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.--

Edgar.

I got a call from Edgar the other day. He wanted me to go to a Hawk's game, and that he had free tickets. I decided to go, even though basketball isn't my favourite sport. (When you're 6'6'', everyone says you should be in the NBA.) Anyway.

I decided that I would go, but mostly just to have a chance to be with Edgar, and to see if I could pass off some of the things I've learned in school to him, and teach/train him a little bit. And I feel I taught him some good things. Things that were at least really amazing to me when I learned them.

I think he taught learned a good bit, by his own admittance. But he taught me, without even realizing it, about what God was doing in my life.

What a blessing. I went to teach, but also got to learn.


--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.--

serious time

I went to visit Ethan Howeth last night in the hospital. He's looking pretty good. He's talking, and seems fully alert to everything, which is good. I got to his room around 11pm, and we talked and watched TV for about an hour, and then he fell asleep.

I stayed up for about another hour, and did some serious thought consolidation. It's quickly becoming a new, favourite time of mine. Taking time to be along with the Lord, and to run my thoughts, and the things on my mind through His word, and what I know to be true.

And sometimes, I come up with an answer, albeit a true, biblical one, I don't always like. But it's what I need to do. Sometimes, I love the answer, or conclusion I come to.

Last night, as Ethan lay there asleep, I ran some things, consolidated my thoughts, looked at the Word of God, and really had some serious time alone with the Lord.

It did me a world of good.

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 truth, y amamos.

1Jn 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
1Jn 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth

The word unction, in this verse, comes from the Greek word chrisma. It mean, at its most basic, to be joined to. In this case, we are joined to the Holy Spirit. We are made as one being with the Holy Spirit, and we are made to know all things.


And not only do we know them, but we know that it is truth. We know it, and there is no lie in it. How amazing is it, that God can take a sinner, clean him/her up, join him/her to a Holy Spirit, and fill him/her with nothing but truth.


1Jn 4:20 Si alguno dice, Yo amo á Dios, y aborrece á su hermano, es mentiroso. Porque el que no ama á su hermano al cual ha visto, ¿cómo puede amar á Dios á quien no ha visto?


Palabras fieles. Cuando tenía unos 16 años, oí un mensaje en este versículo. Y en esa etapa, todavía no había perdonando a mi padre. Y me molestaba que yo era salvo, pero todavía fue difícil para mí amar a mi padre.

Y hacía excusas y excusas. Pero, las Palabras del Señor son fieles, y son la verdad. Y hace un mes (más o menos) llamé a mi padre, y lo perdoné. Y amo a mi padre. Aunque yo había tenido problemas de amarle, porque soy Cristiano, es imposible que yo no ame a mi padre. Y es imposible no amar si somos Cristianos.

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 lot of justice y la luz de que no podemos huir.

2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

I find it amazing that the Lord calls Lot, a man who was very far from his God, deep in sin, a just man. Now, it does say that Lot was vexed with the conversation of the wicked, but anyone who is a child of God would be tormented by living in sin.

Thought Lot offered up his daughters, and did all kinds of other unspeakable acts of sin, the Lord still loves him, and counts him as a just man. It’s amazing that the Lord can look at a man; a sinner who has did such things, and calls him a just man.

But that is the magnitude of the Father’s love for us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Granted, Lot was in the Old testament, years before Christ died on the cross, but the principle is the same. God loves His people, no matter what they do, say, think, or anything.

Lot, though often remembered as a man who had several problems with sin, and made some bad decisions, is also to be remembered, by this passage, as an example of how much the Lord truly loves us.

1Jn 1:5 Y este es el mensaje que oímos de él, y os anunciamos: Que Dios es luz, y en él no hay ningunas tinieblas.
1Jn 1:6 Si nosotros dijéremos que tenemos comunión con él, y andamos en tinieblas, mentimos, y no hacemos la verdad;
1Jn 1:7 Mas si andamos en luz, como él está en luz, tenemos comunión entre nosotros, y la sangre de Jesucristo su Hijo nos limpia de todo pecado.

En esta escritura aquí, vemos que no podemos estar en la luz y las tinieblas al mismo tiempo. Estamos en la luz, o estamos en tinieblas. No podemos mezclar los dos. Y que bien es…saber que si estamos en la luz, que siempre estaremos en la luz. Si seamos en Dios, nunca podremos salir de Dios.

Como cristianos, vamos a cometer pecados. Y vamos a hacer culpas. Pero no cambia que estamos en la luz. Después de recibir a Cristo, tenemos luz. Y siempre tendremos la luz. Y nada puede cambiar este.

