Retro: Hannah is Baptized
10 years ago today, Hannah was baptized, along with 25 other people from the two Path of Life churches in Ixtapaluca! There’s a video of the whole event here, but here’s Hannah giving her testimony:
Jim
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Thanks for Your Prayers (even while we’re in Canada)!
Yes, your prayers are appreciated – even while we’re in Canada!
Things have continued to be very busy, but we did manage to take a day off last week as a family, which was very fun, and may possibly have included a board game. 🙂
Some of you may have heard about the tornado that hit, about 45 minutes from where we’re staying. It damaged about a dozen homes, completely destroying some of them. From here, we were watching the clouds carefully (see photo). Please pray for those who lost so much.
We’ve enjoyed some times of ministry already, and are busy preparing for upcoming opportunities. We had a great time this past Sunday, seeing old friends and making some new ones. And if you’re near Cremona or Mirror, check our schedule and be sure to come out and see us!
We’re looking forward to enjoying some time with family this month – including some family members that we haven’t seen for many years (and a younger member of the family who some of us haven’t even met yet!).
We also appreciate your continued prayers for the church in Mexico, and the short-termers who are visiting. We’ve been hearing good reports of new contacts and opportunities, and we’re praying for much fruit! Right now there’s a family visiting from the USA, learning about ministry in Ixtapaluca. And on Saturday another team comes. That’s in addition to other visitors and interns, and all the Mexican believers who are serving with them. Today there are two baking classes happening through the community centre – a great way to reach out to more people in the community in a fun way!
Thanks for your prayers! There are a lot of exciting things happening, in both countries!
3+ Weeks in Canada
It may not surprise most of you – but I’ll just say it – it’s been busy!
Someone asked me on Sunday if we were getting some time off, and I said, “Not yet”…. and in fact, the person who asked is a doctor, so I kind of hung my head in shame and decided that we’d better create some downtime, or we wouldn’t get any!
That confession out of the way, the good news is that it’s been busy but not all work – lots of variety, in fact. There’s always a lot of business packed in when we’re in Canada. Of course, there was Nathanael’s graduation and everything that went along with that. We’ve also had some good chances to visit with people, some time with family, and started our season of ministry here with a prayer meeting this past Thursday.
Before our official ministry time even began, we were driving down a well-maintained major highway. A semi-truck was heading toward us, and somehow flung up a rock – a large rock – about the size of a baseball – at our windshield. Having driven all over North America, I admit I’ve never seen anything like it. It pulverized the windshield (so we’ll be buying a new one), but thankfully didn’t go through, because it was heading right for me.
So – we’re thankful again for safety in travel! This trip could have been very different already. Thanks for your prayers!
If you’ve been checking our schedule, you know that we’ll be at West Zion Mennonite Church (between Carstairs and Disbury) this coming Sunday (2nd of July) and then Cremona Country Fellowship on the 9th. Come out to see us!
We’re still looking for churches who would be willing to have the Where did the Bible Come From? seminar. Feel free to contact us for details!
We would appreciate your prayers that we would get everything done that we need to get done – and that we would have rest as well.
And yes, we have carved out some time off, in case any doctors ask again in the near future…
Biblical Anthropology: Everything Together (conclusion)
Yes, really! After almost 18 months, we’re finally finishing with the Biblical Anthropology study.
Truth, dependence, purpose. Three things that find their source in God. Without God and His Bible, in an imaginary world, there is no absolute truth, and honesty is not so important. We don’t depend on God, and so there is no salvation. And ultimately, no purpose. But again – that’s not the real world.
What was it that Paul said? “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Let’s go back for a moment to personal responsibility – your own spiritual life. Do you really know Jesus Christ? No “know about” – really know. Do you talk to God? Read His Word? Love Him with all you are? We all fall short, but have you found perfect forgiveness and peace in God, putting your full faith and confidence in Jesus?
I’ve been promising for a long time to share the origin of the phrase “Christ or chaos”. It came from Peter Marshal, who was a pastor in the United States, and who became Chaplain of the United States Senate in the 1940s. He was preaching about the prophet Elijah, who called Israel to decide between Baal and Yahweh. Here’s what he said in part of his message:
Surely the time has come, because the hour is late, when we must decide. And the choice before us is plain — Yahweh or Baal. Christ or chaos. Conviction or compromise. Discipline or disintegration.
