Open Air Preaching

If preaching the gospel aloud inside a hospital counts as open air preaching then I open air preached for the first time in my life yesterday! Glory be to God!!
The first Sunday of every month we go to Robert Reid Children's Hospital to pray for the children and their mother, to evangelize, and give away cookies and juice to children and sometimes to both children and mom. Every Tuesday the week before we have a general meeting in which we pray for the ministry, for everybody who's participating, and if there are special prayer requests we include them in the prayer as well, we discuss which verse(s) we will be sharing with them and Flora, the leader of the ministry, updates us on any child we wanted to follow-up after the last visit.
After much prayer I decided I wanted to preach this time and so last Tuesday when Flora was assigning the different tasks to people, she asked Marisol to preach and since I wanted to be on Marisol's team Flora put me on her team AND made it clear that I was going to be preaching as well with Marisol! I was quite nervous but nodded in agreement. Needless to say I prayed for boldness and courage I also prayed that the gospel would be preached correctly and that souls would be saved. Because I like to write so much I did a little outline on what I would be preaching from the verses we were to be sharing with the people at the hospital.
The verses were, from Romans my all-time favorite, Romans 6:23, 3:23, 5:8, but sometimes things don't go as planned, as Christians we should all know that while we make our plans the Lord we serve is Sovereign, I forgot my outline at home and the notepad I was planning on taking to write down the names of the children I wanted Flora to follow up, but I had read the outline and the verses so many times before that I can safely say the Holy Spirit engraved it in my heart and mind.
We got to the hospital, as usual gathered in a circle on the parking lot and prayed. We divided into teams and divided the cookies and juices in bags so that each team would get a bag of cookies and a bag of juices. Our team got the right wing of the third floor but we ended up taking the left wing, Marisol preached on the first 2 rooms of 12-18 beds and I got the other two rooms. A revival didn't break loose and people didn't fall on the floor crying in repentance but the gospel was preached and the seed was planted, there were a few kids and mothers who seemed receptive I only pray that the may be saved.
The Lord is so good! and I say that because, well its true, this is truly an honor and a blessing to be able to freely preach the gospel without being stoned, mocked, or persecuted. Not only that but we get to glorify God through the preaching of the gospel and souls are saved!
Other things happened at this monthly visit. Because I live in a nation that endorses idolatry and superstition a lot of these mothers or family of the patients have their children wear these red bracelets called Azabache, its basically a red bracelet with a black rock (the azabache) which hangs from it, that supposedly has magical powers and protects against evil spirits (the irony of it) and so it is quite the battle when going to share about Christ to confront these mothers and tell them that it is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, that they're putting their faith in an idol when they should be putting their faith in Christ, and that they're opening doors to the evil spirits those things are supposed to protect their children from. Well during our visit one of the other groups had such an encounter and by the grace of God the mother took the bracelet off of her child, she claimed her mother had put it on her child.
Please pray for the children of this hospital and their families who heard the gospel, pray for their healing and for the ministry I belong to at church, thanks in advanced!

Therapy?

One of the questions we were asked that tuesday a week ago, was if we had some sort of support group because of the things we see and have to go through at the hospital, Robert Reid. While I immediately thought well no our support group is God, He sustains us and helps us bear the burden, I kept thinking about it a lot and the thought of a support group began to sound appealing. More so in my case because I've been seeing people whom I've come to cherish die in front of me since I started going to the hospitals, but I realized that always always the Lord has been my strength. Then today I read one of my favorite passages from Isaiah and realized what better therapy or cure than God's amazing Word He has left us, and His Holy Spirit who dwells in us to help us bear such burdens.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31

Amen! What an amazing God the Lord is!
And when we think about this in light of the Gospel it is even more amazing, how blessed we are and how we are blessed daily by the Lord being so undeserving of such Grace!
Thank you Lord Jesus!

Grace Gems: Work for God's Eye

Work for God's eye

(J. R. Miller, "In Green Pastures")

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness'
before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you
will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1

No grace shines more brightly in a Christian,
than humility. Wherever SELF comes in--it
mars the beauty of the work we are doing.
Seek to do your work noiselessly. Do not try
to draw attention to yourself--to make others
know that you did some beautiful thing. Be
content to pour your rich life into other wasted,
weary lives--and see them blessed and made
more holy--and then hide away and let Christ
have the honor. Work for God's eye--and even
then, do not think much about reward. Seek to
be a blessing--and never think of self-glory.

"Then your Father, who sees what is done
in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:4

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Prayer Request

If there is a powerful tool the Lord has left us, that changes a person, it edifies, it connects us to the Lord, connects us to others, it brings us to our knees, it brings us closer to God, through it the Lord heals, through it the Lord transforms, through it the Lord delivers, it is prayer.
In the OT we are given so many examples of God's faithfulness to answer the prayers of a faithful servant, Moses. We are told in God's word to:
1. Confess our sins to one another
2. Pray for another, that we may be healed.
And finally are told that:
3. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (and we see this come true all through out the OT and NT)
* James 5:16

Well now I urge you brethren to join me and so many others in prayer for a faithful brother in Christ who is going through some health issues, Jim Bublitz from Old Truth, here's part his closing message from his website:

I have, as of late experienced some medical problems that make it impossible for me to continue blogging at this time. I recently learned that I have "Non Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the Liver" which will require a liver transplant in order to survive beyond the next several years. For the past month I've spent a double-digit number of hours per day sleeping and have lost over 60 pounds in water retention. As some of you know, I've also been battling broken bones this last year, several of which are still giving me some problems.

Through all of this, my family and church in Milwaukee have been incredibly supportive, and I'd like to thank them all. A special thanks goes out to Chad who has not only helped me with blogging through the months, but has also been a loyal friend and brother in the Lord. I am looking to the Lord through all of this and know that he has good that comes from these things (Romans 8:28). I'm at a loss as to how unbelievers are able to make it through these types of things without looking to the Lord for strength.

I would love to return to blogging one day, perhaps after I receive a transplant, but that may be months or even a couple of years. For right now, I've been told to expect to get more sick as the months go on, so needless to say - I have some big challenges ahead of me.

Please pray for Jim and his family, that they may be strengthened through this hard time in their lives, that they may be encouraged through this, that the Lord may heal him, and that contrary to what the doctors have told him about feeling worse that the Lord may delay or stop those symptoms that are to come.

Thanks!

Sony Ericksson Ad

This is not a usual post I just thought i'd add it anyway for some giggles...if you ever wanted a chance to see me look like a dork here's the chance..our youth leader is a publicist and so a few weeks ago we all went to the movies, he had invited us and had told us that he'd get us a discount for the premier of Narnia II. Anyways we get to the movie theater and we already have reserved seats up front not knowing that soon after we would be totally spoofed!
Without further adieu, the video:

He was behind the whole thing, he works for sony ericksson and that day they were recording all these spoofs all over town. Afterward he had to go to Bella Vista Mall to do the same thing, he invited us again, here's the video:

Fellowship, Missions and Stonecrest

Where to begin.

This week has been amazing, encouraging, edifying...I'm at a loss for words (adjectives really). Last Friday my phone rang while at the ER of the Hospital Padre Billini during my shift, it was Flora. She had called to remind me that Don and the gang where coming back to Robert Reid and that I should be there Sunday at 3:00pm sharp. She was actually wondering if I remembered, I had it written down already in my calendar since last they were here, Don insisted we both be there and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. A chance to go witnessing and share the love of Christ with children who get the exact opposite, who would pass on such an opportunity?.
So Sunday morning I went to church, afterwards spent some time with my mom, and finally the time had come to head to the hospital. Around 3:30-45pm we meet up with the gang, a group of 57 people lead by Don Coords, and other leaders such as Tom Mckenna and his wife Debbie, Tania, Juan Velasco his wife Lynn, Janet, John and others. We split up into group as we are accustomed to, and each group had 2 translators, there were 5 groups.
My group was composed of Pastor Tom, Debbie, Juan, John, Tom and Debbie's sons, and I, we got to go to the Pre-Surgical and head trauma floor.

