The three R's--Ruin, Regeneration, and Redemption!

Today's thoughts, the three R's--Ruin, Regeneration, and Redemption!

Man ruined, wholly ruined, hopelessly helplessly, eternally ruined!

Man regenerated by the Spirit of God, and by the Spirit of God alone wholly made a new creature in Christ!

Man redeemed, redeemed by precious blood from all his sins: not by works of righteousness, not by deeds of the law, not by ceremonies, prayers, or resolutions; but by the precious blood of Christ!

We must be very pointed, and very plain about regeneration, for this is the very heart of the matter -- "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (CHS)

Circle of Silence

Over the last three years the Lord has been burdening our hearts to start stepping out into the mission fields. A couple years back my wife and I had began to make plans on visiting her mothers home town of Juanchorrey, in the state of Zacatecas Mexico. Juanchorrey is a rural “rancho” that reach’s into the “serros” (mountains). Each year we had planned on going for some reason or another the Lord always seemed to close the doors. At the end of 2007 we really started seeking the Lord in praying over this. Over the year of 2008 my wife started doing a lot of research, we come to find that the area we feel the Lord is leading us to is one of the least evangelized areas of Mexico. Not only that but we also found out that the state of Zacatecas Mexico is in the heart of what is called the "Circle of Silence." It ranks fifth of all thirty-two Mexican states with the fewest Evangelicals, and the need for church planting there is great. So after a few years of praying, talking and planning we finally stepped out into the mission fields. The following are pictures of our trip.

This is the town of Juanchorrey. Juanchorrey is in the state of Zacatecas Mexico, Zacatecas is in the heart of The Circle Of Silence. This is one of the areas we feel the Lord is calling us to.



The population of Juanchorrey is about 300.

This is Maria with the red sweater. We meet Maria on a Monday afternoon as we were walking the streets. As we engaged Maria in conversation she began to tell us of the recent loss of one of her young sons. In November of 2008 her son died due to a disease. I felt moved by the spirit and asked her if I could pray for her, later that day she brought more of her family over to visit us. We will keep Maria and her family in our prayers.

This has to be of the Lord! Being that my wife has family ties in this small town, Lord willing we have been offered this room to fix up. Now the second I saw this room I saw a bible study/worship/prayer room. LORD YOUR WILL BE DONE.

My wife and I

La Plaza. This is the city square where all the locals meet in the evenings. This gives great opportunity to share Christ with people.

Part two: Meeting with our new family the (Bairds and Elworths) and the city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas.

The city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas is hugh. This is the city square.

Witnessing and sharing Christ.

Meeting with the Baird and Elworth family. The Baird and Elworth family’s both live in the region of Zacatecas. They are also missionaries with a goal and heart to plant church’s. We truly miss them and long to see them again and look forward to working with them in the future. They remain in our prayers.

What does all this mean? God grant us I believe the Lord is opening the doors and is calling us to help plant a church. Lord willing we are making plans to go back at the end of December for a three month stay. LORD YOUR WILL BE DONE.

Matthew 24 ministry update

Matthew 24 Ministry update.

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. (1Thess 5:1-6)


NEW LIFE OUTREACH MINISTRY UPDATE.

NEW LIFE STREET TEAM. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Cor 15:58)

I am happy to report (and I praise God) that by His grace our street team continues to grow each year, right now we have a total of 5-6 men and woman from our congregation that serve in the street team and that does not including another six that I work with from other churches. Our street ministry is currently undergoing three different outreaches.

• M-24 at the High Schools. Every Friday for the last three months we have been going to our local High Schools, thus far we have spent a month at each location West Covina High, Baldwin Park High, La Puente High and we are now out South Hills High.
  

I have found that the young kids at the high school for the most part are very open and willing to engage in conversation. We have been blessed to share the gospel with countless numbers of high school kids. I enjoy seeing how the Lord uses this ministry to open the doors to share the gospel with those who generally do not attend church. Please note: we are now going to start video taping our encounters at the high schools.

• Hollywood outreach every first Saturday of the month.
  

