Delivered, y predicar!

Act 12:11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

Act 12:12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

Something I’ve been dealing with the last couple of days is letting the Lord do things for me, and not relying on my own strength. Here, we see Peter let the Lord deliver him, though in the form of an angel. Peter probably could have fought his way through some of the soldiers, but at the same time, he would have eventually been killed.

But by letting the angel deliver him, Peter was totally freed, and didn’t have to do anything but walk. But that’s not all. The Bible says he considered what had happened. He thought about how God had freed him from death.

It’s important to think about what God has done for you. Not only will it help grow your faith, but it will also encourage you, and brighten your mood as you see His love bestowed upon you through His man blessings.

Act 14:7 Y allí predicaban el evangelio.

Cuando estamos huyendo, o estamos en cargados, tenemos que predicar el evangelio. Cuando la vida nos cae bien, y cuando nos cae mal, tenemos que predicar el evangelio. Es muy básico, pero es necesario.

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.

He is my power

The last couple of days, I have really been reminded of how much I really need the Lord. And to be honest, I haven't really, really liked it. It has been very, very humiliating for me.

But it's one of those things that I'm so much better off having been reminded of.

And I've really had a rough time admitting it, but the truth is that without God, I can do nothing. But that isn't the end; because I can do all things through Christ.

And I was reading about that in The Normal Christian Life, about how I can reckon my self dead to sin, but only because of Christ. It's pretty good stuff, and I feel much better and so refreshed having learned it.

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.

His true power y común

Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

When we see the Lord’s true power, or even a sliver of it, it’s impossible not to hearken unto it. In only 6 verses, Saul has went from breathing out threatenings to calling Christ his Lord, and seeking what His will for his life was.

Lord, help me to realize your true power, and give me a heart that wants to serve you more and more.

Act 10:15 Y volvió la voz hacia él la segunda vez: Lo que Dios limpió, no lo llames tú común.

Dios ha creado cada uno de nosotros. Y como un Cristiano, soy diferente de una persona normal, y no soy común. Dios me creyó especialmente. No me creyó en una factoría, y no hay nadie en el mundo que está exactamente como yo.

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.

Normal Christian Life

Pastor Gardner, in an offhand way, suggested that we should read the book "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee. I'm really glad he did. And I would recommend the book to any other Christian who wants to learn and grow in Christ.

I'll be brief with this post, even though I have lots I'd like to say. In my own words, here are some of Nee's most powerful writings.

-The blood of Christ has satisfied the Lord; it must also satisfy us.

-The Lord saved us, even though He saw us in the light with all our sins. How, then, does the devil have any room to accuse us?

-You were crucified with Christ. And this is a historical event! Paul writes that we are "Crucified with Christ!" If Christ was crucified around 2000 years ago, then, because we are crucified with Him, so are we! 2000 years ago, we died on a cross with Christ! We, then, have died to sin, and are raised with Christ!

I'm only about 60 pages into the book, but it's already taught me so much. You would do well to read it.

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.

My Christmas list.

There was a coup, and I've taken Micah's laptop in order to post today.

No one named Micah was harmed in said Coup.

Anyway

Here's a list of gifts the Lord has given me since the last Christmas.

Or at least a few of them, since I won't be able to name them all.

-That I'm in a MUCH better place than last Christmas. I'm not talking about geographical location. I mean internally and in my relationship with the Lord.

-About two or three weeks ago, I was 750 in debt to OGTC and Mark Coffey. I just paid my rent. For January. Talk about provision.

-Vision Baptist church, and all the wonderful people there. Pastor Gardner, Ronald Tubillas, Chris Fies, Tony Howeth, Mark Coffey, Trent Cornwell, Micah Rastelli, Scott Newton, and so many other people have really helped me grow and mature in Christ.

-Cornerstone Baptist Church, and all the wonderful people there. Pastor Trimble, the Darbys, Starkys, Brad's family (who no one can spell their last name) The Trimbles, and the Shreves (Of course) and all the other people there. I know that they pray for me on a daily basis. And, in an offhand sort of way, I kinda feel like the relationship I have with CBC is like Paul and the Philippian church's relationship.

-The Lord's forgiveness, acceptance, love and salvation. I've recently had my eyes opened to these, and how powerful they really are. Totally life changing.

-Thumbs. Never forget how important those are.

-And a whole bunch of other things I can't think of right now.

Merry Christmas.

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.

power outage

I don't have a computer right now. A rat chewed through my laptop charging cord, and my battery died. 

I use internet as I can mooch it. I'm mooching off the Fies right now.

They're great people, and I'm glad the Lord put them in my life.

Anyway...we're watching movies, so I'm not going to right anymore....even though I'm typing.

Merry Christmas.

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.

Edgar

It's no secret that I didn't have the best relationship with my father growing up. Not that I always respected my mother, but I really laid the hammer on my dad. A lot. And I would talk back, and ignore him and just flat out didn't honour him in the way the God would have me to do.

But God worked in my life a few months ago, and I called him, and forgave him, and apologized for all those years of disrespect. And I'd like to think that I'm heading in the right direction towards having the kind of relationship with my dad that the Lord wants us to have.

Anyway.

I was driving a young man (who I'm working with/discipling) home tonight, and he asked me, "Have you ever prayed for help with something and the Lord wouldn't answer?"

And I poked and prodded, and it turned out he was having some problems with respecting his parents. Hmm. Interesting. A 19 year old kid, who recently had the Lord change his heart towards his parents is now working with a 16 year old young man who has problems with respecting his parents.

And I'm not sure if I really gave the correct answers or not, I hope I did. And I think I did, but all I said was that he already had the power to respect them. The problem wasn't respecthing his parents, but it was to chose to respect them.

Christians are dead to sin. We've overcome it through Christ Jesus. Our issue is not with overcoming sin, but it lies in choosing God over sin. I told him about Issac, saying nothing as Abraham laud him on the altar, and that Christ, son of God, didn't complain as His father let him be crucified on a cross.

I'm praying for him. I see so much potential and desire to serve the Lord in him. I'm grateful for the chance to work with him. I'd ask you to pray for a young man named Edgar, and that the Lord would grow him to be a great man of God.

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.

the play.

The Lord really, really worked a mighty work tonight. At least through my eyes He did. This week was kind of a heavy week for me. And what I mean by that is that some weeks are very light. And all I focus on is God's goodness, and everything seems to be going perfect.

But this week was heavy. And I think it showed a little bit. I mean, I was very out of sorts at Lang's last night, and I already blogged about Thursday's awkwardness. It wasn't that I ever doubted God's love and acceptance of me, as I am. I think it was simply that I don't like the fact that I sin.

And I know that it's my choice to sin, since I'm dead to sin and it has no dominion over me. But I chose to make a bad choice or two this week. And it's kinda heavy sometimes.

Anyway.

About two hours before the play, I was so out or sorts that I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I was sitting at the desk I used for the play, and couldn't take it any more. Everyone else was working, and I was just sitting there, doing nothing. So I left. I left thinking I was going to fail in the play and would ruin it all.

And it was all because of two bad choices I made this week. I lost my confidence because of them. And all I mean by that is that I began to think that if I couldn't make a basic choice in my own life, why would I be able to act in a play?

I went and slept in the Spanish auditorium. In the time I spent asleep, the Lord worked in my heart. When I woke up, Scott Newton was coming to get me, because it was time for the final rehearsal.

As we walked to the stage, all I could think about was Philippians 1:6-That God's going to do all the work in my life. And that's when I realized that I had been making the choices and doing the work, and not letting the Lord make the choices and do my work through me.

And at that point I decided to turn it over to the Lord, and let Him work through me.

I think the play went pretty well. The music was out of this world. I mean, it really was amazing.

