Fellowship in the Gospel International 2011 (Mexico City)

The day began for me with Justyn & Gretchen coming to the house for coffee and a quick bite before a time of prayer. Mike & Tom picked us up and took us to Metro Airport. Everyone was on-time and got through security with no problems. I went to the bathroom while the rest of the gang boarded. There is nothing worse than being in the restroom and hearing on the loud speaker: "Last call for passenger Jeff McKeever to board Delta Flight..." After an uneventful and half-empty flight, we arrived in one of the biggest cities in the world this afternoon...Mexico City. Chuck, who lived here for 3 years, gave us the birds' eye tour of the city as the plane came in for its landing. We all pushed the red button that randomly lets you know if your bags will be searched...and everyone was sent through with the "green light."

A few steps out into the concourse and we were greeted by Rene & Ofelia and their daughter, Michelle, as well as Freddy. On the way from the airport, Freddy stopped (Don, Chuck, Justyn & I were in his car) and showed us two different pyramids. After we arrived at Hornbrooks' house, Freddy's wife, Grisel, also came over to greet us after we arrived. The highlight of the day for me was Michelle's answer when I asked her if she was a Christian. She explained that the tragedy of her nephew (her brother's son) being diagnosed with leukemia caused her and her family to realize the hopelessness of their ritualistic religion. It was during this time that Nathaniel (Sam & Jamie's son) invited Michelle to a youth event at Iglesa Nueva Vida Bautista (Hornbrook's church) where she heard the good news of Jesus Christ and believed...followed by her family! I told her that her story was worth coming to Mexico City for. She demonstrated oe of the things we will teach at the men's retreat: that just like Joseph's troubles (in Genesis 37ff) our troubles are to be seen from the viewpoint that God employs trials and tragedies for the purpose of saving His people.

We have not yet seen the Hornbrooks as they are several hours away for the funeral of Sam's mom, Ellen, which is tomorrow. Most of us are staying in their house, while Scott & Gary are staying at "the cold house" (Rene & Ofelia's) and Justyn & Tom are staying across the street at Carlos' house (a neighbor).

Another really awesome thing I witnessed of our men was the rich biblical fellowship that was occurring throughout our time together. Men were talking about difficulties, praying together, studying Scripture for devotionals they would share, men talking about theology and various Scripture passages, other men simply rereading the story of Joseph.

It's been a good trip already, because God is good. Please pray that we will used well and that the conference will change men's lives, Mexican and American alike.

Quotables

I have a practice of reading, slowly and prayerfully, through a book on the gospel as part of my devotions, marking and collecting my favorite quotes. Here's a brief sample:

“The glory of the gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us.” ~ R. C. Sproul in Saved from What?

“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.” ~ John Stott in The Cross of Christ

“The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. …That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of “every spiritual blessing in Christ,” and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy.” ~ Milton Vincent in A Gospel Primer for Christians

“Don’t buy the lie that cultivating condemnation and wallowing in your shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade quilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity. It’s just the opposite! God is glorified when we believe with all our hearts that those who trust in Christ can never be condemned.” ~ C. J. Mahaney in The Cross Centered Life

“You don't have anything to prove to us or the world. The work is finished at Calvary, and that work alone has unlimited meaning and value.” ~ Jack Miller in The Heart of a Servant Leader

“I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry.” ~ D. A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry

“This is the gospel by which we were saved, and it is the gospel by which we must live every day of our Christian lives.” ~ Jerry Bridges in The Discipline of Grace

The Birth of a Conference Theme

Earlier this year, I was reading J. I. Packer's introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. In Packer's excellent article, he happily notes that he sees "signs today of a new upsurge of interest in the theology of the Bible: a new readiness to test traditions, to search the Scriptures and to think through the faith." Throughout Packer's essay he compares the powerful, life-changing old gospel to the weak, new gospel of our day. Packer urges us that if we will but contrast the old and the new in the light of the Scriptures "it will help us in one of the most urgent tasks facing Evangelical Christendom today—the recovery of the gospel."