"Armed with a bag of goodies and hand puppets, we stopped at every bed and told each child and their parents of God's love for them. We also prayed. We prayed for healing, we prayed for comfort, and we prayed for their families" - Thomas Mckenna

As always there were some more delicate patients who I know for sure will not make it, and its always so heartbreaking but I know the Lord is in control, and that even in those situations He is glorified.
After the day was over Don invited us (Flora, Marysel, Marisol and I) over to dinner at the Lina, we accepted his kind offer. I was so glad to see everyone there, its a joy when you get to felloswhip with brothers and sister in Christ from other parts of the world. We had a wonderful time talking about our experience at the hospital that Sunday and about what they've been doing in Catalina. When we finished having our meal Don invited us over to their after-dinner meeting they usually have each day. We accepted as well although it was getting rather late.
I was overwhelmed with the kindness and attention they had given us, its amazing how the love of Christ and the love for Christ and His cause joins peoples from different nationalities and tongues. In light of that Marysel stood in front of us and sang a few familiar songs, two of them in english. It was a lovely worship time in thankfulness to our Lord for His abounding Grace and Love.
Afterwards we had a Q and A moment, talked about some of the patients, the situation with the hospital, the ministry Flora leads, our Church and how Don and Flora met and eventually both ministries came together. It was an edifying moment, for me it was great to learn how the Lord orchestrates His plans and blesses those that are walking in His ways.
Sadly the night came to an end, many hugs and kisses were shared, numbers and emails were exchanged to keep in contact.
I was touched deeply by this experience, all I could think was "Lord thank you for allowing me to be a part of this", I'm so unworthy of all the grace He has bestowed upon me and yet He has given me the privilege to work for His cause for His glory, by being a part of the ministry Flora leads and by playing a small part in Don's missionary ministry and the gang at Stonecrest.
I was awestruck as well by how much love can sprout in such little time for such wonderful people. My prayer is that the Lord may continue to be glorified through all of us, that the kingdom may be forwarded and that the Gospel may continue to be proclaimed!

In Christ,
Rita M.

Reading Classics RAL - Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards

Yesterday we began with the Reading Classics Together RAL (Read-along), the book chosen for this round is Jonathan Edward's Treatise on The Religious Affections. The assigned reading for yesterday was the preface of the book. I found the preface to be very meaty actually. Edwards really emphasizes on discerning true religion from false religion and explains in details the way Satan causes strife among the Church and the consequences of the lack of discernment. I couldn't agree more with Edwards, and more so because of what I've seen and read about the things happening during these times in the Church.
Edwards says that the greatest danger is having a mixture of false religion and true religion because we are deceived into thinking that what we are doing, what we offer God, is pleasing to Him when in fact it is abominable and people as well are deceived into thinking they are saved when truly they are not. So basically it all boils down to that, discernment. I have been discussing the very same thing with one of the doctors at the hospital I'm currently at, who has recently been revived by God's word after such a long period of starvation partly because of the church he attends.

All in all, it was a great read, I absolutely loved it. Its not an easy read, at least not for me, because it is written in English from those times, if you know what I mean. So I did have to re-read the preface but to my delight.
Here is my little outline of what I got from the preface:

In the first paragraph Edwards poses three questions(well two of those questions are basically the same only posed differently):
1. “What are the distinguishing qualifications of those that are in favor with God, and entitled to his eternal rewards? Or, which comes to the same thing,
2. What is the nature of true religion?
3. And wherein do lie the distinguishing notes of that virtue and holiness that is acceptable in the sight of God?”

Then he basically explains why these questions need to be answered. The importance of knowing the difference b/n True Religion and False Religion. As someone explained, since there were great “revivals” going on back in the day it is important to discern if such revivals were an act of God, or if they were Satan’s way of causing division among the brethren. Because amidst these revivals much false religion prevailed and multitudes of hypocrites sprung up among true saints.

He describes the way Satan has caused strife, damage and division in the Church:
By the mixture of Counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished is that the devil has:
- Prevailed against all revivings of religion.
- Hurt the cause of Christianity (even more than by all the persecutions of both Jews and Heathens)
- Prevailed against New England, to quench the love and spoil the joy of her spousals.
And says that it will continue to be that way in the Church until we learn to discern between true and false religion, between saving affections and experiences. He says than when these revivals occur and we don’t distinguish between true and false religion, between saving affections and experiences:
The devil is gratified by making us think that the way these revivals occur, that what we are doing is pleasing and acceptable to God when in fact it is abominable to Him. And so it is that the devil deceives many about the state of their souls, making them think they’re saved when they are not.
And finally describes the consequence of said lack of discernment, the devil:
- Damps and wounds religion in the hearts of the saints, obscures and deforms it.
- Causes their religious affections woefully to degenerate, and to be like the manna that bred worms and stank; and dreadfully ensnares and confounds the minds of others of the saints and brings them into great difficulties and temptation,
- He encourages the hearts of open enemies of religion, and strengthens their hands, and fills them with weapons, and makes strong their fortresses; when, at the same time, religion and the church of God lie exposed to them, as a city without walls.
- he brings it to pass, that men work wickedness under a notion of doing God service, and so sin without restraint.
- he brings in even the friends of religion, insensibly to themselves, to do the work of enemies, by destroying religion in a far more effectual manner than open enemies can do, under a notion of advancing it.
The worst consequence of it all is that the devil manages to scatter the flock of Christ, and sets them one against another, and in this way religion, “by degrees degenerates into vain jangling; and during the strife, Satan leads both parties far out of the right way, driving each to great extremes, according as he finds they are most inclined, or most easily moved and swayed, till the right path in the middle is almost wholly neglected.”
If there would be a keyword to describe the introduction, the keyword would be discernment, as someone else mentioned in one of their post I believe. The importance of discernment would be the theme. At least that’s what I understood from what I read and re-read in the introduction.

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Religious Affections

TAGGED! - 7 Random Facts

Well I've been tagged, yay! By my friend and sister in Christ Jennifer from Reformed SHEology.
Sadly I can't tag 7 people back so whoever wants to do the tag thing either by commenting or doing it on your own blog feel free to do so! These are the rules: Post seven random things about you that others might not know and tag 7 people back. So here goes:

1. I Like Making Lists of Everything: prayer list, list of clothes I take when I travel, lists of things I'm planning on buying, lists of books I'm reading, I'll read a chapter in any book in the bible and will make a list of things I understood from it, a list of what I'll eat during the day, etc

2. I love to sing. I sang in front of over 3,000 people (during flag ceremony in high school) with my friend Susie, yet I will not sing in front you even if you're my best friend on this earth.