Something that really touched my heart was the line:

This is our God: Love, sacrificing. And I realized more that God really did sacrifice for us. And I knew that before, but I never understood it as well as I now do.

Two hours before the play, I thought it was going to be awful, that we'd get a few pity amens and that'd be it.

I think it was quite the opposite.

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.

Just do it y Los ancianos

Jos 17:15 And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

I stole this from Trent but truth is truth, and there’s nothing new under the sun. ;)

The children of Joseph asked why they only got one inheritance, and Joshua told them to prove that they should have two. I remember Trent talking about this when we went to PCC. You’ve trained and trained, studied and studied, now get up, grab your axe, and go prove that you’re what you say you are. Show us that training and studying.

Jos 20:4 Y el que se acogiere á alguna de aquellas ciudades, presentaráse á la puerta de la ciudad, y dirá sus causas, oyéndolo los ancianos de aquella ciudad: y ellos le recibirán consigo dentro de la ciudad, y le darán lugar que habite con ellos.

Escuchar es aprender. Y aquí, Josué manda que se escuchen a los ancianos. Como un joven, hay ancianos que tienen más sabiduría y experiencia que yo. Y me ayudayía y me mejoraría si los escuchara.


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.

I was listening to Chris Gardner's message about boldness this morning (It was the one he preached the last time he was at Vision. Acts 4). And it would just happen that I'm reading in the Book of Joshua, a man who was about as bold as you can be. Or ast least he was in my opinion.

And I was thinking about something, and I might be totally wrong on this, but it makes sense to me. When I pray that God would end the trial I'm going through, my goal is just to survive the storm, and clear the hurdle, and serving Him become secondary. But if I ask for boldness to do what He's called me to do, the trial becomes secondary, and serving Him becomes primary.

And I know it's easy to say that now, when my bills are paid, and I'm getting lots of hours at work. But when I don't have money to pay my bills, and I only work 20 hours a week at work, I'd do well to ask for boldness and courage to continue, than to ask for relief.

I'm re-reading a book Brother Pearson gave me, called Actidud de Vencedor, or, Attitude of the Victor. (Or at least I'd translate it that way) And one thing that really sticks out to me is when Maxwell, the author, talks about the right moment to make a decision. Basically, we need to make the right decision (putting the Lord first and asking for boldness) at the right time (before trials and problems put our teeth down our throat). And that's what's happening here. I'm sitting pretty right now. Bills paid. Food at home. Hours at work. I have no room to complain.

But at some point, adversity will show up, and I'd be better off asking for boldness and courage than to get out of the situation.

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.

Old fogey y pedir!

Jos 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

Jos 14:11 As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

I don't know if I'll live to be eighty five years old, but if I do, I doubt that I'll feel like I did when I was forty. In fact, between running in high school and college, and just constant wear and tear, I'll be pretty happy to just be able to walk at 85.

But Joshua, who walked through the wilderness almost his whole life at that point felt as young at 85 as he did at 45. And in itself, that's amazing. But what's more amazing is that God uses this 85 year old man to conquer lots or land, and defeat many enemies!

It's just another example of God's provision for His people, and doing miraculous things to glorify Himself.

Jos 15:18 Y aconteció que cuando la llevaba, él la persuadió que pidiese á su padre tierras para labrar. Ella entonces se apeó del asno. Y Caleb le dijo: ¿Qué tienes?

Jos 15:19 Y ella respondió: Dame bendición: pues que me has dado tierra de secadal, dame también fuentes de aguas. El entonces le dió las fuentes de arriba, y las de abajo.

Vemos aqui que, a veces, tenemos que pedir si queremos algo. En este ejemplo Axa pidió a Caleb por más tierra que ya tuvo. Y El se la di a ella.

Cuando necesitamos algo, debemos pedir al Señor que el nos la diría.

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.

Let it snow.

Right now, it's snowing in Maryland. And from what I hear, it's between 12 and 20 inches. I love the heat, and I love GA, but I'd be pretty happy to have some snow tight about now. Nothing much, just two feet or so.

Anyway. I'm pretty excited about going down to Cabbagetown tomorrow. I've never been before, and I really want to go. I normally work on Saturdays and can't go, but I worked Monday-Friday this week, so I have Saturday off.

I'm pretty excited about going.

And something else I've been seeing as a re occurring theme in my devotional readings is the importance of letting the Lord do things for us. In I Corinthians I read about how our strength should be in the Lord, Joshua 1-3 was about the Lord giving Joshua what he would need to be a leader, and today was also about the Lord winning the battle.

All I really need to so is to show up. Trent often jokes that people in the Bible would hold out a sword, close their eyes, and 500 people would be defeated. I don't think he's stretching the truth all that much.

I'm really seeing the Lord work in my life like never before. I mean, I lived off of 12 dollars worth of food in November, this month, He's not only filled the house with food, but also paid all my bills.

I looked in the freezer today, and it was full of food. So were the cabinets, and I even had a box of Ritz in my car. And I really have no idea how it all got there. I mean, I bought some of it, but at least 75% of it came from the Lord.

And even though I've made some bad choices from time to time, it doesn't change the fact that the Lord wants to show me how much He loves me. He forgave Israel after Achan goofed up. He'll keep forgiving me when I goof up.

I dunno what else to day really. Well, I'd like some snow.

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.

The Lord does it all y los reyes

Jos 10:8 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Jos 10:9 Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.

This is a perfect picture of how the Lord works. He told Joshua what he wanted him to do, and that He would do it for him. All Joshua had to do was go, and let the Lord work. We see in verse 10 that it was the Lord who discomfited them before Israel. Israel just had to go and let the Lord win the battle.

Jos 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

It seems odd for the Lord to harden someone’s heart, but that’s what happened here. And the reason He hardened their hearts was so that He could destroy them, and thus fulfill His command to Moses, and then be glorified.

Jos 12
Este capítulo es, más o menos, una lista de los reyes que hirió Josué. Es un testamento del poder de Dios, y todo que El puede hacer.

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.

Drop it! Family time y su fama

Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you

Sometimes, we hold on to things too long, or hold on things that we shouldn’t hold on to. And sometimes, we’ve got to let go of those things in order to move forward. In this case Israel had to get rid of the accursed thing that Achan stole.

There are times in a Christian life where the same things is required. It would be very difficult for someone to serve the lord with his/her whole life with a drug addiction, or something similar. And it might not be a major thing, but there are times that we need to let things go.

Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them

I think it’s important for fathers to read the Bible with their wives and children. That might seem weird coming from a 19 year old kid, especially one who's single, but I do think it’s important.

Jos 9:9 Y ellos respondieron: Tus siervos han venido de muy lejanas tierras, por la fama de Jehová tu Dios; porque hemos oído su fama, y todas las cosas que hizo en Egipto,

Es importante que demos cuenta de lo que Dios hace en nuestras vidas. Aquí, vemos que algunas personas habían venido para servir a Dios por la fama de Jehová. Y cuando testificamos de las maravillas de Dios, podemos alimentar a alguien a servir a Dios.

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.

mi ropa

On a random note, I don't like wearing a suite and dress pants all the time. In fact, I really like wearing just jeans and a t-shirt most of the time. Like, seriously. Give me some Levis and a white tee and I'm set.

And another thing, I haven't worn a hat since moving to GA. And I REALLY like wearing hats. A lot.

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.

Judge

I've pretty much been working 9-5 everyday this week, so I haven't been at the church a lot. In fact, I really don't think that I've been there more than twice. All my friends down here are all members of Vision, because I don't know anyone outside of Vision.

Well, I guess my coworkers count, but most of them are married adults in their upper 30's or 40's. Anyway, point is that 99% of my friends down here are members of Vision Baptist church (Or Tinity Hill iglesia Bautista, but I only see them on Friday and Sunday)

So if I'm not at the church, I don't see my friends, except for Micah and Alex. And even then, I don't think I saw them at all yesterday. And not seeing your friends, even if for a few days, can change how you interact when you finally do see each other.

