Praise and trust are antidotes for fear

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4

John Wesley on God

"This all-powerful, all-wise, all-gracious Being, this Governor of all, loves me. This Lover of my soul is always with me, is never absent, no, not for a moment. And I love Him: There is none in heaven but thee, none on earth that I desire beside thee! And he has given me to resemble Himself; he has stamped His image on my heart. And I live unto Him; I do only His will; I glorify him with my body and my spirit. And it will not be long before I shall die unto Him; I shall die into the arms of God. And then farewell sin and pain; then it only remains that I should live with Him for ever."

Weekend Guests

This past weekend we had a great visit from Dr. Gary Reimers and Aaron Collier. Dr. Reimers is the pastor of one of our supporting churches, Cornerstone Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, and Aaron is the youth director. Dr. Reimers was also one of my professors at BJU. The purpose of their visit was to see our ministry first-hand so that CBC will know how to better pray for us. Also, Aaron will be bringing a group of teens from CBC here this summer for a missions trip.

I thought that the idea to visit for a weekend was a great. I know that pastors often struggle to find time to visit the missionaries that their church supports. Those pastors who do visit their missionaries usually visit for several days or a week. But in their 2 1/2 day visit (Friday to Sunday) Dr. Reimers and Aaron were able to get a good experience of our ministry as well as to spend time fellowshipping with us personally. It was a very encouraging and edifying visit. I highly recommend that pastors consider making short weekend visits like this to their missionaries. (Of course, it only works well if the missionary lives close to an international airport, as we do.)

And just so the folks at CBC know that Dr. Reimers' and Aaron's visit was not all business, I'll close with this photo taken by a hidden camera in our house. It seems that Jonathan's and Christian's Nerf dart guns were a big hit with our guests!

Jonathan, Wendy, and Gloria Latham

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, God has answered our prayer for a new professor of Bible and theology here at the Christian University of the Americas. We've had a few prospects, but each of these has been several years from being able to come to Monterrey. Little did we realize that God was working in the lives of Jonathan and Wendy Latham to enable them to come to Monterrey this year! Jonathan and Wendy have been serving as missionaries for several in Equatorial Guinea, Africa with Gospel Fellowship Association. There are several things about the Latham's situation that make their coming to serve with us especially exciting. First, Jonathan and Wendy are both fluent in Spanish. Second, having served as missionaries for the last several years, they already have the support that they need and will not need to do any more deputation. Third, their experience in Africa will make them perfectly suited to teach missions classes here at UCLA. Fourth, Jonathan and Wendy are long-time friends of ours. We all attended BJU and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, SC at the same time. And finally, we are very excited because the Lathams will be coming down here next month. Lord willing, they will be moving the first week of March.

Praise the Lord for his provision! Please pray for the Lathams as they move to Monterrey and make the transition to this new culture and ministry.

Some beautiful photos of Monterrey

Today at Panoramio.com I found some beautiful photos of Monterrey, taken from the top of the "Sierra Madre" mountain which runs along the south side of the city (click on photos to enlarge).

This first photo is an awesome panoramic shot of the entire city, looking toward the north. On the right side in the distance you can see Monterrey's most famous landmark, the "Cerro de la Silla" (saddle back mountain) with its famous saddle-shaped peak. We live just around the other side of that mountain.

In this photo, the "Cerro de la Silla" is now on the left as the photographer points his camera toward the east.

This amazing photo was taken by some adventuresome fellow from the top of the "saddle." We live down there some where.

This sunset photo was taken from the top of "Las Mitras" which is the mountain sticking up out of the city on the left in the first panoramic photo above. In the distance you can see the "Cerro de la Silla" sticking up through the clouds.

Here's another shot of the city, taken from the footpath that leads up to the "Cerro de la Silla." The mountain in the distance is the "Sierra Madre" from where the panoramic photos above were shot.


To help orient you, here's a snapshot of Monterrey, taken from Google Earth.

Legend:
A. The spot from where the two panoramic photos above were taken.
B. The "Cerro de la Silla" (saddle-back mountain).
C. The mountain, "Las Mitras."
D. The general area where we live and where the university is located.
E. The general vicinity of our mission.

Here are some more photos of Monterrey.

How to pray for missionaries, part 2

This afternoon I read the following comments in a fine little book called The Gospel & Personal Evangelism:

One of the most common and dangerous mistakes in evangelism is to misinterpret the results of evangelism—the conversion of unbelievers—for evangelism itself, which is the simple telling of the gospel message…. Evangelism must not be confused with its fruit.

According to the Bible, converting people is not in our power. And evangelism may not be defined in terms of results but only in terms of faithfulness to the message preached. John Stott has said, “To ‘evangelize’ . . . does not mean to win converts . . . but simply to announce the good news, irrespective of the results.”

Paul wrote, “We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Cor. 2:15-16). Note that the same ministry has two different effects. As with the parable of the soils, it’s not that certain evangelistic techniques always lead to conversions. The same seed was planted in various places. The response varied not according to how the seed was planted but according to the nature of the soil [italics added]. (From Mark Dever, The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, 78-79.)

This means that my greatest task as a missionary is to fully understand the gospel and to proclaim it clearly.