3. I once waited for hours in a movie set right here in the Dominican Republic to catch a glimpse of the actors starring in the movie being filmed (The Good Shepherd), Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Robert Deniro. The Outcome? I took a picture with Matt Damon, saw Angelina Jolie up close, never saw Brad Pitt and Robert Deniro waved back at me. Did this change me in any way? heck no but it was pretty cool that I didn't even have to leave my country to catch a glimpse of these people.
During that same time I also met, Jaime Foxx. The weirdest yet hilarious movie star encounter ever. My mom and I were out shopping, while I was in the dressing room trying on some clothes my mom was outside advicing Mr. Foxx not to buy a skirt he was going to buy for his mom I guess (bear in mind that this was all through some sort of hand waving sign language because my mom cannot speak an ounce of english) As I exited the dressing room I saw this tall dark man that looked like Jaime Foxx and I thought hmmm maybe I should walk up to him and tell him he looks like that tv actor Jaime Foxx. So I did, he replied..."I am Jaime Foxx". I had him sign me an autograph which by now i've probably misplaced.


4. I love to read, a LOT, but it never ever crossed my mind that the one book I'd have such a passion for would be the same book over 3 years ago I had said was filled with mistakes and shouldn't be considered. The Bible.

5. I love to learn new things but I hate instruction manuals I never read them. I get these random ideas of things I'd like to learn and with a little help of the Internet I end up learning. Thats how I learned to knit, to use photoshop, I was even learning hebrew that way but had to drop it because I didn't have time.


6. Before I wanted to be a doctor I wanted to be a veterinarian. My parents to test me I guess got me a job at the local Vet's office and for 2 weeks I worked there I even saw a surgery done on a female dog! It was amazing. What made me change my mind? a puppy I had was poisoned with rat poisoning, I took him to the Vet's office at like 2am he was having seizures and ultimately died, the poison was too strong and he was too young, barely two months old. I was too sad and decided I couldn't take watching any more puppies die. Of course I had never seen a person die, and much less a child. These are things that truly change a person forever.

7. I can't get enough of card games (not the ones you bet on) especially Solitaire and one called vietnam. During my senior year in high school our English Lit teacher Mr. Fischer, taught me, Omar and Susie how to play Vietnam. We spent that entire year playing at every chance we got.

Grace Gems: All the afflictions of God's people

All the afflictions of God's people

(John Fawcett, "Christ Precious")

"We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4

The chastisements of Christ are precious to those who believe. The believer's love to Jesus Christ, not only continues under the rod of correction—but is quickened and increased by it! Thus it is distinguished from that pretended love, which exists only in times of prosperity. The afflicted Christian is enabled to consider--that whom the Lord loves--He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives; and that He only afflicts us for our profit--to make us partakers of His holiness.

The Lord can so manifest Himself to His afflicted people--that the season of affliction shall be to them a season of great consolation. He is to them--a fountain of life, of strength, of grace and comfort in the afflictive hour--and of His fullness they receive, as their necessities require. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sun to enlighten and cheer His afflicted followers, and a shield to defend them. He is a hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tempest, and as the shadow of a great rock in a dry and weary land.

All the afflictions of God's people are designed, under His gracious management--to test, to make manifest, and to exercise, those graces and virtues which He has implanted in them. Though afflictions in themselves are not joyous but grievous, nevertheless they yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness in those who are exercised thereby. Afflictions serve to quicken the spirit of devotion in us; and to rouse us from that formality and indifference which frequently attend a long course of ease and prosperity. We are constrained to seek God with sincerity and fervor, when His chastening hand is upon us, since we then feel our absolute need of that help and deliverance, which He alone can give us.

When the loss of any temporal enjoyment casts us into excessive despondency and dejection--it is evident that what we have lost, was the object of our inordinate love. The most innocent attachments cease to be innocent, when they press too strongly upon us! To cleave to any created object, and to look for happiness from it--is to make an idol of it--and set it up in God's place. Should this object be a friend, a brother, a wife, or a child--the idolatry is still odious in the eyes of that God, to whom we owe our chief affection. Our warmest passions, our most fervent love, desires, hopes, and confidences--should always have God for their object. It is His desire that our happiness should not center in any of the good things of this life.

Losses and disappointments--are the trials of our faith, our patience, and our obedience. When we are in the midst of prosperity, it is difficult to know whether we have a love for the Benefactor--or only for His benefits. It is in the midst of adversity--that our piety is put to the trial.

Afflictions serve most effectually--to convince us of the vanity of all that this world can afford--to remind us that this is not our rest--and to stir up desires and hopes for our everlasting home. They produce in us a spirit of sympathy towards our companions in tribulation. They give occasion for the exercise of patience, meekness, submission, and resignation. Were it not for the wholesome and necessary discipline of affliction--these excellent virtues would lie dormant. Afflictions serve to convince us more deeply of our own weakness and insufficiency, and to endear the person, the grace, the promises, and the salvation of our Redeemer, more and more to our hearts. Thus we are taught to esteem His very chastisements as precious--on account of the benefits we derive from them.

Afflictions are not to punish--but to purify the believing soul. They are not in wrath--but in mercy. Amidst the distresses and miseries of life--it is a felicity to belong to Christ, without whose permission and appointment, no evil can befall us! He always sends afflictions for our good; and knows by experience, what it is to suffer them. His kind hand will speedily put a end to all the pains we feel--when we have derived from them all the good which He intends to do for us, by them.

How many, how suitable, how sovereign are the supports our heavenly Father affords to His afflicted children! They make the affliction, which in itself would seem heavy and tedious--appear to be light, and but for a moment. It is happier to be in the furnace of affliction with these supports--than to be in the highest prosperity without them! Blessed with the hopes and comforts of Christ--the true Christian would prefer the lot of Lazarus, with all the poverty and distress which he endured--to the lot of the rich man, who, amidst all the splendor and affluence which this world could afford--lived a life of alienation from God, and destitute of the sovereign supports which can only be enjoyed, by those who love and fear Him.

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A Fearful Thing

Need to cringe for a second or two? Or maybe be terrified and/or annoyed for a paragraph or two?
A sister in Christ sent me a couple of articles from the Pulpit Magazine about a visit to Mars Hill. The writer, Nathan Williams, describes the whole event from the moment he entered the church to the worship time, to what the Sunday sermon was about. Taking in consideration that Mars Hill is pastored by Rob Bell of the emergent/emerging(?) church movement. Here are some excerpts:

"The teachers for the morning were Don Perini and Jeanette Banashak. Both serve as professors at nearby Cornerstone University...These two were specifically asked to speak on creativity because it is one of their specialties. They announce a couple of times during the message that they will be teaching a multi part class in the coming months at Mars Hill on creativity."

"The dual teaching method creates an interesting dynamic. One person sits on a stool on stage while the other does his (or her) teaching..."

"The title for the message the morning I was there was “A Journey to Unleash Your Creative Potential.”"

"Don began the morning by lamenting the fact that as we grow older we tend to play less games and tend to be less creative. The busyness of life creeps in and we no longer take the time to play and imagine. Once Don finishes his introduction, Jeanette asks us to open to Matthew 28 and take a look at the great commission. She reminds us that we are supposed to be making disciples and baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She makes the connection between the Trinity and the discipleship commanded in the great commission."

"...She noted that the first verb in the Bible is to create and that obviously our God is a creative God. Since Genesis 1:26 tells us that we are made in the image of God, we must learn to be creative like God is creative. Then she explained that since God is a Trinity the Trinity must hold some clues as to how God is creative and therefore how we should be creative."

"The entire message was based on the idea that every bit of human creativity resembles the Trinity. The creative idea we have is like God the Father, the action that we perform because of that idea is like the Son, and the influence and power of that creative idea is like the Holy Spirit."

"...after Jeanette taught on the idea of creativity and that being analogous to God the Father, Dan taught on the top ten places for creative ideas to come to us. After the section dealing with Jesus and the creative idea being put into action, Dan taught on several habits of creative people."

