time out

Hey folks, just in case anyone has been checking my blog, I just wanted to let you know that BTF is still in a holding pattern.

We are waiting on the State of New Mexico to finalize paperwork, never thought it would take this long.

Also, I've been picked up as Interim Youth Pastor for Hoffmantown for the next 3 to 6 months, so it will take some time before I'm back on this site. I have my hands very full with the Senior High and College group.

Please pray for me and for what God wants BTF to be.

Pastor Eric

breaking heart

I am heartbroken by what I see. I ask that the Lord would take over.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Long time

Wow so much has happened I really don't know where to begin.

I suppose I should begin by thanking a Godlover who reminded me to post on my BTF blog.

I apologize to anyone who has been checking, sometimes I wonder if anyone reads this at all.

The reality is that God has grabbed a hold of me in a way I can't even begin to describe. He has given me clarity of direction for His perfect will in my life and I couldn't be more excited.

BTF will be morphing into a true fellowship and pull away from the idea of corporate worship. Our intentions will be to meet once a week or once every two weeks and have one to two fellowship events per month.

Meanwhile, God has arrested me and those called alongside me to "the project". I really can't discuss the details as they are protected by confidentiality agreements. Suffice it to say that we could really use some prayer.

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In other news, I spent some time this afternoon with Javen and Silas and they were both reading to me out of their reading book. It was so amazingly cute to watch them and how excited they were to read to me.

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Can I just tell you that I love the people that God has put into my life?

How has God blessed you?

God bless...

Pastor Eric

NSX GO GO GO

Last night I met with Alan, Mike and Char at the church to load up everything for our family today.

This morning I head to the church to pick up the food, meat, flowers and photo certificate.

Then I meet everyone over at our family's apartment at 10.

It is very exciting to see this happening all over the city. May Almighty God be praised and may everyone glorify Him throughout this process.

He is.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

(Pray for us please!)

NSX, and volunteers

Today I took Darius and Ari with me to Hoffmantown to work at the church on the Not So Extreme (NSX) Makeover project.

With us went my two co-workers in the Coast Guard and some of their children. It was a great blessing to be involved in NSX once again and even more so to watch my co-workers involved in this amazing ministry.

I received a phone call from the Baptist Association of New Mexico today that is interested in BTF and church planting. I look forward to touching base with them again when I return from Austin.

Saturday is the big day for NSX. Sunday I leave for Austin. I can't wait.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

Arise

"Arise arise I have conquered the grave!" Cries out the God-man Jesus!

On this day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!

Witness after witness.. over 500 testified to His resurrection..

It was never disputed in ancient times.. they attempted to hide it..

But they never disputed it... had they had proof.. they simply would have refuted it showing proof...

Instead the proof is that we are transformed today by a relationship with a living Savior who conquered sin and death.

Arise arise I have conquered the grave!

HE IS RISEN!! HE IS RISEN INDEED! Has your life been transformed as a result of His work?

God bless,

Pastor Eric

NSX, Preps, Project

Wow this week has been amazing.

Wednesday I met with my mentor Wayne Barber for about 5.5 hours (2 hour study followed by 3.5 hour mentoring time)

I have been immensely blessed to be under Wayne's instruction and care. I pray that God would continue to bless this man in a great way and use him as His instrument.

Thursday we had our Go Team Leader meeting for upcoming NSX week! Everyone is really starting to come together.

Friday my son asked me why we called it "Good Friday" and that led to an excellent discussion with my 10 year old Darius!

Saturday (Today) about 250 of us gathered at Hoffmantown to meet for the NSX (Not So Extreme) and after our meeting many of us stuck around to help sort and catalog the thousands upon thousands of donations. It was truly amazing to watch.

Normally I'm responsible for massive mobilizations like this but today my role was that of "heavy lifter". To be honest it was nice just to receive instruction and work... instead of being the one giving the instruction... Thank you Lord for an amazing blessing today.

I got to see Char, Alan, Joy and Mike today for the first time since dinner and it was a nice time. I'm excited to be working side by side with them. This next week is going to be tremendous.. I couldn't be more excited.

God bless Char who has practically volunteered for everything under the sun, her husband Alan who worked today faithfully lifting, sorting and simply working. God bless Mike who and Joy who came today despite the fact that Joy was under the weather!

What an awesome group of people you've put on the team Lord! Thank you for the above named individuals.

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Last but not least.. pray for "The Project" from time to time I will refer to it. Please keep it in your prayers. God knows what it is.

God bless!

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JESUS CHRIST HAS CONQUERED DEATH AND SIN!!!

PRAISE BE TO JESUS THE CHRIST! SAVIOR AND KING OF KINGS!!!

In His Majesty's service...

God bless,

Pastor Eric

The Savior enters

Today is Palm Sunday (rather yesterday) it is late as I write this.

I'm humbled and amazed at my Savior Jesus the Christ's journey into Jerusalem.

He knew where He was headed. He gave all for His own creation.

Thank you Lord Jesus for riding the donkey into Jerusalem so many years ago. Thank you for who You are.

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Had a great conversation with a young man today about Mormonism. I'll call him Mars. I want to protect his identity, but if you see me refer to Mars, that is who I'm talking about.

He had some great questions and seems honestly seeking his faith. I'm excited about him and am going to spend some time this evening in prayer for him.

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After service this morning, we went to lunch with Lisa and Kolan and Lisa's parents to a place called Little Anita's here in Albuquerque. It was a great meal. Our server was a lady named Shelly. We asked how we could pray for her, it nearly broke her into tears. It is amazing to see what a simple gesture of the Savior's love can do. Please pray for Shelly and her family.

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God has put it on my heart to continue work on "the project". And so I will.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

after death

I've been conversing recently with a very close friend. My friend is doing a paper on the Roman Catholic idea of purgatory.

I'm not going to get into that now. But I told my friend to do research on the Bible first and to see what it in fact says happens after death.

Here are some of the points we have been discussing.

1. Unbelievers are sent to Hades. A place of torment to await judgment at the Great White Throne of God (Rev 20)
2. Believers are not sent to Hades, rather they are in the presence of the King, awaiting the Glorious Resurrection, the Second Coming and the judgement of their works at the Bema seat.
3. Keep in mind that believers are not judged according to their sin, their sin was already judged upon Christ at the cross.

God bless you all in your continued studies.

Pastor Eric

God's beauty

Today I drove to Taos, New Mexico from Albuquerque.

I drove through the mountains and touched the clouds. The rocks and cliffs of God are amazing.

How utterly magnificent they were... how they must just pale in comparison to Him.

The Creator is always greater than the creation... just ask the enemy.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

Balance

Balancing ministry and family can be a tricky thing.

The call of the Pastor is to ministry. The call of the husband is to minister to his bride as the Christ does to the church.

When God calls us to do things, how do we prioritize? The answer lies in the fact that God will not call us to do something that would not bless our brides. Christ will NEVER do something that will not be a blessing to His bride the church.

Likewise we as servants of the King are never to do things that will be an anti-blessing to our brides.

Sometimes the call of God to do something can be so very strong that we have to simply, stop and pray and ask for God's timing and perfection in His work.

We love the call of God and want to respond.. but we must never respond to the call of God at the expense of our family.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

Elder Meeting

Had a great Elder meeting with Kolan. So much is still going on behind the scenes for BTF, it is amazing to see how things are moving along and progressing.

I continue to be excited about what God is doing.

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Listening is an artform.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

The Brass

Although this is my ministerial blog, it is also a personal blog. I have been a bi-vocational pastor for 7 years now and besides being a pastor, I am a Chief in the United States Coast Guard.

I have been in the Coast Guard for 18 years and am currently the Recruiter In Charge of the State of New Mexico.

Part of the reason I have been so busy as of late is that the Commanding Officer and the Command Master Chief are coming to pay a visit this morning. Many preps have been made in anticipation of their arrival and I'm looking forward to their visit.

Pray that our meeting goes well.

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Thanks again to Lydia for lending me her book. That really blessed me Lydia!! Thanks again!

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We are still waiting on the State to finish up our non-profit paperwork. The waiting game is ok with me though, for I know that all things will happen in God's perfect timing.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Hey Jude

Today during our study we looked at Jude 4-7 and talk about a difficult passage of Scripture! Wow!

We have to look at what the Scripture says though, not what we think it should say. We never align Scripture with our beliefs rather Scripture should always define our beliefs.

Who were the Nephilim in Genesis 6?

I'll leave that for you to discover, but I will give you a hint.. look at the writings of Jude and Peter as well as the writings of Moses.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

Brothers from other Mothers

Kolan, Brother Bob and Dean,

Thanks to the three of you as of late for the words of encouragement. Perseverance is of the highest priority.

My Coast Guard job has been keeping me super busy as of late, and I feel as though I've neglected family and ministry. I've really been praying about how to balance life and ministry. I know that God has called me to serve Him, and I also know that He will never call me to do something that conflicts with His Word.

In this we can always stand firm. God will NEVER call us to do something that conflicts with His revealed will in His Word!

