A funny thing happened to me recently. Some of you may recall our announcement in a previous newsletter that we had been provided with a multimedia projector to replace our stolen overhead projector. The new system is very bright and easily transportable - perfect for our needs.

It has a nifty remote control unit that, in addition to direct projector control, also has mouse functions so the computer can be controlled through the projector. This is great for someone like me, who has a hard time standing still while speaking. It permits me or other presenters to control all aspects of the presentation through the remote unit.

We received the projector very shortly before departing for Japan last January. Since then, it has been used in the Philippines, Romania, and in several places in the U.S. Due to my busy schedule however, I was unable to set up the appropriate software on my laptop to receive the mouse commands from the remote. So, I just tried to "make do" with what I had. This often got me into awkward situations, like needing a member of the audience to advance the slides as I would verbally or with a hand motion indicate a change was needed. Yes, the systems basically worked, but certainly not optimally. But, I had no other option - - or so I thought.

Finally, one day I called the manufacturer of the projector to try to obtain the appropriate software. I explained my predicament, and that my best efforts to search online for the software had come up empty.

The gentleman I spoke with was quiet for a second, and then replied, "There is no special software. All you need is a standard mouse driver that should already be on your computer. Just connect the cables, and go."

In other words, I had everything I needed the whole time. In my ignorance I just wasn't using it. Thus, all my efforts were, in fact, unnecessary.

My mind instantly saw the spiritual parallel. There is a tendency to think that we need a lot of fancy "extras" in order to enjoy the full benefits of the Christian life. We read the Bible and see that our experience in life should be one of joy, peace, freedom, victory, and so forth. But then we see that it is not quite "working" as it should and so we look for something more, something else to finally open up the doors for us to this full and blessed experience. And so we attend seminars, read books, get counseling, or engage in all sorts of spiritual exercises looking for the clue to get out of the Christian life everything we think we should.

However, all the while we may be missing the most fundamental point. The strength, wisdom and courage that we need to live the Christian life successfully is found in the Person of the Lord Jesus, manifested in His Holy Spirit, and He already dwells in us. In other words... we already have all that we need. Colossians 2:9-10 - "For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him..." We don't need Christ plus. Christ alone is all we need.

How often though, like my experience with the projector, do you and I limp along and expend a lot of time, energy and other resources looking for ways to "make it work"? And unfortunately, not only do our attempts simply not work, but they may in the end actually make things worse.

Now, let me say that, far from claiming that input from others is completely unnecessary, it can serve a valuable purpose. The technical support representative didn't give me anything new, he just brought to my attention the truth - that I already had what I needed. Similarly, sometimes what we really need is to have someone come alongside and remind us that we already have the Lord, and He's all that we need. If I might continue to borrow from the illustration, all we really need to do is "plug in" (through the Word, prayer, and fellowship), and go!

And that is my desire for myself and for this ministry - in all that we do, may God use us to remind His people that they are complete in Christ. Could anything be more important?

In His Service,

Stephen P. Tecklenberg
President / Executive Director

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Ministry Report

A New Direction. From our beginning, Eagle's Nest has been blessed with many unique opportunities to minister around the world. Each one of them we know to be a gift from God, and thus we receive them with joy.

However, one thing that we have always desired was opportunity for more consistent and ongoing contact with people. In the pattern of Christ's work with the disciples, we believe that this is the best means of developing the body of Christ. The question before us, though, was not just "when" would God open this door for us, but "how?".

Coinciding with repeated requests for such a ministry by some of our friends overseas, this past spring an idea began to develop for a program that would at least begin the fulfillment of those desires. We currently call this program "Discipleship Training Sessions" (DTS).

The heart and vision behind DTS is simple. By the grace of God, we want to be used to equip, train, and inspire young people towards four principle ends: 1) to grow in their personal walk with Christ, 2) to be able to "rightly handle the Word of truth", 3) to be able to detect and combat theological errors both in the world and in the church, and 4) to effectively minister the gospel in their individual circumstances.

In the pursuit of these goals, we recognize that two elements are needed. First, a systematic course of instruction in the Word of God. There must, after all, be a certain amount of "discipline" in "discipleship". However, such instruction must be enveloped within the context of meaningful relationships that encourage genuine growth, so as to not be just "dead" academics. Thus, over the four year course of study (three weeks per year), there will also be many "extra-curricular" activities designed to build bridges of communication, trust and friendship.

Bucharest, Romania. To inaugurate the DTS, Steve Tecklenberg traveled to Romania from May 7 - 21, where close to 30 young people faithfully attended the daily, two-hour sessions on Bibliology. We discussed the doctrines of "Revelation", "Authenticity", "Inspiration" and "Inerrancy", plus a history of the Canonization of Scripture, translation efforts, and finally a review of "Hermeneutics" (the interpretation and application of Scripture). Through it all, Steve kept emphasizing that, "we are not in school...we're on a treasure hunt!"

To say that the response was "good" or even "wonderful" would frankly be an understatement. Words cannot adequately describe the joy of seeing these young people give themselves to this relatively demanding study. They showed up early, and took copious notes. Even though some of the individual sessions were fairly technical, it was very gratifying to see them work hard to grasp the material, which included the memorization of Scripture, definitions of terms, and conceptual ideas.

Each day also included times of prayer and fellowship. Steve formed a choir with a number of them, which performed Livingstone's classic hymn, "Lord, Send Me Anywhere" - in English - in two different churches. Additionally, there were many visits to homes and local parks, where Steve taught them to play American baseball (which they loved!).

Overall, the experience was a great encouragement to us that this plan of ministry shows great promise. Already, we are receiving requests from other locations to bring the DTS program to their area. As God gives us strength, we will pursue them, trusting God to use it to strengthen His people to live for His glory.

Church Conference, Gettysburg, PA. On May 23 - 25, Steve was asked to work with the high school students at the annual weekend retreat of the Forge Road Bible Chapel. He took the opportunity to go through a series called "Vignettes On Discipleship", emphasizing Christ's call and how it expresses itself in different areas of life. The ultimate focus, though, was on the words of Jesus to Martha - that there is "only one thing needful", which is to sit at Jesus' feet and hear His words. Only then will we understand Who He is, and what His purposes are in our lives