I want to announce a miraculous birth. It has taken place in Bethlehem of Judea. It was to a young virgin by the name of Mary. Though people have said otherwise, the supposed father is Joseph. Both were in Bethlehem for the census that was being taken. The reason I can report a miraculous birth is because the shepherds came and all reported that angels told them about it. I believe them because there were so many shepherds reporting it and they were so excited that I would have been foolish not to believe it. You can read about it in Matthew and Luke of the Bible.

My second announcement this time is one that I have not lightly thought about. I have considered, for months now, the possibility of writing this newsletter every quarter instead of monthly and go to an evangelistic publication. I plan to go to that schedule because of lack of enthusiasm by those we send to in the local area and to concentrate more on evangelism. I am taken away from evangelism and sermon writing when I write this newsletter. Also, since there is a determined lack of participation from those I am sending this to in the area, I feel it does no good to send this to some of these people. I realize I am not the best preacher in the world. I just preach the truth. I realize I don't have the best speech in the world. I'm just teaching what the Bible says. I do have the truth of the word and having the truth of the word I need to get that truth out. It offends me when I hear someone mouth participation but does not actually participate.
Starting in January I will limit sending this newsletter out to once every quarter. I will attempt to get the names and addresses of the people in this area from the Blue Ridge Parkway south to Boones Mill. I would like to start inviting them to the services of the church. Since many of you choose not to attend even when the hours don't conflict with other church services the only help I ask from you is don't complain and don't oppose me.
The church is an organism, for lack of a better term. It requires attention and participation. If my arm decided not to participate in the function of my body, not only would my body suffer but also the arm would eventually suffer. I would loose the use of the arm and it would loose the nourishment from the body and soon die. This is the same effect that is happening with those members who refuse to participate in the function of the body of believers. The body looses the aid of their function and they loose the nourishment from the body of believers. The survival rate, for those who do not participate in the body of believers, is very low. We are wheel chair accessible. If my car, or any one's car is in the way of wheel chair access let us know so that we can move it or have it moved. Jesus did not make participation optional. You need us as much as we need you. I have visited several of you since I have been here. I don't see it as the minister's duty to come to your house to try to shore you up or get you to come to church. Participation in the body of Christ, the Church, is what makes a person well in spirit. The consequences otherwise are not good. The preacher cannot keep the Church operating very long by himself. He needs participants, fellow servants. He needs those who are not only willing to attend but also those who lend a hand.
A third announcement: Please contact us with your prayer request. If we don't hear from you, or from someone about you, within several weeks we will assume you are either no longer interested or no longer need prayer. How can we guess at your prayer needs without communication? Some, on the list, we have never heard from since we have been here, except the return cards. We will place names on the prayer list from month to month. If we have a prayer request one month but not the next we will not know to include them on the next prayer list. This goes for the Sunday prayer list as well as the newsletter prayer list. For the Sunday prayer list, you may contact us by Saturday night to be included. For the, now to be quarterly, newsletter prayer list we will need to be contacted by the end of the previous month. That is by the end of February, May, August and November.

I have to thank my wife for bringing two books about the end times to my attention. Both of them refute the "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The first one was in Time magazine called "The Last Disciple" by Hank Hanegraaff. Mr. Hanegraaff is a radio talk show host and is called the "Bible Answer Man." It was published by the same publisher that published the Left Behind series, Tyndale House. When Tyndale requested Tim LaHaye to debate the author he declined because he said he didn't want to promote such "flawed theory." (I take issue with him calling something flawed since he has closed his mind to the truth). The second book is "The Rapture Exposed" reviewed in the Roanoke Times newspaper. The reviewer is a Presbyterian Preacher named William R. Klein. The book was written by Barbara R. Rossing an ordained minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Now, I take issue with the ordaining of women to this office but the premise of her book sounds interesting). I haven't read either of these books and don't intend to. I'll stick to the author I know about and trust. David Vaughn Elliott also refutes the "Left Behind" series. I included two of his articles on Babylon last month and several more this month. His web site is http://insight2bp.homestead.com. He also has a new website to order his new book "Nobody Left Behind" at, www.nobodyleftbehind.net

You may also find his book at Amazon.com. I have placed his articles on a separate sheet this month. It looks like