"The ultimate point of the message was for us to learn to be creative and then use that creativity for something useful. The Sayers quote which they kept using throughout the lesson was “…that we may redeem the Fall by a creative act.” "

"The point of the message was that we can use our creativity to redeem the fall. In other words, our world is in a rough situation. All of the pain and hardship in society comes as a result of the fall. We must use our creativity to fix the problems created by mankind’s fall into sin.""
"Sadly, throughout the message there was no mention of the gospel of Jesus Christ being what redeems men from the fall."

Ugh to twist Scripture like that!!! We can use our creativity to redeem the fall!??? JESUS CHRIST, the HOLY SON of GOD had to DIE on a Cross, BEAR OUR NASTY HORRIBLE STINKY SINS AND drink in God's WRATH, He was HUMILIATED, SPAT ON, TORTURED, BEATEN and CRUCIFIED so that we PUNY exceedingly sinful men and women could be redeemed, so we could be justified before the Lord. He got what WE DESERVE. And these people have the guts to even utter those words that with our filthy rags of good "creative" works we can redeem the fall?? Talk about spitting on the Blood of Christ and trampling on His work on the cross.
I'm sorry I just get a little annoyed at things like these, please pray for these people who received this teaching. And pray for me as well!

Fear of Man - Part 2

I've been struggling with fear of man for quite some time now, but I've found out that there are some people, situations and/or things that are said that can inhibit said fear and let the Holy Spirit fill me with boldness to preach the Gospel to whomever, including family.
This happened last weekend at my dad's friend's home. They were having a goodbye/birthday dinner, they as in my dad's tennis players life-long friends (at least 6 of them out of a group of over 10 men) and atheists apparently. There was still one friend that had not arrived and one of the guys seized the opportunity to mock the fact that he is now a Christian, saying that he hadn't arrived cause his pastor had not given him permission to hang out with them. For some reason I felt so offended and in various occasions asked Mr. Mocker politely to stop mocking him, then one thing led to another and before I knew it one of the men, one who had been living in the US for quite some time (and the birthday boy that night), said "I don't think we are all that bad to be condemned by any religion" O the evangelist in me pushed away that fear of man and seized that beautifully phrased proclamation of man's goodness.
I took all them through the 10 commandments, all were guilty duh!, and explained that the Bible says that if you break but one of them you are guilty of breaking them all, and that we are condemned to hell unless we repent and put our faith in the Saviour Jesus Christ. Unsurprisingly Mr. Birthdayboy tried to defend himself by saying that the Bible was written by men and thus filled with mistakes and that because of this it couldn't be trusted, I replied back with a question "Have you read the Bible entirely?" obviously he hadn't, so I told him that it was ignorant of him to say such a thing. Then he and Mr. Mocker jumped unto the evolution vs. creation topic asking how on earth I could believe in creation being a medical student, funny thing is most evolution defenders who aren't scientist cannot mention one fossil or one piece of evidence to back their claim. The conversation soon ended but with a promise to continue at a future time.
The only one there that wasn't an atheist was Mr. Agnostic who sat beside me, when the conversation wined down he turned to me and said "I believe in God, just not the God of the Bible" I replied that what he was doing was idolatry conforming a god to suit himself a god he's comfortable with and while he disagreed about committing idolatry he agreed that this god he prayed to every night was one he was comfortable with.
While it saddens me that these people whom are dear to me didn't repent that night and so continue to live their sinful lives, I was glad to be able to preach the gospel yet again to my dad. Father's day is coming up soon, I plan to get him a fishing rod, he went on a fishing trip with some family friends a couple of months ago and came back like a kid with a new toy telling me how me and him are going to go fishing and how he plans to buy a boat. I pray to the Lord that I may be able to once more push aside this disease called fear of man and let the Holy Spirit do His work and use this opportunity to be a real fisher of man and preach the gospel to my dad for the third and fourth and fifth time during our fishing trips.

Until Next Time,
Rita M.

Time for a Change

After much thought, consideration and prayer, I've decided to cut my internet/blogging days to thursdays(For Challies' Reading Classics Together, read-along), fridays and saturdays due to some adjustments I need to make. So new posts probably will be up on saturdays, and the rest of the week, except for thursdays, I won't even be using the computer. Hopefully this will do me good, it'll work out for God's glory, and will be edifying for me in many ways.

Till next time,
Rita M.

God is Enough

"Eliot was born with an undeveloped lung, a heart with a hole in it and DNA that placed faulty information into each and every cell of his body. However, that could not stop the living God from proclaiming Himself through this boy who never uttered a word."

For more information go to Ninety Nine Balloons DOT com

Patience

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
Psalm 119:9

Sometimes things happen to us, situations, people that push us to lose our patience and thus sin. Sin against that person, but more importantly sin against God. Whatever the person did, said, or whatever the situation it always comes back to us. We are the ones that sin. The Lord has given us His word, His Holy Spirit, now our responsibility is to read and guard His word in our hearts, to be filled with His Holy Spirit, to die to self daily and renew our minds daily, so that in the time of testing we may stand still by God's grace and not fall into sin. So you know that when you do lose patience and sin, the problem is not the other person or the situation the problem is lack in our part. The solution? Read God's word for the renewal of our mind, die to self, let the Holy Spirit fill us, but most importantly and before doing all that, Repent. Apologize to the person (you have to mean it, if you don't then you need to pray to the Lord to remove that pride from your heart, which is also a sin sometimes the root of the problem), see to it that you don't do it again and apologize to the Lord. Finally, remember that our Lord Jesus Christ endured it all yet Isaiah tells us that:

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." Isaiah 53:7

Remember:

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either." Luke 6:27-29

And Finally:

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
1 Cor 10:12

Excellencias de la Ley de Dios: Week One

Aleph.

1. Bienaventurados los perfectos de camino, los que andan en la Ley de Jehová.
2. Bienaventurados los que guardan sus testimonios, y con todo el corazón le buscan;
3. Pues no hacen iniquidad los que andan en sus caminos.
4. Tu encargaste, que sean muy guardados tus mandamientos.
5. ¡Ojalá fuesen ordenados mis caminos para guardar tus estatutos!
6. Entonces no seria yo avergonzado, cuando atendiese a todos tus mandamientos.
7. Te alabaré con rectitud de corazón, cuando aprendiere tus justos juicios.
8. Tus estatutos guardaré; no me dejes enteramente.

Psalm 119

Grace Gems: Supremely Precious

Supremely precious

(John Fawcett, "Christ Precious")

"Yes, He is very precious to you who believe!"
1 Peter 2:7

If Christ is truly precious to us--we shall prefer Him above every other object; He will have the chief place in our affections. The love which a Christian has to his Savior, penetrates and possesses his heart. This distinguishes it from the pretended love of hypocrites, which is only in word, or in some external actions, while their hearts are full of sinful self-love; so that it may be said of them, "This people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me."

We may possibly delight in some objects of an inferior nature, as they contribute to our health, our ease, or our comfort. Our homes, our food, and our other temporal enjoyments are dear to us, because they minister to our comfort and convenience in the present life. But true love for Christ, does not allow any other object to hold the chief place in the heart. This chief place is for Jesus, whom we ought to love with supreme ardor. The choicest affections of our souls ought to be supremely fixed upon Him.

As it is impossible for any man to love an unknown object--so it cannot be expected that Christ should be supremely precious unto us, unless we know Him to be excellent and desirable, beyond whatever may be compared with Him. We shall not esteem Him above all things--if we have not elevated views of His transcendent worth. Our esteem of Him rises in proportion to the knowledge we have of Him. Godly men therefore ardently desire to increase in the knowledge of Him--that their affections may be more intensely fixed upon Him.

