Fear God, and give glory to Him

Praise the Lord! We made it here safe and sound, last evening a little before 10:00. The Lord blessed us with a good trip, and today we had a blessed time meeting and fellowshipping with our dear brothers and sisters here.

We're getting settled into the basement of our meetinghouse, where we've stayed other times, so it's almost like coming home to our own house.

We don't have a lot planned for the next several months, just whatever the Lord has for us. Most important is to be with the brethren here, and encourage each other in the Way.

Reynosa!

Well, we made it to Reynosa the beginning of the week - Marcus' immigration document came the end of last week. Praise the Lord! After the worship service with the brethren in Tlaxcala Sunday morning, we headed north, with Tony Barajas and Josuè Moreno.

We arrived at the home of our brother Eloy Garcìa, and his mother Guillermina, in Reynosa, Monday evening. Right away it was a blessing to see that Guille had begun to cover her head, a big step of obedience to the Lord!

The last number of days we've had opportunity to visit in a number of homes, of their friends and relatives, and encourage them to take up the cross and follow. Last evening we had a Bible study here in their own home, and one of Eloy's cousins came.

Another cousin of his, Areli, and her 3-year-old son, have been living here with the family for almost a year. She and I are about the same age, and we've had some good talks (along with Sis. Guille) about submission to our husbands, etc. One afternoon Eloy's sister Edith came by just as we were about to read 1 Peter 3, so she got to hear and join the conversation, too. She said Eloy is always telling her that, and agreed that it's true - just hard.

Yesterday afternoon Areli and I adjusted a pattern and cut out a dress for Sis. Guille. Areli took a sewing class years ago, so I believe she'll make out fine with the sewing.

We want to leave in a couple hours, for the last long stretch - 18 more hours from Reynosa to Monett, MO. (We made it here in 15 hours, and were glad for Tony's help driving. Now he and Josuè plan to bus back to Mexico City today. Wish they could go along with us, but we've never been able to meet the visa requirements.)

News from the month of June, by Marcus

The Beginning of Wisdom (continued)

"In him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. . . . He is before all things and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell."

Who do we expect to take God seriously after two generations have grown up with the Bible reduced to a fairy tale? With Jesus mixed into the Arabian Nights, or Sesame Street? Bible games. Bible movies. Bible jokes. Everything's gotta be fun! Or funny. God in fluttering robes with a long white beard.

A number of years ago a Canadian studying social change among the "plain people" visited the Nithview Mennonite Home at New Hamburg, Ontario. He asked an old Amish-Mennonite lady (whose church had merged with the Conference of Mennonites in Eastern Canada, conformed in every way to this age) what had happened. The old lady, still wearing her head covering and a plain dress told him in German, "Die Furcht iss nimme dat" (the fear is no longer there).

She meant the fear of God. And she was right.

It is the devil who says that fear is the opposite of love. The devil lurks in your Warner Brothers Bible films, in your Bible cartoons and Bible jokes today. And it will go no better for you by setting the devil's fare before your children than it did for the parents that offered their children to Molech in Jeroboam's time.

Refusing to watch TV is no guarantee against your children getting a modern, casual, totally warped and unrealistic understanding of God. Watching books is even more potent than watching TV.

"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

That is God.

Are your children growing up to fear and love him?

Peter

Rocky Cape Christian Community
19509 Bass Highway
Detention River, Tasmania 7321
Australia
www.thecommonlife.com.au

The Beginning of Wisdom

Our Journey to the Sierra Negra

On Saturday, May 24, we left for the Sierra Negra (Black Mountain Range), our family of seven, Marcus’ helper Tony Barajas, and Samuel and Alejandra and their two little girls. Alejandra is from a village far up in the mountains of the Sierra Negra, and she had invited us to go and visit her family. She had not been back to visit for three years, so she was anxious to see her family again, and we were looking forward to the opportunity of sharing about following the Lord with the people there.

We traveled three hours on the highway south into Oaxaca, to the town of Cuicatlàn. Since night had fallen, we found a “Casa de los Huèspedes” (House of Wayfarers) to spend the night. The next morning, Sunday, we continued on our way, three hours more on a dirt road winding up, down, and around, through the mountains. Finally we arrived at Zautla, where Alejandra’s parents and two brothers were waiting for us.

After eating there, her father Demetrio borrowed a few more horses. It took a couple hours to get all seven horses saddled, our luggage and three crates of mangos, etc. tied on the horses’ backs, as well as our children, two to a horse. Then we began the climb up into the mountains to La Soledad. Those of us who are not accustomed to such rigorous mountain climbing got to ride a horse or mule part of the way. I was glad for my sling to carry little Clayton securely along on the mule. And yes, riding was much easier than walking up over the rocks, even if we got saddle-sore after a while. (I had always loved riding horse, but had never ridden a horse up, up into the mountains – you have to hang on good and tight, I discovered. And never before had I ridden for a number of hours!) Alejandra’s mother Leticia walked the whole way, carrying her two-year-old granddaughter on her back a good part of the way. Marcus thought he was doing pretty good, being able to huff one of the steepest parts of the mountain without having to ride, until he noticed her! Up and up we climbed, following a narrow horse path, through pastures where cattle grazed, through patches of forest where branches and thorns sometimes reached out to grab us, through a cold mountain stream where we all enjoyed a refreshing drink... Once we were interrupted in our climb when a horse that was loaded with luggage fell and refused to get up. So the men unloaded it, mended the strap that had broken, tied everything on securely again, and we were on our way. The horse had a small cut from the rocks on which it had fallen, and would need to be doctored with “agua ardiente” (burning water – cane liquor). We waved to a family working in their field, planting between the stumps that remained after they cut down the trees and burned off the brush. Finally just before sunset we plodded into the village of “Loneliness” – five hours after we had started out. We passed a couple houses scattered here and there, and then climbed up into Demetrio and Leticia’s yard.

