Dear Church,

I want to take a few minutes and give you a quick update on what has been going on with our ministry here South of the border;

First, a few weeks ago we had our baptisms! There were five: Betsabe, Diego, Angelica, Obed and Nahum. They all went through our new believers course and gave good testimony of the work of God in their lives. We left the city to go camping in a place called “El Chico” which was absolutely beautiful! From there we drove to a place called a “balneareo” or “spa” in english. It is a little different from our idea of a spa, they call it that because it has thermal water, but it was a good place for baptisms. We then returned to our camp and had a lot of fun around the fire talking and singing. The next morning I had a great opportunity to rise early with a couple of young men, watch the sunrise, and spend good time in the Word together. God has truly blessed us with some young men and women who are truly seeking the heart of God. We had our Sunday service there at our camp. It was not as formal but a really great time. Please pray for these five that have followed in obedience to the Father’s command of baptism. 

Secondly, this same weekend we introduced five new members to our church; Gonzalo, Monica, Obed, Nahum and Angelica. Gonzalo and his family came to visit our church while Ivonne and I were in Azle last year going through the process of becoming missionaries through FBC Briar. They heard about our church through their son Obed who came to the conference we held here in Mexico City last year. After visiting about a month and a half they decided to start the new members class. Angelica was living in Cancun and had hit rock bottom. Trying to find a way out she came back to Mexico City to live with her parents who are long time friends of Gonzalo and his family. Around the same time she came back Gonzalo and his family began to visit our church and invited Angelica to go with them. At some point within the first two months of visiting our church the Lord saved Angelica! She as well started the new members class and all five of them finished a week before or trip. Pray that the Lord would continually direct our church in leading Gonzalo and his family, and Angelica in their walk. Pray also that they would see their responsibility to the church and be faithful to that service.

Thirdly, I am teaching several bible studies throughout the week. On Tuesday nights we have our men’s meeting. We meet to take a look at things going on in the church and to see where we can improve and plan better. We also are going through a study of the book “The Glory of Christ” by John Owen. This has been a huge blessing and a great way to refocus on why we do what we do. Take time to pray for these men; Fortunato, Gonzalo, and Israel. Pray that they would be godly men and that they would lead their families as they are instructed in the Word of God. On Thursday I lead a bible study at Fortunato’s house. We are going through the book of First Samuel. We have had rich times in the Word and this book has been such an encouragement and exhortation to Ivonne and I and to Fortunato’s family. Pray that the Word of God would continue to penetrate our hearts through First Samuel. On Friday’s at 4:30 I lead a bible study for a group of young men, ages 15-20, at my father-in-law’s church. We have been looking at the idea of redemption for several months and will continue to do so. Ivonne during this same time leads a bible study for a group of young ladies, the same ages, at the same place. They are looking at the attributes of God and reading Pilgrim’s Progress together. Please pray for these studies. We both feel that their are many false converts in these groups. After these two studies we go to Gonzalo’s house where I am teaching through the attributes of God. This is a very diverse group in that we have several in the group who have been or are going to seminary all the way to Diana, Monica’s niece, who is unconverted and knows nothing of the Bible. Pray for the salvation of Diana. This bible study has been very profound and we have seen great fruit from it. On Sunday mornings we have started Sunday School. We are taking a few weeks to look at the Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards and their biblical context. They have been convicting and encouraging. Pray that we would be disciplined in our walk. I am continuing to preach through the book of Ephesians on Sunday Mornings. We have just finished the third chapter and have taken a pause before entering chapter four to look at the Doctrines of Grace and the practice of those doctrines in our lives. I feel this series is going very well. Pray that Soulus Christus would not be like the church of Ephesus in that we would love doctrine and loose our first Love. Pray also for strength for Ivonne and I as we have been very busy and at times get tired.

A Holy Ambition

I have separated this part of the update because it is something that the Lord is doing here that is very special! In two days, on Sunday afternoon, I will be leading a team; Jim Carlson, Caleb Easter and Daniel Davila to a place called Villa Flores. Villa Flores is a village of about forty people on the border of Mexico and Guatemala in the jungle of Chiapas. To get there will will take a bus from Mexico City to San Cristobal, Chiapas (about 15 hours), then a van to Comitan (2 hours), where will take another van to a jungle village Nueva Sabanilla (7 hours), from there another van to La Esperanza (30 minutes), and finish with a 5 1/2 hour walk through the jungle to Villa Flores. The people there speak Ch’ol, a indigenous dialect. None of them can read and they have not even had a school teacher in twelve years. The thing about this village that excites me the most is that they have never heard the gospel! Paul writes in Romans 15:20 “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation,” we have that opportunity! I ask you to join in praying for this trip. We will leave Sunday and be back here on Saturday. Tuesday through Friday is when we will be in Villa Flores. Pray that the Lord would give us great clarity with preaching the Gospel and that he would awaken unto life those that are His through that preaching! Let us have a holy ambition to see His name glorified amongst all peoples! 

Lastly, in a few weeks, July 26-29, we will have the privilege of hearing some of the greatest preachers of our day as we host our second conference here in Mexico City. Randall Easter, Brad Bunting, Paul Walker and Brett Beasley will be coming to preach. The theme of the conference is Grace Upon Grace. We will be looking at different aspects of doctrine, practice and relationships relating to grace. Please pray for these men as they prepare their sermons and pray also for the hearers that will be attending. We feel that these conferences are of great value and have born much fruit. Pray that the same would be true of this one. 

We want to thank each of you for your prayers and your support. There is great responsibility here having gone into the well, but there is also great responsibility for those holding the rope. Together, the Father has seen it fit, that we should be a part of the gospel going forth to the ends of the earth. I ask that you would continually and faithfully hold the rope ever so tightly now. Thank you, you are a blessing to us!

"Oh, it is the least one can do, to interpose ourselves and all that is dear to us, betwixt Christ and the wrath of men, when he (as you hear) interposed himself betwixt you and the eternal wrath of God!" -John Flavel

Solus Christus, 

Jonathan and Ivonne Murdock

file://localhost/Users/jonathan_murdock/sfjm/FBC%20Briar/July%20Update.pdf

“to think on death often”

I am sitting here in Starbucks, my usual activity on Wednesday evenings, while I wait for my wife to finish a bible study that she does for young girls on Wednesdays. As I take this time to finish up the sermon for Sundays and enjoy a little personal reading if time permits. The text for this week is Ephesians 2:6-7 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Not only is this an extremely rich text, but I cannot help but allow my mind to be carried into eternity. God slaughtered his own Son underneath the great weight of his wrath to raise us up and seat us in the heavenlies so that he can show us the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness in Christ! If Christ truly dwells in your heart that should move you!

As I sit here I see so many people occupied with life. Some seem like business people in a hurry to get home, some couples on a date, and others just coming to enjoy the atmosphere of Starbucks, but all so wrapped up in living. I can’t help but wonder for what? What would drive a person to work so hard at life? Why do they wake up? I think I could surely say that for most is the preservation in this life. A great effort for temporal pleasures. How sad! That, that is simply it! When they finish their cup it is gone! As we say here in Spanish “se acabo”! So much time spent on such little value. Are we guilty of the same? So many of us waste our time on trivial things under the umbrella that we have something greater, and that somehow that gives us more freedom with our time. Not so!

I think I read it from Edwards, not sure, but it said “I resolve to think on death often and the circumstances therein.” At first glance I thought “how morbid!”, but after pondering for a few minutes, which can be very usual when reading Edwards, I saw the great value of such a thought! That my life would be spent thinking of the day He calls me up to that door! That no longer will I be looking into the mirror, but then I will see Him face to face! Faith will be no more only true fullness of delight! For all eternity God will show us, as the text says “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” That is what should occupy our time! There is nothing apart from that worth living for, nothing! It is my desire that I would live in such a way to “think on death often and the circumstances therein.” I encourage you to the same! That when he says “beloved, come up here” and our works are burned away, we will hear “well done”. That our time of brewing for eternity will last and its value seen and enjoyed! I hope this finds you well and that you are encouraged!

Solus Christus,

jonathan

Be so careful!

