Irondale Church is a place of Promise to grow
and belong
July, 2017
Irondale Church News
A Bit of U. S. History
The 4th of July is a special day in
our country, not just for the
signing of the declaration, many
special things have happened
on this day.
Three American presidents died
on the Fourth of July, John Ad-
ams, Thomas Jefferson, and
James Monroe. Monroe was
ready to die several days before
but doctors kept him alive with
drugs just long enough so that
he could die on the fourth, be-
cause the fourth of July meant
something.
Calvin Coolidge was born on
that day in 1872. West Point
opened, July 4th 1802. The
song "America" was sung for
the first time on July 4th, 1832
in Boston. Alaska and Hawaii
both became states on the
fourth of July and slavery was
abolished in the state of New
York on July the fourth 1845.
In that great document deliv-
ered on July the 4th, 1776, we
read of a belief that all people
have rights given by the Creator
of mankind. The document
only has 1321 words, it takes
just eight minutes to read, and
God is mentioned four
times. The purpose of the dec-
laration was to separate us
officially from the authority of
England. The very act of signing
the declaration said to the
world that I am a traitor to Eng-
land and a criminal.
56 men signed it: two were
twenty years of age, sixteen
were in their thirties, twenty in
their forties, eleven in their
fifties, six in their sixties, and
Psalm 44:1, says "O God,
one, Benjamin Franklin, over
we have heard it with our own
70. All but two were mar-
ears--our ancestors have told us
ried. Each had an average of 6
of all you did in their day, in days Pray always:
children. 24 were lawyers, 9
long ago (NLT)." One trouble
were merchants, 14 were farm- Pastor David and Colleen
with America today, is that we
ers, 4 were doctors, and one,
stopped listening to our fathers
John Witherspoon, was a Community Soup
about what God did in our lives
preacher. Of the
long ago. On July 30,
56 signers of the
Declaration, few
1789 President George Our outreach and
Washington gave his
were long to sur-
inaugural address, 1/3
witness to our
vive. Five were
of which was dedicated community
captured by the
to the direct supplica-
British as traitors,
and tortured be-
tion to God for guidance Busy Hands
and strength for our nation.
fore they died. Twelve had their
homes ransacked and burned.
Its amazing how quickly our People struggling with
Two lost their sons in the Revo-
allegiance can change. Several illness
lutionary Army, another had
years ago radio personality Paul
two sons captured. Few of
Harvey told a story of a woman Young families and
them benefited from their brav-
who sent an obituary to her local
ery, and most lost everything
newspaper about her husband single parent families
they ownednot one recanted
who had died. The obituary was
his original declaration of inde-
4 pages long. The newspaper Those struggling with
pendence. These men were
informed her it would be 25 addiction
courageous and valiant, be-
cents a word. Angrily she said,
cause of them and others we
"Then just put, John Doe
have the privilege of being here
died." They responded by say- Schools: students, staff,
today, and living in the greatest
ing, "Theres a minimum of 7 administrators
country in the world.
words. She thought about it
and said, put "John Doe died, 88 Missionaries
This fourth marks 241 years
Chevy for sale." How quickly our
since our founding fathers gave
allegiance can change. Does our
us our national birth certificate. Homeless, helpless, hope-
country today even resemble
John Adams said, "The general
principles on which the Fathers
what was intended? Do our less and hungry
homes and leaders have any-
achieved independence were
thing close to the same spirit as
the general principles of Christi- Local, state, national and
our forefathers?
anity". Adams went on to say world leaders
that in observing the 4th of July,
In the past generation the Nation
It ought to be commemorated
has told God that we dont need
as the day of deliverance by
the Bible, we dont need the
solemn acts of devotion to God
church, and we dont need Him
Almighty." Woodrow Wilson
running our government, our
once declared, "A nation which
schools and our homes. We
does not remember what it was
have officially told God we didnt
yesterday, does not know what
need him. In 1962 a simple pray-
it is today, or what it is trying to
er was the center of a great deal
do.
Continued p. 2
Page 2
A Bit of U. S. History, continued
of turmoil. The prayer said, "Almighty God,
we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee,
and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our par-
ents, our teachers, and our country." That
prayer acknowledges God once, and does
not contain the name, Jesus. On June 25,
1962 in the case, Engel vs. Vitale, the courts
declared the prayer to be unconstitution-
al. Based on that decision the courts re-
moved prayer from our schools.
Hosea 8:7 says, "They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind (NLT).
In 1853 a group petitioned congress for the
separation of Christian principles from gov-
ernment, a separation of church and state.
For nearly one year the Senate and House
Judiciary committees reviewed and studied
the petition to see if it would be possible to
separate Christian principles from our civil