We met their other children – one more boy and 5 girls. Their youngest (3) had a fever, and we were glad to give some children’s ibuprofen, so she could feel better. (A number of years ago they lost a little 2-year-old boy, when he had a fever for a number of days that just wouldn’t come down. Leticia had gone the whole way down the mountain with him, and got on the bus to get to a doctor, but on the way she realized that he wasn’t breathing anymore. So she just turned around and brought him back home to bury him. Their next-to-youngest girl was born on a strenuous trip down the mountain. They had only half an hour to go yet when the baby suddenly came, even though it was two months early. So they had to get help to transport mother and child to a clinic, on a stretcher of some kind.)

Leticia served us a delicious meal of black beans (which they raised) and tortillas in their kitchen with board walls, dirt floor and tin roof. Since there are lots of trees all around, all their food is prepared over a fire. They say, “It’s so much better to live out here in the mountains than in the city, because when you run out of money here, all you need to do is walk out and find many different herbs to make a good meal with tortillas, or shoot a wild animal, and then you have meat.”

A little later Marcus brought out our Bible story books with lots of pictures, and translated the story of Noah for the children (and adults). And then they showed us the room they had for us, partitioned off from the main section of their sleeping quarters with a curtain. We were all very tired and ready for sleep, but when we settled down on the boards covered with a woven mat and blanket, using our folded jackets for pillows, we realized how spoiled we are! No problem for our children – they can sleep anywhere. J Demetrio kindly brought us a little softer mat the equivalent of a folded blanket, “for the baby”. But Marcus and I were the ones who claimed it. As we went to sleep, we remembered the Anabaptists, sleeping in a damp prison cell, or hiding out in the woods, and we were thankful.

Marcus was awakened in the middle of the night by Alejandra`s brother urgently calling, “Shut the door! Quick! Samuel, shut the door! Shut that door!” Someone did shut the door and then it sounded to Marcus like he was digging bullets out. Outside he heard noises on several sides of the house, and imagined a few drunks coming around, trying to get in... He didn’t quite feel like getting shot, but he knew he would honor the Lord either way. Neither did he want our friends to defend us with bullets. (Alejandra had told us that her father had arms in the house.) Well, needless to say, Marcus was wide awake now, but he tried to cast his care on the Lord, and told himself that it was probably just a “paper giant”. He committed us all into the Lord’s hands, and went to the Bible for comfort. The house was deathly quiet, except for the noises outside, which he soon discovered was horses munching and pawing every now and then. AND the next morning when he asked the others about it, only one other person vaguely remembered the frantic door closing command. They said it’s nothing unusual for Adolfo (Chango) to talk in his sleep, and apparently that’s what it was. So it really was a paper giant!

The next day (Monday), Marcus, Tony, Megan and Maury went with Samuel to explore a cave down in a hollow. The men also butchered a sheep, and we had delicious meat for dinner and supper that day. Alejandra’s mother, Leticia, told me about a lion that supposedly escaped from a circus and is living around there in the mountains. She said not long ago it killed 8 of their goats, and another time came and killed 12 sheep. So that really brought the size of their herd down, and their son isn’t very excited about raising animals after that. (Somehow that story about the lion would come back to me in the middle of the night, when I needed to venture out to the outhouse... Even though I knew that it surely would be afraid to come very near the village, it made the trip in the darkness a little more exciting. J )

That evening we all went to visit Alejandra`s grandparents, who live just up the hill. In their old age, they are caring for 5 of their grandchildren whose mother passed away at the birth of the youngest, who is 6. The father is far away in Mexico City, and they don’t hear from him. We gave the grandma Ibuprofen for her awful toothache. Toward the end of the visit, the grandpa asked Marcus to share the message he had brought, so Marcus shared about Joseph to the group gathered there that evening. Even though they are Catholic, the grandpa urged his children to listen closely to the story of Joseph, and of how we’re to follow Jesus, no matter what happens. They are very concerned for their grandchildren, and want them to grow up to be godly men and women. Later the grandma told us that she wishes we could come every week to teach the children. I was impressed at the patience these old people have with their grandchildren – the noise of five children playing can get to be pretty much sometimes, but they didn’t seem to mind. And when one little boy drove his car over his grandpa’s head, the grandpa just kept right on with his conversation. J Since the grandma doesn’t have very much strength to scrub all their clothes, she has the boys scrub their own pants. It was a blessing to visit with them.

We had planned to head for home Tuesday morning, since Samuel needed to be back at work Wednesday morning. But Demetrio was really tired (Monday he had to make the long trip back over the mountains to Zautla, to return the horses he had rented, and only got home an hour or so after dark). He urged us to stay another day, so Samuel went home by himself, by bus. We visited in another home, and Marcus fixed Demetrio’s big chainsaw, and went with him to saw up a log and to look at his crops planted pioneer style among tree stumps and fallen logs.

