Dear friends,
It was a true delight to spend the last two months at home, fellowshipping with many precious brethren and friends, and I already miss so many of you already. I arrived in Logan, Utah very late on the 9th after a rather hectic day of flying; but I am now settled in and feeling quite well, excited about the work God has before prepared for this place.
Since arriving, the word "community" has been weighing upon my heart. I am seeking to build relationships with the saints here in Cache Valley, to know them and be known by them, so that we can as one body stand together in reaching out to our Mormon neighbors. The churches here are positive about preaching the gospel, but need direction in how to do that. God has given me some ideas to get the Christians united in practical outreach, so please pray for God's will to be done and for these plans to become reality. Utah is in desperate need!
Yesterday I have the privilege of talking for two hours with two Mormon missionaries. Beforehand I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be as sharp when talking to Mormons having been out of State for three months, but in prayer God gave me such a love for these guys, and I knew I needed to speak with them as if I were in their shoes. Our meeting was a profound blessing. There was zero arguing; nothing but a real and challenging conversation about God's way of salvation ensued, and I could only bless the Lord as I watched the gears turning and the conflict of thought appear vividly across their faces as they saw the gap between Christianity and Mormonism widen. By the end of our time together these two dear guys came to understand the genuine Biblical gospel... though the next step is up to them: they can either suppress this knowledge or submit themselves to God. Please pray for Tyler and Jason, that they would see the seriousness of this choice, and that they would make the right one. Save them Lord!
Also, in my day to day activities, I've been learning the ropes of helping at the bookstore: working the cash register, encouraging people as they come in, etc. While I still have a lot to learn, I am enjoying my part in this all greatly. A certain fantastic opportunity has arisen for Brad and I here in Logan: a few weeks before I arrived in Utah, Brad got a call from a Mormon friend of his who is establishing a new cable television show in the little city of Logan, and he asked if Brad and I would consider doing a weekly Bible discussion show for the channel! This is truly an open door given by God! Not only will our ministry involve literature and preaching, but God has added (at a very convenient time) a television ministry as well. Of course, we are thrilled at the audience this will reach that would otherwise not be reached, and also how excellent a collaboration this will prove with our other activities. Please pray for us, saints, that God gives us wisdom and grace, and that we exalt a clear testimony of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to this area. Praise God!
"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith." (Revelation 2:13)
Thank you to all those who support and follow this ministry, I sincerely appreciate all your love and encouragement. Thank you for your prayers. May Jesus Christ be glorified, and souls converted unto Him. May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!
Much love,
Your brother and fellow laborer in Christ,
-Eli
17 comments:
in your ideas of how we should live, does being guardians and not rapers of the earth come into any sort of play? does simple and pure love for all living things have not the upmost importance? It seems that the great majority of "christians" who say they truely follow the Bible, of which is simply a too-much revised version of a much better original book of myths and wisdom, one which was not meant to be taken as literal, but as a guide like all fables and myths, one which was rooted in many other wise groups...
Although I know not your actions, but I am led to suppose, due to the overwhelming earthly obsession seen among those who call themselves christians, that you and most others have very much distanced themselves from the most important part and root of all other behavior; the union with the ecosystem of which it is part. IF you are an obstructor of the system, which all humans are, aside from those who basically live as hunter gatherers, you are not completely pure and your thoughts and full self will never be pure. You can lie to yourself and tell yourself otherwise, but that is all it is; misguided lies.
Please revise your preaching; and use your voice to communicate a message of greater importance.
we love you brother, keep pressing on and thans for the updates....talk to you soon
Ricky, Tenisha & Abigail
Hi Jacques,
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
"And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."
I'll worship the one who made the ecosystem, thanks.
-Eli
Wow, a tv offer, eh? Congrats, Eli. Maybe I'll stop by Brad's bookstore sometime to say hello.
Hey brother,
Mike form SI. Just happened to be tooling around and fell upon your blog again. Wonderful things here Eli!
Good to see you out in Canton even if the converse was short. You have a grand heart brother, may your tribe increase.
My utmost prayers.
