2nd Day of FBFI

Brent Belford reporting from FBF.

This morning started with an exposition of 2 Peter 3:1-12 by Pastor Jim Efaw. Pastor Efaw is the senior pastor of Beth Eden Baptist Church and he was also a pastor at Cross Lanes Bible Church in Cross Lanes, West Virginia. I also served on staff at CLBC for a time, so I know Pastor Efaw from his frequent visits back to West Virginia. Since I was a young man, I have always appreciated Pastor Efaw and this session was no dissapointment. His basic premise was about the blessed hope that we have as believers. He suggests 3 responsibilities to prechers today on account of the hope with which we have been blessed. First, he said that we need to preach on sin fervently. Second, we need to preach the gospel urgently. Third, we need to prepare our hearts dilligently to meet our Lord. Pastor Efaw is a good example of the type of preaching that Fundamentalists must demonstrate. God was glorified and the Word of God was clearly articulated.

After the general session, we all went to different workshops. Many different sessions looked appealing to me, but I went to one on counseling hope from Romans 5. Matt Von, director of Rocky Mountain Biblical Counseling, articulated how he counsels from Romans 5 with those to whom he ministers. The challenge was enjoyable and it was quite evident that Matt has legitimately used this text in his own counseling ministries. He believes that verses 3-5 describe growth in the life of believers. His most profound point might have been about the value of suffering and trial in the process which enables us to gain experience and expectation.

Overall, I can say that God has reminded me of the value of hope in the life of a believer. Hope is one of the 3 great Christian virtues which Paul expects the church to possess. Isn’t it true that when we struggle to obey the Lord or fall into some sort of sin that we have lost sight of our hope? The emphasis of this conference is one that we must retain. The FBF has always been concerned with accuracy in prophetic interpration and this has also been a mark of Fundamentalism since the very beginning.

I will touch back with you again after the evening sessions!