That night it rained, and Wednesday morning it was still raining. They say that when it starts raining there it hardly stops, and now is the time for rainy season to begin. So we wondered when we would be able to leave. Wednesday morning we were able to visit in the home of Alejandra’s cousin Bulmaro, a young man who has a wife and two small children. Later Marcus worked on some other appliances for the families. We also had a good talk with a woman who stopped by. She was dressed modestly, with her head covered, and no earrings or other adornment. When we shared about what it means to really follow Jesus, she said, “What you’re saying is true. Come back again, and don’t just stay here – get in all the homes to tell what you’re bringing.” (By God’s grace we want to.) She wanted literature, and we gave the messages on paper that we hand out. In the afternoon the sun came out and dried things off a bit, but Demetrio urged us to wait until morning, since it was still threatening to rain. Alejandra was anxious to go, since her husband had already gone back to Tehuacàn, and we were minded to, too, thinking that it would probably rain more in the night, and make things muddier yet...

So we decided to head out, and by 5:00 we were heading down the mountain. We took only four horses this time, since it was mostly downhill, and we had less things to take back. Our children were tied on the horses again, and we adults walked most of the way. Well, it was quite an adventure... It rained some, and they tied big sheets of plastic around the children, to keep them dry. The rest of us got wet, but then the rain stopped and we dried out, at least our top half. The way was muddy and slippery and rocky, and then the sun went down and we still had a long way to go. Those of us who were walking had gotten ahead of the ones on horseback, trying to get as far as we could before dark. But then we waited for them to catch up, and sure enough, when we finally heard them coming down the neighboring mountain, we heard Roger crying in fright. He needed his daddy’s firm voice to calm him down. He just didn’t like the jolt of the mule’s steep stepping downward.

Well, we finally sloshed into Zautla around 9:00 (it seemed a lot later than it really was J ). We were muddy and wet up to above the knees, and our feet didn’t want to cooperate very well anymore. We bedded the children down on the mattresses in the back of our dear old suburban, and got changed into our dirty, but dry, other clothes. A man there wanted to talk to Marcus yet – turned out that he wanted Marcus to check his bus, so we decided to sleep there that night. Our family slept in the suburban, Tony in the cab of a nearby truck, and the others in the house.

The next morning Marcus fixed the bus, they served us a good breakfast there, and then we came on our way home.

For WHAT Are You Living?

Today my husband repaired a young man’s VW bug, and since he was still working over lunch hour, Rafael's mother Yolanda brought his lunch over. They both sat with us at the table, and after the meal Yolanda kindly washed up a big stack of dishes for me. While we worked, we got to know each other better.

In the course of the conversation, she asked me if I don’t miss living in the States. She thought we are “suffering” here in Mexico, and could be a lot happier if we’d go back to the States. But I objected – “We certainly aren’t suffering here. We have so much – we are rich! The Word of God says, ‘Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.’ (1 Timothy 6:8) Our Lord didn’t even have a place to lay his head.”

As Yolanda went on to mention, so many Mexicans, as well as people from other Central American countries, want to go to the States, (and do) because they long for a “better”, more comfortable life, with more things. And for Yolanda, it was hard to understand why we would choose to live here in Mexico, when we were born in the States.

I was glad for the opportunity to share with her. We are not living for the life here and now – our eyes are set on the life that is to come! And when our goal is to please our Lord and to be in the place that He wants us to be, we are content and happy wherever He calls us. We “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly”. (Hebrews 11:16) We are looking for “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10)

Oh, let us use this short life that we have to prepare for eternity – the life that is to come. Can we, like the Lord Jesus Christ, say, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me”?

Our Lord commands, “Love not the world; neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (1 John 2: 15 – 17) Let us live each day for eternity.

Flexibility

Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will begin our spring housecleaning, and get a room done each day, and scrub and vacuum, and get organized:

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:14 – 17)

This is something I am trying to learn. The Lord has been blessing me with many opportunities to practice, and see how flexible I really am. Do I allow Him to change my schedule, to upset my plans, whenever He wants to? I say that His way is always best, but how do I react when I need to change my thinking and readjust my schedule? Can I do so joyfully, thankfully? Can I keep my affection set on things above, instead of on things of this earth? Can I see this change in my plans as an opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven?

When my day already seems too full, needing to clean house and pack suitcases in preparation for a trip, and unexpected visitors appear and stay for dinner...

When the bed is piled high with sweet-smelling laundry, and I am happily settling down to fold it, and a young mother comes by wondering if I can help her sew for a couple hours...

When I tackle the mending pile with enthusiasm, and shortly thereafter my husband hears about a sick neighbor and asks me to go along and visit...

Of course there are lots of other smaller interruptions – a mother’s life is full of such things – spilled milk just before bedtime, on my little boy who’s fresh out of the bathtub, and then more spilled milk on another clean boy AND my nicely mopped floor. J

I’m glad to remind myself that the mending pile and dust in the corners will be completely insignificant and forgotten in eternity. And since I want to lay up treasures in heaven, then I will cheerfully lay aside my own ambitions when an interruption comes, seeing it as an opportunity from the Lord.

