Hey guys,
I am sorry I have not been able to write for the last week. We have been crazy busy.. God has been doing amazing things down here. We have been playing everyday and sharing the Gospel with everyone we come across.
Nicaragua is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. We went to Masaya today which is a perfect picture of how romantic our God is, volcanoes and lakes and trees and everything you could imagine. We have been in Managua, Leon, Diriamba (where we are staying) and then we will be in Grenada tomorrow...I think.
The guys on this team are such a blessing. There are 18 players and 3 coaches and being around these guys 24-7 has been amazing. We have discipleship classes, inductive study into 1 Peter and classes learning how to share the Gospel, and our story effectively. There guys have shown me so much and they have such amazing hearts for the Lord and for people.
So far, at least 14 people have been saved and its been such a blessing being able to pray with guys who just accepted Christ as their Savior. Nicaragua is very poor, especially where we are staying and where we are playing and it has definetly opened the eyes of many of the people we are with. Spending time with the people and loving on them has been amazing especially the kids.
I am sorry it has been a while since I updated last. It has been an incredible blessing being able to pour into these people and learn so much from them. I know God has so many more incredible blessings to come. I will keep you updated.
Gracia y Paz
Luke
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Lewisville, TX-culture capital of the US
Hey guys,
So this trip has absolutely rocked my world. I have fallen in love with the hispanic people and the latin culture so much. The hospitality and generosity of people who have so little is amazing. We have been working with El Camino which is a spanish speaking Baptist church in Lewisville, Texas. The pastor, Felix is a Puerto Rican man who is so on fire for the Lord and has made such an impact on my life in only a short amount of time.
On monday night we went over to St. Charles apartment complex. We played a huge game of futbol (soccer) and just had an amazing time talking to people and telling them about the Lord and finding out about their individual situations. I met so many guys who spoke no english and I speak very little spanish and even through that I was able to find out about their families, homes, lives and most importantly "novias" (girlfriends).
I met a man named David, he is a native of Nicaragua and lived only about 40 minutes from where we are staying. He has been a believer for around 3 years and his story rocked my world. The life he led then compared to the life he is leading now are drastic opposites and he has such a passion for the Word and the Lord it was such an inspiration to me. If any of you get a chance, a picture of me and him together should be on my facebook soon.
Tuesday, we went over to El Camino. The people there brought food from all from there native countries and I sat with a man named Jose. He spoke no english but his story rocked my world. He is from Mexico and has a wife and a daughter who is eight. They are still in Mexico with no money and he came here to find work. He cant find any and is living who knows where. And through it all he loves the Lord so much. That night we had worship, we sang songs in english as they sang the same song in spanish. I have never seen a man worship like him, it was so amazing. He prayed for us in spanish as we prayed in english and he fellowshiped with us for about two and a half hours.
In terms of my prayer needs at the moment....we travel to Nicaragua on saturday. Right now it is not the safest place to be espeacially for 21 gringos on a big yellow school bus. Just be praying that we really reach these people with a love they never experienced and effectively share the Gospel.
So this trip has absolutely rocked my world. I have fallen in love with the hispanic people and the latin culture so much. The hospitality and generosity of people who have so little is amazing. We have been working with El Camino which is a spanish speaking Baptist church in Lewisville, Texas. The pastor, Felix is a Puerto Rican man who is so on fire for the Lord and has made such an impact on my life in only a short amount of time.
On monday night we went over to St. Charles apartment complex. We played a huge game of futbol (soccer) and just had an amazing time talking to people and telling them about the Lord and finding out about their individual situations. I met so many guys who spoke no english and I speak very little spanish and even through that I was able to find out about their families, homes, lives and most importantly "novias" (girlfriends).
I met a man named David, he is a native of Nicaragua and lived only about 40 minutes from where we are staying. He has been a believer for around 3 years and his story rocked my world. The life he led then compared to the life he is leading now are drastic opposites and he has such a passion for the Word and the Lord it was such an inspiration to me. If any of you get a chance, a picture of me and him together should be on my facebook soon.
Tuesday, we went over to El Camino. The people there brought food from all from there native countries and I sat with a man named Jose. He spoke no english but his story rocked my world. He is from Mexico and has a wife and a daughter who is eight. They are still in Mexico with no money and he came here to find work. He cant find any and is living who knows where. And through it all he loves the Lord so much. That night we had worship, we sang songs in english as they sang the same song in spanish. I have never seen a man worship like him, it was so amazing. He prayed for us in spanish as we prayed in english and he fellowshiped with us for about two and a half hours.