government. This is from the House Judiciary
Committee report on March 27, 1854, It said,
"Had the (founding fathers), during the revo-
lution, a suspicion of any attempt to war
against Christianity, that Revolution would
have been strangled in its cradle.... At the
time of the adoption of the constitution and
its amendments, the universal sentiment
was that Christianity should be encouraged,
but not any one sect (denomination)." It
also said, "In this age, there is no substitute
for Christianity.... That was the religion of
the founders of the Republic and they ex-
pected it to remain the religion of their de-
scendants."
Weve all heard the phrase separation of
church and state, but where did it come
from? In 1801 the Danbury Baptist Associa-
tion heard a rumor that the Congregational-
ist denomination was to become the official
denomination of the United States. They
were alarmed and sent a letter to Thomas
Jefferson. He responded on January 2nd,
1802. He told them they didnt have to wor-
ry about one denomination within Christiani-
ty taking over the government because, "the
First Amendment has erected a wall of sepa-
ration between church and state" thats
where the phrase comes from. His letter
explained that they need not fear the estab-
lishment of an official denomination and
while the wall of separation protected the
church from government control, there
would always be complete freedom of wor-
ship for all orthodox religious practices, for
true religious practice would never threaten
the purpose of government.
In 1878 in a case called Reynolds vs. the Unit-
ed States, a group tried to take this state-
ment by Jefferson to prove a separation of
Christianity and government. In its response,
the court quoted a lengthy section of the
Jefferson letter and used it as a basis to
prove that it was permissible to retain Chris-
tian values, practices and principles as official
policies of the government. For the next
fifteen years Jeffersons letter was used to
prove the inclusion of Christian practice and
religion in government. When these debates
had been settled the letter went basically
unused for the next 75 years until 1947.
In the case of Everson vs. the Board of Edu-
cation the court, for the first time, did not
cite Jeffersons letter in its entirety but in-
stead they selected eight words from the
Jefferson letter, "a wall of separation be-
tween church and state" and then declared
that wall be must kept high and impregna-
ble, and used it, for the first time, against
Christianity. It started a precedent that
would continue and gain momentum. It
would soon become common thought that
"separation of church and state" applied to
any religious activity. This explains why after
1947 the courts began to often use that
phrase, separation of church and state,
and apply it totally out of context.
It got so bad that in 1958 in a case called
Baer vs. Kolmorgen a dissenting judge
warned that continuing to talk about the
"separation of church and state" would make
people think it was part of the constitution.
Despite the warning, the courts continued to
use the phrase until June 25, 1962. In the
case Engel vs. Vitale, based on the misrepre-
sentation of that phrase, the court for the
first time separated Christian principles from
education when it struck down prayer in
schools. Within twelve months, this same
court removed Bible reading and any reli-
gious classes or instructions. The Ten Com-
mandments and Beatitudes soon came down
and were paying the price today.
Deuteronomy 5:29 says, "Oh that they had
such a heart as this always, to fear me and to
keep all my commandments, that it might go
well with them and with their descendants
forever!" Have our children suffered since
prayer was removed? The answer is yes they
Irondale Church News
have, in every single measurable moral issue.
1 Sam. 12:15 says, But if you will not obey
the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the
commandment of the LORD, then the hand
of the LORD will be against you and your king
(ESV).
The Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT, was
initiated in 1926, and in 1941 it was placed
on the same scale as is used today. Prior to
1963, the SAT had never risen or dropped
more than one year in a row. Beginning with
the removal of moral teaching in 1963, SAT
scores dropped for 18 consecutive
years. Prior to 1962 there were only 1000
Christian schools in America. By 1984 that
number had reached 32,000 and today,
nearly 8.5 million students attend private
religious schools. SAT scores for private
religious school students are on average
nearly 80 points higher than public schools.
We need to remember that the "separation
of church and state" as we know it is not the
teaching of our founding fathers and it is not
historical teaching in our country. It is not in
the Constitution or Bill of Rights. It is not a
teaching of any law until recently.
But faith can never be perpetuated from
outside influences. It is always a matter of
the heart. God sent Christ for people, not
governments. So this Fourth of July make
sure your heart is right with God and in all
the rest God will make a way!
Hope you are having a great summer,
-Pastor David
Credit for the research in this article goes to
Ken Kersten and his article titled,
Separation Of Church And State? A July 4th
Look At Our Heritage In America July 2004

