540
surrounding his killing are hazy 1 .” Do we see any- thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi- cer, or even a confronta- tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be- ing baited to believe something. This is some- thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis- ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis- leading statements. I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes- sage with the same mean- ing? Does it make a dif- ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an- other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear- diet of misspoken expres- sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es- cape. In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen- eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it. Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat- ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat- ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered. Here’s an exam- ple, three days after Mi- chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re- ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po- lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac- knowledge, but the facts THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU! 29 June 2015 Irondale Church News Irondale Church News Pray Always: Pastor David and Colleen Community Soup Irondale Bible Insti- tute Our outreach and witness to our com- munity Busy Hands People struggling with illness Young families and single parent fami- lies Those struggling with addictions Schools: students, staff, administrators Missionaries Homeless, helpless, hopeless and hungry Salvation for the lost Law enforcement professionals The military serving at home and abroad

News

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 2: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 3: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 4: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 5: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 6: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Trisha White 444 McComb Ave Cheyenne WA 82007

Page 7: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 8: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 9: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 10: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 11: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 12: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Louise Barcelou 61 W. Kinkaid St,. Port Hadlock WA 98336

Page 13: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 14: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 15: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 16: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 17: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 18: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Agnes Barker 1511 Eagle Ridge Dr. S. #F 7 Renton WA 98055

Page 19: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 20: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 21: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 22: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 23: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 24: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Patricia Benz 2481 Anderson Lake Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 25: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 26: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 27: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 28: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 29: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 30: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Kathy Braun PO Box 627 Chimacum WA 98325

Page 31: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 32: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 33: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 34: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 35: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 36: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Cathleen Brown 1503 7th St. SW Puyallup WA 98371

Page 37: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 38: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 39: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 40: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 41: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 42: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Shelly Brown PO Box 756 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 43: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 44: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 45: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 46: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 47: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 48: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Joe & Beth Burson 100 North Bay Way Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 49: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 50: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 51: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 52: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 53: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 54: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Wilma Calkins Victoria House Apt. 131 491 Discovery Road Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 55: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 56: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 57: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 58: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 59: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 60: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Brian & LeNoir Conklin 720 Irondale Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 61: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 62: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 63: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 64: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 65: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 66: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Chad & Amy Crandall 9033 Beaver Valley Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 67: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 68: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 69: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 70: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 71: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 72: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Dave & Gail Eddie PO Box 237 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 73: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 74: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 75: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 76: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 77: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 78: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Eleanor Eldridge PO Box 311 Chimacum WA 98325

Page 79: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 80: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 81: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 82: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 83: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 84: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

LeRoy Glessing 3920 San Juan Ave. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 85: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 86: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 87: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 88: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 89: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 90: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Fritz & Nancy Gordon 46 Village Way PMB 151 Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 91: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 92: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 93: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 94: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 95: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 96: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Sharon Miller 85 Garden Ct. Rd. #4-5 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 97: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 98: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 99: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 100: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 101: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 102: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jerry Lanphear 1486 S. Jacob Miller Rd. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 103: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 104: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 105: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 106: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 107: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 108: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Neil Smith 221 Aslan Dr. Sequim WA 98382

Page 109: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 110: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 111: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 112: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 113: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 114: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Tim & Kelly Drennan 111 Irondale Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 115: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 116: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 117: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 118: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 119: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 120: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Kim Vasenda 171 3rd St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 121: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 122: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 123: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 124: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 125: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 126: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Debbie Boyd 12 E. Spruce St. Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 127: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 128: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 129: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 130: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 131: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 132: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Catherine Aman 3368 Gerrard Ave. Eau Claire WI 54701

Page 133: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 134: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 135: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 136: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 137: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 138: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Sandy Larson 390 S. 8th St. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 139: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 140: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 141: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 142: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 143: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 144: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Lee Wilcox 4809 W. Max's Lane Spokane WA 99224

Page 145: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 146: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 147: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 148: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 149: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 150: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Tyrus Wilcox 3300 Airport Rd. #E-25 Alamogordo NM 88310-8111

Page 151: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 152: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 153: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 154: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 155: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 156: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Barrie & Susan Hay 2417 Ivy St. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 157: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 158: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 159: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 160: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 161: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 162: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Laverne Hicks 1410 Irondale Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 163: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 164: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 165: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 166: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 167: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 168: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Judy Hiett 8701 S. Kolb Rd. #6-195 Tucson AZ 85756

