La Laguna thoughts and digressives....

Missions has been defined in many ways but most all definitions seem to end up at the same point, carrying the Gospel throughout the world and discipling them (of course Baptism fits within too).  Just as there is probably not a universal definition, there is not a universal way of doing it.  Culture is definitely one thing that changes the approach but generally it should be seeking to carry out the Great Commission.  But, just because the end goal or stated goal is to Evangelise, baptise, and disciple, it does not make it right. 

The thing I hate to see is the closed-mindedness of many today about the subject.  From those currently serving to those who do not do anything at all.  I have read a lot of information on the internet and through other blogs that comes off as it was written arrogantly and without fault or flaw.  Sometimes maybe we become so caught up in ourselves that we forget what the calling is.  My prayer and hope is that others would become informed and would also keep an open mind but more than that that all would be taken to Christ in prayer.  Prayer is the most vital part of missions.  Without it, there is no direction or support and all would be vain.

I have wandered through the last three years, what impact if any has been made on the lives of our missions partners.  Has their life changed at home?  I believe that part of every missionaries job is to teach their missions partners and also to learn from their missions partners.  I look forward to the years to come and the new friends we will make.  I thank all of our past partners as they are part of the organisation.  God has already called us.  It is a matter of when and where will we go.  For opportunities or questions, please feel free to send me an email or post your question.

Posted by mic at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This coming month, we are hitting the streets in the ministry's local town.  For several years the focus has been on foreign missions and sadly not much has happened back home.  Even sader is that there are many people looking to do something and have been but have lacked the pressing by people in leadership from within the county.  I am sure this is every city, you name the place in the world. But it saddens me that we as leaders become full of hot air and a little less action.  We can tell people how to do it but never lead them there nor lead up others to lead.

Please remember us in your prayers and those we come in contact.  Also, pray that it will open the eyes of the churches to the need in our own community. 

Posted by mic at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was "Friend Day" and something that was said by some of my family made me think of maybe the harm we do ourselves in Evangelism and missions.  It was said to them that this church was nothing but a dress-up contest and people tried to see who could out dress the other.  Interesting enough they found out for themselves that it was a lie and talked up by someone who is simply not happy with their own life and it really fit into what we discussed in Sunday school. 

Today in Sunday school we talked about our witness and calling and how on our lists that missionaries are real spiritual followed by pastors and then maybe teachers. But, we all have the same calling whether a factory worker, cook, etc.  In these places, your pastor or missionary cannot reach these people.  So, our job is to put on Christ and go forth but what happens when we fail to show Christ?  Well, people end up like some of my family and believe some of the untruths they are told or maybe they see us in church but outside of church see a different person.  That extra personality is what sometimes causes people to want to steer clear of church.  But in the same maybe it is just arrogance.  I have dealt with people within the convention who would not care to hear anything I would have to say simply because I do not come with some big title or I am not one of the boys.  One of the major destroying factors of the church today is arrogance.  Sometimes we have to step back, accept our faults, and move.  Sometimes we have to listen to that person who may not be "qualified" to speak.  This may be hard when our ego becomes our conscience. It is the "I'm no conceited, I'm convinced" attitude.  How do we combat this? Simply follow Christ.  When we do something or commit to something, we need to know that it is of Him.  But we can only know through prayer.

We have got to come together setting our egos aside.  In our agitation we have to move past the hurt and pain caused by other brothers and sisters-in-Christ and follow Him.  Is the next step you are going to take or is the next word that is going to come out of your mouth going to exemplify the body of Christ or tear it down.  The answer is not found in new churches.  The answer is not found in being more passive or accepting.  The answer is not found is some man we consider wise because of earthy achievements.  The answer is found in Christ.  People are turned off by the church because Christ is not found in the members' daily lives.  People are turned on by new age stuff and churches because Christ is scarcely found.  The love of Christ is not found reflected in a building.  It is not the church that makes us whole.  It is not the people.  It is Jesus.   The love of Christ should be reflected in our daily lives.

Posted by mic at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One day as I was reading one of the blogs that I read, I came upon the post, What are we doing here? by Guy Muse.  I had previously written among these lines in Why we do what we do.  I think they are good questions from two different perspectives.  Personally, why do we do what we do and from others asking why do we do what we do, the questions often come up.  For one, I have realised that some will never understand until they have seen it first hand and then, some still will not understand.

On a personal level it is always good to evaluate why we are doing something.  To often I have seen that pride works its way into the ministry and the work stops being about Christ and more of those who are doing it. 

