Old News

Change in Telephone Area Code
Whoever it is that decides these things has decided that there is a need to split the area code for northern Indiana into three area codes. As of December 11, 2001, the area codes will officially change. The new area code for Faith Assembly and Faith Ministries & Publications will be 574. However, my home telephone is across the line into the other new region, and that area code will be 260.
Beginning December 11, 2001, it will be possible to reach us using either the new area codes or the old area code 219. This dual system will continue until June 14, 2002, at which time the new codes will be mandatory. In either case, our seven-digit telephone numbers will remain unchanged.

Location	Present	12-11-01 to 6-14-02	6-14-02
Faith Assembly	(219) 269-6560	(219 or 574) 269-6560	(574) 269-6560
Faith Ministries & Publications	(219) 269-5890	(219 or 574) 269-5890	(574) 269-5890
Joe Brenneman residence	(219) 327-3640	(219 or 260) 327-3640	(260) 327-3640

If you have not read our news page in the past month or so, I encourage you to go to the old news pages and read the October 19 entry, which pertains to the events and aftermath of the September 11 attack.

Messages on tape:
I am now publishing a list of titles of sermons preached at Faith Assembly. If you are interested in receiving any of these messages, send an email to one of the links in this web site, and we will make the arrangements. Follow this link to Faith Assembly Sermons.

Remember, you are welcome to our meetings on PalTalk, which now include the praise and worship as well as the message. The Schedule of Meetings, below, gives the approximate starting times. The PalTalk Schedule page also includes the conduct guidelines for the room.

If you are in the area and want to visit Faith Assembly, drop us an email and we can email you a map in .jpg format.

If you do not have a church home, seek God to provide one for you. However, we know that churches with a sound, full gospel, end-time message are few and far between. This is why we put our sermons on PalTalk live. Click here for information.

The past five weeks have been a very serious time in this nation. I have not taken time to update this website due to concentrating on ministry to people whose lives have become unsettled as a result of the events of September 11 and their aftermath.

As I have followed the events of these weeks, the one thing that has come through clearly is that this nation does not seem to grasp God's language of chastisement; this nation does not seem to be capable of facing its sins, getting on its face, and repenting before God. Instead, the main message we are hearing is that "our great nation" has the faith in God and resources both to recover from the attack and to pursue and punish the wicked ones who perpetrated it. It is, indeed, viewed as a holy war, a conflict of absolute right on our side, against absolute wrong on their side.

Why is it that, in a land which claims to believe in a God who rewards the good and punishes the evil; indeed, which seems to think it is our divine call and responsibility in God's name to find and punish those who committed these atrocities; that people refuse to see the obvious: that such a calamity as occurred on September 11 indicates that God is calling our attention as a nation to the fact that something about us is not pleasing in His sight? Why do we think that God would use us to punish someone else, yet exempt ourselves from God using some other instrument to punish us? The Bible is clear that God uses a wicked nation to carry out His judgment on another wicked nation -- then He turns around and uses yet another wicked nation as an instrument to punish in turn the wicked nation He used formerly. Except for the coming righteous kingdom of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ, no nation on earth is seen by God as more righteous than another, and the United States of America is no exception.

This absence of repentance, whether due to inability or refusal, is alarming indeed, because it strongly suggests that God may finally be through with this nation. The gift of repentance is a clear sign of God's favor; the absence of that gift is indication that God has given up on that nation, or other group, or individual. He may yet use this nation to punish some evildoers; but in the end, God's judgment will fall on this nation in unprecedented fury, in catastrophes that we cannot begin to conceive.

What about you?
What if you are one of those who sees that this nation needs to repent? What can you do to preserve your own soul, living in a nation that cannot repent, or, at least, evidently refuses to repent? You can pray; you can intercede for the nation through representative repentance. You can repent representatively for sins for which others are not willing to repent. And why would you do that? Because, whether you are personally guilty or not, you may be identified with those sins, just because you are an American. Sins such as lust, adultery, homosexuality, fornication, indecency, immodesty, public nakedness, exhibitionism, and pornography. Sins like the murder, abortion, violence, and profanity that we see and hear every day. The sins of pride, competition, greed, and selfishness. All we can do is cry out to God for mercy, so we will not be identified ourselves with those sins. Cry out in behalf of the sinful and unrepentant nation, so that perhaps some small remnant might be spared the full force of God's wrath that surely is about to fall very soon.

If you are in the area and want to visit Faith Assembly, drop us an email and we can email you a map in .jpg format.

