Beautiful trees, exotic plants, beautiful mountains, and rain clouds greeted us this morning as we began our 1 hour ride up the mountains to help at Steve’s fish farm on day 4 in Cuenca. It was so befitting that our words or encouragement from the day from Emily Thompson were to “remember that the beauty all around us is a testimony of God’s glory,” and what a beautiful sight it was. Riding up the mountains, you felt like you could touch the clouds. As the fog began to grow you knew that you were riding among the clouds and they really were within arm’s reach. It further ignited our spirits to know that this same power that made these beautiful sceneries of nature also walked it us each step of the way.

                   Once we got to the location of the fish farm we tore our eyes away from the beautiful scenery that surrounded us and quickly got to work. As we caught fish to be weighed for measurements, Steve educated us on his fish farm and the intricate details that were placed in each of the two large tanks.  The oxygen levels, special food, vitamins, and chemical had to be just right. Bright orange colorful tilapias squirmed on the edges of the net. While some helped with the fish tanks, others painted sheds, cleaned and painted a neighboring house, and various other jobs that were needed.

                  At small groups later that night with the local church members, the Holy Spirit was in full force. The team members broke into groups of two and each separated to different small groups, with the accompaniment of a translator. After sharing their testimonies, various members laid hands the sick and prayed for physical ailments such as aneurisms, tumors, broken bones, and recuperations from strokes. We also prayed and prophesied for members of the small group to receive the word of God, repentance, and spiritual healing from emotional burdens.  We have special prayer requests from these meetings that we hope that you will pray and stand in accordance with us on.

Prayer Requests

• Marina please pray for her brain aneurism
• For focus for the team members to remember the purpose they are here, and to remain on fire despite physical barriers.
• Liz to receive healing from a cancerous tumor in her body
• Fernando to receive healing from a stroke that he recently had that has left him unable to walk

                  Time is already passing by before our eyes; many of the group members cannot believe that we are rapidly approaching the half way mark of our journey. Today was a very strenuous, yet successful day. The day started very early as we hit the road around 7:30 am to begin work at the church, and our last group did not return from their handwork at the tent until almost ten o’clock at night.  Again, the suds were flying in the tent and the hammers were at full force. However, we had a new fun toy today to make our lives a bit easier while cleaning the tents, a power hose. It wasn’t long before the half of the team were up at least ten feet in the air on scaffolds brushing the roof of the tent while another person sprayed the layers of dirt with water. Jarrett, like a lil kid in a candy store, had a blast using the power hose, which shot water out at painful speed that was sure to pulverize everything in its path.  By the end of the day, the team members with the help of a few locals from the church had dug holes for a series of lights to be placed around the church, made concrete spread the concrete in varies locations, finished the second room of hardwood floors, and cleaned the walls and tall roof of the church tent.

                  The food here is amazing! During the workdays, we jump at every chance that we can get to take an ice crème break; the fresh made coconut ice crème is the best. Later in the day we ate at an amazing local restaurant and ate an amazing dish called churascos. Each time we prayer, Pastor Steve asks everyone to put their hands in the air during prayer. “If you don’t raise your hands, you don’t eat.” he warns. Even in the restaurants, we could see the power of the influence of the church; we saw others in the restaurant use the same method to bless their food. The power of the Lord is upon this church, and we are excited and blessed to share in the advancement of His kingdom.

Today was awesome day number 2 in Cuenca, Ecuador and day one of heavy labor at the church. Bright and early we arose ate breakfast and headed to the church. It was not long before suds were dripping everywhere, the hum of the lawn mower rung in the air, and the clink of the hammers ere in full motion. Our tasks ranged from cleaning the inside of the large church tent,  putting down new wood floors, digging holes, tending to the garden, mowing the lawn, sweeping up trash and dust, and moving stones. Though some of the tasks may sound pretty gruesome, the power of the Lord was in full throttle! One team member revealed, “ I was so surprised that God revealed so much to me, while washing the walls of the church tent.” For others, it was a testimony of how fellowship does not only take place around a dinner table. Sometimes it takes the form of smack talk while installing hardwood floors, or laughter between locals and group members over the difference between funny mistakes like Buenas Nachos vs Buenas Noches. They are simple moments that break down the ice between strangers and can be transformed to friendships and open hearts to hear the gospel.

                  At night, we went to a training meeting for small group leaders. In a room of many new faces, there was a refreshing warm that many felt when greeting members of the small group that we visited yesterday; it was as if we were family members.  We were opened with great Spanish lections from the one of our own members Matthew Esquivel preached on how to form a personal prayer relationship with God. He opened with prayer and a prophetic word for two families within the church. With the help of Pastor Steve as a translator ( and an eager audience that in unison corrected words that were lost in translation), he was able to provide the message without fear of the language barrier. By the end of the sermon, the message touched the hearts of many of the small group leaders and guest. Through the moving of the Holy Spirit, there was a special call to the altar for women who wanted prayer for a greater revelation of the Father’s love. Five to six women came to the alter for prayer and prophesy. Even in carpool rides home with local Ecuadorians, team members testified that they had the opportunity to discuss the sermons with them and even prayed for some to receive healing. We stand in faith that God will perform breakthroughs in their lives.