Besides that, I've managed to make a bad choice or two this week, and gave satan a bit of an edge to try to throw some guilt on me. And I know I've had problems with beating myself up in the past about my mistakes, and that I kinda did the same thing here, but honestly, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. It didn't totally change my mood, or anything major. I felt like, "Man, I messed up. And it wasn't even worth it. Dummy." Which is a lot, lot nicer than I used to be to myself.

Anyway.

Between bad choices, and not talking to anyone all week, I felt really, really awkward at Vision tonight. I intentionally arrived just as services were starting so I wouldn't have to talk to too many people. And there were a few people who came up to me, and jokingly greeted me as though I was a visitor, as someone they had never seen before, and like it was my first time to Vision. And I know they meant it in jest, but the truth is that I really felt alienated at that moment. By the end of the service, and play practice, I felt fine.

The people of Vision are really, really good people, and I'm grateful to be a member of such an awesome church. Even when I'm a goof for a week or so, they still love me, and treat me like an equal.

I'm really grateful for a church family who accepts me as is, and doesn't judge me.

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.

Our glory, strength and work

I was reading in I Corinthians today, and through the first three chapters or so, I noticed that Paul had a re occuring theme throughout: Not to trust or glory in man, but to trust and glory in the Lord.

Chapter I vs 25-31 shows us that our best isn't close to God's worst, and that we should glory in Him and not ourselves. Paul then goes into chapter II, and says that he didn't preach by his own ability or anything like that, but rather by the power of God.

And everyone knows I Corinthians 3:6-7
"1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. "

No matter how much we work and strive to grow, unless God allows it to happen, or grows things for us, our work is in vain, and nothing will happen.

And that fact that our work isn't anything without God should be even more of a reason to trust Him. He made us like we are; He grew us to where we are. On our own, we could never grow at all. And because the Lord does all the work, our faith (I Cor. 2:5) our faith should be in God, not man, and we should glory in Him, not ourselves.

Leí en I Cor, capitulo 1-3 hoy, y vi una tema de que Pablo escribe mucho: que no debemos confiar o glorificar en hombre, sino confiar y glorificar en el Señor

Capítulo I Ver 25-31 nos muestra que nuestro mejor es peor que el más peor de Dios y que debemos glorificar a Dios y no nosotros. Entonces, Pablo empieza capítulo II, y dice que él no predicó por sus habilidades o algo así, sino por el poder de Dios.

Y todos saben I Cor 3:6-7
1Co 3:6 Yo planté, Apolos regó: mas Dios ha dado el crecimiento.
1Co 3:7 Así que, ni el que planta es algo, ni el que riega; sino Dios, que da el crecimiento.

Sin importancia a cuanto trabajamos y queremos crecer, excepto que Dios lo permite, o lo crece, nuestro trabajo es en vano, y nada pasará.

Y el hecho que nuestro trabajo no vale nada sin Dios debe ser una razón que le confiamos. El nos hizo así, y no creció hasta aquí. Y porque el Señor hace todo el trabajo, nuestra fe (2:5) debe estar puesta en Dios, no el hombre y debemos honorar a Él, y no nosotros.



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.

Success y Dios nos ayuda

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Often times, we strive to be successful by working hard, or careful planning and plotting. But really, all we are told to do for success is to meditate upon the book of the law.
Success comes from studying, and meditating upon God’s word. Often times, we look at a Bible, and we underestimate how valuable it really is. Our key to success, and living a Godly life is the Bible. Any question we have, and problem we have, the Bible holds the answer.

Jos 3:7 Entonces Jehová dijo á Josué: Desde aqueste día comenzaré á hacerte grande delante de los ojos de todo Israel, para que entiendan que como fuí con Moisés, así seré contigo

Dios nos dará todo que necesitamos. En este caso, Josué necesitaba mostrar que el estaba en cargado. Dios no iba a dejar a Josué sin ayuda, y por eso, comenzó a hacer grande delate de los ojos de Israel.

Hoy dia, Dios nos ayudará y nos dará lo que necesitamos en la vida.


--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.--

school.

So the semester's over. I dunno what to do. I'm not used to free time. Granted, I'm working almost 70 hours between this week and next week, but still, that's only working 9-5 5 days a week. That leaves me from 5:00pm to 10:00pm, all unscheduled time.

(And I have to be careful about slipping into relaxed mode. Just because the semester's over doesn't mean that I stop working for the Lord any less.)

That's 25 hours of time I didn't used to have. I dunno what to do. Today, I ran some errands, picked up a few things wee needed at homem and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try and finish the rest of the house as well. And I thinks it's funny to say house, and really mean Mark's basement, but his basement really is my home.

And something else I was thinking about today...sometimes, small actions have great outcomes.

For example, Mordecai didn't do anything that would be considered "epic" or "legendary" by any standard. In truth, he'll be best remembered as a guy who raised a girl up to be a woman who served the Lord. It happens all the time. And I don't think he realized how great an impact his actions would have on history.

I mean, if Esther doesn't ever gain favour with the king, the Jewish nation is wiped out. The seemingly small action of raising a young lady had the outcome of saving a nation.

My calves really hurt from climbing ladders all day.

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.

not forsaken y el dia de hambre

Jer 51:5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

Even though God may do things that we don’t understand, and seem like they’re not good for us, they are. And it might seem like God is a million miles away, but He’s not. We may go through 70 years of captivity from one of the wickedest nations ever, but He’s never going to forsake us.
And when we don’t know why we’re going through everything in our lives, we can rest assured that we have a God who’s going through us with it.

Jer 52:6 En el mes cuarto, á los nueve del mes, prevaleció el hambre en la ciudad, hasta no haber pan para el pueblo de la tierra.
Jer 52:7 Y fué entrada la ciudad, y todos los hombres de guerra huyeron, y saliéronse de la ciudad de noche por el camino de postigo de entre los dos muros, que había cerca del jardín del rey, y fuéronse por el camino del desierto, estando aún los Caldeos junto á la ciudad alrededor.

De vez en cuando, pasaremos por un hambre en nuestras vidas. Y tenemos que prepararnos ahora para que estemos listos cuando llega el hambre. Estos hombres de guerra no estaban listos para luchar contra del enemigo, y por eso se huyeron cuando llegó en hambre.

Debemos prepararnos hoy. No debemos esperar hasta mañana.

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.

A bloody sword y Babilonia

Jer 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

Similar to chapter 46:3, this verse tells us that sometimes, we’re going to have to get on the front lines, and start doing some damage to the enemy. This obviously isn’t talking about a literal sword tasting blood, of course, but has my spiritual sword tasted blood?

Brother Howeth asked us this question in class: “Are you a friend or enemy of hell? Does hell know your name?”

And what he meant by that was this: Do you cause damage to hell? Do you pull souls out of the fire, as in Jude 23? Or do you turn a blind eye to those who are already condemned, as in John 3:18. And as far as hell knowing my name, he was referring to Acts 19:15, “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”

Jer 50:9 Porque he aquí que yo suscito y hago subir contra Babilonia reunión de grandes pueblos de la tierra del aquilón; y desde allí se aparejarán contra ella, y será tomada: sus flechas como de valiente diestro, que no se tornará en vano.
Jer 50:10 Y la Caldea será para presa: todos los que la saquearen, saldrán hartos, dice Jehová.

Hace unos capítulos, leímos que Dios había puesto los hijos de Israel en las manos de Babilonia, aunque Babilonia fue muy malo. Y no tenía sentido que Dios haría algo así, pero ahora vemos que El es fiel a sus hijos.