That love, which has but created things for its object, is degrading to the soul. It is a cleaving to that which can neither give happiness to our souls, nor repose to our minds. For to love any object ardently, is to seek our felicity in it, and to expect that it will answer our desires. It is to call upon it to fill that deep void which we feel in ourselves, and to imagine that it is capable of giving us the satisfaction we seek. It is to regard it as the resource of all our needs, the remedy of all the troubles which oppress us, and the source of all our happiness. Now, as it is God alone in whom we can find all these advantages, it is a debasing of the soul, it is idolatry to seek them in created objects! "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:8

If Christ is truly precious to us--we shall be induced to devote our souls and our bodies, our talents, our abilities and our faculties--as a living sacrifice to Him. To contemplate His adorable perfections will be our highest joy. We shall be ready to obey Him--in opposition to all the threats and the solicitations of men. We shall rely upon Him, though all outward appearances seem to be against us. We shall rejoice in Him, though we have nothing else to comfort us. If we enjoy health and plenty, friends and reputation, the Lord is still the object of our earnest desires and our supreme delight. "Whom have I in heaven but you? There is none upon earth that I desire besides you! As the deer pants for the water-brooks, so longs my soul after you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God!"

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Eternity

I've been thinking about eternity, and how overwhelming it is the eternality of forever. This Sunday's sermon was on our final "Sabbath" which is heaven, we had a guest pastor from the church Iglesia Biblica del Señor Jesucristo (Biblical Church of Jesus Christ), Pastor Salvador Gomez Dickson, and it was such an encouraging sermon. He talked about 5 sabbaths that are mentioned in Hebrews chpts 3 and 4. The first Sabbath was when God's rested on the 7th day, the 2nd Sabbath was the one appointed by God for the Israelite's to obey, the 3rd Sabbath was the promised land, the 4th Sabbath was the Spiritual rest we are granted in Christ Jesus, but that there was a 5th one that we are yet to enter in and that is the Celestial Sabbath, which is heaven. He exhorted us to give ourselves fully and wholeheartedly to this race we are running, to beat ourselves even when we are growing tired, and to work like a mule for the Lord, for the advancement of the kingdom and for the edification of the church, knowing that we have a final resting place in Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Revelations 14:12-13

Today I find myself thinking about how amazing it will be to spend eternity glorifying God and just how overwhelming the thought of eternity in my finite mind is. Then I realized that we sometimes forget that there is a large group of people who won't be enjoying eternity in Heaven, no they will get the other side of the coin a place where there will be no rest for their souls. (Rev. 14:11)
Maybe if we thought more about that other side and those other groups of people we would evangelize more and be less fearful about it. I know I need to.

Reverence

Reverence: a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.1

As we left the movie theater after having watched the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, a brother in Christ commented to me how it got to him the fact that in the movie people bowed down to the King, specifically to Aslan, and how back in the day when such things as Kings and Queens existed people understood the honor and reverence behind such gestures and yet we as Christian say things like "To God be the Honor and Glory", "Lord to you we Bow down in Honor and Praise", we kneel down or lift our hands up or bow down and yet we don't truly comprehend the honor and reverence behind these gestures since we have never had to actually bow down to a human king or queen as people once did in the olden days. I couldn't agree more. Yet today I opened my iTunes wanting to listen to my Church's sermon last Sunday, which I missed due to a shift I had at the hospital, and as I waited for it to download clicked on Johnny Hunt's Church's sermon and I was just awestruck when he said "Stand with me in honor of the reading of God's dear word..." maybe we should spend a day thinking about what it truly means to honor God and to bow down before our Lord and King!
This also applies to every time we pray, when we read His precious word and definitely when we preach His gospel which He has entrusted us!

1: Definition taken from Dictionary.com

John Piper is Bad

Psa 14:3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

"None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12

"No one is good except God alone." Luke 18:19


Ok this was hilarious!

Creation, ah the marvel of it

Hmm ok, if you think Esther's "wedding" or Courtship preparation, for that matter, was excessive and over the top, or maybe those gifts the men had to prepare for the family of the woman they wanted as their wife in the OT were excessive, wait till you watch this amazing little creation!
Apparently embedding is disabled so you'll have to click this link: Bower Bird, to watch the video on Youtube.

Grace Gems: A Puritan Prayer

Another devotional from Grace Gems, they truly are grace gems and specially this beautiful puritan prayer, the puritans if I may say so put us to shame or at least me to shame, I read their prayers and the read about the passion and devotion they had for Christ and it is something I desire for my self as well, to have that same passion and devotion to have the same boldness they had, that the Holy Spirit may empower me, strengthen me clean me of all my uncleanliness daily, that in times of sorrow may I be driven to the cross, and in times of joy may I rejoice in Christ. So now without further adieu, a Puritan Prayer:

(A Puritan Prayer)

O Holy Spirit,
Move, I beg You, upon my disordered heart.
Take away my unruly desires and hateful lusts.
Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief. Brighten
my soul with the pure light of truth. Make it . . .
fragrant as the garden of paradise,
rich with every goodly fruit,
beautiful with heavenly grace,
radiant with rays of divine light.
Be my . . .
comforter,
light,
guide,
sanctifier.

Take of the things of Christ and show them to my
soul. Through You may I daily learn more of His . . .
love,
grace,
compassion,
faithfulness,
beauty.
Lead me to the cross and show me . . .
His wounds,
the hateful nature of evil,
the power of Satan.

May I there see my sins as . . .
the nails which transfixed Him,
the cords which bound Him,
the thorns which tore Him,
the sword which pierced Him.

Help me to find in His death--the
reality and immensity of His love.

Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in His
death. Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of . . .
atonement achieved,
redemption completed,
guilt done away,
my debt paid,
my sins forgiven,
my soul saved,
hell vanquished,
heaven opened,
eternity made mine.

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.
Write them upon my heart, that my walk be . . .
sin-loathing,
sin-fleeing,
Christ-loving.

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Sow a Seed for a Specific Need Challenge!

This is a pretty good challenge a fellow blogger has laid down for those who preach "sowing a seed" in "economic" terms:

"Give ALL of your money away. Sow that seed into something other then your own ministries….or those of your friend’s mentors, spiritual daddies or mammas and show us that it does indeed work FOR YOU! Airplanes cars yachts and designer clothes….GIVE IT ALL AWAY!

Instead of teaching us to give to you…..so that God will bless us 100 fold…..get the blessing for yourselves! You wouldn’t want to rob God would ya? I didn’t think so so loosen up those purse strings…….offshore bank accounts…..bank vaults or wherever else you’ve stashed your loot and really make a fortune!

If you sow a seed of say….50 million bucks……just think of all the blessings God has in store for you! The days of kissing up to Paul and Jan are over…..no more beg-a-thons…..forget about those endless nights spent shopping on E-bay for those worthless trinkets you give away to those who sow a seed into your ministries…..you will be so blessed you won’t need our seed anymore…..a real life harvest of your own!

Have faith in your seed….in fact have the God kind of faith and just write your need on the seed! Claim that need with your seed and watch the blessings of God rain down from heaven! Just remember that things will be great in ‘08 if you sow that seed today!

Not sure yet? Where is your faith you faithless beings? Don’t you know God wants to bless you….but you have to sow a seed first….and if you sow an uncommon seed….say every penny you have…..then you can expect an uncommon harvest!

