Post by Deborah: "Blessings!"

We’ve been blessed in extra special ways by our most recent visitors!

Gina shared her testimony at a multi-church ladies’ meeting, hosted by Templo Calvario here in Montevideo.

Jerry and Gina “remodeled” the hallways (downstairs and up) as well as the main stairwell and our master bedroom! In the words of E and DJ: “This is a different place now!”

We heartily agree! It is a different place!

We thoroughly enjoyed a very competitive soccer game on Tuesday night – probably the most competitive I’ve ever attended! The stadium was packed! (If you followed the events of this year’s Copa America, you’ll understand the background.)

These “extras” didn’t stay empty for long...

¡Viva URUGUAY!

We won 3 to 0!

We’re very thankful for these friends and their time with us.

And we’re going to miss them!

Significance of Jesus' Humanity (Heb. 2:9-18)

Hebrews 2:9-18 gives in a short amount of space several reasons the incarnation is significant:

• Jesus, fulfilling Psalm 8’s words about “man,” (cf. Heb. 2:5-8), “was made . . . lower than the angels . . . so that . . . He might taste death for everyone” (v. 9).
• “Through sufferings” Jesus, “the author of [our] salvation” was “perfect[ed]” (v. 10).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He might render [the devil] powerless” (v. 14).
• “He . . . partook of [flesh and blood], that through death He . . . might free [captives]” (vv. 14-15).
• “He [was] made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (v. 17).
• “Since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (v. 18).

NASB

Two thousand Jona Torres tracts are now in Uruguay

Please pray for the success of the gospel and for God to call many to Himself.

Spanish Music Resources

A couple of years ago we started very casually posting links to Spanish music resources after someone asked us for some direction. The list is very short (we've spent very little time on it) but includes some helpful sources, including Church Works Media's new Spanish tab. Please feel free to offer others that you're aware of.

 

www.musicadelaiglesia.blogspot.com.

Why North America?

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a group of students interested in God’s work among the nations. Before the meeting someone asked me, “Why Uruguay?” This is a question that we regularly try to answer, and that I’ll try to review here in the near future.

But we’re not in Uruguay yet. It’s been helpful to me to work through a philosophy of why we’re doing what we’re doing right now, before making a permanent move to Uruguay. The full answer takes much more space, but here’s an attempt to summarize in a hundred words:

As a missionary teacher, my work is preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible, with the goal of strengthening Christians and churches. We are currently trying to serve in this way among a group of North American churches and Christian friends in preparation for doing the same in Uruguay. We have the added opportunity of recounting God’s works in Uruguay and requesting prayer. These activities then serve a secondary purpose of giving people opportunity to evaluate their sense of God’s calling and of our qualifications, resulting in their sending us (in various ways) and thus confirming God’s calling and leading.

(“And who is sufficient for these things?”)

BJU

It is not outside the purpose of this blog to mention at least once that I hope to be among the large group of BJU graduates who feel secure:

They’re secure enough on the one hand not to look for their identity in a school or movement, because they recognize there is a much greater Cause—that of Jesus Christ, His kingdom, and His gospel. They don’t follow Jesus as well as they should, but they’re sure they want to. And they have experienced God’s grace to help them do so.

They’re secure enough on the other hand not to grasp for position with others by looking for ways to criticize the school. Not everyone who openly criticizes does so from self-seeking motives; but the group I’m talking about is absolutely sure they don’t want that kind of politics. They see enough love of self in their own hearts, and they despise it—especially when it uses other Christians to push an agenda.

This is a group of people, I think, who have never thought their school was perfect, but who continue to support and appreciate BJU; and who honor the many faithful servants who directly and indirectly taught them.

Bob Jones University’s core values

The Bible and the Book of Mormon

When an LDS missionary comes to the door, Christians need to know this about them:

“Like most members of my faith I don’t take every word of the Bible literally, Old Testament or New. My embracing of the Bible allows room for human errors of translation or omission, or indeed of interpretation. In that, I’m typical of most Latter-day Saints” (Michael Otterson).

This makes me realize that I have to understand the Bible’s teaching about its own preservation. (In my view this providential preservation has taken place within the totality of the immense number of manuscripts available to us.)

But perhaps more significant than Otterson’s statement itself is that he says nothing comparable about the Book of Mormon, thereby leaving it in a position of superiority to your copy of the Bible.

His entire post is here.

