"But encourage one another daily , as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13-14

Dear Friends and Family,

No matter what translation of the Bible you're reading from, there are dozens and dozens of "one another" verses to be found.  The obvious conclusion that we should draw from this repetitiveness is that we need each other.  It's that simple.  The Body of Christ desperately needs one another in order to stay healthy, obedient, and fruitful.  If we allow ourselves to become absent from the fellowship of Believers or grow distant and superficial, we will suffer because of it.  Knowing the wonderful encouragement and accountability that comes through the Church, along with the understanding of sin's deceitfulness, we should not allow ourselves to become isolated from Her...ever.  This is one of the main reasons why people enjoy the holiday season so much.  We love it because the holidays typically include much more "community" through traditional get-togethers and such than is found throughout the rest of the year.  This is also the reason why depression is so common after the holidays.  This kind of community-living drops off drastically right after the New Year celebrations, and isolation becomes the norm once again.

The Puritans understood these Biblical principles.  As a Christian community, they would not allow their members to live alone.  They always lived in family and/or community until they married and then started their own family/community.  They understood the foothold that aloneness provided for the enemy of their souls and the temptation that it supplied for the deceitfulness of the human heart.  Therefore, they lived in Christian community with one another, much like the early Church did when..."All the believers were together and had everything in common." Acts 2:44. For the record, I personally am in hearty agreement with the Puritans ideology and methodology when it comes to Christian community.  I don't believe it is healthy, encouraging, or wise for a Christian man or woman to live alone, ever, if at all possible.

Whether it's drugs, alcohol, or an eating/exercise disorder, dealing with addictions is common here at TFR.  As of late we have witnessed the rise of a new, more modern addiction...an addiction to technology.  We may not see this information written in their initial application, but as time goes by with no cell phone, texting, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc, many of our students realize that they have more addictions than they originally thought.  Let me share with you what this often looks like:  "I get 30 plus e-mails a day.  My cell phone is constantly buzzing with calls and texts from a dozen different people.  I get tweeted and re-tweeted.  I have a ton of phone messages waiting for me when I get home, and I spend over 3 hours per day on Facebook.  All of this and I've never felt more isolated in my life.  What's worse is that I know what I need but I can't find it.  The closest I've come is a Sunday morning worship service and a mid-week, small-group Bible study.  When the services are over, all I can think about is checking my cell phone messages, e-mail, my Twitter account, and getting on Facebook.  I'm lonely." Even though her application may say that "exercise anorexia" is her main problem, with her daily life so wrapped up in technology she isn't even in a position for the Church to truly help her.  Many of our students are addicted to these social networking communities and none of them are fulfilling their need for authentic fellowship.  This is a sad and very common situation...even within the Church.

You know, she's not alone.  This addiction and subsequent isolation that technology is fostering has become widespread and almost completely ignored by the masses.  While technology has certainly supplemented our communication and made it more accessible, the irony is that this hyper-socialization has also fostered a painful superficiality.  Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for our cell phones and technology...to a degree.  I'm thankful for it every time my wife goes driving into town, and I'm thankful for e-mail when I want to write to someone (as I am doing now).  I'm not proposing that we should abandon all technology and hide away from the culture at large.  However, we shouldn't believe for a moment that these technological means of communication can somehow replace our primary need for meaningful, Christian fellowship...because they can't!  As a matter of fact, if this technology is being used as a substitute for our mainstream relationships, as most of it is, then the texting, Facebooking, Twittering Christian culture of today will be the spiritually dwarfed, isolated, hardened, and superficial Christian community of tomorrow.  These dots surely connect.  We are at risk of raising an entire Christian generation of technologically competent people who are relationally superficial and know very little about honest and transparent Christian community.

The busyness of our schedules, the selfishness of our own hearts, the tendency to hide when sin has infiltrated us, and the technology of the day are all militating against this life-sustaining Christian community.  The proverbial frog has been in this ever-warming water for way too long now, and it's beginning to boil folks.  It's time to jump out of the cauldron and get back into real and meaningful relationships within the Church.  We need authentic Christian community.  Yes, we need the Church.

Student Testimonial:

TFR graduated another wonderful young lady from our program.  Andi came to TFR emotionally wounded and depressed.  She returned to Grants Pass, Oregon a few weeks back with new convictions, a new paradigm, and a new Biblical skill set.  She had this to say before she left:  "I have learned a lot here at TFR during the past six months. Learning the basics of cooking, food prep, canning, gardening, house cleaning, and barn chores has all been helpful.  All these things have been good for me in that they teach me practical skills and how to use my time wisely instead of sitting around not doing anything like I did before coming to the ranch. But these have not been the ultimate help for me.  The ultimate help came on a spiritual level.

