I am currently reading David Sills new book  Reaching and Teaching: A Call to Great Commission Obedience.

I am really enjoying it.

Get this from the book… “So many of those who made the greatest difference in missions history were not those who promoted fads or adopted the latest innovations; they simply loved Jesus with all their heart and persevered in what He gave them to do.”
Wow! That is such a great point. I want to persevere in what God gives me to do.

I also wanted to quote one other sentence from the book that is sticking with me.

In chapter 1 he writes, “It matters what teachers teach and what believers believe.”

We need to take that sentence seriously and be careful to teach and believe according to God’s Word.

Valeria’s brother, Andres, is a great photographer. (His new website launched today www.andresvalenzuela.com)

He was here visiting, along with his wife, a few weeks ago.

Click here to see some pictures he took of the boys. They are awesome.

The true follower of Jesus has a commitment to the truth of God.

If there is no commitment to God’s Word, then there are serious concerns surrounding the faith of the believer. Jesus told the Pharisees “and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom He has sent.” (Jn. 5:38-39) Elsewhere, He says “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:31-32)

And then later Jesus prayed to His Father in the garden, “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” (Jn. 17:17)

The follower of Jesus has died to self and has abandoned selfish and worldly purposes, influences, and motivations. And those have been replaced by the foundational powerful and active truth of the Bible.

Now the Bible also says that believers, upon being saved, are to grow and strive for maturity. The Apostle Paul writes “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (Col. 1:28)  And the Apostle Peter writes “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Pet. 3:18)

And we know that God is pleased, honored, and glorified when His redeemed people know Him and understand Him accurately from His word (see Jeremiah 9:23-24, my favorite passage in Scripture).  Therefore, we must know in order to grow.

So we conclude and resolve that as true followers of our King Jesus we commit ourselves fully to growing in our knowledge and understanding of God’s truth so that we may grow up to maturity and further glorify our God and Savior Jesus Christ who suffered and died under the judgement of God in our place for our sins.

So that as Paul wrote to Titus we would have a  “knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness.” (Titus 1:11)

Back in October, we started back up the WMU at our church. WMU stands for “Women’s Missionary Union,” and it is the thrust of all of our Women’s ministry. It is going really well. God surely has His hand in it. Each meeting is different, but the focus of the WMU is prayer and ladies fellowship.

This past Tuesday, they had a special occasion WMU. It was a “Ladies Tea.” From what I have heard, it was so nice. There were over 50 ladies there to hear the special guest speaker, Kim Wigginton. There was special music, wonderful food, and a powerful message. All of the ladies were impacted by God’s Word with one lady that night believing in Jesus and asking Him to save her.

We are so humbled at what God is doing in our ladies.

In the mornings, JJ & Eli sometimes watch this show called “Word World.” Its pretty cool. It teaches kids how to spell and read. One episode I saw was really cool. It was explaining how simply adding an “S” to most words will make it plural.

Like the word cookie becomes cookies when you simply add an “s” to it.

Thats a really neat concept for a kid to grasp.

Just add an “s” to it, and you go from having 1 of something to having many of that something.

Well, as I was thinking of that, I was reminded of how people in Fairdale do that with places. Its really cool.

For example, Kroger is often called Krogers. Or Meijer is often called Meijers. I have heard people add an “s” to all sorts of different places.  Big Os, Bass Pros, White Castles, Moby Dicks, and so on.

Its really cool and fun and local. Listen out for it.

No matter what the place….just add an “s” to it.

Every night, JJ asks for me to read him the story of David & Goliath. This night without any planning, we acted it out. David wins! God is great!

I have always found this interesting.

Why is it that people think that certain actions or WORDS that, I guess, would be ok outside of a church building all of a sudden turn bad or wrong once you are inside the building? When I get to thinking about it… its quite troubling and humorous!

And this happens pretty regularly. I hear people say things like “man, don’t talk like that in a church.” or “you’re not supposed to say that in church.”

I appreciate the attempt at respect. But I am more concerned at the major misunderstanding.

The church has never been a building; its always been a bride… a body… a community…  a people.

If something is wrong in a church building, then it is most likely wrong outside of it too.

Listen to what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:4:

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

This is so helpful to this discussion. There is a type of talking that is out of place. That is why I said I appreciate the attempt at respect. But where is out of place? Not in the building. A building is a building. God lives in hearts not buildings.

So where is out of place?  In our lives! In our walks. In verse 1, we are told to be imitators of God. God never spoke inappropriately, and we should not either. In verse 2, we are told to walk in a certain way. Verse 4 is a continuation from that. Wrong, bad, dirty, filthy, inappropriate speech is out of place. But not in a building… in your life.

So, lets clean it up. CLEAN UP YOUR WAY OF TALKING. Ephesians 5:4

Be slow to speak. Let your words be few. Guard your tongues. If necessary, put your hand over your mouth.

Because according to God, its out of place in your life.

Yesterday, Valeria and I went and had an ultrasound done.

It’s a boy!!!

We thank God for him…our third son.  Valeria is 17 weeks, and the boy is due October 18. He measured weighing 7 ounces already.

When we came home and told JJ and Eli that they were getting another brother, JJ literally raised his hands, jumped up and down and begin yelling “Yeeeyyyyyyy!” It was awesome!

Psalm 127:3 says “children are a heritage from the Lord.”

God gives them. We do not take them for granted. JJ and Eli do not deserve another brother. We do not deserve any sons, much less a third. All of this is undeserved grace. We are humbled.

Psalm 127:5 “blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” Three isn’t a lot, but it is a start.

But remember, its not me or Valeria that can fill it…its God.

He gets all the attention and glory. We are humbled.

Thank you, Jesus.

I totally realize that no one cares, but I still want to say it.

Almond Joy pieces are my favorite candy. They are so good. Reese’s Pieces are awesome too. But these are incredible.  If you ever want to get me a surprise gift, this would be best.

So delicious! Does anyone else love these? Please let me know, I’ll get you some.

This past Sunday, I opened up my sermon with 2 different ways of learning.

1)     You can take someone with experience’s word for it.
or
2)     You can learn the hard way.

The Bible teaches us to take advice and instruction from people. Especially from those who have gone before us and know better than we do. And the Bible teaches us that to not take instruction is foolish.

Proverbs 8:33 “Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.”

Proverbs 1:7 “fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

One thing in my life that I regularly seek after is older men who will help me. Older men that clearly know more than me and have experienced more than me.  God has given me several of them, and I am so grateful for that.

This week I was speaking with one of them. And I was telling him how much I need older men who are willing to invest in me…. Invest their mind and experiences with me.

Here is what he said.

“Experience finds itself wasted on old men.” Wow! That is true.  In other words, experience is only good if you give it away. Experience only has its value when it is given away.

I had never heard that before. It is sticking with me.

If you do not have older people mentoring you, please go find one today. Simply go to someone you admire and ask them to give you advice for life regularly. And at the same time, be looking for a younger person that you can share all your knowledge and experiences with.

Or else, it will be wasted.

(I am 30 years old. The men that influence me with simple life lessons are 58, 58, 75, 80 & 81.)