A look at Guzman

As we get closer to moving on to language school and then to Ciudad Guzman, Mexico, I wanted to share some pictures from my latest mission trip to Guzman, so you could get a better feel for the area we're hoping to move to, and the ministry we feel that God is calling us to.  Hope you enjoy, and ask any questions you like!  The more information we get out, the better you can pray for us!

One of many large Catholic churches in Guzman... this one is directly on the main plaza on the south side.

One of the oldest Catholic churches in Guzman.

The Baptist church I've been able to work with some... one of the few, tiny faithful churches seeking to share the Gospel with Guzman.

This is the front gate for the Universidad de Guadalajara del Sur - One of 4 universities in Guzman, and the one we're hoping to live next to and begin ministry with once we move there.

A neighborhood near the University were we're looking at moving into.

One of the many canals for drainage when the city gets one of its rainstorms with 10+ inches of rain.

More ideas of homes near the campus.

This one is for sale!  And only 2 blocks from the university campus!!

More wonderful homes near campus.

The neighborhoods near the university are beautiful, and just what we had in mind when we wanted to move into the area.

We pray that the Lord will lead us to the right home to rent (or eventually buy) that will be a base for Bible studies, meals, and other ministry and outreach in the area.

The churches are beautiful, but the religion is dead, and doesn't offer the true Gospel that will bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Overlooking the volcano (Nevado de Colima) and the south end of town from the Ecological Park above the town.

The central/north central part of Guzman as seen from the Ecological Park.

Excited to soon make this our home!

Getting to preach on Palm Sunday at La Primera Iglesia Bautista in Guzman! I love sharing the Word!

This is just a taste of how great this city is!  We can't wait to tell you more about it in the coming weeks!

I read this satire article this morning on "The Talking Mirror" and couldn't stop laughing. It's hilarious that so much of this is true. However, in the end, it's also a little sad that this is what many see our 'worship' as in the church today. Either way, I hope you enjoy this great article!

How to Write Contemporary Worship Music

You’ve got a problem. You feel the Lord calling you to a career as a chart-topping, face-shredding rock star, but you feel guilty about the sex, drugs, and sex that inevitably accompany super stardom. Your solution? Become a worship leader! Get the groupies, the Facebook fanpages, and the all-you-can-drink booze buffets you’ve always wanted while keeping your conscience squeaky clean!

Now, before you run off to Colorado Springs and start a band, I should tell you, it takes more than non-threatening good looks and a severely inflated ego to become the mouthpiece of the church. You need a catchy ditty that people of all ages will relate to without fully understanding. Sounds daunting right? Wrong. Thanks to advances in modern science, we’ve simplified effective worship song writing into a single, can’t miss formula. Just follow the template below and people will be saying “Dave Crowder who?” by this time next month.

First you want to state who your song is addressed to.

Jeeeeesuuuuus.

To avoid confusion, you will then want to distinguish this Jesus from the one who mows your lawn.

Sovereign Lord of all creation.

Perfect. Next, let everyone know how cool you think Jesus is with a disjointed list of laudatory adjectives.

Holy, Incredible, Awesome, Invincible, Phantasmagorical!

Having established the high regard you have for the second member of the Trinity, you will next want to describe the extravagant lengths you go to to demonstrate your love.

Falling before you / forever adore you / always want more of you / doing my chores for you / making some s’mores for you.

Then comes the pre-chorus. This is an integral part of your song wherein you ratchet up the emotional fervor until it reaches critical mass just as the chorus begins. Use this time to describe the many-faceted complexity of your relationship with the Savior.

I love you / you love me / we’re best friends as friends as can be (repeat 4x).

By the fourth repetition, the instrumental accompaniment should have reached a crescendo loud enough to drown out the vocalists, though they are now shouting at the top of their lungs. In this frenzied state you will transition into the chorus.

Regardless of your song’s message, the chorus should always follow the same format: repeated shouts of adoration intermingled with requests that those in attendance join you in singing. If you have trouble coming up with the right words, feel free to borrow liberally from other musicians.

