Back in the USA

My apologies for a long gap between posts.  The middle of the week was hectic at best and the days were extremely long.  As for Ron and myself, we were involved in two evening studies (Tuesday & Wednesday) with a group of young people at Prince of Peace Church as well as a group from a church that was planted years ago by the Prince of Peace Church.  Monday through Thursday our group was involved in a VBS-type of outreach to the children in the poor section of Ensenada and a construction job.

VBS took place in the morning with about 20-25 children attending.  The site for this was located in a barren plot of property that is used as a dumping area for unwanted trash.  As you can see from the picture, there is nothing remarkable about this site.  Our group did a fabulous job in cleaning up the site every morning upon our arrival to prepare for the day’s activities.  In addition, a few of our guys did what we call a “red book study” (because the book cover is red.  I know,  pretty creative title)  which simply explains the gospel to an unbelievers.  This study took place in the afternoon with about a six individuals from this community in attendance.

The construction was an all day effort during our four days on this mountain.  Before our arrival, the area was cleared out by digging a hole in the side of the mountain and a concrete pad was poured.    As you can see in the picture, the finished product was painted pink.  No it was not my first choice in color, if fact, pink would not have been on my list of colors at all.  Never-the-less, the pink multi-purpose building will be used to primarily to feed children in this impoverished area and other functions as the congregation from Prince of Peace begins a church-planting endeavor here.  In the picture, Ryan is handing over the keys to the lady would will oversee the feeding program.  Ryan was our foreman for the project and assisted Pastor Ernesto, who is an experienced builder and knowledgeable of local Mexican building codes (a bit of sarcasm there-  no building codes to worry about).

On Friday, we traveled about one hour south of Ensenada to La Bufadora, “the blowhole”.  La Bufadora is a hole formed in the rocks along the ocean’s edge which literally shoots water up sometimes 50 feet in the air as the waves crash the shore.  It is quite a site.  This tourist area also contains a bartering market in which we tested our skills of negotiation.  Needless to say, there are some souvenirs coming home.

At 7:00 pm, we found ourselves in line at the border.  The wait was about an hour long and before long we were back in San Diego eating burgers from In-N-Out.  Today has been reserved for some R&R at the beach with an early departure for CLE on Sunday.

Thanks to those who have prayed on our behalf.

 

Tuesday Morning Update

Good Morning-

It is 7:00 am here in Ensenada.  Things progressed well yesterday as the the first day of VBS took place and four walls of a building were erected.  We are located on the side of a mountain were most who live there are extremely poor.  It is to these people which a church is being planted and we are assisting in this endeavor through our labor and ministry to them.  The students are doing very, adapting to the culture and language differences.  It is extremely helpful to have someone on our team who is relatively fluent in Spanish.  Paula, from Mogadore Baptist, gave here complete testimony in Spanish last night.  She did an awesome job and appeared to have been effective in communicating to them.  In addition, Ron had an opportunity to give the gospel last night as well. In my opinion, Paula & Ron were the highlights of the evening.

The interenet connection is slow this AM, so I do not have time to download pics this AM

 

The Weekend

I am scrambling to get something down here as my time is short.  On group arrived from Ohio on Saturday without incident.  That evening our students were invited to an informal worship service on the beach which helped in the blending of the two cultures.  Though Saturday was long and tiring, it was a good beginning to what I anticipate as a good week.

Sunday was an incredible day for me.  The worship at Prince of Peace was awesome.  Their praise band was on of the tightest worship bands from a local church that I have heard in a long time and the all people, children, youth, young adults, married with children, empty nesters, and senior saints, participated.  It was lively and they wanted to worship the Almighty.  Simply amazing!  You can bet I will post a commentary on this, hopefully this week.

Sunday afternoon was reserved for a boat tour of the harbor and sight seeing in the tourest section.  Another opportunity to interact with our Mexican hosts.

My apologies for no pics.  Time is short this morning and breakfast is being served as I type.  Hope to post more.

 

Days 2 & 3

The past several days have been busy.  Pastor training was completed this afternoon with a tentative strategy in place to begin a national network for church planting in Mexico.  One of the items that we discussed was the need for training materials in Spanish that can be used immediately and affordable to the average Mexican.  So a plan of attack was developed and hopefully this can become reality quickly.  The elders at Grace Church will be receiving a written report regarding details of this training hopefully early next week.

This morning Ron began our session with a time of praise.  Each person expressed his/her sincere appreciation for our time and willingness to come and teach, especially Ron & Roger who have been faithful in returning to Mexico over the past five years to order a system of training church pastors and key leaders.  A question was asked why we would spend extended time, energy and financing, and dedicate ourselves in continuous visits to Mexico.  We simply replied that we are doing our part in representing our local churches in fulfilling the Great Commission, and that is the example we would like to leave behind so that the local churches in Ensenada catch the vision of the Great Commission.  That was probably one of the more encouraging moments in ministry that I have experienced.  It was truly humbling.

