School (NTBI) and their Missionary Training Center.

Mitch and Amanda met at the New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson, Michigan.  New Tribes has a two year Bible Study program; following graduation Mitch and Amanda took time to work to pay off school debts and be involved in youth ministries.  For a year and a half, they lived in Idaho Falls and were involved with Christ Community Church, helping with the youth program there.  They also came back to Idaho Falls during the summers to help with mission trips of the Christ Community youth group.

During this period Mitch and Amanda desired to continue their training with New Tribes Mission, the next phase of which involved an 18-month program with courses in cross-cultural communication, church planting, and linguistics, and a 6 week “jungle camp” aimed at learning basic living skills needed in undeveloped areas of the world.  These years prior to returning to school were a time God was teaching them to live by faith.  Amanda had three miscarriages.  And for a while they had doubts about their calling to missions, as people in their church in Canada, where they had been involved for many years, were hinting that the church may not give them any support.  But support did come through to enable them to enroll in NTM’s Training Center in Ontario.  During their time in Ontario, Amanda gave birth to a healthy daughter, Amy Grace, on May 2, 2014, just 4 short weeks before their Jungle Camp practicum began.

Mitch and Amanda completed the NTM Training program and jungle camp, spent some more time working to finish paying off school debts as well as beginning to raise their financial and prayer support team.  They arrived in Idaho Falls early last month to continue to raise their support for working full time with New Tribes Mission.  For their first 4-year term, they plan to return to the NTM Bible Institute in Michigan.  While helping to run the cafeteria, they will be involved in discipling students and seeking to influence them to pursue further missionary training.  This will also give Mitch time to gain US citizenship, so that then when they later go overseas it will be much easier making trips to both the US and Canada.

Mitch and Amanda expect to be in Idaho Falls until May and would love to share with you more about their lives and their calling.  You can contact them at mitch_chaplin@ntm.org or learn more at http://mitchandamanda.com/.

And yes, Mitch says that he IS related to Charlie Chaplin!

Nine who came home

Charles Barnes provides a fascinating window into home ministry here in Idaho Falls with this post on “Nine who came home”:

Over the history of Idaho Falls, the average length of time that pastors have served their church in our city has been between 4 and 5 years, a value not much different from national averages. That value also matches the average tenure of CEOs with Fortune 500 companies (4.6 years in 2013), although if a broader range of companies is included, the average increases to 8 years. Jesus, as permanent CEO and Chief Shepherd of His church, can certainly move his junior shepherds around as much as He wants, for their own good and the good of His church. But there is something admirable about pastors who stick with a church for the long haul, who remain faithful and committed to a community and a congregation through all their ups and downs, year after year. And it’s even more notable when that place that they serve is their hometown. Jesus Himself pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown (John 4:44). But in the history of Idaho Falls, at least seven men and two women have come back to their hometown to serve Jesus as pastors.

