From the Introduction: The Gift of Faith When I first put my faith in Christ, He gave me a gift of faith. I thought every Christian received the same gift. In that moment, I suddenly believed God could do anything, absolutely anything. I believed the whole Bible was true, from cover to cover. I believed anything God did in the past He could do again. And I believed He could do even greater things than these—even through me. As Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these...” (John 14:12). It wasn’t until several years later, when I took a spiritual gifts “inventory,” that I realized God had given me a “gift” of faith, a supernatural gift to believe God can do supernatural things. And it was then that I realized God wanted me to use this gift as He wanted all of us to use our gifts—for building up others in their faith. Or, as the Apostle Paul says, “to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). But I wondered how to do this. As I asked others, they said that whenever I would tell them my stories of faith—how God had worked in my life—they were encouraged in their faith to believe that God could work in their lives too. Yes! That made sense. When people needed a boost in their faith, I could give them some of mine. Isn’t that the way with all of our gifts? When people need wisdom or money or healing or help or encouragement, we share with them whatever wisdom or money or healing or help or encouragement we have been given (see 1 Corinthians 12-14). So I began that day sharing my stories of faith in a more intentional way—writing them down, sending them out, and telling them to others when they needed a lift. And that’s what I’m doing with this book for you. If you need a boost in your faith, if you need to believe that God can do something impossible for you, if you need to know that God is real, that He loves you, that He is FOR you and has a purpose for your life, then this book is for you. Because, along with hope and love, faith is one of the top three things we all need in life (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). With that as an introduction, I’d like to begin telling you a few of my stories of faith, starting with the day I was born. Well, not that far back! I’ll start with the day I was born again, at age 23, the day I put my faith in Christ—and He put His gift of faith in me. Eric Elder