"Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget." Deuteronomy 25:17–19

"Then Samuel said to Saul...thus says the LORD of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" 1 Samuel 15:1–3

Dear Friends and Family,

One might be tempted to feel pity or sadness for the Amalekite people...don't. Agag was a ruthless king of mass murderers. The Amalekites would prey upon the weak, the elderly, and the infirm. Sworn enemies of Israel, they slaughtered only the most vulnerable during the Exodus...from behind. They massacred thousands upon thousands. They then tried to weaken the people of Israel by destroying their food and crops. "For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them. So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it." Judges 6:3–5.

So when Saul finally had God's permission and command to wipe the Amalekites from the face of the earth, it was for good reason. God rendered a just verdict upon a wicked people. The verdict was complete annihilation, but Saul showed himself to be an unfaithful executioner. Instead of carrying out God's righteous sentence, he decided to keep King Agag alive and some of the Amalekites' spoil as a trophy-to stroke his own kingly ego before the Israelite people. God, of course, saw and was angry with Saul. The Amalekites would always pose a threat to the Israelite people unless they were utterly destroyed. Saul refused to protect his people by obeying God completely, and it cost him the throne. Yes, the Amalekites were a sinful people, and even if they made peace with Israel, Israel could still be compromised through unequal marriages and cultural infiltration. Saul failed to see the big picture, he failed to obey God, and it cost him dearly.

Now, how about us? Do we see the threat that our sinful hearts and culture pose to us and our families? Are we willing to utterly destroy our enemies of sin, or do we try to keep them as pets on leashes to stroke when our egos and lusts desire it? Spurgeon used the analogy of a serpent's egg for sin when he said: "It is better to crush the egg than to fight the serpent." Our unwillingness to kill sin can put our lives and the lives of our families at risk. Sin can rise up again, grow new life, and devour its owners. John Owen said: "Be killing sin or it will be killing you." No peace agreement can be brokered with sin. This mortification process is vividly pictured in 1 Samuel 15:32, 33. The mild-mannered prophet Samuel decides to take things into his own hands and finish the job that King Saul should have, but didn't: "Then Samuel said, 'Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.' And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, 'Surely the bitterness of death is past.' But Samuel said, 'As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.' And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal." The Hebrew word used there for "hewed" is "shacaph," which means "to cut into pieces." It is vivid, aggressive, radical, violent, and ruthless. These are also appropriate adjectives to describe the Christian's mortification of sin. Jesus taught us best when he said: "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell" Matthew 18:8, 9. True obedience to Christ will always involve a radical and even violent response to sin. May the Lord give us the wisdom to identify our enemy of sin and the strength, courage, and faithfulness of Samuel to do something about it!

Ministry News
TFR held its first Biblical Counseling Conference on January 29th and 30th. It was hosted by the Tonasket Free Methodist Church and was well attended with just over 100 people coming from as far as Wenatchee and British Columbia, Canada. The individual conference seminars addressed important issues such as parenting, marriage, spiritual growth, and an introduction to what distinguishes Biblical counseling from other counseling models. Joining me as seminar speakers were Pastor Jim Low from Christ's Church in Federal Way and Pastor Ron Wise from TFMC. CDs of the conference are still available upon request for $12.00 (shipping included). The cost of this conference was $15.00 for individuals and $25.00 for couples. Our main objective was to encourage Believers towards the practical, relevant, and rightful use of God's Word in dealing with some of life's most difficult problems. Simply put, we wanted to communicate the Word's authority and sufficiency in the life of a Christian. I believe that, by God's Grace, this was accomplished. Another (comparatively less important) goal was to break even financially. Conference brochures, notebooks, advertisements, mailings, and other expenses did make this a bit difficult, and TFR ended up a few hundred dollars in the red. However, without being aware of this need, a gracious and thankful church congregation sent TFR a generous gift the next week that more than covered the shortfall. Praise the Lord! We have received quite a bit of feedback that has been encouraging and very helpful for the next conference that TFR might facilitate. Here are just a few examples of the feedback we received:

"I came seeking direction for helping others and grew in my own spiritual life. Thank you!" Mickie Schmalz from British Columbia, Canada.

"What a conference! I appreciated the emphasis on spiritual transformation instead of the old party line of behavioral modification." Pastor John Sterk from Bethel Baptist Church in Wenatchee, Washington.

"I am so thankful for this training & outreach...This conference is a good introduction to Biblical Counseling. The teaching is based on the Truth of God's Word. Thank you!" Lisa Sholten from Loomis, Washington.

"This teaching was straight from the Word of God. All messages came from heartfelt presentations. They were outstanding speakers who motivated me towards sanctification in Jesus Christ." Debbie Billing from Omak, Washington

"A time of great enrichment!" Pam Dumas from Tonasket, Washington.

"I am so grateful to have attended this conference. How refreshing to hear God's Word applied to the stressors of daily life. How encouraging it is to be able to dismiss popular world views. Very encouraging! Thank you so much for bringing this to our area!" Elizabeth Stark, Oroville Washington.