I need to discharge the duties of my ministry, but not at the expense of blessing my wife, nor at the expense of those placed in authority over me.

So to my brothers from other mothers (but the same heavenly Father) I salute you for your words of encouragement!

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Last week, I didn't get to go to my meeting with Pastor Wayne and to be honest I was a bit frustrated, but I understand he is a busy man.

Last Sunday we went to our Sunday School and our study of Titus, but then we were slated to work with the four year olds. I enjoyed it very much, but missed the message preached by Pastor Wayne. I pray that this week we are able to meet. I really miss this time with my mentor.

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This week, on Thursday I have my Commanding Officer and Command Master Chief coming into town on Thursday. This is the first time our CO and CMC have visited this office in years! Although I look forward to it, much preperation is being made.

Thursday is also "Da Badger's" (my son Javen's) birthday. I love Da Badger with all my heart and am actually looking forward to Thursday night. Please pray that my meeting with the CO and CMC goes well that I can enjoy family time with my son on his birthday that evening.

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Yesterday afternoon we went to Burger King with the kids for lunch as Marie had a doctor's appointment. She had asked me to meet them for lunch.

When we were there, in line there were some unbathed, and what appeared to be homeless people. One in particular that was in line smelled something awful! I was disgusted initially and God quickly convicted my heart as He tends to do and literally I confessed my pride, repented and asked for His forgiveness.

I sat and prayed, thanking God for His forgiveness and also that He would bless this man who was in need.

God reminded me that none of us are worthy of Him and to Him we are not worthy to be in His presence, except for the work of the Christ!

I continued to pray for this man and felt peace in my heart, when around this time Marie came to the table (I was with the kids, she was ordering) and told me that God had put it on her heart to buy that man's meal! What a praise! Without speaking to my wife about what God was doing over my own pride, Marie had it put upon her heart to purchase His meal.

I don't put this in my blog to put Marie in a good light, or to say "look at us how great we are". NO! I put it here so that the GLORY OF GOD might be displayed even through a Pastor's pride and repentance.

God you are amazing!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Arianna's Birthday and lack of blog posts

Folks forgive me for not posting more regularly!

It has been an extremely busy week for me and I appreciate the patience of those who are faithful to read my blog.

I still have much to post regarding Tuesday's topics, but for tonight I just wanted to say that it was my daughter's ninth birthday today. God has truly blessed me with her!

(I had written a long post and my two left thumbs somehow found a way to delete it!) How frustrating.

Basically it said that we enjoyed time with the Wright's today at lunch and that was awesome, also that our pens came in! A promotional item which simply reads, "Live life, Love God" and has our website address.

The pen also writes well! I'm excited about this too.. because it is a giveaway but sometimes people have pens that are horrible. These are actually functional.

Still waiting on the State for our non profit status. Still praying for direction!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Quick blog

Today was in fact a very very long day. So much happened though that I'm excited to write about. However tomorrow is another long day and this morning started at 0445.

I'll jot down topics I want to write about so I can remember though.

• The word darkness in the Greek and how it confirms the impeccabilty of the Christ.

• Not So Extreme Mission Work update

• Javen's upcoming birthday

• Ministry / Life Balance

God bless,

Pastor Eric

NSX Meeting Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a long day for me. I have to be downtown at 0545, then it is off to try and get things set up and ready for the Go Team meeting for the Not So Extreme missionary project tomorrow night.

Lots of online stuff to do. Also I've got a ton of things to research and do before my meeting on Wednesday with Pastor Wayne.

And I've still got to update the website.

Please pray for me, this will be a busy busy week.

Also, I need to do a study on the word darkness.. I'll explain later but it is more proof of the impeccability of the Christ.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

hurting hearts

Lord God, I have a friend who I just got off the phone with that is hurting so very bad. She is at the "jumping off place". She called me, but is crying out to You! Please touch her heart Lord God. Please wrap Your arms around her and comfort her as only You can.

For those of you who read this blog, please pray for my friend, her name is unimportant at this point, God knows who she is. Just please pray for her.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

The key to understanding peccability vs. impeccability

Never base your theology on one passage of Scripture.. however when looking at the whole of Scripture it is ok to have a key verse to support something that is clearly outlined.

The key verse to understanding peccability vs. impeccability is found in the book of James 1:13. The word is aperiazo it literally means that Jesus could not be tempted as we understand temptation.

Jesus was not able to sin as opposed to able not to sin. This is where I stand.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Fellowship beginnings

Some people have asked me...

"How will you start the fellowship? What will you do?" My answer has always been the same..

"It is not MY fellowship and I will hopefully simply get out of His way and make myself useful to Him in His purpose."

Folks, I'm really not concerned or worried about how things will come about. I know that I simply need to be faithful to do as He has called me to do, without exception and without excuse.

Today as I was studying the difference between dokimazo and periazo I met a young man named Cassidy.

He was actually doing his own thing as I was studying, and right before he was about to leave, he simply asked... "Are you a minister?"

That simple question led to a fantastic and encouraging albeit too short discussion about Christ and what BTF is all about.

I really enjoyed my conversation with him and we exchanged information. He seemed genuinely interested in BTF and asked me to make sure that we included him when we started our fellowship.

He is a student of medicine (natural) and has studied the Scriptures.. I really look forward to getting to know him more. If you are reading this Cassidy, I really hope to spend more time with you getting to know you... let me know how I can pray for you. You have my contact information!

Let me just say that God will bring about this fellowship because HE has called it into being. Thank you Lord for bringing your servants like Cassidy to my attention. May we all serve you as our King in a way that is pleasing to You!

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For those of you interested in the word study.. here is a brief bit on what I've been looking at tonight:

Dokimazo: To try, prove, discern, distinguish, approve. It has the notion of proving a thing whether it is worthy or not.

Metaphorically, to make trial of, put to the proof, examine, e.g., by fire.

Spoken with reference to God meaning to put to the proof, i.e., to tempt, which is equivalent to periazo to tempt, BUT WITH THE MEANING OF to try or test (when referring to God)

Dokimazo to prove to bring forth the good in us or to make us good., is at times contrasted with periazo which is to tempt to make us fall.

Dokimazo could not be used of Satan since he never wants us to experience God's approval.

Rather Satan always tempts (periazei) to make us fall.

Periazo: To try, to prove in either a good or bad sense, tempt, test by soliciting to sin. Of persons, to tempt, prove, put to the test.

In a good sense it is used in order to ascertain the character, views, or feelings of someone (Matt 22:35, Mark 12:28, Mark 12:34, John 6:6, Revelation 2:2)

In a bad sense with ill intent (Mark 8:11, 10:2, 12:15, Luke11:16, 20:23, John 8:6) Hence by implication to try one's virtue, tempt, solicit to sin (Galatians 6:1, James 1:13 -14, Revelation 2:10).

Especially by Satan (Matthew 4:1, Matthew 4:3, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Thessalonians 3:5) Keep in mind Satan always tempts to show someone unapproved. Satan is actually called ho periazon (the tempter) Matt 4:3

My study on this topic continues... God bless,

Pastor Eric

able not to sin, not able to sin

When discussing the character and nature of the Christ today with my mentor we brought up the topic of whether or not Christ was "able not to sin (peccability)" or "not able to sin (impeccability)

While good and godly men disagree on this issue, my mentor clearly sides on impeccability or the understanding that it was impossible for Christ to sin.

Some assert that this means that He was in fact not tempted as we are. But the argument from Scripture is that the word for tempted as used in the Greek is not the word that we would commonly understand in English.

Cannon William Friedric Farrar asserted that the Christ was in fact Peccable or "Able not to sin" meaning that He was in fact tempted as we understand temptation.

Ultimately Christ is God and God cannot be tempted. I fully intend on investigating this issue in more depth as I too continue to learn and love my Savior Jesus the Christ more and more each day.

Do you pursue the Lord Jesus with all of your being? Do you get your theology from men or from the Word of God?

There is only one authority.. and it is not my mentor, nor is it Cannon Farrar or any other man.. rather it is the revelation of God in His Holy Word!

Let us seek Him with all that we have....

God bless,

Pastor Eric

NSX Team / Bibles / Site

Today I sent off the Needs Assesment that was done on Jane's family to the NSX Team. We have also put out there that we are willing to take on another family if they need us to.

We have been blessed with such an amazing group, that we will see what happens during the week we are called to do the "makeover"

I've been very blessed to get to know our team members. I look forward to more fellowship with them as time goes on.

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Looks as though BTF has received our Bibles that we ordered. 20 copies of the ESV. How exciting! It is simply great to see things starting to come together! It is a time staking process but we are patient and blessed. Thank you Lord for your continued provision!

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Still waiting to figure out how to transfer our original site from one host to the other. The original host is saying they have done everything they need to do to release it. The new host says they can't access it. I'm sure both are sincere in their communication... but one of them must be in error.

I just pray that God will take care of this in a manner that will bless the fellowship and glorify Him.

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My meeting with Pastor Wayne is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited to continue my mentoring with him..

