8/16/ - 8/20

I will be posting some borrowed articles over the next few days while I'm in Managua. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Don't forget to check out the blog for a possible Field Update. If I can get to an Internet Cafe I may be able to do a post.

For Christ Alone,


Eric

Nicaragua and God's Grace

by: Eric Hixon

I have been through many disappointments in life. I have lost many friends who have died or walked away from me because of my faith in Jesus Christ. Well, not just my faith, but because the old Eric died. He was made new and is still being changed by the grace of God.

One of the biggest blessings in my life has been my ministry in Nicaragua. I had spent most of my ministry in the United States and more specifically in the southeastern US. Then, several years ago, I was invited to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua, and I accepted. I did not plan on having a major life changing encounter with the Lord. It hit me out of nowhere when I was on the plane about to land. At first, I thought it was just the bumpy ride and the fact that I was farther away from my wife than I had ever been. I soon found out that it was God doing a work of grace in my life. It was a fear of God that made me well aware that He was with me. I was so convicted of my sins and spent much time confessing and repenting of my selfishness.

This was a work of grace because God would use this time to refine me and make me very uncomfortable. I would not have chosen this path...I assure you. I like the easy road. God, however, isn't all that concerned about what I want, He is concerned about what I need. I needed to spend some serious time getting my focus on Him. For that reason, most of my ministry has not been a path of ease...it has been difficult. That is what God allowed me to do through my first Nicaragua trip. I could give you all the details, and maybe someday the Lord will allow me that time; however, I just want you to know that I thank God for what He did in my life during that time.

I am now preparing to go back to Nicaragua again. I can't even tell you how many times this makes, but it has been a lot. I have been heartbroken in more ways than words can describe over the spiritual condition of Nicaragua. I've had people try to use me and take advantage of our tenderness toward these precious people. I've also made friends that are like family to me. God has used these people in each group to refine me and to make me into what He is wanting me to become.

In all honesty, I'm compelled to go back by in spite of the hard times and dissapointments. The Lord has allowed my heart to be touched by the children and the pastors of this country. Lord willing, M.U.D. Minsitries will soon be beginning a Bible Institute in Nicaragua with the vision of training pastors. Our desire is to help equip and train these men and show them how to do God's Work, God's Way, for God's Glory!

I assure you, it will be the grace of God if that is allowed to happen. There are those that say Central America is too overrun with missionaries. I would disagree. Yes, there are many who come down but few that teach sound doctrine. I've been told that I take the Scriptures too seriously, but I honestly don't think that is possible. Let God decide. These indigenous pastors need solid Biblical training! God will use them to do a work that only a Nicaraguan can do. The day may come when the doors to this country are shut to those like me. It is vital that these men get the Gospel and preach it. That door cannot be shut by any man.

For now, I ask you to pray for me and the 13 others that I have helped mobilize to join us on a mission to glorify God through serving others and making disciples as our King has commanded. If anything good comes from us, it will be a work of grace. I thank God for Nicaragua and God's grace!

It Is Good To Have Zeal

This morning I am reminded that true zeal comes first from the heart of the individual and then can manifest itself in the life of the church as a whole. Ask yourself tough questions and deal with them. No one can ask you a better, more probing, deeper question than you.

Do you have a zeal for God today? Does your actions relay to God and others the condition of your heart?

Zeal is defined as enthusiastic devotion or care to or for a cause. In many instances, our zeal is for our job or our hobby, or other causes. It is easy to find oneself influencing others for these causes and not influencing others for Christ isn't it? I pray that God uses me to influence othes in their devotion and love for God. That God would use my feeble efforts to stir up love for other believers.

Our enthusiasm has the ability to stir others into action. (2 Corinthians 9:2)

I am constantly reminded that my zeal should not be born out of a selfish desire, but out of a love for Christ and others. This type of zeal will help you to develop a hatred for those things that oppose Christ, such as sin in my own life. I desire to be used by Christ for God's glory!

James 5:19-20, "My brothers, if anyone among you wanders fromt he truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings a sinner back from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

I need to be encouraged and I do this by encouraging those that read this post. It is good to be zealous for Christ and to see souls saved. Yes, it is only God who can save but it is God's will that we are used as the ones who bring the message of Christ! Today, go and witness to the world of the grace of God and give each person a personal warning, encouragement, and invitation to come to God through Christ and Christ alone!

Adoption Update

We are doing an adoption fundraiser that is really cool and you can even win a amazing book! To learn more go to www.intheheartofourhome.blogspot.com today!!

Confidence in the Gospel

I wanted to share something with you that didn't shock me the way it should have. I am getting less and less taken back when I hear of such things. Much of what I am sharing I learned from Brad Williams, Pastor of New Covenant Baptist in Albertville, AL. He is a dear brother to me.


From Brad Williams recent church wide newsletter:

You may not have ever heard of Julea Ward, but I hope that you soon become familiar with what has happened to her. Julea was a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University in pursuit of her Master’s in school counseling. That is, until Julea was recently expelled. She was expelled, not because of her conduct but because of her conviction that homosexuality is morally wrong. She refused to counsel homosexual clients, doing so was a breach of school policy and of the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics.

