CHRISTLIFE Newsletter

Advent,1997

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In response to requests from some of you to hear more frequently about the mission of CHRISTLIFE we will begin sending a monthly letter in addition to our quarterly newsletter. We will also place them on our web site.

Recently I attended the funeral of a man I was friends with during high school and college. Gathered at the funeral were many of my friends from that period of life. The funeral was very different in that there was virtually no mention of God, Heaven, Hell, or life after death. After the service a friend that I hadn't seen since I was a teen age, shared with me how she and her husband had decided to bring their son to church for the first time when he was around five years old, because, she mentioned, 'she was a Catholic.' When they entered the church, her son saw the crucifix, and asked aloud, ""who is that hanging on the cross?" She responded, "Jesus Christ, sshhh!" With which he responded, "Mom, you shouldn't say that in here!" He had no idea of who Jesus was or what He had done for us. He thought 'The Name,' was only a profane word!

I don't think this incident is unusual these days. Some surveys indicate that over 80% of Americans say they are Christians. For many, it seems, like my friend saying she is Catholic, being a Christian has become a cultural thing that has little to do with lifestyle. Let me offer a few statistics that indicate this type of world view: while some 70 percent of Americans believe that Scripture is the Word of God and totally accurate in what it teaches, almost the same number, 66 percent, believe there are no moral absolutes.* According to another study, single Christians ( 56 percent of fundamentalists; 57 percent of other Protestants; and 66 percent of Catholics) engage in sex outside of marriage.** Along the same lines 49 percent of Protestants and 47 percent of Catholics consider themselves "pro choice" when it comes to abortion!*** I am reluctant to use opinion polls since they obviously are subject to a variety of interpretations and at times misleading, yet these polls do indicate an obvious trend. What Christians would have acknowledged as sinful in the past, is not today, since there is no moral criteria. The issue for Christians in our society is not simply one of orthodoxy (orthodox belief), but of orthopraxy (living a Christian lifestyle). Increasingly it is the case that people in American society are holding to the form of religion while denying its power
(2 Timothy 3:5). To be a Christian means to be Christ like, by His empowering presence. We have been given His Holy Spirit to live as children of God in our daily lives. We are not only to talk the talk but walk the walk! To bear the family resemblance and to be recognized as having been with Him (Acts 4:13).

It is our conviction that CHRISTLIFE is to become more and more focused on presenting Jesus Christ and him crucified. We want to help people to know Jesus as their Lord and to make Him known to others. It is through a personal relationship with God, as members of His Church, that one can live a life that is consistent with the life of the Son of God, empowered to share good news with others in and through the Holy Spirit.

We are aware of our own brokeness and sinfulness, and yet believe that the Lord has called and sent us to be His witnesses (See 2 Cor. 4:7ff; Jn 20:21; Acts 1:8). All of us! We are convinced that the simple profound Truth of the Gospel is what we are to share in the mission fields that are our neighborhoods and parishes, as well as abroad. We want to help mobilize a band of missionaries, lay apostles who share the burning conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He is preparing a new springtime of Christianity if we will respond to the Holy Spirit! As Pope John Paul has urged, "Do not be afraid to break out of the comfortable and routine modes of living in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known It is you who must 'go out into the byroads' and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for His people." ****

This September, two local Catholic parishes here in Maryland began Alpha which is a course introducing people to Jesus Christ as Lord. CHRISTLIFE has been promoting the use of this course. At St. Louis Parish there are around 80 people attending! Each evening there is a dinner, teaching, and small groups discussions. I have been personally inspired by the candor of the people. Some have shared openly of their hunger for a relationship with God, of a desire for their faith to not only be an intellectual affirmation of creeds and doctrine, but also an experience of their hearts, a living encounter with God. One person shared how they had not realized that sin was something that comes from the heart, from within us. Another was convicted of involvement in occult practices as evil and that the reason God does not want us involved in it is because of His concern for us to not be hurt or led astray by it, and that He wants to guide us and care for us!

In January, David Payne, the director of Catholic Alpha, in England, and I will be going to Rome to share about Alpha and its growing popularity in the Catholic Church in a number of countries. We see Alpha as a concrete response parishes can make to the Holy Father and bishops call to Evangelization. Please pray for this meeting which will be held on January 23.

In preparing for our Board of Directors meeting which was held in October, we checked to see how many people have been coming to our Internet site. We were amazed at the growth. In one month we had 36,811 hits on our web site (that means that number of files were transferred from our site)! Even more incredible is the fact that they came from over forty two countries! Talk about the mission to the nations! Because of the world wide web, CHRISTLIFE is able to reach out to far more people then would ever be possible otherwise. Our next project is to develop a testimonial section, "Why Jesus?" explicitly for people who are non believers. Would you join us in praying for the Lord to mightily use the site to advance His Good News? Want to share on the web about the love of God in your life? Contact us!

We continue to serve and financially support the Schools of Evangelization, and short term missions in eastern Europe. This summer CHRISTLIFE had folks in Latvia, Ukraine and Poland. We will share more about this in the our Winter Newsletter. In the meantime please keep our friends who live there in your prayers for boldness and provisions to carry on the work.

Thank you so much for your participation in the mission of CHRISTLIFE through prayer and financial contributions. You really are partners in this apostolate. We pray for you regularly and hope that this Advent will be season in which you and your families draw close to God, as He draws close to you. Emmanuel, God is with us!

Sincerely,

Dave Nodar

P.S. This January we are beginning a night school of Evangelization for young adults here in Maryland, USA, please pray for it, and if you are interested in joining us contact us.

* George Barna, The Barna Report: What Americans Believe (Ventura, CA: Regal Books,1991),pp.83-85

**Andrew Greeley, Sex and the Single Catholic: The Decline of an Ethic, America, 7 Nov.1992, p. 344

*** James R. Kelly, "Abortion: What Americans Really Think and The Catholic Challenge," America, 2 Nov.1991, p314

**** Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day, Denver, 1993

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