Always a Rookie

At a Pastor's Conference, Pastor Joe Focht (CC Philly) prayed something that struck me. He said: "Lord, we are all rookies, for no one has lived tomorrow." The apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians 3:12-14: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul wrote this after walking with the Lord and serving Him well over 20 years. He isn't just talking about past sins, but past good works as well. Paul is addressing the past in totality, victories and losses. Driving home the point, that he still had to learn things about life, God, as well as himself. The month of April reminded me of this...

On Tuesday April 10th to Friday April 16th, we went to the other side of the island for our Semester Retreat. This was my sixth and last one with the Bible College. Every semester without fail, God teaches me something personally. Our guest speaker was Pastor Peter Will of a Calvary Chapel in Germany. Raf simply asked him to share with us his life and ministry. This man was well into his 70's. Peter shared on a lot of various topics such as sacrifice, servant hood, etc. What spoke to me the most was his 5 years on the mission field of India. He said and I quote: "It is a beautiful thing to serve people who can't give back." Peter was also going to leave his position at the church in Germany and press forward...

Peter is such a humble man. He also was just a regular guy who liked to laugh and have some fun. He still chokes up every time he teaches on the grace of God! What I respected the most about this Pastor, was the fact that he was still learning and growing. Peter didn't trust in himself or all the years of ministry experience he had. He trusted in Jesus Christ every single day. I hope and pray as the years go by, I will follow his example. Keep him and the church in prayer, as they make the transition.

On Sunday April 18th, Rick and I began to train Alvaro and Andrea to take over another position I served in. The accounting/bookkeeping is something that I had been doing for a little over 2 years. Alvaro and Andrea are active believers in our Spanish Service. They are originally from Uruguay, and have lived here in Spain for many years. They are a great couple eager to get started and do a great job for Jesus! This involves preparing bank statements in detail, printing them out, stapling bank slips/receipts to them, organizing them, and finally punching everything into the program we have. We then are able to have reports, that show if we have stayed on budget in the month prior. Some of you are thinking yawn fest right now.;) Hey, just trying to tell you all that is involved.:) I learned so much from doing these tasks, and very grateful Raf let me serve the Church and Bible College in this way.

On Saturday April 24th, we had another Men's Breakfast for the Church. It was our smallest turn out, but yet my favorite. The fellowship was incredible! Serge, who I mentioned in the last newsletter taught the Bible study. He taught on Davids' mighty men out of 2 Samuel 23:8-12. Serge did such a great job. It was insightful, spiritual, practical, and funny.

Ivan and I also were able to speak a couple of times. We were able to catch up, as well as continue working out logistics for my move and transition to El Rincon de la Victoria (I know a mouthful.) Try saying this 10 times fast! I am very excited to finally join Ivan, Eunice, and baby Samuel.

May we never think we have arrived, or have become experts in serving our Lord. May our faith constantly be in Jesus. The one true expert...

By His Grace,
Eric