Sunday night's service was my 31st church service in 31 days. I am sure that is a personal record! I have really enjoyed my time "off" and being able to visit several churches and go to several meetings. I never did really conclude my historia of the Texas trip from my previous 2 blogs, but now I've already been to the "Campvention" as well. There is so much to tell...I couldn't possibly get it all in! So just order the DVDs! ;-) I plan to watch them again myself...I was helping in the video department at the Campground, and it is difficult to really process what's being said in a meeting when you're working during the service.
One thing is for sure...my scale is way out of balance. God is calling on me to respond appropriately to the good things that I have received. Bro. Wilkinson used this illustration to explain how the grace of God works. He said that when John the Baptist told the Pharisees to bring forth fruit meet for repentance that the word "meet" is the same one translated "worthy" in many locations, and that it was a common market term used to refer to the process of weighing out the proper payment to buy a certain commodity. He calls us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. We are constantly indebted to God for His grace. We can never truly get the scale balanced, because as soon as we respond appropriately and get the scale moving in the right direction, He piles on more grace! I thought that this was a wonderful illustration of how God's grace doesn't give us license to sin; on the contrary, it obligates us to good works!
I thought of the scripture that says "To whom much is given, much is required." He's done so much for me, surely I am required to live for Him! We can't outgive God, but we can sure try to do as much as we can for Him. I remember what it meant to me as a child to hear my father say "I'm proud of you, son." It still means so much today to know that my dad is pleased with me. Just imagine what it would be like to hear our Heavenly Father say "Well done, my child." I want to make it!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Tex-Mex Trip Report (Part 2)
We got up extremely early Wednesday morning and got a ride across the border with Bro. Memo to get on a bus in Matamoros to go to Monterrey. It was about a 4-hour bus ride and they showed a couple of movies along the way. Of course, the movies were in Spanish so the rest of the crew couldn't get much out of it, and it was hard for me to follow as well! (It's much easier to understand someone speaking directly to you than a movie where you can't ask them to repeat something or to slow down!)
We arrived at the bus station in Monterrey and Bro. Jose Luis Medrano, the pastor of one of our three churches in the city, met us and served as chaffeur for the rest of our time in Mexico. Monterrey is a city of about 6 million people if you include the metro area, so as you can imagine, traffic is quite thick. Add to that the Mexican daredevil driving philosophy and we had several whiteknuckle near misses. (I was accustomed to Mexican driving since I'd been there before, but the others were definitely prayed up by the time we got to church that night! LOL) Bro. Jose Luis speaks a little English, but I served as translator the majority of the time. When he heard Eddie praying out loud and saw his expression of terror when a taxi stopped within inches of the van we were in, he did manage the English phrase "It's no problem, brother." I'm not sure that Eddie was particularly comforted. ;-)
We went to eat at Los Generales, a very nice buffet-style restaurant with LOTS of food. We all ate our fill (and probably more). I think that between the 4 of us, we probably gained 20+ pounds on this trip... It's definitely time to get back on my bike! After eating, we did a bit of shopping in the Artisan's Plaza in the downtown business district before getting to where we were staying for the night and getting ready for church.
Kyle and I stayed in Bro. Jose Luis's home. The air conditioning wasn't working in our room, and it was very hot while we were getting ready for church. Thankfully, we had a fan and the windows open during the night, and we slept quite comfortably.
The church that Bro. Jose Luis pastors is the newest body work in Mexico. It was quite an experience to visit there. The city of Monterrey is surrounded by mountains, and being so large, has some neighborhoods of great wealth as well as some of extreme poverty. All of the mountains have houses that are built right up the side, extending up perhaps a third of the way to the top. On some mountains, the houses are mansions and the wealthiest of the city live there. The views of the city are breathtaking.
On other mountains, the poorest people live up the mountain, and the neighborhoods are very poorly developed, with no roads wide enough to drive on leading up to the houses--only paths for people to walk up the mountainside to their homes. This church is in a very poor area of town, a few blocks from the base of one of the "poor mountains". Many of the people in the church have very little. Some of them live up the side of the mountain and have to walk some distance to get to church.
One brother in the church had a real desire to serve in the music department. He played the guitar but he wanted to learn the piano as well. The church had a little electronic keyboard, and Sis. Cora (the pastor's wife) showed him some of the basics and gave him some sheet music to practice with. He didn't have the money for a keyboard, so he actually drew out a piano keyboard on a peice of cardboard and practiced with the sheet music at home every week on his cardboard "piano". He came early for services and practiced on the actual keyboard some more. Finally, the church was able to purchase a nicer keyboard, and they gave the old keyboard to this brother so that he could practice at home with something better than his cardboard drawing of the keys. He played for some of the songs during the service and did quite well. What an example of dedication!