The Lord Is My Shepherd if Ill Let Him Be
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want......
let Him wrap His arms around you... Truly He
loves you more than the pain of your present
struggles....and your impossible to believe
situations. He will give you the strength of a
lion, the security of His arm and the shield of
His great love. Even as the waters rise
around you He is ever-present and speaks
His peace in the presence of your enemies
and while you yet may not see His blessing
He is preparing that banqueting table before
you.
Believe His word, trust His grace and know
that nothing formed against you shall pros-
per...He said He would protect you and nev-
er leave you. He, God meant it and He does
not lie...ever. Let Him wrap you in His love
and give you His peace. Sometimes it seems
you are clinging to Him with both hands and
holding on to Him and His promises with all
your might. This is the time to remember,
He is holding on to you, with His unshakable
love. Open your spiritual heart, eyes and
ears as He accomplishes all that He has
planned for you. And hardest of all is to
wait.and trust, but to find that peace we
must.
Psalm 23:1-6 NKJV Just a scripture reference,
if thats all you let it be. Just a spiritual ad-
dress for peace in trying times if you are
under attack, or life caves in on you unless
you see this as a mandate for your everyday
living and survival on earth.
Psalm 23:1 NKJV The Lord is my shepherd; I
shall not want. Just a simple example: we
came home from town to find a feral kitten
about 8 weeks old stuck up in a tree about
30feet off the ground. Prayed and had the
answer, but no, I called to the kitten talked
to it, and it continued to cry in fear. It was
suggested I go to the fire station as you cant
just call them anymore.
Psalm 23:2 NKJV He makes me to lie down
in green pastures; He leads me beside the
still waters. I missed the peace as my heart
broke for the kitten with each scared cry of
its tiny voice. Whether its the animal lover
or the Mom in me I couldnt just leave it
there to climb down on its own and wouldnt
you know it as I stared up at the tiny little
thing a predatory bird flew by and took a
good look at it. Just another road block to
answering Gods leading as I panicked and
ran off to the fire station... and of course
there was no time to waste believing that at
any minute the kitten would become dinner
for the dangerous fowl. Again the voice I
went. Nope, they couldnt help insurance
reasons. Well, put out some food and it will
come down. All the while that voice had the
answer I continued to ignoreSheesh
Came home to find my husband with a 24
foot extension ladder that didnt work-too
short and too far to climb up to reach it for
either of us.
Psalm 23:3 NKJV He restores my soul; He
leads me in the paths of righteousness for
His names sake. Finally giving in to the voice
I did what I knew to be Gods plan in the first
place Call Tyrus. Wouldnt ya know it He
was going to be driving by in about 15
minutes and sure, he would be glad to swing
by, climb the tree and get the little guy
down.
Psalm 23:4 NKJV Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and
your staff they comfort me. We stayed close
by just in case the bird chose to reappear
and have dinner. We got a kennel out to put
the kitten in not knowing how he would re-
act to being trapped. Got a pair of heavy
gloves out for Tyrus and got a salmon net
just in case. All the time God was watching.
He knew the outcome He knew it would take
two strong young men to get the little guy
down and fortunately the here they came
before the return of the predator.
Psalm 23:5 NKJV You prepare a table before
me in the presence of my enemies; You
anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Tyrus and Donald worked together and with
great team work and the use of the net, the
very frightened kitten was captured. Even
then in the net as the rescuers climbed care-
fully down the broken limbed tree the little
guy tried to escape through the sides of the
net, poking his head through what you would
believe was way too small of a hole. It had
no idea that what appeared to it as a trap
was actually a safety net. It cried, even loud-
er, in its distress. It had no idea its safety had
been planned and orchestrated by God.
Much like me, when I dont see how He has
rescued me from some dilemma, its hard to
know sometimes who the enemy is. Sadly as
he struggled for freedom he only made
matters worse for himself.
Psalm 23:6 NKJV Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life; and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Page 3
Skillfully they rappelled down from the sides
of the tall fir and with the little guy still
caught in the net and further entangling
himself they were able to reach the ground
and carefully disentangled him. They placed
him in the kennel. The final dilemma, here it
was I had wanted a kitten for a long time and
we had a mouse problem in the basement.
Was this Gods answer? David is very allergic
to cats. The little guy continued to cry so I
reached my hand in the cage and petted him
instead of scratching me or shrinking away
he pressed into my hand and snuggled. But I
was listening now and waiting on the Lord.
Tyrus stuck his hand in and the little guy
quickly snuggled his hand. I said well what
are we going to do with him now? Half hop-
ing David would say well I guess God has
brought you this little guyI know selfish
wasnt I after all in the past two weeks we
had trapped 7 mice and one vole in the base-
ment. Before I could voice my choice, (thank
you Lord!), Tyrus spoke up and said Ill take
him, I want him. Just like that one of Gods
small miracles was accomplished. I said,
Well take the kennel, and Tyrus said, No
hell be fine. picked him up placed him in his
car. God is good and great all the time.
He has the best plans for us, often not by any
stretch of the imagination as we think we
should have life go. Not how it seems would
be the straightest shot or the most easily
accomplished.
If youre like me the not wanting part well
thats a little difficult to sort out. I want life
to be peaceful; I want my friends and family
not to suffer. I want people to come to know
the Lord as their Savior. I dont want there to
be any bad or difficult thing in the lives of
anyone. But God said His strength is made
perfect in our weakness. He said to Be still
and know that I am God. If we dont have
the difficulties of this life for Him to work in,
how can He use us to show others there is a
God, a Savior who knows and cares. How
can His most gracious loving and powerful
strength be revealed to this world with its
eyes closed to Him unless He allows us to
have great need of Him in our lives.Yes I
know He does not need our suffering to re-
veal Himself, every part of the earth and
atmosphere reveals His glory. Sadly only
those who are looking for him find Him in it.
The others are the ones who worship the
creation not the Creator. Those who feel
they have no need of Him; they have the
Continued p. 4
Page 4 Irondale Church News