Lord willing, we will be taking this conference on the road as we come alongside the local church to help encourage and edify the Body of Christ towards Biblical counseling and thinking. For those who may be interested, we will be considering conference requests for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011. These conferences would be two days long, beginning on a Friday evening and lasting through the early part of Saturday evening (unless a church is looking for a speaker for Sunday morning as well). We will be bulking up TFR's website so that interested churches can read about the conferences and decide if they would like to host one for their individual church bodies or for their local Christian communities. If you would like to learn more about this Biblical Counseling Conference (or perhaps even host one in your church), please give us a call. Also, please watch for TFR's website additions coming very soon!

While Biblical Counseling Conferences are very encouraging in their proactive approach to helping people, TFR's residential counseling continues to be the backbone of this ministry. TFR serves women of all ages who are struggling with life-dominating sins. We are finding that these debilitating problems do not always start for women in their early twenties. Often, they begin much sooner. Therefore, it is wise to try to bring help earlier. (Remember Spurgeon's quote?) We currently have women staying at TFR who are in their 40s, 30s, 20s, and teens (14). In the past, our insurance did not allow TFR to accept juveniles. However, TFR switched insurance carriers just a few months ago, and we are now able to receive juveniles who are emancipated or have parental permission. This has created some difficult dynamics, but by God's grace, we are working through them.

More often than not, the women who come to TFR for help are incredibly smart and talented. Belinda is one such example. A certified 4th and 5th grade teacher from the state of Mississippi, Belinda has this to say: "At the age of twelve I confessed Christ and was baptized. I wish I could say 'from that day forward I grew in Christ and lived for Him.' Sadly, that was not the case. Shortly after my confession I began to be concerned about my physical image, my weight, and getting my way. I rebelled against my parents yo-yoing me back and forth between their homes. At eighteen, sexual sin entered the picture...all the while I was professing Christ. I attended a Christian college, attended church (somewhat), and had a nice job, but in hindsight I knew that meant nothing. Where was my fruit? Where was my heart? As I entered and aged through my twenties, I continued to slowly decline, sinking deeper into the world. Panic attacks began to plague me often. I was prescribed medication to deal with all of my feelings and problems. Anorexia took hold in spurts and bulimic patterns began to emerge. By the time I was 32, I was at the point of death and in a pit of sinfulness. God graciously showed me through the conviction of my heart and the knowledge of His Word that I was not saved.

I counseled with my pastor and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. Finally, after entering treatment centers that only dealt with my behaviors and not my heart, God lead me to The Father's Ranch. Here, God has taught me to deal with my sin and learn what it means to seek Him and rely upon Him for my needs. The holes that my sin created are now being filled with Christ. Today, by God's Grace, He allows me to live without any medication; He allows me freedom from the sin of eating disorders, and He has taken care of my financial needs far beyond what my feeble prayers have asked. He has helped me in restoring relationships with my family, and has helped me have the kind of relationships a Christian woman should have. It is a moment-by-moment surrender of self to Christ. Nothing good is done by me, but through me by Christ. I have far to go, but I know that I am His and that seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness is certainly the right path."

We obviously rejoice with Belinda for what Christ has done in her life. She is yet another trophy of God's redeeming mercy and saving grace. It is our privilege to be able to watch the slow but steady transformation as He changes these beautiful Believers from the inside out.

You are as much a part of this as we are. The LORD, in His sovereignty, uses means to promote His blessings. He uses the means of preaching to bring God's Word close to us so we can hear and repent or be encouraged. He uses means to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who may not otherwise hear. He has certainly used means to provide for TFR in a myriad of ways so that we can reach out with His love and forgiveness to a hurting and wounded culture. When you pray, give, serve, or help TFR in any way, you become a part of these sovereign means that He uses, and we are blessed because of it. So, thank you for giving to TFR in so many different ways, and for supporting us in this life-saving work.

As you know, our society's economy remains in a turbulent, spiraling tailspin. This has impacted most of you, and it has surely impacted us as well. Our ability to grow and serve more women has been temporarily stunted. However, from the beginning, we have done our best to trust in the Lord for His timing and His provision and, Lord willing, we will continue to do so. Our mortgage debt continues to dwindle, even in these difficult economic times. It is now approximately $22,000.00. It amazes me how the Lord brings such rich and abundant fruit-even in the midst of near economic famine-for His people. Please continue to pray for TFR's needs. We had to retire one of our main "people moving" vehicles and we haven't been able to replace it yet. We are in need of a low mileage 12 passenger van. We have our eyes on one but are in need of the provision to purchase it. Please pray for us.

Thank you all so much for your faithful support of TFR. Your financial, prayerful, and sacrificial support keeps TFR moving forward, and enables us to reach deep into our culture to provide a place of hope and healing for the least of these. We value you as our fellow laborers and the ordained means through which our gracious Heavenly Father bestows many of His blessings. May God bless you in 2010. We love you.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Craig Lofthus