Others in turn complain about their work because nothing happens but fail to realise that it works in two directions.  Not only must others be willing to work but we must be willing also.  Sometimes we sit around waiting for things to happen, thinking God will make it happen if we just wait.  I have to admit there is a time for silence and then their is a time for action during the silence.  If I waited for others all the time, nothing would get done. Now I realise that I have probably seemed to have turned a 180 from what I was originally talking about, but there is something serious here.  What are we doing here? definitely applies in this situation.  It can be depressing to work in the ministry.  Here just as everywhere else the majority sit around and wait for someone else to do it.  That is depressing, but at what point do we let that take control of our lives?  Do the world and the people within it rule over our lives or does Christ?

We have to ask ourselves several questions.  What is my calling?  Am I following God's calling?  Am I doing it all for the glory of God or for the glory of self? 

We cannot let pride destroy ourselves.  I think of the Southern Baptist Convention and the younger generation.  It is full of pride and self boasting. Along with them we are plagued by fly-by-night feel good watered down pretenders who say they are having church and reaching the world.  If the convention is plagued by arrogance, who will people respond to?  The arrogant or the feel gooders? It is time for us to put off our old self and put on the body of Christ. 

Posted by mic at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those who do not know, Operation GO is a program in which Bible literature (usually Gospels of John) are distributed in a selected area for prayer and Gospel saturation.  In this program, they look for persons of peace to open their homes, businesses, or by some other means to spread the Gospel, maybe primarily by hosting Bible studies.  While the Gospels are distributed, they are asked questions, such as: 1. Would you like to attend a Bible study? 2. Would you like to have a Bible study in your home? 3. Can someone come back and visit you?

However interesting, I have heard that some would wish this to stop altogether and simply pass out Gospels and have faith that God will produce something out of it.  I wonder though at the mentality of this and those who would agree, especially if they are the one's that are doing the projects.  The first problem is: How are the U.S. Volunteers that not only pay to make this program happen by coming and paying for the Gospels but are also supporters of the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon, going to take it?  There are always the questions: who is going to follow-up with this work...which is a very good question.  So, now they will come (under this rumoured proposal), and mind you many are returns from previous years and simply pass out the Gospel.  There is no need to work with a local Mexican church, to worry about the one that may wish to know more about Christ or know the way to salvation itself (because how many will be able to speak Spanish?), etc. 

I think the bigger problem lies within their coined term "faith".  The problem is that faith alone is not good.  There must be works (James).  We are not talking about salvation here because works does not produce salvation.  But we are talking about what characteristics come along with our faith.  When Moses’ parents knew that he was probably going to be killed what did they do?  Yes, first, they had faith and knew that God was going to take care of them but they did not sit around hiding him in a house.  What did Abraham do in the wilderness when the famine was upon them?  He went down into Egypt.  Think about the men of faith in the Bible.  Did they just sit around doing nothing and while they waited on God?  I think not.  In the same, our faith is useless if we are not giving our all to God.  I think at times we get to administrative (worldly) in our thinking and miss the whole mark.  Then people jump in like the Emergent Church and swoop those who had a bad taste in their mouth to a watered down feel good teaching that reminds me of the 70’s, love and peace movement.  Pray for those in leadership.  I am only a minute person and only merely work along the side of these missionaries, but as a Southern Baptist, it truly concerns me as I see not only examples of this here as far as missions are concerned but also within the churches of the United States (here locally too).  People are content with staying their aquariums, occasionally cleaning the scum off of the sides of the sides so that they can see out.  Pray that we not only have faith but we back up our faith with our actions.  Pray that we are not lazy but we are prudent and hard working in our endeavours.  

Posted by mic at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.   

Posted by mic at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There are many people that do not understand why we are missionaries but God gives me constant reminders of why we are called to "Go".  There are those that also think media ministry is a waste of time.  This last Sunday, I was in Mexico City and was there until Tuesday on business.  However; I was able to help some other missionaries on a project.  One of the guys that we talked with had an alcohol problem.   He knew he had a problem, knew that we presented a solution, and asked for help.  Another guy, had initialally refused the Gospel.  We talked for him for a few moments and I told him he was right, that we should respect him and not force ourselves upon him.  After a few minutes of talking, he asked to have one of the Gospels of John.

In every project, I have heard of someone essentially waiting for someone to come around and share the Love of Christ.  A simple, few minutes of converstion can have an impact that can last an eternity.  We do not do what we do for self-gratification.  We do not do what we do because it was a marketing decision.  We do what we do because Christ told us to do it and to gratify Him.  Just as the man knew he needed help, he also knew that there was something greater to this life. He knew that there is some truth to this life and that this was something missing.  This something is Jesus Christ.  I am thankful that I serve a God who is constant, loving, and forgiving.

