Irondale Church News
Irondale Church is a place of promise
The Separation of Church and State
1 Timothy 2:1–2, First of
all, then, I urge that suppli-
cations, prayers, interces-
sions, and thanksgivings be
• Pray always made for all people, for
kings and all who are in
• Pastor David and high positions, that we
Colleen may lead a peaceful and
quiet life, godly and digni-
• Community Soup fied in every way. (ESV)
• Our outreach and
1 Peter 2:17, Honor every-
witness to our
one. Love the brother-
community
hood. Fear God. Honor the
emperor. (ESV)
• Busy Hands
Romans 13:1, Let every
• People struggling
person be subject to the
with illness
governing authorities. For
• Young families and there is no authority ex-
single parent fami- cept from God, and those
lies that exist have been insti-
tuted by God. (ESV)
• Those struggling
with addiction Jeremiah 29:7, But seek
the welfare of the city
• Schools: students,
where I have sent you into
staff, administrators
exile, and pray to the LORD
on its behalf, for in its wel-
• Missionaries
fare you will find your wel-
fare. (ESV)
• Homeless, helpless,
hopeless, hungry
2 Chronicles 7:14, if my
• Local, state, national people who are called by
and world leaders my name humble them-
selves, and pray and seek
my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and
February 2018
heal their land. (ESV)
Psalm 2:10–11, Now there-
fore, O kings, be wise; be
warned, O rulers of the
earth. Serve the LORD with
fear, and rejoice with
trembling. (ESV)
Proverbs 11:14 - For lack of
guidance a nation falls, but
victory is won through
many advisers. (NIV)
Proverbs 21:1 - The king’s
heart is a stream of water
in the hand of the LORD;
he turns it wherever he
will. (ESV)
Job 12:23-25 - He makes
nations great, and he de-
stroys them; he enlarges
nations, and leads them
away. (ESV)
The term, “Separation
of Church and State” is an
offshoot of the phrase,
"wall of separation be-
tween church and state",
as written in Thomas
Jefferson's letter to the
Danbury Baptist Associa-
tion in 1802. In that letter,
referencing the First
Amendment to the United
States Constitution, Jeffer-
son writes:
“Believing with you that
religion is a matter which
lies solely between Man &
his God, that he owes ac-
count to none other for his
faith or his worship, that
the legitimate powers of
government reach actions
only, & not opinions, I con-
template with sovereign
reverence that act of the
whole American people
which declared that their
legislature should 'make no
law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof,' thus building
a wall of separation be-
tween Church and State.”
Jefferson was outlining
what we call
“Commonsense governing”
today. Jefferson’s letter to
Danbury Baptist Associa-
tion is clearly explaining
that there will never be a
“National Church” as there
was in England and the
“Wall of Separation” is still
a good thing.
Think about the conse-
quences of not having a
Wall of Separation. For
example, shall we insist
that prayer be returned to
the classrooms? Without
investigation that sounds
like a winner. But a review
of the religious beliefs of
the local teachers should

“...see, deliverin
kindness ain’t the
pastor’s job. That’s our
job. When Jesus sent
the disciples out two by
two, He didn’t go with
‘em. He stayed back and
laid low, maybe had
Hisself a cup a” coffee.”
“Listen, if the devil ain’t
messin with you, he’s
already got you. If you
is waitin’ to clean up
your own life before you
get out and help
somebody else, you may
as well take off your
shoes and crawl back in
the bed ‘ cause it ain’t
never gon’ happen.
Jesus don’t need no help
from no perfect saints.
If he did, He wouldn’t a
gone up yonder and left
us down here in charge.”
“Don’t give yourself
credit for what you do.
Don’t let your right hand
know what your left is
doin’. If you lookin’ for
pride and prestige and
glory, you lookin’ for
trouble. We got to put
our pride aside and take
care a’ God’s business.”
-Quotes from Denver
Moore, “What difference
do it make? Stories of
Help and Healing.”
Irondale Church News
The Separation of Church and State
send shivers down your
spine. What if we required
the Atheist teacher to lead a
prayer? What would that
teach our children? What if
that teacher were Hindu,
Muslim, Mormon, Jehovah
Witness, openly gay or any of
a number of other things?
