(from Dan Miller & Connie Winterstein)

reetings from cold & rainy Lancaster, PA. It is the Good Friday after Maundy Thursday & I’m feeling like the weather. But now that I’m thinking of all of you I’ll consider it a holiday, this way, from my favorite Easter hymn...

’Tis midnight; and on Olive’s brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
’Tis midnight in the garden now,
The suff’ring Savior prays alone.
        -William B. Tappan & William B. Bradbury

he volitional turning point in Christ’s Passion week occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane, outside the walls of Jerusalem after midnight when He faced all the fears & terrors of what He was about to do for all humanity. In that midnight hour the burden of the ages weighed in Christ’s heart. He did not want to go to the Cross. But instead of following His inclinations He submitted to the will of the Father, setting the example for all of us who follow Him, “Everything is possible for you! If it is possible, if you are willing, may this cup pass me by. Remove this cup from me! Yet not as I want but as you want. Not my will but always yours be done.”

More can be read on Jesus in the Garden at Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:40-46, from Last Days of Messiah, edited by Gary C. Wharton.

Gotta Serve Somebody (I believe in You even on the Morning After...) -Bob Dylan

or Aletheia Ministries, for myself & Connie, what Jesus did for us from that midnight hour forward to the present day in His Church, is the very reason for our life and ministry. God’s greatest Transforming Reversal of Fortune was Jesus Christ killed as a criminal but resurrected as the King of Glory or as St. Augustine put it, “The Victim become Victor.” The Bible teaches us that because of the fall of man and the ensuing repercussions of sin & evil, God initiates all the reversals of fortune necessary to restore a people, a church, a kingdom to Himself from every tribe and nation. This is the Truth, the Faith in which we stand. We cannot stand on our own; we cannot change ourselves. It is Christ’s truth, His faith, His power that changes us. And this is the faith that overcomes the world, the wars, the sufferings, the waitings, the wanderings, the losses, the failures, the foolishness of our lives: “Christ in you the Hope of glory.” We so easily forget or glibly take for granted the incredible proximity of Christ’s intense & beautiful high priestly prayer... just before he sprawled on the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane. In order for Jesus to participate in the fulfillment of His own prayer, His own deepest desires, He had to do what He did not want to do. But in the end His joy, His love overcame His repulsion at paying for our all our sins in His own body: “...who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It is for this reason that I am content to finally write up a short report on Aletheia ministry activities of the past year as we look forward to what God is doing in this year of 2003.

was a year of firsts for Aletheia. I began my first public Bible Study, was licensed as a Pastor in May; officiated at my first wedding (assisted with another), preached several times at the church I am now attending, where I am also teaching the adult Sunday school class, going chapter by chapter through Isaiah (Connie is the piano player in the same church). Last summer, my friend, Susan Tremper, from Chicago, as a surprise gift designed & set up our first Aletheia web site. I was able to take a vacation to the shore & attend a Literature Conference at Wheaton College while visiting friends all along the way. Later in the Fall I made an exciting trip to Athletes In Action headquarters in Xenia, Ohio, to teach a short seminar on the subversiveness of the Gospel.

onnie Lee Winterstein, my faithful Aletheia co-founder, continues to teach her Royal Family Women Bible class every Wednesday. She also writes Bible lessons (BORN FREE) for Polly Good’s Beginner’s class. Some of the topics covered in Connie’s classes were The Holy Spirit and Humility, The Holy Spirit & Submission (not so popular topics in our self-willed culture). Connie also handles all the finances of Aletheia Ministries, writing checks, depositing money, keeping accurate accounts.

letheia’s music group, , has performed many times, incorporating a variety of songs for each occasion. Blood Red has been able to upgrade their sound systems. They have also created a CD disc of songs, under Andy Styer’s direction, that can be sent out to prospective performance venues. They have five concerts scheduled in the coming month! It seems whereever Blood Red performs they are enthusiastically received (and often asked back). This coming Easter Sunday Blood Red will be performing an Easter program at our own Lancaster Bible Church.

2003

great thing about beginning a non-denominational ministry from scratch is that we get to do many things for the first time with the least amount of meetings & layered bureaucratic paperwork. Connie is now teaching on the book & story of Esther. It was fun for me to collect the books from my library & the bookstore where I work, for Connie to read & utilize in her classes. It is hard to explain the satisfaction I feel, the extreme contentment I have to work with someone like Connie, who loves God’s Word so much, who doesn’t mind adjusting her teaching & lifestyle applications to what the Bible says. Later in May, Connie & the Royal Family Women class will meet at a local Tea House for a “High Tea” Blood Red performance of their own story of Esther program. Connie & Blood Red have written up their own music and song lyrics for Esther’s behind-the-scenes theme of God’s Transforming Reversals of Fortune in the Christian life (I’m gonna try & sneak in at a back table to see the performance). So far this year, I have taught in my wednesday evening Christian Theology for the Artist class, such topics as: The Christian & Movies; Christian & Music (including Punk Rock); Christian perspectives on Play, Rest, and Work; Christian & Technology; Christian Worship Versus Idolatry; God, The Trinity, Worship & Relationships. Beginning in June, I plan to teach the rest of the year through the book of Revelation (oh my my!).