Thank you, dear Father, for these opportunities that you give me each day. Thank you that You are in control of my life, and that I can rest in Your wisdom. Father, I want to be faithful and joyfully accept your direction each day, remembering that this life is only a vapor. Help me to seek Your kingdom first, and righteousness, and keep the duties of this life secondary. “Your will, not mine, be done.”

Do You See the Hebrew Captive Kneeling?

Do you see the Hebrew captive kneeling,
At morning, noon and night, to pray?
In his chamber he remembers Zion,
Though in exile far away.

Refrain:

Are your windows open toward Jerusalem,
Though as captives here, a “little while” we stay?
For the coming of the King in His glory
Are you watching day by day?

Refrain

Do not fear to tread the fiery furnace,
Nor shrink the lion’s den to share;
For the God of Daniel will deliver,
He will send His angel there.

Refrain

Children of the living God, take courage,
Your great deliverance sweetly sing.
Set your faces toward the hill of Zion,
Thence to hail your coming King.

Refrain

Here is the music for this song. Let's be watching for the coming of our King in His glory, living each day in obedience to the rules of His kingdom, so that we may be found worthy to enter in through the gates into the City.

May news

Hello! I really don't have much time to write, but I guess I'll just take a little time. :) We were in Tlaxcala or Mexico City three weeks out of the past month, and just came "home" to Tehuacàn Wednesday evening. Thankfully, we were able to get a bunch of paperwork done, and now we're waiting for Clayton's birth certificate and passport to come in the mail, and also Marcus' document, making him an immigrant here in Mexico. Josuè's visa application to go to the States was denied - to get a visa, he or his father would need to have a bunch of money in the bank and a big business going, or have a registered church in the States to sponsor him, which we are not interested in, so they couldn't give him the visa.
The morning after we got home, a young mother (18-year-old) named Alejandra came needing some tortilla money. She'd come a number of times before and helped with housework, and we were able to give her some money so she could go to the doctor, some clothes for her children, etc. She and her "husband" have two dear little girls, ages 2 and 3 1/2. She said her husband was sick for quite a while, and unable to work, but now he has a job and they're trying to get their debts paid off. Well, this last time when she needed help, we didn't have money to give her, but we did have a sewing machine that hadn't sold yet. So Marcus took that to her house, so that she could leave it with the woman who gives her tortillas on credit, until she would be able to pay. But today she came and helped me a while, and then wondered if we could show her how to use the sewing machine. They haven't left it with the other woman yet, and Alejandra was anxious to use it. So anyway, I spent a couple hours with her this afternoon, helping her sew. She and her husband and sister-in-law plan to come for the service on Sunday, they said. I've already had opportunity to share with her what the Lord says about fornication (she and her "husband" are not married), wifely submission, modest dress, child training, etc. She is very helpful and thankful, and willing to share what she has, also. One day she brought me a bag of little boys' clothes, since she doesn't have any boys, and this afternoon she brought a little container of oatmeal atole, since she knew I liked it when she served me some in her house. She is from a town in the mountain range two hours or so from here, and hasn't been able to go back to visit her family for three years, for lack of funds. We're hoping to go soon and take them, and preach there.
Bro. Daniel Barajas and family plan to come tomorrow and be here over Sunday. The brethren want to go and preach outside a big evangelical church on Sunday, also. I guess Sis. Paty and Erika will get to help me clean tomorrow - I've been busy doing wash, making food, helping the children with their schoolwork, etc. So the house is dirty and suitcases still aren't all unpacked... :) I'm glad they like to clean - things will get into shape pretty fast that way, and we can visit while we work together. (Later - looks like they won't be coming tomorrow after all - it's postponed till next weekend. Hopefully Raùl and Gaby and Josuè Moreno can come along then, too.)
Marcus just got off the phone with Bro. Daniel, and among other things, Bro. Daniel mentioned that there's a little girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old) and her mother that were with the brethren in their service last evening. She had come to B. Daniel's apartment a few times after learning to know them in the play area of their development. They shared with her about following Jesus and not loving the world, and dressing to please the Lord, too. She told her mother, "Mother, I've got to dress modestly. It's time to seek the Lord!" She begged them for a covering and modest dress, which they gladly gave, and she began wearing it right away, saying, "I don't want this world anymore! I want to follow the Lord." She badly wanted to come along with Bro. Daniel's to Tehuacàn this weekend, but her family had other plans. Apparently she and her mother listened attentively in the service last evening.
As far as our trip to the States, we're planning for it in a few weeks, depending on when we get our paperwork back.
Well, this got pretty long. I'd better stop and get my wash folded now. God bless you!
Monica