Jesus to a man with wealth, youth, and influence

Do you desire eternal life? Or, in other words, do you want to enter the kingdom of God, do you want to be “saved”? Jesus says that only God is good. Jesus is both God and good. You are neither. When confronted with God’s law, you fall short (especially if you consider how Jesus heightened the standard). Even if you can in some way say that you’ve kept the impossible law of God, you still lack: “Leave everything for My sake and the gospel’s sake; you’ll be abundantly blessed in this age and receive eternal life in the age to come,” says the One who died and rose to give eternal life to those who respond in this way. Cling to everything (your god, your goodness) to lose everything; follow Christ to gain all.

Mark 10:17-31 (also Matthew 19:16-30; and Luke 18:18-30)

Your place in society cannot keep you from pleasing God.

According to Luke’s gospel, your place in society cannot keep you from pleasing God. Jesus’ identification of the Samaritan (10:25-37); his commendation of Mary (10:38-42); and his story of the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31) give hope that such classifications as race, gender, and economic position are no liability for the one who would please God. The fatal liability is one’s pride that refuses to place him or her in the only category for which Jesus offers hope: the category of sinner (5:30-32). Justified sinners can please God as His grace works in them.

Prayer for us and for Iglesia Bíblica Maranatha:

• Reliance upon God’s grace for faithfulness in regular Bible reading;
• Complete trust in God’s sovereign hand (Daniel 4:35);
• Admiration for the Lord Jesus for his works (in John 5, those of future judgment and of giving us eternal life); and
• Encouraging meetings for the Garwoods in the U.S. during these months, as well as the rest that they need.

Our Trip with Jona

Written Wednesday, 25 May 2011

When our nephew Jonatán was five years old, we took him along with us on a month-long trip to Uruguay. Our 1981 diesel Oldsmobile took us first from South Carolina to Miami. Jona sat in the front seat, between Deborah and me (though now with kids of my own, I’m wondering if he was really supposed to be up there). We had no children at the time; but Jona as a five-year-old counted for maybe three. A theme that developed in the front seat was—directed to him to encourage calmness—“If I crash, you crash.” He liked it. In Costa Rica, rather late in our layover, we decided to try to tour as much of the country as we could in half an hour or so. Barely returning to our gate in time—Jona in tow—we caught our flight to the next layover in Lima, Perú. Our memories of Lima include running Jona in the airport to tire him out, following one of his dad’s suggestions to us.

The purpose of our trip was both to visit family and to continue surveying the possibility of returning someday for the sake of the gospel. A more deliberate theme for the trip came from the first few verses of Psalm 105: “Make known his deeds among the people. . . . talk of all his wondrous works.” I distinctly remember talking with Jona about some of this. And certainly our trip included some opportunity to make God known—a daunting and humbling idea for sure—as we at least a few times talked about what God had done.

As I write—sitting in the same Costa Rica airport en route to Uruguay with my own energetic five-year-old—we are finishing the first month since Jona’s life was taken by cancer. At his memorial service several people spoke; but much of the time was taken up by recordings of Jona’s own testimony. With the psalmist David (Jona’s middle name), Jona talked of God’s lifting him from the miry clay and setting his feet on a rock. And he did this before an audience of a thousand people. But the audience in reality was much, much larger. For twenty months believers from literally across the globe watched this young man respond to God’s dealings with him. Jona’s life and words tell of God’s work in one of His children.

Though we acknowledge many God-given talents that Jona enjoyed, if we’re honest we have to admit that in many ways he really was a rather ordinary guy. The chemotherapy was excruciating. He told us in his memorial service of even wanting to end his own life, due to the effects of the treatment on his body and mind. And he of course struggled with sin along with the rest of us. But his life was one that knew God’s grace: God’s saving grace given to him in the gospel and His ongoing, sustaining grace, also given to Him in Christ. And in his weakness and ultimate death, he made known God’s deeds and talked of His works “among the people.” It was God’s grace at work in ordinary weakness. That offers hope for my own five-year-old (and seven-month-old). And it provides hope for ordinary people like me.

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works (Psalm 105:1-2).

Funeral

This afternoon the gospel will be given and God's glory displayed at Jona's funeral. Please pray according to His will.

Thank you for your prayers for Jonatán. He is now Home. Though we sorrow, we do not sorrow as did so many homes around the world last night without hope. Such confidence is the air we breathe.

Who is this?

For those who have ever spent a Christmas wondering about the identity of Jesus, or about your relationship to Him, but who now know—rejoice!

For those who rarely think about Jesus—make good use of the season to consider His claims!

