This is the generation of those who seek Him!

Psalm 24:6 in the New American Standard Bible (NASB)

I read this in my devotions this morning and thought about some of the despair and discouragement I see in posts by friends on Facebook… I thought about what we see on television and how we hear of persecution throughout the world… I thought “Can this be true today? Is ours the generation of those who seek Him?”… maybe it was true when David wrote it, but certainly not today. Then I thought about David’s environment: persecuted by Saul, hiding “from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” (Psalm 17:9) Not very different from our situation today!

Sandy and I believe it is true today. We see God at work in our lives and in the lives of others; we see the fruit of those working to expand God’s Kingdom. Let me tell you what God has done through the men of Training Pastors International (TPI) in Central and South America, just in 2010: (does not include works in Peru or Miami)

Country	People Evangelized	Prof. of Faith	Msgs Preached	Baptisms	New Churches
Argentina	2,948	598	1,122	563	70
Paraguay	2,513	391	1,531	122	23
Nicaragua	1,717	731	2,103	177	11
Honduras	410	75	298	17	0
Colombia	3,204	1,068	2,152	557	15
Cuba	9,694	2,511	9,240	533	137
Guatemala	171	26	161	0	0
TOTALS	20,657	5,400	16,607	1,969	256

Give thanks to God for what He is doing through these men! PRAY for these men! Pray for the students in our classes that their hunger for the Word continues to grow; pray that they remain faithful; pray that they be effective; pray that God’s will be done in Latin America! Can I get an Amen?

An Update on the Healing in Paraguay

Some of you may recall the “healing” I witnessed in August while I was in Paraguay (click here). Maximo and Reinaldo, two of TPI’s teachers in Paraguay, returned to that village, Cruce Liberación, for the first time this weekend, visited the family last night, and gave me this update…

The girl has remained out of her depression and is still feeling fine.
She and her family have been attending the church where we held the TPI classes and she was healed.
She, her mother and her father were all baptized this past Sunday.
This weekend, she will be giving her testimony to the rest of the church.

What an awesome God we serve, amen?

Pray for this famine!

"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD,
"When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the LORD." - Amos 8:11

God used Amos to prophesy this famine. Do we have this famine today? I know it exists in some parts of the world, even here in the US, but it is not widespread. Pray that people would hunger and thirst for the words of the LORD. But be careful…

People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD,
But they will not find it. - Amos 8:12

How can this be, they will not find it? The context tells us that “from sea to sea” indicates from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, and “from the north even to the east” means from the area of Dan in the north to… the east? Why not from the north to the south? From the west to the east has been covered (from sea to sea), so from the north to the south would follow, right? But Amos says: from the north even to the east. Guess why he didn’t say from the north to the south?

Jerusalem was in the south. Jerusalem held the true “words of the LORD.” The people already had in front of them the “words of the LORD” (Amos and the other prophets) and didn’t like what they heard. (See 7:12 – Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying!”) They were searching for the god of their desires, not the God of the bible; the god they thought would give them what they wanted, not the God that was ready to give them what they needed.

Paul warned Timothy that this would happen: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires – 2 Timothy 4:3.

Yes, pray for this famine. Also pray that people search for the true “words of the LORD.” The bible tells us: you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. – Deuteronomy 4:29. Seek the true God, the true words of the LORD, and you will find them; seek your own god and your own happiness, and you will be like those Amos spoke of: they will not find it.

Wasting Away (but not in Margaritaville!)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16

Is this true for you? Is your body wasting away? Are you losing hope? Are you “being renewed day by day?”

For me, each day I get a little older – the hair I get to keep is getting grayer, my eyes are getting weaker, my feet get a little sorer. Then I look at Sandy – her body was wasting away prematurely, and the medicine she has to take to get better, made parts of her body waste away early, also. It’s easy to become discouraged, to lose hope.

Paul was writing to people who were hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (verses 8-9)

Each day I go through my devotions, I find these nuggets of truth. I find new meaning in passages I have read before. I find that my mind continues to grow, and my outlook changes from one of discouragement to one of peace and contentment.

Paul continues (verses 17-18): For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

It is not sufficient to say: I have already read the Bible and move on. We need to be in God’s Word daily. Why? Because discouragement and wasting away can occur so slowly that we don’t recognize them. The only way to counter that daily destruction is by a daily renewal of God’s Word, God’s Truth.