No matter what prayer they
lead it would not satisfy most
people and would certainly
confuse the children.
Now imagine a church
where the people gather
based on their political posi-
tions. This is common in oth-
er countries: The Shiites and
the Sunnis of Iraq and Iran;
the Catholics and Protestants
of Ireland. But here in Ameri-
ca we pride ourselves in our
Wall of Separation. How
would it affect our church if
we decided that we would
honor not only the tenets of
salvation through the blood
of Jesus Christ, but a few oth-
er standards as well. Sup-
Walk with the Lord, God Cares for Us All
Last night I took the dogs out-
side about 9:00pm. As I walked
down my driveway with them I
could hear some small animals
in distress. The cries were excit-
edly distressful and sounded as
if they were in great danger and
fear.
Following the sound, Grizz and
Honey Bear began adding in
their two cents worth as we got
closer to the commotion. I had
hopes that if the little animals
were being attacked by some
larger animal the barking dogs
and my approach would chase it
away.
That didn’t happen so I took the
dogs in, got David and River,
pose I went before the
Church next Sunday and out-
lined our new political posi-
tion. Suppose I said our
Church will be stronger if we
all agree on a few political
points. For example, that a
wall should be built between
us and Mexico; that drug
testing should be mandated
for all welfare recipients; that
any person of any age, living
in the US illegally should be
deported immediately, no
exceptions. Oh and starting
next week there will be a
sermon series on loving as
God loves. What kind of a
Church do you think we
would be then? I hope you
can see that the Wall of Sepa-
ration works to protect both
the church and the state.
Though the Bible is full of
politics and politics is full of
the Bible, still it is necessary
for both to have that Wall of
Separation. When political
positions are taught in Church
back out we went to find that
the there was a squirrel that
had gotten tangled in a worn
out tarp’s shredded thread on
top of a trailer, a squirrel that
had gotten down in the trailer,
another one stuck under the
tarp on the roof. David and Riv-
er were able to get the one un-
tangled from the tarp but the
other two would have to wait.
I went in to call the neighbor
and when he answered I began
to explain what the commotion
was all about. I had tried earlier
to call, but no answer. Telling
him that there were actually
three squirrels…that’s when the
voice on the other end said:
“Wow nothing as exciting as
Page 2
it will always create more
questions than answers and
more divisions than unity.
This is why it is important to
not share our political opin-
ions during our teaching
times at Church. All of our
news media sources are cor-
rupted and cannot be taken
as truth. Only the word of
God stands as our road to
freedom.
So I challenge all of you to
have firm Bible based political
positions. But also always
remembering that others
have come to other conclu-
sions and talking them into
your beliefs will not make
them better servants of
Christ. The only way we can
become better servants of
Christ is by learning to hear
and follow the Holy Spirit and
the only way we can accom-
plish that is by prayer and
faithful Bible study.
-Pastor David
this ever happens in Quilcene…
long pause…I regrouped and
apologized for having dialed the
wrong number, the voice on the
other end said, “Well: I hope you
get the squirrels taken care of
and I sure appreciated the call,
you have made an eventful
evening for me. Don’t worry this
was no problem he said, not an
inconvenience at all”….Ugh…..!
God takes all calls too, even
apparently those from squirrels
in trouble….
Walk with the Lord, God
Cares for Us All
Irondale Church News
Walk with the Lord, God Cares for Us All
Walk with the Lord wherever
you are, walk with Him far-
ther, let Him set the bar. You
can trust Him even when His
answer is “no”, when loved
ones pass on and leave you
here below,
Take His hand in the night
when the pain rages on, He
still hears your prayers and
waits for your song.
Let Him lift your burdens and
trust that He knows, every
care every sorrow on life’s
crooked road. His eye is on
the Sparrow…and you… . Sing
on.
In His hands place your bur-
dens, the cares of each day,
each and every prayer He
hears and touches with His
heart of great love, each tear-
drop He stores in a bottle
above. When finally you let
go of “your worries and
fears,” He has room to work
in your heart as your heart’s
not so crowded by things you
can’t change. He will give you
the tools to, just trust in Him
with your terrible pain. Again
He has promised, His loss
would be your gain. Humble
yourself in the sight of the
Lord…He will lift…you up.