Today in my reading I read Luke 17 where we find the parable of the unworthy servant. The story is that they are working in the field and after a long days work come in the house to eat and the question is asked by our Savior, that after a long day will the master ask the servant to come to the table and eat? No, he will require him to change his clothes and serve the master a meal for that is his work. Then he asks if the master will thank the servant for doing what is commanded? Once again it is a resounding “NO”. This is where we find verse ten which speaks greatly to what is on my heart, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

So many times we find ourselves, especially this time of year, thinking that we are deserving of rewards or blessings because of our service to Christ and his church. That somehow we have won the favor of God by our works and we want our payment. Whether it come from the praise of men, or some physical thing that we see ourselves worthy of, but that it should be rewarded to us because of our faithfulness. Yet we find here in this parable by Christ that after all the work is done, work that was given to us by our master, work that is not earning points or winning God’s favor, but simply what we were set apart to do, that the condition of our position before God does not change based on our performance, but on the work of His Son on the cross.

The other day I was watching one of those nature shows on netflix. It was about jungles or something. I really enjoy those type of shows, I always have. They were showing so many different kinds of birds that are found in the jungles all over the world. But specifically they were showing all kinds of crazy things these birds do to win the favor of their mate. Basically the male who performs the best wins the female. It was quite humorous to watch as these birds danced and sang and all different sorts of things so that they would be found worthy of fathering the chicks. This type of mentality is so instilled in our society that we see everything as a competition, and in the christian world the thing we are striving to gain is acceptance by the King. This way of thinking is absolutely absurd! When the work day is over we in and of ourselves will be found as unworthy servants, and the only hope we have is in the perfect One, Christ, whose work is worthy of praise from the Father, but more so his person.

I warn you, do not make common holy things! Do not take holy work that God has given us, of which can only be completed by Christ working in us, and make it as though it is yours, or as if you have some claim to it. It can only be owed by Christ. It is a great danger to humanize the things of God. To take what he has given us through grace in Christ and try to present them to him as though it were all ours and that we are now deserving of his approval and gifts. In the end, we are unworthy servants. None has done as he should. None has served wholeheartedly. This is our great need for Christ! I encourage you, this holiday season celebrate Christ, his humiliation in being born of a woman, his perfect life, his sacrificial death, his powerful resurrection, his great ascension and presentation to his Father, and his blessed intercession on behalf of his people, of which we are in dire need!

It has truly been an amazing week here in San Cristobal! I am sitting here in a little coffee shop that served this past week as a place of great communion with the saints and wishing we had a few more days with the dear brothers and sisters who are now on their way home.

We arrived here on Tuesday November first from Mexico city to have a conference at “Iglesia Biblia Bautista Emanuel” and to preach the gospel on the streets. Brother Randall and his daughter Samantha arrived late Tuesday night and the group from Louisiana (Brad Bunting, Charlie and Marissa Franklin, Craig and Tammy James, Robyn Smith, Cameron Durham, and Daniel Breithaupt) in the middle of the day on Wednesday. We attended the prayer meeting that evening at the church and literally while we were singing Pastor Miguel, the pastor of the church here in San Cristobal, ask if I would preach that night. I guess we should always be ready to give an account of the hope we have in us. I preached from Titus 2:11-12 and was unsure of how it was accepted. After church that night we went to preach at the town square hoping to encounter some of the day of the dead festival. After a couple of the guys preached a parade of people dressed and painted like the dead came to the square to celebrate. Mike Stockwell grabbed the microphone and Abimael to translate and started preaching. This was met with great opposition and they tried to cast a spell on Mike. A lot of people gathered to watch, three young men in particular were watching as the gospel was preached in the face of wickedness and Christ was shown as King. After Mike finished I approached the young men and asked what they thought, and they responded that they had come to participate in the festival of the dead, but that they had realized the foolishness of their way and that they were “on the wrong side”. The gospel was preached, Christ was honored and iniquity was shown stupid!

Thursday after breakfast we took the group to Chamula, one of the last few places in the western hemisphere where they still kill christians for their faith. The group got the chance to see the wickedness of ancestral worship, killing chickens and getting drunk in the church trying to cleanse themselves from evil. We started the conference that evening and we had a fairly good showing of the people from the church. The theme of the conference was “The Glory of God in The Gospel”. Brother Randall preached the first sermon and I followed. I felt that we preached what God had us preach and that the things that were preached may have been new to the people of the church. After the conference we returned to the town square to preach and had some good conversations. Some of the guys in the group preached their first open-air sermon which was very encouraging! I don’t think it will be there last.

On Friday after breakfast we headed back to the square to preach before the conference in the evening. Mike started us off and attracted a couple of Catholic priests by addressing idol worship. They left and came back with their leader to have a debate. Brother Randall and I began debating them on the issue of the origin of the church and on wether sacraments can save (I have to insert here that my wife, Ivonne, got really excited and gave great testimony of Christ). This drew a great crowd and we had the opportunity to bear witness of the evil of the catholic church and of the glorious gospel of Christ. Something of about 100 people gathered to hear and Christ was preached. Many made comments to us of their faith that they had placed in the catholic church and that they now saw the error of their way. Christ was truly exalted this day and a young man who was so affected by what he heard came to the conference that evening! I preached first that evening at the conference on the depravity of man and Bro. Craig followed preaching on the wrath of God. Once again I felt like these things were new to these people, but at the same time that they were absorbing them.

Saturday was a long day! We started at 7:00 a.m. having a prayer meeting at the church where Charlie gave a very exhorting devotional laying out the sovereignty of God and our service to Him. I think the people were encouraged and challenged! Then after breakfast we started the conference at 9:30 with a sermon from Bro. Brad on the purpose of the cross. Great way to start the day! Bro. Daniel preached a sermon this morning on the love of God that was edifying to everyone! Through out the whole day we heard good sermons and I was very pleased to see the people so attentive and eager to learn! Charlie lead a session for the students, then they broke them into two groups, guys and girls, and Samantha taught the girls on serving the Lord, and Charlie the guys on evangelism. We received good feedback from the students and it seemed that they retained what was taught. The group was tired and with good reason we had worked hard! The women on this trip were so faithful in handing out tracts and folding them so that we would be ready for the times of evangelism. After dinner we went back to the town square where Bro. Randall started us off and a man from the church, Enrique, translated as he preached to a large crowd! The town square is such a great place to preach! Bro. Mike preached for over an hour on the street, and some of the students from the church showed up to take part in evangelism. It was the right way to end the night.

Sunday morning Bro. Brad taught Sunday school and Bro. Randall preached the morning service both great messages! The place was packed! I was amazed at how many people came to the church. Things were taught that once again were so new to these people. There has not been much doctrine taught to them, and this just confirms the need for more conferences like the one we did. After the service the conference continued in the afternoon with more great preaching! The people were challenged so profoundly. Bro. Randall preached the last sermon of the conference on the sovereignty of God and it was the best sermon that I had heard him preach! I think the people were in shock but had no where to go from the truth that was taught! We, the group of pastors, were all wrestling with wether or not the people were understanding the things being taught, but after the conference the church came together and cooked us a great feast and purchased gifts for each one of us. It was very humbling! I think that some of them really struggled with things they heard, but they were so grateful for the opportunity to learn. This was one week that I will never forget!

I want to thank all of you who came! You were truly a blessing to our ministry and bore great testimony of the love of Christ! I also want to thank all of you who were so gracious to support this trip, wether by faithfully praying, by giving, or by allowing your pastor to partake in this trip. We were greatly encouraged here by the testimony that was shown from your churches there! We truly are grateful! Please continue to hold the rope as we are here still! The prayers of the saints for those who have gone into the well are so important! Also please pray for us as we are planning a trip for mid-January to take a few young men to mission churches from the church in San Cristobal to preach throughout a weekend. I was greatly reminded of this quote this past week:

"Oh, it is the least one can do, to interpose ourselves and all that is dear to us, betwixt Christ and the wrath of men, when he (as you hear) interposed himself betwixt you and the eternal wrath of God!"

-John Flavel

Solus Christus,

Jonathan and Ivonne Murdock

A Quick Update From The Journey

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."

