When you get out the habit of something, it takes awhile to get back into the habit. I am back. We are finally getting back into a rhythm of life after months of summer with a short trip to the states, two different teams from the states coming down to do ministry, and some visitors. Then Jessie and Anna are in the middle of a trip being gone for two weeks. This means I am spending my mornings with the kids doing home school each morning. Getting back to the blog here and also finishing a newsletter are on my top priorities. 

A few weeks ago, we again had the pleasure of praying for a young man named Josue who decided to attend bible school before moving on to study something else. When you are in ministry you see so many different kinds of young people who grow up. Sometimes you see them follow after what they think is going to make them happy often leading to rebellion and sin. It is those times, you have to trust that the truth of God's word you have poured into them, will continue to take root even in the midst of their unfortunate decisions they are making.

Josue is not the case. I think of Paul writing to Philemon about Onesimus in which he wrote: 
"I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me."   Philemon 1:10-11 ESV

This is how I feel about Josue. He was just a kid around 8 or 9 years old when he started attending the church. I have watched him fight for holiness as he confessed sin to me at various times over the years. I have watched him grow into a man with strong integrity and good work ethic. It was may privilege to watch him grow into a young man who loves the Lord. That is why, when he asked me what I thought about him attending bible school, I was was thrilled. If you have followed our ministry over the years, he is the younger brother to Chavo and Vicente who both graduated from our mission's bible institute who are both in full-time ministry. He also the younger brother of Rosa, who is studying to be a pharmacist and started a cell group on her college campus. Being in ministry, when Paul mentioned child/father relationship you get to see the transformation of these kids who turn into adults with a love and passion to follow Jesus in whatever he calls them to do. Josue truly learned to be a servant. Jesus said in Mark 10:43b-44:

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,  and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (ESV) 

I have translated what Josue posted on Facebook the last night he was at the coffee house before leaving for bible school. You get the idea of what I have been talking about. 

"Today was my last day of service that I offered in "La Roca Coffee Shop", a place where I had the joy of growing both physically and spiritually, having the opportunity to share good times with my family and friends. A place where I learned that you serve in spite of the small things that you know and can support. I learned to work in a team despite different qualities and defects that we have. A place where I learned that not all work is tedious and boring. I learned to arrive with a purpose every Sunday, where the purpose is to glorify God with our work and serve our neighbors before ourselves. It certainly breaks my heart to leave this place, however I know that I will have the happiness of working here again, I keep hope :)  I thank God so much for allowing me to grow here and meet those people who have been tools of growth throughout my life! Cafeteria and Church "La Roca" I love you!"

Glory to the Lord for what He has done and what His going to do!  It is our privilege to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of His people. 
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This is a question that needs to be asked no matter how old you are. It implies that you are not blinded by your own pride. Pride is so often what causes so many to feel there is no need for me to learn some thing new. Being teachable and correctable I think go hand-in-hand. Pride is what stops this from happening. When you are young growing into an adult you have the idea in your head "I can do what I want because I am an adult now." In some ways this is very true in other ways not at all true. The reason I bring this up is that I am leading a youth bible study now. There is a huge difference between one who is teachable and correctable and one who is full of pride. Instead leading by example there is a desire for recognition. This is the same old problem that caused the great tower of Babel. It was to make a name for themselves. It was also what Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. "Don't you want to be like God?" In essence it is what is the driving force of our sin. Pride. I can do it by myself. I don't need anyone to help me. Yet no one can save themselves from sin and earn their salvation. 

Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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This verse are so clear. God rich in mercy ( Mercy=not getting what we deserve) ...... by grace (Grace= a gift that you don't deserve) you have been saved. Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Our salvation is so different that all the other religions in the world. You have to please the '"god or gods" in order to find favor maybe having that god give you what your works deserve. Our GREAT GOD the FATHER who is rich in mercy loves us even when we don't deserve it and pours out his grace on us giving us our salvation based on what he has done through Jesus on the cross putting on him the cost of our sins. How amazing is this?!!! We can never do enough to pay for what our sins deserve. It is only through Jesus that we find reconciliation to the Father. What a gift. To spend eternity with Jesus and God the Father because we believe and receive the gift that God offers. May you receive much joy as you ponder and reflect of this great gift and ask Jesus to reveal pride that is in your heart. 