Every first Saturday of the month I take our street team down to Hollywood Blvd. I enjoy Hollywood Blvd because you get all walks of life there, people from every nation, tribe and tongue. We have shared with Europeans, Germans, Muslims, Jews, Persians, rich men, poor men, intellectuals, atheists, proud men, humble men and the list goes on and on. Some listen, some laugh, some reject, some mock but some really walk away thinking about what Jesus has done for mankind by His life, death and resurrection. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:10-11)

• West Covina outreach every 3rd Saturday of the month.
  

This is new, every 3rd Saturday of the month we will be focusing our attention on evangelizing in the city of West Covina such as local parks, skate parks and movie theaters.

M-24, the TRUTH PROJECT, Outreach/Conference . Exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 1:4b (Drew and I are working on this and have set a time line of about 3-4 months)

• The Truth Project in our local High Schools.
  

I believe the Lord has been opening doors for us to take the Truth Project to the high schools. I am currently getting a hold of the Christian clubs and teachers to talk to them about showing selected episodes of the truth project. With the goal of getting two to three local high school Christian clubs involved with the truth project. The over all goal is to have an outreach/conference with the TRUTH PROJECT and the High School kids.

• Truth Project outreach/conference at our local community center.
  

If the Lord opens the doors (which I believe He has already started to) this outreach/conference could really make an impact on the high school kids for time and eternity. The over all goal would be to hold a four hour conference at our local community center inviting the high schools involved, they would then invite there friends and family to come and watch selected episodes of the TRUTH PROJECT. It would be a free event where we would provide a lunch and have a Question and Answer after wards. (This would be a good way to engage our community with the truth of Gods word)

New Outreach Ministry. (I am very excited to announce this new opportunity and new outreach)

• Apartment Complex outreach. Goal is to hold an outreach in at least 6 complexes a year. The overall vision is simple, we go on site feed them, take acoustic guitars, a team of counselors and I would share the gospel.
  

Again this is one of the most exciting things I have to update you guys on. I have been looking into and talking with different apartment complex's to see if we could have some form of outreach in there complex. Our target complex right now is the Mona Loa which has a total of 80 units. I just sat down with the management of the Mona Loa this last Tuesday, I let them know what it is we wanted to do and to my amazement they where more then willing to let us do an outreach on site (I praise God). They just now have to get the owner to approve it (Please keep this in prayer, this could be an amazing way to reach into our community.) Please note: I am looking into other complex’s as well.

M-24 and missions trips.

• Matthew 24 and missions trips.
  

My wife and I will be in the mission field from January 31 2009 till February 6th 2009. We will be going to the state of Zacatecas Mexico particularly the "Circle of Silence." They call it the circle of silence because there are no established bible teaching Christian churches. Our intentions this year is to make a few trips down to Zacatecas, specifically, the areas between Jerez and Juanchorrey (mainly a stream of rural "ranchos" that reach into the "serros" (mountains), with a long term 5yr goal to disciple, teach and train others in the community to serve the Lord. Please note: I have established a connection with an organization called Biblical Ministries Worldwide and will be meeting with a family that is already living in the region.

"Let no mans heart fail him and let us be courageous and bold. And as the conflict rages, turn your anxious gaze from the battle below, where, enshrouded in smoke, the faithful fight in garments rolled in blood. And lift your eyes above where the Savior lives and pleads, for while He intercedes, the cause of God is safe. Let us fight as if it all depended upon us, but let us look up and know that it all depends upon Him". (C.H.Spurgeon)

Be Zealous. Revelations 3:19

If you want to see souls converted, if you want to hear the cry that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord,” if you want to place crowns upon the head of the Savior and see His throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For under God, the way the world will be converted is by zeal of the church. Every element of grace will do its work, but zeal will be first; prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will follow in their places, but zeal must lead the charge. It is not the extent of your knowledge, thought that is useful, it is not the extent of your talent, thought that is not to be despised, it is your zeal that will do great exploits. This zeal is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: It draws its vital force from the continued operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul. If our inner life dwindles, if our heart beats slowly before God, we will not know zeal; but if everything inside is strong and vigorous, then we cannot but feel a loving urgency to see Christ’s kingdom come, and His will done on earth, even as it is in heaven. A deep sense of gratitude will nourish Christian zeal. When we reflect on the miry pit from which we were lifted, we find plenty of reason for spending ourselves for God. And zeal is also stimulated by the thought of the eternal future. It looks with tearful eyes down to the flames of hell, and it cannot sleep: It looks up with anxious gaze to the glories of heaven, and it cannot stay still. It feels that time is short compared with the work to be done, and therefore it devotes all that it has to the cause of its Lord. And it is continually strengthened by remembering Christ’s example. He was clothed with zeal as with a cloak. How swift the chariot-wheels of duty went with Him! He never loitered on the way. Let us prove that we are His disciples by displaying the same spirit of zeal.