Page 169: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 170: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 171: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 172: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 173: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 174: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Marie Hodgin PO Box 444 Hamilton WA 98255

Page 175: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 176: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 177: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 178: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 179: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 180: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Mike & Janet Hodgin 3806 Gala Loop Bellingham WA 98226

Page 181: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 182: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 183: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 184: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 185: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 186: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Pastor David & Colleen Hodgin 452 W. Valley Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 187: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 188: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 189: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 190: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 191: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 192: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jake & Julia Fulton 514 Bywater Way Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 193: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 194: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 195: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 196: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 197: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 198: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Roger Horner 454 W. Valley Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 199: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 200: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 201: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 202: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 203: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 204: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Butch & Diane Hoyle 36999 Hoyle Ln. Sedro Wooley WA 98284

Page 205: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 206: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 207: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 208: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 209: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 210: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Carson & Judy Inman PO Box 217 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 211: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 212: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 213: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 214: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 215: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 216: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Leroy Inman 220 E. Moore St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 217: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 218: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 219: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 220: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 221: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 222: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

John & Christine Jamison PO Box 1411 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 223: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 224: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 225: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 226: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 227: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 228: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Betty Judkins PO Box 388 Chimacum WA 98325

Page 229: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 230: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 231: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 232: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 233: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 234: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Charles & Shirley Kleser 30 Westridge Ct. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 235: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 236: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 237: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 238: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 239: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 240: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Maurice Lindell 160 Windship Dr. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 241: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 242: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 243: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 244: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 245: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 246: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Glen & Anna Kominak PO Box 1232 Twisp WA 98856

Page 247: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 248: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 249: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 250: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 251: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 252: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Lois Ludwig 1051 Hancock St. Apt. # 204 Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 253: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 254: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 255: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 256: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 257: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 258: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

John & Bonnie Ludwig 20 Cedar Ave. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 259: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 260: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 261: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 262: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 263: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 264: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Bob & Audrey Mackey 41 Trader Ln. Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 265: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 266: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 267: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 268: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 269: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 270: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

John & Joy Modispacher 403 Hadlock Bay Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 271: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 272: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 273: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 274: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 275: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 276: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Marge Webb 8233 Lariat Trail NW Bremerton WA 98311

Page 277: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 278: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 279: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 280: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 281: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 282: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Anne Wheelock 12203 Shorewood Dr. SW Burien WA 98146

Page 283: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 284: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 285: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 286: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 287: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 288: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Charles & Shirley Gadbaw 711 Egg & I Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 289: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 290: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 291: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 292: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 293: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 294: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Kathleen Horner 1051 Hancock St. #105 Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 295: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 296: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 297: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 298: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 299: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 300: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Mike & Rona Anderson 445 Embody Rd. Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 301: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 302: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 303: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 304: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 305: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 306: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jim & Kim Wilcox 34 E. Moore St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 307: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 308: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 309: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 310: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 311: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 312: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Karen Gold 75 Flora Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 313: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 314: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 315: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 316: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 317: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 318: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Brian & Jillian Greenwood PO Box 236 Quilcene WA 98376

Page 319: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 320: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 321: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 322: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 323: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 324: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Dave & Mary Noble 52 Fir Circle Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 325: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 326: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 327: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 328: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 329: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 330: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Troy & Melissa Norman 272 Cedar Ave. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 331: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 332: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 333: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 334: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 335: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 336: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Kate Olsen 2481 Anderson Lake Road Chimacum WA 98325

Page 337: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 338: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 339: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 340: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 341: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 342: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

David & Linda Ramsey 190 Sherwood Rd. Sequim WA 98382

Page 343: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 344: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 345: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 346: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 347: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 348: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Cathy Racine 720 Irondale Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 349: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 350: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 351: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 352: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 353: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 354: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Stan & Patricia Schaff 80 W. Eugene St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 355: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 356: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 357: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 358: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 359: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 360: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jim & Janice Schauer PO Box 274 Chimacum WA 98325

Page 361: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 362: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 363: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 364: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 365: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 366: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Wally & Leatha Smith 280 French Rd. Port Ludlow WA 98365

Page 367: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 368: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 369: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 370: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 371: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 372: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Charlie & Joy Stewart PO Box 38 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 373: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 374: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 375: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 376: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 377: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 378: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Chuck Stewart PO Box 38 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 379: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 380: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 381: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 382: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 383: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 384: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Donald Swanson 6212 Beaver Valley Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 385: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 386: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 387: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 388: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 389: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 390: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Bob & Su Tipton PO Box 54 Nordland WA 98358