Things seem to be going well here on the south side of the border, as we continue t plant the good seeds of the gospel! I was telling my wife this past Monday how tired i was and we

began to retrace my steps over the past week and realized that I had spent fourteen and a half hours just in teaching time last week! It is truly a blessing to be given the grace of God and be entrusted with His Word! We have truly been called to a great task! I want to share with you quickly some things that are going on here:

I continue on Mondays to meet with Marco, and Ivonne meets with his wife. We have been leading them thorough a study on the attributes of God. I have learned so much simply from teaching the Word of God to Marco! So many people want to hear things that are practical, but i find that the most practical of them all is simply Theology! I have seen great change in Marco and his wife Karen simply from learning who God is. I ask that you continue to pray for Marco and Karen as they continue their journey to the celestial city! Also, she is two months pregnant, and already have had some problems.

We at Solus Christus, our church plant, have meet four weeks, and we feel that the Lord has great things for us! On Sunday mornings i have been preaching through the book of Titus and have been so encouraged at the effect it has taken on all of us. We also have been meeting on Tuesday nights for our new membership class. This also has served as an extortion to us. We are learning what a church should look like and how it should function. There are seven of us as of right now, and i feel that these seven will set a great foundation that God will use to eventually send laborers all over the world!

I also continue to meet with a group of young men a couple times a week. Once on Wednesday's at what we call "Confessions". It is a time that we get real with each other, and look into the deep things of God. This is a very intense meeting every week and one that I long for all week long! God is going to do great things through this group of young men! Then on Friday we meet also going through the study on the attributes of God. In the past three weeks this group has grown to about 25 young men! I ask that you pray for this group as i feel most of this grow believes themselves to be saved, but they bear no fruit of that salvation.

When we hosted the pastor's conference in Autlan, we invited a bookstore to come named "Faro De Gracia". Little did we know the relationship that the Father would form there! These men have become such an encouragement to me! The bookstore also is a church that was started by a dear brother in Christ from the states several years ago, but has had some problems getting to come back. So the church has been without a pastor for over two years, and when he left there were only a handful of people at the church, but now they pack out their little building! They ask preachers to come and preach from different parts of the city and each has a different Sunday of the month that he goes to preach there. They asked me to take the second Sunday of the month which i have done, and have been preaching through Hebrews. The relation that we have formed between Faro De Gracia and our church is also been of great help and encouragement! They share with us in reformed doctrine and practice! Please pray for Faro De Gracia, that the Lord would send them a pastor!

Please continue also to pray for my dear wife and I. The Lord has been so good to us! We are reminded of the love and true spiritual bond we have as brothers and sisters in Christ through the faithfulness of each of you! God has been so gracious to us and continues to shape and mold us so that we no longer look like us, but rather His Son. Please continue to hold the rope! We live in a season when it can be so easy to forget about those who have gone in, but i ask, plead, with the Father, that you would be reminded often of us, and that you would be convoked to lift us up! Thank you all who are reminded to pray for us, and that you all who are so faithful in supporting us in a monetary way as well! Continue to content for the faith that is in you!! Blessings!

" If the depravity and corruption of the heart is the only ground of the necessity of regeneration, then regeneration consists in removing this depravity, and introducing opposite principles, and so laying a foundation for holy exercises." Samuel Hopkins

Sola Deo Gloria,
jonathan & Ivonne murdock

Quick Update

Hello Church,

Wanted to take a few minutes of your time and write a quick update on what has been going on, what is going on, and what will go on over the next few weeks. God continues to prove faithful in the ministry here!! Over the past couple of weeks I have felt as if our groups, discipleship groups, have grown intensely!! With Marco, a guy I meet with on Mondays, every week he longs to know more of who God is. It is almost as a deer panting for the water. It truly is my joy to see his face every time we unpack part of the mystery that is God!! Last week we started a new group, not knowing exactly what to call it, nor even what our purpose would be, just knowing that we all longed for more fellowship with the brethren, so we started. After last week it has taken the name “Confessions”. Last week we sat in my house, drank coffee and ate lime pie that my wife made, consumed a little bit of the Word, chewed on a couple things from some dead guys, and opened our hearts to one another. It was such great communion!!! We cannot imagine what heaven will be like, but I do draw from Scripture that something of that type of communion will occur. Last week in tepito with Sebastian also went well. We are continuing through the gospel of John with him, verse by verse, and although I do not see that the Father has shed that grace on him yet, it is always a prayerful concern of mine. I am very excited about time with him tomorrow!! We will be talking about Jesus being the Lamb of God!! Please join me in praying the grace would be effectual to him!!

As I write this I am consumed with anticipation of our “Confessions” meeting tonight!! I think one of the true marks of a believer is their desire to commune with the saints!! Oh, how I do long for that!! The banana pudding that my wife and I made will also be a delightful part of our communion tonight and for that I am not sad!! This Friday we will be looking at the will of God. A very interesting subject and will lead to great conversations I think. Quickly I want to brag or share with you whats going on in a couple guys that we are discipleing: First Jorge. Jorge is 19 years old and has a great desire to preach Christ. Right now he is preparing to go to the College at Southwestern, if God allows, to study missions. He is also reading “Don’t waste Your Life” by John Piper and seems to be grasping so much!! Second Abimiel. Some of you were blessed by the opportunity to meet Abi at my wedding. Abi is also preparing to go to Southwestern, maybe a little later than Jorge. Abi as of late has caught such a huge vision for the glory of God, and as it had an effect on Isaiah so it has on Abi. He is reading “The End For Which God Created The World” by Jonathan Edwards right now, and in my opinion that is healthy for anyone!! Please join me in praying for these two young men specifically!!

The next couple of weeks will be packed!! In about a week and a half we will be hosting our first pastors conference!! This has been part of my vision from the start, and God has seen fit for it to happen. We will be meeting in Autlan Jalisco teaching men to preach espositionally!! There are a group of pastors from Louisiana, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas coming to preach!! This will take place the 8th – 11th of November, then the following week we will be returning to Veracruz!! I am so ready for this!! Once again we will be proclaiming the truths of Christ to the unreached peoples of the world!! There are a couple of brothers coming from Quitman Tx. That will accompany us on that trip. Please pray specifically for these things!!

I know I said that this would be quick, but it is so hard to be quick with the things of the King!! I hope that each of you are having a great week, and that the Lord is continuing to shape and mold you to look more like Him!! As always I ask that you continue to hold the rope!! Thank you for all your fathfulness in pray and support!! Blessings my Brothers!!

" If the depravity and corruption of the heart is the only ground of the necessity of regeneration, then regeneration consists in removing this depravity, and introducing opposite principles, and so laying a foundation for holy exercises." Samuel Hopkins


Solus Christus,
jonathan murdock

Two Years!!

Brothers and Sisters, grace and peace to you,

As I am sitting here I am thinking, contemplating, reflecting, and praising God for His great abundance of grace in my life! Two years ago this day I got on a plane leaving family, friends, church, security, and comfort to answer the great call God has on my life. When we set out on this journey, you holding and me jumping, I had no idea we would see such magnificent acts of grace such as we have seen. You may not feel the same because you simply sit in front of a computer and read about them while we get the experience, my heart goes out to you for it is amazing. I truly feel as if I have the greatest life in the world!! It is my job to preach the gospel to people who have never heard, and walk along side brothers and sisters leading them into deeper communion with the Father. That’s my life!! Its great! I really wish you could all sit down with Marco and I as we meet on Mondays and walk through the great Text, and watch his eyes get so big when God reveals a truth to him and he says things like “I don’t want the time to end.” Or have a cup of coffee with a group of young men who in the last year have through the Spirit been killing the flesh and nothing is more exciting to them than to gain an understanding of a text. To experience the joy, pure joy, of being entrusted by the Father to preach to his people explaining His love of which they have never had the opportunity to hear. Sometimes I feel like I have been graced with a fairy tale life, grace alone.

Also as I am sitting here I can’t help but think of the changes this journey has brought about, changes that I don’t even know how to express. Two years ago I got here not knowing five words of Spanish, and even the few I did know I couldn’t say right. After being here a month I preached my first sermon in Spanish and now preach on a regular basis and lead Bible studies each week all in Spanish. I arrived here a single man, and as of tomorrow will have been married four months to the most beautiful girl in the world!! Definitely an example of God giving a man the desires of his heart.