We are glad to have this opportunity to share with you a little bit about what is going on here at Faith Assembly. I want to begin this time with a somewhat extended testimony. I trust that I will get all the details correct.

A sister from another state has been in contact with Faith Assembly for quite a number of months, perhaps going on a year now. Several weeks ago, she sent me a letter with two things inside: a picture of her daughter, and a new, monogrammed handkerchief. In the letter she told me that the school authorities had determined that her daughter was hard of hearing, and were putting pressure on her to take her daughter to a doctor to determine what could be done. The mother wanted us to anoint the handkerchief and pray over it, that her daughter's ears would be healed. Accordingly, we anointed the handkerchief with oil and prayed over it, and sent it back to the mother, believing that we received the answer, a "yes" from God, the moment we prayed the prayer of faith.

Just today, the mother called me and told me the whole story! Her daughter had been required to take a hearing test in school (remember those hearing tests when you were in school?) and had failed. As I understand it, the mother began praying at that point, and the daughter was tested again, but again, she failed the test. At this point, the school required the mother to get an appointment for a physician to examine her daughter, as a condition for the girl to continue in school. Since the mother trusts God for her healing and the healing of her family, she did not want to do this, but in obedience to the school authorities, she complied. The girl failed the hearing test on two occasions with the physician. As I understand it, she then went to another specialist for a second opinion, and again failed the test. If I counted correctly, she had now failed the hearing test five times.

At this point, the mother really got serious about the matter, and requested intercession, not just by Faith Assembly, but by other Christian friends. Please bear in mind, Faith Assembly is not some special exception, but any child of God who is willing to believe God and pray in faith will receive the answer God has promised, according to II Corinthians 1:20.

As the mother requested, we anointed the handkerchief, prayed over it, and sent it back. In case you wonder, there is Scriptural precedent for this in Acts 19:12.

When she received the handkerchief, she made sure it was with her daughter when she slept. The next time the daughter took the hearing test, she passed, and has continued to pass her hearing tests since that time. God is faithful! Faith Assembly is not to be credited. It was the power of God that healed the girl's ears, and we just want Him to receive the glory.

If you are in the area and want to visit Faith Assembly, drop us an email and we can email you a map in .jpg format.

This has been a very busy month. We had company from England the first two weeks of July, and the first week of those two we spent on a camping trip in southern Indiana. It has taken most of the time since getting back to catch up on work here. So, time has flown.

Remember, our meeting times on PalTalk are changed to include the praise and worship as well as the message. The Schedule of Meetings, below, gives the approximate starting times. The PalTalk Schedule page also includes the conduct guidelines for the room.

Our young people's gatherings are continuing every other week. We are studying and quizzing on the book of Jonah. Our goal is to learn both the content and message of the book. We are also using these times to encourage the young people to be zealous in their Christian walk, as well as to become involved in intercessory warfare. Ultimately, we don't have a fixed agenda, but just want the Holy Spirit to lead us. At our last meeting we ended up spending most of the time sharing about things of the Lord, and we never got into Jonah at all!

If you are in the area and want to visit Faith Assembly, drop us an email and we can email you a map in .jpg format.

We have some good news for those who have been dropping in on our PalTalk Sermons. Many have expressed being blessed by the praise and worship. We had previously not been able to open the room until the pastor was done using his computer, putting final touches on the message, because the pastor's computer was being used to send out the sound. There is no way we know of to send out the sound simultaneously with using the keyboard. We have now completed the necessary rewiring so that we can send the sound out from the computer we were previously using to monitor, to make sure the sound was getting through. Therefore we can send out the entire meeting, including praise and worship, and monitor on the pastor's computer. The only drawback on this is that there can be no text chatting from our end until the pastor is off his computer -- but at least, the sound can go out.

So, the times for opening the room have changed. The Schedule of Meetings, below, gives the approximate starting times. Click here for PalTalk Schedule. This page also includes the conduct guidelines for the room.

Our young people's gatherings are continuing every other week. We are studying and quizzing on the book of Jonah. Our goal is to learn both the content and message of the book. We will also be using these times to get the young people involved in intercession.

If you are in the area and want to visit Faith Assembly, drop us an email and we can email you a map in .jpg format.

Well, here we are again, after too long a lapse. I guess unless we decide to designate someone to take on this project, the updates will just be "catch as catch can." I am keeping the links to Sarah's England photos here for one more round, for the benefit of those who haven't seen them yet. They are in five albums, divided according to where she was staying at the time.