El nunca dejaría o abandonaría los que El ama.


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.

No condenacion y get in the battle.

Jer 45:5 ¿Y tú buscas para ti grandezas? No busques; porque he aquí que yo traigo mal sobre toda carne, ha dicho Jehová, y á ti te daré tu vida por despojo en todos los lugares adonde fueres.

Cuando leo versículos así y Libros como Jeremías, doy gracias a Dios que ninguna condenación hay para los que están en Cristo Jesús. Y cuando buscamos algo que no es de Dios, o que Dios do quiere que tengamos, El no nos matará. El no nos castigará, porque no hay condenación a los que están en Cristo.

Jer 46:3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

God does not command us to sit on the sidelines. He doesn’t tell us to try to avoid the conflicts we’re going to face as Christians. He tells us to man up, and take care of business. Now, it’s all Him that fights and wins the battle; we just need to be willing to step into the battle. He’ll take care of the rest.

Something I’m actively working on in my life is being more and more of a verbal witness to those around me. And what I mean by that is that I try to talk about “religion” more and more with my coworkers. Besides the people at Vision Baptist, I really don’t see anyone other than my coworkers.

And I’m working, step by step, at drawing nearer to the battle. I’ve invited two friends to Friday Bible study at Scott’s. One guy is a Catholic, and the other guy is a skeptic. And, for whatever reason, it’s difficult to get talking about the Bible and spiritual things with my coworkers, but the Lord tells us to draw near to the battle. And that’s what I’m praying He would do in my life, draw me nearer to the battle each day.

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.

Something from class.

"Dad, why am I going through this?"

"I don't know, son. But I know you have a God who is going through this with you."

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.

He is faithful! and nuestra guia

Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

Even when we don’t follow God all the time, He’s still faithful. And I can attest to that in my own life. Reading this makes me reflect on how good God has really been to me. It was more than enough that He saved my soul, but in truth, salvation is really just the beginning of His blessings.
Not that any blessing will ever measure up to the gift Christ gave us on the cross, but He continues to bless, above and beyond what we deserve after saving us.

And something else I’ve noticed in the last few chapters is that God can take something that seems to be totally helpless and makes no sense to humans, and make it safe. Like not being destroyed in captivity, or staying under Babylon, or going with the Chaldeans. What makes sense to God might not always make sense to us.

Jer 44:4 Y envié á vosotros á todos mis siervos los profetas, madrugando y enviándolos, diciendo: No hagáis ahora esta cosa abominable que yo aborrezco.

Dios nos dirá lo que debemos hacer. Con Israel, El envió los profetas. Hoy en días, El nos ha dado la Biblia. Y por Su palabra, nos damos cuenta de lo que debemos hacer y lo que no debemos hacer.

Y debemos leer y estudiar la Biblia, porque es nuestra guía por la vida.


--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.--

Thursday's devotions

Jer 39:11 Y Nabucodonosor había ordenado á Nabuzaradán capitán de la guardia, acerca de Jeremías, diciendo: Jer 39:12 Tómale, y mira por él, y no le hagas mal ninguno; antes harás con él como él te dijere.

Aunque los Caldeos fueron violentes y mataron a casi todo, la vida de Jeramias fue especial, y por eso, no fue matado. Dios protege a sus hijos y los salvará de destrucción de la gente mala.

Jer 40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD…

This is how almost every chapter in this book has started off so far. And it’s amazing to me that Jeremiah has been delivered from the Chaldeans, and saved from starving, and taken out of prison and through all kind of other things.

I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that Jeremiah was speaking what the Lord told him to speak, and overcame many trials because of it. In fact, many of those trials may have been avoided had Jeremiah not even bothered to listen to God. But Jeremiah gave his heart to the Lord, and though preaching His word would make things difficult for him sometimes, Jeremiah was going to speak and reveal what the Lord had put in his heart.

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.

Who needs who?

I'll be the first to say that I feel very out of place talking about money with other people. So, for this blog, I'll not mention anything concrete.

As of this morning, I hadn't paid tuition for November or December, and I hadn't paid rent for December either. I was planning to pay for some of November's tuition when the "bean counter" (Which I laugh at that nickname everytime.) got back from his world travels. I had no idea how I was going to pay rent this month and still eat, put gas in my car or do anything.

I got paid today, and after taxes, I made just enough for tithe, faith promise, and then rent. But that would be about all I could afford. There would be no food in my fridge, no gas in my car, nothing.

But God did something amazing. Without me spending a single dollar of my pay check, God paid all my bills for last month and this month in a little less than four hours. My pay check (which is nothing more than a means of God's provision) will go directly to helping fund my summit/travel expenses and the rest will go to savings.

I mean, I am in total awe of how God provided for me. He sent me food and money through Cornerstone Baptist Church. I love Vision Baptist, and this is where the Lord wants me to be, and I have seen God grow me in some mighty ways since I've been here, but there's always something special about the church you grew up in. And Cornerstone Baptist, though they may be 750 miles away, are still very near and dear to me in my heart.

Let's, for the sake of this illustration, assume that God has nothing to do with my pay check. Let's pretend like I earn it on my own. (Even though it's all God's provision) God paid my bills, and didn't even need my check to do it. I had no idea where the provision would come from, but God is faithful, and provided it for me. All on His own power, will and desire. I did nothing.

The more I realize who God is, and how much power He has, I find that I need a job less, and I need Him more....of course, I'm not gonna go quit my job....but still. It's amazing that God can do such amazing things, without any power of my own.

--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.--

God is so good.

God is so good.

And He's in control of everything. I don't always see His power all the time, but man, when I do look at how in control He is, it really is good.

I really, really hate talking about numbers in public, but sufficient it is to say that the Lord is the one who provides my needs.

I might have a job, and I might work my tail off every day from 9-5, but it's really the Lord who gives me that money. He might use a paycheck to meet my needs, but it's always Him meeting them. God is so good.

I was praying today, and I said,

"Lord, I don't know what you want me to do; my bills aren't paid and my money is all gone. I have no idea what to do."

Then came the conviction of the Holy Spirit...
"Good. Stop paying your bills with your money, and let the Lord pay them with His."

And that's exactly what's been going on.

Something I've really learned from Friday Bible study with Scott Newton is how faithful God really is. And a few weeks ago, Scott challenged us to ask God to show us how faithful He really is.

And I took it to heart. And I asked, and continue to ask the Lord to show Himself faithful.

And He has been so faithful to meet my needs. I eat every day. I have a job. He just paid all my bills. I want for nothing in my life. And even the things that aren't tangible, the Lord has provided. Things that really aren't things, and can't be seen, the Lord's provided for me in those areas as well.

And the Lord has really blessed me today. He blesses me every day with His love and acceptance, but today He decided to give me some blessings in a financial sense.

But I think sometimes people get in a mindset where we think that God isn't blessing us if we can't see it. But I think God's biggest blessings are the ones we can't see.

I mean, I can't see salvation, and I think that's a pretty big blessing. But even when God wasn't financially blessing me to the degree as He did today, He was still blessing.

--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.--

Some much needed sleep

I am really stinking tired. It's 1:19am. I got up this morning, worked 9-5, ran home for a shower, made some quick dinner, and headed straight to church for play practice. Since that ended, I've been cleaning out the utility closet.

It's a mess in there. I promise.

And I remember Brother Tony talking about living life vs. Surviving life in class not too long ago. I thank the Lord for putting people like brother Howeth in my life, because that advice on living vs./surviving is really helping me right now.

I'm pretty much working full time hours again, praise the Lord, finishing up school, and doing whatever I can to help with the move.

And I'm not complaining, because I'm having a total blast. It's so amazing how God's changed my view on things, like work, school, friendships, and all this other stuff in the last month or so. And I dunno if it shows or not, but I'm having a blast with life.

