Friday, April 11, 2014

One of My Favorites

Psalms 2:8 KJV
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

This is easily one of my favorite verses and one of the most important I my personal life as a believer. I believe I first heard Jack Hyles reference this verse or perhaps one similar to it back in 1985-1986. Joe Lutz, the pastor of the Town Center Baptist Church in Portland, had rented the auditorium of one of the liberal religious colleges of the area to accommodate the size of the audience. During his message Hyles made reference to a passage like this and said that one day Fundamental Baptists would own the facilities of this place or places like it.


It was during the summer of 1987 when, as I sat in my office in the abandoned gas station building we were using as our meeting place, I came to this verse. As I read it I began to pray that a God would do what this verse promises for me. As I remember it, and I will admit my memory isn't always completely accurate, it was while I prayed over this verse that day that Pastor a Mark Hunsberger from the GARBC church across the bridge from our gas station came to see me. I had met him informally the previous spring as the two of us had our children at the park. Pastor Hunsberger had told me then that he would be leaving Astoria soon. He came to my office that day to tell me that his church had asked him to see if I would consider becoming the pastor of the church he was leaving. The GARBC had said they would not send another missionary pastor there and if they could not get a pastor they would be forced to close. 

I officially became the pastor of Bayview Baptist Church the first Sunday of October in 1987. I do not consider any of those people heathen but I do believe God answered my prayer that day.

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