April Newsletter

   Greetings of love from Tlaxcala, Mexico. Right now I'm using the internet here at the Moreno's house. They just got it installed this week, which is nice for us others who can use it too.
   We've been in Tlaxcala for two weeks now, enjoying time with the brethren. Last evening the brethren went out preaching together, and this afternoon they are too.
   Sis. Gaby came over to the Barajas' house while the men were away, and Erika helped her sew a jumper for herself. A week ago I helped her with another jumper. She's getting more encouraged about sewing, and says she might be brave enough to try one by herself next time.
   Tomorrow our family plans to go to Mexico City to be with the Aragòn family. Two of their children, Angèlica and Jacobo, spent almost a week with us in Tehuacàn, the middle of March. We were glad to get to know them better, and encourage them in following the Lord.
   Roberto was with us most of that week, and Toni Barajas also. Hopefully soon we will be able to visit Roberto and his family in the little town where they live an hour and a half away from us. His mother and siblings came to services a number of times, and his mother seems to have a desire to walk in the light, but it is hard with all the pressure from family and friends.
   We are thinking of making the trip to the States in about a month. But before we can do that, we need to get some paperwork done - birth certificate and/or passport for Clayton, etc. Josuè Moreno is hoping to go along with us, also. So we will see how the Lord works things out for us.
   Clayton is 5 months old today. A little over a week ago he got his first tooth. He really likes to eat from the table already - tortilla, black bean broth, orange juice, milkshake, etc. Also needed a couple spankings when he got mad because his food didn't come fast enough. He can sit up pretty well by himself too - seems to be growing up faster than the other children, for some reason.
   The brethren just got back from preaching now. God bless you!
                                      --Marcus and Monica and all

Recent Family Photos

Yesterday a friend took some pictures of our family - my husband and I, and the children which God hath so graciously given us. You may click here to see them.

Encouragement to Mothers

The Lord has been reminding me lately, through my husband and others, that I must continually be on my toes, watching and training our children. As a mother, I don’t have a break from my responsibility – I must be “on call” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thankfully I have a husband who is serving the Lord, and carries more than half of the load. (My husband even works at home most of the time, which is such a blessing!) But I also know that a lot depends on me. “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” (Prov. 14:1)

I thought I’d share with you other mothers these verses from the Word, that have been an encouragement to me in my child training responsibilities. I have them up on my refrigerator, where I can see them every day.

“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” Prov. 13:24)

“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” (Prov. 19:18)

“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” (Prov. 22:15)

“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” (Prov. 23:13, 14)

“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” (Prov. 29:15)

“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” (Prov. 29:17)

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb. 12:11)

God’s blessings rest upon those who follow His way. The world today has ideas completely opposed to the way of the Lord. But “the Word of God… liveth and abideth forever.” (1 Peter 1:23)

The Construction Workers

I walked up to the young men
¨You have work for me?¨
¨Twenty-five soles a day with breakfast and lunch included.¨
And so for three weeks I worked with the young men. They were fascinated, asking many questions about the USA, as the Peruvians always do. Whenever I spoke to them about God they would agree with their lips if for no other reason than to be polite.
There were about ten of them. A vile gang, for the most part. The foreman may well have been homosexual. Filthy jesting. The blaring radio belched out rock music. All day.
Several times the owner of the business gathered the men together in the morning before beginning the day´s work and asked me to lead in a prayer. ¨For safety¨, he said. ¨It´s alway´s good to pray for protection.¨
I didn´t know whether he was just trying to humor me. or whether he really thought that saying a prayer would be a sure way to prevent accidents, like a good luck symbol; a crucifix or rosary beads. But I prayed. For safety, but also that the Lord would lead us with His Spirit to escape the coming judgement.
On numerous occasions I rebuked some of them for the things they said or did. I seemed to them as one who mocked. They would joke to each other about it over the blare of the radio. Discouraging.
Yesterday was Sunday. I didn´t go to work. They worked, as they normally do on Sunday. In the afternoon I walked up to where they were working to plan for the coming week. They were eating a late lunch. They all greeted me with gusto. I spoke to the owner for several minutes about some details. They were finishing the project and getting ready to go to a new location.
Then, seeing I had my Bible in hand and everyone being together, the owner asked me to share something from the Bible with them. The young men, curious as to what might really be in my Bible, seconded the motion. They actually turned off the radio; an unprecedented action.
And so I opened the Bible to Revelation. I spoke plainly. They listened silently; curiously. No one laughed or jested for the entire time I spoke. Also unprecedented.
I read from Chapter twenty. About a resurrection; a judgement; a book of life. From chapter twenty-one I read verse eight.A list of people who will be cast into a lake of fire. And finally I read from chapter twenty-two. Again a list of people who will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.I read also the invitation of the Spirit and the Bride to ¨whosoever will.¨ I spoke then several words more. I spoke about life being brief. About this world being under the control of Satan and being doomed to destruction by fire. Of Christ´s words about two roads. The need to seperate from this world and the need to love God and the truth with all our hearts if we want to be on the narrow way. And so in maybe six or eight minutes I finished my words.
They were silent for the most part. I had spoken to them from my heart. I had spoken the truth. I think they knew it. And so because I had nothing more to say and neither did they, I got up to leave. They all saluted me with good-bys.
I thanked the Lord as I walked home. I was thankful for the oppurtunity to be an ambassador for His Kingdom. Those who may never have seriously read the Bible in their life had heard. Had heard truth.Had been made to think.
And so, my brothers, pray to the Lord for the growth of the seed. Pray that He in His mercy will call out a chosen few. Pray for oppurtunities...
Olen and the brothers salute the saints in the Faith.

Messed up by translations?

Do you receive the Word of God? I mean, do you really receive it by putting it into practice? Or have you read somewhere that our Bibles have been really messed up by translators, and that the things that are written are not really MEANT that way?