The earliest was Rev. Don Austin. His father, Herbert, was born in England, came to America in 1887 and to Idaho Falls in 1903 when he was 19. Along with his brother Joseph, Herbert worked on farms north of town and in the Birch Creek area. He married Clara Smith in Idaho Falls in 1905. Don, the fifth of six children, was born in 1913. Don attended the Payne Siding School about four miles north of town on the west side of the river; he later went to schools in Idaho Falls. When Don was eight, his parents purchased the Eagle Rock Ranch eight miles north of town. The following year Don lost his sight in one eye from an accident involving barbed wire, and late in life lost most of the sight in his other eye as well. Raised in the Idaho Falls Methodist Church, Don accepted the Lord in a tent meeting on the property that is now Hawthorne Elementary School. In his late teens, Don went to Oregon and there met and married Evalyn Mae Kissler. He attended Bible School at a church in Caldwell, working there on a dairy farm. Don pastored Pentecostal churches in Fruitland and Albion for a few years before coming back to Idaho Falls in the late 1930’s. By then all three of Don’s brothers were farming along the Snake River north of town. His brothers asked Don and his wife to move in town and start a church. After purchasing property, the brothers drove their tractors into Idaho Falls to dig the basement of the church, and with the help of his father as well, built the church building that still stands at 260 Gladstone Street. Don served as pastor in Idaho Falls for 50 years, from 1941 until 1990. A member of his church recalls that he was one of the kindest ministers she ever knew – he loved people and would help them any way he could. She also remembers him as a man of prayer and fasting, and his son adds that it was very common to hear Don praying in his church at any hour of the day. It was also common for Don and his brother Bill to spend a full week in prayer and fasting. For many years, Don led evangelistic street meetings in downtown Idaho Falls, often on Saturday nights. Most every Sunday, his church would eat dinner together after their worship service. Rev. Austin occasionally filled the pulpit and led special meetings at other churches in Idaho Falls. He was a leader in the Idaho Falls Ministerial Association in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and over the years preached in numerous churches and held revival meetings in many communities in the Northwest. Like many pastors in Idaho Falls, he was bi-vocational. For about 15 years he ran a second hand store called Circle Dot Furniture, located on the corner of Park and Eagle Rock Avenues. Rev. Austin died in 2003 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. His legacy includes the ministry of his two children – his daughter Donna married a pastor and they started churches in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Illinois and Iowa, and his son Ken traveled as an evangelist for a number of years, served as minister in churches in Idaho Falls, Great Falls, Montana and Redwood City, California, opened a work in Boise – the Boise Bible Assembly, and has spoken in many churches across the United States, Canada and Haiti.

Ron Dugone and Mike Stearns served as back to back pastors at New Life Assembly of God over a period of nearly 30 years. Ron was born in Oklahoma but moved to Idaho Falls at a very early age; on his blogs and Facebook page he lists Idaho Falls as his home town. Ron’s father Joseph worked as an engineer at the INL and was highly regarded in the Idaho Falls Christian community. Ron graduated from Skyline High School in 1973 and Mike a year later. Both grew up going to the Assembly of God Church on Holmes Avenue. After high school, Ron enrolled in Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington. Mike studied for a year at the University of Idaho, and then transferred to Northwest University. After graduating from NU, Ron took a youth pastor position in Porterville, California, while Mike became the Associate Pastor of the Idaho Falls Assembly of God Church. Before a year was out Mike found himself filling in as the senior pastor of the church, a position he didn’t feel qualified for. After six months, Ron and Jody Dugone came back to Idaho Falls to fill the pastorate. Mike stayed on as Associate Pastor until September, 1983. This was a time of rapid growth for the church, doubling and then tripling in size. One Sunday afternoon they baptized 72 people. Four lots on 12th street had been donated to the church, and construction of a new building was started in 1981 and completed in May of 1984, with most of the work being done by members of the church. The church name was changed to New Life Assembly of God, and a kindergarten through Junior High school started. Ron and Jody stayed until 1988, and then Mike Stearns, who had been pastoring churches in Challis, Payette and New Plymouth in the mid 1980’s, came back to lead the church until 2008.

Don Patterson has a heart for the Lord and for Idaho Falls, and has seen a lot of change in the spiritual climate of the city during his lifetime. He has pastored the Community Church of God in Christ since 1993. This is the same church Don attended growing up in Idaho Falls (he lived next door to the church), and prior to becoming pastor, served as youth pastor, choir director and Sunday school superintendent. Don graduated from Idaho Falls High School in 1966 and Idaho State University in 1972, with a degree in Business Administration. In both high school and college, Don was a member of school choirs and a frequent soloist. He will tell you that he always felt that he would someday be a pastor, and at age 33, while working for Mountain Bell Telephone in Idaho Falls, Don experienced a call to ministry, and began to prepare. Since taking the helm at Community Church of God in Christ, Don has continued working in telecommunications – for many years for Idaho National Laboratory contractors, and more recently for the University of Idaho in their offices at University Place. Don has spent many hours in prayer for the welfare of our community, and given many hours volunteering in community activities and organizations, including serving as president of the Eastern Idaho Chapter of the Urban League, being on the board of the East-Central Idaho Planning and Development Association, being a member of the Mayor’s Cultural Awareness and Human Relations Committee, a member of the Idaho Falls Symphony Chorale, and speaking at events held in Idaho Falls on the National Day of Prayer. Don looks for opportunities to minister for the Lord wherever he is, and the Lord brings people to him, to point them to Christ or encourage their faith.