And so a conference theme was born: Recovering the Gospel.

It really is staggering when you think of how many different ways the old gospel is being attacked and, in many cases, has been actually lost by churches. Whether it is pressure to gut the gospel of its offense - and thus its power - under the guise of being “loving” . . . or perhaps it is condescending pressure to not take such a firm stand on the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims….or perhaps it is disgust at mentioning God’s requirement for Jesus to actually have been “punished” . . . so many attacks on the gospel's simple yet powerful message. Oh, how many empty, worldly philosophies today are pressing in, trying to snuff out the old gospel flame! It is indeed the church's most urgent task to recover the beauty and power of the ancient gospel message!

I do so hope you will come and join us on May 13-14, 2011 to Fellowship in the Gospel.

Visit www.FellowshipintheGospel.com for more information.

The Lord's Day in Paraiso

Roca Viva is in Paraiso (par ah EE so), a small town lined with homes and business that are just a few feet from the road and nearly on top of each other and with gated front courtyards. Roca Viva has a rollup garage door that open up to a ceramic tiled sitting area with a couch and couple of chairs. You then enter through a glass entry door (similar to the one we enter into at Berean) and find yourself in a that is not quite as big as the old sanctuary. The back corner isn't available for seating as there are two bathrooms that take up that space. In the corner opposite the bathrooms you find the pulpit, small projector & screen, and about as five or six foot wooden cross with spikes nailed into the place where the Savior's hands and feet would have been. So, if you can picture it...when you share from the pulpit you have to pan your eyes left and right as there are two distinct sitting areas due to the layout of the room. We were greeted warmly by the Ticos. Lots of handshakes, hugs and fake cheek kisses (that's what I call them).

The church filled up so that we stood in the back as The service began with Cam doing the opening along with a song. Then an older saint, Esther (reminded me so much of Alice Oke), praised God for his abundant blessings. Next up was Elias to share an emotional testimony of how his father always pointed him to Jesus...until one day he turned away from his sins and did just that. He took us through his journey of acting like a believer for a while, his tumultuous relationship with Shanna, his "plan" to fix his problems by going to church with her, and God's mercy in bringing him to into relationship with the Savior. It was a beautiful story told in an endearing and emotional way.

After some more singing, it was Joshua's turn to share his testimony. Now Joshua is a quiet, reserved man (or so I thought). He shared this globetrotting adventure of running after worldly success, taking him to the sands of Dubei "for the money." God had different plans. Joshua was ushered to the States and into relationship with his Redeemer. I wish you all could have seen this soft-spoken guy turn into a Spirit-filled preacher as he shared what God had done in his life, transforming him into a useful vessel. At one point during his testimony, the glass entry door that I mentioned above fell off of its hinge. Thankfully Dennis caught it as it would have injured a child walking through the entryway at the time. I later told Joshua I thought that the door blew off by the power of the Spirit that was working through him during his testimony.

I followed Joshua, which was a tough act to follow. I said as much to the congregation: "I thought I was supposed to preach this morning?!" What happened next was one of the most powerful events in my life. I had prepared to preach Ephesians 4:1-16. I love to preach. I love the study of the Word of God that precedes the preaching, engaging with the text, struggling with it to find the flow of the argument, figuring out how it fits in its context, searching for how the gospel is the interpretive key, etc. What has been a struggle for me, however, is that I am invariably too tied to my notes. I manuscript my sermons and then am afraid to leave the manuscript. Well, as I said, I had pages and pages of notes on these 16 verses. The Holy Spirit had a different idea. I began to preach and felt a freedom in preaching that I had never experienced up to that point. I never got beyond the first few verses. God moved me to expound upon humility, gentleness, patience, and burden bearing by defining these beautiful character qualities and pointing to Jesus Christ and how he super-abudantly displayed them...and that our holy living can only occur by trusting, believing and being changed by how he had already lived these traits out perfectly. For example, how could I treat others as different less than myself when Jesus left the glories of heaven and humiliated himself, lowering himself to be as one of his creatures so that he might be murdered...all so that he could buy back a worthless, sin-ridden enemy like me? I felt used of God to lift up Jesus so that all men might be drawn to him that morning. And let me be clear, none of the good that came from that sermon was from me. But it was so encouraging that I was able to use God's gift to me in a way I had never done before. It confirmed in me my desire to preach. Jeff Cady was such an encouragement to me afterwards as he got right up in my face and said, "You've been given the gift of passion. Use it wisely."