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Last but not least, please pray for my daughter Arianna and my son Darius, both have a fever and they could use prayer!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Home again

Thank you all who prayed for our safe return. 11 hours and 30 minutes later we are home safe in Albuquerque. Praise be to God for our safe return.

I have so much to do this week, and I feel that I need a day off. Funny how I need a day off after having four of them. But I'm truly wiped. I hope to have some more "meaty" posts in the coming days but for now, please understand that I'm simply beat.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

From Desert to Desert

Well, we are headed back to Albuquerque this morning, we have about a 12 hour drive before us, please pray for travel mercies!

Gotta run!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Yuma, talks and missionaries

Well we made it to Yuma, AZ! It has been an amazing trip already.

So far on this trip, I've had a chance to minister to:

A woman who was just broken and hurting.
Another young Christian woman who had become involved in the sin of homosexuality and was feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit who was torn up over it.

And I had a chance to meet a missionary family while I was waiting to get our oil changed. It continues to amaze me how God is consistently working in our midst.

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Today the Needs assessment team was supposed to meet with "Jane" and family and I haven't heard yet how things went. I'm really excited to hear the news.

I've been in prayer for the team all day.

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I'm tired physically, it has been a lot of driving.. but God has blessed this trip and for that I praise Him!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Off to Yuma

We are off to Yuma, pray for travel mercies for us please!

Last night we had an amazing dinner with Lisa and Kolan, afterwards we came home and the four of us prayed together, crying out to the Lord for His guidance.

I love praying with my brothers and sisters in the faith.. the Spirit of God is moving within us and it so evident and exciting.

I've got something that God has really put on my heart and I'm terribly excited about it... don't know how much I can say just yet. But just pray that God will continue to make clear to me His perfect will.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

p.s. don't know when I'll have computer access to update once again.. at least not until Tuesday.

The needs team

Last night our "Go Team" for the Not So Extreme makeover had dinner at our home. Marie prepared a wonderful pineapple glazed ham and all the trimmings. Those present were: Lisa, Kolan, Mike, Joy, Char, Marie and myself.

We had a wonderful night full of laughs and good conversation. It was such a blessing to have fellowship with other believers in our home, it always is.

We discussed who would be the "team" that would go and meet with Jane and her family to assess needs.

The assessment team will be:

Kolan, Lisa, Char and Alan.

They hope to do their meeting with Jane and family this weekend. I should have the assessment in my hands by Tuesday.

Please pray for our team and for Jane and her family.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

An amazing study and long lost brother

I had my meeting with "One step further" we went over 3 John 5-8 and it was an amazing study. Once again I'm encouraged by the depth of the groups study into the Word. What a fantastic joy it was to have my brother Kolan sitting next to me during the study. When he left the conference room today, I glanced at him and he was simply glowing.

I truly love Kolan and am continuously amazed to see his continued passion and personal growth in his relationship with God. Thank you God for touching my friend.

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After the study, I went for my one on one mentoring time with Pastor Wayne. It was a fantastic time of fellowship. We went to Bennigans and just hung out with one another, getting to know one another.. telling each other stories, sharing testimony. Fantastic! I had printed out my questions for him as well as my Greek study of 2 Timothy 1:1-2 and we never really went over it. And that was ok.. it will come in time. Today we solidified our relationship and discussed expectations of our roles with one another.

I couldn't be more thankful to God for what He is doing and preparing to do. I look forward to our studies together and pray that God will grow us both through it.. closer to Him.

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Tonight we are having some of the folks from our NSX team over to the house for dinner. I'm sure my beautiful wife is hard at work in preps for it, my thoughts and prayers are with her.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

The path laid before us

We went to the meeting tonight at Hoffmantown Baptist Church regarding the "Not So Extreme Makeover"

Because of confidentiality reasons I don't want to disclose too much information about the family that we were blessed with.

Suffice it to say for the purposes of my blog we will call the head of the family "Jane". The only description as of right now that we have of Jane is the following:

"Jane is a divorced single mother with two children: We'll call them "Mary" (8 yrs old) and "Martha" (unknown age at this time).

Jane suffers from post partum depression, is possibly bipolar and sees a therapist. She is indesperate need of a washing machine as well as clothing for her children."

We met with the NSX team today and received the news that she was our "family" that we were going to have the opportunity to interact with.

Our team now consists of: Joy, Char, Marie, Leslie and Lisa (the ladies) and Mike, Alan, Eric, Ray and Kolan (the men)

We are very excited and prayerful that Jane and her family will experience the love of Christ in the next few months in a way that will draw her nearer to Him.

Lord God, please let it be all about You! May Your holy presence permeate and illuminate us all. May you be pleased and may we all draw closer to You during this time!

I have a lot of reading to do in the "Go Team Leader" packet, and I still need to send out an email to the team. So I'll cut this portion short for tonight. Please keep us in prayer on this.

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I wrote a letter to Seaman Recruit Stook tonight. Martin, I couldn't be more proud of you! Martin is a former Youth Group member of mine from FBC Riverview who has joined the United States Coast Guard! He is currently in boot camp, please keep him in your prayers!

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I continued my Greek studies into 2 Timothy verse 3 and am now 3.5 hours into my study.. still in verse 3. I say this not to be bolsterous, but to praise God for putting this study before me and blessing me in the study!

Today as I worked on my study, a woman asked me "Are you working on your PhD? I've been secretly looking over your shoulder and your work looks like a dissertation."

I responded, "No, actually I'm just a pastor working on a sermon." She said, "No way, are you serious? I can't believe that someone would put that much work into a sermon."

I smiled and said, that I've been spending the past 3 hours on verse 3, to which she simply said... "Wow" It must be some sermon. I said, "You know, I'm more blessed than the others when I spend this kind of time with Him."

She said, "well best of luck to you"

It was a nice reminder of God's grace in my life to understand just how blessed I've been by Him in my time with Him in study.

Thank you God for taking the time to spend with me.

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Tomorrow is my "One Step Further" meeting with Pastor Wayne and crew, afterwards we are supposed to go to lunch for our one on one mentoring time. I plan on handing him my Greek study of 2 Timothy 1:1-2 and hope that he tears it apart and teaches me more.

Please pray for our time together!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

How to know God.

I've updated now on our website www.birchtreefellowship.com the "How to know God" section under the New to BTF? menu.

It was a lot of prayer, thought and work that went into it. If you read my blog, please review it, I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Team #7 Formed

Today we met at Hoffmantown Baptist Church for the genesis of what would become team #7 of the Not So Extreme Makeover.

So far the team members are:

Eric (Lead)
Marie (Needs assesment)
Joy (Needs assesment)
Kolan (Needs assesment)
Lisa (Needs asssesment)
Allen (Handyman)
Mike (Light lifting)
Char (Decorating)

We still need a Seasoned Servant, Cook and Heavy Lifter

We prayed about which family to bless, and selected our top three potential, but we will be grateful with whatever family God puts in our path. May this be all about Him, may He be glorified, may He be praised!

Our followup meeting will be on Tuesday night at 6:30pm.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Not so Xtreme Makeover

Kolan, Lisa, Marie and I have decided to join the local missionary effort at Hoffmantown dubbed "the not so extreme makeover"

In a nutshell, Hoffmantown Baptist has committed to make a difference in the local community with a concentrated effort between now and the end of spring break. We are having our first "go team" meeting today after church and then we have another meeting on Tuesday night.

I'm excited to see what God will do through us. As a fellowship, we've committed to purchase something like an oven or something similar to be donated to a family in the area. We just pray that God would lead us to which one.

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I finally finished my Greek study of 2 Timothy 1:1-2 and the grand total was 14 hours of study.

I immediately began my next Greek study of 2 Timothy 3-7 and so far I'm three words into the first verse and it has taken me one and a half hours to study. I pray that God would continue to give me the passion to seek out His Word in such a fashion, it has truly blessed me to do so. I also pray that my time gets shorter to get through the work, there is so much to do beyond what I'm currently doing and it never feels like I have enough time.

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Kolan gets home today and will be in town for 9 days, we will be setting a couple days aside to pray with one another for direction. So please be in prayer for us as a ministerial team.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

p.s. Lydia, if you are still reading, thanks again so much.. the book has already blessed me.

Active Web Site for BTF!!!!!

Wow! Thanks to Steve at Myflock.com our website is now active.

You can check out our website still in progress at www.birchtreefellowship.com

I'm very excited about this! Obviously it is a work in progress, any suggestions, thoughts and or comments are appreciated.

The next step is to get birchtreefellowship.org to point to our site as well, this might take a little more time.

I also want to get our emails set up as soon as possible. Thanks again Steve for your help in getting this done!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

IRS - Dates - Potential delays

Today we received in BTF's mail an Acknowledgement of Application from the IRS. Basically it doesn't say much.

It simply says that they have received our Application for exemption from federal income tax and that it will take them about 60 days to either let us know that we have been approved or that they need more information.

At the end of the letter it says that they are experiencing delays in working applications that require further development.

Please pray that our application process will go smoothly.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Grace Mercy and Peace to you

Grace, Mercy and Peace... I extend to you my brothers and sisters of BTF.

