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September 2010 Volume 5 Issue 8

Missions Updates 3 NBCS Update 3

Family Updates 3 Upcoming Events 4

Allow me to make some observations about people who have grown

up in church and were saved as children. First of all, I am one of

them; I grew up with some of them; I went to Bible college with some

of them; I minister to some of them, and I have fathered some of

them. While the event of salvation is as miraculous for those who were

saved early in life as it is for those saved later, the challenges of the

Christian life can be very different. One of these challenges is what I

will call the “Crisis Point.” Although not every believer will face this

challenge, every believer will probably have close friends or family

who have faced it (or will).

The Crisis Point is what I am calling the stage of the believer’s life

(often in young adulthood) when he takes a hard look at the

authenticity of his own faith and beliefs. This believer has little memory

of life before he trusted Christ for salvation, and prior to salvation had

likely made no independent life-altering decisions. He has always

believed what he has always believed and, as far as he is

concerned, that is what his family has always believed and what

most everybody else believes, too. But then in the Crisis Point, he

realizes that he never really chose his own faith, beliefs, or church.

Enter doubts and anxiety. At this point he looks for some “wow

moments” in his life and there are few to be found. He has done a lot

of good things—church things, Christian things—but he is plagued by

questions like, “Why do I believe all this?” and, “What if this isn’t really

(Continued on page 2)

The Crisis Point by Eric Puff

Fall FestivalFall FestivalFall FestivalFall Festival Saturday, October 16Saturday, October 16Saturday, October 16Saturday, October 16

4:004:004:004:00----6:00 p.m.6:00 p.m.6:00 p.m.6:00 p.m.

We’re reaching and connecting with

our community through hayrides, face

painting, carnival games, fall foods,

and a cakewalk.

You can help on the festival day, or by

baking or supplying candy.

Sign up at the table in the foyer.

2 the connection

At the Crisis Point, the

believer must decide how

he is going to live when

he can make life-choices

for himself. More

importantly, he must

decide why he will live

that way.

The Crisis Point

true?” and, “Does everyone pretend to be

spiritual, or is it just me?” Of course, these

questions can be contemplated throughout our

whole lives, but they hit especially hard during the

Crisis Point, when the believer first realizes that he

should have a vibrant and exciting spiritual life

but, instead, it feels a little shallow and boring. This

feeling is often projected onto others, supposing

that everyone in the church, sitting in the pews

from week to week, also has what he considers a

shallow spiritual life. He begins to believe that he,

and everyone around him, is missing something.

At the Crisis Point, the believer must decide how

he is going to live when he can make life-choices

for himself. What will he do about personal

devotions, church, dating, marriage, serving, and

giving? More importantly, why will he do what he

does? The Crisis Point is a turbulent time when the

world gets bigger (and tests his faith), nothing

seems certain, and everything

is questioned, including his

own identity and God’s.

Generally, there are four

responses to the Crisis Point.

These responses need not be

permanent, but they will set

the pace for the believer’s

spiritual life for a time. First, the

individual can turn away from

God. Having decided that

there is nothing genuine in his

Christianity, he will stop putting

effort into acts he doesn’t

believe in. A second response

would be just the opposite. He

will work through the Crisis

Point to a deeper relationship

with God—a life characterized

by love for God and others, service and spiritual

disciplines. This is our goal. These first two

responses are pretty clear and easy to observe.

The next two are a little more sinister.

A third response is to accept shallow Christianity

as a way of life. The Crisis Point convinced him

that his faith was shallow, but he decided that it

was an acceptable way to live: going to church,

being a decent person, neither being too bad

nor too good. He will blend into the crowd of

pew-sitters and get lost in a routine that keeps

him out of trouble, knowing how to speak and

act in the ways that are expected, but without

any fire for the Divine. Perhaps this was your

response, or that of a friend. The person who has

settled for shallow is in a perilous position. On the

one hand, he can produce little, if any, spiritual

results for God. How can a branch that is barely

attached to the vine produce fruit? The fact that

it is a branch, and that it is attached to the vine is

not enough (Jn. 15:1-6). While the branch may be

attractive enough, our Heavenly Vinedresser will

not accept or approve of a fruitless branch. He

will take hold of it and bend it, twist it and prune

it, until, if it still produces nothing, He will remove it

altogether. (You work out the implications, but I

do believe in eternal security.) On the other

hand, a tree with shallow roots, or a house with a

sandy foundation, is easily brought down. When

the storms of life come, and they will, that tree or

house may outwardly appear identical to the

others, but it’s what is deep down below the

surface that determines whether it will stand. The

unsuspecting Christian will be

left nursing a broken life,

wondering what went wrong.

The believer who has settled

for shallow needs the fire of

Christian zeal to shed light

upon his listless existence. Will

that light come from you,

from us, from our church? Or

will the personnel of another

pleasant Sunday come and

go, condemning nothing

and convicting no one?