So give it all away TODAY! If what you’re teaching REALLY works….then what are you waiting for? Remember that God is a God of patterns precepts and principles and he really wants to bless you….so get blessed today and let us know who you sowed into….how much you sowed and the end result of your sowing…..don’t delay sow today!"

THANK YOU LORD JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been in such a faith crisis due to something that had been happening to me pertaining to the ministry I belong to at church, and I had been praying to the Lord that He would give me courage (I'm an UBER shy person) to go to the pastor and beg him to dedicate an entire sermon on True Biblical Evangelism. To preach on the NEED of preaching Repentance and Faith in Christ in our evangelism, one Sunday one of the pastors talked about the Gospel, I was so excited, but on the service I attended 12-2pm (there are 3 services) the pastor did not talk about repentance, I was disappointed. I commented this to a friend of mine from Church who had gone to the 10-12 service in which repentance was explained. But the service recorded to publish the sermon on the website was the last one, again I prayed and prayed. With the new semester I've had no time whatsoever to go to bible studies on Wednesdays and I had to miss a couple of Sunday services due to trips with the family, the hospital, etc. Anyway, this Sunday I couldn't go to church because I had an 8pm to 8am shift at the hospital and was beat when I got home. Today about 10 minutes ago, I launched iTunes went directly to my Podcasts to get my daily dose of WOTM Radio noticed that they hadn't uploaded today's show and remembered that because today's monday my church's sermon should've been uploaded by then so I clicked the IBI podcast and there it was!!! My prayer ANSWERED!!! Just look at the title! "And then, How will we evangelize?"
I was skeptical at first and hopeful all at the same time!! the pastor preached on Acts chapter 3, verses 1-16 and v.19, the pastor read twice verse 19 (my heart skipped a beat) then proceeded to explain what just happened in those verses. Compared that type of healing with today's modern version of -unbiblical-"healing". Then made very clear that he was going to preach on v.19 and how we have done the terrible thing of blotting out the preaching of REPENTANCE! from our Evangelism!!!! Ohhhh Praise the Lord JESUS CHRIST!!!! Finally my prayer answered!!
It's like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders!!! I wanna cry and leap out of Joy and sing and shout! :D Can't wait for Sunday to arrive!!!

"Act 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Act 3:2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.
Act 3:3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
Act 3:4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us."
Act 3:5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
Act 3:6 But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"
Act 3:7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
Act 3:8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Act 3:9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God,
Act 3:10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Act 3:11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.
Act 3:12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
Act 3:13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
Act 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Act 3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
Act 3:16 And his name--by faith in his name--has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out," (ESV, emphasis mine)

AMEN!

Grace Gems: True Christianity

True Christianity

(J. C. Ryle, "What Is Needed?" 1895)

(1) True Christianity has always taught the inspiration, sufficiency, and supremacy of Holy Scripture. It has told men that "God's written Word" is the only trustworthy rule of faith and practice in religion; that God requires nothing to be believed that is not in this Word; and that nothing is right which contradicts it. It has never allowed reason, or the voice of the Church, to be placed above, or on a level with Scripture. It has steadily maintained that, however imperfectly we may understand it, the Old Book is meant to be the only standard of life and doctrine.

(2) True Christianity has always taught fully the sinfulness, guilt and corruption of human nature. It has told men, that they are born in sin, deserve God's wrath and condemnation, and are naturally inclined to do evil. It has never allowed that men and women are only weak and pitiable creatures, who can become good when they please, and make their own peace with God. On the contrary, it has steadily declared man's danger and vileness, and his pressing need of a Divine forgiveness and atonement for his sins, a new birth or conversion, and an entire change of heart.

(3) True Christianity has always set before men, the Lord Jesus Christ as the chief object of faith and hope in religion--as the Divine Mediator between God and men, the only source of peace of conscience, and the root of all spiritual life. The main things it has ever insisted on about Christ, are--the atonement for sin He made by His death, His sacrifice on the cross, the complete redemption from guilt and condemnation by His blood, His victory over the grave by His resurrection, His active life of intercession at God's right hand, and the absolute necessity of simple faith in Him. In short, it has made Christ the Alpha and the Omega in Christian theology.

(4) True Christianity has always honored the Person of God the Holy Spirit, and magnified His work. It has never taught that all professing Christians have the grace of the Spirit in their hearts, as a matter of course--because they are baptized, or because they belong to a Church. It has steadily maintained that the fruits of the Spirit are the only evidence of having the Spirit, and that those fruits must be seen! It has always taught, that we must be born of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, sanctified by the Spirit, and feel the operations of the Spirit--and that a close walk with God in the path of His commandments, a life of holiness, love, self-denial, purity, and zeal to do good--are the only satisfactory marks of the Holy Spirit.

Such is true Christianity. Well would it have been for the world, if there had been more of it during the last nineteen centuries! Too often, and in too many parts of Christendom, there has been so little of it--that Christ's religion has seemed extinct, and has fallen into utter contempt!

This is the Christianity which, in the days of the Apostles, "turned the world upside down!" It was this which emptied the idol temples of their worshipers, routed the Greek and Roman philosophers, and obliged even heathen writers to confess that the followers of the "new superstition," as they called it, were people who loved one another, and lived very pure and holy lives!

Let it never be forgotten, that its leading principles are those which are least likely to please the natural man. On the contrary, they are precisely those which are calculated to be unpopular and to give offense. Proud man does not like to be told that he is a weak, guilty sinner--that he cannot save his own soul, and must trust in the work of another--that he must be converted and have a new heart--that he must live a holy, self-denying life, and come out from the world.

Yet, this is the Christianity which is doing good at this day, wherever real good is done. The only religious teaching which can show solid, positive results--is that which gives prominence to the doctrines which I have endeavored to describe. Wherever they are rightly taught, Christianity can point to fruits which are an unanswerable proof of its Divine origin. There are myriads of professing Christians who have no life or reality in their religion--and are only nominal members of Christ's Church. Except for going to church on Sundays, they give no evidence of true Christianity. If you mark their daily life--they seem neither to think, nor feel, nor care for their souls, or God, or eternity. Men and women who crowd churches on Sundays--and then live worldly selfish lives all the week--are the best and most efficient allies of the devil.

True faith is not a mere "mental assent" to certain theological propositions--but a living, burning, active principle--which works by love, purifies the heart, overcomes the world, and brings forth much fruit of holiness and good works. Let us live as if we really believed every jot and tittle of Scripture--and as if a dying, risen, interceding, and coming Christ, were continually before our eyes!

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The Woes of Witnessing

This Warren Barfield song really hit home for me! it still scares me to death to witness to someone! and there are times the Lord opens a door, and you are right there, your heart beating like crazy, your palms sweaty, the Gospel running through your mind. But the thought of leaving that place and not telling the person of the wrath to come and of what Jesus Christ our Lord did on the cross that he/she may be saved! it makes one wonder, what if I hadn't heard the Gospel that day I got saved? what if whoever witnessed to me had left me there with my doubts, fears and death wishes? Alone in my sin at the mercy of the seducing lusts of the world.