I also cannot but help thinking of all of you. There have been so many times that I have entered a place that may not be the safest place in the world and had an incredible opportunity to preach in a way that has not happened in those places, then talking to you all and hearing stories how in those exact moments you were being so faithful in praying. Times when we have had absolutely no money to carry out ministry nor even for food, and simply asking the Father to place that need in your hearts, and we have yet to go without!! Not one time has He failed!! You have heard the voice of our Father and been faithful in responding to that voice and for that I am so grateful!! There are no words to express such gratitude!!

In thinking of all that God has done over the past two years I also cannot but look to the things to come. Next month we will have our first pastor’s conference teaching men to preach expositionally and teaching them the great doctrines of our faith!! Then the week after that conference we will be going back to Veracruz one of many of the places that God has opened our eyes to that the Gospel has not yet gone, and possibly another in the spring. The need is so great here, and every day God’s call for me here is reaffirmed.

With all of this said I also cannot help but think of me. How weak, faithless and frail I am. Paul writes in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians “By the grace of God I am what I am.” God has been so faithful in continuing His work of sanctification in my life, yet at times I feel as though He has left. He has been so faithful in His provisions for us and yet so many times I doubt. He has never once backed out of a promise and yet I fear. I also see the need to look to the future of the work of the Fathers work in my life. He is a great savior and will not fail. When I am faithless He is faithful!!! We should cling so tightly to that!!

I want to thank all of you for being so faithful in praying for us and when God calls being so faithful in supporting financially our ministry here. The work is not done!! For that we must press on, fighting the good fight, contending for the faith!! I ask that all of you continue to hold the rope while we remain here in the well. I long to come to you soon, but if that is not possible I pray that you too continue in the great fight!!

Veracruz

Paul writes in the fifteenth chapter of Romans “20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,”. This has, since the day Christ saved me, also been my desire, to proclaim the glories of Christ to those who have never heard, and to those whom no one will go. Once again through the grace of God this past week we have reached yet another group of people that have never heard the gospel.

About two weeks ago a huge hurricane hit the state of Veracruz and left countless people homeless, foodless, cloth less, and some lifeless. It has always been that in times of great tragedy God sends the church to preach the gospel to those affected. We can see this in “The City of God” by Augustine. For it is in these difficult times that people’s hearts are opened to see the reality of life and begin to search for something of value. There was nothing short of this in the state of Veracruz!!

This past Sunday a group of seven of us (Ivonne and I, along with some folks involved in our ministry here), left to go to Veracruz to take some physical aid, but more importantly to preach Christ crucified and resurrected! Towns were completely in ruins from damaging wind and floods of water. Literally people lost everything. It was truly tragic to see, but more than the physical tragedy was that of the spiritual. After a long drive on Sunday we were up early and left for a small town call Tamarindo that was hit pretty hard by the storm. One of the brothers that went with us has family that lives in this town and he wanted to go there, so we did. When we arrived with cloths and a little food to leave for the people we were informed that many in this town had lost their houses because of flooding, so we began to pass out food and clothes and I began to talk with the people about Christ and found out that Christian missionaries had not reached this little town!! There is a Jehovah witness church and a catholic Church but no evangelical influence!! The true gospel was preached for the first time in Tamarindo!!

After leaving Tamarindo we went to another small town called Buenavista. We were immediately greeted by about forty people seeking aid. Before we began to hand out things we (Abimiel, Fortunato, and I) got to preach for almost an hour!! This was also the first time that the true gospel had been preached there as well. I really felt like we connected with the people in Buenavista, and feel as if we will have opportunity to return. Both of these little towns are off the beaten path and somewhat difficult to get to, but there is no price to put on the joy of being part of a people hearing the Good News for the very first time. I wish I could write to you all and say that God opened the eyes of these people and made the blind to see, and that we are rejoicing at the salvation of this town, but tis not the case. This is a town that has been influenced by the Catholic church for ages and is very hard, but we were invited back to teach more of Christ by a man named Manuel. He said that is was great that we came to help, but to understand these teachings someone would have to come and teach more! O! How the fields are white with harvest!!!!

We then spent the next two days helping people in a town called Paseo De Los Ovejas, or where the sheep pass. We came in contact with a man named Pasqual who is 86 years old and raises crops to sell. His house was flooded with over six feet of water and was left with about 2 ½ to three feet of mud inside. We helped him shovel out mud and clean his house for two days, and we also shared the story of Christ with him. I think this was probably the saddest part of the whole trip, to see a man so close to his end and no fear of the judgment that will come upon him. Please pray for Pasqual!!

Although some would say that we saw no fruit, I would argue and say that they don’t trust the gospel!! We are promised that His word will NOT return void, and I believe that!! God continues to open our eyes to pockets of people here in Mexico that are unreached!! People that have never heard of the love of Christ!! O, how I pray that God would continue to raise up His children to go!! To give everything and go to the Tamarindos or the Buenavistas, and that they would go with a passion for His name!!

I want to thank every one of you who helped financially and prayerfully with this trip!!! Thank you for being faithful in holding the rope!! We will be leading a group in November to return to these two places and spending a week teaching them the truths of Christ. I ask that you continue holding the rope and join me in beginning to pray for God to open their eyes and hearts for we know that unless He does they cannot hear nor understand. Thank you so very much!!

Solus Christus,
jonathan and ivonne murdock

Update

Hola hermanos!

I wanted to give you guys a quick update on some great things that are happening: A couple of weeks ago when I met with Marco he and his wife were having problems again, but once again God was present at our meeting and continues to finish His work in Marco and now they are doing very well! Yesterday Marco and I met, normally we meet on Mondays but he couldn’t this past one, so we met yesterday and I was very encouraged by our conversation. We talked about our God given task to glorify Him in everything, and our desire to be happy. Marco had really been struggling with wanting to please God, but having a natural desire to enjoy life, and thought that these two were at odds with each other. We looked at Scripture and saw how they are not at odds, but how in fact they go hand in hand. He was so comforted by what Piper said “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him (or in Spanish ‘Dios es mas glorificado en nosotros cuando estamos mas satisfecho en El’.” Please continue to pray for Marco, as with us all, sin is a struggle, but he is growing and I believe God has great things for him.

I was asked to preach at a youth event once a month to help a church out here so I agreed and the first event was this past Saturday. From the time God called me to missions (which I now realize that God calls us to Himself) I have been fighting being involved in student ministry, but He is sovereign! I preached on Psalm 1 and felt like we were met by the Spirit of God and that eternal work was done. A young man named Bruno approached me after the sermon and wants to talk about his salvation. I gave him my number and he will call this week. Please pray for Bruno.

My pastor has also asked me to help him preach through a series on sanctification through Romans. This will be a very difficult and intense series so I also ask that you would be in pray as we walk through it.

I have also been asked to preach at a marriage conference Oct. 7th-9th in Acapulco. I will be preaching on “The Purpose of God in Marriage”. There are some things that require much suffering in the Lords service, this will not be one of them. We will be enjoying God’s creation of the beach and doing what we love most; teaching people to glorify and enjoy the Father more and more. Although we will be enjoying our time at the beach I do ask that you pray that God would use us in the lives of our fellow believers!!

Nov. 8th-11th we will be hosting our first pastors conference in Autlan, Jalisco. The theme of this conference is expository preaching, and with the idea that through examples of expositors we will teach true biblical doctrine. Please pray that God will enlighten the hearts of his servants that they would be more equipped in the Word of God to proclaim the glories of His name!!

Here lately God has also reignited a passion in my heart to minister to families, specifically in teaching parents how to evangelize their own children and how to have a home that is Christ centered. I have a desire in my heart to plan a family conference for this purpose. We will be looking for pastors who share this same passion to be a part of this, so if you or if you know someone please e-mail me so that we seek the Lord together in this.

Once again, I thank you guys so much for all your prayers and support!! God working through you all continues to advance His kingdom!! I ask that you all continue to pray for the things mentioned about and bring them before the congregations of the saints where you gather!! Hold the ROPE!!