Don Casper was born in Sacred Heart Hospital on South Boulevard. His father was also born in Idaho Falls and served as pastor of Assembly of God churches in several communities in Utah and Idaho, including Firth from 1965 to 1980. In his teenage years Don went through a rebellious period, leaving home and leaving church. Through his sister and niece, he came back to Lord and was introduced to a small Apostolic church that was meeting in what had once been a garage. Don felt called to preach in 1997, and began a rigorous time of preparation through his church. He has been the pastor of New Hope Apostolic Church since it began in 2004. The church initially met in the Idaho Falls library, moving in just after Berean Baptist moved out into their own building. The church moved to its present location on Yellowstone Avenue in 2006, and now, in 2015, is looking for a larger facility. Like Don Patterson, Don Casper is bi-vocational and is currently the lead instructor of computer networking at Eastern Idaho Technical College. If you ask Don about how God has worked in the people of his church, he will tell you story after story of how God answered prayers. The people of his church have learned to pray, and when they encounter problems they connect with each other to pray, and they expect God to answer. He will also tell you the reality of God’s love in his life and the life of the members of his church.

Todd Wood was born in the LDS hospital on the banks of the Snake River in Idaho Falls in December of 1969. Reared in a Christian home, his parents enrolled him in Gethsemane Christian School in 1974. Mrs. Sue Lovegrove, the wife of Gethsemane’s pastor, was his fouryear-old kindergarten teacher. His family attended Gethsemane Baptist Church throughout his days as a youth. During a high school week at Red Cliff Bible Camp near Pinedale, Wyoming, the Lord directed Todd’s heart towards Christian ministry. He graduated from Skyline High School in 1988 and went to Bible college in South Carolina. After obtaining his undergraduate degree in Christian missions in 1992, he married his high school sweetheart, Kristie Ann Grothaus. Born in Idaho Falls as well, she was finishing her nursing degree from Boise State University in 1993. Todd and Kristie then went back East so that he could obtain a Master of Divinity degree. After school, Todd did a church internship in Elko, Nevada, before settling once again in Idaho Falls in 1997 to pastor the new church plant of Berean Baptist Church. He resigned as senior pastor of Berean Baptist Church in 2014 and ministers currently as interim pastor. Todd loves the people of Idaho Falls and the great outdoors. His desire is to see multiple, thriving, small church fellowships in the city in future years for the glory of God. He enjoys hiking and leading Bible studies. One of his favorite passages in the Bible is Isaiah 61:1-3.

Like Don Patterson, Nathan Swisher knew from an early age that he was called into the ministry. Having parents who were very involved in music and other ministries, Nathan grew up going to many church services and activities. As a teen he became disenchanted with church, but not with God. At age 18, while watching the movie Brave Heart, God gripped Nathan’s heart with the desire to serve Him. Following graduation from Idaho Falls High School, Nathan took off to Scotland to attend Youth With A Mission’s Discipleship Training School. As part of that training, he was involved in missions in Amman, Jordan and in northern India. After being in the Himalayas about a year, Nathan was asked by his family to come home to Idaho Falls to help with his sister, who had a kidney disease and needed a transplant. Nathan, who by this time was leading the outreach in India, struggled with the decision and didn’t want to come back to Idaho, but became convinced it was the Lord’s will. Back in Idaho Falls in 1997, Nathan and a friend, Zach Blickens, founded Freedom Ministries, a citywide youth outreach that focused on using music and the arts to reach and equip young people for Christ. As their ministry grew, they met in different venues at different times, and for several years saw 150 youth come weekly to a former theater by the old Fred Meyer building. After Zach moved to Cedar Rapids in 2000, Nathan shifted the emphasis of Freedom Ministries to discipleship. In 2001 Nathan became the youth pastor at Shiloh Foursquare Church, and now serves there as Associate Pastor. Since joining Shiloh he has taken on ever increasing responsibilities, including developing teams that work with youth of all ages, leading worship, organizing youth camps, helping with the Mountain River Bible Institute in Idaho Falls and leading mission teams from various Foursquare churches in Eastern Idaho in ministry in Mexico.