My Heart goes Out to You
by Warren Barfield

She sat a table away
Staring into space
In her own little world
And I saw a tear in her eye
Like a window to the mind
Of a frightened little girl
She never said a word
But I know I clearly heard
A cry for help
And I wanted to answer
I wanted to tell her

CHORUS:
My heart goes out to you
You don't even know me
You don't even know
Oh my heart goes out to you
And I don't know what else to do
To reach you now
My heart goes out

But I'm still glued to my chair
She's unaware
There's little time
And though my intentions are good
If I'm misunderstood
The price could be high
I can't fix whatever's wrong
But if I fail to pass along
Someone cares
The price could be greater
This can't wait til later

BRIDGE:
For God has loved the world so much
He send His only Son
From Heaven to earth
Well there's a distance love covered
She's just a table over
All she needs is a shoulder

CHORUS:
My heart goes out to you
You don't even know me
You don't even know
Oh, my heart goes out

Lord, help me do what I can do
To reach her, to reach her

Oh my heart goes out to you
You don't even know me
You don't even know
Oh, my heart goes out to you

Let me do what I can do to reach you now
My heart goes out
Yeah

The Florida "Revival"

There is a "revival" that has been going on and as always one wonders if the "miracles" that happen at these places are for real, not only that, what does God's word say about such things? Dan Phillips from Pyromaniacs hit some great points about the Florida "Revival", but I think it can definitely be applied to any revival whether it be the Florida one or any other around the world. We should always, always, always filter everything through Scripture, and well without further adieu here's what he commented about the "revival":

So now, HSAT, here is what I think about "The Florida Revival," going in:

1. Believing in the sovereignty of God and having read (and believed!) Acts 2, I know that it is at best extraordinarily unlikely that it will manifest any revelatory or attesting gifts that have not been in regular evidence among Bible-believing Christians over the last 2000 years (1 Corinthians 12:11) — which is to say, not any. For that reason...
   
2. I know that any claims to revelatory or attesting gifts will likely fall short of Biblical standards. This really, really matters to God (Deuteronomy 13:1-11; 18:20-22), so it should really, really matter to me. Specifically:
   
3. I know that if the majority of unbelievers aren't, without any massaging or special sauce from the "revival's" advocates, goggling in slack-jawed and clueless astonishment at undeniably supernatural events, and desperately scrambling for explanations, any claimed miracles are nothing like real miracles (cf. John 11:47-48; Acts 3:9-10; 4:16).
4. I know that if it doesn't center on and exalt the person and work of Jesus Christ, it's not Holy Spirit-breathed revival (John 16:14; Colossians 1:18).
5. I know that if it wasn't produced by the preaching of the Word of God, it's not Holy Spirit-breathed revival (Nehemiah 9).
   
6. I know that if it doesn't produce greater conformity to the written word of God, it's not Holy Spirit-breathed revival (Psalm 138:2; Matthew 28:18-20; John 8:31-32; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
   
7. I know that if it doesn't produce holy living, which includes adorning behavior and specifically self-control, it isn't Holy Spirit-breathed revival (Galatians 5:22-23).
8. I know that if the leaders of it aren't men well-known for embodying/pursuing the pastoral traits of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9, and specifically for being in subjection to, and for soundly teaching, the whole Word of God, it's unlikely to be a Holy Spirit-breathed revival.

Amen! It is so important for us to be in the Word of God as much as we can, feed ourselves daily and filter everything we see and/or hear so that we will not be mislead by anyone!

Fireproof

This is one movie I'll definitely watch!

Grace Gems: He who truly believes in Christ

He who truly believes in Christ

(J. C. Ryle, "Do You Believe?")

There is a dead faith as well as a living one. There is a faith of devils as well as a faith of God's elect. There is a faith which is vain and useless, as well as a faith which justifies and saves. How shall a man know whether he has true saving faith? The thing may be found out! The Ethiopian may be known by the color of his skin; and the leopard may be known by his spots. True faith may always be known by certain marks. These marks are laid down unmistakably in Scripture. Reader, let me endeavor to set these marks plainly before you. Look at them carefully—and test your own soul by what I am going to say.

He who truly believes in Christ—has a NEW HEART. It is written, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature—old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17.) A believer has no longer the same nature with which he was born. He is changed, renewed, and transformed after the image of his Lord and Savior. He who minds first, the things of the flesh—has no saving faith. True faith, and spiritual regeneration, are inseparable companions. An unconverted person—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—is a HOLY person in heart and life. It is written that God "purifies the heart by faith," and that Christians are "sanctified by faith." "Whoever has this hope in him, purifies himself." (Acts 15:9; 26:18; 1 John 3:3.). A believer loves what God loves—and hates what God hates. His heart's desire is to walk in the way of God's commandments, and to abstain from all manner of evil. His wish is to follow after the things which are just, and pure, and honest, and lovely—and to cleanse himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. He falls far short of his aim, in many things. He finds his daily life, a constant fight with indwelling corruption. But he fights on—and resolutely refuses to serve sin. Where there is no holiness, we may be sure there is no saving faith! An unholy man is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—works godly WORKS. It is written, that "faith works by love" (Gal. 5:6). True belief will never make a man idle, or allow him to sit still, contented with his own religion. It will stir him to do acts of love, kindness, and charity, according as he sees opportunity. It will constrain him to walk in the steps of his Master, who "went about doing good." In one way or another, it will make him work. The works that he does may attract no notice from the world. They may seem trifling and insignificant to many people. But they are not forgotten by Him who notices a cup of cold water given for His sake. Where there is no working love—there is no faith. A lazy, selfish professing Christian—has no right to regard himself as a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—overcomes the WORLD. It is written, that "whoever is born of God, overcomes the world—and this is the victory which overcomes the world—even our faith" (1 John 5:4). A true believer is not ruled by the world's standard of right or wrong, of truth or error. He is independent of the world's opinion. He cares little for the world's praise. He is not moved by the world's censure. He does not seek for the world's pleasures. He is not ambitious of the world's rewards. He looks at things unseen—he sees an invisible Savior, a coming judgment, and a crown of glory which never fades away. The sight of these objects, makes him think comparatively little of this present world. Where the world reigns in the heart—there is no genuine faith. A man who is habitually conformed to the world—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—has the witness of the Holy Spirit. He has hopes, joys, fears, sorrows, consolations, expectations, of which he knew nothing before he believed. He has internal evidences which the world cannot understand. Where there are no inward pious feelings—there is no faith. A man who knows nothing of an inward, spiritual, experimental religion—is not a genuine believer!

He who truly believes in Christ—has a special regard to the person of CHRIST Himself. It is written, "Unto you who believe—Christ is precious" (1 Peter 2:7). That text deserves especial notice. It does not say "Christianity" is precious, or the "Gospel" is precious, or "salvation" is precious—but Christ Himself! A true believer's religion, does not consist in mere intellectual assent to a certain set of propositions and doctrines. It is not a mere cold belief of a certain set of truths and facts concerning Christ. It consists in union, communion, and fellowship with an actual living Person, even Jesus the Son of God. It is a life of . . .
faith in Jesus,
confidence in Jesus,
leaning on Jesus,
drawing out of the fullness of Jesus,
speaking to Jesus,
working for Jesus,
loving Jesus, and
looking for Jesus to come again.
Such life may sound like enthusiasm to many. But where there is true faith, Christ will always be known and realized, as an actual living personal Friend! He who knows nothing of Christ as his own Priest, Physician, Redeemer, Advocate, Friend, Teacher, and Shepherd—knows nothing yet of genuine believing!

Where these marks of which I have been speaking, are utterly lacking, I dare not tell a man that he is a true believer. He may be called a Christian, and attend a Christian church. But if he knows nothing of these marks—I dare not pronounce him a believer. He is yet dead in trespasses and sins. Except he awakes to newness of life, he will perish everlastingly.

Show me a man who has these marks—and I feel a strong confidence about the state of his soul. He may be poor and needy in this world—but he is rich in the sight of God. He may be despised and sneered at by man—but he is honorable in the sight of the King of kings. He is traveling towards heaven! He has a mansion ready for him in the Father's house. He is cared for by Christ, while on earth. He will be owned by Christ before assembled worlds, in the life which is to come!

