The gathering at 10 AM at The Gazebo will be all the good things about our community ... beautiful outdoors and personal expressions of gratitude for God’s goodness to us all.  Being non-denominational we don’t argue about the minutia but focus on the core truths of the Bible that have renewed people from all walks of life for 2,000 years.  Try coming to see how good this approach can be.

And bring your picnic lunch to enjoy the great climate we have up here.  That means the weather and the people who love to share.  A flying kite is lots of work for a few but a joy to everyone to watch.  Just so, rockets last only for a moment but what a crowd pleaser they are.  The bigger the crowd the more the pleasure so come and see what an old fashioned celebration can be like.

Questions?  Call John at our office ... 408.353.2302.

On Sunday, February 10, about 100 people joined for a quick lunch and then went to work to encourage our troops.  Working from an American Red Cross list we had pre-purchased items ranging from batteries to energy bars for our packages.  Everyone brought their donations and then packaged them in clear, zip-lock bags for shipment.  We ended up with enough finished packages to fill the back of Leon Milburn’s big (not ‘mini’) van.  An experienced Red Cross volunteer estimated we had packaged 450 pounds of gifts!

One “Blue Star Mom”, Mary Bilingsley with a daughter overseas said,“You just don’t realize how much getting packages like this from home means to our soldiers.  Thank you for doing this.” Here is a picture of her daughter Shannon who grow up in our community.

Everyone wants to do this again later in the year.  Contact us to be notified of the next time we do this.

Here is the letter from the elders:

MOUNTAIN BIBLE CHURCH’S COMMITMENT TO THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

Mountain Bible Church is an evangelical non-denominational Bible Church.  In capsule summary, we believe that Jesus was the son of God, that he was crucified on the cross as payment for our sins so that we can have eternal life and a living and vital relationship with the creator, that the proof of this promise is that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, was seen by several hundred witnesses and ascended up to heaven to act as an intercessor for us with God. 

We believe that this sacrifice of love represents God’s grace and salvation for mankind (John 3:16). We believe that through the same process of grace, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers to help guide them to a loving relationship with God and by the same Spirit of grace prompt believers to love one another in action and in deed (Gal 5:13-15).  This active and vibrant relationship is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and represents the Gospel, or “good news”, of Christ.  We also believe that all believers are commissioned by God to share this powerful message of love and “good news” to the world (Matt 28:18-20) as we look forward to Jesus’ promised return.

We believe that the grace of God found through Christ was the primary message of Jesus and the Apostles and represents the enduring theme of the Christian Church.  As a result it is a heartache for us to see the Church divided into numerous denominations, or sects*, over issues and doctrines other than those found in the foundational Gospel of Christ.  It is, therefore, our goal as a church to be advocates of this simple, profound, and complete Gospel message, and to challenge those doctrines that claim to add to this message and divide the church. (1 Tim 1:3,4, Gal 1:6,7)

This advocacy has recently been challenged by a doctrine called the “Word of the Kingdom”.  Some have left our church because of their interest in this belief system and John Haak’s lack of willingness to teach it.  After considerable study of this doctrine, we have come to the conclusion that it clearly adds to the Gospel message and leads to a very specific point of view that departs from traditional evangelical Christianity. We have also come to believe that its Bible exposition techniques are not consistent with proven and accepted methods of study.  Therefore, because of our commitment to the Gospel of Christ we can not support or recommend it.

The criticism by some that John is not teaching the “whole Gospel” is also unfounded.  We support his decision to not teach the sectarian doctrine contained in the “Word of the Kingdom”.  John preaches exegetical (non-topical) sermons, going through the New Testament every 10 years, and the Old Testament every 13 years, in a cogent, honest and thorough manner.

Lastly, it should be strongly emphasized, that though we are compelled to speak against this theology, it is not our desire to, in any way, personally denigrate those in our community who have decided to study it.  We believe they are sincere in their beliefs.  Also, we have never wanted, or asked anyone, to leave our fellowship over this issue.  It would give us great joy to warmly welcome back any who have left. 

The elders

*Def: Groups adhering to a very specifically defined doctrine or methodology of belief.