"And as He entered a certain village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' And when He saw them, He said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And it came about that as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine— where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?' And He said to him, 'Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well.'" Luke 17:12–19

Dear Friends and Family,

Misery loves company. When we're afflicted, nationality, social standing, and even religious affiliation often fall by the wayside. Here were ten men all banded together, all crying out together for mercy from the One they knew could offer it to them. All were consumed by this horrible disease. All were attempting to do something about it. All had heard about Jesus and believed He could help them. All cried out in an appeal to Jesus as Master, and all obediently followed Christ's command to show themselves to the priests in order to receive the legal status of being "clean," once again. All were healed physically. But here is where the banded company breaks...

While the ten men started on their way to the priests together, a flow of health coursed through their members. It left no tissue untouched, and they knew they had been completely cured. Then, suddenly, one of the ten, only one, turned around, broke company with the other nine, and headed straight back to Jesus. Showing himself to the priests could wait...praising and thanking Jesus could not. His humble gratitude toward Jesus, born out of love, needed to be exercised and released. As he returned to his Master, he fell on his face before Christ and thanked Him. Ten men healed, one man saved. What a lesson for us to learn from this lowly and despised Samaritan!

Jesus is obviously grieved by the fact that only one of the ten lepers returned to give glory to God. What is often missed is the humility of Jesus revealed in His double question: "The nine—where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God except this foreigner?" He does not even add..."and to thank me?" He is painfully concerned that only one of the nine came back to give praise to His Heavenly Father. He says nothing about Himself.

Our Most High God is "kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked" Luke 6:35. His mercies, though oftentimes referred to as "common," are anything but...they are priceless. I think that if we were to be deprived of them we would not refer to them as "common." We might be ready to die! We have eyes to see the sun rise and set, health to live and move and breathe, bread to eat, clothes to wear, friends and family to enjoy, and freedom in which to live. Are these "common" blessings? Well, they were probably experienced by the nine and by the one and were in that sense "common," but I personally don't like the minimizing tone of the term.

What is common today is the ungrateful and irreverent attitude and behavior of the creature toward the Creator. There is a spirit of arrogant entitlement infecting the thinking of the multitudes that is based upon grievous and wicked theological and ideological error. Simply put, we often confuse mercy with justice, believing that somehow God owes us something. We often forget what we would truly deserve before a Holy God had Christ not been our propitiatory portion.

Let's praise God for everything we receive from His gracious and generous Hand. We deserve nothing but wrath and yet, knowing that my words are being read primarily by the redeemed of the Lord, we have been graciously given all things (Romans 8:32)! The sweetest and loudest note of our praise should be in gratitude for the redeeming love of Christ towards His elect. This praise is precious to the ears of our Heavenly Father and should not be withheld or tempered by the whining of the world. He is worthy of so much more than we could ever offer up in praise or thanksgiving. Nevertheless, we should not be outdone by a poor Samaritan whose cleansing is no less miraculous than our own.

Readying for Winter
Oh, so much had to be done before the flakes of snow hit the ground! We've been busy preparing for yet another beautiful Eastern Washington winter. What all does that entail? Here's a quick list for you so you can get a feel for what it's like to prepare the ranch for the transition from summer and fall to winter. First, all of the air conditioners had to wrapped, fans put away, and tables and chairs stored until spring. Next, firewood had to be cut, hauled, split, and stacked for about 7 months of heating needs. This is an ongoing need here at the ranch! Then, expensive and heavy irrigation equipment had to be dismantled, blown out so as not to freeze and crack during the cold days of winter, and stored until spring. Animals had to be butchered to provide for the needs of TFR's community and to avoid expensive feeding, care, and sheltering costs through the winter. This year's butchering consisted of two beef cows, four pigs, four turkeys, and multiple chickens. We are able to do our own poultry, but we pay for a professional butcher to come and slaughter the cows and pigs and then take them back to the butcher shop for cutting and wrapping. This is a very cost-effective way for us to attain our needed meat for the entire year, ringing in at about 50% less than we could buy it for in the grocery store. It only seems expensive because we have to pay for it all at once! Please pray for the provision of this bill as it comes upon us the first week of December.

We have also been blessed with a generous amount of steelhead salmon again this year from our friends down on the Columbia River serving at Faith Frontier Ministries a.k.a. Peniel Ranch. (Parenthetically, if you or your family or your Church are looking for a great retreat location, check them out at www.penielranch.org. They are an excellent option for individual or group retreats!)

Back to the ranch preparations: Grounds and gardens had to be tilled, cleared, and prepped for next spring's plantings. If this isn't done before the ground freezes, then guess what? It's not getting done! Car, truck, ATV, and tractor engines had to be checked for anti-freeze and working block heaters. Stock tank heaters had to be put into place for our barn animals. Pens had to be readied so every animal has a place where it can go and get out of a winter storm. Well house heaters are employed again to keep our water from freezing within the well houses. Power outage supplies are checked and restocked as we always seem to have at least one or two days when our electrical power decides to take a holiday. TFR's vehicles are checked and stocked up for winter driving conditions. Finally, and some would say most importantly, sleds, toboggans, and winter clothes are all taken out of storage and made ready for the big snowfall! It can seem like an awful lot of work, but many hands make it light, and the excited expectancy of winter makes it fun. There is actually much more that I could list, but I think you get the general idea, and I need to move on to other things in the newsletter here.