Jesus, you’re so hiiiiiigh, high above me / you’re so lovely! / Sing it with me! / You’re so hiiiiigh, high above me / you’re so lovely.

After the chorus, the assembled worshippers will likely need a breather and a sweat rag. Those who have been slain in the spirit will probably need medical attention. As the puppet master of this whole scene, it is considered good form to bring things down a notch for the second verse.

In the interest of time and efficiency, feel free to copy and paste the lyrics from the first verse into the second one. If you feel you must, it is acceptable to modify the list of adjectives from line three. While some consider this to be extravagant and needlessly showy, it is a great way to keep your disciples on their toes.

Insurmountable, indestructible, unassailable, super-fantastical!

The second verse is, of course, followed again by the pre-chorus and the chorus.

After the second chorus, you will want to give the hand raisers and ribbon dancers a brief respite before the home stretch. A “bridge” is a popular way to do this without letting their heart rates or endorphins return to normal levels. The bridge is an important interlude, often accompanied by a key change, which serves to connect the second chorus to the third without subjecting the performer to the artistic degradation of a third verse.

Again, feel free to borrow lyrics from chick flicks, romance novels, or Seventeen Magazine.

You are the one, the only one for me. / Together forever, with you I’m free. / Nobody else makes me feel like you do. / Together forever, too good to be true.

Following the bridge, the chorus should be repeated 12-15 times. Apply fog machines and laser lights as needed, and close the whole thing out with some sort of explosion and/or stage dive.

And there you have it. Get some hair gel, buy a few graphic T’s, master the G-C-D chord progression, and prepare yourself for your new life as the second incarnation of worship-rock god, Chris Tomlin.

See you at Passion 2010.

New Year 1945

(I was planning on writing continuously on my "Sola" series, but haven't had the time for blogs of such length. So, this instead has kept me from writing anything at all. So, as time allows I'll occasionally write more on the Solas, but until then I'll keep updating with shorter posts on other things that God impresses on my mind.)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the greatest Christian voices in Germany crying out against the Nazi party and Hitler during their reign in Germany. Bonhoeffer was convinced that Germany would never be secure as long as the Nazi party or any other party tried to separate their country from God. So, in spite of the risks, Bonhoeffer spoke out loudly against the Godless direction the Nazis and Hitler were taking Germany, both on spiritual issues and against the war. Because of his stance, Dietrich was in constant danger of imprisonment or other retaliation from the Nazi party; at one point, friends in Britain and America even smuggled him out of the country to keep him safe. However, Bonhoeffer was convinced that he had no right to lead as a Christian unless he was willing to suffer with his fellow Christian brothers in Germany, and so he returned to Germany. He was shortly after imprisoned, and suffered in concentration camps for several years, so impressing his fellow captors as well as his Nazi party guards with his faith that they smuggled his writings out to Britain that they might be published while he was still in prison. One of his last received writings was entitled "New Year 1945," and was received just months before his martyrdom in April 1945, intentionally killed just days before the Allies would have freed him from his camp.

With every power for good to stay and guide me,
comforted and inspired beyond all fear,
I'll live these days with You in thought beside me,
and pass, with You, into the coming year.

The old year still torments our hearts, unhastening,
the long days of our sorrow still endure,
Father, grant the soul Thou hast been chastening
That Thou hast promised--the healing and the cure

Should it be ours to drain the cup of grieving
even to the dregs of pain, at Thy command,
We will not falter, thankfully receiving
all that is given by Thy loving hand.

But, should it be Thy will once more to release us
to life's enjoyment and its good sunshine,
That we've learned from sorrow shall increase us
and all our life be dedicate as Thine.

To-day, let candles shed their radiant greeting:
lo, on our darkness are they not Thy light,
leading us haply to our longed-for meeting?
Thou canst illumine e'en our darkest night.