March trip 010

Brothers and Sisters,

Grace and peace I pray would be given to you from the Father and from Jesus Christ our savior.

I am sorry that it has been so long since my last update, I had fallen into a state of being discouraged in writing them. I lost my focus in why I write them, and fell in to the schemes of the evil one in thinking that no one read them or that if some did it wasn’t that important, but God has once again in His mercy brought me back to a right vision and state of mind, for I do not write to make an appeal to man but solely that He would be magnified and delighted in as he is given most glory. I will once again try to send out an update every Wednesday that will be a little shorter and more personal.

We left this past Tuesday in the evening to return to Chiapas along with some brothers from Quitman Texas. There is a man named Cary Butler (Mr. Jamie) that a lot of you have heard me speak of, he lead the team from Quitman along with a brother Daniel and their pastor Bro. James. Mr. Jamie is 74 years old, and I wish all of you knew him for truly he is an inspiration of what Paul wrote to Philippians when he told them to “press on”. He has walked with me in places where people half his age would not dare tread, and I am truly indebted to his example. I am not sure that he has ever read Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life”, but he could have written it! Daniel is a layman in Quitman and set a huge example of how to be gentle and merciful this past week. He was a marine and has seen some crazy stuff, but God has given him a gentle spirit that I truly envy. It was such a blessing to finally get to meet Bro. James, Mr. Jamie has been telling me of him and how much he thought that I would get along with him, and how right he was. He is an intellect and theologian, and we had the opportunity to have those great conversations that edify that no price could be made for. I am grateful for his direction in Quitman and am so looking forward to worshiping with the brothers there in a couple of weeks!!

Our team of nationals was made up of the most beautiful girl in the world, Ivonne, sorry I am pretty biased!! Abbimiel, one of the guys that I am disciplining, and hoping that one day will be one of the missionaries on staff with Sing For Joy Missions. The Lord has His hand on Abbi. This week he preached his first sermon, and loved it! And Mildred, a young lady here that Ivonne is disciplining, and truly has a heart to make known the glories of His name. All three of them are so bold and did such great job this past week, and I am so blest that God has placed them in my life!

Once again it was a long bus ride down to San Cristobal, but the Lord was so gracious in allowing me to sleep. I felt so bad for the other brothers on the team because I know how miserable it is when you can’t sleep on those buses, but really was glad the He showed me grace in that!! Our goal in this trip was to help our brother Josue with his work there in San Cristobal, but like every other time God had other plans that consisted in sending us throughout different regions in the area. I would love to share each and every conversation we had while we were going house to house preaching the goapel, but it would make this update very long. I will ask the people who were a part of this team to post to this update their experience so that you can hear a different point of view and stories that maybe I do not know. We split up into two groups so I have not even had the opportunity to hear them all. However, I will take a few minutes of your time to share a few of my personal experiences.

The first that I want to share is from the second day that we were out is a city called Tuxla. A group of us went to Tuxla to help a couple brothers with their work there. We were going house to house sharing the Good News of the Kingdom, and a young man came walking down the road. Mr. Jamie and I approached him and begain talking. Not long into our conversation he told us that his whole family were believers, but that he was not. He explained to me that he felt that he was too bad for God to save him, and that the pull of the world was too strong for him. I shared with him that Jesus didn’t come to save the righteous, but the unrighteous, that those who are not sick don’t need a doctor, and read to him Romans 5:6 and could tell that the Spirit had an effect on him. After encouraging him to cry to God for mercy, and trust in His name and the blood of Jesus he said he would and we departed. I do not know if the Lord saved him that day, but I am confident in the work of the Spirit and that if God is drawing him He will continue and will save him. The sheep will hear His voice!!!! I will just share one more thing, and this is probably what impacted me most on this trip. One night we were sitting with a pastor, who has been preaching in this region for over 30 years, talking after dinner when he begain to tell us what has been going on in that region over the past few months, then throughout the past couple of years. Here I am going to list a few places and what has happened, and although I will make these explanations short I hope that they will have some effect on you.

Acteal: In 1992 there was a fight going on in this town between two groups of people about a piece of land. One day a group of about forty from one group went into the Catholic Church for a service and members from the opposing group came in with guns and killed them. They then took their guns and hid them in a cabin in the woods. The officials from Acteal arrested the Christians saying that they killed them because they did not like the Catholics. In January of this year they released these brothers. They spent 18 years in prison wrongly accused.

Hualenchan: I am not exactly sure of the history here, but know that within the last two years brothers have given their lives for their faith here.

Chenalo: In December three college students from San Cristobal went there to visit a friend of theirs and they all had spiked hair that upset the leaders of the community so they put them in prison, then decided that that was not a sufficient punishment so they took them to a cave that they have there which is about a kilometer deep, and they threw the three boys in it. After some searching one of the boys father paid a young man of the town 20,000 pesos to tell him that they had thrown the boys in the hole. So the government sent the army and police to send someone in the hole to search for them, and they found their three bodies along with about 50 others, including a van full of people. The people who we were working with told me that they believe a lot of these people were from this town and when they proclaimed their faith in Christ the people of the town would throw them in the hole.

Chamula: You have heard me speak often of this town and the persecution there, and it is still as strong as ever. There is a story of a young man that not too long ago heard that it was now ok to preach the gospel there, so he went with that intention and did not leave.

Agua Azul: A week before we arrived in Chiapas 40 Pentecostals came here to preach the Good News, and the people of Agua Azul got upset killed one of them, and beat the others. Hitting them with poles and cutting them with machetes.

Mitziton: There is a sign in front of this town that says that the “Elect of God” are not welcome there. In this town there are several Christian families but are denied electricity and water.

My heart is broken for these areas and many more like them in this area of Chiapas. I ask that you join me in praying for the freedom of these places, and that one day we will have the opportunity to preach Christ crucified there!!

This was truly a great trip, and as always will leave an impact on our hearts!

Food for Thought:
This past week I could not get the word “redemption” out of my mind! So many times we ask “Who are we that He would redeem us?”, but it hit me this week that it is not who we are, but who He is making us. God does not saves us based on our condition or anything found in us, but He does save us to impute His righteousness to us conforming us to His image. Sin was in us, but charged upon Him as if He was the guilty. It is not a righteousness found in us, but in another, not something inherent, but imputed! An end in Christ’s coming was to impute this righteousness to us “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Gal. 2:21. He stood in our stead, though guiltless as guilty, though pure as one tainted. Nothing in His nature changed, that is what made it a sufficient sacrifice, but He was charged as one who committed all the sin in the world. Why? Because righteousness could not come from the law, so through Him becoming sin we are made His righteousness in Him. He imputes His righteousness to us and we are a reflection of His glory lighting up the world. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” 2 Cor. 8:9

I love and miss you all! Thank you so much for you prayer and support, please continue to hold the rope!!!!

Por La Gracia,
jonathan

Thoughts on Missions

Church,
I just wanted to take a few minutes and share a few ideas on missions that will encourage you as you pray for our trip this next week. I hope these thoughts also encourage you to continually search for your role in missions. The old guys used to say that there are two ways you can be involved in missions; you can jump in the well, or hold the rope for the ones who have. Hope these are a blessing to you all…

“3 Declare his glory among the nations,his marvelous works among all the peoples!4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;he is to be feared above all gods.5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm 96:3-5
God deserves adoration from every people in the world! At this moment in Benito Juarez His name is not honored, He is not praised. My heart’s desire is that His name would be magnified in that place, and among those people! We will declare His glory for He is great and greatly to be praised!!! Pray for His name among the people of Benito Juarez!!
“67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless usand make his face to shine upon us, Selah2 that your way may be known on earth,your saving power among all nations.3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;let all the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,for you judge the peoples with equityand guide the nations upon earth. Selah5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;let all the peoples praise you!
6 The earth has yielded its increase;God, our God, shall bless us.7 God shall bless us;let all the ends of the earth fear him!” Psalm 67

God makes His face shine upon us because He turned His face from His Son. This makes me think of the old Hymn “Where You There When They Crucified My Lord”, this thought ought to make us want to tremble, and at the same time rejoice in His Grace! Pray that the Lord would be gracious to the town of Benito Juarez and that He would shine His face on them! And that that shinning would spur them on to sing for joy!!