I always had confidence and self esteem issues growing up. But for the last...month, or so it seems, things have been awesome. And not just because everything's going my way, because it isn't, but because I'm slowly getting a grasp on how much God loves me, no matter what.

Regardless of long days at work for just above minimum wage, and regardless of eating Mac 'n Cheese every day, and regardless of not having enough money, God loves me. And he doesn't see it when I fail, come short or sin. All He sees is Christ's righteousness.

In football (soccer) a striker or forward's biggest asset is his confidence. With all the technical skill in the world, a striker is nothing without confidence. But a sub-average player can be a goal machine if his confidence is riding high.

And God's given me some confidence, in that He's made me pure, holy, righteous, forgiven me, and all kinds of other amazing things with His love. Not in who I am or what I've done, but in who He is, and what He's done for me, and who He's made me.

I'm tired. Really, really tired. I kinda want to sleep in a little bit. Maybe on...wait...class or work every day.

Never mind. No time for that.

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.

Your glasses nmight be broken y el camino parece...

Jer 37:13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.
Jer 37:14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
Jer 37:15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
Jer 37:16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
Jer 37:17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

A man brought a false testimony against Jeremiah. And God let the man’s lies cause harm and punishment to Jeremiah. He was smote and then thrown into a prison. And if we look at this through our eyes, and a human view, this seems like a bad thing.


But if we look at it through God’s eyes, or through His eyes as best we can, it seems to look a little different. Jeremiah gets to speak directly to the king about what God has told him, and eventually does end up back in prison, but he ends up being fed for as long as there is food in the city.


Humans tend to see a man doing what the Lord told him to do, only to suffer. Change your point of view, and it’s a man who had food provided every day for him, and got to preach to some very important people.

And I was guilty of this for a long time. I always saw the gloom and doom side of everything. But when we realize how much God has already given us, and how much He loves us, any situation seems a good situation to be in.

Jer 38:2 Así ha dicho Jehová: El que se quedare en esta ciudad morirá á cuchillo, ó de hambre, ó de pestilencia; mas el que saliere á los Caldeos vivirá, pues su vida le será por despojo, y vivirá.

No tiene mucho sentido que la persona que salga con los Caldeos viviría, pero es la verdad. A nosotros, parecería que los Caldeos mataran a todos. Pero Dios sabe mejor que nosotros. Y aunque pensamos que situaciones en nuestras vidas traerán cosas malas, Dios puede usarlas para ayudar y mejorarnos.

Y seguir a Dios cuando el futuro no parece bien es de verdad fe.


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.

Estoy auqí and in the end.

Jer 33:1 Y FUÉ palabra de Jehová á Jeremías la segunda vez, estando él aún preso en el patio de la cárcel, diciendo:

Jeremías estaba encarcelado y Dios todavía le habló. No importa dónde estás en tu vida, físicamente o espiritualmente, Dios puede hablarte.

Y lo que El quiere decirte es un mensaje de amor y paz! En el resto del capítulo, Dios dice que perdonará a Israel y Judá y que serán libres de su cautividad.

Jer 34:2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
Jer 34:3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
Jer 34:4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
Jer 34:5 But thou shalt die in peace:…

I imagine that if I were a king, and a prophet told me I was going to be taken captive by an evil nation, that I’d be pretty scared, even if I knew that I would live. I dare say that it (being captive) could be so bad that one would wish to be dead!

But what happens here is that Jeremiah basically says, “Hey, Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar’s going to capture you. But don’t worry. Everything works out in the end.”

And that’s what happens in life today. We get thrown into bad situations, but God pulls us out, and saves us again and again.



--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.--

12 dollars.

The month of November was an amazing month. I literally have no idea how God did so much. I don't even know where to begin in terms of explaining how amazing November really was.

I will say that I only spent 12 bucks on food last month, and I still ate at least twice a day. I don't know how God did it, but I don't care. He worked a miracle and provided for me in ways that I'll never understand. I just know that He gave me what I needed and more. And I really want to thank Him for doing that.

And when it was happening, I could see it happening, but I was totally caught up in it. I was too busy running the race to realize how fast I was going. But it's a new month, and I've kinda stepped out of the race. Not that I've stopped going to church or doing "religious" things, but I just stopped running.

And now I'm thinking, "Wow, God really, really did some miracles last month. I wonder if He can do it again."

And I realize that He can. His hand isn't slack. I'm just....I guess my faith needs to grow a bit more. I mean, if God can provide for me with 12 dollars for one month, why can't He do it again?

But it's not that big a deal. I mean, sure, I could have more faith. We all could. For now, I'm just going to look to Christ, the author and finisher of my faith. I've never been so happy, so content to serve the Lord as I am now, and I have less now than I've ever had. I couldn't be happier in life.

I mean, it's pretty exciting to eat all month off of 12 dollars.

--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.--

Lo que El ha hecho and from day one

Jer 30:2 Así habló Jehová Dios de Israel, diciendo: Escríbete en un libro todas las palabras que te he hablado Jer 30:3 Porque he aquí que vienen días, dice Jehová, en que tornaré la cautividad de mi pueblo Israel y Judá, ha dicho Jehová, y harélos volver á la tierra que dí á sus padres, y la poseerán.

En mi vida, Dios siempre está haciendo un milagro de alguna manera. Me ha provecho todo que necesito y más. Siempre está mostrándome su amor. Y escribo las cosas que El hace para mí en un cuaderno.

Israel y Judá iban a regresar a la tierra de sus padres, y estarían muy felices. Y Dios quería que escribieran lo que El hizo para que sería posible que recordaran el poder de Dios.
Y es por eso que escribo lo que hace Dios en mi vida. Porque, de vez en cuando, tengo un mal dia. Pero cuando miro a lo que Dios hizo ayer, y el dia antes, yo sé que El hará algo muy poderoso en mi vida en seguida. Y me muestra su amor.

Jer 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

The word drawn in this verse comes from the greek word for to plant, grow or create. When God made us, He created us with love. From the very beginning, God has done nothing but exhibit His love to us.

And it’s not that He just loved us then, He loves us with an everlasting love. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, God will love us.



--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.--

Thank you, David Gardner.

As most people in this area would say...
"I might should be in bed right now."
But I'm not.

Anyway.

I was listening to a CD that David Gardner gave me when he was back in the USA.

One of the songs on that CD has a line that goes,
"Solo Tu eres Dios"
or
"Only you are God."

And that's really made me think. There really only is one God that I serve. There's only one God on the throne in Heaven. And there's only one person I'm working for, and that's God.

I only have one standard I have to meet for God to accept me, and God, as Christ, met that standard for me on the Cross. Eph 1:6 says that we are made to be accepted, and that's the Bible, not Kyle.

I just think it's awesome that the only standard that really matters at the end of the day, which is God's standard, has already been met for me.

So, I guess...Thank you David Gardner for giving me that CD for free when I literally didn't have 10 dollars to my name to pay for it . God used it in my life in a big way. I really am grateful for your gift.

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.

I don't understand y no estoy seguro

Since I’ve started reading in Jeremiah, I’ll admit that I’ve found it to be very dry since chapter 1. It hasn’t been as interesting as a lot of my recent readings were. Hebrews, I Peter, Acts…I loved those books. They were so sweet to me, and I honestly was reading them out of a love and joy. For a week or so, I’ve only been reading because I wants to have something to send to my accountability partners. God worked in my heart today in a big, big way, and I really, really learned something today. It was like God spoke directly to me about a situation at work.

And I would like to publically say that Mike Shane is a really good friend of mine, and I think we need more Christians like him in the world, no matter what anyone else may say. He's given me some extremely good guidance in the last few days. I don't even know if he meant to or not. But I think that's an awesome trait to have...that just by being yourself, you guide people after God.