Again I ask: Are you “being renewed day by day?” If not, you may be becoming stagnant.

Settling In...

Well, the traveling has slowed down and we are acclimating. No international trips in September, although we did attend the funeral of Sandy’s brother-in-law in Albuquerque, NM and we had the opportunity to visit kids and grandkids in August/ September.

On Sunday we joined Trinity Baptist Church in Southaven, MS (http://www.trinitysouthaven.org/). The pastor here, Chad Everson, went to school with Vance Pitman, our pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas! Sandy and I have already spoken with a number of people at Trinity about our ministry, Training pastors International (TPI) and they definitely want to get connected with what we are doing in Central and South America. Please pray for this relationship to grow!

As I write this, Sandy is off to the 3^rd week of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). The past couple weeks have been difficult for her since her red blood cell count had dropped again; we are taking steps to get it back where it should be, but that takes time. Two weeks ago her blood test showed she was still NEGATIVE for the virus so she is on track to finish treatment in January 2011 – just 3 ½ months away. This is another area we need prayer!

Thanks to the internet in general, and Facebook in particular, I am able to maintain contact with some of the TPI teachers in other countries. 35 minutes this morning with Jorge in Paraguay, 20 minutes with Reinaldo last week (also in Paraguay), and on… what a great way to keep up with what’s going on, and practice my Spanish at the same time.

¡Dios les bendiga! (God bless ya’ll!)

You will be My witness...

If you're reading this blog, I know you are familiar with the passage: You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Like most of you, I had always viewed this as telling my story, what I know, in these places. Last week I learned a new way to see this passage.

I was with Maximo and Reinaldo from Paraguay, and Luis from Argentina, Friday afternoon as we finished our 4 1/2 hour drive to Cruce Liberación in Paraguay (past the HUGE anthills); we were going to be teaching the TPI course on Evangelism to a group of pastors and church leaders in this area.

After arriving, we learned a 14-year old girl was suffering from depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, blackouts and convulsions. Turns out her cousin had recently committed suicide and they had been very close. This girl, with her family, had been trying to sleep in the church as a last resort (none in her family were Christians).

Maximo and I went to talk with her. As we started, her eyes became glazed over and she passed out. Her family rushed her (seated in her lawn chair) into the church where a group of pastors and church leaders prayed for her. They were mostly Pentecostal and it was very loud. Maximo and I stayed outside and prayed for her. She regained consciousness but was still depressed and anxious.

Just before the Saturday evening church service, we learned she had been "healed". She was no longer depressed, had been able to sleep that night, and felt better than she had in months. PLUS she, her father and uncle accepted Jesus as their Savior that afternoon. They had gone home to get the rest of the family for the church service. Luis preached on Jesus healing the son of the Capernaum official (John 4:46-53). Just as with that man, the rest of the girl's family was saved that night, 12 in all came to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Sunday as we were leaving, we stopped at the girl's house for a visit and the whole family was there. After exchanging greetings, they asked me to say a few words (gotta get used to that as the token Gringo). I spoke to them about John 1:12, and as believers we are all one family: no cousins, no uncles, but all are brothers and sisters with one father. We then spent time visiting with the family, explaining how to read the bible, and playing with the kids (I did most of the playing!). By the time we left, a large group had gathered in the street in front of the house.

I witnessed this event, and more, in the "ends of the earth" and it is now my responsibility to report it. Where are you witnessing God at work? What have you seen God do in your life and the lives of others? How are you being a witness for what you have seen Him do?

TPI Graduation in Bogotá, Colombia

Saturday, July 17, was a humbling day for me. I was privileged to share the day with 39 men and their families as they were handed their diplomas for completing the 12-week seminary course offered by TPI; they had been looking forward to this day for nearly four years. These are men who have been leading others to Jesus Christ, pastoring churches, and praying for the opportunity to be trained in real theology. There were men in their 20’s and one man who had attained 83 years, yet had the vigor of a 30-something.

Even more humbling, I was asked to give a message to this group of godly men! I shared a message about Light (“that which makes vision possible”); I shared the passage in John 7:25-28 where people had partial truths about Jesus and were speculating about parts they were not sure of. I advised these men that they now have the knowledge, the position, and the responsibility to be the Light (You are the light of the world – Matthew 5:14) and make sure the people they reach have the full truth about Jesus Christ and do not have to speculate any more.

Enjoy the photos!

¡Dios les bendiga!