    England: Part One -- Home in Indiana through Calne, Wiltshire.

    England: Part Two -- Verwood, Dorset, and places visited from there.

    England: Part Three -- Bisley, Surrey, and places visited from there.

    England: Part Four -- Lincolnshire, and places visited there.

    England: Part Five -- Bexley, Kent, and places visited there, back to home in Indiana.

Our first young people's get together was held Friday night, May 18. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We sang together for a while, then we did Bible Trivia, after which we ordered in pizza. We are planning our next meeting for this Friday, June 15. We will be doing some serious Bible quizzing on the book of Jonah (chapter one this week).

We continue to put our sermons on PalTalk. Click here for PalTalk Schedule. This page also includes the conduct guidelines for the room.

If you do not have a church home, seek God to provide one for you. We know that churches with a sound, full gospel, end-time message are few and far between. This is why we put our sermons on PalTalk live. Click here for information and a listing of approximate times.

In our last news update, I posted the pictures my daughter Sarah had put into Webshots of her recent trip to Great Britain. I am leaving them in this newsletter, for the benefit of those who haven't seen them yet. They are in five albums, divided according to where she was staying at the time. Here is a list, if you are interested. Click on the link to go to the album.

Friday night we had the first of what we hope will be fairly regular get-togethers for the young people of Faith Assembly and others who are interested in Christian fellowship and growing in their walk with the Lord. We spent some time in singing, had a good round of Bible Trivia, and pizza to refuel the depleted energy tanks. We plan in the future to have some real Bible quizzing on the book of Jonah (staying in the book long enough to get to know the contents and the message thoroughly).

Sermons on PalTalk are serving their intended purpose. It is not our desire to draw people away from being part of actual local Christian assemblies, so it is not surprising that most of those who drop in are unfamiliar faces. We believe God will use this outreach as part of the fulfillment of His will to get the end-time message to the world. Remember, there are conduct guidelines for the room. Click here to read them.

Well, once again time has slipped away. In our last newsletter, our daughters had just come back from their overseas journeying. Sarah has put about half of her photos into five private albums on Webshots. They are divided according to where she was staying at the time. Here is a list, if you are interested. Click on the link to go to the album.

We are putting these on here just to give you an idea of what has been taking our spare time in the last several weeks (scanning photos!), and also to introduce you to some of our friends in several of the churches close to us over in Great Britain. We love all these people dearly, and expect some day to be able to go over and meet them ourselves.

Sermons on PalTalk are continuing. Firetalk has finally and definitely closed down. We have considered other chat programs that are available. Obviously, we cannot be on more than one. So far, of the options available, PalTalk seems best for our purposes. Remember, there are guidelines for the room. Click here to read them.

We thank God for the safe return of our daughters Sarah and Tabitha from their journey overseas. When they get their pictures processed, we may put some of them in here, to introduce you to some of our friends in several of the churches close to us over in Great Britain. We love these people dearly, and expect some day to be able to go over and meet them ourselves.

Sermons on PalTalk are continuing. Remember, there are guidelines for the room. Click here to read them.

Our daughter Tabitha gave a testimony of God's healing during her trip to Israel. She was accidentally poked in the eye with a cactus spine. She did not panic, but asked God to heal her eye. By the next morning, there was no sign it had ever happened -- complete manifestation of healing. Praise the Lord, whose promises are sure, and who still heals today!

We have asked for your testimonies in previous news pages. We specified divine healing without medical science. Perhaps a word of explanation is in order. We all know that surgery and drugs can cure some things, but that is natural, scientific, cause and effect. Our interest here is supernatural healing, where there is no explanation in natural cause and effect, so that the glory belongs to God alone, not to the credit of human intervention. If you have a testimony of healing, protection, or miraculous provision of material blessings, send us an e-mail, and we will include it here.

We do not promise to publish all these testimonies, and we do not claim ownership. Any testimonies we do include will be subject to editing of style, but we will not change the content.

If you do not have a church home, seek God to provide one for you. We understand that churches with a sound, full gospel, end-time message are few and far between. This is why we put our sermons on PalTalk live. Click here for information and a listing of approximate times.

This has been a busy three weeks. We generally want to update this page more frequently, but other things have been more pressing. The pastor's two oldest daughters are traveling abroad at the present time, and keeping in close touch with home, which takes up considerable time.