So how should you pray for missionaries? Let me suggest the following:

1. Pray that they would clearly see the difference between evangelism and its results. Their job is to proclaim the gospel; God’s job is to convert.
2. Pray that they would be liberated from pressure to succumb to evangelism techniques that emphasize superficial results, thereby undermining the sufficiency and power of the gospel (1 Cor 1:17).
3. Pray that they will learn to rest in the sufficiency and power of the gospel (1 Cor 1:18), thereby being freed from the temptation to trust in their own personal eloquence rather than “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:1-2)
4. Pray that their own Bible study, sermon preparation and personal experience of the gospel’s power and sufficiency in sanctification would lead them to an increasingly profound understanding of the gospel so that they can effectively proclaim its message.
5. Pray that God would powerfully and sovereignly bless their evangelism (a) by opening a door for their message (Col 4:3), (b) by giving them words to proclaim the gospel clearly and boldly (Eph 6:19), (c) by convicting sinners of their need for the Gospel (Jn 16:8-11), and (d) by opening hearts to respond to the Gospel (Acts 16:14).

How to pray for missionaries

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:9-12, ESV)

For several years Paul’s prayer for the believers at Colossae in Colossians 1:9-12 has challenged my prayer life. Paul is praying for a church that he had not personally founded. In fact, they were Christians that he had not personally met. And yet he expresses a genuine interest in and knowledge of their spiritual progress that indicates that their spiritual well being was an important priority for him.

Those of you who follow and support our ministry are very much like Paul. You’ve taken a personal interest in churches you don’t know and people you haven’t met. Since you’re genuinely interested in our ministry and in the spiritual well-being of those to whom we minister, how can you pray for us? Here are a few “tips” drawn from Paul’s prayer for the Colossians on how to pray for us and especially for those to whom we minister. I use this prayer often as a guide to pray for my family, my students, and the people in our church.

1. Pray that they will be filled with the knowledge of the will of God (1:9).
   
2. Pray that that knowledge will, in turn, enable them to live their life in a manner that pleases God and that is worthy of Him (1:10).
   
3. Pray that their life would be characterized by a continual growth in grace that is characterized by spiritual fruit (1:10).
   
4. Pray that they would continually and increasingly grow in their knowledge of God (1:10).
   
5. Pray that they would experience a divinely given power and strength that will enable them to grow in steadfastness and patience (1:11)
   
6. Pray that their lives would be characterized by a joyful thanksgiving (1:12a) as they continually grow in their comprehension of the magnitude of the gospel and of their salvation in Christ (1:12b-14).

Warning issued by American Consulate in Mexico

Our coworker, Matt Bixby, recently posted this warning from the American Consulate to U.S. living or traveling in Mexico border cities such as Reynosa, Matamoros, and Monterrey. Because of the rising problem of organized crime and drug and turf wars, these areas of Mexico are becoming increasingly unsafe.

New Bible faculty member to be announced soon!

Those of you who receive our newsletters or follow our ministry know that we've been praying for several years for more faculty to teach in the university Theology program. Well, God has graciously chosen to answer that prayer and, Lord willing, within the next week or so we will be able to announce the name of the newest member of our Theology faculty.

More details soon!

John Piper, Rescue Hero®

The other day while we were driving to church, Jonathan and Christian were in the back of our van playing with their Rescue Hero action figures (which they usually play with as "army men"). As they were playing all of a sudden we heard Christian exclaim, "Help, John Piper's going to get me!" And then, "Ahhhhh, John Piper shot me!" Yes, they named one of their Rescue Heroes "John Piper."

A couple of weeks before, Jonathan read John Piper's name on a book I had in my office and asked me who he was. I told him. I guess he liked the name. I guess if I named my sons after famous preachers and authors, my sons can name their action figures after one.

We got a good laugh out of that one.

Ministry at mission

This week Chuy Alanís left our mission church for full-time deputation and thus I began my ministry as interim pastor. Please pray for us. In addition to preaching several times (2 or 3) a week, I will be seeking to effectively shepherd this group of young believers. Please pray that God will give us wisdom, humility and patience.

The emptiness of life without God

This video (below) has been floating around the internet today. I find it both insightful and heart-wrenching, especially the last few seconds where Tom Brady, one of America's most famous and successful super-stars admits that in spite of huge success he still hasn't found the happiness and satisfaction that he's looking for.

Here's what he says: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still feel there's something out there greater for me? . . . Me, I think 'God it's got to be more than this.'" At this point the interviewer asks "what do you think is the answer?", to which Brady responds in a somewhat saddened and desperate tone "I wish knew . . . I wish I knew."

Jesus said: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Check out the interview:

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

How to experience joy and not saddness this Christmas Season

“Do you want to know supreme joy, do you want to experience a happiness that eludes description? There is only one thing to do, really seek Him, seek Him Himself, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

If you find that your feelings are depressed do not sit down and commiserate with yourself, do not try to work something up but go directly to Him and seek His face, as the little child who is miserable and unhappy because somebody else has taken or broken his toy, runs to its father or its mother. So if you and I find ourselves afflicted by this condition, there is only one thing to do, it is to go to Him.

If you seek the Lord Jesus Christ and find him there is no need to worry about your happiness and your joy. He is our joy and our happiness, even as He is our peace. He is life, He is everything. So avoid the incitements and the temptations of Satan to give feelings this great prominence at the centre. Put at the centre the only One who has a right to be there, the Lord of Glory, Who so loved you that He went to the Cross and bore the punishment and the shame of your sins and died for you.”

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, 117-118

(HT: Of First Importance)

True Conversion

The other day I (again) ran across this, one of my favorite quotes by Dr. J.I. Packer (from his book Keep in Step with the Spirit):

"The only proof of past conversion is present convertedness."