Later that day, I preached the same text to the start-up church which meets at the camp. Dennis Brose preceded me by sharing his salvation testimony again with an evangelistic emphasis. I love this guy and what was God was clearly doing in his life during the trip. Pray for this young church. I'm not sure how sustainable it is as it is made up of mostly teenagers. There appears to also be a need of discipleship and unity among the leadership of the church.

Pray that we made an eternal impact in Costa Rica.

In Christ,

Jeff

Fellowship in the Gospel...Part 3

Following a brief break, we were staring the final conference session in the face. We couldn't believe after all of the planning and thinking and praying and hoping...it was nearly over. But not yet. God still had work to do. A few of us huddled around Brad to pray for his part in the final session. We also prayed for Chuck, who would precede him. It's amazing how prayer works. God indeed hears the cries of His saints. He wants us to rely on Him, cast our concerns on Him, and ask Him for help. We learned that lesson again on this trip. Many, many seasons of rich prayer. I've spoken before about a "culture of prayer," and that is what we developed on this trip. Someone was constantly encouraging the others to pray for someone or some activity. We prayed in airports, on shuttle buses, for Ticos who had big decisions to make, for men who were sharing testimonies or giving devotionals or teaching or preaching, over the Woolfords, for the Ticos by name, for our families, for each other, for deliverance from sin, for sanctification, for conversions, for God to take our feeble efforts to please Him and make them beautiful, powerful, and eternal. It's unbelieveable how connected you get to God when you talk to Him and how he does "far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20) (Thanks for reminding me of this verse, Chuck).


It was time to begin again. As Chuck approached the small, hollow, square platform and went behind the podium which was strange by our standards (reminded me more of a small changing table), I remembered asking Chuck weeks before to give a testimony about marriage. It would be related to our third and final teaching session on how God gives power through the gospel for us to transform the way we live. Brad would continue our teaching in Ephesians, so it seemed only appropriate to use Ephesians 5:25ff as a springboard for someone to speak on gospel conduct fleshed out within the marriage relationship. Who else would I ask? Chuck is the oldest member of our team and been married the longest. He's a grandfather many times over. I can only imagine the lessons God had taught him in his years with Jan. Who else would I ask to testify about how God gives a man power to live with his wife in a way that is worthy of his calling? So I watched and listened as Chuck began his testimony. He started the way I have seen him start so many times: with a joy-filled spirit and a love for making much of God. After some introductory remarks, he initially said that he was going to have Cameron stop interpreting as he was going to speak of an area of struggle and wanted to shield it from his Berean brothers. However, the Spirit of God directed him to be transparent with us as well. He spoke of his sin, of the truism that your sin will find you out, and of his gracious helpmate, his wife, and her respectful and loving confrontation that led to deliverance through Christ. Quite simply, the men were awestruck at God's mercy to Chuck. I was blown away and was praising God for His greatness and providence. I could not think of a better message to share about gospel conduct in our setting. Not to mention that it was an area that is all too common of a struggle in Costa Rican marriages. Of course, I had no advanced knowledge of what Chuck would specific lesson he would share. God be praised!