Anyway.

Jer 27:5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him
Jer 27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

To be honest, Babylon was one of, if not the most wicked nations ever. And Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most wicked kings ever. And I don’t know too much Old testament history, but anyone who throws three children into a fiery furnace because they won’t bow to anything that isn’t the God of heaven seems kind of evil to me.


But in this passage, God tells us that he gave the lands to that king. He gave all the beasts of the fields to SERVE him, not just to be under him, but to serve him. And I can’t tell you why the Lord would do this. I honestly don’t know, and I’m not going to try to come up with an answer. He even says later not to listen to anyone who says not to listen to him.


I just know that if that’s what the Lord did, then it must be OK. And to be honest, I kinda feel like that’s what the Lord did to me. Now, I’m not being thrown into a fire, but one of my managers (having four different bosses is awesome) is a pretty evil fellow.


Honestly, nothing he says is appropriate to repeat, he berates me with everything he says, and constantly goads me to do something wrong. He even “puts words in my mouth” so I’ll look bad. And none of that is an exaggeration of the truth. I promise. I might be 19 years old, and “just a kid,” as I hear a lot, but I think I can formulate a pretty accurate opinion of my boss.


And to be honest, I don’t always like working for him. I often find myself dreading a shift with him, and I often complain about him a lot. But I think on II Sam 16:11, and that always makes me feel a bit better.



And verses like this will as well. If God’s going to let all nations serve a wicked king, I think I can deal with a lousy boss for a while. And furthermore, God says that Nebuchadnezzar was His servant! No matter what evil the king did, he was God’s servant. Truly amazing is the power of God, that He can work in such a way.


Jer 28:8 Los profetas que fueron antes de mí y antes de ti en tiempos pasados, profetizaron sobre muchas tierras y grandes reinos, de guerra, y de aflicción, y de pestilencia.
Jer 28:9 El profeta que profetizó de paz, cuando sobreviniere la palabra del profeta, será conocido el profeta que Jehová en verdad lo envió.


No estoy seguro de que tengo razón aquí, pero pienso que la Biblia dice aquí que si alguien viene con un mensaje de ira y guerra y cosas así, no viene de Dios. Dice que en verdad el que profetiza de paz es de Dios.
Pero no estoy seguro de que tengo razón.



--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.--

No puedo pensar de un titulo and stand strong.

Jer 25:12 Y será que, cuando fueren cumplidos los setenta años, visitaré sobre el rey de Babilonia y sobre aquella gente su maldad, ha dicho Jehová, y sobre la tierra de los Caldeos; y pondréla en desiertos para siempre.


Aunque Israel había hecho muchas cosas malas, Dios no iba a dejar su pueblo en desolación. Aunque El tiene que castigarno de vez en cuando (y este es solamente porque El nos ama) no quiere Dios torturarnos. El nos ama, sin importancia a lo que hemos hecho.


El es un Dios de amor y paz. Y aunque pecamos, El no va a ni matarnos ni dejarnos.


Jer 26:4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
Jer 26:5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
Jer 26:6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.


I think it would have been very difficult for Jeremiah to say these things. It can be extremely daunting to tell someone that they’re doing something wrong, let alone a curse to all nations.
But that’s exactly what it’s going to take sometimes.

It might be scary, and daunting at times, but the truth is that God’s work isn’t always a walk in the park. It might be tough at times, and it might be scary. I know that I’ve been put in moments where I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide forever.

But God gets glory out of a Christian who stands (and not in a vicious spirit. Trent said it really well, “A godly action does not require an ungodly attitude) for the truth of God, and speaks the truth against unnumbered foes.


--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.--

I like football (that's soccer for you Americans)

I sold a 2500 dollar espresso machine at work today. I was pretty happy about that.

Anyway.

Since Thursday, we've really done some major work at the church, and we've still got lots to go. Even if it's an hour, would you please stop by and help us?

We've put up walls, torn some wood apart, painted walls, changed lights and tiles, cleaned closets, sanded, eaten about 40 Papa John's pizzas and done a few other things as well.

I'm super exhausted right now, but I'm having a blast all the same. Once Sunday ends, I'll go back to a "normal" schedule: Wake up, work, school, bed, repeat till Thursday.

And I'm not really excited about that. I'd much rather be working at the church, and not get paid, than spend 8 hours a day at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Once I wake up Thursday, my week really picks up. I don't work Thursdays and Fridays, so I get to dedicate both those days to doing ministry work. I kinda like to pretend that I'm full time ministry, even if it's just for those two days.

And Saturdays aren't too bad. I get off at 5pm, and that leaves me a good bit of time to do some serious studying and work at church.

Drew's staying with us tonight. Everyone's at Moe’s, or looking at Christmas lights right now. I'm blogging. Some people are vacuuming and a few others are goofing around on facebook and other various sites.

The Caps are beating the Flyers 8-2 right now. This makes me happy. Man City beat Chelsea, Barcelona won, Depor lost, and all is well. The only thing that stopped today from being awesome (sports wise) would be that Liverpool could only manage a draw.

And Sevilla drew today. If Valencia win tomorrow, we'll be in third place in Líga. That would be really good.

Sometimes, I wonder if Torres turns on his TV, and gets jealous of Villa. Even though they're both word class strikers, Liverpool are playing like a mid-table club this year (so far) and Valencia have had a pretty decent season so far. Or does Villa even realize that Torres is getting jealous? Just wondering.

And when you're streaking down field at the goal, nothing else seems to matter, all you can hear is the crowd, you only feel your body pumping, and can all but count the goal scored. But when you're the guy who gets to slide out to create space, you realize that someone else is going to score the goal. And the fact is that if you didn't create space for it, there would be no goal, but the other guy is the one being carried off the field on everyone's shoulders.

And other times, you'll keep running goal ward, even though you know you need to be making space, just to prove you're faster, or that you can make a run just as well as that guy, or even just to remind everyone you're on the pitch.

And once you score one goal, all you can do from then on is shoot as soon as you touch the ball. You'll be 35 yards away from goal, shooting with your weak foot, but you're still going to shoot, just in the chance you might get a second goal.

But really, not even Villa, Torres, Rooney, Drogba, Navas, Fabiano or anyone scores every game. And sometimes they have to settle for no goals in a week. But as long as the team wins, all is well. And the thing that they all learned is not to force it, because you'll take a bad shot, and just make a fool of yourself.

Problems don't start until a wanna-be starlet, who netted one lucky goal, thinks he's the man, and deserves to be first team, or starts freaking out because he hasn't scored in 5 games.

I dunno. Defense is important; everyone needs a keeper, and midfielders are the ones who feed the ball to the front. And without all those guys, a striker would be nothing. But there's still nothing better than being a striker.



--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.--

Foundations and los higos.

Jer 22:13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

The foundation is the most important part of any building. Any building, or structure that is not supported by the correct foundation will fall; it is only a matter of time.

And to the man who buildeth his house on unrighteousness, or his ministry on unrighteousness (which could be pride, glory-seeking, or anything else) woe will come to him.

Jer 24

Este capítulo es un visión del futuro. Y la cosa que aprendí de capitulo 24 es que los hijos de Dios siempre ganarán. Parecerá que no hay esperanza y que nuestro fracaso es seguro, pero Dios siempre trabajará en alguna manera para que sus hijos siempre triunfan sobre el mal.
Los buenos higos conocerán a Dios, pero los malos estarán destruidas. Así es con los hijos de Dios y los que no son salvos.


--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.--

In the fourth watch of the night.

Last night was an awesome night. After church, I talked with Mike Shane for a while. He's an awesome guy; in about an hour, he really taught me some amazing things. Then he tried to wrestle me.

Anyway.

