"As Jesus said, even faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain--the point being that the quantity of faith is irrelevant. It's who you have your faith in that is the key issue. God can move mountains, even if your faith is as tiny as a mustard seed."
- Just For Starters Teacher Manual

Just a couple random videos from the summer...

Killing the spider in our room

Improv

"Through the providence of pain You perfect Your plan."
- Odd Thomas, Anchor

Gold: Jotta A.

"O Extraordinário"

Ele foi onde ninguém pisou, curou
Quem o mundo esqueceu
Chorou lágrimas de um fiel,
Moveu terra e céu.
Entrou na história da humanidade
Foi um capítulo á parte.
Antes e depois, principio e fim
Pedra de esquina angular
O único e verdadeiro
Ultimo e primeiro.

Pra pagar o preço pelos meus pecados
Foi traído, transpassado, crucificado
O rei despiu-se da glória no corpo mortal
Pra me fazer imortal.

Sua glória transcende o que é natural
Seus olhos têm fogo, consomem o mal
E em sua coxa está escrito que ele é rei do reis
E senhor dos senhores...

Adorai o cordeiro de deus
Exaltai o cordeiro de deus
Digno de abrir o livro e desatar os selos
Só ele é, só ele é.
Espírito santo faz arder em mim
A presença de jesus raiz de davi
Santo e tremendo, justo e fiel.

Absoluto, exaltado, ele é senhor
Leão imbatível, campeão de judá
Revelação perfeita, santo de israel
Em seu dna tem os mistérios de deus.
O extraordinário dele não há defeitos
Onipotente, indescritível, incomparável
Desejado das nações, príncipe do céu
Estrela da manhã, emanuel...

Adorai o cordeiro de deus
Exaltai o cordeiro de deus
Digno de abrir o livro e desatar os selos
Só ele é. só ele é.
Espírito santo faz arder em mim
A presença de jesus raiz de davi
Santo e tremendo, justo e fiel. (2x)

Final:
Oh, adorai, adorai, adorai,adorai...
Adorai a ele, a ele...

"If I am wrapped in someone's arms
it only heals so much
it's like sitting in the freshest air
Oh, but you need it in your lungs."
- Rachel Smith, "Sehnsucht"

"the lonely crowd"

"He [man] is not only alone; he also knows that he is alone..."

"But safety, as the Cross shows, does not exclude from suffering." 

"'Happiness,' as defined by the world, means exemption from suffering."

"Suffering is a wilderness experience. We feel very much alone and helpless, cut off from others who cannot know how we suffer. [...] When we are hungry, cut off from help, and alone, the enemy comes to meet us [...] In the wilderness of loneliness we are terribly vulnerable."
- Elisabeth Elliot, Loneliness

Romans Road/Map

To present the gospel...

1) Romans 3:10 
"as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one;"

2) Romans 3:23
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

3) Romans 5:12
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—"

4) Romans 6:23a --> Revelation 20:14, 15; 21:8 --> Romans 6:23b
"For the wages of sin is death," (Rom. 6:23a)
"Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:14,15)
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)
"but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23b)

5) Romans 5:8
"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

6) Romans 10:9-10
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

7) Romans 10:13
"For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

"Prayer is about as central to the meaning of the created universe as you can get. God created us, according to Isaiah 43:7, for His glory...which we now see means that He created the universe so that persons created in His image would look to Him to satisfy all their wants and needs so that they would get the joy and God would get the glory. When we express this looking to God, we call it prayer."

"God ordains prayer because He wants us to see Him as gloriously self-sufficient and ourselves as totally needy." 

- John Piper, Devote Yourselves to Prayer

"The prayer of the upright is His delight." - Proverbs 15:8

"For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?" - Deuteronomy 4:7

"It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; 
and while they are still speaking, I will hear." - Isaiah 65:24

"On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth." - Isaiah 62:6-7

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me." - Psalm 50:15

"Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." - John 14:13

Snippet of El Buen Pastor

About a couple weeks ago, we had the opportunity to travel (for my second time ever) to El Buen Pastor (the Good Shepherd), a remote mountain village in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Most of the people there suffer from malnutrition, many are illiterate, and most do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ at all. Last year when Sarah Jo and I got to visit El Buen Pastor, there were about 2 believers in the town. Now, there are about 9 believers who have been baptized and who are meeting on Sundays for service at a believer's house. The Patterson family and a neighboring mountain village, Las Lagunas, have been faithfully visiting El Buen Pastor to spread the good news. The believers have faced some hostility from the Catholic Church (it's typical for these remote villages to be run by one Catholic Church per village), but they have remained faithful to Christ and the true gospel. One believer, an older woman who was formerly a leader in the Catholic Church and used to practice Santería in her home, was recently attacked and threaten by another woman with a machete for having left the Catholic Church. The believer told her, "I am a believer now. I won't go back. You can kill me, but then I'll just be with my Lord." The attacker left when the woman's husband came, but she threw a rock at the believer. So now she walks on crutches. 

By God's grace, I had opportunity to share the gospel with a lady (Carmelina) who is an invalid/handicapped, and whose husband was recently murdered. A few other people were in her house when I shared the good news with them, along with Christy Patterson and our friend Daniela from Miami Bible Church. Carmelina is so sad, but she did listen to the gospel and I pray she will put her trust in Christ as her righteousness and her only hope through her pain. 

I also had the opportunity to share the story of how Christ was crucified with some of the kids of the village on the porch of one of the few believers in that town (Orlando). The Patterson kids and a couple others who came acted out the parts while I narrated from a book. Then I presented the gospel to the kids and a few adults who seemed to be all ears. Then, we gave them each a verse on an index card to memorize: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit," (1Peter 3:18). The kids are so precious and so are the people. They live HARD lives over there. But Hondurans in general are super nice and easy to talk to, so I praise God for opportunity to share Christ with them. I didn't actually have this lesson prepared prior to visiting El Buen Pastor, so it was another opportunity to see His strength displayed in my weakness. And little did I know, Daniela took some video of it. :) 

The beginning of the presentation