Easter came and went did it not? We had good Friday service at our house. It was a blessed time of fellowship. We spent time worshiping together with singing. Then we watched about of half an hour of the Jesus film from when Jesus entered Jerusalem until his death and resurrection. You may not be familiar with this particular film but it has been translated into hundreds of different languages. Before we watched it, I told everyone that this is according to the gospel of Luke. After we celebrated communion together reading from the gospel of Luke. It was almost word for word to the movie, which one of the reasons I felt we should watch it along with listening to it. I know that some of the younger people need more than just listening to scripture being read. The fact that the movie is almost 40 years old doesn't matter if it is right from the bible. After communion, we shared in a meal together. You could tell just being together was a blessing for everyone. Having time of fellowship and laughter leads me to believe how the disciples felt when they were eating together with Jesus. Such a sweetness to it. Oh how our fellowship will be blessed when we are in heaven together with Jesus!!!

On Sunday, we decided to spend the day at a local water park in celebration of Jesus resurrection from the dead. Why not celebrate together!!! It is for this reason we have victory over death through the precious blood of Jesus who willingly gave his life for us. Romans 5:8 "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

2 Corinthians 5: 17- 21 
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (ESV)

What a glorious truth we have in Jesus. Was it not him who took our sin and bore it on the cross. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. Is this not a time of celebration for those who have a new joy in life. To live is Christ and to die is gain!!!! 

Why can we not spend a day at a water park together in fellowship together? If we are the body of Jesus and we are all temples of the Holy Spirit can we not have a time of fellowship together anywhere? I would say yes. We are reconciled to God through Jesus. As he hung on the cross, the veil was torn from top to bottom giving us a way to the Father into the holy of holies. This is the reason we live and have our being to fellowship with the Father. If we look back to the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned against God, while they were hiding in the garden. God said "Where are you?" The God of all creation asking his creation where are you. It demonstrates is love and affection for us his image bearers. What a joy that God wants to spend time with us. 

May you have the joy in your heart multiplied greatly during this season of celebration of Jesus death, burial and RESURRECTION!!! 

On the 18 of March, we had a wedding ceremony at a event hall here in town. Jessie volunteered to help plan the wedding. She is very good at it. We spend the days leading up to the wedding get all the details worked out. We spent all of Saturday at the event hall decorating. It was a beautiful wedding. I was my honor to officiate the wedding. It was only my second time. It was a huge blessing to share in this beautiful occasion. Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride. Such a beautiful illustration of our relationship with Jesus. 
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One thing I would like to comment about is that for many who attended the wedding, it was the first time they had been to a Christian wedding. It is not a common thing to be invited to a "Christian" wedding. Right in the beginning the couple expressed that they had never been to a Christian wedding so they had no idea where to start. So we gave them some ideas and what they could do and they went with it. 

One of the interesting things is that having a Christian wedding here in rural Mexico there is no alcohol. It is a huge problem for the extended family members who see a wedding as a time to party and get drunk. The couple told their family members that there was no alcohol being served, so what did they do? They brought it themselves. Can you believe that? After the meal, there was a dance. If you wanted to dance with the bride or groom, you would attached some form of money to their clothing with a clothes pin. A great way to help the bride and groom financially. But after speaking with them they said that there were several extended family members who were actually drunk. How uncomfortable. 

Also another interesting thing is that the event hall, had a worker there. Not uncommon. Just to be there in-case something happened. After it was all over, I was gathering up all the stuff we had to take home, I was talking with Juan Pablo. I told him it was going to be about 11:30 when we would have to come back to get another load of stuff. He said, no problem. This is early still. He actually put all the tables and chair away by the time we got back. He said he normally doesn't get to do that after the events, it usually is too late and he has to come back the next day.  It was then I realized that we were maybe the first Christians to have done a wedding and reception there. Even now realizing just how much we can have a good testimony by how we conduct ourselves and by how we can celebrate without any alcohol. We can still celebrate. We can still have a good time. We are always giving people a taste of Jesus through our lives in how we act or what we say. 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

NEW POST IN PICTURES ADDED!! (It has been awhile) 

Every year we are faced with the question of "Do we as Christians fast during lent?" This is a normal question because of how so many family members of our church members practice the catholic tradition of only eating meat on Fridays. Each year we are faced with the whole city following suit with what they have been doing for years. One of the first place I go to in scripture of how Jesus talked about it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 brings to light what many have never even considered here. It says: Matthew 6:16-18
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (ESV)

The point is clear. The key word is secret! What does secret mean? Secret means private, no one knows about it and it is between you and God. Don't get me wrong here, there maybe are times when the whole church deciedes to fast for a time together during certain season. But most often it is a practice I believe is often forgotten that is secret. To be honest, I haven't fasted in some time. But studying this topic again has reminded me. I think this is the case most often that I simply forget the practice of fasting. 

