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Transcript

We Have BIG Plans · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey friend, welcome back to Bible Track Echoes.
• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Mike McCurray your host.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for taking your time and joining me right here today.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm so privileged to be speaking to you and I want to talk to you about some ways and areas that God has blessed BTI.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I try as I pray on a daily basis and of course I'm not perfect that doesn't have an every single day But I'm most certainly try to keep my community with God on a daily hourly minute by minute basis But why do I don't want to just be asking for things all the time?
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to thank God for his blessings
• 0:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have kind of a list that I go through of different blessings in my life and then I try to add to it as God continues to bless and he does on a daily basis he does.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I encourage you as you speak to Lord don't just don't make him a Santa Claus that you sit on his knee and ask I and I want a pony and I want a bike and I want a no no no.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for what he's done.
• 1:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: If we spent more time praising than we did requesting, maybe just maybe the requests would fall on more generous years.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wonder how often we spend thinking God for what he's done and more for who he is.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: As I look back at this summer, I think about the legacy and the future of camp ministry.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: BTI we still believe in and are reaching the next generation.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, summertime and BTI has never been slow.
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's just how we like it.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: We don't like it slow between our staff and some interns that we had with us.
• 1:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: BTI was directly involved in more than fifteen weeks of camp ministry this year.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: from Pennsylvania to the Midwest all the way out to Navajo Nation and beyond to places around the world like Australia.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've been serving, preaching, teaching, singing, counseling and pouring into thousands of young people this year.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of the most significant investments we can make, not just in the present, but in the eternity.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: This kind of effort is nothing new though.
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: See our founder, Dr. Paul Avain, he spent over forty summers deeply involved in youth camp ministry.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: He believed that God would work in the hearts of young people if they were given the gospel clearly with a heart full of compassion.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that foundation still shapes us.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: But we are not just looking backward, we're looking forward.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: This summer, our interns and staff have shouldered real responsibility and made real impacts.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've seen God work in the lives of young people and know what it means to labor together for the gospel.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: In a world that's pressing harder than ever on the hearts and minds of the next generation,
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: We believe it's our privilege and calling to push back with truth, with grace, and with the hope found only in Christ.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: When you pray, when you give, when you stand with us, you are helping reach the next generation.
• 3:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we firmly believe, they're worth it.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'd encourage you, don't just plan a week ahead, a month ahead, but look towards next summer.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: How can you invest?
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it's through prayer.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you're in a situation where you can't take a week off of work to go, be a help at a summer camp, but you can pray.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can invest our work at BTI.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have the opportunity.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: It has become a prenatal thing.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: This coming, let's see, January.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, end of January.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I and my family will be flying over to Australia, not for sight saying, but because we're running a camp over there.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, that costs money to do that, but it's worth it to see young people's lives changed.
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you'd like to invest in something like that, consider doing so.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Make it help make that possible.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'd love for these young people to have a great time, but more than that, we want them to hear the gospel.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, remember, it's summertime down under during our winter, but we are excited about the opportunity that we have to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just in the United States, but around the world.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we love can't ministry being a part of that.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of the world or let's say the world cup.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have a plan for reaching the world in twenty twenty six.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: You say, what are you talking about?
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, let me tell you about a world cup-sized opportunity.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Every four years, the eyes of the world focus on one thing, the world cup.
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: And in twenty twenty six, that global spotlight will shine on North America, meaning the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: At BTI, we believe in planning ahead.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are already hard at work preparing to produce a gospel film and a matching track titled True Victory.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: This strategic outreach effort
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to help reach tens of thousands of people from around the world that are gathered in one place.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, when I say US, Canada, Mexico, it's going to be a multitude of different places, but they're coming together for one purpose, the world cup.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's going to be countless souls.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: They're searching for greatness in the sports world, but every one of those deer souls needs the truth.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: This project is going to cost well over five grand to initially produce and distribute.
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you can be a part of it.
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Every additional four hundred dollars given is going to help us translate this film into another language.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: You see, there's many people from all over the world at the World Cup.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this is a film we're planning on also having the ability to use with some minor tweaks at the Olympics as well.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: and we want it to have the ability to be viewed in as many languages as possible.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Our goal is to open doors in country after country.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: We envision this tool being shared in dozens of languages as a truly global gospel witness.
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: We also plan to help outreach teams that are deploying in multiple host cities.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We want them to hand out tracks and share the good news on the ground.
• 6:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Your gift, if you decide to give, will help us print, translate, film and produce and distribute the gospel.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: During one of the world's most watched and attended events, I'd ask you to consider working together now to be ready when the world is watching.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you'd like to be a part, you can go to bibletracksink.org, bibletracksink.org slash partner.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's our website and they'll tell you more about how you can be a part of what we do.
