“For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.” Matthew 13:15 ->me: Ummm, wow. I am pretty blown away to come upon this verse today in my quiet time. I look around and see all the passion and focus on the political and social issues of the country and here we have Jesus answering the disciple’s question – “Why do You speak to them in parables?”. Today I started my journey through the 13th chapter of Matthew, the 8 parables taught by Jesus. He started with the parable of sower and the various types of ground the seed landed on. What really hit me was what Jesus said about why He uses parables “To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:11 This is profound! To you it has been GIVEN to KNOW – this is another instance where as a true follower of Jesus, in fellowship with Him, I have an ability to comprehend and understand the spiritual ramifications of Jesus’ teaching while others do not. Thank you, God in Heaven, for the ears that hear your voice and the eyes that have the ability to see You in Your purposes. As I venture out tonight and spend time with co-workers for the 4th of July, help my family and myself reflect You…that you might grant others the ability to see the secrets and mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven!
[QTVOTD] Real family…
“Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You. But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all]His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!” Matthew 12:47-50 ->me: This last week I really began to see what Jesus was talking about in this passage. Spending time with kids and adults who are sold out to service to the King, in service to Him, helps you see that when we are bound together in Spiritual purpose the relationship will be stronger than blood. Our relationship with the Lord and each other will last into eternity while our biological family relationships are only for here on earth. I don’t think that Jesus was trying to insult His family; I think He was just taking the opportunity to make a big point. I am so thankful that a majority of my earthly family is also my eternal family…a double blessing.
[MSM Mexico] Day five complete
Today was a BIG day! It was the key dedication ceremony to family we have building the house for and it proved to be very emotional. I was a video taper and was pretty much in the thick of the emotion the whole time. What an honor it was to be a part of God impacting not only this family but the whole community we came into contact with. We ended the day with trip to the local church we support for a nice meal and fellowship. It is pretty incredible how many different experiences we all have gotten in a short week.
[MSM Mexico] Day four complete
Bella and I have been on separate sites for the week and so we have gotten to have our own experiences. One of the benefits of this is that I have gotten to know more of the middle schoolers at Canyon Hills. Today, however, Bella and I were able to work the House Build together. I helped manage the staining of trim, touching up house painting, and cleaning drywall mud trowels and pans. This evening I also made a store run to WallMart and Home Depot to get supplies with Mr Lucke and Mr See. God is really starting to work in the hearts of everyone here and it is so exciting to watch the hearts of the kids change.
[MSM Mexico] Day three complete
One of the most awesome things about working with Yugo Ministries is that we get Chapel both in the morning and at night; filled with worship and message. Every chapel we had a different speaker and they were all great! Each one spoke a message centered around the theme of ‘Love is…’. For the kids (and adults) who attended this mission, every day was filled with not only an outpouring of love on the Mexican people but also an infilling of spiritual truth. Such an awesome experience!
[MSM Mexico] Day two complete
Today was our first day on the house build all together to get things started off right by praying with the family and asking for God’s blessing in our work. All in all we have 4 teams of boys and 4 teams of girls. 1 boy team and 1 girl team worked at the ‘House Build’ each day and then the other teams would be working 2 separate other sites where we did roof repairs and repainting…getting to know and love on 2 additional families. Our site was a pretty substantial roof repair and we had the excitement of one of the boys stepping through a couple of rafters and breaking through the drywall ceiling! Whoops! We ordered a couple of sheets of drywall and all was ok, no one was hurt…only embarrassed. 🙂
[MSM Mexico] Day one complete…
Well the day finally came to end. We had the 2.5 hour drive from San Diego to Ensenada with only a slight hitch at the border. The 6 vans made it safely to the Yugo Ministries complex and we all got adjusted into our accommodations, ate a great dinner, met the family we are building the house for, and had a great time of worship at chapel complete with devotions before bed. Everyone is in their rooms and settling down. We are ready for tomorrow and the Yugo staff has nicely put tomorrow’s schedule on the white board for us (We are the BLUE Team). More to come tomorrow.
[MSM Mexico] In Mexico
We stopped for a bite to eat and supplies in Chula Vista. We had a short 45 minute delay at the border for 2 of the 6 vans to get X-Rayed. We got to meet people coming from a church in Moorpark, CA who are coming to YUGO as well. Nice time of fellowship while we waited. We are now on our way to our final destination -> Ensenada
[QTVOTD] Be careful…
“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit shall not and cannot be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come.” Matthew 12:31-32 ->me: The Lord, through His word, taught me something new today. So thankful for this as 63 of us head down to Ensenada, Mexico to minister to the people there. Here in this passage, Jesus has just healed and freed a man who was possessed by a demon, blind, deaf, and dumb. The Pharisees just got done telling the people that the way Jesus was throwing out demons was on the authority of the prince of demons. Of course this is crazy and not even logical; as Jesus quickly educates them. Then we have these 2 verses saying you can blaspheme and slander Jesus but not the Holy Spirit. Wait….what? Is the Son of man then on a lower level, less than divine, that he can be slandered with impunity? No. After some careful reading and understanding of the words used here in the Greek I think I have clarity on why. The incognito character of Jesus ministry means that failure to recognize Him for what He was might be excusable The difference is then between failure to recognize the light and deliberate rejection of it once it is recognized as such; unforgivable blasphemy versus unwitting sin. This is what makes turning on God’s Spirit within you so dangerous. I think this is recognized most when people reach the point where they rationalize their fleshly thinking; calling evil good and good evil. Scary.
[MSM Mexico] Safely on the ground in San Diego.
Quick stop to pick up vans and get a bite to eat before heading across the border. Bella was dead asleep on the flight. I don’t think she slept a wink last night. So thankful for all of your prayers and support!