GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES

We all have our ups and downs, the mountain tops and the valleys, good times and bad times For us right now, glory be to God, we are in the good or the up or on the mountain top.  Over the past few weeks even months we have just seen great growth in our personal lives and well as in the lives of God's people in our church.  This saturday we are having a baptism where 3 local Peruvians and my oldest daughter will be taking the step of faith of water baptism.  How encouraging is it to see believers want to follow the commands of Jesus and publicly proclaim and demonstrate that they have died, been buried and raised to new life with Jesus.  This will be a very public baptism as well!  It will be held at a local restaurant (that gets very crowded) here in Baños del Inca in there swimming pool while the restaurant is open and serving lunch.

Another issue that we are so grateful is the fact that we are dedicating a specific day a week were all we do is just hang out as a family.  We turn off all electronics and we just spend time together playing games and of course if there is no rain we hit the skatepark for a few hours first thing in the morning.  It is great because the whole family is skating now.  It is great exercise and great fun and I love seeing my kids push each other to get higher air or better tricks or whatever.  It is just a good time and something we all do together.  I never understood this hashtag thing, but we even made up our own hashtag that says "a family that skates together stays together"  so you can find some of our pictures on instagram with that.

We are all feeling the most settled in and blessed to be here than we ever have before.  I personally over the past few weeks have dealt with the worst cases of homesickness that I have ever dealt with since being here, but when I get out and am involved in ministry that all goes away.  I had never dealt with missing the States until, like I said, just a few weeks ago.  I don't know why all of sudden that has started but one thing I do know is even that won't rob me of the joy Jesus has given us to serve Him here in this wonderful location.  I love Peru, I love Cajamarca, I love the church I am privileged to pastor, I love my family, and most of all I love Jesus.

I am sure soon enough the downs will come, we will be in the valley and the bad times will show up, but I praise Him for those just as much as I praise Him for the season we are in right now.  I love that the Lord gives us these moments so that when those dark and hard days show up, we can look back and remember just how good the Lord is and know that no matter what happens, He is with us and loves us!

Praying for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for the gospel

I am sitting here in my nice comfy chair, in my nice private office inside my home while preparing my sermon for sunday morning.  Scanning over the news I see an article about the 200 or so Assyrian Christians who are being held by Isis and threatened and asked to convert to Islam.  They all boldly denied and professed faith in Jesus.  I thank God that I serve in a country where we can meet publicly and preach openly the good news of Jesus Christ.  At the same time my heart breaks for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are suffering for the sake of Christ.  Here I am studying, in what I consider a beautiful environment, in comfort, surrounded by my books and a computer and internet and   I am not thinking about anyone coming into my home and taking my wife and kids or threading us to deny Christ.  Yet all over the world most Christians don't have it this nice.  In Hebrews we are told "Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body" (Hebrews 13:3 ESV). How often do we take this charge seriously? I know I was convicted this morning, not by the fact that God has placed me where He has placed me. There are lost souls right here who need to know Christ as much as in other places in the world. I was convicted because how little time I spend on my knees interceding for other members of the family of God who are not as fortunate as me to live in a place of gospel freedom. For those who are loosing their lives for standing for Jesus. For those who are being persecuted and suffering for taking the name of Christ. These are the heroes of the faith. Lets pray that the Lord continues to strengthen our suffering family to continue to stand for Christ and that the Lord would be glorified and that through the boldness of the suffering, the persecutors will come to know the great salvation in Christ. Lord protect Your children and give them great boldness!

Friday!

James tells us that "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" James 1:17.  Today we get to go into a state run orphanage in Cajamarca and spend time with some precious orphans.  It is always one of my highlights.  For two and a half hours we get to go in and love on them and play with them but most importantly we get to open up God's word and teach them and pray with them and share the deep things of God with them.  I love this ministry that the Lord has allowed us to start.  Our primary focus is on planting a Bible teaching church and making disciples through the church, but we also get this wonderful blessing to be part of this orphanage.  One of the greatest blessing that the work of Christ obtained for His people is adoption into God's family.  This is something that we overlook so often.  When we think about salvation most the time we think of heaven and being spared from God's wrath and even having access to God the Father but so many times adoption is over looked.  As I work my way through Galatians on sunday mornings, I am being reminded of the great privilege of being adopted by God the Father and becoming an heir to all that He has to offer.  As we go into this orphanage this afternoon, what is most important for these priceless niños, is not that someone would come adopt them, but that they could be adopted by God the Father.  That by faith they can enter into the most incredible family ever.  They can can receive an inheritance that is above any earthly inheritance.  They can cry out with the rest of the saints, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" Eph 1:3.
Please join with us in this ministry and pray for these young ones that the Lord may open their hearts to see just how great He is and that they would run to His open arms.