************Due to spam coming to this entry, I have turned off comments.  Sorry for any inconvenience.   

Posted by mic at 10:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The following comes out of my monthly newsletter (by which, if you want to subscribe please e-mail me or e-mail "newsfrommexico (*at*) fortheeone (*dot*)com" with subscribe in the subject).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:” Exodus 21:5

The passage of Exodus 21:1-11 relate to the 5th and 6th commandment.  It differs from our time and custom but establishes a principle by which one should live.  The servant is an emblem of the state bondage to sin, the law, and Satan.  The law was brought in because of sin.  The servant in being made free was the emblem of God’s grace given unto man to have liberty in Jesus Christ. 

I share these verses because they made me think of what today is, Valentine’s Day.  Valentine’s Day has a long history of celebrating romance.  However, one cannot understand romance if he cannot understand the Love of God.  What first caught my attention in this passage was “I love my master, my wife, and my children”.  Many of you are aware of the True Love Waits program.  Within the program, there is a pledge to remain pure or abstinent until after marriage.  The three things mentioned in the verse above came to mind: God, spouse, and children.  Now of course in the verse, master is the owner of the servant, but God is our Master.  For years there has been talk about the need of teaching “safe sex”.  In the Love Worth Finding sermon today by Adrian Rogers he stated that there should be no need for safe sex because it was never intended to be dangerous.  That is why it is important for people understand the true love of Christ and the liberty that he provides.  One of the problems we have in the La Laguna is the lack of emphasis on purity.  Purity is so important that it is included in the Beatitudes as a quality or characteristic of Christians.  I am in the process of starting some True Love Waits camps in the La Laguna.  We will have our first camp hopefully March 29th and 30th involving three churches and if these dates fail, we will have it in April.  Please pray for those who will be teaching and those who will be attending.   There are around 65 Mexican Baptist churches in the area and many more other Evangelical churches.  It is our prayer that this will be a pilot project that will show the need of understanding purity and teaching purity.  Along with these projects, there come costs.  There will be a Friday night and Saturday retreat and the youth will be free to leave Saturday night.  A commitment service will be held on Sunday for all who will have attended all the training sessions and all who will have signed commitment card.   We are asking that each pay $60 pesos which is less than six U.S. dollars to cover their food.  That leaves the cost of lodging if the available institute is used of $5 pesos per person, the cost of printing the materials, and the cost of the commitment rings.  We have updated projects of near 40 participants.  Of course, no person will be turned down if they cannot afford to pay.   We are going to ask the churches and the area convention to start preparing now and set up a fund to make this an ongoing retreat and that they will be able as a convention pay for the majority of the expenses.  Please know that even though $6 dollars does not sound like much to use, for many families here, it is a lot of money.  If you feel led to cover some of the costs please let me know and I will tell you how to make arrangements.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As my friend and compañero, Casey pointed out to me, this servant was willing to surender.  Are we willing to surrender to Christ?

Posted by mic at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

For almost a month, I have not been able to drive because my van visa is out and will only remain good as long as my FM3 visa is good.  Since I do not physically have my visa (hopefully it will be here this week), I have not been able to drive.  My attorney had told me before I left Mexico City that I would not be able to drive.  Now many would have said (as many actually did) go ahead and drive around here, you will not have any troubles.  I choose not to drive.  My reward: probably not loosing my vehicle facing trouble in a jail cell etc.  In my home area, while with a friend each time, we went through three Federal and military check points with the city.  This is not the norm for here to have Federal checkpoints in the city. If I had chosen to drive, I would have very possibly lost the van that does not belong to me.

I use this as an example for something that has bothered me for some time now.  It something I have been guilty of in the past in some form.  Sometimes we bend rules to benefit ourselves.  Some examples maybe: driving illegally (like described above), obtaining music or movies not paid for by pirating, showing of videos that extend beyond the scope of license, reproduction of copyrighted literature where the rights limit this action, etc.

Romans 13:1-7, says we are to be subject to those in power (as long as it does not go against God, Acts 5:29)

So is wrong at anytime, right?  I think Bible makes clear that disobeying those in authority is only justified when it goes against the Lord.  Does doing things of the such demonstrate the life that Christ would have us live? It reminds me of the childhood lesson on white lies.  A lie is a lie no matter how big.  The Bible says our communication be yea, yea; nay nay (Matthew 5:37).  Our simple yes and no should be enough because our answers should be pure.  There is no reason for more or less.  In the same, should our actions not be pure?  How can our lives purely reflect Christ if there is anything of question in them?