In my studies on 2 Timothy 1:1-2, I've been spending a lot of time on these three little words. I figured I'd share with you all some of what I've been looking at.

Grace is the word charis; genitive, and it means literally “to rejoice; a favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor.”
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In this passage it refers to the grace, favor and goodwill of God and Christ as exercised toward men, it is a blessing contained in a salutation.
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Mercy is the word eleos and it means “compassion”.
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In this passage eleos refers to the mercy of God through Christ and the idea of mercies and blessings of every kind. Again, it is a blessing contained in a salutation.
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Peace is the word eirene; genitive, feminine, noun and it means “peace”.
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We often have such a misunderstanding of what it is to have "peace". People often feel that peace is the ability to be indifferent to outside influences, or the ability to be undisturbed, or unconcerned with things. But this my friends is a "worldly peace" and not of God. This sort of peace is always dependent on external conditions!
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The NT concept of peace has nothing to do with indifference or apathy, nor does it have to do with selfish nondisturbance. The peace which God gives is never to be identified with selfish unconcern. In addition, God’s peace is independent of outside conditions and is the fruit of an objective real salvation with God. In other words only Christians can have it!
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Contrast charis which is God’s free grace and gift displayed in the forgiveness of sins as offered to men in their guilt. God’s mercy, eleos, is extended for the alleviation of the consequences of sin. Grace identifies the free nature of salvation, that which is unmerited and without obligation. Mercy is the application of grace and reminds us that redemptive freedom rescued us from the pathetic condition of our sinfulness.
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Peace, eirene, refers us to the effect of salvation, namely, that we were set free from the condemnation of sin and reconciled to God. This is true not only objectively in that we no longer stand before God as enemies but now as beloved children; but this is also true subjectively in that we have been relieved of the hostility in our hearts toward God and the torment of guilt in our consciences.
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So my friends at BTF, it is my strong desire for you that you would have charis, eleos, and eirene, and that God would continue to move in your lives!
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God bless,
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Pastor Eric

Prayer

Prayer is not about getting an answer from God, it is about getting a hold of God. - Chambers

Too much and not enough

I know that we all feel that we often have too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I feel that way lately but I feel energized by the Holy Spirit.

Last night I spent 5 1/2 hours studying the first 12 words of 2 Timothy. I was truly blessed in my study and praise God for His perseverance that lives in and through me.

I worked last night on some work for "One Step Further" my study with Pastor Wayne on Wednesdays. I told the group that I would give them a list of "Word Faith Prosperity Teachers". I went a step further to define their doctrine. For the sake of those who might be interested I'll cut and paste my document here.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

One Step Further(A study with Pastor Wayne Barber)
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Hs. Eric S. HighlandBirch Tree Fellowship
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Studies in 2 John and 3 John
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Notes on Prosperity Teachers:
Also known as, “Prosperity Doctrine,” “Health and Wealth,” “Name It and Claim It,” or “Blab It and Grab It” (the latter term tends to be used by those who criticize the teaching).
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The prosperity teaching is an aberrant doctrine, largely promoted by the Word Faith movement.
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Here’s how it is sold: God wants you to be rich (and/or healthy), but He cannot bless you unless you first send money (also known as a “seed-faith offering”) to whichever televangelist or teacher tells you about this scheme.
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The teaching is part and parcel of “Positive Confession”, one of the doctrinal pillars of Word-Faith theology:
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1) Positive Confession: The Theology of the Spoken Word (Rhematology), or thought actualization, is commonly known as positive confession. It stresses the inherent power of words and thoughts. Each person predestines his own future by what he says verbally and by how well he uses spiritual laws. As such, it is as if we live in a mechanistic universe instead of a personal one (see, Kenneth Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 15; Charles Capps, The Tongue A Creative Force, pp. 117-118; Releasing the Ability of God, pp. 98-99, 101-104).
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2) The Gospel of Health: Isaiah 53 is used to justify blanket coverage for the physical healing of every Christian who has enough faith. “…it is the plan of our Father God in His great love and His great mercy that no believer should ever be sick, that every believer should live his life full span down here on earth and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus” (Hagin, Seven Things You Should Know About Divine Healing, p. 21). Hagin also denies having a headache for forty-five years, labeling such as “simply symptoms rather than any indication of a headache” (In the Name of Jesus, p. 44).
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3) The Gospel of Wealth: A central tenet of the prosperity gospel is that God wills the financial prosperity of every Christian. If a believer lives in poverty, he/she is living outside God’s intended will. “You must realize that it is God’s will for you to prosper” (Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 51).- Source: Word-Faith Movement, “Other Doctrines”, a Watchman Fellowship profile.

In brief, the teachings of these men and women may be summarized as follows:
1. God created man in “God’s class” (or as “little gods”), with the potential to exercise the “God kind of faith” in calling things into existence and living in prosperity and success as sovereign beings.
2. We forfeited this opportunity, however, by rebelling against God in the Garden of Eden and taking upon ourselves Satan’s nature.
3. To correct this situation, Jesus Christ became a man, died spiritually (thus taking upon Himself Satan’s nature), went to Hell, was “born again”, rose from the dead with God’s nature again, and then sent the Holy Spirit so that the Incarnation could be duplicated in believers, thus fulfilling their calling to be little gods.
4. Since we are called to experience this kind of life now, we should be successful in every area of our lives.
5. To be in debt, then, or be sick, or (as is often taught) be left by one’s spouse, and not to have these problems solved by “claiming” God’s promises, shows a lack of faith.

While certain aspects of the above doctrine may vary from teacher to teacher, the general outline remains the same in each case. – Source: Robert Bowman, “Christian Research Institute speaks out on the errors of the Word-Faith movement” (as related to prosperity teachers)
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There are countless Word-Faith Prosperity Teachers. Commonly they deny the uniqueness of the Christ and they teach a false prosperous message.
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Some of the more commonly known Word-Faith Prosperity Teachers are:
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Rod Parsley: “Poverty is a sin, because God told you to multiply”. Poverty is a curse because God wants you to be rich and very rich.” “Jesus is not sick, I don’t have to be sick.” (Rod Parsley has back problems and has been kept out of the pulpit weeks at a time)
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Oral Roberts: In a 1987 fund raising campaign, Oral Roberts claimed that if he did not raise 8 million dollars by March of that year God would kill him. The money was supposed to provide scholarships for medical students who attend Oral Roberts University. (The medical college was closed due to financial troubles and no medical scholarships were distributed from these monies. He did in fact raise the 8 million dollars.)
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Kenneth Copeland: “Adam in the Garden of Eden was God manifested in the flesh.”
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Marilyn Hickey: “What do you need? Start creating it, start speaking about it.” “Speak to your billfold, say ‘You big thick billfold full of money.’”
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Benny Hinn: “Christians are ‘Little Messiahs’ and ‘Little gods’ on the Earth. Thus [Encouraging the audience] say ‘I am a God-man’” “God will begin to prosper you; for money always follows righteousness.”
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Mike Murdock: “If you take that into your spirit you will reach millionaire status in three years.”
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Kenneth Hagin: “The believer is as much an Incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.”
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Creflo Dollar: “You are gods because you came from God you are not just human.” “Money is trying to get into your hands even as I speak.” “Somebody said ‘Oh I didn’t come here because I need some money, I need peace!’ Well honey you need some money or you ain’t never gonna know no peace.” “I didn’t come to preach this message today to get nothing from you. I didn’t come here on Delta today, I came here on my own plane you understand what I’m saying? I came here to get this message to you.”
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Joel Osteen: “I believe one of the main ways that we grow in favor is by declaring it. It’s not enough to just read it it’s not enough to just believe it. You’ve got to speak it out. Your words have creative power. And one of the primary ways we release our faith is through our words. And there is a divine connection between you declaring God’s favor and you seeing God’s favor manifest in your life…. You’ve got to give life to your faith by speaking it out.”
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Fred Price: “God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man....Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God.....When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So God cannot do anything in this earth unless we let Him. And the way we let Him or give Him permission is through prayer.” (Frederick Price Quoted from - “Christianity in Crisis” by H. Hanegraaff, 1993)
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Joyce Meyer: Meyer, in her own book, writes, “Words are containers for power” (The Name, The Word, The Blood, p. 37). This is typical Copeland/ Hagin faith talk. She has promoted this as well on her TV broadcast. “Prov.18:21 this could be a life hanging scripture “death and life are in the power of the tongue. And they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it for death or life.” The ad following for her audio series “Is your mouth saved.” The advertisement says we all have the ability to speak life or death to not only other people but to ourselves as well.
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“Will help you to take inventory of what you’ve been saying and begin speaking faith filled words that will bring to pass God's good plan for your life.” (May 14, 2000 LeSea broadcasting)
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“But you cannot throw out positive confession, and you cannot throw out all the faith teachers, and you cannot throw out positive thinking. And you cannot get rid of those kinds of things because they're in the Bible from one end of it to the other.” (Joyce Meyer, PFO Quarterly Journal, April-June 2002, p. 6. Withcraft and Related Spirits, pt. 1, sides 1 and 2)
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She makes her position clear by saying “words are containers for power they carry creative or destructive power positive or negative power so we need to be speaking right things over our lives and about our futures if we expect to have good things happen because what you say then is what you probably end up having tomorrow. We need to warfare with words. I believe that praise and worship is warfare. We talked about this last night, how when we are praising and worshipping God that there's actually a, an odor that comes off of us that is offensive to the enemy. And I don’t know if you ever had the opportunity to smell a demon possessed person but I have, and I tell you it is a stench; and I was saying about that this morning and I thought you know people that are demon possessed have an offensive odor to me and I’m glad because I am holy ghost possessed that I’ve got an offensive odor to the devil.” (broadcasted on the Bible Answerman Jan.2003)
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Her appeal to money to be given to her ministry is from the prosperity teaching that originated with Oral Roberts. “Sowing and reaping is a spiritual law...Sow generously and you will reap generously.” (Joyce Meyer, “What Does Your Future Hold” May 21, 2004)
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“We need to claim as much of that inheritance as we possibly can...One of the things you can do right now is speak positive things about your future right now.” (ibid.)
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She says “I've got to keep the anointing on my life. I can't keep it on my life unless I'm a giver” (May 14, 2000) (insinuating money and other things). Clearly this is a word faith view.
Speaking about trials she apologizes and states “that’s not a negative confession, I’m not cursing your life” (Life in the Word Mar.6 2003 Lesea Broadcasting)” This shows her word faith influence of not speaking negatively.
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Brian Houston: “Why would the Scripture say, ‘Let the poor say I am rich’ if it wasn’t the will of God to break the power of poverty out of people’s life.”
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In the interest of trees I’ll stop there, you can do your homework. A place to start might be by taking a look at other known prosperity teachers active or formally active in ministry:
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John Bevere, Markus Bishop, Juanita Bynum, Morris Cerullo, Kim Clement, Paul and Jan Crouch, Jesse Duplantis, Rodney Howard-Browne, Larry Huch, T.D. Jakes, Bishop Eddie L. Long, Clarence McClendon, Joyce Meyer, Myles Munroe, Steve Munsey, Peter Popoff, R.W. Shambach, Robert Schuller, Karl Strader, Paula White, Ed Young, John Alexander Dowie, Maria Beulah Woodworth-Etter, Charles Parham, Frank Sandford, Azusa Street Mission, William Branham, Franklin Hall, Kathryn Kuhlman, Aimee Semple McPherson (Foursquare church/gospel), A.J. Tomlinson, A.A. Allen, Jack Coe, Charles Price, David Duplessis, Smith Wigglesworth, Morris Cerullo, John Wimber, Charles and Frances Hunter, Jamie Buckingham, Laughing Revival and many others.