Blessings followed blessings. God helped Brad as he taught on the theology that undergirded Chuck's testimony. Brad taught on the fact that Christians win the spiritual war in which they are engaged in the same way they came to the Savior: through admitting their sin and impotence to God, repenting over trusting in their own strength, and asking God (and believing God) to empower them to live in a right manner because their Savior already did. Brad shared a testimony within his session to demonstrate this fact. He testified to the sanctifying help that God has gave him due to an accountability group that upon hearing of his struggles and failures directs him to the hope and power found in the resurrected Messiah. As I said, God hears the cries of his saints. This session was evidence of that fact. We came down to Costa Rica with a primary goal of unpacking gospel-centrality as a way of teaching, thinking and living to the end that the Ticos would be transformed by the power of that gospel. Only believers that strive after further transformation from above can be effective kingdom leaders men. Pray that the Costa Rican church and the families which make it up will be radically changed as a result.


Let me also say a word about the structure of the conference. We could not have accomplished what we accomplished without God working through Brad. I had some grandiose themes running through my head in the early days, but Brad suggested that we simplify it to (1) gospel essence, (2) gospel truths, and (3) gospel behavior (following the model of Mike Bullmore's teaching on the functional centrality of the gospel (get a free download of Bullmore's very short article or listen to his explanation of it here). This was just the right structure for three sessions and exactly the kind of teaching upon which the original Fellowship in the Gospel Conference was based in May of last year (check out those conference talks here).

We were able to give the Spanish-translated books that we brought to Mario (pastor of new church located at the camp), Max (hoping to take over as pastor of Roca Viva), two other pastors, and some key guys that show the kind of dedication necessary to become future leaders within the church (Randall, Gustavo, Leo, Roy, Afredo and Freddy). Those books were: Grudem's Systematic Theology (Abridged), Mahaney's Cross-Centered Life, and Harris' Sex Isn't the Problem, Lust Is. Thanks to Elias finding this, we also gave each of them a music CD by Sovereign Grace Music.


The rest of the day consisted of Gringo-Tico soccer & basketball at the camp, followed by a swim in the freezing cold, yet refreshing inground pool. Later I continued preparing my sermon out of Ephesians 4, while Elias and Joshua put the final touches on their testimonies they would share at Roca Viva the next morning. This very full day concluded with one of the best seasons of prayer I've ever had. I have come to love each of these men in a deeper way than I had before this trip.


In Christ,


Jeff

Fellowship in the Gospel International...Part 2

I had the greatest time in the word. Everyone was asleep in our cabin: Mike, Dennis, Joshua, and even Max. He is the lawyer who weants to take the pastorate of Roca Viva, but finances is the prime hinderance. He's a very funny guy, called me "his lawyer" and "my colleague." Well all these guys were sleeping (it was approaching 2am), and I had Mike's little flashlight. I was re-reading (for the 100th time) Ephesians Chapter 1 and scribbling down new insights that the Spirit was showing me from the text. I couldn't get enough. God's plan before time for blessing his church with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...I was enthralled by the sheer beauty and mercy of it. God's will and pleasure is to give us truth after truth that springs from the gospel: chosen to be holy, adoption as sons, gift of the Spirit...inheritance...it's no wonder Paul can't go very far in his exposition of these great truths without erupting into praise. These are the truths that I taught on in Conference Session 2: Gospel Truths that Transform our Minds. I felt carried along and inspired of the Spirit as I taught. His word, His direction in the Word, and His strength to share it with these beloved Ticos. God be praised! A funny point during my teaching was when I was saying that Ephesians Chapter 1 is so rich with gospel truths that it is like a kaleidoscope of colors swirling around. Cam looks at me and exclaimed, "You're killin' me! Kaleidoscope?!" He, of course, was translating and hadn't had a reason to know how to say that word. Thankfully, one of the Ticos told him it was "kaleidoscopa" as my hand gestures added no help...only made me look ridiculous!