In terms of my prayer needs at the moment....we travel to Nicaragua on saturday. Right now it is not the safest place to be espeacially for 21 gringos on a big yellow school bus. Just be praying that we really reach these people with a love they never experienced and effectively share the Gospel.
Cristo es primo.
Luke
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Forgiven and Loved
Hey guys,
What an awesome thing, our Saviors love and forgiveness. How amazing is it that even after we give our lives to God and grow in His ways and really fall in love with Him, that we can still sin, so disgustingly against Him. And even more amazing than that is our perfect, pure God's unconditional love and forgiveness.
I was reading the Adventure Devotional the other day and it gave an amazing analogy that really rocked my world. It said just like a piano teacher when we mess up, the Lord says, "again from the top." That is so cool, it God wipes our slate clean and lets us "start from the top," He doesn't even remember how we messed up. Because I mess up and sin against my God so continually, I have grown accustom to reading through Psalm 51. If you are not familiar Psalm 51 is the psalm that David wrote when he committed adultry with Bathsheba, and after the prophet Nathan called him out for his sin. David says in verse 10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
For me that idea is amazing. That after we sin, so disgustingly against God, He can forgive us and create "a pure heart," one that is blameless and white as snow. That is unbelievable to think about, imagine being able to forgive like that? The fact that no matter, what we do our God will love us the same. Luke 17:4 says "if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says ,'I repent,' forgive him," that is how our Lord forgives, over and over again.
This being said, forgiveness is not an excuse for sin. Acts 26:20b says "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." Repentance does not only encompase asking for forgiveness but also turning from the sin committed because we love God and want to honor His name.
By the ways guys, I would also like to ask you all for prayer. I am in Dallas right now, taking discipleship classes and working out with my team before I leave for Nicaragua on saturday. We are working with the Hispanic community and with the spanish-speaking church here in Dallas. The community has been such a blessing, we went to church with my host family this morning at Crossroads Bible Church and the community has been so welcoming. Pray for strength and wisdom in speaking opportunites and that whatever said comes from the Spirit not from myself. Pray that our team molds and stays unified and lifts up the Name of our God and effectively shares the Gospel with people we come in contact with.
Grace and Peace.
Luke
What an awesome thing, our Saviors love and forgiveness. How amazing is it that even after we give our lives to God and grow in His ways and really fall in love with Him, that we can still sin, so disgustingly against Him. And even more amazing than that is our perfect, pure God's unconditional love and forgiveness.
I was reading the Adventure Devotional the other day and it gave an amazing analogy that really rocked my world. It said just like a piano teacher when we mess up, the Lord says, "again from the top." That is so cool, it God wipes our slate clean and lets us "start from the top," He doesn't even remember how we messed up. Because I mess up and sin against my God so continually, I have grown accustom to reading through Psalm 51. If you are not familiar Psalm 51 is the psalm that David wrote when he committed adultry with Bathsheba, and after the prophet Nathan called him out for his sin. David says in verse 10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
For me that idea is amazing. That after we sin, so disgustingly against God, He can forgive us and create "a pure heart," one that is blameless and white as snow. That is unbelievable to think about, imagine being able to forgive like that? The fact that no matter, what we do our God will love us the same. Luke 17:4 says "if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says ,'I repent,' forgive him," that is how our Lord forgives, over and over again.
This being said, forgiveness is not an excuse for sin. Acts 26:20b says "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." Repentance does not only encompase asking for forgiveness but also turning from the sin committed because we love God and want to honor His name.
By the ways guys, I would also like to ask you all for prayer. I am in Dallas right now, taking discipleship classes and working out with my team before I leave for Nicaragua on saturday. We are working with the Hispanic community and with the spanish-speaking church here in Dallas. The community has been such a blessing, we went to church with my host family this morning at Crossroads Bible Church and the community has been so welcoming. Pray for strength and wisdom in speaking opportunites and that whatever said comes from the Spirit not from myself. Pray that our team molds and stays unified and lifts up the Name of our God and effectively shares the Gospel with people we come in contact with.
Grace and Peace.