Being Available

It is thursday afternoon here in Peru and we have our midweek church service on Thursday nights.  We are currently looking at the life of Elijah and tonight specifically at the calling of Elisha.  Elisha is such a great example for the Christian as one who responds to the calling of God.  He made himself available to do what ever it is that God asked.  As I was reviewing my notes my wife got a phone call and was for the next hour and twenty minutes counseling a woman from our church.  I was so blessed that my wife took the time (which she should have) to minister to this dear saint.  It was right during lunch and after lunch there is always a crunch to get the homeschooling done so she can prepare dinner in time for the kids to eat before we head to church.  Keep in mind that my wife and homeschooling are  arch rivals.  It is not something she enjoys or really even wants to do, but this is where the Lord has placed her and she is answering the call of the Lord like Elisha.  I listened in to her counsel and was so impressed by her wisdom and godly advice that she gave.  I know it was hard for her and she was out of her comfort zone and it was a very challenging time of the day for her.  I am not trying to brag on her or say look at how great my wife is (even though she truly is),  my point is she was such an example to me that no matter what is going on I need to be available to be used by the Lord to minister to whoever needs it whenever the time comes.   I can get so caught up in my own little world that I forget what is happening around me.  Yet that is not what the Christian life is.  When we look at Jesus, He wasn't so caught up in His own little world that he neglected the needs of the people.  He actually left His little world, heaven, and came to earth to serve and not to be served.  Lord help me be more like Jesus.  Conform me to His image that I may shine His love in this world.  Forgive me for my selfishness and my sinful desires.  Let me see Jesus more clearly and thank you for the example of Elisha who left all to do your will and thank you so much for my wife and her example of being available and allowing you to use her so you could strengthen one of your daughters.

We are justified by faith!

On sunday mornings I am preaching through the book of Galatians.  It has been a great time for me personally.  Studying and preparing sermons from this wonderful book has brought such a renewed passion to serve Jesus.  Before our time in the States I had preached through the first two chapters and last week was my first sunday back in the pulpit.  I did an overview and a refresher of where we have been and where we are going.  This sunday we will dive into chapter three and look at verses 1-5.  As I have been studying, so many of the commentaries have brought up the new perspective on Paul.  I haven't even touched that in my exposition and I don't plan to.  I haven't even really read much on it because I am still trying to come to terms with the old perspective on Paul.  The doctrine of justification by faith alone is such an amazing doctrine it is almost impossible to believe!  It is so inherent in us to try to do something for God that pleases Him so that we are able to take a little credit.  I always have to catch myself and search my motives, "Why am I doing this?"  Sometimes I think if I work harder or do more good Christian works, I am somehow securing my standing with God.  The fact of the matter is, my standing is secure with God based upon my faith in Christ and what He has done.  It has nothing to do with me.  I always feel this little bit of legalism creeping in or this works based righteousness crouching at the door.  Luther said this is the most important doctrine so it is imperative to know this article well, teach it to others and beat it into their heads continually!  I love that.  I need to beat it into my head continually.  When we understand that there is not one ounce of effort we can pour into the merits of our standing before God, this frees us up from trying to please God for our salvation and instead free us to live for Him with love and joy.  No longer do I have to worry if I have tipped the scales in my favor, I can just live the life He has called me to by the power of the Spirit and when I have my days where I fail, I know that I am still justified because my justification is based on the life, death and resurrection of Christ!  I don't have to wake up in the morning and stress to undo what I did and throw more good works on the scale.  I get up and thank Jesus for His grace and carry on being a Christian saved by grace through faith in Christ!

Man does not live by bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God!