Then do it again, “humble
yourself in the sight of the
Lord, and He will lift you
up… . Sing on.
Lay down your plan of life
free from false expectation;
trust Him to love you without
demanding His clear explana-
tions. Why me Lord? Do not
lament. His plan was the
cross and His Blessed Son He
sent, with a heart like your
Lord’s, how can we do any-
thing but repent of our selfish
ways. We deserve nothing,
but He gave us His best.
When we have lain down our
demands we in Him truly will
then rest….
When peace like a river
attendeth our way, when
sorrows like sea billows roll,
whatever my lot…it is well it
is well with my soul… . Sing
on.
Years roll on one after anoth-
er and He gives us the
strength and courage to go
on even with loss of sister or
brother. Life’s cares chip
away at the faith that we
hold, trying to take away the
safe true harbor we
know. “Satan calls us to relin-
quish our tried and true faith,
demanding we call it awk-
ward at best, and lacking sub-
stance at its base.” “Trust in
fear let it lead your life,” Sa-
tan states. Take back con-
trol…Forget that fear brings
nothing but strife.” His lying
tongue rolls on trying to steal
peace and joy from my life.
But NO…! Tho Satan should
buffet…My life is in you Lord,
my strength is in you Lord,
my hope is in you Lord!...in
You it’s in You…I will trust
You with all of my heart!... .
Sing on.
In moments of peril, when
falsehoods are told and
there’s not you can do, know
that the God of Heaven care-
fully watched the plans that
were laid against you. God
never looked away. His heart
saddened by such a sorry
display of the love He’d
poured in one on earth, who
gave into their fears and
weakness, Satan would use
them to “try” and discourage
one of strong faith. All the
while they paraded as “one
filled with grace.” Don’t des-
pair do not fear, Jesus prom
ised He would (NLT Hebrews
Page 3
13:6) “Never leave or forsake
you,” let him walk through
this with you too. If one of
this type is part of your life,
let Jesus’s love be your an-
chor in all that you do. “You
are my hiding place; you al-
ways give me rest, with songs
of deliverance. Whenever I
am afraid, I will trust in
You!... . Sing on.
Be all we can be in the Lord,
never give less than our best.
Satan says we can’t, we’ll fail
the test. In part he is right,
but only true if we walk in our
strength instead of letting
God direct and give us clear
insight. God called us to live
above the pain of life on
earth. Let Him be our
strength, give us our worth.
Our Identity is defined by
Jesus’s birth. We rest not on
our laurels, but His perfect
example of love mercy and
grace. Let our failures and
successes point others to His
loving face.
Give Him away whenever you
can… a hug a smile the works
of your hands. Let others see
the change in your heart you
share with mankind comes
not from you, but from the
hand of God released in your
life…. Name above all
names…, worthy to be
praised…, how great… how
great is our God. Name above
all names, worthy to be
praised, How great…How
great is our God!... . Sing on.
Words are never enough…but
praising Him is! When you
place your situations in His
unfailing, love filled hands,
you place your eyes on eter-
nity and He reminds you, you
are adopted and now
His. He cares more than we
can ever comprehend or
know. After all He came to
this war torn earth, His un-
limited and boundless love
to show. In the middle of
deep trials, you can know He
has borne all our troubles
and experienced our pain.
We pierced Him too, as the
nails held Him there on the
cross of rough wood, and for
us He looked up to heaven
and said, “Father forgive
them they know not what
they do.” He was talking
about me, He was talking
about you. We are all part of
this fallen human race, and
need His grace. Jesus loves
me this I know, for the Bible
tells me so… . Sing on.
His strength is made perfect
in our weakness. Walk with
the Lord, let Him be your
song… . Sing on.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love Colleen
What difference
do it make? Sto-
ries of Help and
Healing
The quotes on the previous
page come from the book,
“What difference do it make:
Stories of Help and Healing,”
the sequel to “Same kind of
different as me: The True
Story of an Unlikely Friend-
ship” by Ron Hall and Denver
Moore. I recommend both
books as real life testimonies
of the Holy Spirit at work in
the most unlikely seeming
situations. Although “Same
kind of different as me” has
been made into a movie, I
imagine reading the book
has the greater impact. -Kim