Greek and the fullness of God's perfect timing

My brothers and sisters of Birch Tree...

There are two passages that refer to "the fullness of time": Galatians 4:4 and Ephesians 1:10. The expression literally means "when the time was ripe". The reference in Galatians is the one I'd like to discuss today.

Paul is basically saying that Jesus came at a point in the history of humanity when the time was ripe and He released humanity from bondage to the law.

Theologians cite many reasons that exemplify the "fullness of time" indicating just how it was perfect in its measure of "ripeness" all having to do with the historical circumstances of His day

Two of the main reasons cited are:

1. Pax Romana (The forced peace of the Roman Empire) which made travel both easy and safe.
2. The influence of Alexander the Great whose expansion from Greece to Egypt and onto India left in its wake the Hellenistic or Greek language and culture.

Today in my meeting with my mentor Pastor Wayne, we went over 3 John 1-4. Once again, as with all of his instruction, Pastor focused on the original Greek language of the New Testament. I praise God for blessing Wayne with a heart for the work involved to truly study the Scripture in its original language. Is there any other way?

I made a commitment to go out today and buy hard copies of two indispensable works by Spiros Zodhiates Th.D.. AlthoughI have these works on my Libronix software, I am a hard copy kind of person.

The Greek language is so very specific and to not know it as a teacher of the Word of God is to be careless with our greatest tangible treasure.. God's revealed will through His Word.

I cannot emphasize enough how imperative it is to have completed your original language homework prior to discussing any passage of Scripture. For many things that are studied only in the English lose so much or even distort the meaning of the original language.

Thank you Lord once again for taking the time with me your servant to put on my own heart a heart of study.

Break Break

Last night at work, Kolan had an opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus with a man who had an aortic anurism. The man had about a 20% chance to live and was crying out that he needed forgiveness, he was faced with his own mortality and realized that he was in great need of a Savior. Kolan had an oppotunity to share the story of the thief on the cross with this man and the man accepted the forgiveness of the Christ! Praise be to the Holy Spirit for His work of conviction and conversion! Praise be to God for giving Kolan the Spirit in great measure and giving him the words to say.

Break Break

Today I went to Bibles Plus a store in Albuquerque, one of only a handful of Christian book stores in town. I went to purchase the work by Dr. Zodhiates, and in doing so I met a woman named Lydia.

I have to say it is such an amazing blessing to meet Christians wherever we may go. Lydia and I both share a passion for God's Word. I think we could have talked for hours had we allowed ourselves. Interestingly enough, there is a connection between Lydia and Mike (from the airplane) again.. a small small world and one where the believers in a city can encourage and assist one another.

Lydia offered to lend me a book that will be useful to me in ministry. She, as a sister in the faith, took a concerned effort to help me be obedient to God's continued call upon my life. Thank you Lydia for your faithfulness and your passion for the work of the Kingdom. May Almighty God bless you and continue to reveal Himself to you.

Well folks, I have a lot of work to do. Please continue to pray for BTF. He is already using us in the lives of those around us. Please pray that we will continue to be faithful to His call upon our lives and that we will submit and be able to discern His perfect will.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Web behind the scenes / My distant brother

I've been working diligently on our BTF website behind the scenes. The website when eventually published will be www.birchtreefellowship.org and we will also have www.birchtreefellowship.com pointing to the same site.

A little over a week ago, Kolan introduced me to myflock.com and I was impressed with the work Steve and company at Myflock had done to assist ministries in getting a website up and running. They allow for nested menus and editing of the site that seems fairly straight forward. In addition they have a ton of other features that I haven't even begun to explore.

Kolan went through the process of obtaining the site from Rick and putting it into BTF's name, I'm excited that we can finally get the ball rolling on web publication and emails. Praise God!

So many people have been asking me to see the site... well it is coming soon folks! Keep praying for us in that!

Break Break

It seems as though my brother Ricky has decided to remain physically distant in Corpus and not return to Albuquerque. Although it breaks my heart that he does not plan to join us here in Albuquerque, if he really believes that remaining in Corpus is what God is calling him to do then I of course fully support him. I love Rick with all my heart and miss him greatly. I pray that God will continue to illuminate him with His Holy Spirit and that Ricky will draw closer and closer to God each day. If you are reading this Rick, know that I love you and miss you and have you in my daily prayers!

Break Break

I met a lady (Tracy) and her daughter (Natalie) today, and thoroughly enjoyed the conversation I had with Tracy. Turns out she is a small business owner and she is a fellow Christian. It is such an amazing blessing to continously run into Christian brothers and sisters in New Mexico. She gave me her card and I gave her my contact info for BTF. I'm excited about what God is doing in her life and the life of her family. Tracy, if you are reading this, know that you are in my prayers!

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Some thoughts on BTF Financials

We received our checks for BTF yesterday and our deposit slips earlier last week. The receipt of these items made me realize that I hadn't ever posted my thoughts regarding our financials.

Financials are important to any local church body, but more important than the financials themselves is the level of the church's financial accountability.

It is paramount that as a fellowship we stay completely accountable to God and one another as a fellowship when it comes to our finances.

BTF takes our financial accountability very seriously. Among many other checks, some of the more notable accountability practices we have in place are:

1. All checks signed by BTF must be signed by an elder of the church and a member of the Board of Directors. (The senior pastor may sign solo, but this is an exception and not the normal procedure)
2. The senior pastor may not be on the Board of Directors and may not be involved in the setting of his own compensation.
3. There will be a bookkeeper and accounting professional who is seperate from BTF that will report on all BTF Financials to the Board of Directors and Board of Elders.
4. A comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure for Inventory Control is in place for BTF, this Inventory Control requires BTF to keep track of all BTF Inventory items as defined by the Standard Operating Procedure.

Some of you might think that this is a little excessive, but it really isn't. In today's world where so many ministries have made headlines for their lack of accountability, it is our prayer that we will continue to review our policies and procedures to ensure that BTF remains above reproach.

It is our drive at BTF to ensure the highest levels of ethics and accountability.

May Almighty God continue to bless us in this ministry.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Dinner at my favorite place

Today we went to Hoffmantown Baptist Church, started with Sunday school where we covered Titus 1:1-10 in general terms. Our Sunday School teacher is a lover of God and blessed in his teaching. I really feel a brotherhood with the saints at HBC.