Special prayer requests:

                  Please pray that the church leaders and women receive a deeper revelation of the love of the Father.

Protecting the Passion; Staying on Fire for Jesus

Part 3 of 3: Stay focused

History is full of people who maintained and even grew in their passion for God. In Hebrews chapter 11 we can even read a whole list of many of their names and deeds in what some have termed, “the hall of faith.”

Besides that list, there have been many hundreds of thousands of people in history who have lived fully passionate lives for the glory of God, standing on His promises no matter how rough things got – even unto their own deaths. It is of these men and women of passionate faith the writer of Hebrews speaks when he referred to a “cloud of witnesses,” and wrote;

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

And what was “the joy set before” Jesus? It was the joy of lost men and women being reconciled back to God! It was the joy of seeing the rebellious, prodigal sons and daughters of God coming back home to Him as the result of Jesus taking the wrath we deserved from a good and holy God on Himself. It was the joy of seeing God glorified in the lives of people who for so long refused to acknowledge God, previously hating God while loving their sin. It was the joy of Jesus, the perfect bridegroom, releasing His bride, the church, from a debt she could not pay!
           
When we focus on this truth; that God really does love us and endured ultimate pain and ultimate humiliation through shedding His “God-ness” and living, suffering and dying as a man that we might come into loving relationship with Him, how can we not burn with passion for His fame!?
           
Yet difficulty, temptation and pain come our way daily. We get worn down. Tired out. That’s why the writer of Hebrews further encourages us to look at the life of Jesus:
“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin.” (Hebrews 12:3-4)
           
It is in this encouragement that we see the very definition of the ancient concept of passion reflected in Jesus. Hundreds of years ago, people recognized a passionate person as one who willingly endured submission, suffering and pain. Jesus, because of His desire to attain, “the joy set before Him,” became the most passionate person in all of human history. His passion did not simply stop at emotion. It determined His every action unto His torturous death, and thank God, His resurrection as well.
           
If we truly desire to live as passionate people, burning with desire for God’s glory here on the earth in our daily lives, we would do well to consider Jesus as often as possible, imitating the way He lived and if necessary, doing so unto our own deaths. We do this not because of religious obligation, but because of the joy set before us of living like the One who saved us and made the ultimate sacrifice that He might win our hearts back to Him. We live passionately for Jesus because we are absolutely assured that He is the perfect Lover of our souls.
           
If you found the perfect mate; that perfect husband or that perfect wife, to what lengths would you go to be with them and enjoy their love while also pouring out your love on them?  Isn’t God’s love so much greater than that? It’s hard to believe in this fallen world, but He really is that Good!

Let’s remind each other to focus on God’s love reflected in Jesus. This way we may enjoy a passion that drives us for all eternity as God pours out His love on us and we pour out our love on Him.

Protecting the Passion; Staying on Fire for Jesus

Part 2 of 3: Don’t Worry

Have you noticed that your chances of finding someone who is lively and passionate for God grows smaller the older that people become? This leads many of us to believe that passion is only something that young people can enjoy. Yet Jesus taught that being a passionate follower of God has nothing to do with age and a great deal more to do with where we chose to pour our passion.
Passion for money, for sex, for power, for being loved by our peers, even for academics gradually destroys us because all of those eventually fail us. Not only that, but they suck the life out of our walk with God when we make those things the obsession of our lives. Here’s what Jesus had to say about people who start out passionately going after God but get bogged down in the world:
“Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22 NKJV emphasis mine)

What about my tuition bill? What about finding a beautiful wife or a loving husband? What about working a good job so I can get the nice car, nice house, etc.? What about keeping up with fashion so I fit in and am accepted by my friends? What about that 2,000 word paper and my test next week!?

Don’t worry about it. Be diligent. Do what God has given you to do for today, but don’t worry about tomorrow. God is good. Perfectly good. He is trustworthy and He wants to bless His children. Still, He promises us that things won’t be easy. The good news is that He has overcome the world. (see John 16:33)

We can count on worries to knock on the door of our hearts almost every day, but here is Jesus’ advice on what we are to do when we are tempted to become worried about everything that the world throws at us:

“Therefore do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles [the unsaved, worldly people] seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV)

Seems like pretty simple advice, right? “Don’t worry.” But that command from Jesus is not easy to follow for many of us. Ultimately that is because we doubt His goodness, His desire to provide for us, the integrity of His character and His power to effect change in our lives. We’ll look deeper into how we can renew our trust in God’s promises in the next blog. For now, let’s decide not to worry and that will help us keep our passion for God burning brightly.