Julea sued the university on the basis that she had been discriminated against due to her religious beliefs. The judge refused to hear the case. She never got her day in court. Here is Judge Steeh’s statement as to why:

The university had a rational basis for requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values…In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs – including homosexual relationships.

The only way that Ms. Ward would be re-admitted into the program was if she went into a remediation program in order to see the error of her ways and change her belief system about homosexuality. The remifications of this decision are dizzying, and the logic used to reach this decision is patently absurd.

In this decision, the University of Eastern Michigan has done precisely what they have warned Ms. Ward not to do: that is, they have imposed their beliefs onto her. They believe that homosexuality is morally fine. They believe that to counsel otherwise is a breach of ethics. Their “Bible”, if you will, is the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics. Ms. Ward’s code of ethics is the Bible itself, the University has declared that the ACA’s code is a higher and more correct authority than the Bible, and this deviation from their faith in the ACA is met with expulsion from the program. So much for academic freedom of thought.

Should Ms. Ward have refused to counsel homosexuals? The details are vague as to what is meant by that. If she outright refused to counsel them, I believe she erred. I believe she should definitely have given them counsel, but she should have pointed out that homosexual behavior is sin, and that abandoning the counsel of God’s Word in pursuit of illicit pleasure will always result in misery. That counsel would have gotten her expelled also, it seems, but it would have been a better way to get kicked out.

We are hearing more and more about public prayer being banned and Christians being told they must "change" their beliefs in order to graduate. I am not a prophet but I do think this is just the beginning. I agree with Brad, she hould have shared the only hope these people have with them. I'm not being negative or a messenger of doom and gloom. I think if God allows persecution to happen it will only be used to strengthen the true church. Don't think because we live in America that we are exempt from persecution.

Persecution is allowed to strengthen God's people and drive them to do what they wouldn't do without persecution. I pray that you take the initiative to disciple your children and your wife. There are those who will challenge us and like unreasoning animals attack truth with lies. We must learn how that we are to respond and how that we are to survive in these times. If you have not, I encourage you to listen to the series on Jude that Bro. Cliff Cook and myself preached at New Covenant Baptist Oneonta recently. You can visit the churches website to listen to the series.

www.ncbconeonta.org

I pray that God will work in your heart so much that your confidence in God would surpass all your fears of man! There is a proper way to live this life for the glory of God. I pray that you and I will obey the Word of God

Pray for God to Awaken Your Church

Every true revival that God has blessed us with has begun after much prayer. I encourage you to pray that God would stir your church diligently. I find that Christians who pray for their church specifically have a much deeper, meaningful membership in that local body than those who do not pray regularly for their church. Pray that god would move in such a way that:

Pray that hundreds of people come to Christ

Old animosities would be removed

Marriages would be healed and renewed

Prodigal children would come home, both young and old children

Dominating sin would be crushed

Spritual dullness is replaced by spirit filled joy

Worship would not be routine but a true time of praise and prayer to God

Confidence in the flesh would dissappear and confidence in the Gospel would increase

Prayer would be fervent

Evangelism wouldn't be a program but a natural result of a desire to glorify God

Missions would be something people DO and SUPPORT

Pastors would PREACH the WORD

Fear of man would be replaced by a fear of God

Radical faith would seem, well...not radical, but normal

The Getty's on Modern Hymn Writing

Keith Getty led one of the workshops at the National Worship Leaders Conference on the topic, “Writing Today’s Modern Hymns.” David Neff, editor-in-chief for Christianity Today Media Group, edited and distilled ten notable ideas from the workshop:

1. The primary form we use is the story form. The gospel is primarily story. How do you take people who want 4-line worship songs and get them to sing 32 lines? By structuring the song as a story.
2. It is important to look at things that are harrowing and that don’t necessarily make us feel happy. The central core of the Christian faith is not something that makes us happy. We need to acknowledge our need for a redeemer. The reason we worship is that we meet God through the central story of the cross.
3. We need lament. But if you want to write lament, remember that a successful lament resolves. Not into a happily-ever-after ending, but like the psalms of lament, by ultimately acknowledging that God is God.
4. To write strong melodies remember that folk melody has to be passed on orally (aurally). I try to write songs that can be sung with no written music. I imitate Irish folk melody, with a great deal of contour, of rise and fall.
5. Use pastors and theologians as resources for your writing. But keep company with them. Don’t just ask them to fix your text here or there when you’re done with it.
6. Trinitarian worship safeguards us from so many problems our worship can get into: either an overly stern view of god or a casual view of god. Both can lead to problems in our lives.
7. Martin Luther is one of ten people from history I would want to have coffee with. I have looked at a lot of Luther’s hymns and emulated him. First, Luther had a high view of redemption. He also believed we live our lives in the midst of spiritual warfare. Thirdly, he had a high view of the church and a high vision of the church.
8. The congregation is the choir and it is merely the privilege of those of us who are musically gifted to help them sing.
9. Lyrics and great writing are the same thing. Lyricism is poetry. If your write lyrics, read as much poetry as you can. Lyricists are people who love words and do crossword puzzles.
10. Growing up, I never listened to pop music as a child. I was steeped in church music. That could be a blessing because everything I write can be sung by a congregation.

Keith and his wife Kristyn have several CDs that might be of interest to you:

In Christ Alone
Awaken the Dawn
Songs that Jesus Said (music for children)