When now the silence deepens for our harkening,
grant we may hear Thy children's voices raise
from all the unseen world around us darkening
their universal paean, in Thy praise.

While all the powers of God aid and attend us,
boldly we'll face the future, be it what may.
At even, and at morn, God will befriend us,
And oh, most surely on each new year's day!

Sola Scriptura: Revelation

As we begin our discussion of Sola Scriptura this week, lets start by looking at God's revelation to us, and how He speaks to His believers. Revelation, in the dictionary, means, "something that is disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, that is something that has not been relized before." In theology, more specifically, it means, "God's means of disclosing Himself to His creations." Revelation is necessary because we are created beings, and sinful ones, that are separated from God, and confused by sin. Without God's revelation, we would be left with only speculation, guessing who God was and what He desired from us. Because most men do not want God in their lives, men pursue speculation in areas of science, philosophy, spiritualism, social science, etc.

In the Bible, revelation takes two different forms. The first form is general, or natural, revelation. This is revelation that is received by all men and apparent to all men, whether or not it is accepted by all men. General revelation takes three different forms:

1. Creation: The Bible makes it clear that through creation, men may know that He exists, He is powerful, He is intelligent, and that He is beautiful. Passages teach us about the undeniable revelation of God's creations such as Psalm 19:

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

And Romans 1:18-21

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

2. Providence: God continues to rule over creation, keeping His world in motion, and providing for His creatures. This is also a form of revelation (and common grace) that all men experience, and can know of God through. Paul spoke of this in Acts, when he said, "Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

3. Conscience: God has given everyone an internal witness to His goodness and holiness, through our conscience. All humans have revelation through the conviction of their conscience. . . anyone who hasn’t done something they knew was right, or anyone who has felt bad after doing something they knew was wrong; all have felt the revelation of the conscience. Even those that appeal to a ‘higher moral standard’ know inherently good from bad as God has revealed it to them, revealing in the process His holiness. Romans 2:14-15 says:

14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

These are the forms of general revelation that God, in His wisdom, goodness, and grace, has given to man. However, these forms are not enough, because they do not lead us to salvation, no one can look solely at creation, providence, and conscience, and discover the cross, the blood, and salvation that only comes through Christ. For that, we need specific revelation, which not all men have. Specific revelation comes in several forms as well:

1. Supernatural occurrences: These are prophetic visions, dreams (such as Jacob's dream of the ladder, Joseph's dream with the angel, etc), visit's by angels (Joshua before the battle of Jericho, Mary with Gabriel, etc), and miracles. God worked often throughout the Bible in this way, and He still does interact with the world like this.

2. Jesus Christ: Jesus is the ultimate form of revelation: God coming as a man to redeem His fallen world. He is the point of all revelation, and is what God desires for all the world to know. Hebrews 1 discusses this revelation, saying: 1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

3. Scripture: The written, complete, and wholly-inspired Word of God. The purpose of the Bible is to tell us who God is, who man is, and what God has done to redeem man and a fallen world through His Son, Jesus Christ. As 2 Timothy 3 says:

14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Next time, we will examine the revelation of the scriptures more closely, and see how they are the foundation of our faith as believers in Him.

Solas

I've decided to devote the next few blogs that I write to my thoughts on the 5 solas of the Reformation. Now, I'm not a church historian in any way, nor am I much of a scholar on the Reformation. So, I'll be sharing my thoughts with you on each sola, one at a time, sharing MY thoughts on what this sola looks like in my life, and what it should look like in the life of every believer.

For those of you that don't know, the solas are 5 positions that the Reformers taught as clear contradiction of what the Roman Catholic church believed. The solas (which means "alone" or "only") teach us this about Christianity: We believe in the authority of Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) that teaches we are saved by grace alone (Sola gratia) through faith alone (Sola fide) in Christ alone (Solus Christus) for the glory of God alone (Soli Deo gloria).

This week, I'll be writing a few short blogs about the first, and foundational sola: Sola Scriptura. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the Word of God as I write!