Page 391: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 392: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 393: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 394: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 395: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 396: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Mike & Margaret Plumb 88806 Faulhaber Rd. Elmira OR 97437

Page 397: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 398: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 399: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 400: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 401: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 402: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Dale & Sue Peterson PO Box 921 Winthrop WA 98862

Page 403: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 404: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 405: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 406: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 407: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 408: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Chuck & Millie Hodgin 23807 Terrell Lane Sedro-Wooley WA 98284

Page 409: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 410: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 411: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 412: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 413: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 414: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jim Nickerson 21759 Sterling Dr. Sedro-Wooley WA 98284

Page 415: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 416: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 417: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 418: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 419: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 420: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Hank & Rosalie Reimers 2227 6th Ave. N. Great Falls MT 59401

Page 421: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 422: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 423: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 424: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 425: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 426: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Chuck & Norma Trueman 31870 SR 20 Lyman WA 98284

Page 427: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 428: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 429: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 430: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 431: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 432: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jason & Cristie VanCamp 43 Cedar Ave. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 433: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 434: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 435: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 436: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 437: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 438: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Patrick & Kathi VanCamp 3521 Center Valley Rd. Chimacum WA 98325

Page 439: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 440: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 441: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 442: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 443: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 444: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Wayne Shirts 204 8th St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 445: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 446: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 447: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 448: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 449: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 450: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Ray & Rita Sayer 2481 Anderson Lake Road Chimacum WA 98325

Page 451: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 452: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 453: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 454: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 455: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 456: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

David & Jenny Brengan 81 Shotwell Rd. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 457: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 458: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 459: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 460: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 461: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 462: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Randall Goldsmith PO Box 1056 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 463: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 464: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 465: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 466: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 467: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 468: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Michael & Laura Brittain 91 Patison St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 469: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 470: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 471: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 472: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 473: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 474: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Elmer & Russea Headley 440 8th St. Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 475: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 476: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 477: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 478: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 479: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 480: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jeanne Ridgeway 3724 Pine Rd. Sp. 22 Bremerton WA 98310

Page 481: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 482: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 483: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 484: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 485: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 486: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Krystal Gadbaw PO Box 771 Port Hadlock WA 98339

Page 487: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 488: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 489: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 490: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 491: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 492: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jay & Janice Hundtoft 460 Jolie Way Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 493: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 494: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 495: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 496: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 497: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 498: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jon & Aleta Georg-Groenig PO Box 795 Port Hadlock WA 98368

Page 499: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 500: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 501: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 502: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 503: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 504: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Rebecca Gibson 1235 Landes St. Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 505: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 506: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 507: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 508: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 509: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 510: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

John & Betty Bobo PO Box 190 Quilcene WA 98376

Page 511: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 512: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 513: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 514: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 515: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 516: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

B.J. & Jodi Hallinan 191 Airport Road Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 517: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 518: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 519: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 520: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 521: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 522: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Bill & Judy Plice 1005 31st Street Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 523: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 524: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 525: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 526: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 527: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 528: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Melanie & Alan Lunde 6878 Goodwin Rd. Everson WA 98247

Page 529: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 530: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 531: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 532: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 533: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 534: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Tim & Hannah Montgomery 1014 Adams Apt. A Port Townsend WA 98368

Page 535: News

surrounding his killing are hazy1.” Do we see any-thing implied here? There was a “killing,” a killing not an arrest gone bad, or an assault on a police offi-cer, or even a confronta-tion, there was a “killing.” The person killed was an 18 year old, barely more than a child and worst of all he was just “walking down the street with a friend.” Of course I know nothing of the details, but I do know when I am be-ing baited to believe something. This is some-thing ministers know a lot about. The good minis-ters avoid baiting people into the faith and simply ask and re-ask, “Have you considered Christ?” Good news reporters report the news, they don’t inflame their readers with mis-leading statements.

I am thinking about our words and how we use them. How we say what we say. “That shirt looks good on you,” or “You look good in that shirt.” Is it the same mes-sage with the same mean-ing? Does it make a dif-ference how you say it, as long as a compliment is intended? To say ‘you look good in that shirt’ sort of implies you may not look so good in an-other one. Where “That shirt looks good on you,” says the person makes the shirt. It’s not something to go crazy over, but in the long run a steady ear-diet of misspoken expres-sions will paint your brain in a corner it cannot es-cape.