Prior to my teaching session, the Lord really did a tremendous work in preparing us for the session. Max began with teaching a devotional from 1 Timothy about the responsibility of men to be spiritual leaders in their homes and churches. This was followed by our own Mike Mumford who shared a moving testimony about how God changed him from a man who identified himself by his career and devoted himself to it...to a man who refused to accept an invitation to come back to that job which was lost earlier this year. He testified of his love for Christ and the delight it is to serve him as a leader in his home and church. The men were very much engaged with Mike's talk. One man asked him how he would make it without a job. Another man encouraged him with God's promises. It was moving and powerful.

[At the airport in San Jose...more later]

Fellowship in the Gospel International...Day 1

The day began with a sightseeing trip to the volcano (Irazu), Cameron's idea to go down a very steep and narrow road because he'd never gone that way before (no problem...just an overheated car, a slipping clutch and no cell phone signal), a trip to the market in San Jose, and stopping to at a print shop to make copies for the conference. Once we returned to camp, it was full on conference preparation. Cameron and our guys were setting up chairs and sound equipment. Brad and I were spending last minute changes to our teaching notes. Much prayer was going on throughout the day...actually throughout the week. We really felt that prayer was the only way we were going to do something for God and His people here.

A word about Cameron. To a man, we love this brother. He is dedicated, driven, loving, and sold out for building God's church. They started out in Ecuador, but God closed that door due to the health difficulties of their twins. He, along with his sweet wife Kerry, prayed for a place to minister with an altitude and climate that would permit their children to live healthily. God showed them Costa Rica...and they obeyed the call. He's really a delight to work with. He's always helping people and going, going, going. But he also likes to have fun with people whether it's playing soccer or enjoying spiritual--and sometimes hilariously funny--conversations with people. He shared with me that he "feeds" off of being around people. He's a true church-planter (pray for Max...an attorney who Cam hopes will take over Roca Viva soon)...and a visionary when it comes to missions strategy. Many conversations proved this out. Pray for this dear brother and his family.

Day 1 of the conference began with over 40 total men in attendance. Mike kicked us off with the Conference Opening, followed by Jeff Cady powerful testimony of God granting him power to change from a harsh father to a gentle leader and daddy for his two girls. I believe this testimony was used in a mighty way. What's a wonderful providence is that I asked weeks ago if one of the men had a testimony specifically regarding leadership that they would like to share and Jeff responded almost immediately. So he had been thinking about this well in advance. And God was moving in Tiko brothers (who generally have families that are falling apart) to receive such a hope-filled message. I personally will never forget the silence and attentiveness of the men as Jeff described how he asked his girls to forgive him for sinning against them...and how God honored and empowered his desire to love them like Jesus loves us.

The first teaching session was done by Brad. He focused on the essence of the gospel in Ephesians Chapter 2. He explained that our goal in the three sessions would be to begin with the gospel, followed by truths that flow out of the gospel, and conclude with power from the gospel and gospel truths to transform behavior. It was a delight to hear this message that has radically changed and powerfully enabled the men of our church...to be brought to these men. What an honor to be the vessels to deliver an extraordinary message of hope and joy to these dear men. We also had the honor of presenting the good news of Jesus and His work over and over again to Christians and non-Christians alike. God answered so many prayers on this opening day. Pray that the gospel will bear fruit in the church in Costa Rica.

Thursday...Part 2

We went back to Alfredo's again for a dinner party. The Ticos wanted to barbeque for us. We had shishkebob and some kind of sausage. It was really funny to watch how many guys had advice for how to cook the food. The old adage "Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth" thankfully wasn't realized. Ironically, Elias ended up cooking a lot of the food. In the same outdoor patio area, we moved the tables all the way back and set up chairs in rows as many more people came than we expected, approximatley 25 men from teenagers to old men...man of which were unsaved.