Christmas Concert 2009
Christmas music has been heard here at TFR since the end of summer. There's a very good reason for this. The Father's Ranch is once again providing a few different Christmas concerts during the month of December. We are hoping that you, your family, your church, and all your friends will come out to hear us! I have to tell you that, from my unprofessional, very biased, and uneducated viewpoint, this year's Christmas program should be absolutely fantastic! It is always a joy for Sharon and me personally because we have the opportunity of seeing so many of you at the concerts. In addition, we also have the wonderful blessing of seeing many of our former students and staff who come to participate in the events as well. This year's musical group will be made up of former and current students, former and current staff, friends, and family of TFR. Some are flying into town after the Thanksgiving holiday and will be staying with us at the ranch. It's a great time to see what the Lord has been doing in their lives and to simply catch up.

So much talent has come together for this year's Christmas concert! It should be great. I've enclosed our Christmas concert flyer for your viewing. It should have most of the information you need to find the concert(s) you would like to attend.

Again, please consider this your invitation to attend one or all of these Christmas events. It would be a major blessing for us to be able to see you and have you come. If you have any questions or you need any more information, please don't hesitate to contact us here at the ranch. See you soon!

Ministry News
The Biblical Counseling Center of Okanogan remains active as we are counseling men, women, and couples who come from all areas of the county. This is a good opportunity for us to expose people to the truth and sufficiency of God's Word. It is a privilege for us to be involved in this ministry.

Still, I have to admit that I struggle at times with the reactive nature of this work. Most often, we don't have the opportunity to speak into a life until the individual is already wounded, hurting, and desperate for help. This is especially true for marriage counseling. So many times, the marriage is in major trouble before we ever get a phone call. By the time we begin the counseling process, the layers surrounding the problem have formed a life of their own, and counseling becomes much more difficult than if we had the opportunity to be involved earlier. This is a frustration for me personally.

Therefore, TFR is going to take a more proactive approach to counseling, training, and discipleship. On January 29th and 30th of 2010, we are going to provide a Biblical Counseling Conference. This conference will be hosted by The Tonasket Free Methodist Church located at: 1 Stanton Loop Road in Tonasket, behind the IGA. We are hoping to draw anyone and everyone who is interested in Biblical Counseling and/or the seminar topics that will be covered. Our subjects for the conference will include: "An Introduction to Biblical/Nouthetic Counseling, Biblical Mandates for a Maturing Marriage, Biblical Parenting...Not Only Hard Work but Heart Work, and finally, The Biblical Doctrines of Spiritual Growth & Change." This conference is designed for elders, deacons, pastors, church leaders, laymen, students, singles, married couples and really, anyone who wants to learn more of what the Bible has to say about counseling, marriage, family, parenting, and spiritual growth and change. The doors will open at 6:00 pm on Friday, January 29th and our first seminar will begin at 7:00 p.m. sharp. We should be done by 8:30 pm or so. Then, we'll begin again on Saturday morning, January 30th with the doors opening at 8:00 am and the seminar beginning at 9:00 am sharp. The conference will break for lunch from 12 until 1:00 and will continue again from 1 pm until 4:00 pm with a Q & A session from 3-4 pm. We will have a resource table with fantastic books and CD's/DVD's available on the topics that we are covering during the conference and other subjects as well. The cost is $15.00 for singles and $25.00 for couples. Payment can be made through the PAYPAL account on our website or checks can be made payable to The Father's Ranch and sent in to our post office box. Brochures will be available soon. Late, last minute registrations will be accepted at the door, but early registrations are preferred. Please direct your RSVP and/or any questions you may have to Dawn at The Father's Ranch. You can send her an email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or give her a ring on the phone at: (509) 486-8888. We hope to see many of you there!

TFR's residential program continues to go forward in its work as we serve women (only) who have become wounded through drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, and other emotional and behavioral problems. God's Word is sufficient to bring healing and growth to the regenerate life submitted to it. It is the change agent and the catalyst that builds up, protects, and makes one strong. This is the Christ-centered, biblically based approach that TFR takes to healing. It contains structure, community, accountability, and lots of opportunities to learn of Christ and His Word. It is a no-nonsense approach to deal with the sin that so easily entangles. Because of this, women who may not be quite ready to give up their life of sin often find it a difficult program to complete. We do not and cannot apologize for this, for the same approach and principles that make it difficult for one woman to complete also give life and healing to another. 2 Timothy 2:24–26 is one of the guiding principles we try to follow: "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." Please pray for the grace needed to be obedient to this calling.

Thank You!
Christmas is fast approaching, and this is the time and place where I normally ask for your help in providing for the students and staff who are serving and living here at TFR. My conscience isn't allowing me to do that this year. With so many out of work and so many struggling financially, it just doesn't seem right. Things are very tight for us financially as they are for most of you, but our needs are being met. In fact, after just seven years of existence, TFR only owes $27,000 on its facility. Praise God!

Because of the cost of sending out newsletters via the United States Post Office, this will probably be our only newsletter for the month of December and the last newsletter for 2009. Any other correspondence from TFR will be done through e-mail. If you are not on our e-mail list and would like to be, please give us a call or an e-mail and we'll joyfully add you to it.

Please have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends remembering Christ and His incarnation. Enjoy the blessing of His peace and seeing yet another New Year as we seek to glorify the Lord together with the days of life He has given us on earth.

We are privileged to have you partnering with us in this work of the Lord. We value you as our fellow laborers and the ordained means through which our gracious Heavenly Father bestows many of His blessings. God is good. We have much to be thankful for, and you are surely on that list.

Thank you all again. We love you and hope to see you soon at one of TFR's events. Until then...

Soli Deo Gloria,

Craig Lofthus