In the news lately we have seen bannered the expression, “Black lives matter.” As if there is some doubt about that. But the expression implies there is doubt, by the gen-eral public and definitely by the police. “Black lives matter” is a simple little statement intended to do well, but it exposes a

deeper problem. It leads us down a path of “you look good in that shirt.” The path where there is more being said behind the thought than through it.

Imagine two guys, one a blue-eyed bald man holding up a sign that reads, “White lives mat-ter,” the other a black man with a sign that reads, “Black lives mat-ter.” Our culture tells us the white guy is a white supremacist raging with hate and the other is a disadvantaged black man longing for equal rights. The conclusion is made for us before any facts are gathered.

Here’s an exam-ple, three days after Mi-chael Brown Jr. died in Ferguson MO, NBC re-ported, “Here is what we know about the killing of Michael Brown, 18. Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was shot to death by a Ferguson po-lice officer on Saturday afternoon, all parties ac-knowledge, but the facts

THAT SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!

29

June 2015

Irondale Church News

Irondale Church News

Pray Always:

Pastor David and

Colleen

Community Soup

Irondale Bible Insti-

tute

Our outreach and

witness to our com-

munity

Busy Hands

People struggling

with illness

Young families and

single parent fami-

lies

Those struggling

with addictions

Schools: students,

staff, administrators

Missionaries

Homeless, helpless,

hopeless and hungry

Salvation for the lost

Law enforcement

professionals

The military serving

at home and abroad

Page 536: News

We saw this again in Olympia on May 21. The head-lines of the Seattle PI read, “Olympia cop shoots 2 un-armed men suspected of steal-ing beer” The article begins, “Two stepbrothers suspected of trying to steal beer from a gro-cery store were not armed with guns when they were later shot Thursday by a police officer who confronted them in the state's capital city…..” Do you see the bait? Do you see how the media is spoon feeding us the conclusion as it reports? It begins with the headline, “cop” not a more respectful term like ‘officer’ or ‘policeman’ but “cop.” “Shoots 2 unarmed men,” sounds like there was no encounter, just another killing. “Suspected of stealing beer,” suspected is such a vague term. The headline is leading us to believe that the only thing we know is some cop killed two unarmed men. When the arti-cle begins they are, “suspected of trying to steal beer.” Sounds like they didn’t even steal the beer, they were just “trying” to. Then the bait ramps up, “a po-lice officer who confronted them,” how does a policeman “confront” a suspect? Police don’t “confront” they question, they apprehend, they pursue and they arrest. Once again as in Ferguson the media sets the hype without the facts. (Of course I don’t know the officers involved and they may be big-ots, but I really doubt it, be-cause if they were, the media

would not have to bait us.) But if you are looking

for facts, here are some facts. From 2010-15 law enforcement officers in the United States killed 2,2221 people. During that same timeframe 7032 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. This means that for every 3 citizens that are killed by police officers, a police officer died. Bet you did-n’t know that. That is the type of thing that gets left out by people who are trying to create the news rather than report it.

How are you doing when you are baited to believe something? Are you falling for it or leaving it for what it is? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Romans 16:17-18 adds to that, “I appeal to you, broth-ers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create ob-stacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the na-ive.” God wants us to be in-formed and knowledgeable. Completely believing in some-thing, anything, requires faith. But having faith does not mean we check our brains at the door, it means quite the oppo-site. We are challenged to study God, place our trust in

Him and see if He’s for real. The more we lean on Him the stronger He becomes.

Do not buy into every-thing you hear or read. It was the mob-mentality that cruci-fied Christ. There are people out there with some weird agendas and they will bait you into believing what they want you to believe. Sometimes even those who may claim to be like-minded with you may twist the message just enough to throw you off course.

Remember Jesus’ words, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents a n d i n n o c e n t a s doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). And by the way, keep smiling, joyful people really irk the Devil and just so you know, that shirt looks good on you!

-Pastor David 1http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/killing-unarmed-teen-what-we-know-about-browns-death-n178696 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_killings_by_law_enforcement_officers_in_the_United_States 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_police_officers killed_in_the_line_of_duty#2015

That Shirt Looks Good on You! continued

Page 2 Irondale Church News

Enjoy the Kid’s Club pictures in the following pages

Page 537: News

Ok, so we didn’t exactly pray for the fish, except that they would be very Hungry! God blessed a total of 16 of us with three boats, heading to Lake Leland for our first ever “Kid’s Club” fishing derby.

