Newsletter

April, 1998

Dear Friends and Support Team,

Just hours ago I heard on the radio an advertisement for a home repair company. The pitch given was centered on the fact that homeowners should pick a repair company based on the strength of the company's ability to fulfill the warranty. It dawned on me that this also applies to our salvation. The way the Father guaranteed our salvation was by bringing His Son back from the dead. Christ was the Firstfruits of a great harvest! Easter is truly a Holy Day for believers. It shouldn't be difficult to sing praises on Easter Morning. I look forward to it, and rejoice that we serve such a God.

Earlier in the year we intimated that the year ahead would be crucial in the ministry of C.I.M. Let me bring you up to date on some things that are happening. First, we are adding to the staff some key people that we think will help us sharpen our focus and make us more efficient ministers. Beginning this month, Russ Wise, a man with over 20 years experience in Christian ministry will be joining C.I.M. as Vice President and Research Associate. His marketing and administrative skills should make an immediate impact. Look for our mailings to be more professional and more timely. Join me in welcoming Russ on board. Another dear Christian brother has also decided to join us early next summer. We will announce his arrival in a future letter. We are also interviewing other interested candidates.

Adding new staff means big changes in the home office, as you would imagine. We will need more office space and furnishings to equip them for ministry. Please pray! We have signed a three year lease on the office space we now occupy. We are praying that two rooms adjacent to us will become available.

The website continues to grow and minister to thousands. An average of 2400 per week are logging on. Many of these probably do not go to church or visit a Christian bookstore. Several weeks ago, we received a call from a military pilot who flies a tanker for mid-air refueling. He called to tell us he was a new believer and that he had found our website most helpful in answering his many questions about his new faith. Your giving to C.I.M. enables us to minister to this young man.

Secondly, we made a decision as a ministry to pay more attention to pop culture. As a result, we will be doing more critical reviews of elements of our culture that in our judgement are having a significant influence. Specifically, this means that we will review more movies and books, and occasionally we will look outside our organization for expertise. Included with this letter is a review of the latest blockbuster Hollywood movie, Titanic, written by Dr. Tim Ralston, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. We have also added to our website two other reviews of the same movie with slightly different perspectives. If you can log-on to our site the address is: http://www.fni.com/cim/reviews/index.html. We made the decision to include Tim's review with letter while the movie's popularity is still at a peak. Our briefing paper on the Orthodox church will be in May's newsletter.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Bill Crouse, President