Wednesday, March 17
I apologize for not getting this blog updated for several days, but my main computer was down and took almost a week to repair it. Let's get to the news. Praise the Lord, Junior (the man beaten up) was not seriously injured. The men attacked him as he opened his front door and immediately threw him to the ground. Chances are, they said something to him or asked him something, but since he is deaf, he never heard them. They tried to stab him several times with a knife. He screamed loudly several times and his neighbors ran out and scared off the men. It ended up that they took nothing! He protected his new Bible in front of his chest, and the solidness of the Bible inside his backpack kept the knife from entering his body. He praises the Lord that his new Bible was not damaged and thanks Him that his injuries healed quickly. He bought the Bible THAT VERY DAY!
This country where we minister is in a state of grave danger and appears it will be so for some time. In the last two weeks, the US government has announced areas where Americans should not travel. We cannot get to the border without passing through some of those areas. The first of April Ann and I are supposed to travel to Monterrey for the pastor's annual meeting. It is one of those areas mentioned. Those causing the deaths even put up a road block on the toll road near there to check who is going and coming. In Guadalajara, we do not feel that kind of danger, as you learn the areas to avoid. However, it is now erupting in many different places at unusual times which puts foreigners at risk. They are targeting Americans with the hope of getting ransom money or their vehicles. Does it bother us? Only when we have to think about going near/through some of those areas. It is serious enough near the border that good churches are canceling services for the safety of their members. Please pray for peace and safety.
As you know, most churches have at least one person who is always a "no" when everyone else is a "yes." It really doesn't matter what the issue, they will always be the opposite. Sunday, as soon as the service was over, I was told that there was an emergency meeting of the men. I sat in as a member of the church but was not involved in the essence of the meeting. To my surprise, two of our deaf men stood and asked what to do about our "negative" member who had been openly criticizing our pastor. These two men introduced charges in front of the guilty party. They asked me if they should throw him out or what. After commenting that all of God's children are important to Him, I suggested we allow the man to speak. He avoided the major issues but quickly showed total repentance concerning the pastor. The pastor sat quietly watching all that happened. He brought up the issue that the pastor is not married and therefore not qualified. I was asked to explain the Biblical standard. I shared several Biblical principles and shared with them that Armando was ready to be married when his fiance was killed in a car wreck a couple of years ago. His comportment has been spectacular even though there is a line of "hopefuls" always in the outskirts. After a somewhat lengthy discussion of Biblical principles, the meeting ended in peace with the understanding by all that the pastor is called of God, called by our church, is God's man and needs to be followed by the sheep. Hopefully, our "negative" has really changed into a positive.
This country where we minister is in a state of grave danger and appears it will be so for some time. In the last two weeks, the US government has announced areas where Americans should not travel. We cannot get to the border without passing through some of those areas. The first of April Ann and I are supposed to travel to Monterrey for the pastor's annual meeting. It is one of those areas mentioned. Those causing the deaths even put up a road block on the toll road near there to check who is going and coming. In Guadalajara, we do not feel that kind of danger, as you learn the areas to avoid. However, it is now erupting in many different places at unusual times which puts foreigners at risk. They are targeting Americans with the hope of getting ransom money or their vehicles. Does it bother us? Only when we have to think about going near/through some of those areas. It is serious enough near the border that good churches are canceling services for the safety of their members. Please pray for peace and safety.
As you know, most churches have at least one person who is always a "no" when everyone else is a "yes." It really doesn't matter what the issue, they will always be the opposite. Sunday, as soon as the service was over, I was told that there was an emergency meeting of the men. I sat in as a member of the church but was not involved in the essence of the meeting. To my surprise, two of our deaf men stood and asked what to do about our "negative" member who had been openly criticizing our pastor. These two men introduced charges in front of the guilty party. They asked me if they should throw him out or what. After commenting that all of God's children are important to Him, I suggested we allow the man to speak. He avoided the major issues but quickly showed total repentance concerning the pastor. The pastor sat quietly watching all that happened. He brought up the issue that the pastor is not married and therefore not qualified. I was asked to explain the Biblical standard. I shared several Biblical principles and shared with them that Armando was ready to be married when his fiance was killed in a car wreck a couple of years ago. His comportment has been spectacular even though there is a line of "hopefuls" always in the outskirts. After a somewhat lengthy discussion of Biblical principles, the meeting ended in peace with the understanding by all that the pastor is called of God, called by our church, is God's man and needs to be followed by the sheep. Hopefully, our "negative" has really changed into a positive.
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