We prayed for sunshine, we got and abundance of rain. I mean an abundance of rain! Good thing Shirley was my co-pilot. It sprin-kled on the way down with a few breaks, draw-ing us in with a sneaky display of just being over-cast at some points.

Haw! That was just a net about to be drawn tight. It started to sprinkle again just as we were getting the boats launched. With all the kids life jacketed, handed out their poles and given their own personal fish stringers (very sweetly made by Russea, com-plete with hand wiping cloths) they were loaded in the boats captained by Elmer, Troy and Pastor David. Off they headed with their gleeful fishing people, all talking at once and very excited. And then it began to p o u r ……………pour…………..pour….

I am proud to say our pre-fishing school and pole use in Kid’s Club

paid off, not a one of our kid’s hooked another child and only one pole had to be abandoned in a tangled mess. Extra poles had been brought for just such an occasion.

However one boat who’s captain (name not mentioned as I live with him) was apparently suffering a mutiny as he gave up the helm briefly and the mutineers did manage to wrap a line in the boat propeller during the melee.

The reports rolled in “Colleen.” “Hello its Russea; Dymon caught the first fish! Manasseh and Sara caught fish too!” I am not sure who was more delighted, Russea or named lucky child! Kids whom had never fished before caught their first ever fish! Some caught multiple fish. Some caught no fish and the rain did not discrimi-nate in its torrential downpour, it rained on the successful and the not so successful! Just like life!

Adults caught fish, some adults even (we were told) threw back the fish of those adults who were catching more fish than them!!! We were one person short on boat seating and I elected to wait on the

shore; so, no it wasn’t me who threw back the fish.

As I fished from the bank you could hear the shouts of laughter, you could hear singing. I looked at the other fish-ermen on the shore near me, there were big smiles on their faces as well as they took it all in.

We continued to be drenched, but no one thought we ought to go back. I would get regular updates on my cell phone as catches were made but for the most part I didn’t need them as the shrieks of delight or dis-appointment at the one that got away carried across the water.

I watched in amazement as two of our adult women in a small boat both stood up to fish at the same time, they hadn’t got the memo that you probably shouldn’t do that even in a small sturdy boat. One of them made the deci-sion to cast from the standing position and that’s all it took for stra-tegic fishing dancing methods to be em-ployed…. Thankfully there was a true seaman on board who saved the day!!! I only wish the whole thing had been caught on tape (for pos-terity’s sake you know)

Pray for the Fish!

Page 3 Irondale Church News

Page 538: News

and we could use it in one of our teaching les-sons on fishing etiquette.

It continued to pour. I was entertained by the company of multi-ple otters who felt the need to hang out with me on the shore and a family of newborn ducklings and their mother swimming by (the little runt in the back couldn’t quite keep up and occasionally even his mad paddling would fail him and the mother would come back to give him a poke with her beak...sheesh...it’s even hard to be a duck some-days!!!

Lest you feel I was cheated by not being out on the water, the two fishermen to my left would occasionally men-tion they thought they

should go get lunch and maybe dry out. (Sissies I thought, why even our littlest fisherman hadn’t offered any complaint!) What I didn’t know was they were wise to the ways of Leland Lake fish and as they would begin to make motions of leav-ing they would each catch a fish in spite of the local otters! I waited with baited breath for them to leave so I could have their “lucky” spot. Finally they did leave and I had just started to relocate to the prized position when the voices from the water seemed a lot closer and sure enough here they all came drowned as rats but with grins that would-n’t quit.

I asked “Did you have fun?” Silly question, their faces were plas-

tered with joy and even though by now their teeth were indeed chat-tering, They all re-sponded with resounding “YES-S” Do you want to do this again? “YES!” We decided to go to my home where it would be warm to eat our lovely picnic provided by Angel and Joy.

Better to be drowned and wet with a bunch of happy kids or sitting in a warm dry house??? Better with the kids! And of course, bet-ter having gone fishing!

Thanks God for an opportunity to know even in circumstances that are less than perfect, much joy can be found with the right attitude in place!

-Colleen

Pray for the Fish! continued

Page 4 Irondale Church News

Community Soup continues into the sum-mer months now, and we are still going strong!