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever." –John Piper
I was having a conversation with a man of influence in my life a little while back about the people in Benito Juarez and he told me that I may never see the fruit of our labor in Benito Juarez, but that His Word does not return void. This is so true, and often serves to us as a comfort, I can’t help but think it did for William Carey as he labored for seven years before he saw any fruit in India, but I also cling to the promise in Rev. 5:9 that tells us as that great chorus of the redeemed resounds in the heavens that there WILL be a representative from every tribe, tongue, and language in the world! God Will save at least one from Benito Juarez! His name Will be honored!!!! Please pray that we would trust this promise and as we preach, preach believing and expecting!!

I want to thank each and every one of you who will be so faithful in praying and supporting this work as His name will be proclaimed amongst those who have not heard. I will close this word of encouragement with the words of a song written by Matt Redman. It is a song of sending, and I think shares the true heart of missions. May this be a blessing to you all!


“ Let worship be the fuel for mission's flame We're going with a passion for Your name We're going for we care about Your praise Send us out Let worship be the heart of mission's aim To see the nations recognize Your fame 'Til every tribe and tongue voices Your praise Send us out You should be the praise of every tongue, Jesus You should be the joy of every heart But until the fullness of Your kingdom comes Until the final revelation dawns Send us out Every tribe, every tongue Every creature in the heavens and the earth Every heart, every soul Will sing Your praise, will sing Your praise Every note, every strain Every melody will be for You alone Every harmony that flows from every tongue We'll sing Your praise, we'll sing Your praise We'll sing Your praise, we'll sing Your praise”
-Matt Redman

We are being sent, we are going into the well…Please hold the rope!!!! May grace and peace be with you all!!
Here is a schedule so you can pray specifically for different aspects of this trip:
Sunday 24th- Leave Mexico City at 6 p.m.
Monday 25th- Arrive in San Cristobel at 8 a.m. then take a van to Comitan, then another van to Sabanilla (2 ½ hours of this trip will be on a dirt road going 10-15 mph). Around 6 p.m. arrive in Sabanilla.
Tuesday 26th- 6 a.m. Leave for Benito Juarez (about a 5 ½ hour walk, 9.5 miles, through the jungle). 12 p.m. arrive in Benito Juarez and begin proclaiming the Gospel.
Wednesday 27th- We will spend this whole day preaching in Benito Juarez.
Thursday 28th- 6 a.m. Leave for Chumzero (2 ½ hours walking through the jungle). Arrive about 9 a.m. and we will spend the morning and afternoon preaching here. 4 p.m. leave for Sabanilla and arrive at about 7 p.m.
Friday 29th- 3 a.m. Leave for San Cristobel and arrive around 10 a.m. We will spend a few hours resting here until we get on a bus back to Mexico City around 6 p.m.
Saturday 30th- 8 a.m. Arrive in Mexico City.

Next Trip!

Dear Church,

In every one of Paul’s letters he starts with a greeting that includes “Grace and peace to you”, and that is my greeting to you all, that the grace and peace of God would be multiplied to all of you. That through the ordination of the father, the actions of Christ, and the workings of the Holy Spirit you would be sanctified into the image of Christ that the world would see the rightness of God.
Thank you all so much for your faithfulness in praying and supporting the ministry of Sing For Joy Missions! God is doing amazing thing right now, and continues to open more doors that we can speak of the Christ to those who have not heard!
On January 24th, next Sunday, a group of 8 Mexicans, and 2 gringos (Americans) will leave from Mexico City and we will head back down to the jungle in Chiapas to Benito Juarez. As many of you know from the last update that this is a region of indigenous people who have never heard the story of Christ, and we will be sharing the Gospel with them for the first time. Each one of the people going with us are involved in the discipleship classes that Ivonne and I give each week. Each week we meet with one or two in a group and are teaching on the attributes of God. She meets with the ladies and I the guys. We are so excited to start seeing some fruit of the labor that has been done. It is our prayer that one of the people going with us will receive a calling from the Father to eventually live among the people of Benito Juarez and serve as a missionary to them. I ask that you would join us in petitioning the Father to place a calling in the life of one of these. It has always, from the day the Lord poured out His grace on me and saved me, been a desire of mine to be part of reaching the un-reached and to know that we have that opportunity has given me Joy that is truly inexpressible!
Below I will post a list of names of the people that will be part of this trip, and I ask that in your churches and in all places you would gather this week and intercede for these saints. As you pray I ask that first you would pray for things Spiritual. Pray for each individual and their communion with the Father. That this would strengthen that relationship, and would serve as an encouragement for them. Also that God would keep them from the evil one. The place we will be is a very spiritual place, and that type of warfare will be there. Pray that each would be so eager to spend time in the Word daily learning more of the Father, and that the things they learn they would apply and practice.
Secondly, I ask that you would pray for things physically. This will be a very strenuous trip. We will be taking a twelve hour bus ride all night Sunday, then all day in vans 2.5 hours of which will be going about 10 mph on a dirt road only to arrive at a town called Sabanilla from which we will be walking 9.5 miles into the jungle. Needless to say it will be difficult. Pray that in the mist of the difficulties physically we will exhibit the love of Christ with one another. I am so excited and encouraged though knowing the difficulties physically each of the people on this team has said that the physical cost of going on this trip does not compare with the fact that these people have not heard of Christ!
This past week I have not been able to leave Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. And as I ask for you to pray make these verses part of that prayer Eph. 6:18-20 “18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak”.
Once again I want to that all of you for your prayers and support! God is doing great things and using His people to do it, and it is very exciting! I ask that you continue to be faithful to the voice of the Lord in holding the rope and your role in that. Also in all of Paul’s letters he closes them with “Grace and peace be with you”, that also is my closing to you all. May your life be overflowing with the grace and peace from God. Continue in the race with your eyes fixed on the Father! Remember that Jesus said “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Spend your life and everything you have learning of God and the Christ! In 1968 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: “In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians”. Theology is the study of God and what will consume eternity, do not waste your life here!

Por La Gracia,
jonathan

Journey to the Junlge

Dear Church,

I want to start by apologizing for running out of time to send out a prayer request, but was very grateful that Ivonne was able to help me with that. This past week I had the opportunity to go on a vision trip with Cary Butler from Quitman Texas to a place called Benito Juarez, Chiapas. We were informed the last time we were in Chiapas that there were a couple communities in the jungle that were without evangelical influence, and feeling that the Lord has set me apart to proclaim the glories of His name to the unreached places in the world, I was convicted that we at least had to make an effort to seek the Lords guidance for this place.

