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March Madness is typically associated with the NCAA tournament. The month of March is busy as 64 of the USA's best college basketball teams meet in 64 team tournament to see who will be crowned the NCAA champion. Like the apostle Paul said, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 1 Corinthians 9:24". There are no second chances in the NCAA tournament, and there are no second chances to live a victorious life in Christ. Just like a basketball team only has one opportunity to win the title of NCAA champion, so we have only one lifetime to invest in eternity.

This month marked my spiritual birthday. It has been 30 years since I bowed my head and heart and received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have been redeemed for almost two thirds of my life! According to the statistics, I'm already into the second half of my life and heading toward the finish line. According to scripture, today may be the last opportunity in time I have to bring God glory for we know not what tomorrow will bring. I don't know about you but I don't want to foul out, I want to finish the course God has for me.

March was a great opportunity to invest in eternity. God is filling HBF's tank so we can continue to fulfill God's mission in God's power as we focus forward.

Making Disciples

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2

Investing in making disciples is the mission God gave to his disciples in Matthew 28:20. If we don't train faithful men generationally, we will not accomplish the mission God has for us. March 12-15, God allowed me, Randy Foster, Tom Feurt and Ron Kassen to attend the first annual Living Faith Bible Fellowship Discipleship Conference in Cartersville, Ga. The conference was hosted by Oakland Heights Baptist Church, led by Pastor Joe McKaig. In addition to the attendance of many pastors, there were many churches and individuals attending the conference from the Atlanta area and across the country.

We were encouraged by the instruction of Pastors Joe McKaig, Jeff Bartell, Gary Haskel, Tony Godfrey and others in the philosophy, administration and application of discipleship. The goal of this annual conference is to instill a biblical philosophy of discipleship in Pastors. The morning session dealt with specific instruction concerning the philosophy of discipleship and the evening sessions encouraged us in the four goals of discipleship. Those who are disciplers, or desire to be a disciple-making Christian, would benefit from attending the 2018 Discipleship Conference.

Marriage

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:33

The marriage picture is a beautiful picture of Christ and the church. God blessed HBF and our sister churches from around the metro to participate in a great Marriage Conference at the Lenexa Convention Center at Hyatt Place in Lenexa, Kan., March 24-25. Pastor Mark Trotter did a great job of reminding us how our prayers are hindered when we do not fulfill our respective roles in marriage. While there are many blessed with the gift of being single, a large number of the members of HBF are married. Healthy marital relationships are mission-critical to producing fruit, much fruit and fruit which remains.

Missions

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Revelation 3:18

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this coming week's "Invest" Vision Conference! God has been drawing us to this week's Vision Conference since the first day of the year! Starting with Pastor Pilira Chibwana's message on the first day of 2017, God has been focusing HBF on the fulfilling the mission. Gold blessed us the second week of January by allowing Doug Pearson to deliver a wonderful message about our heart attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ as his love and grace convert us. He also updated us on his plans to go forward with a new work in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The work to prepare for Vision Conference has already been underway for many weeks. Many of you have pitched in to prepare the Elementary wing, affectionately known as the "E" wing, for the upcoming conference. I want to extend a special thank you to all the folks who pitched in to decorate, plan praise, prepare the facility and most importantly praying for the upcoming conference.

This is the one time each year where we can all meet together as one to hear from God's word. I trust you have already arranged your schedule and made the necessary sacrifices and commitments to come together to receive God's word. If you are just hearing of Vision Conference, or are new to HBF, it will be well worth your time to make it to every session.

We will be blessed with a great line up of speakers this week. Pray for Sam Stricklin, Mark Shaffer, Dan Reneau, David Shelby, Mike Blake and the other missionaries, pastors and ministry leaders/church members who will be speaking this week at the Vision Conference. Pray for Sonia Ferguson, Sue Shlagenbusch, the Monmouth Team, the Audio/Video Team, the Praise Ministry and the body of Christ working to support the Conference cleaning, housing, etc.

March and April may seem maddening because of all the activity leading up to Easter, but rest assured your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Please make every effort to participate fully in this year's Vision Conference for it will serve as a time of divine refreshment, vision and encouragement. Seize hold of the first week of April as we focus on our Lord Jesus Christ and invest in the souls of those who live in our communities, the counties around, our country and the continents of the world. The job is larger than us, which is why God needs us to invest in the word of God so we can do our part in running our race and finishing our course for God's glory.