What Jesus has done in Idaho Falls - 5 more statements

 

In 2021 and 2022, Todd Wood and I compiled statements of what Jesus had done in Idaho Falls from 1882 to 2022, and posted them at https://jiif140yrs.blogspot.com/2021/11/statements-1882-jesus-sent-48-year-old.html.  That list contains 221 statements followed by names, sources and supplemental information. While we haven’t added to the list since late 2022, we would like to expand it and invite you to send us more statements. And here are a few I’ve recently come across.

Statements

1977

Jesus brought His church in Idaho Falls together to worship Him in a 7-hour music festival at Tautphaus Park.

1981  

Jesus began to bring Christian leaders together to establish a radio station in Idaho Falls that would broadcast Christian programming, teaching and encouraging the body of Christ and presenting the gospel to southeastern Idaho.

1984  

Jesus focused the church of Idaho Falls on reaching all nations with the gospel when missionary and author Elizabeth Elliot spoke at the First Church of the Nazarene.

1985

Jesus provided godly counseling to Idaho Falls residents who could not afford other counseling, through the Christian Counseling Services which was co-sponsored by nine Idaho Falls churches.

1987 

Jesus called an Idaho Falls native to go to England to study theology, which led to a career teaching in Christian colleges, serving as academic dean in two Christian universities and writing commentaries on the Book of Luke.

Sources & Additional Information

1977  

The “Weekend with Christ in Music” was a non-denominational open air concert held Saturday, June 25, 1977 in the hockey rink at Tautphaus Park from noon to 7 pm.  The festival was inspired by Psalm 145:3-4, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.” Organized by the Idaho Falls church, Solid Rock Our Church, the festival featured the local music group “His People” and music groups from California and Nevada.  From The Post Register, June 24, 1977, p. A-10.

1981 

Radio broadcasts of worship services in Idaho Falls date back to 1929 when First Presbyterian Church broadcast their services. Over the next 5 decades various local churches broadcast or sponsored broadcasts of various Christian programs for various periods over one of the few Idaho Falls radio stations. For a time in 1980, for example, a weekly broadcast called “Chariot” featured live interviews with local Christians and outside ministries, gospel music, phone requests for prayer and music and local Christian news.(1)  In early 1981, George Marriott, the pastor of Community Bible Fellowship, organized an informational meeting proposing a 24-hour FM Christian radio station, called “Good News Radio,” in Idaho Falls that would relay by satellite Bible teaching, music, drama, children’s programming and other programming of the Moody Broadcasting Network.(2) Soon thereafter a board of seven members from various Idaho Falls churches was formed and a number of  fund-raising events were held, with the goal of raising about $40,000 for equipment and the first year’s operating expenses.(3)  The effort was abandoned in 1987 for two reasons. Moody Christian Radio had not been able to obtain a translator license from the Federal Communications Commission.(4)  And simultaneous to this effort to fund Good News Radio, a Christian radio station, KCIR, had been established in Twin Falls and by August of 1987 began operating a translator in Idaho Falls, as well as a second one on Menan Butte.(5) Money that had been raised for Good News Radio was given to KCIR, for upgrading their Idaho Falls translator.(6)

References: (1) The Post Register, October 10, 1980 p. A-14; (2) The Post Register, September 4, 1981, p. A-12; (3) The Post Register, November 14, 1981, p. A-12; August 8, 1982, p. A-7; September 3, 1982, p. A-6; October 29, 1982, p. A-12; September 3, 1983, p. A-12 and others; (4) The Post Register, September 6, 1987; (5) The Post Register, August 21, 1987; (6) The Post Register, December 19, 1986, p. E-3.

1984

Sponsored by Community Bible Fellowship, missionary, author and lecturer Elizabeth Elliot spoke the evening of May 20, 1984 at First Church of the Nazarene in Idaho Falls.  In 1955 Elizabeth began missionary work with the Colorado Indians in Ecuador; the following year she married Jim Elliot and they worked with a team of Wycliffe Bible Translators seeking to bring God’s word to Quichua and Auca Indians.  Jim Elliot and others of the team were speared to death in 1956 in an attempt to make contact with what was then called the Auca tribe, now referred to as the Waos, Waodani, Waorani or Huaorani people.  Elizabeth Elliot then lived with this tribe that had killed her husband for the next seven years.  See “Church features author, lecturer,” The Post Register, May 18, 1984, p. B-7

1985  

In 1982, the three Lutheran congregations in Idaho Falls established Lutheran Family Service to provide counseling services to individuals and families, with Lutheran pastor Kirk Anderson as director and counselor.  In 1985, two of the churches dropped out but 8 other Idaho Falls churches (First Baptist, Calvary Baptist, St Paul’s & Trinity UMC, First Christian, St. John’s & St. Mark’s Episcopal, and First Presbyterian) joined to continue the service under the name Christian Counseling Services. Kirk Anderson continued as the director until 1992, at which time he said, “The original idea behind LFS/CCS was to give counseling with a spiritual perspective.  That hasn’t changed.” In 1991, the agency provided 1,800 hours of counseling to 200 clients.  However it was also their policy to provide counseling to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay or their having access to health or insurance benefits.  While funding was sought from a variety of sources and numerous fund raising events were held each year, by 1995 Christian Counseling Services was facing a financial crisis, in large part because the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare was referring many more patients to them. That trend continued; in 1996 they provided 3,000 hours of uncompensated services. Changes were made in 1997 that shifted the agency away from church sponsorship.