If I want to teach that it is wrong to steal but download music from the internet without paying for it (unless the copyright owner allows it for free), how can I purely and effectively teach stealing is against the Word of God?  I am definitely not a perfect person and have been guilty of such type things listed in this article in the past.  One question comes to mind.  How does this affect missionary effort?

The 6^th beatitude says, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8]  The pure in heart are happy and will see God.  Those who are pure in heart live a life transformed by God. In Philippians 4:2-9, the passage starts out by asking them to be of like mind.  Likewise, we as Christians should be like-minded.  Verse 8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  Truth, honesty, just, pure, lovely, and good report are the things we need to focus on and do. But, we cannot get there without doing what verse 4 says.  We are to be in prayer about everything.  I dare say that the effectiveness of our efforts is directly related to our purity.  Things that seem small and insignificant can have great consequences.  We cannot be unified in spirit if sin divides us.  The missing link here is prayer.  Many people have many opinions on how missions or Evangelism should be done, but if we are not first pure in heart, how can we know what God would have us do?  I think our problems with realising whether or not what we think about copying other literary works, music, etc is based upon our submissiveness to Christ. The thing about having a pure heart is that there is a step to it.  The beatitudes come in order for a reason.  The first is being poor in spirit.  Until we are as Adrian Rogers said, “spiritually bankrupt”, we can never progress to the point of having a pure heart until we put aside all pride, realise our worthlessness without Christ, and bow before Him in all humbleness.  Sin divides us from God and our fellow brothers.  We will not have the mind of Christ nor think like-minded until our lives are in total submission to Christ.  If we as Christians want to reach a world for Christ, we have to repent and seek Christ and work together.  We have to put behind our personal mindsets, which include the ways we think missions, Evangelism, and how church should be done. Thus, we are opening ourselves to what Christ says through His Word and through His Spirit.  There is a lot of controversy right now within the SBC, specifically the IMB, over certain policies.  I have a personal opinion on the two policies in question [Baptism requirements & private prayer languages] but what I see now is arrogance by some on both sides of the issue.  Arrogance can be translated as pride.  Psalms 10:4 says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”  Countenance can be translated nose.  The morally wrong through the arrogance of their nose will not seek God and God is not in their thoughts.  Proverbs 13:10 says, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”  Quarrels come from pride.  If you are a Southern Baptist you need to know what is going on in the convention.  It is my belief that many people over the years in leadership within the convention within various entities have taken advantage of their positions and the lack of knowledge by Baptists to exploit their pride.  We must humble ourselves before Christ and repent and then we will see the greatness of His glory work in our lives as well as our brothers and sisters.

Posted by mic at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The North American Mission Board along with the International Mission Board have launched a North America People Groups Project at http://www.peoplegroups.info.  This is an excellent tool for you if you live in Canada or the United States to research what people groups are in your area and to plan ministry and missions to include them or to just peak your curiosity.

Posted by mic at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If I were to take a test, I am sure I would test out for an Evangelist.  As an Evangelist, we think repent, salvation, repent, salvation, so on and so forth.  But somehow our visions have become blinded by salvation only.  The vital key that is evidently missing here and back in the county I grew up in the United States is discipleship (teaching). Salvation requires a change.  If there is not a change, how can their be salvation?  Salvation is more than saying a sinner's prayer.  It is a changed life that becomes a way of life.  But, how do people know how to live an abundant life if they are never taught?

Posted by mic at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

One thing that I have been faced with here lately is transitioning from one job to another, which is from nearly strictly Gospel Saturation to that of church planter.  There are things I do know from school, reading, and such, but from my readings across the net, there are definitely gaps within the process.  What is different about it is that it is an environment that I and many others have never been in before.  There are many more factors here that add different barriers and new situations to arise (such as cultural differences, which are not the same across the country). 

I ask people their opinions for one reason, to expand my thinking.  What can happen in the field can play a total different outcome than what we may learn from  school, reading, or some seminar.  So, obviously the first step in evangelism and missions would have to be coming to an understanding that no matter how much experience we have or another may have, we do not know it all.  Moreover, sometimes we know the answer but our eyes are clouded by ourselves.

For some time I have been studying Matthew 10, the sending of the disciples; Luke 10, the sending of the 70, and the commissions in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts.  Guy, a missionary in Ecuador, has an interesting post on the subject of Luke 10.  Between Matthew and Luke, we see some very interesting parts that we oft leave out in our missions strategy.  Some would argue that they are outdated and only applied before the death of Christ.  But, they are still a part of the Word just as is the Old Testament.  I look forward to hearing thoughts and comments on what missions means to you.

Posted by mic at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)