He gave himself so others could live

Missionary colleague Butch Frey posted this on Facebook yesterday:

This morning, in Poza Rica, Veracruz (Mexico), during what started out as a normal Sunday School time at one of our churches, a drug addict entered with a knife and began an attack upon those who were gathered there. One of the deacons placed himself between the attacker and the children and children's worker, and, literally gave his life in the process. Edgar Hernández represents the very best of the Mexican church. Fully committed to the cause of Christ, without an ounce of cowardice, he gave himself so that others could live. God bless Hno. Hernández and his family.

Emergency workers transferred another victim to a clinic with two knife wounds. Apparently, Hernández's wife was also hurt in the attack and is currently in the hospital.

As Butch has already mentioned, please stop a moment now and pray for the Hernández family as well as the church, Templo Cristiano del Divino Redentor, as they sort through this tragic event and the loss of a dear brother in Christ. May the Lord comfort them and surround them with wise and compassionate counsel in their time of grief.

Might we also stop and pray for the drug addict who caused this devastation. He represents countless thousands in Mexico warped by addiction and in need of deliverance. May the Lord surround him also with knowledgeable and wise counsel to deliver him from his addictions and fill him with the Holy Spirit.

Gracias.

If you can read Spanish, this news article also outlines the events of yesterday.

Hooray!

Our graduation week began at Fort Wayne First Assembly with a wonderful celebration and recognition of all who graduated this season.

This is it! 

Grandma Brown and Uncle Mike join us at the Memorial Coliseum for Leo High School's ceremony.

Sophia with the the Senior Vocal Ensemble sing the National Anthem and "Seasons of Love."

Bravo to John Neidich, the evening's Master of Ceremony, and to the senior speakers, Salutatorian Rebekah Miller and Valedictorian Bryce Beer, who challenged and encouraged their classmates with some great words of wisdom. If these young people are any indication of the talent and creativity of the class of 2014 then our future is in good hands!

He Gave Them the Spirit (Part Three)

He Gave Them a Meal (Part One) He Gave Them a Cross (Part Two)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1.8

“This passage,” expalins Ajith Fernando, “shows us how important the Holy Spirit is to our understanding of mission and how important mission is to our understanding of the Holy Spirit.”


As I mentioned in previous posts, Jesus gave his disciples a meal to explain his impending death. He gave them a cross to express the exacting cost of living for the kingdom. Now Jesus promises to give his disciples the Spirit to empower them for his mission.

So we see, God’s mission and God’s Spirit are irrevocably intertwined. And as Ajith Fernando reminds us above, we cannot truly understand the mission of God if we do not appreciate the importance of the Holy Spirit in that mission. And we cannot truly appreciate the Holy Spirit if we neglect the mission he empowers us to be a part of. A read through the book of Acts confirms that the purpose of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to empower his disciples to preach the word of God everywhere and in all circumstances.

As the Spirit of Pentecost empowers God’s prophetic community for mission, so the Spirit of missions is relational. God entrusts his message with his people. God empowers his people with his Spirit. Therefore, missions must be incarnational; it must be relational.

As a missionary, may I be so bold to proclaim that there is no substitute for sending real people into all the world to bring God’s message by his Spirit, because the message we need to share is this: God is reconciling the world to himself through Christ. Therefore like Christ, our ministry and our methods must be incarnational; they must be relational. Nothing less will do. As his disciples we have the responsibility to be incarnate with his message and empowered by his Spirit to go into all the world.

Although it is tempting to believe that Jesus’ commission to all nations is a new development in the missio Dei, it is not. The mission of God has always included the nations beyond the called and faithful remnant. It has always included reaching out with compassion and hope to the poor, the captive, and the oppressed. What is new is the promise of power to all believers (regardless of social status, nationality, age, or gender) to expedite the mission.

This power though, is not the consequence of an inanimate energy source, but rather the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ. No less than the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit is adequate to accomplish this exceptional mission to all nations.

To accept the gift of the Spirit as they did at Pentecost and throughout Acts necessitates an intentional missions objective, for the purpose of Pentecost is to clothe believers with power to be witnesses to all the nations. For a believer to claim to be filled with the Spirit and yet have no inclination for the mission of Jesus simply makes no sense.