Sermons on PalTalk are going well. However, occasionally the enemy attempts to disrupt, and we want to apologize for our slowness in dealing with certain perverted individuals who came in and filled the screen with obscene and blasphemous words on Wednesday, March 14. We have taken steps to make sure those administering the room will act more promptly in the future. Remember, there are guidelines for the room. Click here to read them. Chatting about things unrelated to the sermon should be done using a separate chat window. Constructive comments about the message are welcome, as well as simple questions, but no debating will be allowed, since the one bringing the teaching is not able to respond directly. The minister is usually available for a few minutes following the message, and you may raise questions then. The minister can discuss them at that time, arrange a later contact, or at least get your e-mail address, so he can write an answer and send it to you. Or, you may send an email to the minister at the link below. As long as the volume of email is reasonable, the minister will endeavor personally to answer within a reasonable length of time.

During the Sunday morning meeting, a brother who makes his living in construction gave a testimony of God's protection while using a chain saw. He is well experienced, but something went wrong, and the chainsaw actually cut through his trousers, but did not even scratch his skin! Praise the Lord for His care!

Sunday night we again had our regular monthly joint meeting with a neighboring assembly. Following the message on "Overcoming the Circumstances," the next hour was spent giving testimonies of God's healing, provision, guidance, and protection. From old to young, many, many testimonies were given.

Remember, if you have a testimony of God's faithfulness (divine healing, meaning without medical intervention; miraculous provision of material blessings; divine protection; and so on), send us an e-mail, and we will include it here. We do not promise to publish all these testimonies, and we do not claim ownership. Any testimonies we do include will be subject to editing of style, but we will not change the content. This will be on a trial basis, as long as we are able to handle the volume.

Remember, if you do not have a church home, you should seek God to provide one for you. At the same time, we understand that churches with a sound, full gospel, end-time message are few and far between. This is why we put our sermons on PalTalk live. Click here for information and a listing of approximate times.

Our first PalTalk sermon went very well. The program seems, perhaps, even better suited to our needs than the one we were using before. Moderator controls are more secure and at the same time easier to use. We would like to remind you that there are guidelines for the room. Click here to read them. If you want to chat in text with a friend about something unrelated while you listen to the message, please use a separate chat window. Also, there is to be no debating about what the minister is saying during the message. The minister is not able from the pulpit to know the arguments being raised, and certainly is not going to interrupt the sermon to answer them. Following the message, you may raise questions, and the minister is generally available to discuss them with you. If not, you may send an email to the minister at the link below. As long as the volume of email is reasonable, the minister will endeavor to answer within a reasonable length of time.

I am presently working on updating the listing of recorded Faith Assembly teachings. The full list, going back to January 1994 will be available in one catalog. I will announce in this news page when it is available.

I would like to invite you to use this site as a place to publish testimonies of faith to the glory of God. I am talking about divine healing without medical intervention, miraculous provision of material blessings, divine protection, and so on. Send us an e-mail. Any testimonies will be subject to editing of style, but we will not change the content. We do not promise to publish all testimonies, and we do not claim ownership. This will be on a trial basis, as long as we are able to handle the volume.

Remember, the full text of the books, Faith, Biblical Thinking and Confession, Why Speak in Tongues, and Did Jesus Die Spiritually? by Hobart Freeman, is available just by clicking on the titles here. Also, if you follow the link to the Faith Ministries listing, you can go to the full text of Brother Freeman's tracts Occult Oppression and Bondage...How to be set FREE, and The Purpose of Pentecost.

The biggest news at the moment is the demise (as of March 9, 2001) of Firetalk, the chat program where we were making our sermons available for the past several months. With Firetalk gone, we have gone to another chat program, called PalTalk, which has similar capabilities, and possibly even a larger community of active users. Click here for the link to the PalTalk website, where you can download the program and sign up.

Once you are signed on with PalTalk, click on the Groups icon, and on the listing of group categories, double-click on "Christianity." The name of the room is "Faith Assembly." When the room is open, the name will be included on the list, and you can enter the room for the sermon. Normally the room will be opened a few minutes before the sermon begins, so do not be surprised if you hear some singing! The scheduled times for sermons is here (click).

We have just concluded two series that had been going on for several weeks. The one on Wednesday night was "Themes from Thessalonians," a study of the two Thessalonian epistles, of which we have completed the first epistle, and are taking a "breather" before we continue to the second (only a short breather...we will resume the series shortly). The Sunday night series just completed has been a study of Faith, both as a doctrine and as the practical application of faith. At the present time, I do not have a new series planned for Sunday nights, so for at least some time, the messages will be as the Lord gives them from one week to the next. Typically the times when I do not have a series going have been very enriching and in a special way on the cutting edge of our immediate needs, especially speaking of the needs of the local assembly.