Somewhat overlapping in purpose and timeframe of Christian Counselling Services were two organizations founded and staffed by the same man, pastor and counsellor Ray Vinson. The Alpha Omega Center opened on April 24, 1982 and provided 10-hour seminars on family enrichment and other services such as a library of Christian books and cassettes for laymen and pastors.  Two years later this service evolved into the Family Life Enrichment Center, which provided individual, family and marriage counseling, weekend marriage enrichment seminars, classes in parenting, divorce recovery, communication and other topics, Christian and family video rentals and a monthly newsletter entitled "The Family Builder."  Three Idaho Falls churches financially supported the Family Life Enrichment Center - Eagle Rock Baptist Church, Alliance Covenant Church and Family Bible Church, and these plus three other Idaho Falls churches referred clients to the Center.  The Family Life Enrichment Center continued until the late 1990's when Ray's health declined.

Primary sources for the above include Post Register articles (1) Kirk Anderson, “Lutheran center director to be installed on Sunday,” May 21, 1982, p. A-8; (2) Kirk Anderson, “Christian Counseling Services gives clients counseling they can afford,” May 30, 1990, p. B-3; (3) Paul Menser, “Survival and Loss – Christian Counseling marks tenth birthday,” May 6, 1992, p. B-1; (4) Stephanie Reents, “Mental Health Clinic Faces Funding Crisis,” September 27, 1995, p. 1; (5) Dave Clark, “Anecdotes from Eastern Idaho – Listening for a Living,” December 17, 1997, p. B-1; (6) Corey Taule, “Crossroads Counseling Makes a Comeback,” January 27, 2000, p. B-1; (7); "Alpha Omega Center Opens on Park Avenue, April 25, 1982, p. C-8; Ray Vinson, "Counselors put focus on Biblical Solutions," February 14, 1990, p. B-8.  

1987

Both David Neale and his wife Christine were born and grew up in Idaho Falls.  They were married at Trinity United Methodist Church in Idaho Falls in 1974.  David had become a Christian in his sophomore year in college at Idaho State University. He had been majoring in business, but after finding Christ changed his major to sociology. Christine (or Chris) got a degree in music, also from ISU. After graduating, David worked for US West Direct, selling ads for the yellow pages, for several years in Idaho Falls and then in Tucson, Arizona, where in 1983 he was their top salesman.

“I was happy; I had a comfortable career in business, but I was not satisfied that it was the best use of our lives.” David thought of returning to school to study theology and then teaching in a Christian school.  “The words ‘Why not?’ came to my mind,” and while he tried to think of reasons not to, his relationship with Christ clinched his decision.  So at age 32 he quit his job and took his wife and two sons to Pasadena, where he enrolled in a two-year program at Fuller Theological Seminary. Following graduation from Fuller they moved to Sheffield, England where they used their savings and Chris worked as a receptionist for an optician so David could earn his doctorate at the University of Sheffield.  David wrote his 300-page dissertation on “Sinners in the Gospel of Luke: A Study in Religious Categorization.”

From England the Neales went to Canada, where David became an Associate Professor of New Testament at a Nazarene college in Calgary (Nazarene University College then, now Ambrose University College). During his 16 years there he held professorships and served as Vice President and Academic Dean. Then he filled the Vice President and Academic Dean position at Booth University College (named for Salvation Army founders William and Catherine Booth) in Winnipeg for nearly 4 years, and while there wrote two commentaries on the Book of Luke, published in 2011 and 2013 as New Beacon Bible Commentaries.  The Neales then spent six years in Brandon, Manitoba where David was the executive director of Campus Manitoba, a consortium of Manitoba's seven public universities and colleges.  David retired in 2018, and they returned to Idaho, settling near North Fork, on Highway 93 north of Salmon.

Primary sources for the above include (1) Sally Larsen Bailey, “Theological Study in England – Idaho Falls Family Starts New Lifestyle,” The Post Register, August 21, 1987, p. A-10; and (2) Darin Taylor, “Couple to dedicate lives to Christian education,” The Post Register, July 31, 1990, p. B-1.