We left in a bus from here on Monday the 30th of November and our goal was a place called Comitan. On this vision trip we wanted to seek out the best way, and most efficient way to get people to this area that we would be good stewards of God’s time and finances. I was informed of some cheap bus tickets from here to Comitan, which ended up being a mistake and costing a lot more money than I expected for or planned for, but I guess on a vision trip, as Mr. Butler informed me many times this past week, that those mistakes will be made. After arriving to Comitan we took a small jet to Benito Juarez, a small community of about 150 people. When we arrived we were met by two young men, one of them with a machete asking us why we were there. I responded by telling them that we were missionaries and were here to tell them of the Good News, and teach them from the Bible. They were a very closed people, and on our arrival to the town we were told that it would cost us to land that plane on their ground, another expense that we had to learn though. After talking with the authorities there they decided to have a town meeting with the men to see if we would be able to sleep there, and how much it would cost us to go see their lake, another unexpected expense. At this town meeting I was given the opportunity to preach the Good News! I spoke of the beauty of nature and how it proclaims the glory of Christ, and that we as creation were created for that same purpose. I felt that this sermon was met by the Holy Spirit and that some were affected by the words of God. We were able to meet a guy named Amadeo, who was a commander in the Zapatistas (If you are not familiar with this group I encourage you to look them up on the internet, they play a huge role in Chiapas. They are a group of rebels that take whatever means are necessary to get what they want.), but now just works in the town there. He has great leadership skills, and seemed somewhat affected by the Word of God. I had dunk all my water and asked if there was a place that I would be able to buy water, and was told “no” to just drink out of the faucet, that the water would be clean through the mountains. After giving thanks to my Father I drank freely! This week we were unable to get clean water, so we drank from rivers and a lake, but through grace up to this point have not been affected. That night we were serenaded to sleep by the monkeys screaming at one another. I will have to admit that I loved to sounds of the jungle at night! The next day we went to their lake which I posted some photos of here, and got to see some remains of old Indian worship that some believe has not totally died off from this place. They are known for sacrificing their children to the worship of water. When we arrived back in Benito Juarez that evening a group of people were gathered at the church building there to have their worship service. I sat back and watched for a few moments as six women sat in a circle with fire in the middle of them. After chanting for awhile they began to pass a little girl around over the fire. This is such a needy place! Please pray for the people of Benito Juarez!
Then next day we set out on a journey that would first lead us to another community called Chumzero. We walked through the jungle on a muddy path for right around 4 miles; I had my backpack that weighed probably 50 pounds!! It was tiring! When we arrived there we were able to take a swim in a river, and it was very refreshing! We then entered Chumzero and the men from Sabanilla that were with us were so afraid because these people are known for killing anyone that they have a problem with. God is so good, and we entered this town and were accepted so kindly, and the people there were so grateful to receive a gospel of John!! This is a community of about 60 people, if that, and there are no roads leading to this place. These people have never heard of the love of Christ, nor of His salvific work. We were received by an elderly man named Manuel, and he told us that we were welcome in his house anytime. We did not spend much time here because we still had a long journey ahead of us to arrive in Sabanilla before dark. After we left this town we walked another 5 and a half miles through the jungle on a muddy path and arrived in Sabanilla right at dark. The next day we woke at three A.M. to take a bus to Comitan, which was five hours on a rough dirt road only to take another bus to San Cristobal, just to get on a bus that would take us thirteen hours back to Mexico City! It was a long day!!

Having had the opportunity to spend time in prayer, through walking 9.5 miles through the jungle, I feel that the Lord is leading Sing For Joy Missions to be involved in proclaiming the truths of God to the people of Benito Juarez and Chumzero. They are two small communities, and it is costly to get there, but the Lord has commanded us to preach “not where Christ has already been named” and these two towns are exactly that. On this vision trip I felt that I also I made some mistakes, that were costly, but that will help as we plan our next trip into this jungle. It looks like we will leave Monday January 25th with seven Mexicans to make the next journey to these people! It was my desire on arriving here in Mexico that I would disciple men, and get them involved in ministry, and this is taking place! These seven young men and women will be from my discipleship groups that I am leading right now, and will go with hearts consumed by the fire of God. I ask that you as the church do not forget about this work and our ministry. That you will commit to praying for these people in the jungles of Chiapas, and about how you can hold the rope as we go! We will also be planning a trip to take to these places from the states in the future. Please, please, please begin to intercede on behalf of these people!!! Hold the rope!!

Reflections of a Pilgrim

Sitting in my car a little over a year ago, and echoing through my mind were the words of one who had gone before us “He is no fool who would give that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” It was that night in my car that the irresistible call the Father had placed on my life years before had reached its era. Sitting there so scared and asking myself “Do I really have faith? Do I really believe He is enough?”, but it was His Spirit that granted me the peace that I could not comprehend, and laid my heart to rest.
That Wednesday evening I stood before the great family of Grace Baptist Church to inform you that I would be leaving to finish the work He prepared for me before the foundation of the world. As I prepared for that night I could not shake the thought that what I had to say was going to sound like foolishness, but it was that night that the Lord really began to teach me of His bride. It was so encouraging as tears and prayers were cried out on my behalf. I was questioned by many before my leaving about support and funding. This was something I really wrestled with, but could not leave the words of our Savior in the tenth chapter of Mathew telling His Apostles not to take food, clothing, or any means to raise support, but wholly trust in Him. A verse that I was so convicted by was Psalm 50:12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.” Not only is He alone capable of meeting our needs, He alone is more than capable of also knowing our needs. Therefore I was lead not to go under the umbrella of an organization, not that I think they are wrong, but solely that I would trust in Him and not the arm of the flesh. In this He has been so faithful, and after spending time praying over this I feel free in the Spirit to share a few clips from my journal here concerning finances over the past year. It is not at all my intention that this would be used to gain finances at all, and I ask that as you read this you simply rejoice in His glory and faithfulness.

Oct. 10, 2008- “I leave tomorrow for Mexico, and although I thought that I may be scared of the uncertainties I have been so comforted by seeing the Lord’s provisions. There is a plentiful amount of money in the bank that the Lord has provided, and this has served as a confirmation that I am going where He has called.”
Dec. 3, 2008- “I have almost been here for three months, and continue to see His faithfulness. I am picking up Spanish quickly, and have preached several times in my broken Spanish. I continue to be comforted at the Lord’s provisions! Not only have I not suffered any need, I have been enabled to help the family here with some financial need. He is sooo good.”
Jan. 22, 2009- “As I write today I am missing my friends and family that came to serve over Christmas, and feeling like I am becoming complacent in some things, both spiritual and physical. The Lord has been so faithful in providing that I often forget to pray that He would continue. It seems as though monthly support has dropped some, but I fret not because of money that is there that I know is sufficient. I know that my trusting in this and not in Him is wrong. Lord please teach me to only trust in you!” “I was reminded of this truth by Proverbs 3:5 this evening.”
March 2, 2009- “Lord I know you took that money because I was trusting in it and not You!(A couple days before I wrote this I was informed that all the money in the bank had been taken, and I knew this arm of the flesh had been cut off.) Although I am fretting I thank you for this that You will use this to teach me what it means to trust in You and not the arm of the flesh! God I pray that You will be faithful to your name, and that through Your provisions the nations will come to know you. Whatever you desire, only that your name be honored!!”
Sept. 1, 2009-“I began to pray for $1000 dollars today for the ministry, there are some needs, and it will cost some for me to move. I will stay faithful to only making needs know to Him. I am praying and believe the promise of Psalm 40:17 "you are my help and deliverer, do not delay, O my Lord." Talked to my dad and someone from his church gave $60! He will not delay!!”
Sept. 2, 2009- “Still praying and believing God that He will provide for the need. Today I talked with Leslie and he informed me that he has money to deposit. I am not sure of the amount, but I am rejoicing in the Lord's rapid response. I know faith will soon be tested. “
Sept. 5, 2009- “I went to the ATM today and there was over 15,000 pesos in the bank!! That is over $1000!! He is so faithful!!! He did not delay!! He didn’t even test my faith!! Oh! How I wish the lost would leave themselves and come to this Great God!!! I am so humbled that He would allow me to share in this grace!!”
Oct. 6, 2009- “I had to go today and reserve bus tickets for the group coming on Saturday to go to Chiapas and found out that I have to pay for my ticket to reserve the other tickets. I only have enough to pay for my ticket there, and not enough for gas to pick up the group on Saturday, nor to buy my ticket to return. Lord I know you have called me to this, and I will continue to go, just as the widow used the last of the flour trusting. If you choose to not provide, and for this to fail you are just, but for the sake of your name among the lost I pray for provision.” “I spend my last bit on reserving the tickets today, but was comforted by thoughts from Eph. 5. He loves his bride, and will care for her faithfully.”
Oct. 7, 2009- “I know He is good, and He will not delay!! I feel that this may be the test of my weak faith that He will use to continue to sanctify me. Lord let me remain faithful to only make known the needs to you, for you alone are able to supply. Please place in the hearts of your people this need. It is such a temptation to me to tell the people of God of this need today, oh, Lord cause me to only trust in You and not in your people!! For I know with one phone call more than what is sufficient would come, but I believe You are sufficient! Lord cause me to persevere!! God use this to make me more like your son!!” “I just received a call from my mom and someone from their church gave me $100!! He is sooo faithful! Once again He didn’t even test me! Thank you for not letting me fall!!!”

I just wanted to share a few of the many times in which the Lord showed Himself so faithful as regards to finances, and how He placed on your hearts to give in times of need. So many times in my life I lean on the arm of the flesh, and it will continue to be my prayer that He will continue to teach me to only trust in Him.