The other amazing story from this church is how it came to be in fellowship with us. This church had been a Pentecostal church pastored by Bro. Sergio and not affiliated with us. He was a pastor for 30 years. He started to fellowship with one of the other body churches in Monterrey and began to realize that there was a greater truth there than what he had.
After some time, he asked for a pastor to come and take over his church, and said that he wanted to just sit in the congregation under this ministry so that he could receive the truths that he lacked. What humility! Bro. Jose Luis was sent to pastor the church, and Bro. Sergio sat out in the congregation for some time, refusing to take a seat on the platform. After 2 or 3 months, Bro. Jose Luis urged him to sit on the platform as well, so he now works with him in the ministry again. No doubt God will richly bless Bro. Sergio for his willingness to submit to a younger man and his desire for greater truth.
Before service Wednesday night in Monterrey, we all stood to pray together. In Paducah, when we pray at the beginning of service, Bro. Encil says that we are standing to invite God in and to ask him to accept our sacrifice of praise. I began to pray to that effect in Monterrery that night, and when I asked God to accept our sacrifice, my heart was smitten within me. I thought, "My God, what sacrifice do I make compared with these people here?" We are blessed with such abundance in the American assemblies; I would encourage everyone to go into a mission field at least once and see the hunger that the people have for the Lord, notwithstanding their lack of material means. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. In our society which is so centered on material things, we must take care not to hunger and thirst after stuff. We cannot serve God and mammon. We must keep our priorities straight.
We had a wonderful service in Monterrey that night. I was the translator for the service, so I got plenty of practice with my Spanish! I had to translate both ways, depending on who was speaking. Then, after talking all night long interpreting for others, Bro. Jose Luis asked me to have something to say myself. He smiled and said "He's been preaching all night long, but I'd like him to preach some more!" I actually tried to translate for myself, but after a few minutes, I just told my 3 fellow Americans that they already knew a lot of what I was saying anyway and that I was just going to speak in Spanish. It was much easier that way!
After service we went to find somewhere to eat. Some of us were craving American food and they told Bro. Jose Luis that while we really loved it, we were actually getting a bit tired of Mexican food. It was late, so we had a bit of trouble finding an American-stlye restaurant that was still open. After perhaps 30-45 minutes of driving around, Bro. Jose Luis (who is constantly joking around or teasing someone) said "I'm getting worried that if I don't find something soon, you all will eat me!" As soon as I had translated this, Kyle replied, "No no, you don't have to worry. We already said we're getting tired of Mexican food!" LOL Kyle is quick! I think he really earned Bro. Jose Luis's respect after that! ;-)
We arrived at the bus station in Monterrey and Bro. Jose Luis Medrano, the pastor of one of our three churches in the city, met us and served as chaffeur for the rest of our time in Mexico. Monterrey is a city of about 6 million people if you include the metro area, so as you can imagine, traffic is quite thick. Add to that the Mexican daredevil driving philosophy and we had several whiteknuckle near misses. (I was accustomed to Mexican driving since I'd been there before, but the others were definitely prayed up by the time we got to church that night! LOL) Bro. Jose Luis speaks a little English, but I served as translator the majority of the time. When he heard Eddie praying out loud and saw his expression of terror when a taxi stopped within inches of the van we were in, he did manage the English phrase "It's no problem, brother." I'm not sure that Eddie was particularly comforted. ;-)
We went to eat at Los Generales, a very nice buffet-style restaurant with LOTS of food. We all ate our fill (and probably more). I think that between the 4 of us, we probably gained 20+ pounds on this trip... It's definitely time to get back on my bike! After eating, we did a bit of shopping in the Artisan's Plaza in the downtown business district before getting to where we were staying for the night and getting ready for church.
Kyle and I stayed in Bro. Jose Luis's home. The air conditioning wasn't working in our room, and it was very hot while we were getting ready for church. Thankfully, we had a fan and the windows open during the night, and we slept quite comfortably.
The church that Bro. Jose Luis pastors is the newest body work in Mexico. It was quite an experience to visit there. The city of Monterrey is surrounded by mountains, and being so large, has some neighborhoods of great wealth as well as some of extreme poverty. All of the mountains have houses that are built right up the side, extending up perhaps a third of the way to the top. On some mountains, the houses are mansions and the wealthiest of the city live there. The views of the city are breathtaking.
On other mountains, the poorest people live up the mountain, and the neighborhoods are very poorly developed, with no roads wide enough to drive on leading up to the houses--only paths for people to walk up the mountainside to their homes. This church is in a very poor area of town, a few blocks from the base of one of the "poor mountains". Many of the people in the church have very little. Some of them live up the side of the mountain and have to walk some distance to get to church.
