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Today, in Mexico is "EL DIA DEL TACO". It is a time of celebration, a time of unity and if nothing else, a good excuse to eat tacos and for all Americanos this is not day of Taco Bell. 
Somewhere the translation got confused when they said they had tacos and gorditas.
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At the church I attend on Sunday mornings, you can never expect the same order of worship to occur. It is always changing and never constant. It may run the same way for a month and suddenly change the next Sunday, then the Sunday after that the order is changed again. If this were to happen in many churches (probably all around the world), people would be angered and many would probably stop short of calling it unbiblical while others would probably go ahead and say it is. In a lot of the churches, the services themselves run 1 1/2 to 2 hours or more, which does not include Sunday school.
Is is bad to change up things? Is it bad to attend church services for more than an hour?
Time in Mexico is not valued the same way it is in the United States, which makes that good for church but sometimes bad in other areas. In the same, the way time is here makes many Americans heads spin, but I am convinced even when I have thoughts of "can the service end already" (yes my fleshly self has these thoughts on occasion), that I have denied a blessing of the Holy Spirit by not being open and allowing the Spirit to move in my life. What gets in the way constantly is "Me, myself, & I". When "I" [now read as your the one writing in first person] get in the way, I hinder the work of the Holy Spirit. What is sad is that not only do I hinder the Spirit from working in my life, but it affects the lives of others around me.
"I" causes us to sell God short. Back to the services, what would it be like if we let go and let God? I recently shaved my head, like last nite. I thought about how it was a fine demonstration of my point on change. How did people react? How are you reacting right now? Exactly. Now, what truthfully is bad about it? How many people do you know that have shaved heads and you think nothing about it? Is it a sin? Does it reflect bad on Christ in some way? No, people do not like it because it is change. It is somewhat drastic I must admit to go from medium hair to stubbles but this is the exact thing we are afraid of, God doing something in our life that will turn it upsidedown for HIS GLORY and not our own. Change it is scary, but as long as our change within the realm of the Church is Biblical and does not contradict the Bible in anyway, then we must prayerfully consider God's will over our own. But we are afraid, because we are programmed this way. We must have control and sadly this same control issue is sometimes what cause many splits in churches and friendships today.
Pray for the La Laguna as we pray for a year of change, a year that starts a lifetime of discipleship and reaching the metro. Pray how God may change your heart and our hearts so that we will live a life that brings glory to Him.
A closing note on change: Serveral months ago I saw an ad for a heavy metal "Christian" group. On this add was a picture of Beavis and Butthead. Change can never in any way reflect darkness. Just as we need to be open to changing our ways, we must also be in tune with the Holy Spirit.
I would like for you to remember to pray for a few of the things that are coming up real soon. Firstly, this week I hope to start a Bible study/ English class that will meet on Fridays. There are several friends that expressed a wanting to learn English over the last year and this will be a great opportunity to mix in some Bible study and discipleship. Also, it will be interesting studying the Bible in spanish and then afterwards doing English.
On April 6 & 7, there will be a True Love Waits weekend. This will be the first one and will involve a couple of churches to start out. It is my hope that the convention will set aside funds and be burdened to continue this as an annual convention-wide event.
On June 8 & 9, there will be a discipleship conference for the La Laguna convention churches. This will coincide with a week that a team from For Thee One Ministries is here to work. The first night will be a night of worship and teaching and the second night will be a night of challenge for the convention to begin a strong focus into discipleship. A program/challenge will be presented to all the churches represented, both United States and Mexico. I have not worked out all of the details but ask you to remember this in your prayers.
I am also glad to say that there will be two more teams coming to work through For Thee One Ministries, on in July and the other in September. Please pray for these three trips. Also, know that there is still time for you to be plugged in somewhere this year.
Moreover, if you are reading this and plan to leave the United States by air or boat, you better act very fast on getting your passport. Wait times have been increased due to the high amount of passport applications. Don't let waiting until the last minute mess you up.
Below are two pictures from the DF and my last visit there. These are the best pictures I have as I am not sure what happened to the others. You can click on the pictures to see them in full size. In case you did not know, Mexico City has over 25 million inhabitants. These pictures are taken on the southside of the city. Even though you cannot see to well from the pictures, for as far as you can see, there are houses and buildings which seem to never end.
For those who want pictures, this post is for you. Last weekend we tood a family picknic with our American friends here to Puente de Ojuela, which is an old mine near where we live.
Bridge that crosses to the mine.