For those who are still plagued by doubt—consider the individual statements and the overall impression that the Bible gives of Jesus.

The hymn is true:
Who is this so weak and helpless, child of lowly Hebrew maid,
Rudely in a stable sheltered, coldly in a manger laid?
‘Tis the Lord of all creation, who this wondrous path hath trod;
Christ our God from everlasting, and to everlasting God.
(William Walsham How)

Nate Saint's Christmas Letter

“As we weigh the future and seek the will of God, does it seem right that we should hazard our lives for just a few savages? As we ask ourselves this question, we realize that it is not the call of the needy thousands, rather it is the simple intimation of the prophetic Word that there shall be some from every tribe in His presence in the last day and in our hearts we feel that it is pleasing to Him that we should interest ourselves in making an opening into the Auca prison for Christ.

As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha. May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility.

Would that we could comprehend the lot of these stone-age people who live in mortal fear of ambush on the jungle trail . . . those to whom the bark of a gun means sudden, mysterious death . . . those who think all men in all the world are killers like themselves. If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.”

(From Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor, 165-166)

Another hymn worth singing . . .

One of the churches I visited this past Lord's Day sang this Thomas Kelly text.

Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious:
See the Man of Sorrows now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Every knee to Him shall bow;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crowns become the Victor’s brow.

Crown the Savior! angels, crown Him;
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
In the seat of power enthrone Him,
While the vault of heaven rings;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown the Savior King of kings.

Sinners in derision scorned Him,
Mocking thus the Savior’s claim;
Saints and angels crowd around Him,
Own His title, praise His name;
Crown Him, crown Him,
Spread abroad the Victor’s fame.

Hark, those bursts of acclamation!
Hark, those loud triumphant chords!
Jesus takes the highest station;
O what joy the sight affords!
Crown Him, crown Him,
King of kings and Lord of lords!


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

Daniel James Matías

We are very thankful for God’s blessing us with our baby boy on Saturday evening; and we praise Him for His grace and strength. We pray that our son will carry the gospel further than we ever will—for the sake of the name and fame of Jesus!

JDC at BJU

Yesterday J.D. Crowley (EMU missionary in Cambodia) preached the first of four messages during Missions Emphasis Week at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC:

A Christian is someone who cannot bear the thought that there are places on earth where God is not famous. We make Him famous by talking about Him—not only by giving propositions but by recounting what He has done. The Story revealed in the Bible was unknown in northeastern Cambodia. It is unknown in much of the world. It is increasingly unknown in the United States. Propositions alone—apart from the contextual Story—are incomplete. “Hobbits are remarkable creatures”; “Friendship is important”; and “Sometimes you have to walk alone” have much more meaning within a much larger context.

An Offer

I believe that a man named Jesus was both a powerful prophet and the only Son of God. I believe that He was and is the rightful King—not only of the Jewish people but of every nation of the world. Both the Jews and the nations—and I myself, for I wanted no such king—nailed his living body to a wooden cross. We sinned against Him and against the Father when we did this; and we are responsible. But our doing so was by God’s design and was a fulfillment of the writings of God’s prophets. Jesus was offering His own innocent life and shedding His own blood to pay the penalty that my sin deserved and that God's holiness and law demand. He was purchasing a people for Himself, a people that God would graciously call “righteous” on the basis of their God-given faith—a people that God would relentlessly mold and change until they each would look like His own Son, who will thus be “firstborn” (preeminent) among them, His brethren. I believe that He is alive! Trustworthy witnesses saw both the empty tomb and the living Lord. And He has commissioned His people, the church, to make other disciples of Jesus—of all the nations.

If you are an unhappy sinner, come join us! (If you aren’t, then Jesus offers you no hope.) Deny yourself and come to Jesus—the only way to the Father, and the only valid Priest—and throw all your weight upon Him. He will forgive. He will give life!

For Sale

Though it may seem trivial, please pray for a successful yard sale (and good weather) this coming Saturday.

The timing is poor, as it coincides with a church work day to prepare the site for the beginning of a major building project. However, we are—frankly—out of time and out of space (in more ways than one). With a second baby due before the end of the month, an 802-square-foot house, an abundance of accumulated things, and plans to leave the country—we must continue to downsize. So if you live anywhere east of the Mississippi, please come and buy lots of stuff. (Since returning from Alaska, distances have lost all intimidation.) The house is not on the market (at least not yet); but for the right price, it might be. Just ask; maybe we can work something out.

An unrelated note: We have a new cell phone number. If you need to know it, let us know.