Cathy Chisholm grew up in Indiana but made Idaho Falls her home in 1977 when her husband took a job with Westinghouse. She says the congregation of First Presbyterian Church “nurtured me and my children, called forth gifts for ministry, and offered so many opportunities to learn, grow and serve.” Her service in the church included volunteering as secretary, serving as elder and, for five years, as director of adult ministries. Realizing a call to pastoral ministry while in Idaho Falls, she left in 1990 to pursue a degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. After seminary, she led congregations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, and California. With her 4-year contract with a church in the Los Angeles area coming to a close late last year, she took time off for a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons in September, and stopped in Idaho Falls to see friends from First Presbyterian Church. They not only told her that that very day was their pastor’s last Sunday, concluding his 14 years of ministry at the church, but they encouraged Cathy to apply for the newly-opened position of Transitional Pastor. Cathy did, was given the position, and moved back to Idaho Falls in early January, 2015. She views her role now as helping the church “reflect on the past, come to terms with the reality of loss and change, celebrate joys, prepare for what’s next and be moved by the Holy Spirit to use God’s gifts to glorify Jesus Christ through service, worship, teaching and celebration.”

Growing up in Idaho Falls, Katie Trent had a desire to know the truth about God. Her father was a Catholic, her mother had an LDS background. Katie met her husband James in 2003 while attending Boise State University, and accepted Jesus into her heart in 2004. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2006 from Boise State and Master’s Degree in 2011 from Northwest Nazarene University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and since graduating has worked as a counselor and program manager of a mental health clinic in Boise. She is passionate about ministering to people, and helping them know and become like Christ. She and her husband James moved to Idaho Falls in late February 2015 to prepare to plant a new church, Grace Falls, here. Katie has also started work as a counselor with New Life Counseling, a ministry of the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission. We have no doubt that God has called and used many other men and women in Idaho Falls, some who stayed for decades and others who were here but a few years, some who God brought from other parts of the country, others who grew up in nearby communities in Southeast Idaho, and many who grew up in Idaho Falls and served in Christ’s body in various ways. Yet this brief summary provides a glimpse one of the ways Jesus has been at work in Idaho Falls – calling men and women to serve him as pastors in their hometown.

Samuel Wishard on Christ-centered homiletics

Charles Barnes notes this:

Samuel Wishard organized the First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls in 1891, and several other churches in Southeast Idaho in the 1890’s. Here is his advice on sermon preparation and preaching:

  • Preach the Lord Jesus Christ
  • Preach by the authority of Christ
  • Preach in Christ’s stead
  • Preach with the help of Christ
  • Preach with hope in Christ
  • Preach with the love of Christ
  • Preach to please Christ
  • Preach to glorify Christ
  • Preach in imitation of Christ
  • Preach expecting to give account to Christ.

Conflict and Gospel Grace Reconciliation (4)

Let’s say that you have a conflict with a family member, a coworker, or another Christian in Idaho Falls that is not being fixed between the two of you.  You have talked to this person but issues have not been resolved.  And if you feel compelled that you are unable to let go of the issue, what would Jesus instruct you to do?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:15-19:

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother.  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’  And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.  But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.   Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Today, we are looking at our fourth message in this series on conflict and gospel grace reconciliation.  With today’s content, I am utilizing thoughts from Ken Sande in Billings, Montana, who leads a ministry focused on Christian peacemaking.  The Scripture references are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Step Four

So what is step four in the process of pursuing reconciliation in the midst of conflict?  You should pray about bringing one or two others to hear the conflict between you and that other person.