The Lord is My Shepherd if Ill Let Him Be, continued

answers and in part believe they are their
own god.
The little kitten had no knowledge of how
much it needed to be rescued or even that it
would possibly be stuck in the tree till either
suffering from weakness and thirst it fell to
the ground, quite possibly to its death. It
knew it was scared, it knew to be wary of
things bigger than its self. It did not recog-
nize help when it came or even have the
ability to ask for it except by crying out. It
knew it had a need because it had one. Just
like us we have no need of God till we recog-
nize we do need Him. Until that time comes
to either ourselves or someone we care
about we mostly just go along in our own
strength as do they.
When the tough times come, let Him be your
Shepherd. His way may seem more difficult
but, be still and know that He is God. The
kitten once caught felt the safety it had
gained. It couldnt experience that safety
until it had given up life on its terms. Then it
knew peace and security.
- Colleen
PS: Tyrus texted me, to let me know the
little guy has been given to a family that just
loves Him, he has had his vaccinations and is
officially home! Hes no longer an orphan
and they have named him Douglas!!! What a

Vacation Bible School July 24th-28th 2017 Food Bank Information

Yey God! I dont think I have ever had all the
teachers sign up at once and a whole month
early!
We have 4 great teachers-only one more
assistant teacher needed!
We do need a registration crew!!!! I forgot..
.and someone to head it up all 5 days if they
can. Registration crew needs to be here be-
fore 8:45am. Even if you can only help a few
of the days it would be greatly appreciated.
Already we have a crafts team and they
would love some help! Contact Joy see what
she might need for crafts, some things can
be accomplished way ahead of time!
Kitchen crew is growing! Ill be going down
the Saturday before if anyone wants to come
along to help get other supplies.
PRAYER Leader!!!! And team! More always
welcome!
Still need: games people and site set up
Need Flyers posted.
Site schedules made.
Hope you were able to come to the Thurs-
day night prayer vigil at the Church. If you
would like specifics on prayer needs please
contact Francisca.
I am excited to see what the Lord has for us
this year:
We will be sweltering away in the Amazon
Jungle watching out for huge bugs, snakes
and critters. We will discover how God has
revealed Himself to the world through His
creation. We will be finding our strength in
the Lord and discovering how to find Him
and share our gifts and talents that the Lord
has given to each of us and how to effective-
ly share our faith, and the message of salva-
tion all of our lives.
If you donate money to the Food Bank, you
VBS will start at: 9:00 am may be interested to know how far your
and last till 12:00 noon each dollars go. This letter was passed on to us by
a donor who wanted to share:
day.
Thank you so much for your donation. We
Ages 3 years-12 years. are able to purchase food from Food Lifeline
Pre-registration is encouraged but not re- for 4 cents a pound which includes delivery
quired. to the warehouse. An order is placed once a
week and we can obtain a plentiful amount
On Friday we host a closing ceremony and of food because of your generosity. In this
hot dog roast. We usually have salad and way, we can continue to serve those who are
chips as well as cookies. We often have a in need.
huge turn-out of more than a hundred. Fami-