I use an amplified New Testament, and my wife helps me out with her high school (at home) knowledge of Greek. We know enough Greek to know that our English Bibles aren't that messed up. And besides we have quite a few Spanish translations that we check, too.

It boils down to this: God reveals His Word to babes, not to seminary students. He has hid these things from the wise and prudent. He hasn't been hiding from little children what His Word truly says, all these years. I benefit a lot from what the Greek says, and how other translations word things, too.  But you can also use these tools to just erase what the Scripture says, if you feel you really need to.

Recently one of my brethren preached a message on "Looking for a Loophole". If you don't really want to follow Jesus and take up that heavy cross, such as "live singly all your life, because you've separated or divorced and can't get back together with your TRUE SPOUSE", or "cover your head and dress biblically, if you're a woman", or really turn the other cheek and love your enemies, etc, etc.   Not going to war... You WILL find a loophole. It seems God has left loopholes there so that you can just find it and BE GONE. If you want to divorce and remarry, you will hang onto two verses in Matthew, even though all the rest of the NT FORBIDS divorce and remarriage for Jesus-lovers. And if you don't like the veiling, you'll hang on desperately to verse 15 or 16 of 1 Cor. 11, or the cultural argument, although the 14 verses beforehand are just as CLEAR as day.

Or if you want to go to war, and keep a pistol on hand, you'll hang desperately onto the verse, "Sell your garment and buy one." Or "the father of the family would have watched, and not suffered his house to be broken through," when the rest of His teachings are just as clear as can be. "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES", "DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU," "VENGEANCE IS MINE".

Or maybe you want to hang onto your jibber-jabber gift of tongues or healing or profecy that you received while still in disobedience to one or more of these demands of Jesus. Or you still practice your "gift" even though it´s not a real language, or it causes some confusion in the church, or disobeys something else in 1 Cor. 14, which Paul says, "are the commandments of the Lord." Or maybe you're a woman and you just can't keep quiet in the meeting, or you think God especially called you to teach, or to usurp authority over the man, and not quite be in subjection. But whatever your "gift" is, you justify it by the verse, "And these signs shall follow them that believe."

Now I should have mentioned this first of all - Salvation. Jesus teaches that if we keep His commandments, we'll be His friends, we love Him, and we are saved. But if you want to keep believing that you can "get saved" before obedience, by some kind of neat experience, you'll hang onto a COUPLE of verses, like "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth...", or "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord...", or the famous one-- "Not of works, lest any man should boast..." When Jesus and the rest of the New Testament RESOUND with the message of salvation being "receiving Jesus' WORDS and obeying Him, taking up your CROSS and FOLLOWING Him." "IF we walk in the light, as He is in the light..." we get cleansing by the blood of Jesus. But the modern church says you can get cleansing by an emotional prayer, some tears, and something that HAPPENS to you, or maybe they say "just baptism could do it." But of course "you need to 'go on' to obedience," they say.

God gives His Holy Spirit to them that OBEY Him. (Acts 5:32) And even though many do miracles and MANY great wonders in Jesus' name, He'll say, "Guess what - I never knew you." You're a Christian when Jesus is your LORD. That means that HE IS ABLE to tell you what to do. That means that He's the one directing in your heart.

And your divorce, when He says, "That USED to be allowed, for the hardness of your heart," and your remarriage, just show that He's NOT your Lord. Your earrings, bare head (if you're a woman), immodest dress, and other worldly toys, your anger at those who offend you, your lack of forgiveness, your being a policeman or soldier, your staring at television, and on and on... just show that He can't direct you, and you are judging yourself unworthy of His kingdom and glory.

God has no use for these "born-again Christians" who are looking for excuses not to obey Him. He can't make His abode with those who are looking for what they can get by with, by carefully checking the Greek, Hebrew, or commentary, or some obscure Scripture. True Christians LOOK for what they can lose for Jesus, so that they might gain Him. They LOOK for what they can do for Him, to please Him, so that they might be accepted with Him. And even if He would never thank or reward them, they'd do it anyway, because they count Him worthy. To the rest I think God says, "Find your excuse, and BE GONE! Find your loophole, and OUT OF HERE!"

I invite you to join us in finding this pearl of great price, polishing it up, living it and treasuring it. We're trying to get back to what being a Christian used to mean. We want to get back to the true Jesus. It has brought a cross. We've needed to leave all. We've needed to leave our evangelical churches that we were a part of, our families and our friends. "Wherefore we labor, that being present or absent, we might be accepted with Him." (2 Cor. 5) Spanish says, "pleasing to Him."

                  --Marcus                                             3-5-08

The Lie

Here is a message by our brother Johnathan Hopper. He is a missionary, and lives in the Philippines with his wife Becky and two sons, Lincoln and Wyatt.

Have you ever been lied to or deceived? All of us have been. The problem is we don't know it at the time, because most lies contain a certain amount of truth. This is why it is so difficult to know when we are deceived. What if you were deceived right now? How would you know? I suppose you wouldn't. That is the irony of deception, you don't know it. Let’s apply this to Christianity.

Suppose that someone told you, that in order to be saved you need to "accept Jesus as your personal savior", "believe in His work on the cross" and "receive His promises". Would you believe this; how would you know this wasn’t a lie? Right, we would compare it with scripture. If you wanted to find out if this was the truth or a lie you would simply need to consult the scripture to get to the bottom of it.

