Over the course of the past two years, I have discovered the world of podcasts and sermons online. It first started with Focus on the family daily broadcast. I grew up with my mom listening to Dr. James Dobson for many years. So I started to see if there was a way to listen to them online. We then discovered that Itunes allows you to subscribe to different podcasts. It was good for us. It started the process for us to be fed spiritually during the week. I then found another podcast from the Village church in Texas with the main teaching pastor Matt Chandler. I have been very blessed to be able to listen to his sermons. It has been a way God has given us spiritual food for the the soul. As a missionary, it is often that you are giving and giving and hardly ever receiving. Not that this is a bad thing but finding ways be fed at the same time as feeding others has been something we have had to learn. So last week, I again made another discovery. I started to look for sermons by David Platt who wrote the book "Radical". If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. So with that, I came across podcast by the name of sermon index. Their slogan is Sermons from the past century. I will be stuck on these podcasts for a while. There are many sermons available from men of God such as Lenard Ravinhill, David Wilkerson, Paul Washer, even Keith Green and many others. This past Saturday, I started listening to several different sermons while I was running errands throughout the afternoon as well as cleaning and setting up for church on Sunday morning at La Roca. I felt spiritually bloated. Let me try to explain what I mean by this. It was like being at a conference you hear from several powerful speakers all in a row. How do you process it all? Even now after hearing in the last few days a few different other sermons, they start to blend together and you can't remember which person said what. After less than a week of listening to these men of God, just hearing how seasoned they are with years of studying scriptures and how God has worked in their lives, I see where I want to go or to be. We can't fake knowing God. We may know the words to say and how to act like a follower of Jesus, but as we speak, what is in our hearts will come out. If we focus on the worries of the world, we will talk about the worries of the world. If we focus our minds on things of the Spirit, it begins to follow thing of the Spirit. (my own words on Romans 8). My hope is that I would be a true follower of Jesus. Someone who is willing to obey Jesus no matter what the cost.
    This past Sunday morning at church, we did something a little different for church. As I was praying about what I should share about for our time of the word, I had originally had thought out watching the Jesus movie as is it the book of Luke but then felt it lead to do something completely different. The Jesus makes reference to the Holy Spirit as a teacher so that was what I wanted to have happen. I listed about 10 different passages of scriptures and told the church we are going to spend 30 minutes in silent reading and prayer. It is much more powerful when the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts than any man can. So after 30 minutes, we spent in the word and listening to the Holy Spirit, I asked the congregation, what they thought. From what I heard it was needed time for everyone. A few people said it went really fast. I am going to ask again this Sunday what people thought. One thing, that really made me believe that God is moving was on Tuesday evening just before my English class, I was in the kitchen at La Roca where Herman and Jonathan were just chatting. That's when I heard Herman start talking to Jonathan about John 15 "the vine and the branches." I didn't get to hear what he told Jonathan, but to see that he was making reference to one of the passages of scripture that was in the list I had given was a joy to my heart. It is one of those moments, you realize just how much God works in our lives, even when it doesn't seem like anything is happening on the surface. I made reference to our last newsletter (if you aren't on our email newsletter list you can email me.) about how much of the grow of a seed grows below the surface. The seed is planted in the ground and then the roots grow. You don't see how deep they go but without them the plant will not survive. We need Jesus to grow the roots of His word sustain us in all circumstances. May you be blessed today!

I finally figured out how to get it set up so if you want an email every time we update this blog you can now do that. To the side right side you will see a box you can put your email in. Just follow the instructions. The nice thing is that you won't get an email unless we update the blog. Hope this helps.

As some of you know, life in Mexico becomes what you make it. We have raised chickens for the past three years. We have learned things along the way and we are still learning. We had a few new chickens hatch about 4 months ago. Three to be exact. We raise them until we figure out whether or not they are chickens or roosters. If they are roosters, they will eventually start fighting for control of the little flock. So with these new chicks started to grow, I was convinced that two were roosters. Jessie was not convinced though. So what did I do? I took them to a vet who said yes they are hens. He never really looked at them very closely. That was about a month ago now. I was still not totally for sure about it. I even at times would have conversations with Jessie about how I thought they were roosters. She would lovingly laugh at me and say that I was wrong and that they were hens. During the night on Saturday, I thought I heard two different rooster crows from our chicken area. I mention it to Jessie, which she then stated that I was probably not hearing things right and that I was probably still sleeping when I heard it. (For those of you who have never heard any of our stories about me sleep walking, ask Jessie to tell you one day. You are in for a good laugh.) I didn't think anything of it after that. On Sunday evening, when I was at La Roca, I got a call from Jessie. She then described for me what had occurred that evening. She heard some hens clucking in the chicken coop. They are usually quiet unless something has made them upset or they are waiting for the space to open up for them to lay an egg. She went to check on them. She then saw one hen being chased by the two chickens followed by our one main rooster. She then saw the two younger chickens trying to mount the hen. She separated them from rest of the other chickens. These two new chickens then proceeded to crow. They are not hens for sure. They are two roosters who didn't fight each other because they are brothers. We will be eating some chicken in the next couple of days unless we can find someone who wants a rooster. Not a huge need for them unless you want to use them for fighting. So if you want a rooster, I have two that you can have. It might be a bit of a challenge getting them though. We still have things to learn about raising chickens.
   
    Things have settled down a bit now that carnival is done. It was a choir cleaning up  La Roca. At the beginning of carnival they shot of a bunch of confetti that has littered a two block radius of the bull ring (our house was included in that.) We started the English classes back up again as well as different bible studies. I think every year around this time, you feel a sense of needing to dig in. I guess what I am trying to say is just seeing some real work done. It is kind of like seeing the ground tilled up ready for the seed. In the coming weeks we have some events that will be happening. One of which is possibly having a baptism. I am in the process of  doing a study with Alonzo who is very anxious to make that step of faith. I think there is at least three other people who are interested in getting baptized as well. I will be meeting these people one-on-one to really confirm if they understand what it means and how it can effect their lives. We are excited about the possibilities of these young believers taking this step of faith in obedience.

I came across a video from the carnival. Check it out.

Every year during these days we avoid going out of the house. For 10 straight days there is a constant noise coming from two blocks away. If you can imagine a marching band with trumpets, tubas, trombones and drums, this is the sound you would here but magnified by 100. If you walk down the street you can not pick out one particular song. There is 20 to 30 different little bands that are all competing for the attention of those who are drinking beer and tequila. Literally 10 days of partying and getting drunk. From our house we hear the noise but is often covered by the event that takes place in the bull ring. Everyday there is at least two or three events through out the day. Different bands while matadors (bull fighters) face head-to-head with big bulls.
    Yesterday I was doing some work on the house and I decided to turn on some music to try to cover up the noise. It was then I started listening to Chris Tomlin's cd "If our God is for us". I heard one song and it was like drinking a cup of cold water on a hot day. It was clear that even though we are not walking through the crowds of people the effects are still there. As I listen more all else started to fade away. I began to focus on God and how much we need Him. We are blessed to know the truth. The truth that brings us to a holy and righteous God who did not spare His own Son to give us salvation. Oh how much I need Him today. Have a great day! Off to run some errands this morning before the streets are inpassable.