31 January 2017

 

We left Guatemala yesterday and are currently in Mexico City. Where does the time go? This week I will publish some more reports from our time in Guatemala including some interesting cases and a tour of Hospital Adonai in Ultra HD, no less.

 

It is the desire of Areli and me that we continue to know God more and reflect His glory back to Him. And as we do so, we want others to see Him and to do the same. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). He is real. He is perfect. He loves us. He desires to reveal Himself to us so that we can experience the joy of knowing Him. But, there is problem. We all have said and done things that God cannot stand. This separates us from Him. Because of His love for us, He sent his only Son Jesus to the earth to suffer and pay the price for our bad behavior. There is nothing we can do to fix this or to earn our relationship with God. We can only accept this and be thankful that Jesus did this for us. And Jesus also gives us power to live better. We begin a new relationship with our Good God and this relationship will last forever.

 

Have you ever tried to describe the Gospel of Jesus Christ as simply as possible without using complicated or “religious” words? I just spend quite a while attempting it in the previous paragraph. What are the essentials? Which things are most important? Which things are secondary? Which things are cultural? Will the whole audience understand this? Or will it be confusing to some? Are there any points in my Gospel message that are just plain wrong? The good thing is that there is no perfect Christian who has a perfect understanding of God. OK. I feel better now.

 

I am not frequently asked to give a message in front of a group of people. But when this does happen, I am often drawn to speak on something related to salvation. Maybe this is because I spent greater than 17 years of my life in church without being saved.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a message on Titus 3:3-8 at the Spanish-speaking service that members of Adonai facilitate. Sorry for the quality of the recording.

 

 

The following is a longer message I gave to the teen group 4 years ago in Mexico City on the same passage. I dubbed in into English for a preaching class I was taking—not because I was bored and had nothing else to do.