Today, if we want to be a part of God’s missional, prophetic community – to be empowered by his Spirit to send and to go and to make disciples – then once again let us ask God to fill us with his Spirit. But to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit intrinsically implies that the recipient of the gift will accept the mission, the method, and the power to go to the ends of the earth!

Ajith Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary, Zondervan: 2009, Kindle Edition

He Gave Them a Cross (Part Two)

He Gave Them a Meal (Part One) He Gave Them the Spirit (Part Three)

Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Matthew 16.21-22

Why such a fierce response to Jesus’ claim? Sentimentality: Peter could not bear the thought of losing a friend? Messianic expectation: Jesus the true Messiah could not, should not possibly die? Or, as N. T. Wright notes in his book Simply Jesus, because the disciples then (as so many of us today) wanted a kingdom without a cross?

Just moments before in Matthew’s Gospel, Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah. Delighted, Jesus affirms his divinely inspired insight. Yet just as quickly, Jesus rebukes Peter for rejecting the predetermined way of the cross as the means for establishing the kingdom. The ‘son of man’ would not march on Jerusalem to retake it by force as her rightful king. On the contrary, much to the disciples’ surprise (and dismay), the way of the kingdom would be through the cross. And if that was not enough to take in, Jesus sets the way of the cross before his disciples.

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

There’s no two ways about it, the cross represented death. Jesus’ ultimatum to his disciples to take up their cross remains for us today an invitation (to put it kindly) to deny selfish means and gains for the sake of the kingdom.

“Somehow,” Wright notes, “Jesus’ death was seen by Jesus himself … as the ultimate means by which God’s kingdom was established. The crucifixion was the shocking answer to the prayer that God’s kingdom would come on earth as in heaven.”

When as his disciples we take up our cross, lay aside our own agendas and follow him we declare daily that God’s kingdom has come, is coming, will come on earth as it is in heaven. The accusation over Jesus’ head, “King of the Jews,” transformed Jesus’ cross into a throne. The disciples did not foresee a suffering Messiah, but that is what they got. And as our King took up his cross so he expects his disciples to do the same. The way of the cross demands everything. And the disciples soon learned that taking up their cross and following him would indeed cost them everything.

Yet here is the clincher – the cross, although a powerful symbol of death also becomes the means to life.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 

Indeed, to embrace the cross is to accept not only the way of death but also the hope of resurrection. The cross, forever a reminder of how Jesus died also becomes a startling testimony that death could not hold him.

Jesus gave his disciples a meal to explain his impending death. He gave them a cross to express the exacting cost of living for the kingdom. But in just a few weeks time, he will give them the Spirit … stayed tuned.

Matthew 16.13-26. See also Mark 8.27-38; Luke 9.18-26

N. T. Wright, Simply Jesus, Harper Collins: 2011, Kindle Edition

It's been a couple of weeks . . .

Now for a little catching up!

Yay, Olivia and I graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU)!

No better way to celebrate than with friends and fellow missionaries, Nelson and Rennae de Freitas, their son Marcus, and SAGU Travel Coordinator, Joshua Evans at a Mexican restaurant.

The next day Stuart and I took in the sights and sounds of Waxahachie when we happened upon a Cinco de Mayo festival. How cool is that?!

Our busy weekend continued in Indianapolis for our district council. General Superintendent, Dr. George Wood prays over our fellowship.

Last Wednesday we joined Pastor Orlando Soler at Life Point Church in Hammond, IN for their missions convention. 

We are so thankful for their prayers and support over the last 10 years.

If you are ever in the area, visit Life Point Church and tell them we sent you :)

Yesterday we ventured out early to travel down to Lifeway Church in Indianapolis with Pastor Neil and Michelle Bell. So thankful Stuart and I had the opportunity to pray over so many women (of all ages) responding to the call of God on their lives. I'll give you the best advice I ever received: Go for God's best!

Thanks to all our supporting churches and individuals who partner with us in ministry. As we itinerate, your generous offerings help offset the cost of travel so we can raise the needed funds and return to Mexico faster. Every little bit helps!