Doug shared a stirring testimony of three traumatic experiences that he believes God used as a "wake up call" so that he would start getting serious about growing in his faith and being a leader in his home and church. He shared the unbelieveable details of how he fell out of a tree stand some 25 feet up in a tree, miraculously not landing on his head but rather on his hip...the best place to land for that kind of fall. The doctors told him he wouldn't walk for a long time. They would be proven wrong. Though seriously hurt, God healed him in such a profound way that he was back hunting in that same treestand only three weeks later. True to his nature, Doug really connected with the men that were present. The language barrier wasn't a barrier at all. He pointed the men to a number of Scripture passages about how faith was to be proven by action (James), that God doesn't want luke warm Christians (Revelations), and that men of God are willing to perform the greatest of sacrifices in service to their Redeemer even to the point of sacrificing their only son (Genesis).

Doug was followed by Randall's testimony. Randall shared his radical conversion. From a serial adulterer and drug addict to a man that was confronted by a God who loves sinners even when there is nothing lovely about them. This was an incredible event as he had invited many of the men who were there to come and hear his story for the first time. Men were challenged by the good news that no one is too sinful to be beyond the reach of the loving power of Jesus Christ.


I wish everyone could have seen the evangelism that took place that night. There were conversations about the cross in pockets throughout the back yard and patio. I had the extraordinary pleasure of being used by God to speak to Adrian, one of Randall's friends that hand come. Adrian is a 24-year old man who was really affected by Randall's testimony. He spoke very good English and so I was able to speak clearly to him without the aid of a translator. Adrian

thanked me for our coming as Paraiso was in need of much help. I told him it was he that needed help, that he was in grave danger as he was getting closer, day by day, to an appointment with God. God who is getting more and more angry at his sin. I was able to share with him for some 30 minutes about he gift that was available to him in the perfect Jesus Christ dying as a Substitute. I urged him in the strongest of terms that he was in a desparate state and did not want to endure God's wrath and did not have to, if he would repent of his sin and trust in the Savior. Here's the part that was incredible...he thanked me and said, "No one has ever told me this before." Though he didn't repent that night. He heard the gospel. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction and repentance. Pray that God will save this young man from the wrath to come.

In Christ,

Jeff

Visiting Los Angeles Catholic Church (Basilica)

On Thursday us and a handful of guys from Roca Viva went to check out downtown Cartago. We walked through different shops and markets. I think we saw a bakery on almost every corner, Yum! One particular place we visited was the Los Angeles Catholic Church (Basilica). We walked into a mass service that was in progress. I saw men, women, and small children walking into the church and sprinkling water on their heads, then walk right back out in a carousel fashion. I was thinking to myself... What did that do for them? How many times have they done this? Do they possibly come every day? How many others in Costa Rica (and around the world) put their hope in this "sprinkling of the water"? Thank you Jesus for being the living water, the One who comes to bring salvation to His people through His shed blood on the cross.

The next few things that I saw BROKE my heart for the people in this church. I started to see men and women get down on their knees and slowly scoot (almost walking from knee to knee) up towards the front of the church. Some of the men that were with me saw this before and told me this was their "penance" and that they were doing this to bring payment for their sins. My jaw about dropped! I wanted to stand up and shout "Jesus paid it all, you can't pay for it yourself... believe and trust."

Finally we saw a statue of the Black Madonna (this wasn't the pop singer) known as La Negrita, who supposedly had great healing powers. The sick come to her statue in hope of a miracle from La Negrita. According to folklore in Costa Rica, the statue was found by an indigenous girl in 1635. She brought it home several times, but it mysteriously reappeared at its original site. The rock where she found it is now kept in a backroom in the basilica and is revered as a sacred relic and object of inspiration. It is common for people to touch the rock in reverence. Flowing just near this statue were streams of water where people would either splash some on a hurting part of their body or they would bring empty containers to fill and take home. According to Cameron, almost two million people from around the world flood this church on August 2nd every year to worship the statue.



In Leviticus 26:1 we read "“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God."