There were a few of us who worked late last night, and Micah and I actually worked all night and then slept at the church.

And I'm not saying this to brag on anyone, but it was an awesome time. I've never been someone who really likes manual labour, but in the last two and a half months, I've seen the Lord grow me to enjoy it some more.

At about 3:30-4:00 am, Micah and I stopped working. I went to the kitchen to get a snack, and when I got back, Micah was watching either Jason and the Argonauts or Hercules..or both at the same time.

So at about 5:00 am, I realized something...that it was 5am, and here we sit, watching old movies on a computer, eating chips. That's what I call serving the Lord.

At about 6:45, I woke up (I moved the couch across the church so I could watch the movie and lay down at the same time.) and noticed something.

"Why is Micah sleeping on the floor? And is he using Scott's coat as a jacket? Whatever.... I'm going back to sleep." (It was the funniest thing in the world at the moment.)

The next thing I know it was 8am, David Velke was asking me why I was sleeping on the couch...in the office.

It might not sound that exciting to anyone else, but I had a blast.

--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.--

En sus manos y a terrible one

Jer 18:6 ¿No podré yo hacer de vosotros como este alfarero, oh casa de Israel, dice Jehová? He aquí que como el barro en la mano del alfarero, así sois vosotros en mi mano, oh casa de Israel.

Como Cristianos, es muy fácil pensar que somos inteligentes, justos y que tenemos mucho poder para cambiarnos. Pero la verdad es que solamente somos barro en las manos de Dios. Dios es El que nos construye para ser un hombre de Dios, o misionero etc...

Y sin importancia a cuanto el barro quiere ser un vaso, siempre será barro si nadie lo hace un vaso. Y podemos querer ser un gran hombre o mujer de Dios con todo nuestro poder, pero si Dios no nos hace así, nunca llegaremos a ser un hombre o mujer de Dios.

Jer 20:11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

Even though Jeremiah has been smote and put in the stocks, he still remains adamant that the Lord is with him. And he’s correct!

Though things might seem to be totally against us, and everything seems ready to fall apart, the Lord is always with us. And those who oppose us, and seek to destroy Christianity, Satan and his forces, shall not prevail against Christians, for the Lord is with us as a mighty terrible one.

Though the Lord has nothing but love and mercy for His children, any who opposes His name are against an undefeatable power.

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.

I want it, y mi corazón

Jer 16:1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.

There are some things that we just won’t be able to have in our Christian life, no matter how much we want them. And there may be a myriad of reasons for which we cannot have them. For Jeremiah, the Lord told him he would never have a wife or children.

Jeremiah had two options:

-Accept that it was the Lord’s will for him to be single, and realize that it’s better for him this way
-Pout and moan about how much he wanted a family/go and get married anyway, and thus suffer the consequences.

Jer 17:9 Engañoso es el corazón más que todas las cosas, y perverso; ¿quién lo conocerá?

A veces, nos gusta pensar que somos inteligentes, justos y que sabemos lo que sea correcto en nuestras vidas. Pero la Biblia dice que la verdad es que no podemos entender nuestros propios corazones!

Cuando tenemos que decidir en algo, no debemos seguir lo que queremos, pero debemos buscar la voluntad de Dios.

--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.--

Irony.

I really think dramatic irony makes everything a little more interesting. Especially when no one is sure how much anyone else knows, but knows that they know something.

--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.--

No olvides! Don't forget!

Jer 13:17 Mas si no oyereis esto, en secreto llorará mi alma á causa de vuestra soberbia; y llorando amargamente, se desharán mis ojos en lágrimas, porque el rebaño de Jehová fué cautivo.

Cuando un cristiano no escucha a Dios, el corazón de Dios está triste. Dice la Biblia que Su alma llora cuando no escuchamos.


Y sabemos que Dios nos ama más que sabemos. Entonces, ¿Por qué querríamos hacer triste un Dios que nos ama tanto?


Es posible que olvidemos cuanto Dios nos ama. Porque si no pensamos en su gran amor, es muy fácil seguir a una cosa diferente que Dios.

Jer 14:20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

In order for anyone to be able to accept help, they firs need to realize their need for help. And no one can accept Christ as their personal Saviour until they realize they need Him.


We ought not to dwell on our sins, faults, and wrongdoings but we also shouldn’t ever forget that without God, we would still be nothing but wicked sinners.

God is our strength, our foundation, support, and everything else that makes us able to do anything. It is only by His grace and power that we can do anything.


--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.--

God, forever y nuestros ojos.

Jer 10:6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.


As much as we try to replace God, and try to fill our void with other things, there is none like God. Sin is fun for a season, but it’s the Lord who lasts forever. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.


Anything other than the Lord will eventually end, and will no longer provide joy. People die, money gets spent, cars break down, things rot and rust, but the Word of God is forever.


Jer 12:1 JUSTO eres tú, oh Jehová, aunque yo contigo dispute: hablaré empero juicios contigo. ¿Por qué es prosperado el camino de los impíos, y tienen bien todos los que se portan deslealmente?

Aunque no entendemos toda que Dios hace, y no nos parece justo, El es Dios. Y lo que vemos no nos parece lo correcto. Pero nuestra vista es diferente que la vista de Dios. Y a veces no entenderemos lo que hace Dios. Pero El es justo, y siempre hace lo corecto.


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.

Trust me...y alabar a Dios

Jer 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit

People love to be able to trust things. Knowing you can trust someone or something is an amazing relief. It’s great to not have to worry about something, and to be able to place trust in something.

But sometimes, people are too gullible, or foolish, and trust the wrong things. They trust false doctrine, because it sounds good. Or they trust what their eyes can see, and their mind can think, because it seems safe. But God’s plan doesn’t always seem like the safe choice in our eyes.
People trust in jobs, and expect that a paycheck will pay their bills, and put food on the table. The truth is quite the opposite! It’s the Lord, not a check, or a job, that provides everything for us. He may use a paycheck, but it is always the Lord providing.

His love, mercy and acceptance of us as saved Christians is so amazing, so pure, so true and holy that when one is truly trusting in Him, the only feasible outcome is joy.

Jer 9:23 Así dijo Jehová: No se alabe el sabio en su sabiduría, ni en su valentía se alabe el valiente, ni el rico se alabe en sus riquezas

Muchas veces, puede ser muy, muy, muy fácil mirar a un gran hombre de Dios y pensar > y alabarle. Pero, la verdad es que ese hombre no ha hecho nado, sino Dios ha hecho todo.
Más vale darla gloria a Dios que a todo el mundo, porque Él es el único digno. El es nuestro poder y gozo, nuestro paz y nos ama.

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.

Bed Bath & Beyond.

I had my 90 day review at work today. Basically, every 90 days, my performance is evaluated, and depending on how I've done, I get a raise, or I don't. I won't about a raise or not until my next paycheck. And even then, most people don't get a raise until after 180 days. Fun.

Anyway. I found my review to be very interesting. I ranked extremely well in customer service, attitude at work, flexibility, and being a team player. I was normal on everything else, save for task orientation. I tend to float away from working on manual labor to start working with customers.

But I guess that's typical for me. I've never been one who gets a ton of joy from building things, stocking a shelf, or anything like that. There's pretty much next to nothing I enjoy more than working with people, and help them obtain their goal....even if that goal is nothing more than finding the right laundry hamper.

But here's what I thought was pretty neat: One of my co workers is the exact opposite of myself. He's a total taskmaster, and tends to shy away from customers at times. But what's makes the whole thing great is that when we work together, everything is done, and done extremely well. I can focus totally on the customers, coworker X can unload freight and stock shelves, and everyone is happy, from the boss to the customer.

And the thing that I find to be most awesome about this is that, at least to me, it makes a perfect example of how a church should work.