The fourth response to the

Crisis Point is neither to work

through it, nor to turn back

from it, but to stay in it—to

live in it! This is an especially

dark choice because it

provides an artificial depth. It

seems exciting, because everything is questioned

and debated, but it never settles anything or

moves forward in terms of convictions or beliefs. A

life that is all questions and no convictions,

however exciting, is under-developed and

spiritually juvenile. Opting to make a lifestyle out

of the Crisis Point is not really deepening a

relationship with God, but elevating uncertainty.

The church today must be especially wary of this

condition. There is much in popular Christianity

that encourages this choice and then preys upon

it with books, videos and conferences—and it

should be condemned as those who are “always

learning and never able to come to the

(Continued from page 1)

Our goal is to work

through the Crisis Point

to a deeper and deepening

relationship with God—

a life characterized by

love for God and others,

service and spiritual

disciplines.

3

Dennis and Traci Jacob – Ireland

The Jacobs are looking to do an extended furlough of six

months beginning in August of 2011. Please pray that God

would prepare the church to be able to do the ministry without

assistance during this time of absence. The way the church is

being prepared is by doing a series on the local church. The

prayer is that this series will help this group of saints to sense their

identity in Christ. A church is not a building, nor is it the

preaching or the singing, but it is God’s ordained dwelling place

amongst His people. Following this series, he will begin teaching

Baptist distinctives and will be going over the church’s doctrinal

statement to help reconfirm them in our most holy faith. The

church has been challenged to begin seriously praying for a

pastor to be provided by God for them. Pray that God would

give wisdom as they look to fulfill their purpose there.

Bert and Jean Kinsey – Retired – West Virginia

Jean teaches the young people (grades 4-6) weekly and Junior

Church several times a year in their church. She is also busy with

the Ladies’ Missionary meetings and helped with VBS this past

month. Bert is currently teaching 2 Peter in the Adult Class at First

Baptist Church in Dresden, OH, and fills in on Sundays and

Wednesdays when needed. He recently taught the four Gospels

both semesters at Marietta Bible College in Marietta, OH. They

have been in ministry now for 57 years. Continue to pray for

them as they serve and for Jean as she works to settle her

father’s estate and all that comes with that.

Mis s ions Update

F a m i l y U p d a t e s

Congratulations to Andrea and Sean Steele on the

arrival of Elliana Leigh Steele. Elliana was born

on August 9 at 11:34 p.m. and weighed 7 lbs.,

6 oz. and was 19 in. long. Congratulations

to big brother Guerin and proud

grandparents, Alex and Helen

Toth and Jim Steele.

Births

NBCS looks forward to another year in Christian Education. We

begin 34 years and are excited to see how the Lord will work in

our school in 2010-11. The year kicked off with a very well

attended Open House and Picnic on Friday, August 20, and the

school work began on the following Monday. We started the

new school year with an enrollment of 111 and continue to pray

for additional students. We have some challenges ahead of us

this year, but we wait on the Lord to supply our needs and grant

us much wisdom.

We extend our sympathies to Debbie Faulds and family in the

homegoing of her mother, Marilyn Burk. Marilyn went home to

be with the Lord on August 10. Please keep the family in your

prayers during this time of bereavement.

Ron Snearly, a local doctor who was involved with Baptist Mid-

Missions medical missions to Chad, went home to be with the

Lord on Monday, August 23. Remember Ron’s wife, Martha, in

your prayers. We have supported the Snearlys for many years. A

Memorial service will be held at Cedar Hill Baptist Church on

Saturday, September 11 at 1:00 p.m.

Sympathy

Eric Puff is Pastor for Discipleship & Training at

Northfield Baptist Church.

knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:7). While we are incapable of

knowing all there is to know about God and His purposes, He

nevertheless expects us to know and live life based on what He

has revealed to us.

The Crisis Point is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good and

necessary phase for many believers. But there is so much more

for us on the other side. Our goal is the second response: to work

through it to a deeper and deepening relationship with God—a

life characterized by love for God and others, service and

spiritual disciplines. How are you working through it? How are

you helping others work through it? Please take a moment right

now and consider if the ones you love are in the midst of the

Crisis Point and how you can help them through it.

Discuss this article with Pastor Eric by writing:

epuff@northfieldbaptist.org.

NBCS

Update

NORTHFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH

311 W. AURORA ROAD

NORTHFIELD, OH 44067

Non-Profit Organization

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Northfield, OH 44067

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Northfield Baptist Church

311 W. Aurora Rd.

Northfield, OH 44067

Phone

(330) 467-7939

Fax

(330) 467-1011

Newsletter E-mail

news@northfieldbaptist.org

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.northfieldbaptist.org

September Events

Sunday, Sept. 5

PM - Western Round-Up & Church Camp Out

Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 9-11

Men’s Retreat Camp Patmos

Sunday, Sept. 12

AM - Dr. Paul Jackson

Friday-Sunday, Sept. 17-19

Banished to the Isle Teens to Camp Patmos

Friday, Sept. 24

NBC Golf Outing

Ladies’ Scrapbooking Night

Sunday, Sept. 26

PM - Teen Time Out

Wednesday, Sept. 1

Olympians & Gopher Buddies First day of 2010-2011 year

Sunday, Sept. 19

PM - ABF Sunday

Monday, Sept. 6

Labor Day - No NBCS