Pero, si alguien no tiene la luz, no está en la luz, sin importancia a sus hechos. Estamos en la luz o las tinieblas, pero no los dos. Nuestras acciones no pueden cambiar nada. Y que bendición es que no podemos salir de la luz del Padre.

--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.--

Hand in hand.

Love and acceptance are two very important things. Without one, the other means nothing.

I can say I love someone, but if I refuse to accept anything about that person, there is doubt cast upon that love.

I can say I accept someone, but if I only accept them out of duty, and not of love, then the relationship is cold, and icy.

Love and acceptance need each other, or they become nothing more than words, and empty phrases.

And pastor Gardner spent almost 6 hours on Saturday talking about the love that God has for me. And that God accepts me. And I'm the prize of His glory. And I never really knew that God was so loving.

I went home that day feeling much, much, much better than I had in almost a month. And it was a great feeling. But a full realization, or a fuller understand didn't come until the next morning.

Class went as normal, save that we got out a few minutes early. Brother Tony said something, and I'm not really sure of the conversation before or after he said it, but he said something that really opened my eyes.

I'm already accepted by God.

No matter what I do, or don't do, say, or don't say, God accepts me as is. I don't have to change anything, I don't have to do any good works, or anything. God already accepts me.

And that's something I've always, always struggled with: being accepted. I don't want to sound like a complainer, or a whiner, but I've always felt a bit out of place around people, and like I never was quite accepted.

But people are people. God is God. And God accepts me, knowing full well who I am. And it's such a relief to know that I don't have to do anything special to be accepted. God just looks at me and says,

"Kyle, if you never change, or never do anything else, and no matter what it is that you do, I accept you. In my eyes, you can't get any better; all I see is Christ's righteousness when I look at you.."

Not that I'm trying to speak for the Lord, but I think He'd say something like that. It's an amazing thing, to be loved in acceptance, and to be accepted in love.

--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 Peter 4-5 II Pedro 1

1Pe 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
1Pe 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

What I see in these verses is a motivation, or a calling, to preach the word to the unsaved. It says in verse 6 that the gospel was preached to them that are dead. The gospel is the power to step from death into life, and in verse 10 we see that we ought to minister, or share, that gift with others. When Pastor Keith Trimble shared the gospel with me over 10 years ago, it wasn’t done out of malice, discontent, in search of a reward, or anything like that. It was simply him ministering the gift to another.


And how great life has been because of someone sharing the gift! I’ve traveled out of the country to do work in the ministry. I’ve been given a chance to preach in two different languages, and to translate for preachers and teachers as well. I’ve had some amazing travels, met some amazing people, and really seen my life change in an amazing way. And it’s all because I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour as a 9 year old boy.


But that boy never accepts Christ if no one tells him about it. He might be saved later down the road, but he might not! And I, for one, am grateful that someone preached the gospel to one who was dead, and ministered the gift to me.


2Pe 1:21 Porque la profecía no fué en los tiempos pasados traída por voluntad humana, sino los santos hombres de Dios hablaron siendo inspirados del Espíritu Santo

Este habla de las escrituras y profecía de los ancianos. Y nos dice que no fueron escritos por la voluntad de un hombre, ni Pedro, ni Pablo. Este versículo es un ejemplo de como la Biblia es, de verdad, la palabra de Dios, y es perfecto, sin culpa.

--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.--

Thought.

These are just some random thoughts I've had swimming in my head lately.

-I'm working from love, not for love.

-I'm a holy, righteous, chosen person because of who Christ made me.

-When God looks at me, and sees Christ's righteousness, He sees someone who cannot be made any better.

-I know that wise advice is something I should want and is very helpful, but it's sometimes tough. Especially when it's totally contrary to my opinion, and what seems "right" in my eyes.

-I'm pretty happy with how well my pink suit went over at church.

-I get to be involved (in some way) with teaching a class for the next four weeks. Amen!

-Being nervous isn't that fun.

-I'm sure there's more, but I'm exhausted.

--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 Peter 1-2 I Pedro 3

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

At one point, we weren’t a people. We were just existing, and really didn’t have too much of anything. But that’s all in the past. Now we are the people of God. And we were without mercy. We were left to tumble down a hard, rocky slope, all on our own. But now, we have mercy, and we have love.

And the thing that makes this amazing is that the Lord chose to do that. We are a chosen generation! We are royal and holy. And our purpose is nothing more than to praise the God who pulled up from darkness into a glorious light, his light.

1Pe 3:13 ¿Y quién es aquel que os podrá dañar, si vosotros seguís el bien?

Cuando busco a Dios, no hay nada que me hará daño. A veces Satanás me golpeará y seré abofeteado de vez en cuando. Pero, con el poder de Dios, y el bien en la vista mía, quien me puede dañar? No hay nadie! No hay nada!

--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.--