A church is made up of all kinds of different people, and each has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. But when they all work together, they can cover each other's weakness, and maximize their strengths.

At least I think it makes sense. In a weird way.

--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.--

If you want, y el camino

Jer 4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

It’s interesting how the Lord starts this verse off with the word if. If implies a condition, and that something hinges upon something else in order to occur. If does not imply certainty, however.


In this verse, we see that God isn’t going to force Israel to return to Him, but if they want to, He will let them. The decision to return to God is based solely upon Israel; God is more than willing to take them back if they would but just turn to Him.


And that’s the love of our God. No matter what we do, say, think, or anything, He’s still willing to take us back. If we confess our sins…He is faithful and just to forgive them. And it’s such a comfort to know that nothing we do will ever change the acceptance that the Lord has given to saved Christians.

Jer 6:16 Así dijo Jehová: Paraos en los caminos, y mirad, y preguntad por las sendas antiguas, cuál sea el buen camino, y andad por él, y hallaréis descanso para vuestra alma. Mas dijeron: No andaremos.


Dios nos manda que caminemos en un camino. Y, para mí, este significa que siempre debemos estar caminando, o haciendo algo, para Dios. Pero, al mismo tiempo, debemos examinar el camino para que podemos estar seguros que es un buen camino, porque es muy fácil cambiar del camino de Dios a otro camino sin darse cuenta.

Si es un camino de Dios, hay descanso y paz para la alma.



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.

A strong city y confusión

Jer 1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jer 1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Jeremiah earlier told that Lord that he wasn’t a good speaker and that he couldn’t do what the Lord wanted from him. But God said not to worry about it. Before you were born, I knew you, and called you. I already knew how you were going to be.


And we see here that God has made Jeremiah a defenced city, and that nothing will prevail against him, because God is with him. And it’s still the same for us today! Before I was born, the Lord knew me, and called me to do according to His will. And He knew that I would have the strengths and weaknesses that I do. Nothing about me caught Him by surprise.


And God makes every Christian a defenced city, a pillar of iron and brazen walls. With the Lord as our support and strength, there is none that can come against us, not kings princes or priests.

Jer 3:25 Yacemos en nuestra confusión, y nuestra afrenta nos cubre: porque pecamos contra Jehová nuestro Dios, nosotros y nuestros padres, desde nuestra juventud y hasta este día; y no hemos escuchado la voz de Jehová nuestro Dios.

Jeremías dice que a causa de los pecados y el hecho que no han escuchado a Dios, Israel está yaciendo en confusión. Y cada vez que una persona constantemente busca el pecado y no busca a Dios, causará problemas así.


--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.--

Gracias.

Things I am thankful for:

-God's love. And the fact that it won't ever change, no matter what I do or don't do. Even with all the mistakes and blunders that I've made, He still loves me, and wants to use me.

-To be in a Church like Vision Baptist, and under a pastor like pastor Gardner. The both of which are deeply devoted to missions and spreading the gospel across the world.

-For the people that the Lord has put in my life, who deeply care about me personally, and are there to help me when I ask for it. Such as Micah Rastelli Scott Newton, Chris Fies, Keith Trimble, Mike Smith, Ronald Tubillas, Pastor Gardner, Mark Coffey and Tony Howeth. And there's lots of other people who I'm grateful for.

-God's faithfulness. And how no matter what this world tells me, or does to me, God is in control, and has everything in control.

-An eternal salvation that Christ died to give me. The beloved of the heavens died on the cross. I think that's worth being thankful for.

--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.--

Tribulación and He does it all

1Th 3:3 Para que nadie se conmueva por estas tribulaciones; porque vosotros sabéis que nosotros somos puestos para esto.
1Th 3:4 Que aun estando con vosotros, os predecíamos que habíamos de pasar tribulaciones, como ha acontecido y sabéis.


Sabemos que de vez en cuando, tenemos que pasar por tribulaciones. Y a veces puede estar muy difícil pasar por ellas. Pero algo muy importante a cerca de las tribulaciones es saber que Dios nos dará la fuerza que necesitamos para aguantarlas.

Y también debemos estar felices en tribulaciones, porque la Biblia dice:

Stg 1:3-Sabiendo que la prueba de vuestra fe obra paciencia.

Hay solamente una diferencia entre una oportunidad y una tribulación…la punta de vista.

1Ts 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Something I’ve really been learning lately is that I really don’t do much in my Christian life. I really just say, "God, here I am. Use me to glorify yourself, Lord." And that’s really all I do. God does everything else.

I just start walking along the path He tells me to walk along, and let Him open the doors in front of me, and clear the path. I’m really just a tool in His marvelous hand, and ought to let Him use me how He wants to.


--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.--

Where I lay my head is home.

It's the time of the year when college students all over the country head back home for a week or two. And college is a great thing, and I have nothing against it, but I do know that I'm enjoying my life much more than most college students.

I moved to Georgia for school, yes, but I also moved here. As in I live here. This is home. That doesn't change the fact that I love and miss my parents, brother, church members at Cornerstone Baptist,and everyone else in Maryland, because I do love them and miss them. All of them.

But something that the Lord has really blessed me with is a new sense of where my home is. And what I mean by that is that Cumming, GA is my new Jefferson, MD. It won't ever take the place of it, but I feel ac comfortable in Cumming as I did in Jefferson.

See, lots of students go somewhere for school, but it's just a dorm, or jut an apartment during the school year. It's not home. And it really doesn't provide the same feeling that a house provides.

And it's such a blessing to me that I can be living 750 miles away from my parents and where I grew up, and not have any relatives near here, and still be surrounded by family. The people of Vision Baptist Church have really, really made me feel welcome, and accepted me. And it feels great.

So while millions of college students are going "home" for break, the Lord's blessed me, and I'm already there.

--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.--

Mis faltas and how do you teach?

Jas 5:16 Confesaos vuestras faltas unos á otros, y rogad los unos por los otros, para que seáis sanos; la oración del justo, obrando eficazmente, puede mucho.


Cuando leía este versículo, siempre pensaba en la oración. Pero hace unos días, me di cuenta de la importancia de “confesaos vuestras faltas.”.


Estaba hablando con un gran hombre de Dios, y él me dijo de unas veces en su vida cuando se equivocó. Y me ayudó oír este.

Admiro a este hombre, y saber que él ha hecho unas culpas que he hecho me mostró que no hay un gran diferencia entre de él y yo, excepto unos 25 años y la sabiduría que traen los años.


Pero todos fallan. Y confesar sus faltas puede ayudar a un joven. Porque muchas veces, los jóvenes piensan que los adultos y ancianos no fallan y ese cree un impresión muy grande en ellos.


1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
1Th 2:5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:
1Th 2:6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.
1Th 2:7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

The method through which someone teaches can change a student’s life. If a teacher uses fear and bully tactics to force learning from a student, no real learning is obtained, but a rote memorization of facts.


And sometimes the teacher tries to be “that cool guy” who is friends with all the students. That teacher says what everyone wants to hear, but really doesn’t say anything worth hearing.
But Paul says that teaching should be done not to please man, nor as a manner of showing off and looking intelligent, and not as a mask of getting what you want. It’s also not supposed to be done to gain glory and honour.


Paul writes that all teachings should be done with gentleness, even as a nurse with children. I recently read in a book that, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

And, whenever I’m given the chance to teach, I pray that I wouldn’t be doing it out of a desire for authority, to make people do what I say, or anything but a desire to see people grown in the Word of God, for His glory.



--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.--

Pecking order.

From an Email I read earlier today...

"Kyle is a student so he isn't allowed to hit a missionary without being killed. We do teach respect and the pecking order a little still. "

I think that might be the funniest thing I've ever read in my life.
(Yes, it's a joke in case you were worried.)

Anyway.

--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.--