nother first this year... Dee Harnish, a Blood Red performer & Royal Family Women member decided to rescue me from a car with 155,000 miles & rapidly rusting out and give me a 1992 Mercury Topaz for free! I couldn’t say no. Dee helped me with the paperwork, then, both she & Connie took one long Sunday afternoon to clean & detail the car for me (I am detail-disabled). Dee also donated a Van for Blood Red to transport themselves and their bulky sound system equipment to performances. I thank God for Dee’s big heart & many kindnesses. I have always made God’s Logistical Grace an important part of Aletheia’s theology. There are times when God puts His daily grace on personal & public display. Thus, this is how our sometimes incompetent ministry exists and moves by His Grace. This coming Wednesday evening’s Bible class (4/23) will be given over to Islamic Missionaries, Andres & Angelica & Karina, to give their story and a report on their arduous work for Christ across northern Africa. Much more could be said here & I know I am forgetting things but I want to go on to our Thanksgiving & Prayer section.

Thanksgiving

• For all of you who remember to pray for Aletheia Ministries. Your prayers are cherished & powerfully sustaining.
• For all those of you who attend our classes & allow us to exercise our spiritual gifts in the public arena. I say this with emphasis since in the past both Connie & I have gone years without the privilege of teaching in public.
• We thank God for providing myself & Connie with good health & the energy necessary to juggle jobs, other responsibilities and still keep up our spirits when we are exhausted and discouraged.
• We thank all of you who financially support Aletheia with monthly checks. Your faithfulness drives us onward (At present, Aletheia wobbles between $200--$1000 in our bank account). We thank those of you who financially support us when you can.
• For enough financial support to purchase a new computer for my home use.
• We thank the enthusiastic core class members for your willingness to learn some doctrines, to consider some theology, to make some applications you’ve never heard of or thought of before. God is the one who opens our fearful eyes and ears to become confident in His thoughts, His stories & promises.
• For Heidi, the Pippi-Krieg, who has taken my diagrams and drawn them beautifully enough to put on the board & photocopy.
• We thank God for giving me a Bible & book sales clerk job, enabling me to meet many people & pastors & missionaries, and to be in constant contact with new ministries & resources.
• We thank the Wednesday evening Bible class for committing themselves to support an Islamic Missionary team in N. Africa.

Pray for:

• Connie & myself to remain healthy & motivated enough to study & prepare & work hard to teach the Truth in love even when we are tired & overwhelmed by the daily push-pull weights of life.
• Willing hearers & doers of God’s Word.
• Teamwork & timing & unity & the proper priorities for the various Aletheia ministries.
• More preaching & teaching opportunities with churches, retreats, seminars, meetings, etc.
• Sufficient income this year from preaching & teaching that I can quit my weekend job and work just 40 hours/week.
• Teaching resources such as a portable eraser board, large pulpit, office space, and comfortable local class space as needed.
• The Aletheia web site; that it will be more useful & helpful to many outside our periphery & will enable others to make a fresh start with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Wisdom & Discernment in counseling people & loved ones in the difficult challenges & reconciliations of everyday life.
• What the Holy Spirit prompts you in anything regarding our ministry (we know too little to tell you what & how).
• Our carefulness in not grieving or quenching The Sprit but rather in our glorifying the Great God of our Life & Salvation.

Finally:

o honor the new album released on the Gospel songs of Bob Dylan (Gotta Serve Somebody), I leave you with several quotes from my “artist” classes that inform just a little part of what Aletheia Ministries is about:

From Brian Godowa, in his book Hollywood Worldviews.

“Christian [artists] tend to be cultural gluttons or cultural anorexics...”

“...A sense of balance is what a Christian needs. People who are inclined either to immerse themselves in modern art or to avoid it completely probably need to check their inclination.”

Steve Turner, from his book Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts.

“I didn't yet have the theology to back it up, just a gut feeling that Christians could, and should, be involved in all areas of culture...”

“...I don't expect art to convert people, although I realize that art plays an important part in shaping our understanding of the world.”

“...Art tends to show rather than tell. It allows people the opportunity to experience another way of seeing the world. But if we are not there, people are denied the opportunity of encountering our perspective.”

onnie and I thank you for reading this long-delayed Newsletter. Our web address is: http://aletheiaministries.tripod.com (have fun navigating thru it!)

Tax-Deductible Contributions may be sent to:
      Aletheia Ministries
      437 W. James St.
      Lancaster, PA
      17603

y home address is:
      705 N. Duke St. 1-Rear
      Lancaster, PA
      17601

or Connie & Myself we pray for you God’s rich blessings of His Transforming & surprising reversals of fortune.

ncorrigibly In Christ,

aniel Ray Miller