Newsletter

December, 1996

Dear Friends of CIM,

Martin Luther once said: "Faith is a matter of personal pronouns: My Lord and my God." In the same way we understand the true meaning of Christmas when we can say: "My Savior is born; He is my King!" It is that time again when we celebrate the Greatest Event in the history of the cosmos. While the gift-giving among family and loved ones is special, the way I love to celebrate is listening to the music and by singing the great hymns of Christmas. What a rich heritage we have. This Christmas notice the rich theological content of great hymns like: "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne," "Joy to the World," and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

The briefing paper inserted this month is also about the Christ event. It's an update of a previous one. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed researching it. If Christ was born in 5 B.C. as the evidence seems to support, then this is the 2002nd anniversary of that event.

Christian Information Ministries will shortly finish its 10th year of ministry. It was in many ways one of the best years yet. At the end of last month our web-server e-mailed his congratulations; we had hit a new high for log-ons at over of 275 per day for the monthly average. The amount of information downloaded exceeded 1200 typed pages per day! We think this is cause for much praise. You were an instrument in making this possible.

However, there is another side to the ministry that we must also report, and that is our lowest ever yearly income. Our yearly budget for operation, including running an office and paying salaries, is a modest $85,000. Our latest report (October) indicates that we are on track to finish the year about $30,000 short! We've never panicked before, but we will need help if this ministry is to continue in '97. We need to hear from those of you who've supported us last year. All we want to know is what our prospects are. Please take the time to write a word of encouragement. Just indicate if you are intending to increase your support or maintain it at the current level. This will help in our planning.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Have a Merry Christmas with your families, and may it be one of the greatest worship experiences ever. May God's richest blessings be yours in '97.

For Christ and His Kingdom,

Bill Crouse, President