At church I introduced my wife to Pastor Wayne, who embraced me like a longtime friend when he saw me. I'm encouraged by the relationship we are developing. I have so many questions for him. I wish that I could sit under his instruction for hours upon hours. I have so much to learn and I praise God for the mentor that He has provided in Pastor Wayne.

Today I'm doing dinner at my favorite place... what is my favorite place? Any place where my brothers and sisters in the faith gather. Today we gather at Kolan and Lisa's house. So I have to run they are waiting on me, I might post again later today.

God bless!

Pastor Eric

Exhaustion

Ricky... where were you this last week. Why couldn't you see when God hit the "go" key. Brother, you would have been amazed at His hand, His leading, His work. Can I tell you that I miss you?

Tonight has been a really long night. Kolan and I have been pouring over the some 50 hours of ministry work that has been done behind the scenes. There is still so much ahead of us. It is 1:27 in the morning and I really need to go to sleep.

Sunday school comes awful early for us and I really get so much out of my time investment at Hoffmantown. I really can't wait to go.

I wonder if Pastor Wayne listened to the Walter Martin CD before he preaches tomorrow.. today rather.. wow it is late.

Can I just tell you all that I love the Lord Jesus the Christ with all of my heart, I'm amazed by His grace and His love.

I'm truly exhausted.. so I'm gonna cut things short tonight.. pray for BTF please folks.. God is blessing us... and that means the enemy will attack...

I believe in Spiritual Warfare. It is outlined in Scripture. Do you?

God bless,

Pastor Eric

Blessed meetings

Today at lunch I went to Hoffmantown Baptist Church to drop off my Walter Martin CD on the "Cult of Liberalism". Out of the 500 messages or so of Dr. Martin's that I have on CD, it has to be one of my top 10 favorites.

Pastor Wayne is going over 2 John and I believe this will bless him in his sermon preparation. Anyhow, while I was there, I got to meet Becky (Pastor Wayne's secretary) she was a very nice lady and I'm glad I got to meet her, she seemed genuinely interested in BTF.

I left the CD with her and suggested to her that she listen to it before she gives it to Pastor Wayne. Also Barbara from our Sunday School class was in the office and apparently she works on the staff as well. I'm always encouraged when I run into Barbara she is very sweet and also seems genuinely interested in what God is doing with BTF.

BREAK BREAK

Chris and I once again had a great discussion at work and it is a huge praise to see the quick and deep work that the Lord is continuing to do in his life.

BREAK BREAK

In my Coast Guard office today I had a couple with a newborn that were interested in joining the Coast Guard, come to find out they were Christian and we had a great conversation. It looks as though the wife is looking to join and she is thankful to have a Christian person to deal with from the Coast Guard.

All in all, I have to say that God's hand has been clearly evident as of late. I thank Him and praise Him for His work and love Him beyond measure.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

The woman who fears the Lord

"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life... She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:10-12, 27-30.

Today I worked diligently for the Coast Guard and got quite a bit done as always the Lord blessed me in my work. I am exhausted mentally, I've put in 16 hours in the past 24 to the website in work. I can't wait to hit the publish button. I need to do some work on the business plan that I've been working on, the deadline approaches. I am so tired that I was just going to go home today and rest.

However, it is imperative that I get this work done and when Marie (my wife) called me today to ask how I was doing, I simply told her that I was tired. She said, "I know honey, you've been working hard. (keep in mind she works much harder than I do, homeschooling four children and keeping our house the way she does in immaculate condition, feeding all of us and blessing me as a wife)

She asked when I was coming home and I told her that I would probably come home earlier.. she asked about the business plan that I'm working on and I told her that I really needed to work on it. She said that maybe I should work on it some tonight after work. Keep in mind that part of the reason that I want to go home is that I feel that I've been neglecting her in my time.

But instead of "guilt" or "nagging" or anything of the sort, my beautiful wife said, "honey, I know how important it is what you are working on, why don't you do some tonight and maybe tomorrow on Friday you can come home on time and we can have a good start to our weekend."

What an amazing, selfless act from my wife. So I'm praising God publicly for blessing me with her as a helpmate. She is in fact "an excellent wife"!

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I have to tell you guys that Marie is truly an amazing woman and in fact a "woman who fears the Lord" open to practically any page of her bible and it is evident from notes, highlighters, scribbles and tear stains that she has been there and spent time there.

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Thank you Lord God for blessing me with her, I truly don't feel worthy of Your blessing.

Break Break

I went to lunch with Chris today, and once again I'm amazed by the work God is doing in his life. I went over with him justification, sanctification and glorification salvation. He confided some things to me that have me in prayer for him. I'm sure that God will continue to do a mighty work in his life and the life of his family.

Praise God for the work of His hand in your life Chris!

Well folks, that is it for now... I've got to get to work on this business plan.

God bless,

Pastor Eric

How frustrating!

How frustrating, I just took over an hour to make a post and even though I clicked "save" multiple times throughout it deleted it!

I'm pretty frustrated.. but I will not allow the enemy to have victory when the Holy Spirit reigns in me. Perseverance is commanded in Scripture.. so guess what devil...

I'm back!

Basically in my post that I just finished... I talked about several things:

1. The new website software
2. My meeting with the Dead Preacher Society (and a full breakdown of Greek verb tenses)
3. My post meeting with Pastor Wayne Barber
4. My meeting with Chris at the office
5. Joel Osteen's comments on Mormonism being the same as Christianity
6. My trip with Chris to the bookstore to purchase a bible.

So now instead of reading my entire ramble.. you'll get the condensed version:

1. Kolan turned me onto a new website software that I've been fiddling with for a few hours. The more I use it the more impressed I am.

2. I met this morning with Pastor Wayne Barber and the Dead Preacher Society at Hoffmantown Baptist church. (By the way Mike, he says hello) It was a study on Greek Verb Tense Parsing and 2 John 7-11. It was the most amazing study. During my notes, I simply stopped and wrote out the following prayer..

Thank you Lord God Almighty so much for bringing me to this fellowship! I feel your presence among the believers gathered around the table.. I feel an amazing peace and a hunger for the continued presence of the Holy Spirit with these believers!

3. After the meeting I sat one on one with Pastor Wayne and we spoke and prayed together, I asked him to review the BTF doctrinal statement which he did. He assented to the statement and even stopped from time to time to point out things that he really apprecaited about the statement. I could see that in fact we were brothers in the faith. I was so excited to spend this time with him and more importantly, I kept praising God for bringing us together.. I was almost in tears thanking him for putting me together with Pastor Wayne.

I asked Pastor Wayne if he would consider mentoring me personally to which he responded "I would love to, that is exactly what God has called me to do." It was amazing.. I'm so very blessed! If I could fast forward to next week, it would be done already!

4. Back at the office.. Chris came in and shared that God was in fact moving in his personal life! God had broken Chris' heart over some long held family issues... and told Chris to "get ready and prepare himself" what an awesome testimony!!!

5. On a quick note, it is important to know that famed preacher Joel Osteen has stated publicly that he believes that Mormons are Christians. Joel Osteen is a false teacher and it is imperative that believers know his stance. Make no mistake about it, the Mormon Jesus is NOT the Jesus of the bible! Please check the Scripture, ask me, and if you like read a solid book on this topic entitled "One nation under gods" by Richard Abanes.

6. After work I went with Chris to Barnes and Noble where he purchased a study bible. I discussed the differences in translations and styles of bibles. He picked a good bible and I'm excited for him and the work that Christ is doing in him.

God bless you all...

Pastor Eric

THE LOST POST!

Remember my post from yesterday where I said "How frustrating"???? Well guess what.. I found it somehow buried in the recesses of this computer. Praise God! Well here it is, so you'll have to read this (if you are a reader of my blog) and understand that this was actually yesterday's post.

This post was originally entitled, "Mentor my mentor"

Can you say that God is moving in my life? Can I get an Amen out there?



Today has been an amazing day, I woke up this morning, checked my email and saw that Kolan had emailed me about a new place for me to look at regarding websites for the church. I checked it out and was very impressed with the site. I've signed up to a free membership and will fiddle with it for the next 30 days or so to see what can be done. I've already fidlled with it for a couple hours and I've become more and more impressed with each passing minute.



Then I took off to go to work. I arrived at work and went through a bunch of administrative things that I needed to do. Blew through them quickly, God blessed me in it surely. At 1025 I left to attend "Dead Preachers Society".



This is a meeting, a fellowship, a bible study led by Pastor Wayne Barber of Hoffmantown Baptist Church. We were studying 2nd John 7-11. It was an amazing time of study and most importantly I felt the Holy Spirit present with our study. I actually stopped taking notes at one point and simply typed out a prayer... the following is what I typed:



"Thank you Lord God Almighty so much for bringing me to this fellowship! I feel your presence among the believers gathered around the table.. I feel an amazing peace and a hunger for the continued presence of the Holy Spirit with these believers!"



The study was amazing and very intimate in its connection with Him.



Pastor Barber was gracious in his teaching and humble in his own wanting to learn from those gathered even as much as he was teaching and leading the fellowship.



