A sharp mouth, y me gusta trabajar

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.


Exhort-comfort, put at ease, encourage.


The sharpest part of a human body is the tongue. Not in a literal sense, of course, but a figurative one. I’ve seen it, from both directions, where someone means to make a joke, or says something in jest, and the receiver interprets it incorrectly.


And though it was meant as a joke, there is now a slight wall of bitterness between the two. But the Bible says we ought to speak differently. It doesn’t say not to joke and have fun, but it does say to exhort on another on a daily basis.


Joking is fine, and there’s nothing wrong with having a good time. The problem is, and I’m often guilty of this, making a joke, and having it misinterpreted. And Satan will take the slightest joke, and twist it until it creates a wall of bitterness among the brethren.


Let’s not give him any more room than he already has.

Heb 6:3 Y esto haremos á la verdad, si Dios lo permitiere.

Este versículo me inspira trabajar y trabajar a la verdad. Pablo dice que hará su trabajo y solamente Dios va a bastarle. Y esto haremos a la verdad (no hay excusas) si Dios lo permitiere (porque no quiere hace lo que Dios no quiere) Pablo no tenía lugar para excusas.

Dios, da me un espíritu y un corazón que quieren y aman trabajar.



--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Faliure and attempt.

I've been thinking about something lately. And here's what I think

Possible failure should never be an excuse for not taking action.

Just because you might fail doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

it's all Greek to me.

In the last week or so, I've really, really been studying out God's love and acceptance. And I came across two verses that seemed really contradictory.

(2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.)
This seems like Paul say that we work so that the Lord will accept us.

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved
(This makes it seem like we're already accepted.)

So, I sent pastor Gardner an email about it. After reading one response he sent, I checked out the Greek used in the verses. (Which is a very basic study method, but it seems to have slipped mind)

What I found was very surprising.

In 2 Cor 5:9 the word accepted comes from the Greek word εὐάρεστος while the word accepted in Eph 1:6 comes from the Greek word χαριτόω.

Though I don't know much about the Greek language, or the characters used in int, I do know that χαριτόω and εὐάρεστος aren't the same thing.

And here's what really, really surprised me. the Greek word χαριτόω is only used twice in scripture. Once in Eph 1:6, and another time in Luke 1:28, when we read that Mary was "highly favoured."

Maybe I'm getting overly excited about this, but it seems really awesome to me.

Mary, mother of God. Kyle Shreve-Young, accepted. And we stand on equal ground in the Lord's eyes.

Gotta love those Greeks.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Fully clean y una vergüenza

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Much like Eph 2:8-9, we again see that there is nothing we’ve done to earn salvation. Seeing as we’ve done nothing to earn it, or obtain it of our own power, why would we be able to lose it, or lessen its grip on us?

We obviously can’t. And it isn’t that the Lord just barely saved us, that He did just enough to cleanse our sins. Oh no. Rather, He shed His grace abundantly through Jesus Christ. And we’re not just saved, and then left to wander the world with no hope of anything else happening in our favour.

We are made heirs, with a hope of eternal glory, eternal life and eternal euphoria beyond the limits of our finite minds.

Heb 2:11 Porque el que santifica y los que son santificados, de uno son todos: por lo cual no se avergüenza de llamarlos hermanos,

Unas de las cosas que Satanás usaba para engañarme del amor de Dios fue decir me, “Dios está avergonzado contigo. Eres una vergüenza.” Pero la verdad es que no.

Aunque hago culpas, y hablo sin pensar a veces, y toda otra manera de cosas incorrectas, pero Dios nunca está avergonzado por mí. Qué bien es, saber que Dios me ama así mismo yque no soy una vergüenza.



--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

It's not a place. It's a people.

It's really funny how God works, or at least I think it's ironic at times.

Today, I was sitting in a class about missions to Africa. Yes, this is the Africa we always see on TV with starving people, lions eating antelopes, elephants, and all that. We were learning about the country of Botswana. And truth be told, I was paying attention. I wasn't thinking about anything else, or goofing off. I was paying whole hearted attention.

And the professor said something, and for about 5 minutes, it drew my focus away from the entire class. I couldn't tell you what he said, or anything. My focus was totally taken away from Africa.

We were talking about being a missionary to a third world country. And how it'd be hard to live in an area filled with all kinds of sicknesses, disease, dearth, and all that fun stuff. Prof. Hall said something about how: “You all might end up in third world countries; well, except for you in Spain; they're right up there with the USA.” (In reference to me)

And I don't know how to really describe what happened at that moment, but something just...I guess the word would be clicked. Or a light came on. Something. My eyes were opened? I can’t say for sure. But God did something in my life.