I have learned to hide God’s Word in my heart by memorizing Scripture. It’s so incredibly helpful to have these skills so I can push temptation away. One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I can sing to God now, focusing on Him and His Word to get unhealthy thoughts out of my mind.  I have learned to replace the sinful with the Biblical through "putting on and putting off" principles.  I have learned to be busy and take responsibility. All of this has helped me to avoid laziness and the depression that often came with it. I have learned to serve others and to submit to a higher authority, the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m so thankful that God has given TFR to me in my time of need.  Thank you all for helping me." Please remember Andi in your prayers as she returns to a difficult situation in Oregon.  She is already being missed around the ranch, and we wish her the very best in Christ.  Thank you for locking arms with us and making our ministry to Andi, and others like her, possible.

Annual Christmas Concert:

It's that time of year again, and the gals here at TFR have been busy practicing Christmas music for TFR's Annual Christmas Concert.  Well, actually, it's not only the gals here who are practicing hard this year, but many gifted musicians from across the county who have been associated with TFR in one way or another.  This concert has become quite the community event and we're thrilled to see so many incredibly talented folks participating.  This concert is always a highlight for everyone at TFR because of the opportunity it affords to share Christ in song, word, and deed with those who may not otherwise ever enter into the sanctuary of a church.

Normally, we have the opportunity to travel across the state and sing in a few different venues during the month of December.  Unfortunately for us that opportunity simply isn't there this year, so we are hoping that you and yours will be able to come be with us for this one-time Christmas musical event.  It will be held on Friday, December 10th at 7:00 p.m. at the Tonasket Bible Church and all are welcome.  Refreshments will be served afterwards with an extended opportunity for fellowship.  The concert will include plenty of classical Christmas music as well as some contemporary numbers.  There should be something for everyone to enjoy.  If you are a lover of Christmas music as I am, you won't want to miss this one.  I believe that Christmas music is some of the richest, most meaningful music that has ever been penned.  We hope to see y'all there!

BCCO Conference News:

The Biblical Counseling Center of Okanogan along with the Tonasket Free Methodist Church is preparing to host TFR's Annual Biblical Counseling Conference during the last weekend of January, 2011.  The conference will start on Friday evening January 28th and continue through Saturday, January 29th.   The cost for this two-day event is $20.00 per person or $35.00 per couple, which is the same as it was last year.  We will be enjoying some very gifted speakers, coming to us from across the state, to address some of the most difficult and relevant counseling topics from a purely Biblical perspective.  There will be a resource table for purchasing books, CD's, and DVD's on the topics that we cover during the conference and many other topics as well.  This conference is an excellent and practical way for people to sharpen their ministry skills and deepen their knowledge of God's Word for practical and relevant use.

The conference starts Friday evening and lasts through Saturday (early) evening.  Please come for part or all of it.  If you are planning on coming in from out of town and are in need of accommodations, you may give the Best Western (Pepper Tree Inn) a call in Omak at (866) 728-0365.  Mention that you are coming in for the Biblical Counseling Conference to guarantee discounted rates.  You can register for the conference by calling TFR or paying through TFR's website and specifying the PayPal payment as being for the Biblical Counseling Conference.  Please do try to register before January 15th, although last minute registrations will be accepted at the door, space permitting.  If you or your Church would like brochures, please give Dawn a call here at TFR, and she will get those out to you as soon as they are ready.  Log onto our web site to learn more at: www.thefathersranch.com/bcco/annual-conference.

Ministry News:

The weather gurus called for an early winter and so far, they were right!  We already have nearly a foot of snow on the ground and have felt the chilly bite of -15 degrees.  The chickens flat out rebelled by not producing any eggs for us.  We had the last laugh and will be enjoying their tasty presence throughout the winter months.

Everyone is talking about finances and the economy these days.  Non-profits from far and wide are inundating the masses with their phone solicitations and their mailings.  TFR is tightening it's belt as well.  We won't be able to do as many mailings as we normally have, so if you aren't on TFR's e-mail list, please let us know.  We'd love to be able to keep you in the loop.  We try to send out a monthly communication to everyone on the e-mail list and a hardcopy newsletter goes out once every three months.  That may be bumped to every four months.

We have some physical needs here at TFR we could use your prayers for:

* A replacement work truck for our retired one.

* We could use a portable (15,000 watt) generator for our main water backup during power outages.

* Continued provision for the ministry to be able to receive those who come to us for help.

* Continued provision for the workers in the ministry to be able to serve those who come for help.

Those are our biggies.  The Lord has provided for all of our winter hay, our septic emptying has been completed, our canning is done, we made our insurance payment, and our mortgage is down to about $8,500.00.  We have absolutely nothing to whine about and everything to be thankful for!  God continues to meet all of our needs (physical and spiritual) according to His riches in glory, and we have once again, been given far more than what we deserve.

As we head towards the end of yet another year of service, we pray that you will consider TFR to be a trusted and valuable investment of resources.  As we serve the hurting and rescue the perishing with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray that you will choose to lock arms with us and bolster us through your prayers, your love, and your support.  We count it a major privilege to be partnered with you in this work.  May you have a wonderful, Christ-centered Christmas and be blessed through the rich fellowship of family and friends into the new year.

Soli Deo Gloria,