We went over the significance of the Greek verb tensing of words.. here is a brief synopsis that was given by Pastor Matt (fellow of Pastor Barber) at the study:



Greek Verbs: Tense, Voice, Mood



Tense - Time and Kind of action (Time - past, present and future) (Kind - linear/incomplete, perfected/complete, punctiliar/undefined)



TENSE:

Present - action taking place in the present, continuous or repeated action

Aorist - punctiliar action with no reference to time, usually translated as past (completed)

Perfect - completed action/process in the past with results continuing to the present

Pluperfect- similar to perfect, except result of action also in the past

Imperfect - linear/continuous action in the past

Future - punctiliar action that will take place (Aorist tense put in the future)



VOICE:

Active - the subject performs the action

Passive - the subject receives the action (someone else is causing the action)

Middle - the subject is enabled in the action (no English equivalent)

Direct - subject acting upon himself; Matt 27:5 "and he.. hanged himself"

Indirect - subject acting for or by himself; Acts 22:16 "... be baptized and wash away your sins"

Deponent - middle in form, active in meaning; Acts 17:11 "they received the word" (dependant upon something happening)



MOOD:

Indicative - statement of fact or question

Imperative - command, exhortation, or entreaty

Subjunctive - probability: doubt, uncertainty, or indefiniteness

Optative - possibility: wish, prayer, or indirect quotation (rare in NT)



We discussed 2 John and how it is an exhortation to live the Christlike life first.. then be prepared to defend it from heresy. We talked about the cult of liberalism and cultic groups. We discussed the pollution of the church from those from within.


It was brought up that Joel Osteen (false teacher) said recently that the Mormon Jesus is one and the same as the Christian Jesus. Absolutely heretical! Yet 30,000- 40,000 people fall under his leadership every week.



Here is the dialogue that took place:



The discernment of Joel Osteen, or rather, lack thereof, came out yesterday on Fox News Sunday in this interview with Chris Wallace:

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Chris Wallace: And what about Mitt Romney? And I've got to ask you the question, because it is a question whether it should be or not in this campaign, is a Mormon a true Christian?

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Joel Osteen: Well, in my mind they are. Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior, and that's what I believe, so, you know, I'm not the one to judge the little details of it. So I believe they are. And so, you know, Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me, and I don't think he would -- anything would stop me from voting for him if that's what I felt like.

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Chris Wallace: So, for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up in those theological issues?

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Joel Osteen: I probably don't get hung up in them because I haven't really studied them or thought about them. And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don't know. I certainly can't say that I agree with everything that I've heard about it, but from what I've heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his savior, to me that's a common bond."

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Yeah, why get hung up on those little details?



Unbelievable! Anyhow, please be not decieved. Let me say outright that Mormons do not believe in the biblical Jesus. If anyone would like more on this, read the Scripture and find out what it says about the Christ. Further there is a book called "One nation under gods" by Richard Abanes. Fantastic book that examines the Church of Latter Day Saints or Mormons.



BREAK BREAK



After the study, Pastor Wayne Barber took an hour of his time to sit with me and review the doctrinal statement of BTF. He reviewed it in its entirety and assented to the truths finding nothing in error. It was such a blessing to have a man of God like Pastor Wayne take the time to read our statement and give his approval.



I asked Pastor Wayne if he would consider mentoring me directly to which he agreed. Not only that, he said, "I'd love to, that is my passion."



I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am, even there with him I was moved by the Spirit to praise God for providing a Paul to my Timothy... may Almighty God bless our time together and may I learn all that the Spirit has to teach me through His faithful servant Wayne.



If I had a time machine I would fast forward time to next week.. I was immensely blessed.



BREAK BREAK



After the study I went back to the office to finish up my work for the night. Chris came into my office and shared that the Spirit of God really spoke to him clearly after he got out of the shower last night. That specifically he was to "get ready and prepared" as he was to reconcile with his father who he hasn't spoken to in some time. The details aren't important as the fact that the Holy Spirit is moving in Chris' life in a stronger way than ever before and that Chris is feeling the direction of Christ in his life.



After work, I accompanied Chris to Barnes and Noble where he wanted to go and purchase a bible. We looked at various and he ended up going with the NIV Study Bible which is a great tool for where he is at. I pledged to him that when I found a good study version of the ESV that it would be my gift to him.



Again an amazing day.. now off to work on my list for both HOSFU and BTF.



God bless!



Pastor Eric

Elders, brothers and bibles oh my!

WOW!!! My goodness.. Mike are you reading? I hope so!

There is so much to tell, I know it has been awhile since I posted so I'll try and update the latest.

First and foremost, I just want to praise Almighty God for His provision and for his providence. We serve an awesome and amazing God!

Although there is much to tell, I don't know how many of you will read my entire post, so I'll start with the most amazing thing and then head onto more BTF specific things that some of you might be interested in reading.

So this morning I woke up in Albuquerque to a blanket of ice and snow, the schools were closed down and everyone was delayed into heading into the office.

At 7am I met with Kolan for our monthly Elder's meeting as he will be out of town next Thursday for our scheduled time. We went over a ton of things regarding BTF that will be discussed later.. we closed around noon in prayer with a laundry list of for action items for each of us.

As I packed up my things and headed to the office, I was going to turn on the radio when the Lord put it on my heart to drive in silence and spend some time with Him. I left the radio alone, stretched out my eyes upon His creation (my morning commute is scenicly beautiful) and listened for His voice.

He clearly put it on my heart to speak to my co-worker Chris about His Son. I of course reminded the Lord that I had already spoken to Chris on multiple occasions and that He should know that. ~cringes~ He reminded me that I had not been faithful to truly ask Chris the "question of the ages" Matthew 16:15 where Christ is speaking and He says to His disciples...

"But what about you, who do you say that I am?"

So I prayed more and then rememebered that I didn't have my bible on me, (I carry two.. my study bible usually kept at home, and my pocket ESV usually in my backpack) but last night I had been doing a study in Joshua and this morning with Kolan I had my study bible out. All that to say that both my bibles that I usually have had been left at home.

I made a decision to turn around to go get my bible, but as I looked at the clock, it was already 12:34 and I really needed to get into the office so I pressed on, praising God for the mind of Scripture recollection that He has blessed me with. Figuring I'd be able to talk with Chris and use my recollection to quote Scripture as needed.

When I got to the office (only three of us work there.. Chris, Ray and myself) Ray was out on errands and so it left Chris and I there by ourselves providentially to have a significant discussion on the person, nature and work of the Christ and to literally ask Chris what he believed about Jesus.

I sat and talked with Chris for awhile about general things then glanced over at the mail that had come in while I was out on the road last week. One of the items that stood out was a box from Texas addressed directly to me.

I took it into my office even as I prayed about the words to speak to Chris. I opened the box and there was a letter from my brother in the faith Mike G from Texas! (see the previous post entitled "Providence not Coincidence")

The letter basically said that he was praying for me and that he was hoping that what he sent would bless the ministry, myself and others and have an eternal impact.

I moved the paper and looked at what Mike sent me.. The Apologetics Study Bible published by Broadman and Holman! I smiled broadly.. closed my eyes and said.. "OK LORD I GET IT.. I'LL TALK TO CHRIS!!!

Sometimes the Lord has a way of hitting me upside the head with a spiritual 2 by 4. But I praise God for His provision and for His confirmation of His will.

So around this time, Chris comes into my office and we begin a dialogue that would last some 4 hours. We covered a myriad of topics ranging from Adam and Eve and the first messianic prophecy in Genesis 3 all the way through the conversion of Saul and the writing of the New Testament. We covered applicable heart issues and relationship versus religion. It was an amazing discussion.

We went to a very very late lunch and talked more about Christ. I asked Chris the question of the ages.. I asked him.. "But what about you (Chris), who do you say that He is?"

He said, "I do believe that Jesus is the Son of God." I said.. "Do you believe that Jesus is God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "So you believe then that Jesus is eternal and that He died in your place to pay a debt He didn't owe and one you couldn't pay?" He said, "Yes, I do."

I said, "Praise God.. then in fact you are my brother."

The conversation went on for quite some time.. we talked about obedience to baptism.. he said he had never been baptized and although he had believed on the Christ a little while back, he had never really stated it to anyone so directly, because he had never really been asked so directly.

I praise Almighty God.. the Holy Spirit for bringing about his conviction, conversion and call to obedience!

We talked about the role of a godly husband to his family and many other things.. suffice it to say that I believe that although in his heart Chris might have had Jesus as Savior before today.. it was clear to Chris today that Jesus must also be Lord and Master. It was a wonderful time of real fellowship.

Chris if you are reading this for any reason.. let me tell you I was blessed in great measure by our time together.. I personally pray for the fruit of the Spirit in your life!

Thank you Mike G. for your gift and it has already been used of God in His kingdom work. May Almighty God continue to bless you!