If you grew up like me, in the evangelical church you were probably taught something very similar to what was stated above in regard to salvation. This is because it is the accepted model, or teaching. What if we told you that the modern teaching of salvation was a lie, what would you do? Would you quickly close the browser and shrug us off as heretics? Well, it is a lie and most professing Christians believe it.

The New Testament talks about something called "the lie". We read about it in Romans 1.25 and II Thessalonians 2.11. What is the lie? The first lie in the Bible was when Satan told Eve "you will not surely die". Or in common English he told her "You can go ahead and eat that fruit, there will be no judgment to follow". Perhaps Eve thought something like: "Yeah that’s right, God is loving and kind. He wouldn’t do anything like that to me". There it is... "The lie". The lie is..... "You can live any way you want"..... "You can make your own decisions”..... "You can sin; you won't die”..... "No judgment will follow".

What we want to do in this article is compare "the lie" with the modern "gospel" or salvation message. The modern Gospel is claiming to save men in their sins. However Jesus taught that man has to repent and make some serious changes before he can be right with God.

The book of Jude tells us that there will be certain men who creep in unaware that will turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. A synonym of lasciviousness is loose living, lawlessness or disobedience. If we compare "the Lie" that Satan told Eve with the modern "gospel", we get a lot of striking similarities.

Is it possible that you could lie to yourself? You may think this is absurd, but have you ever seen an obese person dressed in an extremely tight pair of pants, or a young white male dressed up like a gang member, or perhaps a young lady dressed up like a movie star? These people want so badly to be attractive, tough or famous that they have learned to play pretend with themselves. People

In the same way let us suppose that someone has "received Jesus", they go to church, they have been baptized, they are involved in church activities and give tithes. As Christians we would never think to question this person's faith. Rather we would think this person is very faithful, but are all those things really what faith is? Does someone have faith because they have been baptized and go to church? The truth is anyone can do those things and not have any faith at all. Most people's "faith" is nothing more than make-believe. They are playing pretend with themselves like an obese person in a tight pair of pants.

How do you know you have faith? Because you believe you do? Because you believe God's promises are true? Do I have faith just because I believe I do? The Bible tells us, "By faith Abraham obeyed God". Did Abraham have faith simply because he acknowledged God's promise? Imagine that Abraham didn't leave his home, but he did believe in God's promise, he believed it so much that he went all around his hometown telling everyone about the wonderful promise God was going to give him. If this were the substance of Abraham's faith would he have received God's promise? No... Because, "Real faith is my obedient response to God's demands on my life".

We are all familiar with John 3.16. It is one of the most popular verses the modern church uses to teach about salvation. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life" When I was 7, I was told to believe that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again making Him God, and that if I believed this I would receive the promise of salvation. Is that really believing?

Let us suppose that my name is Earl and I drive a taxi. I pull up next to you in my taxi on a dark night and ask if you want a ride. Although you may believe that my name is Earl and that I drive a taxi, if you question my integrity and don’t get into my car do you really believe in me? No. If you believed in me you would have gotten into my taxi. Do you see the difference in the types of belief? Just because you believe my name is Earl and I drive a taxi doesn’t mean that you trust me to get you home.

We can think of belief in Christ in the same way. Just because we acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross, rose and resurrected doesn’t mean we believe in Him. The word believe means: to adhere to, to put one's trust in, to cling to, and to obey. Truly believing in Jesus is trusting in him, clinging to him, adhering to His words, and obeying them. Just because I believe He died on the cross and rose again doesn’t mean I trust in, cling to, and obey Him.

The Bible says "You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the devils believe and tremble". In other words, even the demons believe in Jesus and tremble at the thought of Him. Even the demons believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He was crucified on a cross, died and rose again making Him the Son of God. Even the demons believe in Christ. Do you see the lie in the way we are taught to believe?

Most of us are familiar with Ephesians 2.8. This is another popular scripture the modern church uses to "suave" people. ”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast". The modern gospel has put a twist on this scripture. Like any good lie there needs to be some truth attached to it. It is true we are saved by grace, but what is grace

What do you think of when you hear the word grace? Unmerited favor, mercy, pardon, immunity? All of these things are what the modern gospel teaches about grace. We are taught that grace is God overlooking man's sin. We are taught it is something like a handicap in golfing. Sometimes when people of unequal ability golf together the person who is a better player will "handicap" himself or lower his score to allow the other person a winning chance. This is how we are taught about God's grace; it is Him lowering His righteousness because we aren’t able to achieve His standard.

To take the twist out of this, simply look at the Titus 2.11. "For the Grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Does this scripture say that God's grace is unmerited favor, mercy, pardon or immunity? It does say that His grace is teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Do you see the difference? God's grace is doing the complete opposite of what the modern gospel is teaching. God's grace isn’t Him overlooking our sin; it is Him teaching us not to sin! It isn't Him looking over His shoulder when we sin. Grace is God teaching us to attain to His standard.

"For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" This is another popular scripture the modern gospel uses. Often they take this one scripture and use it by itself. I am not calling this scripture untrue. I am simply trying to weigh this single scripture against the rest of the New Testament.

"Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven". Mathew 7. 21. Will simply calling on the Lord's name save us? Jesus said not all who call Him Lord will be saved. Is Romans 10.13 wrong? No, but if you weigh it against Mathew 7 suddenly it doesn’t mean what the modern gospel teaches it does. If this is all we do to be saved we will be greatly disappointed when we stand before Jesus and He tells us "Depart from me, you never did the will of the Father".

Many people call Jesus their Lord, but if we do not obey Him and His teachings our profession means nothing because He isn’t truly our Lord. If Jesus is our Lord He has to be the Lord of our lives. To give an example of this read Mathew 5.39. Jesus said if someone slaps you on one cheek we are to turn the other. If someone slaps you on one cheek what do you do...? If you hit the other person back is Jesus really your lord? Are you doing what He has commanded you to do? If Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and we don’t, he isn’t truly our Lord.

The problem is the "modern church" has the Gospel upside-down. For example, when I was 7 years old I was "saved" and told I needed "accept Jesus as my personal Savior". I was told that Jesus died for me on the cross and gave His blood for my sins. I was told that if I accepted this and believed in it, then his blood would cover my sins. I did accept these facts and I did believe Jesus shed his blood for me. I had already been attending church at this time and would continue to go to church until I was 15 or 16. However when I was 14, I questioned whether I was saved. I knew I was walking in darkness. I knew sinned a lot. I asked my mother if God would save me even if I didn't live like a Christian. She told me,”Yes, salvation is a gift, it can’t be taken away". I still questioned.

"But if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin"

We all want to be saved. We all want to claim Christ’s Blood. However, Christ’s blood is conditional.
In order for Christ’s blood to cleanse us we have to walk in the light first. "If we walk in the light, then...” The modern Gospel turns this upside- down. It would teach...

1 The blood of Jesus Christ covers us from all sin if we just accept it (get saved)

Do you see how it’s upside down? We can’t claim Christ’s Blood until we walk in the Light. Walking in the Light isn't just stopping the really bad things we do. It is Repenting.

"...to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."

Do you see how it’s upside down? We can't receive the inheritance until we are forgiven. We can't be forgiven until we turn from Satan to God. We can’t turn to God's light until we turn from darkness. We can’t turn from darkness until we have our eyes opened.

3 Forget turning from Satan to God and from darkness to Light (this is never taught)

Jesus is telling us right here we have to do something in order to be saved, He cannot accept us "just as we are". We have to turn from darkness to light. We have to turn from Satan to God, so that we can receive forgiveness and the inheritance.

If you want to be saved you have to turn from Satan! You can’t be forgiven until you turn from darkness and repent! You have to have your eyes opened in order for any of this to happen! We cannot be accepted by Jesus as long as we choose to serve Satan. This was the Gospel Jesus gave to Paul. This is the Gospel in the simplest form. If what we preach does not align with this message it isn’t the Gospel.

The "modern church" is lying to people by telling them "you can live any way you want". This was the lie Satan told Eve: "Go ahead and sin. No judgment will follow. You won't die". The "modern church" is telling people the same message. The prophecy Jude gave to the Church has already been fulfilled and we are living in the fall-out of it. In other words, those certain men who will creep in unaware and turn God's grace into lawlessness. These men have already crept in and taken over

Maybe you are familiar with the account in Mathew where Jesus tells the priests and elders of the Jews "the stone which the builders refused has become the chief Cornerstone".

Peter refers to this same scripture in Acts and tells the Jews again "the stone which the builders refused has not become the chief cornerstone, nor is there salvation found in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved". Obviously this is talking about Jesus being unknown and rejected by the religion of His time.

Almost inevitably when salvation is taught Paul's teachings are preferred over the Gospels. We are taught to consult Luther and Calvin’s theology from the Epistles of Paul. The problem is Luther and Calvin failed to build they’re theology on Christ’s Gospels, they went to the book of Romans to build their foundational teachings, they went to Paul instead of Christ.

We don’t mean to downplay Paul’s by saying they aren’t the Word of God. Rather we are trying to communicate that Jesus is the teacher and Paul is the disciple. Paul derived his teachings from the Gospel, so what he is teaching must agree with Christ’s Gospel. If we create our own theology based on Paul’s writings we will create a disagreement between him and Christ. If we want to understand what Paul is teaching about salvation we must get a hold of what Jesus teaches first. On top of this some of the things Paul teaches are very complicated, even Peter said he wrote some things which are hard to be understood.

Jesus’ teachings on Salvation are very simple, very easy to get a hold of, but we ignore them because there is a Cross attached to them. They require us to yield, to conform, and to surrender to change. Luther and Calvin’s teachings seem deep and complicated, it takes going to a theological seminary to understand their teachings, yet Luther and Calvin’s teachings do not require anything of us. So in order to avoid the Cross of suffering and self denial we prefer Luther and Calvin over Christ. To this day Jesus is still "the stone the builders rejected".

Fear God, and give glory to Him

We arrived!

Reynosa!

News from the month of June, by Marcus

The Beginning of Wisdom (continued)

The Beginning of Wisdom

Our Journey to the Sierra Negra

For WHAT Are You Living?

Flexibility

Do You See the Hebrew Captive Kneeling?

May news

April Newsletter

Recent Family Photos

Encouragement to Mothers

The Construction Workers

Messed up by translations?

The Lie