For the next 3 days, Phil Carlson, one of our campus staff, will be guest blogging for SMUPulse.  Enjoy!

Protecting the Passion; Staying on Fire for Jesus

Part 1 of 3: Dig Deep

There are many times in our lives when God teaches us something powerful and we get so pumped about it that we feel ready to take on the world! Then something happens. Time passes, life gets hard, worries creep up and we find our excitement waning, our passion failing and the world crashing down around us.

Yet the problem is not that God’s Word is not effectual. The issue is us.

Though we may be very excited about a new and powerful teaching from God’s Word, we don’t put it into practice and so ensure that we will lose whatever we thought we gained in hearing Godly teaching once testing comes.

Jesus explained this in Matthew 7:24-28:
“Therefore whoever hears theses sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (NKJV, emphasis mine)

Notice that both houses experienced the intense storm of testing, but the house of faith built through doing the hard work of digging deep to the bedrock of putting Jesus’ teaching into practice stood strong. Putting God’s Word into practice is rarely easy, but when we make the choice to take what God has taught us and start teaching it to others, to start actively applying it directly to our daily lives; we ensure that when the storms of our lives come we will stand strong, staying passionately in love with the God who saved us.
           
Jesus emphasized this understanding further in Matthew 13:20-21 when He told the story of a plant that grew quickly but died just as fast because it had no root and withered the moment testing came.

So what has God been teaching you? I have to ask myself as well. What has He been teaching me? No matter how excited we may be about this teaching, the only way we can know it will take root in our lives is if we do all we can to immediately put it into practice. Let’s join forces and dig deep together by applying what God is teaching us, keeping each other accountable to do so. It’s one of the most powerful ways we can make sure we don’t lose our passion for God and stay on fire for Jesus.
-Phil

DAILY REMINDER #11 - "My sanctification requires obedience"

Mark 8:34 says, "...if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me."

This is one of the most pointed scriptures in the whole Bible.  This draws us away from the idea that we can somehow be mediocre in our relationship with Jesus and still walk with Him.  It's interesting that Jesus, in this moment, was speaking not only to His disciples, but to the multitudes who were with them.  He wasn't addressing the "full-time" ministers, He was talking to everyone who wanted to be identified with Him as a Christian.  If we desire to have that title, we have to do what He said; deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him.

To deny self is to disavow any connection with something, to state that you are not connected in any way with whatever is in view. Interestingly enough, it is the very word used to refer to Peter's denial of Jesus a little later on.  Ray C. Stedman says that "denying self means that we repudiate our natural feelings about ourselves, i.e., our right to ourselves, our right to run our own lives."  It is giving up the headship of our lives, and giving it over to Him.  This is a requirement to being a Christian.

Secondly, we have to take up our cross.  The cross is a place of degradation, depravity and death.  Jesus is calling us to lose our lives for His sake.  This doesn't necessarily mean that we are to kill ourselves physically, but rather to die to every desire for worldly or selfish gain.  It's one thing to deny ourselves, but to take up our cross requires total and absolute surrender.

Lastly, He said to follow Him.  This simply means to obey Him.  Follow His commands, His lifestyle, His word and His spirit.  Ask yourself this question...am I obeying Jesus?  Is there an area of my life that is in disobedience to Him?  If you ask Jesus, He is faithful to respond.  He never desires for us to stay in the darkness of our sin.  He is always calling us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  To call ourselves Christians, and to walk in rebellion to Him is to live a lie.  The truth is what makes us free.

Then, answer the following:

• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing some of your closest friends?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means alienation from your family?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means the loss of your reputation?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your job?
• Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing your life?

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25-26).

DAILY REMINDER #10 - "God has empowered me to live the Christian life"

Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..." 

If I've heard it once, I've heard it a THOUSAND times..."being a Christian is really hard."  Not only do I agree with that statement, I would take it a step further...it is IMPOSSIBLE to be a true biblical Christian in our own strength.  In fact, I can't think of anything tougher or a task more daunting!  Believe me, I'm an expert on the subject...I tried to do it for 20 years of my life.  You talk about feeling unworthy, guilty, ashamed and hypocritical!

It was like being asked to climb Mt. Everest but not given any climbing gear...not even a rope!  Jesus commands us to "go and sin no more", "love your enemies", "forgive everyone" and "don't even look at a woman/man to lust after them" so on and so forth.  After failing several billion times, I was ready to give up.  This Christian thing was too steep a mountain for me to climb, and I certainly didn't have any gear.