Charles H. Spurgeon.

John 10:14b devotional

Some time ago for Christmas my wife had given me a devotional book by Charles Spurgeon called “Morning and Evening” (I recommend this book to all). Now over the last year I have been attempting to write devotionals on specific scriptures the Lord has given to me. I tell you there are times when I sit down to write that my hand can’t even keep up with my mind. Other times (which is more often then the first) I find myself sitting and meditating on one passage of scripture for hours. But nothing comes out, an hour goes, and still nothing comes out (my wife has come to terms with the fact that I am crazy in this way) an hour and a half goes still nothing comes out. By this point I usually get frustrated and turn in for the night and as I come to bed my wife asks me well what did you write, (I tell her well I wrote out the scripture very nicely on the paper and maybe one or two sentence’s, and then she laughs) Please note: her laughs are in love (at least I think they are). So to make a long story short I wanted to share this devotional I wrote about 3 months ago on John 10:14b. I did use a couple of quotes one is from Spurgeon and the other is from Manton, you will find them italicized.

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, And am known by My own. John 10:14b

It is to those who have received Him, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit (being born again) that the Master will call His own. The Lord knows those who are His, and to His own He calls by name and leads them out. We should not be content to just know of Him, because it is through a knowing relationship with our Lord that we our brought to a absolute certainty of our place in the sheepfold. (“Faith must be a confident knowledge; not “I think” I hope” but rather “I know” is the language of faith”1st). We know the voice of our redeemer, so let us not be swayed to follow the world or be conformed to this world which should be a stranger to us. Rather when we hear (“His voice & feel His holy presence let us with out hesitation follow Him, and follow Him closely”2nd). Beloved, if you have found yourself treading the miry clay, if you have found your self swallowed up by the seas of desperation, if you have found your self lost amid a world of questionable uncertainties, let this truth not escape you, for He Himself has said, (“I will never leave you nor forsake you”3rd). Paul tells us (“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulations, or distress, or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword 4th)? There is nothing! But with out this truth of being known with a knowing and personal relationship with our Lord, with out that we are lost and helpless amid a dying & hurting world. And if Christ in not found in you this day I plead with you to look unto Jesus and flee to Him at once.

1. (Manton).

2. (Spurgeon).

3. (Hebrews 13:5).

4. (Romans 8:35).

Jason Villalobos.

The Pulling Down Of Strongholds.

PAUL TELLS US that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.

We must sharply grapple the false doctrine, driving the sharp hook of truth between its joints; we must clearly understand the error, and study the Word of God, so as to be able to controvert it. Then unitedly with earnest tug of prayer and faithful testimony, we must throw down piece by piece the mischievous system of falsehood, be it never so great or high. Stone by stone the wall comes down, it is long and arduous work to destroy error; many hands and hearts must unite, and then with perseverance all must labor and wait. Tracts, sermons, lectures, speeches, prayers, all must be ropes with which to drag the bulwarks down. God's blessing rests on the faithful endeavors of those who overturn the castles of error, and though their work may not speedily succeed, the great result is sure. A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther's day, and by God's grace we shall have it, if we trust in him and publish his truth. The cry is, "Overturn, overturn, overturn, till He shall come whose right it is."

Are you doing service in the Lord's war, which he is now waging? Infidelity is still mighty, do you contend for God and for his Word? Sin still reigns over millions, do you seek their salvation? If not, why not? Are you yourself on the Lord's side? Oh may the grace of God lead you to trust in the great blood shedding of Jesus, by which he has put away sin; and then may his love constrain you to aid in dragging down the ramparts of evil.

C.H Spurgeon.