This Sunday evening, February 25, we look forward to a joint meeting with our friends from Faith Christian Assembly, and the ministry of the Word by their pastor, Mark Harness. This message will be sent out over Firetalk at the regular Sunday evening time.

I have also continued to update the Faith Ministries pages, adding more of Brother Freeman's books that were not listed there before. I appreciate the helpful advice from my friend Martin Stafford from England, who designed the site originally, and has continued to monitor and advise as I have now taken it under my own "wing."

I believe the message of the hour is repentance, to make possible true reconciliation and restoration among saints of like precious faith. I believe that this reconciliation and restoration must come without sacrificing or compromising sound doctrine, because the term "like precious faith" speaks of doctrinal agreement. I do not mean we must cross every "t" and dot every "i" exactly the same, but where there is substantial agreement on the distinctives of the full-gospel, end-time message, the divisions that exist are without justification. In other words, we are not talking about universal reconciliation and restoration, but overcoming those petty hindrances to fellowship that too often exist among people who essentially share the same doctrinal beliefs. It is our prayer that God will grant grace for repentance from the faultfinding, finger pointing, and party spirits that have divided the churches.

Now is a good time to refresh your memory on some wonderful teachings from the past, specifically, the books on Faith, Biblical Thinking and Confession, Why Speak in Tongues, and Did Jesus Die Spiritually? by Hobart Freeman. These books are as up to date as today's news, and I highly recommend them. Click on a book name to link to the full text, or you can contact Faith Ministries if you would like to obtain your own copy.

Sunday evening 6:30 p.m., This week, guest minister, Mark Harness,
pastor of Faith Christian Assembly

Remember, if you do not have a church home, you should seek God to provide one for you. At the same time, we understand that churches with a sound, full gospel, end-time message are few and far between. This is why we put our sermons on Firetalk live. Click here for information and a listing of approximate times. (Please note: Firetalk no longer exists. The messages are now on PalTalk, and the link above links to the correct page)

As you can see, I have kept busy the last couple weeks working on making a serious website. Perhaps not your typical, glitzy, professional page, but readable and informative, I dare say. But websites are not the real news.

The real news is, Jesus is alive, and He is saving, healing, delivering, restoring, providing, and protecting today! When the enemy comes in like a flood, it is our privilege to hold high the Standard of God's Word and to walk by faith.

The Word of God has continued to challenge us in all three of the current series. In Luke, we are in a section of serious admonitions concerning our readiness for the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. In the series on Faith, we are seeing how important faith is for our lives every day in the present. And in Thessalonians, the theme is reinforced with admonitions to prove all things, hold fast that which is good, and abstain from all appearance of evil, which goes right along with the present section in Luke.

Sometimes one might be tempted to think a higher power had been engineering all these series, down to the specific messages, to come together at this precise moment. In fact, it is too obvious to deny! One thing sure, no human pastor could engineer it, considering I began teaching from Luke over a year ago, and on Thessalonians over four months ago, and on faith about a month ago!

Now is a good time to refresh your memory on some wonderful teachings from the past, specifically, the books on Faith, Biblical Thinking and Confession, and Did Jesus Die Spiritually? by Hobart Freeman. These books are as up to date as today's news, and I highly recommend them. You can contact Faith Ministries if you would like to obtain copies.

Remember, if you do not have a church home (you should, if at all possible, but we understand it is not always possible), we do put our sermons on Firetalk live. Click here for the approximate times. (Please note: Firetalk no longer exists. The messages are now on PalTalk, and the link above links to the correct page)

Welcome to Faith Assembly's web site. I am Joe Brenneman, the pastor. I am only just getting my feet wet on creating a web page, and the program I am using is probably rather primitive, but it does work, so that at least gets us started.

I am assuming, at least at first, that most hits on this web site will be people who already know who we are, who know about this web site because I have told them, who are just checking in to see what's up with us. But, in the future, I will also be providing more general information for the public's sake about who we are, where we have come from, and answers to other commonly asked questions about Faith Assembly.

At the beginning, I will use this page, and links from it, just to keep you updated about what is going on, news, faith testimonies, and plans for the near and more distant future.

I am also considering having pages for sermon notes of recent sermons. If I do this, these will be posted only AFTER the message has been preached. Right now, I am preaching four messages every week, but two of them are essentially the same message in two locations. The present schedule is,

Any responses, questions, or ideas for this site are welcome. Click the link below to email us.