For years I have done the Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible reading plan.  It is an incredible plan that gets you deep into the Word of God.  If you stick to the schedule you will have read the Old Testament once and the Psalms and the New Testament twice in one year.  It is a lot of reading, but there isn't a better way to really soak up the Bible.  However, this year I decided to try a new plan, to switch things up.  There were several plans that I looked at but one caught my eye more than the others.  It is called the "Bible Eater" plan.  Let me say I couldn't be more excited for this plan.  I haven't been this fired up for my daily reading in a while.  Maybe it is the change of pace or the freshness of a new schedule, but whatever it is I am pumped.  We must remember that if we do a reading plan, it can't become a burden.  It isn't something that we do so we can just check it off our list.  The whole purpose to read through God's word is to know Him better and see His character and so we know how to live lives that bring glory to Him.  The description of this plan starts by saying "God hasn't told us how often or how much we are to read of His word but he has told we need the Scriptures in order to live."  That is so true and relevant.  We live in a time where the authority and sufficiency of the Bible is disregarded. People want to hear from God and have God speak to them.  People are reading silly little devotionals that supposedly record Jesus's words to them. But God has spoken in His word and if we want to hear the voice of God, we need to open up our Bibles. God speaks through His word.  I am not against devotionals.  I read Spurgeon's Mornings and Evenings and there are many other very good devotionals, but for some reason people are looking for this new or fresh revelation from God as if the one He has given is not sufficient and it breaks my heart.  God's words are life to us.  We are told that man does not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  If we want to be physically healthy we need to diet and exercise.  The same is true spiritually.  We need a good diet of God's word.  Paul told Timothy that, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16).  In other words the Bible is sufficient for all that we will face in life.  We need to be feasting on the meal that God has provided for us.  One thing about this new plan that I am using is that it highlights redemptive chapters.  Of course every chapter in the Bible is important because every word is breathed out from God. But some chapters are more crucial in helping us understand the big picture and see the overall picture of God's salvation plan.  So there is special emphasis on certain chapters that highlight the promises of Christ and His coming and redemption etc.  Jesus said the Scriptures testify of Him and sometimes we have the tendency of reading without focusing on how the section we are reading is pointing to Christ.  This plan helps in some of those areas.  If you aren't reading the word daily, let me encourage you to pick it up and spend some time with Jesus.  Meditate on God's word and who Christ is.  Read it with fresh eyes, looking to see how the passage you are reading fits with the overall picture of the Bible.  Maybe a plan will help you or maybe it won't but one thing is for sure, "man does not live by bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God", so open up that treasure that the Lord has been left to His people!

Feliz Año!!!

Happy new year to all.  As I reflect on 2014, I would have to say the first thought or word that comes to my head is struggle.  It was a difficult year.  Difficult in the ministry, personally, spiritually, difficult in all facets of life.  Yet at the same time it was also such a sweet year.  It was a year where the Lord stretched and stretched but did not break us.  We experienced His grace like we have never before.  It was such an intimate time of fellowship with Jesus.  I learned things of Him, that I would never have known had it not been the year we went through.  I learned things of myself, that I had not known and even had blocked out because it was too painful to deal with.  I would never want to go back through the year we just went through, but at the same time I would not trade it for anything.  If 2014 was what God allowed us to go through to mold us and mature us.  It was so worth it.  We saw,  like I said,  His sustaining grace like never before.  I can not wait to see what Jesus does this year!

Upon returning from our two and half month furlough, we hit the ground running.  We had two choclotadas and running around getting things back in order with our house and seeing people and I preached a midweek service and our Christmas message.  It was so refreshing to be strengthened by the Lord to continue in what He has called us to do.  We missed Peru and the ministry so much.  It was great to see the growth of the church and the people.  Everyone who stepped up did an amazing job.  It just confirmed in my heart that the Lord doesn't need me.  It is His church and His ministry and we just to get to be part of it.

There were a few issues that I was not looking forward to when we arrived back.  There was one particular burden that over 2014 had been taking so much energy and was such a constant draining of myself.  During our time in the States, I remember just asking the Lord to deal with the issue.  Once again the Lord has shown Himself in wonderful ways.  Several days ago this one issue that had plagued me, the Lord removed.  I don't even have to start this new year dealing with this or worrying about it or trying to handle this.  The Lord is His infinite grace handled it for me.  I am so encouraged and refreshed.  I can't begin to describe the freedom that Christ has given me to start this new year.  That is not to say, that this year will be trial free.  That is not to say that the Lord will remove every hardship, burden or obstacle off the course.  In fact I think that this year could be just as hard if not harder than last year.  If it is, I can look back and see how the Lord delivered us through 2014 and have no doubt that He will sustain us for 2015.  But it sure is a good way to kick off 2015.

I am excited to see what the Lord does this year in us and through us.  I am excited to see what the Lord does through all His people and throughout the world.  A friend of mine on Instagram encouraged me to keep making Jesus famous in Peru.  I thought, "wow, what a call!  What a privilege!"  But you know what?  That is everyone's calling who is in Christ.  We are to tell the world about Jesus.  Not only missionaries and pastors are to glorify Jesus.  Whoever takes the name of Christ is to be His witness.  To testify of His works, His love, His grace, His mercy, His justice, His wrath, everything about Him.  People need to know about how great our Jesus is.  We are in tumultuous times and the answer to the world's problems is Christ.  Let's make Jesus famous in our lives in 2015.


Soli Deo Gloria