Chiapas Journal Day 4

I woke refreshed this morning, and was surprised as I thought my anxiety about Chamula would keep me from sleep, but was given grace in regard to rest. I was also awakened quickly once again by a cold shower, although today I seemed to enjoy it. After my cleaning I departed to a quiet place to pray and read of our God from the Scriptures. I was somewhat intrigued that God’s ways and my ways are so different as I read Psalm 5:5. I was also encouraged to teach the full council of God, and not solely what I think is fitting for the people of God. I was refreshed by my reunion with the Father, and was ready to see what the Lord had planned for this day! After breakfast spent no little time in conversation with pastor Eufimio. I have so enjoyed his company these last couple of days! He made known to me their need for teachers at their Bible institute at his church. They meet once a month for a weekend. Their church has 30 missions functioning well and the men in the institute are serving in these missions. I will begin to seek the guidance of the Lord on if He desires that I commit one weekend a month to teach these men. We then set out for Chamula! I was so excited to see how the Lord would use us in such a dark place. Our truck broke down, and set us back an hour or so, but we arrived in Chamula at about two o’clock in the afternoon. There seemed to be a spirit of oppression in this place that is somewhat indescribable. It was our goal to enter the town and pray for an open door. We started by buying a tourist pass to enter the church there as I wanted to see and get a feel for the mindset of the people there. As many of you know I live in a very wicked place where worship of death is very popular, but I have never seen anything in comparison to what I saw this day! As we entered the church the floor was covered with pine needles, and no less than 100 people were scattered on the floor surrounded by candles and bottles of coke. We walked and prayed, but were all a little set back by one family. There was an elderly woman surrounded by her family from three years old to not short of seventy. She continually mumbled some sort of a prayer while putting fire to candles. On the side of her group of candles lay a chicken that had no life, and on the other side a chicken that was alive, but seemed to be in some sort of a trance. Every so often she would sprinkle what they call posh, a sort of tequila that is very strong, around the candles all the while chanting. Then she would pick up the chicken with life and make circles over the candles. This was nothing short of demonic. This was so wicked and made my heart so sad. I stood there with a pack full of the gospel of John and this woman and her family were magnifying satan and his ways. It was very sickening. The majority of the people were having a fiesta in the front of the church drinking posh and becoming intoxicated. There were also two crosses in this church that will be explained in a later post. We then left the church, and entered the market where not much shorter than two years before a young man was killed being accused of preaching the gospel. We began going to different shops looking for an opportunity to share the gospel. We ended up in a small shop that sold traditional clothes. It was a mother and her four daughters not much younger than myself. We felt a connection with these women and after a short time began asking about their faith. Before we departed we gave them a few gospels of John, and they seemed somewhat excited not having ever heard the story of Jesus. One of the young women began reading the gospel before we left. There is so much more I could write about this day, but will pass it off to another post. We then returned to San Cristobal and attended the church of Josue, Eufimio’s son. He asked if I would preach, so I gladly accepted. We were few in number, but I felt that we were truly blessed with the presence of the Spirit! I was more than helped in my preaching, and we all felt a conviction to live out the name we are given through grace. I preached from Romans 1:1-6. I was able to speak with Ivonne for a short time before bed, and was so encouraged by her faithfulness in intercession for the team this week. As I lay in bed I felt such great emotions about entering Chamula once again tomorrow.

Chiapas Journal Day 3

After not much rest the night before, I woke exhausted, but was helped by starting the day with a cold shower. After my shower separated myself to spend time with the Father, and was acquainted by the Spirit. Found great comfort and the life of Paul. Oh, how I long to live so unashamed as he did. I know some who would criticize me for desiring to be like Paul, but he wrote “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” The plan for today was to work with Pastor Eufimio here in Simojovil in the surrounding communities. After refreshing our physical bodies with a typical Mexican breakfast we left for a small town called “La Paz” in English “The Peace”. My mom and I were accompanied by Juanita, Eufimio’s daughter, and began going house to house to share the good news. I was quite humbled when we reached the first house and I greeted the elderly woman in Spanish, and her face said that she didn’t know what I said. She only spoke a indigenous dialect called Tzoltl. It sounds nothing like Spanish. The pastors daughter spoke very little Tzoltl so she began to speak to the woman. This woman had no intrest in the divine things, and was far more concerned with things around her house. Such was the case with many of the Indians in this town. After visiting a few houses we approached a small wooden hut to find it filled with young people. As we began to converse about Divine things found one young woman around 16 years of age or so that seemed to be concerned for her soul. She had been raised in a very spiritualistic Catholic church, and was well versed in idolatry. After explaining the nature and result of sin and our helpless state we then conversed with her about the unconditional love of God and the impossibility of doing anything for our own salvation. The Spirit seemed to have given some conviction in regards to the work she had done in attempts to earn grace through the idols of Babylon. We gave her a gospel, and wrote the pastor’s number and address so she would be able to have her questions answered if it truly was a beginning work of the Spirit in regard to her salvation. We left this house to go with pastor Eufimio up the mountain to visit a family that hasn’t come to the fellowship in some time. We were welcomed by the family with great kindness and found the father of the family to have some kind of sickness. This seems to have hindered his work greatly, and there was a lack of income as a result. After not much conversation with the family Eufimio began to question their absence and was meet with many excuses. We then spent the next forty minutes or so in exhorting them from the Scriptures of the importance of fellowshipping with the body of Christ. The daughters of the man were under some conviction. After praying for the family we left to go to the church in Simojovil where I would preach. I preached from Romans 5:6 stating that we, before Christ, have two problems; one: we are ungodly, and two: we are without strength. I felt somewhat helped by the Spirit, and think there were some there who were affected by the words of God. After the meeting we were invited to celebrate the lives of the pastor and his wife as this was their birthdays. It was a good time of fellowship. I went to bed tired and somewhat early with a heavy heart for the people of Chamula. Our plan is to go there tomorrow. It has been so great getting to meet Eufimio. He is a hard working for the great kingdom; I hope the Lord continues to cause our paths to cross.

Chiapas Journal Day 2

We arrived in San Cristobol De Loas Casas about 7:30 this morning and began searching for a bus that would take us to Simojovil where we will be staying for a couple nights. After haggling fervently with taxi drivers Josue, the son of a missionary in Simojovil came a picked us up in his pick-up. Mom, Esther, David, one of the missionaries daughters, and I rode in the back for three hours up and down mountains until we entered Simojovil. We ate, then had time to rest and find solitude with the Father. I felt somewhat comforted by thoughts of Grace in my life, but for the most part my time of both resting and traveling has been consumed with thoughts of sorrow for the poor folks in Chamula. When one of them die they go to hell, and this thought has been made so evident to me through the conviction of the Spirit. As we drove through Chamula and I pondered on thoughts that it is the last place in the western hemisphere where Christians reach glorification at the hands of non-believers. Most think it would pass as an eerie feeling, but all I could think of was the example that has been left by Jim Elliott. As I got alone with the great text I felt little refreshment in the words of God. I felt as it was probably due to being exhausted. I then rested and talked with Ivonne some before going to meet with Eufimio (the missionary in Simojovil). I really enjoy the company of Eufimio, it is my prayer and expectation that the Lord will allow more of His work to be done through us working together. We spoke of ways to reach chamulans, and what the schedule would be like for the week. It was our decision to spend tomorrow working here, and then return to San Christobol on Thursday morning to spend Thursday and Friday in Chamula. Before turning in to sleep found some comfort in Psalms 1 & 2. Left for sleep content in life, while pondering on of Edwards resolutions “I resolve to think on death often and the circumstances there in.” After this passed through my mind I fell asleep wanting the Lord to make my life useful to His kingdom, and wanting to live so badly for His glory. I begged that the Lord would remove my fleshly desires and replenish me with thoughts of Him, for He is my reward. I want my life to give the Lamb the glory due his name!!! After an hour or so of rest was awakened to prayer by the Father, and after a short time of it spent some time reading the life of David Brainerd. I just finished the part where he died, and while he was dying was whispering thoughts like “He will not terry”, or “I will glorify His name”, oh! What faith he had. Found courage to live to God through his example.