One brother in the church had a real desire to serve in the music department. He played the guitar but he wanted to learn the piano as well. The church had a little electronic keyboard, and Sis. Cora (the pastor's wife) showed him some of the basics and gave him some sheet music to practice with. He didn't have the money for a keyboard, so he actually drew out a piano keyboard on a peice of cardboard and practiced with the sheet music at home every week on his cardboard "piano". He came early for services and practiced on the actual keyboard some more. Finally, the church was able to purchase a nicer keyboard, and they gave the old keyboard to this brother so that he could practice at home with something better than his cardboard drawing of the keys. He played for some of the songs during the service and did quite well. What an example of dedication!
The other amazing story from this church is how it came to be in fellowship with us. This church had been a Pentecostal church pastored by Bro. Sergio and not affiliated with us. He was a pastor for 30 years. He started to fellowship with one of the other body churches in Monterrey and began to realize that there was a greater truth there than what he had.
After some time, he asked for a pastor to come and take over his church, and said that he wanted to just sit in the congregation under this ministry so that he could receive the truths that he lacked. What humility! Bro. Jose Luis was sent to pastor the church, and Bro. Sergio sat out in the congregation for some time, refusing to take a seat on the platform. After 2 or 3 months, Bro. Jose Luis urged him to sit on the platform as well, so he now works with him in the ministry again. No doubt God will richly bless Bro. Sergio for his willingness to submit to a younger man and his desire for greater truth.
Before service Wednesday night in Monterrey, we all stood to pray together. In Paducah, when we pray at the beginning of service, Bro. Encil says that we are standing to invite God in and to ask him to accept our sacrifice of praise. I began to pray to that effect in Monterrery that night, and when I asked God to accept our sacrifice, my heart was smitten within me. I thought, "My God, what sacrifice do I make compared with these people here?" We are blessed with such abundance in the American assemblies; I would encourage everyone to go into a mission field at least once and see the hunger that the people have for the Lord, notwithstanding their lack of material means. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. In our society which is so centered on material things, we must take care not to hunger and thirst after stuff. We cannot serve God and mammon. We must keep our priorities straight.
We had a wonderful service in Monterrey that night. I was the translator for the service, so I got plenty of practice with my Spanish! I had to translate both ways, depending on who was speaking. Then, after talking all night long interpreting for others, Bro. Jose Luis asked me to have something to say myself. He smiled and said "He's been preaching all night long, but I'd like him to preach some more!" I actually tried to translate for myself, but after a few minutes, I just told my 3 fellow Americans that they already knew a lot of what I was saying anyway and that I was just going to speak in Spanish. It was much easier that way!
After service we went to find somewhere to eat. Some of us were craving American food and they told Bro. Jose Luis that while we really loved it, we were actually getting a bit tired of Mexican food. It was late, so we had a bit of trouble finding an American-stlye restaurant that was still open. After perhaps 30-45 minutes of driving around, Bro. Jose Luis (who is constantly joking around or teasing someone) said "I'm getting worried that if I don't find something soon, you all will eat me!" As soon as I had translated this, Kyle replied, "No no, you don't have to worry. We already said we're getting tired of Mexican food!" LOL Kyle is quick! I think he really earned Bro. Jose Luis's respect after that! ;-)
Monday, June 4, 2007
Tex-Mex Trip Report (Part 1)
I just got back tonight from a loooonngg trip to the border and beyond. I had a great time, but I'm glad to be back home (for a few days, at least). Four of us from church went together: Eddie and Kim, Kyle, and me. We intended to visit several churches in Mexico, but ended up visiting more in Texas and only 2 in Mexico itself. Here's a brief rundown of the trip:
We left Paducah Friday, May 25th and drove about 15 hours to Houston. With stops it actually took a bit longer. We got into Houston after midnight and stopped over in a hotel for the night.
We drove about 6 more hours into Brownsville, TX Saturday and attended a graduation banquet for the 7 high school grads from the Brownsville assembly. We ate there and then went for a late snack afterward as well. I was craving some real tacos (barbacoa, made with lengua and cachete; mmmmm).
Sunday morning we had a really good service in Brownsville and a young man received the Holy Ghost who had been seeking it for a long time. He was from the church in Mission, TX--about an hour down the road. What a blessing to be there for a spiritual birth! After service we went out with the Rodriguezes to Taco Palenque and had the best fajitas ever.
Sunday night we went to the church in Mission. As Bro. Hugo later reported, the four of us worked as a great team in that service. Kyle played the piano, I sang, and Eddie and Kim prayed with people. We tried to do our part, but it was truly God who gave the increase! Two more people in Mission were baptized with the Holy Spirit that night! One of them was a young man who had been attending the church for several months and is now helping to interpret during the services. The other was the grandmother of the man who received the Holy Ghost that morning in Brownsville!
