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