And I think about Spain a whole, whole lot. I have a Spanish flag hanging above my bed, a map of Spain in the living room, a Spanish license plate in my car, and a bumper sticker of the Spanish flag on my car, and all kinds of football (that's soccer) jerseys from Spain in my closet. I dare say that no matter where I go, red and yellow is following me close behind.

And I guess that the best way to say it would be this: I started thinking about Spain not as a country, a mass of land, the place where, Lord willing, I'll spend a good portion of my adult life, or anything like that.

For the first time, I started thinking about it as 45 million people living together under one flag. (Though the Catalan and Basque folks might say otherwise...)

I thought about it as 45 million people, going through life, laying down to bed at night, turning their lamps off, and going to slumber for the next morning. And as 45 million people. 45 million pairs of eyes looking around. 45 million hearts beating. 45 million voices screaming. 45 million minds thinking. 45 million Spaniards, and few to none of them have Jesus Christ as a Saviour.

And all of a sudden, it seems a lot more urgent that someone, anyone, take them the gospel. For a brief moment, I couldn't think about anything else. The Gypsies, the Catalans, the Basque inhabitants, the Spaniards, the poor and the rich. They're all living in darkness.

Though they physically live in a first world country, and have many luxurious things, they're all spiritually homeless.

I don't know how else to communicate it. There are 45 some odd million people, all living with nice things, with fancy cars, classy soccer jerseys, cool cell phones, and all these great things. But almost no one has Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Almost none of them will enter into heaven.

I don't know the exact number of saved, born again Spaniards, but I know there aren't many. I know that Spain's had a rough "religious" history, with the inquisition, and then Franco’s reign, and now a sweeping wave of atheism is drowning the Spaniards.

I wonder if Pastor Gardner ever felt like this about Peru, or Dean Hamby like this about the Ivory Coast. Did Jonathan Goforth feel like this about the Chinese? Can you really describe a burden with words? Or is it something that can only be described through action?

I mean, I'm 19 years old. I've never been to Spain, or any part of Europe. And here I sit, with thoughts of the Spanish people, my mind drifting across the Atlantic Ocean.

I find it very ironic that the Lord picked a time set aside to learn about a third world country to open my eyes, more than ever before, about a first world country.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Into the fire.

In the last three days, the Lord has provided both money, gas and food I would not have had by myself. Two of the three were given to me because I volunteered to do something for the church/the Lord's service.

The other one just happened because I was at the church, doing the Lord's work. (I count my schoolwork as working for the Lord. It's my most important ministry right now. I mean, that is why I moved here.)

In the last week or so, I've really learned a lot of things. And when I say learned, I don't mean that I've read them in a book or had them taught to me. I mean that I lived them, and now have first hand experience in them.

Anyone can say, "Just jump into that furnace that's 7 times hotter than normal." But until you're standing in front of it, realizing that you might get burned, you really don't understand how serious it really is.

And I'm learning, bit by bit, to follow the Lord through the furnace. And I really think a few days ago that I finally got all the way inside. And I'm fine so far. I mean, I might get cooked at any point, or I may come through fine.

Either way, I'm coming out. I might be a little bit more well done than I'd like, but hey. Things happen. I'm accepted in the beloved, even if I'm a little bit crispy from the flames.

And knowing that has really improved my outlook on this last week.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--

Can't touch this, y un ejemplo

1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

As a saved Christian, there is no wrong I can do. When The Lord looks at me, all He sees in the blood of His son, and not my sins. I am made complete in Christ’s righteousness, and am dead to sin.

Additionally, the devil has no power of me. The wicked one toucheth me not! Satan has no dominion over my decisions, thoughts, actions, speech or anything else.

Tit 2:8 Palabra sana, é irreprensible; que el adversario se avergüence, no teniendo mal ninguno que decir de vosotros.
Tit 2:9 Exhorta á los siervos á que sean sujetos á sus señores, que agraden en todo, no respondones;
Tit 2:10 No defraudando, antes mostrando toda buena lealtad, para que adornen en todo la doctrina de nuestro Salvador Dios.

Este es un ejemplo de un gran hombre. Y es mi deseo vivir así. A veces, tendré problemas, pero problemas no duran por siempre. Hay que guardar mi énfasis en Dios, y trabajar para El. Y el hecho es que El me amará si tengo un fracaso aquí o allí.

--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--