Now for the important stuff…..tacos, fish tacos that is.  I experience my first fish taco.  My travel companions played up the drama real well.  If you like deep fried fish and you like soft taco shells, then you will like fish tacos.  I Skyped my son Caleb last night and he wanted to know if I received food poisoning from the fish tacos and puked all night.  The answer to that would be “no”.  The taco stand was situated right on the street corner.  You simply walk up grab a taco and Coke, and chow down.  When you are done, signal for another one, and bam, you got another one.  You pay after you are finished. A buck a taco, what a bargain.  Mexican version of fast food. The best part was the ambiance.  Eating a fish taco and breathing diesel fumes.  Ya can’t get that in the States!  There is no doubt we will visit that stand again before the end of our time in Ensenada.

We head back to San Diego tomorrow to meet the rest of our team.  Please be praying for a safe and timely flight.  I know the frequency of these updates will decrease.  I hope to post one time next week before our departure home.

 

Pastors’ Training - Day 1

We began our day around 4:30 am (remember, our bodies are still on Eastern Time Zone).  So that gave us a few hours of preparation and to check email.

We arrived at Prince of Peace Church at 8:30 am local time.  We began the morning discussing the role of the local church in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  Our goal through the study of Scripture and Socratic discussion was to come to an understanding of the centrality of the local church in the effective progression of the Gospel.  In the afternoon we looked at the local church as the household of God by looking at Paul’s “household texts” as he describes the church as a family of families.

After my first day at this, the thing that is impressed upon my mind at this moment is how a camaraderie can develop between men who have very little in common, where culture, geography, politics, and language are a barrier.  These men are sharp and teachable.  I look forward to the next two days.

My first visit to Mexico was in the early 80’s.  I distinctly remember the immediate culture shock upon crossing the border.  Though there some distinctions between our two countries, Mexico certainly has improved in the area of infrastructure, economy and technology.  The United States is still viewed as the land of “milk and honey” for many Mexicans, even with such advancements.

I know for certain that I will be able to continue to post through Saturday morning, with the anticipation of continual updates until then.

As always, we appreciate your prayers.

 

Jesus is Lord; Caesar is Not.

OK-

It is 11:30 pm on the East Coast, I am exhausted, and I am reading and posting blogs. In light of the current political condition in the States, this quote from Stott is a perfect reminder where our trust ought to be.  This quote originates from Chip Stam’s “Worship Quote of the Week” and can be found here.  Enjoy and good night.

Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE is from John Stott’s book THE CROSS OF CHRIST (highly recommended). This excerpt is from the chapter that deals with “loving our enemies” and discusses the Christian’s appropriate allegiance to God and to the state.

JESUS IS LORD; CAESAR IS NOT.
I confess that I find it extremely impressive that Paul writes of both the “authority” and the “ministry” of the state; that three times he affirms the state’s authority to be God’s authority; and that three times he describes the state and its ministers as God’s ministers, using two words (DIAKONOS and LEITOURGOS) which elsewhere he applied to his own ministry as apostle and evangelist and even to the ministry of Christ. I do not think there is any way of wriggling out of this, for example by interpreting the paragraph as a grudging acquiescence in the realities of political power. No. In spite of the defects of Roman government, with which he was personally familiar, Paul emphatically declared its authority and ministry to be God’s. It is the divine origin of the state’s authority which makes Christian submission to it a matter of “conscience” (Rom. 13:5).

Nevertheless, the fact that the state’s authority has been delegated to it by God, and is therefore not intrinsic but derived, means that it must never be absolutized. Worship is due to God alone, and to his Christ, who is the lord of all rule and authority (Eph. 1:21-22) and “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5; cf. 19:16). The state must be respected as a divine institution; but to give it our blind, unqualified allegiance would be idolatry. The early Christians refused to call Caesar “lord”; that title belonged to Jesus alone.

–John R. W. Stott, THE CROSS OF CHRIST. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1986, p. 305. ISBN 0-87784-998-6.

 

Hola from Mexico

We have arrived safely in Ensenada. Flights were uneventful, though there was a two hour delay in Houston due to mechanical issues with our plane. We boarded another plane and off we went. I figure landing safely in San Diego makes for an uneventful trip. Our border crossing was uneventful as well with a gorgeous drive along the Pacific coast.

Tomorrow we will begin three days of intense training of local pastors in the Ensenada area. I will attempt to update daily. Please be in prayer as our group of high school and college students will leave Cleveland on Saturday.  We will meet them in San Diego and head back to Ensenada together.

The picture is a scenic view of the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean.

Grace & Peace

 

Spurgeon and Election

In about two weeks I will be leaving for Mexico with a colleague to engage in some  pastor training and other sorts of ministry that will assist in the establishing process of the local church we will be visiting. In addition, I will be speaking at a Thursday evening worship service, and as i was preparing for this message, I came across Surgeon’s comments on a portion of scripture I will be using.

Needless to say, Surgeon does not mince words, he is very direct on the doctrine of election. His thoughts can be found here.

 

The Success of a Pastor

Dan Phillips over at PyroManiacs is really pumping out some of the best posts that I have read on the success of a pastor. It appears to be a three part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) with what I would consider as a follow up post exhorting all pastors to teach the entire counsel of God (here).

I would encourage reading the comments in each section as well. PyroManiacs has some of the best reads in the blog-o-sphere.

 

Amazing Grace- Wintley Phipps

Simply amazing…….