MB
Eli, I have a prominent notion that none of the following words will actually register in your mind or heart, but i will say them anyway. Though you're convinced that you are doing the Lord's work, working on behalf of Jesus Christ, etc... I suggest you step outside of yourself and reccognize that you have turned more people away from the Lord than toward Him. Much, MUCH more people. For someone who is supposed to represent God, you appear to be only representing yourself. You manipulate and use the Bible like a toy, to illistrate a point that realistically has nothing to do with justice, love, or God (which by the way are interchangable). You claim to love everyone and yet you don't embrace them. You yell at them from a distance, like a stranger. Jesus sat with the homeless, the drunkards, the whores, the lost, and He listened.
I am not in any way attempting to attack or demote you, but if your intentions are as pure as you claim them to be, i suggest you question your approach. I say this because - once again - your tactics are turning people away from God. And it is not because they are afraid of His wrath, or araid of living outside of darkness, it is because you are a messenger without love. To put it bluntly, you are coming off as a representative of something evil - something not of God, not of love, and not of justice. As blunt as that is to say, I have no personal incentive in saying it, except that I think you should know. Again, your intentions are irrelevent, this is how you appear.
Don't feel the need to debate this, I'm quite sure of what I'm saying and for your sake I truly believe you should allow these words to sink in.
Praise the Lord for your work in Utah! God bless you Eli! It is so encouraging to hear of all the opportunities the Lord is opening up for you! :-)
Bless you brother, you are in my prayers and thoughts.
"What about the Lord's Testimony?"
-Denny Kenaston.
May God revive "it" in Utah!
Greg
www.sermonindex.net
Anonymous. I appreciate where you are coming from, but you it would appear that you have only the picture of Jesus that you want to have. Jesus spoke very boldly at points in His minitstry. He was also preceeded by many who spoke much more boldly than Eli. One that comes to mind is John the Baptist.
In our post-modern self-centered society, we need to hear the Gospel preached on the streets. I have never been to one of Eli's cruisades, but I am quite sure that he is more than willing to spend time debating and discussing the Word of God.
May the Lord continue to bless and use Eli in spreading the Word.
Luke
Hey Eli, I've been up watching some of your preachings on google. Very interesting stuff.
I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but I'm glad to hear that you are back in Logan. Hopefully I'll bump into you sometime soon. I miss the dialogue up here at Utah State.
Currently, I'm still unsure of what I believe. I feel like I'm a swirling mass of ideas, but don't know which one to put my 'faith' in. One thing is for sure: Mormonism has a vicelike grip on me and I feel like I'm suffocating. I try to distance myself, but how can I here in Logan?
Anyway, I'll stop rambling. The point is that I would like to speak with you. Maybe I will stop by the bookstore.
Ben
Hey, Annonymous... arent you in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? (Matt 9:34) Perhaps this brother (Eli) whom you do not care to know closely like I do, has been doing a good job of turning students away from the god you have made up in your mind? A god to suit yourself? A granny god that will pat you on the head and give you a cookie each time you sin? I charge you to examine yourself this hour, friend!
We do worship the creator and shouldn't that give us, as jacques says, more reason to care for the ecosystem he has given us and live in harmony with the earth?
I have watched some of the video's on this blog and found instances of what I can only see as petty squabling over evolution and gay marriage which leaves me confounded to the value of trying to bludgeon the world with the 'truth'. Love is indeed the central tenet of God's rescue plan. How are we to communicate this to a love-starved generation by yelling arguments againt the accepted science of the day?
Although I admire your boldness, and don't claim to have the full picture. Much of this is troubling to a sincere believer who doesn't happen to talk like an epistle all the time or think that women should not have a voice in the church. God's truths are eternal but cultural context in the bible is another thing.
The above was not meant to be an attack I do support the word of God and it's preaching. I struggle with my reservations towards your method.
I do not mean to sound condescending but wish to express that perspective.
God bless man.
Petty squabling over evolution and gay marriage, indeed. Great thoughts, anon.
True; what doth it profit a man who believes in a creator and the sanctity of marriage and yet he has not fallen down under the blood of Christ. For that man with right understanding shall go to the same place as the fool.
Hi Eli: So happy for you and the direction God has given you. Look forward to what the Lord does. Amen, to the scriptures you have shared with Jacques.
Anonymous: "Accepted science of the day"? What we're seeing today, is a "New Age Christ", with man & the earth as the central focus. It's another Jesus than the one we know and love. The truth of the true gospel of Jesus Christ will make you free.
Margie
Evolution being the accepted science of the day, whether it is right or not, we can hardly blame people for defending it.
I just don't think the way to their hearts is through arguments neccesarily.
Indeed Jesus will make you free!
it's an incremental process!
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