Monday we did a bit of sight-seeing. We went to Port Isabel to see the lighthouse on our way to South Padre Island. We met up on the Island with some old friends of Kim's and had lunch with them and visited at their home afterward. They were very nice and had a beatiful home with a great view of the bay. (Next time I go to South Padre, I'm calling ahead to make reservations to go parasailing. It looks like a blast!) That night it was back to Brownsville for the teaching service. Bro. Budd was in town and taught on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. There were several visitors who really enjoyed the teaching, asking follow-up questions as well. This night was a nice break for us; we got to sit and listen and didn't have to talk!
Tuesday we were invited for lunch at the Gonzalez's house. We ate so much good food on this trip, but this was probably the best meal we had...stuffed peppers, rice, manzanita soda, and 2 different kinds of desserts. Wow. That night we went to San Benito, Texas for a home meeting. It was a small crowd, but the spirit was sweet. A sister has opened up her house to have meetings there every Tuesday night. There was one elderly sister there that was just so sweet and thankful for all of us being there. She kept praying for God to bless us. They normally have just a guitar in these services, but since they heard a piano player was coming, they managed to find a toy keyboard for Kyle to play on. It wasn't a grand piano, but they worshipped just as well. While we were in San Benito, Bro. Budd was in Mission for their weekly teaching service. There was a sister there in Mission who had seen the others receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit 2 days before. She had even asked Kim about it, and said that she didn't know if she could receive the Holy Ghost since she had been raised Catholic. Kim had assured her that God's Spirit is a gift available to all. So Tuesday night she asked Bro. Budd about the Holy Ghost: what it is and how she could receive it. He got very inspired while teaching on this subject, and they prayed for this sister there during the teaching service and she too received the Holy Ghost baptism! So that makes four people from one church that received the Holy Ghost in the same week! What a boost that's sure to be for the Mission assembly.
We left Paducah Friday, May 25th and drove about 15 hours to Houston. With stops it actually took a bit longer. We got into Houston after midnight and stopped over in a hotel for the night.
We drove about 6 more hours into Brownsville, TX Saturday and attended a graduation banquet for the 7 high school grads from the Brownsville assembly. We ate there and then went for a late snack afterward as well. I was craving some real tacos (barbacoa, made with lengua and cachete; mmmmm).
Sunday morning we had a really good service in Brownsville and a young man received the Holy Ghost who had been seeking it for a long time. He was from the church in Mission, TX--about an hour down the road. What a blessing to be there for a spiritual birth! After service we went out with the Rodriguezes to Taco Palenque and had the best fajitas ever.
Sunday night we went to the church in Mission. As Bro. Hugo later reported, the four of us worked as a great team in that service. Kyle played the piano, I sang, and Eddie and Kim prayed with people. We tried to do our part, but it was truly God who gave the increase! Two more people in Mission were baptized with the Holy Spirit that night! One of them was a young man who had been attending the church for several months and is now helping to interpret during the services. The other was the grandmother of the man who received the Holy Ghost that morning in Brownsville!
Monday we did a bit of sight-seeing. We went to Port Isabel to see the lighthouse on our way to South Padre Island. We met up on the Island with some old friends of Kim's and had lunch with them and visited at their home afterward. They were very nice and had a beatiful home with a great view of the bay. (Next time I go to South Padre, I'm calling ahead to make reservations to go parasailing. It looks like a blast!) That night it was back to Brownsville for the teaching service. Bro. Budd was in town and taught on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. There were several visitors who really enjoyed the teaching, asking follow-up questions as well. This night was a nice break for us; we got to sit and listen and didn't have to talk!
Tuesday we were invited for lunch at the Gonzalez's house. We ate so much good food on this trip, but this was probably the best meal we had...stuffed peppers, rice, manzanita soda, and 2 different kinds of desserts. Wow. That night we went to San Benito, Texas for a home meeting. It was a small crowd, but the spirit was sweet. A sister has opened up her house to have meetings there every Tuesday night. There was one elderly sister there that was just so sweet and thankful for all of us being there. She kept praying for God to bless us. They normally have just a guitar in these services, but since they heard a piano player was coming, they managed to find a toy keyboard for Kyle to play on. It wasn't a grand piano, but they worshipped just as well. While we were in San Benito, Bro. Budd was in Mission for their weekly teaching service. There was a sister there in Mission who had seen the others receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit 2 days before. She had even asked Kim about it, and said that she didn't know if she could receive the Holy Ghost since she had been raised Catholic. Kim had assured her that God's Spirit is a gift available to all. So Tuesday night she asked Bro. Budd about the Holy Ghost: what it is and how she could receive it. He got very inspired while teaching on this subject, and they prayed for this sister there during the teaching service and she too received the Holy Ghost baptism! So that makes four people from one church that received the Holy Ghost in the same week! What a boost that's sure to be for the Mission assembly.
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