This month God blessed me greatly through the three conferences I attended. Ravi Zacharias was the main speaker of the first conference I attended. The emphasis was on training in evangelism and apologetics and he approached many of the questions that non-Christian students usually ask me when I go to the campus to talk to them. What a help to hear different approaches to apologetic questions non-believers usually ask. At this conference I was surprised to hear of the recent attacks on the validity of the Bible by Bart E., considered one of the most important specialists on textual criticism. He was evangelical and studied at Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College and Princeton Seminary. It’s really sad to see

that after all these studies he ended up an agnostic, fighting against the Bible. He wrote some very influential books such as, “The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture”, “Lost Christianities”, “Lost Scriptures”, and as a professor his declared purpose is to destroy in one semester the faith in the Bible of his students. His arguments are quite shallow and easy to overcome, still his lies are very powerful in the States and his books are being translated in Romanian. That makes me really sad!

I was SO blessed this month through the HeartCry conferences in Bucharest, Elim and Brasov. My soul was so hungry for the truth and the fellowship I received, and I was very much encouraged and nourished through the teachings of our brothers Paul Washer, Conrad Mbewe and Don Currin. I could write a whole book with all I learned and wrote in my notebook!!! It was very powerful! We had an extraordinary time! I was so encouraged to spend more time with God in Scripture and prayer, to abide in Him, to meditate on the cross of Christ, to fight for godliness and truth, to work hard and labor for the growth of the Kingdom of God…

In Bucharest we learned mostly about spiritual warfare and how essential it is to be grounded in biblical theology, doctrine, and truth. The Scripture is absolutely essential in spiritual warfare because Satan is a deceiver and his purpose is to make us believe his lies. It was encouraging to hear that the devil cannot do anything to us because of Christ. He has no power over us and he can only lie! I learned that I need to fight the devil through the teaching of the truth to myself and applying it to every aspect of my life. The Christian life is a fight, a fight to read the Bible, a fight to pray, a fight to stand firm, a fight to take up the full armor of God which is Christ’s character and holiness, a fight to put on the image of Christ  and to put off sin with vengeance. Every aspect of the Christian life is a fight!

Our power lies in learning more and more about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Brother Paul said we should dedicate our lives to a deeper understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we take out the Gospel, the power is gone! Then we rely on the flesh, events, promoting the community of faith, and not on Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Our greatest need is the prayerful study of Scripture and the application of the Word in every aspect of our lives.

Spend time with God, saturate your life with the Word, and breath prayer! We are to be men and women who live in the presence of Christ! We need Christ, we need to be filled with Him, to walk as He walked! We constantly need His power that comes only from abiding in Him! The only way we’ll be good servants of Christ is to constantly be nourished by the Lord through the Scriptures. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” (1Timothy 4:7b)  Everything in our lives needs to be geared in the direction of godliness. Cry out to God to make you more disciplined! Get your priorities right! Fix your eyes on the prize! Fix your hope in God! Keep pressing on! Run with joy, hope, and faith! How wonderful were all these exhortations for my soul! I am grateful to God for working in my heart and I pray to Him that He will help me fight the good fight.

I was also encouraged by brother Conrad Mbewe through his sermon on the calling of God. During the sermon I could test my calling to the student ministry once again. He said you must have both an inner testimony from the Spirit and the Church's testimony. Both must go together in order to stay long term in the ministry. Even though your friends may abandon the work, you will continue the calling. This is the joy of the calling of God that even in the middle of the trials and spiritual warfare, He continues to encourage you in the work. People may wonder why is this person still in the work? If God has called you, the Holy Spirit will sustain you through all the trials, and in the future you’ll look and see what God has done and say it’s the grace of God through you and it’s His fruit. You’ll know that He alone deserves all the praise because without Him you couldn’t do anything. I've identified very much with this description. I’ve been involved 11 years in the student ministry as a staff-worker and during the years we encountered many trials, but God continued to encourage us and do His work through me and Ruxi. To Him alone is the glory!

We are God’s soldiers and we go to plant the cross of Jesus Christ into new territories, by evangelizing and disciplining and growing the Kingdom of Christ. Our purpose is to know and communicate Jesus Christ and His cross. The only way to have a solid foundation is by meditating on the glories of Christ.

The Christian students in Bucharest who attended the conference had a similar experience. Their souls were also hungry for the teaching they received. This teaching is so rare in Romania!! It was such a blessing to them!!!