Hope to post more later,
Elias

Thursday...Another Full and Awesome Day (Part 1)

Thursday morning we headed over to Cam's church. Roca Viva is a very beautiful setting in Paraiso (pair ah EE so). We arrived to workers repairing the garage-door style entrance to what is the sanctuary. The morning's goal was to canvass downtown Paraiso with tracts and invitations to the evangelistic marriage seminar they would soon be hosting. We sat in the sanctuary and listened to Cam's instructions on which parts of the town each group would cover. Gringos were paired with Ticos and off we went...except for Brad and I who went into the lower level and put some finishing touches on our conference teaching notes.

About an hour and a half later, we walked around the block to Alfredo's Pizzeria where we would have lunch. Alfredo's wife is an interior designer and has helped her husband transform their home into a beautiful restaurant. We walked through the English cottage style front, gated front year, up a gently curved walkway and into the romantically decorated interior where we were greeted by Alfredo, his wife Mara, and to our surprise Kade and Carliotos (who work for Alfredo) as well. We were led into the backyard that consists of two separate, semi-private open-air dining areas covered by elegantly draped canopies. Underneath our room were four or five tables covered in white table cloths in the shape of an "L."

We were seated and awaited the specially prepared pizzas that would come. While we waited, Mike Mumford gave what I believe was the first devotional he has given publicly. He shared a wonderful lesson of how the believer in Jesus has spiritual resources at his disposal in the form of God Himself living inside him and that we ought to ask for increased filling and guiding of that Great Comforter each day. The talk was laced with the powerful, saving message of Jesus Christ. It was both a challenge and encouragement to the believers and a plea to repent to the few unbelieving Ticos who shared the meal with us. I couldn't help but think of how far Mike has come as a leader since the watershed Together for the Gospel Conference in 2006.

Well, the pizzas finally came...and kept coming one after the other until we all nearly slipped into a food coma. These pies had thin & crispy crust with all manner of delicious toppings, and were nearly enhaled by the men. I think it was a 6-way tie for who had the most slices. Why in the world was I worried about the food I would eat! We washed them down with glasses of good old Coca Cola made with real cane sugar. We also were given some lime-looking fruit that was a kind of guava. The real name of this fruit remain under debate to this day. Our all-knowing host, Cameron, told us is was one thing, was quickly challenged by the native Ticos, and was given still a third name by Joshua, who we now know grew up on a farm in India and is apparently an expert in all things fruit. Anyways, it was terribly bitter even with the pinch of salt we put on it after we pulled it in half to eat. What we have come to appreciate as Cameron's almost helpful timing, now came as he confessed he doesn't eat them (as we all had contorted faces from having just done so!).

Many, many conversations were being had and friendships formed by this point. Chuck has been masterfully engaging with various Ticos. Thankfully many of them spoke enough English where the rest of us could also meaningfully engage with them. For the rest, we would grab Cam or Chuck or even Dennis and get to know these dear men. I am reminded of Paul's sentiments toward his new Thessalonian friends,

"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our won selves, because you had become very dear to us." 1 Thess. 2:8.

These sweet men have indeed become dear to us. There is not a man on the team that has not developed a deep affection for these Ticos. What is amazing about our coming to Alfredo's for this gathering is that just days prior Cam was going to rescheduled the venue as Alfredo (a fishing enthusiast) had scheduled a fishing expedition with some friends. Thankfully the Spirit of God moved in Alfredo to sacrifice a trip he had been looking forward to. His sacrifice extended to driving the others to their fishing destination before returning to make ready his restaurant for our arrival. Praise God that changes the heart of men who don't have a natural desire to serve him.

I'm a little behind in the blogging. I'll catch you up soon. The conference began last night: Testimony from Jeff Cady and Conference Teaching Session #1 by Brad. This morning will be a testimony from Mike followed by Conference Teaching Session #2 by me. After a break, Chuck will give a testimony followed by Brad teaching Sessoin #3. Pray for the gospel to take root and bear fruit. More later.

In Christ,

Jeff