BREAK BREAK

Elder meeting.- Kolan and I met today for our monthly meeting for BTF we outlined a ton of things that need to be done and brainstormed for several hours. Ultimately we assigned five action items to each of us and one to each of our wives. The list is as follows:

Eric:
1. Standard Operating Procedure with emphasis on inventory control and childcare background checks
2. Business cards
3. Purchase a bookcase for my study
4. Establish an order of worship for our corporate worship service
5. Purchase Microsoft PowerPoint for my computer.

Kolan:
1. Purchase the website from our ministry partner Ricky Reyes so it can be placed in the name of BTF instead of Rick's and then set up email accounts.
2. Purchase a digital camera for BTF
3. Research membership software
4. Purchase Bibles (ESV x20), some pens and sign up BTF with christianbooks.com
5. Develop a budget for the ministry

Lisa:
Organize the BTF filing cabinet

Marie:
Set up a 3 month fellowship schedule

BREAK BREAK

In other news I was encouraged to receive a call from "Miss Blanche" today.. she is a sweetheart and fellow Christian from First Baptist Church of Riverview where I pastored prior to coming to Albuquerque. She calls from time to time and encourages me, asking always about the family... I love her dearly and am thankful to God for those that would keep me in prayer and bless me with their love. If you are reading this Miss Blanche.. know that you are loved and missed greatly.. and that I too pray for you often!

God bless you all.. much more to follow.. but this post is long enough..

Lastly if you have read this far, please take the time to comment.. I pray to hear your input and like Miss Blanche.. it encourages me greatly to know that you are faithful to keep up with BTF!

Pastor Eric

Brother In Service

Today was my Coast Guard meeting day two in Austin, TX. I met all of the Chief's in charge of their respective areas. To my surprise and blessing, it turns out that one of the Chiefs is also a Christian and studying for the ministry as he has felt a call from God upon his life.

I'm excited for him and for the calling that God has in his life.

I also had an opportunity to tour the Capitol building of the State of Texas. Interestingly enough on the Senate floor over the Speaker's chair the words "In God we trust" are engraved into the marble.

I wondered to myself how long it will be before those words are removed or replaced.

Pray for our nation today.

Pastor Eric

Providence not coincidence

Providence not coincidence
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This morning I headed to Austin, TX for a Coast Guard conference. While at the airport I finished up my blog from yesterday entitled “Loaves, fishes and cake”, then I packed up my computer and boarded my plane.
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As I boarded I looked around at the seating which was about at 60% capacity and thought to myself that perhaps I should look for a more spacious seat, one that wasn’t directly next to a stranger. But I instead sat in my assigned seat next to a well dressed man.
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We struck up a conversation and come to find out that he is a believer in Christ. He actually is the Southern Regional Sales Manager for Broadman and Holman publishing! What a small world! His name is Mike G. and I was very blessed to have met him. He told me that he was familiar with Albuquerque as he had lived here for a portion of his life and that he knew of the believers at Hoffmantown. It is always amazing to me how God works in mysterious ways.
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This feels no different to me than perhaps how Tychicus, Timothy, Titus etc all knew of each other and the believers in the various cities of the early church.
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Anyhow, as of my title in this post, I do believe in providence and not coincidence. So often we hear of “luck”. Is there really such a thing in world where God is sovereign?
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I’m so thankful to serve a God who is control, a God who is a loving and holy God. I pray for God’s perfect will and not just his permissive will. May His providence be present and visible in the ministry He has called us to.
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Mike, I don’t know why I met you, but I’m sure God has a reason. It is a blessing to live for a higher calling than just business. You are not a “salesman” as you put it to me Mike. You are a Christian! Not only that, but a Christian on a mission! Sent wherever you travel with credentials from the One who spoke, and the Universe came into existence!
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I pray that God will bless you in His business and His calling on your life. I pray that He will give you clarity of thought and wisdom in decisions that you are called to make and lastly that He will make His presence felt in your life in a more powerful way than He ever has before. It was a blessing to have met you Mike. We will meet again.
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Providence not coincidence.
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Pastor Eric

Loaves, Fish and Cake

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, it was a very busy day for me. I will try and post daily but I suppose there will be times that I miss.

Yesterday was Silas' fourth birthday and we we took him to "McDonalds what has a play place".

After a long day of work I came home and packed for my trip to Austin. Then we took off for Silas' birthday.

When we were there there were a few other families in the play place and we had a medium sized cake, so God put it on my heart to offer everyone in the play place a piece of cake.

You would be amazed at how people were blessed by the simple little gesture. All of a sudden what was 6 different families having dinner became a community celebrating a gift of free cake. Praise God that Marie got the medium sized cake as there was enough to share and a couple pieces left over.

The sense of community that developed in the McDonalds among strangers on Albuquerque's southwest side was extremely encouraging to me in the idea of BTF.

I'll try and upload some pictures. Forgive me if I'm technically deficient.

Pastor Eric

Where do you want to go daddy?

Marie and I have four children. Darius, Arianna, Javen and Silas. We have been very blessed! They are amazing children each in their own right.

Today we took them to the zoo a sort of early celebration for Silas' 4th birthday tomorrow.

We asked Silas where he wanted to go on his birthday to which he responded "a McDonalds with a play place"

Then each of the kids took turns stating where they were hoping to go for their birthdays.

Javen (my 3rd child who is 6) then asked me... "Where do you want to go daddy?" I thought about it for just a brief moment and responded...

Heaven. Daddy wants to go to heaven Javen. Tears overwhelmed me slightly.

I do want to see my Savior. I'm ready to go now. I desire nothing more than to be in His presence. I don't mean this in a selfish way, I want to stay as long as God would have me for His purposes and for the family He has blessed me with. But if He took me tomorrow I'm sure He would provide for my family.

I am ready to go, I want to be with Him, I want to worship at His feet and feel His Holy presence.

I believe... do you?

Pastor Eric

General Thoughts

So today we once again went to Hoffmantown Baptist Church and were once again blessed. What a great fellowship of believers.

After service we went out with the Wrights to Dion's Pizzeria.

While there, Kolan and I discussed a few things regarding BTF and ultimately decided on some action.

1. We need to pray about a date to start Sunday Morning Worship Service for BTF
2. Regardless of when that date is, we need to start to get to know members of the community and invite them to fellowship with us soon.
3. We need to count the cost, have a plan and do it all through prayer and God's leading.
4. We are to have all of our paperwork from the state complete before starting anything official.

I told Kolan that I will not start a fellowship until we can place a copy of the Bible and a pen in the hand of each person who comes to fellowship with us. We personally tend to lean toward the ESV although the NASB is high on our preferred list.

I also told Kolan that I felt led through prayer that at some point we should have a "block party" just to get to know people in our community. Maybe get some bouncy things for the kids, have some games, a cake walk or something and some flyers available. Simple flyers telling people who we are and what we are about.

Please continue to pray for us.

Love you all.. God bless!

Pastor Eric

Dr. Gary Chapman

Well today nothing really happened that I know of regarding BTF, but something that did happen was that Marie and I attended a Marriage Conference at Hoffmantown Baptist Church.

The conference was led by Dr. Gary Chapman author of "The Five Love Languages" among other works. He is a very gifted speaker and we were truly blessed by the conference.

During lunch we met some very interesting folk: Gary and Cheryl, Steve and Julie and John and Michelle.

Got into some interesting conversation regarding the seminar and then onto the subject of essential Christian doctrine. I don't know that one of the table members was a believer in the Lord based on some comments made, but I'm excited about the fact that they were all there and I pray they were as blessed as we were by the conference.

Afterwards, Marie and I went to Texas Roadhouse Grill for dinner and shared some of our heart from the conference with one another. After that, we tried a movie and the most bizarre thing happened.

I ran into a person who I hadn't seen in about 9 years and the last time I saw them was in a different country! How bizarre is that! Anyhow, I'm sure God has a plan and a purpose for it.

I really want to put more down about the conference, but it really doesn't relate to BTF and so I'll leave it off this blog. I haven't really decided how "personal" my blog should be or if it should relate specifically to BTF. If you have any thoughts.. let me know.

May Almighty God bless you all!

Pastor Eric

No room at the Inn

It seems as though the attacks come early and strong.

Even though there are various locations where we could potentially hold our fellowship, it seems that there is never any room at the Inn.

There is a location on Coors and Rio Bravo (major crossroads in our area) which would be perfect. The location is for lease. We know that it would be awhile before we could actually lease it, but we were hoping that it would be a viable option. No sir. We called and "they won't lease to churches".

There is another even better location at a middle school in the heart of our area, we contacted them and they said that they will not allow people to come in on the weekends. Their reasoning? They don't give keys out to anyone, they don't have anyone to come and open it or lock it back up, or clean it for that matter. The cleaning part wouldn't be a problem, we would be good stewards with the space. But if we can't get them to come open it or lock it and they aren't willing to give keys out, then it makes it so that once again there is no room at the Inn.

The Master was born in a manger for there was no room in the Inn. We must stay prayerful and hopeful, and understand that if God wants this to happen, He will provide. Discouragement is a tool of the enemy, testing is a tool of God.

Let us not be discouraged, let us pass the test.

Let us pray for a manger.

Pastor Eric