Men's Conference on Pursuing Genuine Biblical Revival

May 5 & 6, 2017

Theme: "Capture Our Hearts Again!"

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ray Ortlund
Pastor of Immanuel Church (Acts 29 plant in Nashville, TN)
President of Renewal Ministries
Regional Director of Acts 29 Network
Formerly Assoc. Prof. of OT & Semitic Languages @ Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL)
Council Member & regular blogger at The Gospel Coalition
Author of commentaries and many books including Isaiah: God Saves Sinners in the Preaching the Word Series Commentary Series, When God Comes to Church: A Biblical Model for Revival Today, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ in the 9 Marks Building Healthy Churches Series and most recently Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel.

Pre-Conference Workshop - 2 Sessions (Content to be released soon)

Special Guest Speaker: Dr. Tom Schreiner
James Buchanan Harrison Prof of New Testament Interpretation, Professor of Biblical Theology and Associate Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY)
Author of many commentaries and books including The Law and Its Fulfillment: A Pauline Theology of Law, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance; The King in His Beauty, and Romans in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Series.

Registration opens soon at www.FGCon.org

Hosted by:
Union Lake Baptist Church
8390 Commerce Road
Commerce, MI 48382
248.363.9600

Friday, January 8, 2010

Soccer at the Orphanage

After a long day with our Tico friends, we headed out to the local orphanage for a soccer tournament that Cam arranged with one of his men, Leonardo (who works at the orphanage). Most of our Tico friends came to the tournament. Among those who played were Randall, Roy and Luis. We wheeled in some 30 soccer balls and a number of small toys for the orphans. We were told that these items would have to be given to the administration the following day as there are so many children, that giving these things out to just a few of them (that were at the tourney) would cause jealousy and strife. Giving these items was similar to the Christian's sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ often times. We have this gift of the gospel of Jesus Christ to share and usually we do not see the receipt of that gift. That was a helpful reminder to me: that God is rescuing people all over the world, and Christians are not promised that they will ever see the fruits of their work for God.

You may know that one of our team members, Dennis Brose, was a professional soccer player. Dennis was the "draw" for the tourney. He suited up in a shirt a little to tight for him, stretched his 40-something-year-old legs, and wowed the audience for the 7 minutes he played before tearing a calf muscle, sidelining him for the remainder of the evening. Randall, being a physical therapist, quickly came and confirmed the injury.

What was so great was that Dennis' real contribution to the evening was sharing his testimony of how soccer inevitably was not the satisfaction and fulfillment that his soul longed for...but that Jesus Christ and His saving love was (Dennis is seated toward left of picture with back toward you). The audience was captivated. It was a powerful testimony to this crowd of mostly children and young adults who love the game of soccer. They heard a man that reached heights of success that they could only dream of, and then heard him say they were nothing compared to knowing Jesus.

The most difficult part for me was getting to know a few of the orphans and to hear of their stories. There was an 11 year old boy, Jose-Daniel. He was a sweet boy that warmed right up to Dennis and I. I believe he was the boy that has 11 brothers and sisters, 4 of which are in the orphanage with him. The other two that broke my heart were Tatiana (left)and Carrie (right). They looked to be about 13 or 14. I was told that they were going to be leaving the orphanage presumably to live on the streets. The reason? To escape the sexual abuse at the orphanage. I was absolutely broken-hearted. Pray that the Lord will extend mercy to these young ones, protect them, and save them.

For the team,

Jeff

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