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How Great is our God!

Laminin

ok I cried watching this, its just amazing! I googled the pictures before he showed them and I was like WOW!!! Its just..amazing!

Comunication Skills...more like problems

I am such a horrible person. Seriously, I have serious communication problems. I don't know why on this earth I have such trouble to pick up a phone and call people to see how they're doing, this needs to change. I don't return emails, I don't call people, I don't even IM them!! and then I wonder why these friendships mysteriously disintegrate. I'm finally stepping up and confessing that I do have a problem.
- My friend from high school Milkys got engaged this year, she messaged me new years day, the day after the proposal and she messaged me to tell me her wonderful news. And I haven't even called her!
- My US History teacher, Mr. H, who is also my friend wrote to me last year about the wonderful news of his soon-to-be engagement and I still haven't written back!!
- My friend from middle school, High school and practically all my life, Ricky, had a birthday last week and I didn't even call him, not even to apologize for not showing up for dinner Saturday night.

I confess and I repent. I'm a terrible person and friend. I pray the Lord will change this selfish, unthoughtful way of mine and that He may transform me and fill me with His love.

Courtship, Dating, Marriage and the Unbeliever

Since we are on the topic of dating and the like, I thought I'd repost Dan Phillips excellent post on dating unbelievers: "Dating: When words and choices clash".
Here's a little excerpt of Dan's post:

"Would you date a child molestor? Oh, of course not. Instant deal-killer. Thief, murderer? No and no. Rapist? Never. Those are really bad things.

But not as bad as being an enemy of God (Proverbs 15:9; Ephesians 2:3)? I think we have some seriously skewed priorities.

See, if you are in a dating relationship with someone who doesn’t love Christ, you’ve already said the Christ-issue isn’t the issue to you. Her looks, his job, the way she treats you, his sense of humor - whatever; these things matter more to you than Christ does.

You want this person to believe that he is a sinner, under God’s wrath, and deserving His judgment. You want him to know that his righteous deeds are as filthy rags, that everything he can produce is not enough for God.

But you’ve already communicated, by your choice, that what he has is enough for you. That you and he share enough values, goals, aspirations, and affections to create (or even consider) an exclusive and intimate relationship.

See? You’ve already dealt a death-blow to your own credibility. You really might as well stop talking. Your priorities, your choices, have drowned out your words (cf. the principle of Titus 1:16)."

And

Would you consider marrying someone who never, ever washed his body? Yuck! No way, right? What if (s)he never, ever had his heart and conscience washed (Hebrews 9:14; 10:22)? Evidently yes? Hmm.

Would you consider marrying someone who never listened to a word you said? No way. What if (s)he never listened to a word God said (Proverbs 28:4, 9; Romans 10:17)? Evidently yes?

This is an important issue and one that needs to be taught more often than not, more so in these days.

Courtship, Dating, Marriage

So I stumbled across a website with numerous Engagement/Marriage stories and one of the girls in one of the stories I read said this about what it meant for her as a Christian to be in-love, I thought it was a wonderful edifying thought/definition:

"Being in love is when I trust him completely to handle my very life, my very existence and my whole future until I die. When I can put my self, my life, and my future under his authority, and under his leading. When I know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him. When I entrust myself to him completely, knowing that he listens to God. That I can submit to him, because he submits to God, and it's like I submit to God through him. To me that's being in love, and I don't feel that way about him yet. The courtship will give him the opportunity to prove himself to me."

That is just such a wonderful definition one that I would like to live up to for the future husband God has in store for me.

Sunday, Discipline, Schemes, Delightful Dish

Today's sermon was so powerful and great and much needed about discipline, where it begins, why its necessary, what Jesus taught about discipline, the outcomes of discipline, how to discipline, etc I'll write down the outline in another post. It really helped me understand a few questions I had about discipline..

Schemes
If there is something I've learned, from all the things I've learned reading the OT, is that God doesn't like schemes and stratagems of man because they put their trust in men as opposed to trusting God. I learned this lesson today. My mom a few months ago said something to me that made me think I could use later on to lure her to church. She said that squared people will not even for the family's sake take some time to go to catholic church and so I thought well since she wouldn't consider herself to be a square or narrow-minded person if I use this line on her she'll be obligated to come to church with me! But I never did build the courage to tell her that until today. Last week she called me specifically to tell me that there would be a mass sometime last week for a cousin of mine to thank God for his life, I was reluctant at first but finally said yes thinking that this would be a good time to use her line to get her to come to church with me today. After I got out of the bathroom I saw her in her room sitting on the couch reading the newspaper and seized that opportunity to ask her to please take me to church, she said she would but asked me to wait a second while she took a bath and got changed..."yes!" I thought, "if she's bathed and changed she'll definitely have no excuse!" we hopped on the car and drove to church, on the way she was telling me how she had to go to my aunts house to take her somewhere and I thought "bummer, my plan had failed" but stubbornly enough decided to still use her line and as I got off the car I said, "mom when are you going to come to church with me you know you yourself once said that only squared people say no" with a indignant look on her face as if I had insulted her she said "oh please! you don't even make a sacrifice for your own family!" and sped off. Then I realized all those times I had read in the OT women and men scheming with good intentions but trusting in their schemes and not in God. Ouch! lesson learned. But also decided something else, a good friend had told me not to go to these things not even to please the family, and I agree it is the wisest thing. Instead of going hoping they'll feel obligated to go, I will decline politely and whenever possible explain the reasons why. I must first and foremost obey and love God above all things.


Delightful Dish
On the other hand, my sister and her boyfriend were cooking today and they prepared the most delicious Bacon and Shrimp fettuccine, in a milk based sauce, very low on salt just how i like em, "al dente".


That was all for today,

oh another thing, last Friday I went to the Book fair, we hold one every year during this same Month, and thinking I wouldn't find anything good since the "Christian" section was filled with the Joel Osteen books and the Rick Warren and the Make your life better today and now books...but I did find 2 wonderful books that I started reading during this weekend, one I found in a stand that was marked with a discount, it was all dirt filled but waiting there for me, John Piper's Dangerous Duty of Delight...and then in another place within the Book Fair, I found still in its plastic wrapping D.A. Carson's Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians.

Youth Group

I am sooo stoked about Youth Group! so the debates are finally over, I say finally because we had plenty of debates but they were really great! It made us all think and analyze ourselves plus we learned heaps about defending our faith among other things. Next Saturday May 10th we begin something called Parcheesi I have no clue what thats going to be about, all I know is that we need to be experts on Christ and the Resurrection for that day.I'll post an update as to how it went.

In the meantime, today is National Day of Prayer..everyday should be! But today it is celebrated, I know because of my trusty WOTM calendar, its a day to be spent praying for our respective country, in my case the DR, the world, our fellow brother's and sisters in Christ out there, people who haven't given their lives to Christ yet, for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who risk their lives everyday for the Gospel, our local Church and its leaders, the Universal Church that she may be strengthen each day and stand on the promise made by Christ that the gates of Lades shall not prevail against her. A day to give thanks to the Lord for His countless blessings, His amazing grace and gift of Salvation, for his trials that build perseverance, His judgments that purify us, His Holy Spirit who convicts us and lead us and comfort us, His amazing love which holds us, His Holy word which instructs us and edify us. A day to give thanks for all the days that we have been allowed to have, and the days to come.
A day to reflect on the times that we are living but also to remember that the Lord once promised a young man: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." This promise is true for us today! (Mat 28:20, Heb 13:5)

God bless!