“We should try to keep the circle of people involved in conflict as small as possible for as long as possible.” – Sande

“I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.  And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” (Philippians 4:2-3)

“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?  Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?  And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matter?  Do you not know that we shall judge angels?  How much more, things that pertain to this life?  If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?  I say this to your shame.  Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?  But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!  Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another.  Why do you not rather accept wrong?  Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?  No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” (I Corinthians 6:1-8)

Ken Sande provides a sample illustration of how to engage in initiating help from someone else in the conflict:  “Bob, I would prefer to resolve this matter just between the two of us.  Since that has not happened and because this involves issues that are too important to walk away from, my only other option is to obey what the Bible commands, which means asking some people from our churches to help us out.  I would prefer that we go together to get that help, but if you will not cooperate, I’ll ask for it by myself.”

It is in this conflict, two men can seek the help of a godly peacemaker, whether that might be another friend, neighbor, church member, or pastor.  Sometimes, this can extend out to continual sessions for counsel and prayer together.  The additional one or two also serve as witnesses to what they observe.  So what if there is no repentance?  What if there is no demonstration made to pursue God’s will and peace?  What if there is no display of humility in the issues of conflict?

Step Five

“And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.  But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

Share the conflict with the spiritual elders in your church.  The elders would desire to meet with those of you in conflict.  The elders might desire to consult as well with the one or two others that have met with you in the conflict.   You should listen to the counsel of the elders.

“Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.  Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).

The only times that you may disobey the elders is if they are clearly asking you to disobey Scripture.  For instance, Acts 4 states, “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God, you judge.  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’” (Acts 4:18-20). Peter and the other apostles declare in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

But going back to the elders’ instruction and counsel, if the elders witness unrepentance in regards to sin, this must be lovingly shared to the members of the congregation.  And the whole congregation must move together in church discipline towards an unrepentant member of the congregation.

Only God knows the true hearts of individuals, but a congregation must not allow one to continue as a member of the local fellowship when that individual is teaching contrary or living a contrast to the life and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what would be examples of this in the Bible?

“Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18).

 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!  And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed, might be taken away from you.  For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  Your glorying is not good.  Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.  For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  I wrote to you in my epistle not keep company with sexually immoral people.  Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.  For what have I do to with judging those also who are outside?  Do you not judge those who are inside?  But those who are outside God judges.  Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person” (I Corinthians 5).

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).

“But we command you, brethren, in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” (II Thessalonians 3:6)

“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.  Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear” (I Timothy 5:19-20).

 “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.  Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:9-11).

In these passages, we have examples of those attacking essential doctrines of Christianity or living in notorious immorality.  When a church member is blatantly teaching that which is contrary to Scripture or living an ongoing, unrepentant life of sin, the local assembly is to move congregationally (a church vote) in removing the sinning person’s membership.

Is this loving?  Deitrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Nothing is so cruel as the tenderness that consigns another to his sin.  Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin.”

Three concluding notes of caution:

  • Some in the practice of church discipline will wrongly call people (divisive) heretics and practice church discipline. Wrong application.
  • Some in the practicing of discipline will completely cut themselves off from those they have disciplined. They think only law and never offer gracious gospel to the one they disciplined.  This is a mistake.  Wrong heart motives.  We are to continue a loving, evangelical witness.
  • Some practice second, third, fourth degrees, etc. of separation. Their thinking is “I have separated myself from this person and so must you to the same degree.  If you don’t follow my example, then I will separate from you.” Wrong zeal.

In following these paths, we quickly lose the main purpose of love and gospel grace reconciliation.  We have become the Pharisees, and we place ourselves on a pathway of bitterness.

We must have hearts that pursue love, grace, peace, and forgiveness.

Ken Sande says forgiveness can be expressed with four promises: (1) I will not dwell on this incident. (2) I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you. (3) I will not talk to others about this incident. (4) I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.

“Here is the ultimate weapon:  deliberate, focused love (cf. Luke 6:27-28; I Cor. 13:4-7).” – Sande

 “Bless those you persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind toward one another.  Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.  Do not be wise in your own opinion.  Repay no one evil for evil.  Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.  Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.  Therefore ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21)

Peter says, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (I Peter 3:8-9).