Another thing that as I have been studying this topic is that fasting is always connected to prayer. If you take the prayer away from the fasting you are only making a physical attivity which the whole world practices. You can even find on the internet the healthy reasons for fasting. If you look at what is just before those verses in Matthew, Jesus also talks about prayer in a similar fashion. 
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (ESV)
Not only does Jesus teach us about fasting being secret but prayer as well. This is one of the major points I make to people about fasting when I am talking to people here. Why do they fast? Do they pray during the time they would normally be eating? Is it just a tradition? What kind of prayer life does the person fasting have? Is it an act of faith? Like I said before you can't separate fasting from prayer. Fasting should be a time of fellowship with Jesus. 

I wanted to study more on this topic, so I started reading John Piper's book Hunger for God, Desiring God through prayer and fasting. Here is a quote from his book. (Free PDF file at this site: www.desiringgod.org/books/a-hunger-for-god )
"If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: "This much, O God, I want you." pg 25-26

I found this to be extremely helpful to fully grasp what fasting is all about. How much do I want to enjoy God and not his gifts? 

I hope this has been an encouragement to you as it has been for me. If it has feel free to let me know. 

Prayer for Adrian

In ministry, you see how God draws people to himself. There is this kid name Adrian, who started coming to church a few months ago. He started coming because his cousin invited him. He is 13 years old. I am not sure how his family life is or how his relationship with his parents is? What I can tell  you is that this kid keeps coming. Sometimes these young kids start coming to bible studies or church service but after the newness wears off they get tired of coming or look board. This is not the case with Adrian. No one is telling him he needs to come to church or any bible study but is is there every time the doors are open. He gets nervous whenever I talk to him. He will fidget with something. I am trying to talk to him a little bit every time I see him. I do not know why he keeps coming. His mom used to go to a Christian church in town, but doesn’t anymore due to taking care of her other son who is 3 years old. A hard age to manage.  The reason I bring him us is that I would ask for prayer for his young kid. On Wednesday we have a youth bible study, studying the 2 book of Timothy. Very practical since the main theme of the book is do not be ashamed of your faith. I am trying to connect with him personally. I want to talk to him about what he really believes and what he wants to do about it.

Below as you can see as must young people these days, has his cell phone. ​

We have endured another year of carnival. If you have followed us through the years, we mention it every year because is causes us change everything, from where we meet as a church to getting groceries downtown to trying to find a parking spot. Everything is a battle. This year because we have moved to an outer part of Autlan, if we didn't know it was going on we would have missed the whole thing. The only thing that affected this year was church. We met with another church for two Sundays. A good time to work on projects which right now there are many. 

The church is located right on one of the main streets where Carnival is because we are less than a block away from the front entrance to the bull ring in town. The streets around the bull ring are shut down and filled with Tequila booths. Each company that produces Tequila has their own booth that they sell at. If I could describe what carnival is like, imagine your are walking down the street and hear a small band playing. This is fine, but times it by 30 different bands all playing different songs at the same time, what would it sound like? All the bands fighting to be heard by the patrons that have paid them to play. The patrons are not there to "talk" because it is too loud, but they are there to get drunk and take advantage of every kind of evil you can imagine. The amount of pregnancies (which is many) that happen from these 10 days is only one of the many affects of carnival. I have been told that if you want a drug, you can get anything you want. Prostitution is a huge problem as well.

Every year we get the chance to talk about our freedom in Jesus. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up." (ESV)

It is in moments like this we are able share the truth of the bible with young believers. For example, one person asked about going to the bull ring to watch a show. I said "Well, here is the thing, I understand that most people when they go to any kind of event involved in carnival it is usually done with some alcohol involved and getting drunk. The question is will you be sinning if you attend an event in the bull ring? Maybe. I myself have never been drunk so for me I have no problem being at a rodeo show and not drinking alcohol. (Bull fights are a different story) What will your testimony be if you attend an event where most of the people there are drunk? Will you be a light in the darkness or will you just be like everyone else there? What does it mean to protect your brother and causing him to sin because of something you do? The bible clearly teaches us that we are to not cause our brothers to sin. So do we sin  if we go maybe or maybe not, but what if you some knew that you were a christian, what would they think of Christians but what your are doing here? There are so not very many Christians here in this city so our testimony is so important." You get the idea. It was a reminder to me of being the only white American in our town that people will talk about who and what I am doing here in a rural Mexican town. I need to take advantage of that, because most are curious as to why I want to live in Mexico when I can live in the US. What kind of testimony am I giving to those around me by what I do or say or don't do or don't say?