ly members are encouraged to attend! Extra There are a great number of people in the
help would be great. community who are dependent upon our
support and we are able to help them be-
Looking forward to serving with you for the cause of the benevolence of others. With
Lord! your donation, you will make a positive
difference in the lives of so many people and
Colleen Hodgin
we are extremely appreciative.
Ph. 732-0366 or cell 301-4341
Church Picnic
After church on Sunday, July 16, we will
have our annual picnic. Joining us that day
will be our friends Vance and Carol John-
son, missionaries to the Philippines that
we have supported for many years. Vance
and Carol are making changes in their
lives, and we look forward to seeing them
and learning about what is next for them.
The Church will provide hamburgers and
hot dogs, and you all bring the rest: sal-
ads, chips, baked beans, and as always,
dessert!
Melissa and Shirley are the contacts for I wish Noah had swatted
the picnic, and would welcome help!
those two mosquitos!
July 2017
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sunday Schedule: 1
9:30 Sunday School all ages
10:30 Worship, Nursery & Childrens Church available
Coffee Hour
6:30 Evening Bible Study

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Communion Independence Day 7 pm Elders 11 am Prayer 1 pm Revival Prayer 8 am

No Comm. Soup Mens Breakfast @

Cafe

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Dave & Mary Beth 4-6:30 Community 7 pm 11 am Prayer 1 pm Revival Prayer 10 am Busy Hands
Giles share Soup
Council

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Church Picnic 4-6:30 Community 11 am Prayer 1 pm Revival Prayer 8 am

Soup
Vance & Carol Mens Breakfast @
Johnson visit IHOP

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

No Comm. Soup

V A C A T I O N B I B L E S C H O O L J U L Y 24 - 28

30 31 Duty Roster Nursery Clean Greet Childrens Church

7/2 Christine Jim/John Jamison Jim

7/9 Russea Roger/Don Eddie Shirley

7/16 Kitty Nobles Noble Normans

7/23 Beth Conklins Glessing Kitty

7/30 Mary Jim/John Jamison Dave

JULY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

1. BOB & SU TIPTON
2. ELMER HEADLEY
3. HANNAH TIPTON
4. LOIS LUDWIG
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
8. JON GEORG
9. WALLY & LEATHA SMITH
12. JOE & BETH BURSON
13. PASTOR DAVID HODGIN
17. KEITH GOLDSMITH
CHUCK & SHIRLEY GADBAW
26. AMY CRANDALL
28. BRIAN & LENOIR CONKLIN
31. ANNE WHEELOCK
AGNES BARKER
 Pastor & Wife: David & Colleen Hodgin ,
Associate Pastor: Troy Norman, Visitation
Pastor: Chuck Gadbaw
Elders: Dave Noble, John Jamison, Fritz Gor-
don, LeRoy Glessing, Dave Eddie
Council: Colleen Hodgin-Youth, Shirley Gad-
baw & Melissa Norman-Fellowship, Mary
Noble-Finance, Troy Norman-Worship, Su
Irondale Church Tipton,-Missions, Jim Wilcox-Interior Proper-
ty, Kim Wilcox-Treasurer
Sunday: 9:30 Sunday School, 10:30 Worship,
Childrens Church & Nursery;
PO Box 959 Coffee Hour, 6:30 Evening Bible Study
681 Irondale Road
Tuesday: 4-6:30 Community Soup
Port Hadlock, WA 98339
Thursday: 11:00 Prayer Hour
Phone: 3603851720
Email: irondalechurch@gmail.com Friday: 1:00 Revival Prayer
irondalechurch.org 2nd Saturday: 8:00 Mens breakfast at
Chimacum Caf
3rd Saturday: 10:00 Busy Hands Quilts for
Foster Kids
4th Saturday: 8:00 Mens Breakfast at IHOP
(Irondale House of Praise)

Irondale Church

PO Box 959

Port Hadlock, WA 98339

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