Luke
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Freedom to Love and Worship
Hey,
Many people are confused with the reason behind the way followers of Christ live their lives. This lack of understanding can be answered very simply. Because we love God. Loving God comes along with a desire, a yearning to walk with our Savior and live in His Truth.
Throughout scripture sin=death. And being that God is the God of life, the farthest thing from life would be death, therefore sin takes us farther away from the heart of our Creator. As disciples of Christ our desire is to be as close to God as possible; because we love God.
Christ, through His eternal sacrifice, gave us freedom. Freedom from the bondage of sin and death and freedom to worship and love Him, not freedom to live in sin. As Peter says "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God." (1 Peter 2:16) We have freedom in Christ's blood to love Him, because He loves us. And how we show God that we love Him is to walk in His ways.
Using lovers as an example, say one of the people in the relationship is 100% devoted and head-over-heals completely in love and pursuing the other person with everything they have. While this person is so in love, the other person in the relationship flippantly runs around with other people and maybe says "I like you," but all the while the person who is in love knows of all the other people and all the other things and is just heartbroken. But instead of backing away, they just pursue harder, love more, and give more heart. This is the way we are with God, He pursues and loves, and breaks for us, while we run around with worldly things and break His heart more and more.
God does not need us, but He wants us. He wants our love and our adoration in return for the love and mercy that He shows us. If no one on earth acknowledged God, He would still be God. Our privilege is the freedom He gives us to live with Him, walk with Him, and call Him friend. What an awesome thought, we get to call our Creator friend. David, a man after God's own heart, speaks of walking in Truth all throughout the Psalms and in Psalm 86:11 says "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
Grace and Peace.
Luke
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Standing Still
Hey,
As human beings, when we are put in a situation of crisis or one that needs immediate action what is our natural response? To fight? To run? To take everything into our own hands and take action? I know that is how I respond, if times are tough financially, or there is a situation I feel is needing "my" immediate involvement, I try to take the situation into my own hands. How arrogant is that?
The other day God took me to Exodus 14:14, where God was leading Moses and the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity. If there was any situation that needed fighting, or would lead people to use human force, it was this one. What God said to Moses and the Israelites hit me like a ton of bricks.... "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." What an amazing thought... the Creator of the universe is fighting our own individual battles, all we need to do is give Him the reigns and let Him work miracles.
When we are stressed or worrying about anything in our own lives go to Matthew 6:25 where Jesus says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life," which is a command... "do not," Jesus gave us a command not to worry, therefore worry is a sin. He told us not to worry because of what Exodus 14:14 says "The Lord will fight for you;" what more could we ever need.
So when you are worrying about life, about relationships, about health, "do not worry," our God is in control. He has thought about and loved us since before we were ever conceived. We have an amazing God who wants to take care of us, who wants to fulfill our every need and all we can do is surrender our lives to Him and not worry. Our God is good and faithful, and our situations will not always go away just because we say, "its Your's God," but that might be the Father teaching us to wait on Him and put our full trust in Him; that He will deliver us, and always keep us safe, because He loves His children.
Grace and Peace.
Luke
Monday, June 1, 2009
My Journey with my Savior
Hey guys,
This blog's purpose is to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God has revealed Himself to me in amazing ways and I am so excited to share stories of our God with you. We serve an awesome God whose unconditional love is so crazy. Imagine loving unconditionally. No matter how many times we fall short He is always there picking us up and telling us how much He loves us.
God has been pursuing us since the day we were born and that is such a cool thought. Psalm 116:1 says, "I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy." What an amazing thing, the Creator of our universe heard our, individual cry for mercy and sent His Son to rescue us and give us eternal life with Him. What awesome love.
Over my journey with my God, He has continually picked me up, shown me mercy, forgiven me, and continued to have His hand in my life so amazingly. As humans we so selfishly have the idea that we deserve this or that God needs us. God knows His name, He knows He is awesome. What we are created for is to worship. Humans put this deep need for worship into objects that do not deserve it. God created us to worship Him and bring Him glory, that is why He is pursuing us- so we can have the privilege of worshiping Him.
My prayer for you guys is that you fall deeply in love with God. Our hearts can so easily deceive us into falling for imitations, but nothing is as beautiful and wondrous as the Cross. As I continue to see my God work miracles in my life I pray that through this you would see Him at work in yours as well.
Grace and Peace.
Luke
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