Peter Marshall
I have not stated the matter too strongly. You may agree mildly, or you may disagree violently. But the time has come for us to face the duties and obligations of our citizenship, and willingly to assume the disciplines imposed by the things we believe in, before we are forced to accept the disciplines of tyranny.
Christ or chaos.
Why did the Romans hate the Christians? Why did they feed the Christians to the beasts? Not because they had yet another religion. There were many. Not because they had “received Christ into their hearts”. Why did the Romans hate the Christians? Because they said that Jesus Christ is Lord. Not the Lord of the church. Not the Lord of my spiritual life. Lord of all.
Lord of my body, every day of the week. Lord of my school. Lord of my country. Lord of the leader of my country. Lord of philosophy, Lord of science. Lord of creation. Lord of all.
That was something that Rome could not tolerate. Neither can our world today.
This is no game. We will suffer for this truth. But it remains true. And we serve the Eternal King who has all authority in heaven and on earth. I would prefer to follow Him, wouldn’t you? We may suffer, but this “affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17)! We know who will be King forever.
Let’s finish with a text that we’ve looked at many times before – my prayer for you:
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-20, 2:6-10
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
…
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Amen!
Selected Resources…
I shared a few resources, either in the various articles, or at the end of each section. As I think I mentioned before, the list is probably more limited than it would be otherwise, because I was focusing on resources in Spanish, and not all of them are available in English.
Here are a few to check out:
- Nuclear Strength Apologetics (DVDs)
- Nuclear Strength Apologetics (online streaming)
- Bible Stories Alive – Adam and Eve (and all the rest! For kids, but great for all of us.)
- Disciplines of a Godly Family (book)
- AntropologÃa BÃblica (this series in Spanish)
- Biblical Anthropology (full index)
Biblical Anthropology: Everything Together (5)
Continuing our review of Biblical Anthropology, the next topic we looked at was Creativity and Communication. We talked about evaluating art, enjoying art, and using our creativity in an extravagant way to glorify God.
We also talked about how the world wants to control art, technology and communication. It’s much easier to control a digital world than the real world. It’s easier to control people when their business and their relationships are online. In this scenario, it’s easier to make the lie look real.
There have been many more interesting developments since that study, so perhaps it’s easier to see now than it was then. There has been a continued focus on getting businesses online, with ways to monitor not only their clients but also their employees. These technologies may have some good uses, but there is a lot of interest in using them to gain more control over others.
But in the end, we thank God for the gift of art and technology and words, communication. We want to use these things for the good of our community and for the glory of God.
Next we talked about the environment – another challenging topic! We drew these four principles from the Bible:
- We care for creation for the glory of God.
- We care for creation to benefit people (quality and length of life).
- We care for creation through local responsibility.
- We care for creation through our general obedience to God.
We can say that we care for creation from the point of view of God’s truth and justice. Because frankly, more and more often, powerful voices are not using truth, and are using non-biblical views of justice. And we have to admit that, in the end, there are a whole lot of people making a lot of money through their narrative of environmentalism. Which is often a narrative of fear.
I’ve been thinking about the idea of fear lately – controlling people through a crisis, or a “crisis”. Earlier I talked about the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In one scene, there is a financial crisis, and the financial institutions are in trouble. A rich man in town named Mr. Potter, “Old Man Potter”, offers to help everyone, giving them part of the money that the banks cannot currently provide. By doing this, he basically takes control of these institutions.
The main character, George Bailey, manages a small loan company, and is trying to convince a group of scared and anxious customers that they shouldn’t simply go to Potter for help. I love what he says:
Can’t you understand what’s happening here? Don’t you see what’s happening? Potter isn’t selling. Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicky and he’s not. That’s why. He’s picking up some bargains. Now we can get through this thing all right. We’ve got to stick together!
It’s a Wonderful Life
Pretty good advice!
Stay tuned for the conclusion next time…
Retro: Sports Camp in Jesús MarÃa
Ten years ago today we were having a daily sports camp in the community of Jesús MarÃa, run by our friends Mike and Teo. In the photo below (click the image for a larger version), you can see the soccer players in the foreground, and if you look closely in the back to the right you can see the basketball court.
Of course, in the middle is the iconic water tower / sundial that became the logo for our community centres. At the bottom of it you can see a mural that presented the gospel.
The sports camp was a great opportunity to share the gospel not only with kids in the community, but also with their parents who came to watch.
If you’d like to read more, check out this post from back in 2013, Why a Sports Camp?