I’m happy to re-port that in May we had some new volunteers join in: two washed dishes, one came to serve, and another will be baking cookies. What I love about this is that three of the four new volunteers are people who come to

We learn to en-courage one another, and often receive encourage-ment through the apprecia-tion of those we serve. Thank you to all the prayer warriors and volunteers who keep us going week after week. Maybe you don’t hear it enough, but I’ll tell you now: You are LOVED AND APPRECIATED so very much! God bless you all! -Kim

Community Soup on a pretty regular basis! We’ve seen some of them at church on Sun-days as well.

Volunteering is such a rewarding experi-ence! It removes our tunnel vision and opens our horizons. We meet people we may never have met otherwise, and learn more about our community as a whole.

Community Soup Volunteers Rock!

Page 539: News

Guilty, but Free 5/5/2015

Page 5 Irondale Church News

The gavel fell, the verdict read “guilty as charged had” been my plea, I hung my head in shame as the crimes were read; they told the truth about me….

I‘d been there on the day that someone fell by my thoughtless cruel words and their character death lay at my feet. But to look at me you saw no remorse I was vindicated you see.

They were exactly who I said they were and I had every right…because it was me they’d hurt with their thoughtless acts and I was trampled beneath their feet.

To climb the social ladder they had carefully stepped upon me, took credit for the things I’d done, so they would rise and I no longer credited would be….

Oh how it hurt, it smarted to see my work so easily stolen and my labored hours cheapened as the glory seeped away, bitterness slipped in and my godly character slid astray.

I waited for my moment when I would reveal their crime, dark thoughts trudged swiftly through my mind. I knew because of who they were it would be only a matter of time.

Sure enough it happened their villainy was revealed, I waited breathlessly as their fatal plot unrav-eled, pushed it along, made sure it was clear, their fatal death was sealed.

The gavel held up in the air waited only to be brought down, but tears began to fall as they asked forgiveness of the one who’d paid the price, me... This couldn’t be, this wasn’t my advice.

I rushed in with my proof and deeply pled my case, ruthlessly exposing them hoping for a full dis-grace, It would not hurt my heart to see their name scratched from the human race.

But I stood before the Judge and with tears in His eyes, He looked at me with broken heart and said; “It was for you I died.” “But, but, I hadn’t lied, every word was true I cried!”

With head bowed low towards my heart I looked deep within. I saw no mercy no grace for them like I’d been freely given. It was by my hurt feelings that I was being driven.

I looked up to see a mirror where His face had been, I saw the face of my own guilt filled heart re-flected back at me. No shred of His glory shown within, just a dark empty raging sea.

Now it was my eyes that held the tears you see, I had so forgotten the priceless cost He had paid to make me guilt free.

He’d taken His nail pierced arms so cruelly fastened tightly to the tree, falsely accused for the remis-sion of my sins; He cried and wrapped them lovingly around me.

“Guilty Judge” I said, Please mark their debt paid you see, they were pardoned long ago when You hung upon that tree. “Please Lord; forgive such a one as me.”

Oh matchless is the gift He gave and taught that so dark and painful day. The weight of my sin and yours He reached up and carried beyond our finite minds away.

The price was fully paid by Him alone who would show us with His great love the one and only way. I looked up to see Him smile…His tears of joy. “Now you understand, He said”, the gavel fell, He said;

“Guilt free.” Love poured out it was enough for them and enough for me.

Page 540: News

Located at 681 Irondale Road PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Phone: 360-385-1720 Fax: 360-385-1720

E-mail:

[email protected] www.irondalechurch.org

IRONDALE CHURCH

Irondale Church is a place of promise to grow and belong

Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin

Associate Pastor: Troy Norman

Visitation Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw

Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gordon, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie

Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gadbaw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary Noble-Finance,

Troy Norman-Worship, Jim Wilcox-Interior Property, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer

Weekly Schedule:

Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship, Children’s Church & Nursery;

Coffee Hour; 6:30 Evening Bible Study

Monday: 6:30 Bible Study in Small Meeting Room

Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup

Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour

2nd Saturday Men’s breakfast at Chimacum Café

3rd Saturday: Busy Hands Quilts for Foster Kids

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Irondale Church PO Box 959 Port Hadlock, WA 98339

Jorah & Cheyanne Benson 187 Llama Lane Port Townsend WA 98368