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the ways you can do so is through prayer.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: The World Cup host cities this coming year will be in the US Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Santa Clara, California.
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: In Canada, it'll be Toronto and Vancouver.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: And in Mexico, it would be Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Montenegro.
• 7:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I encourage you to be a part.
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Lastly, for the most part, there's one of the things I want to talk to you about here in just a moment here, but I want to tell you, I asked Brother Todd Lothbaum to give us a little thought about reaching behind bars in twenty twenty five, shining the light in the darkest places in the world.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm talking about prison.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm talking about our prison outreach.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Throughout twenty-five BTI has continued to send the truth to the gospel into prisons across America.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: As of July, we have mailed over six hundred and seventy-five personal letters to inmates in forty-four different states.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each envelope included a gospel tracks and the first lesson to our discipleship course.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: There are simple tools, but God is using them in profound ways.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: One of the most encouraging updates this year came from an inmate who faithfully completed all forty plus lessons of our discipleship program.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: We were blessed to send him a certificate of completion along with a beautiful study Bible to help him continue digging deeper in Scripture.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even more important than letters and lessons are lives being changed.
• 8:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: We rejoice to report that in, twenty twenty five over a dozen inmates have trusted Christ as their Savior through this outreach.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Every one of those souls is a testimony to God's grace at work behind prison walls.
• 9:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for your faithful support and prayers for the prison outreach side of our ministry.
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're humbled and encouraged to see how God continues to move one letter, one note, one tracked at a time.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for your part.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, last things I want to talk to you about today is this.
• 9:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: For those of you listening right now, and maybe God has blessed your ministry, God's blessed your church, and you need some help with that.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you need a new website, new logo.
• 9:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you need a rebranding.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you need some gospel tracks.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you need an app.
• 9:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're actually working on multiple apps for different churches right now.
• 9:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: See, we do custom projects, but we don't just do custom projects to do them, we do them to make a difference.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: BTI has shipped millions of tracks worldwide for decades, but this ministry is more than just tracks.
• 9:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: In recent days, our team of creative professionals
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: has quietly helped numerous ministries worldwide with custom websites, radio apps, logo and branding design, print materials, banners, and much more.
• 10:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: We understand ministry and we know quality.
• 10:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whether you're launching a new church plant, refreshing your brand, or need a professional tool to reach people more effectively, our goal is simple.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: To help you communicate clearly and impactfully for the cause of Christ.
• 10:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to think about some things that we could help you with, maybe your church.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you have some questions.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Reach out to us.
• 10:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Go to our website or just email us customatbibletracksink.org.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: The email address we do all that through customatbibletracksink.org or text me.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Get a hold of me at three, zero, nine, three, one, six, seven, two, four, zero.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you're listening right now, you are invited.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is last thing I'll talk about today.
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are having an open house.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've mentioned it every day, and I'm going to mention it every day, continuing on, but it's coming up very quickly.
• 11:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: October fourth, it's a Saturday here in Odell, Illinois.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'll give the address in just a minute here.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be wonderful.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: The food's going to be
• 11:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Great.
• 11:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've got that all planned out.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: We know exactly what we're having.
• 11:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be honestly.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: It may be the best chicken I've ever had in my life.
• 11:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have some friends of ours that come in.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: They smoke a chicken and they do.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's the most tender chicken.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: I will tell you that it's the most tender chicken and in my opinion it is my favorite chicken in the world.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm thinking about that for a minute here.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there is no chicken that I would rather have right now.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm kind of hungry right now, actually.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, you're going to want to come Saturday, October fourth.
• 11:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a weird great time.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: My predecessor as director Mark Smith, he served the ministry from two thousand five to thousand nineteen.
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to be with us.
• 12:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Pastor Joey Watt, he was a friend of Paul Levine and a great friend who our ministry, Sherry Rodman, Paul Levine's personal secretary that last year's of his life, she will be here.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: She's helping to put together a biography of Paul Levine.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk more about that in the coming days.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Goodly Heritage, the music group will be singing, providing special music during that day.
• 12:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't encourage you.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't miss it.
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Go to BibleTracks.org, BibleTracks.org, our website.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's our website there and then our address here in O'Dell or D-E-L-L.
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's six zero three West Prairie Street.
• 12:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Six O' Three West Prairie Street.
• 12:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: O'Dell on a way six O' Four Six Zero.
• 12:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Put that in your GPS and see if you can make it.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't see if you can make it.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's no try.
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just do it.
• 12:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Make it happen.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'd love to see you there.
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: RSVP on our website.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: So we make sure we have enough chicken for you.
• 12:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bible-tracing.org.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk more about the blessings of God on the ministry tomorrow.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening to Bible-tract echoes.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: My prayer is always, is that you have a great day for His glory.
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: God bless.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org.
• 13:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for listening.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for him.