What I realized is that even Jesus' own disciples, the men who had walked, talked, lived with and performed miracles with Jesus, were ill-equipped to live this life too.  He told them in Acts 1:4 to stay put and to not go about on their crusades and try to be a reflection of Jesus, even though they were the obvious choice to do so.  He said "wait" until you receive the Promise of the Father...The Holy Spirit.  He then said that when they received this Promise, they would receive POWER.  That was exactly the gear I needed...power!

This word "power" in the greek is the word "dunamis" which is where we get our word DYNOMITE.  It literally means "strength, power and ability.  Moral power and excellence of soul.  Power for performing miracles."  I had never heard this before, but man I knew I needed it!

I received the Holy Spirit 11 years ago, and I can honestly say that was the biggest difference in my life.  Before, I had back-slidden several hundreds of times.  But since then, I have continued to serve God with all of my heart.  I no longer am dependent on my own strength to get me through, but on His strength.  His power or DYNOMITE is living inside of me, and has helped me to realize that, apart from Him, I can do nothing.  But with Him, nothing is impossible!

DAILY REMINDER #9 - "God has prepared good works for me"

Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." 

This brings up one of the most fundamental deceptions in all of Christianity.  The thought that somehow our good works will grant us merit with God.  Completely false!  Isaiah 64 tells us that our "good works" are FILTHY RAGS in God's eyes.  That is literally translated as "menstrual cloths" (think used tampon).  Now, I know that's gross, but that is how God sees our "good works".  So...why has He prepared good works for us to do if that is how He sees them?  Great question...glad you asked!

The first thing you have to look at is this: Am I a good person because I do good things, or do I do good things because I am a good person?  They way we view that changes everything!  We are establishing here whether or not we view our relationship with Jesus based on legalism or based on grace.  Confused?  I was too.  Let me explain...

If I say that I am a good person because I do good things, then I am saying that my "goodness" or "righteousness" is earned, and therefore God owes me because I've earned it.  That is a legalistic mentality that so many Christians (myself included) are plagued with.  However, if I do good things because I am a good or "righteous" person, that is totally different.  You see, we as Christians have a righteousness that comes from God that is a gift of grace...it wasn't earned.  All we have to do to receive that gift of grace is simply believe (see Romans 4).  Abraham believed and it was accounted to him as righteousness.  So, when Abraham believed, he was instantly counted as a righteous man, and his actions began to change.

The same happens for us.  When we believe in Him, we instantly become righteous.  It isn't dependent on any of our works or deeds.  But, as recipients of this gift, we realize that we no longer desire to do the "bad" or "evil" things we once did.  We are walking in the good works that God prepared for us to walk in.  But we do it because we love Him, not because we are trying to earn His approval.

We are saved TO good works, not BY good works! 

DAILY REMINDER #8 - "If I want to bear fruit, I must remain in Him."

John 15:5 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I inhim, he will bear much fruit..." 

Fruit...what exactly was Jesus referring to when He said that if we want FRUIT, we must remain in Him?  For years, I've taught and believed that "spiritual fruit" meant that we were making disciples.  You know, leading people to Christ, helping lay a spiritual foundation in their lives, baptizing them and all of that.  But, I've met some people before that were godly people that read their Bible's daily, raised great kids, tithed regularly, never cheated on their taxes, always had a smile on their face, and genuinely had a sincere and deep relationship with Jesus...you could say they were "remaining" or "abiding" in Him.  But, they never led more than a handful of people to Christ and made very few disciples.  This passage says that the person remaining in Jesus would bear MUCH fruit...a handful isn't MUCH at all!!!

However, one thing I noticed about the people I described above is that they had a different kind of fruit.  They had a fruit that the Bible refers to in Galatians 5:22-23.  It says "the FRUIT of the SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control; against such things there is no law."  They not only had this fruit, they had MUCH of it.  It was clearly the result of being with Jesus!  Let's look at the alternative...time AWAY from Jesus.  That fruit would be anger, sorrow, anxiety, frustration, mean spirit, deceit, hypocrisy, abuse and over-indulgence.  Hmmm, which one sounds more appealing?

So often we focus the success of our lives based on how much "disciple" fruit we are bearing, and not the spiritual fruit.  This isn't to say that evangelism and discipleship aren't important...they absolutely are.  But trying to make disciples without having the Galatians 5 arsenal of fruit is a waste of time.  We will frustrate the new believer more than help them.  We must bear His kind of fruit first.  This only comes by remaining in Him.

That's why we are always hearing how important it is to read our Bibles, pray, worship, fellowship and share Christ with others.  All of these things keep us abiding in Him.   Make a priority today to spend at least 5 minutes a day with Him.  Allow that to increase as your consistency increases.  You will find that it is the best part of your day, and it produces the fruit you need!