Austin Gardner

September 01, 2010

Dear Brethren:

I thank God for the opportunity to speak with you and for your prayers and faithfulness in the service of the Lord. This month God has blessed in many ways:

HUNTER

A church group arrived from South Carolina and helped in evangelism, medical assistance and construction. They served in the Victory, New Hope, Abundant Life, Fountain of Light and Hunter Baptist churches. I thank Brother Mark Coffey for his help, as well as Kyle Young, who both attend Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.

SEMINARY

We initiated classes on Tuesday, August 10th with brethren from the departments of Cuzco, Lima, San Martin, Puno and of course, our city. Additionally, on the 27th and 28th of August we began a new project, “Revelation” among many of our churches here in our city. This project represents various scenes of the last days, (the rapture, tribulation and the great white throne). In two days, there were around seventy decisions. The event will take place again the first two weekends of September.

ESMIRNA

The Bible study group continues to meet in the zone known as “Fourth of October” from which various brethren faithfully attend church and where (if God permits), we will have new work in the future. This Bible study takes place on Thursdays and at times is as large as twelve people.

BEREA

God blessed us with a few of the Sundays of the month with almost thirty people, which is causing us to think of purchasing more chairs! We have began to disciple many of the brethren and have given away many Bibles. This church continues to support a missionary, Luis Benites from Lima.

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

The group of brethren that came from the United States made a medical presentation to the students in various grades. They also gave them toys and books. What a blessing their time was together! Another group, friends of missionary David Bolos visited us and gave a devotional.

I would ask for your prayers for my family. This month I am in the United States visiting churches until the 20th of September. Additionally, I would like to thank Vision Baptist Church for permitting me to become part of their membership and staff of missionaries. I would especially like to thank Austin Gardner and Mark Coffey, who permitted me to meet several pastors and to raise support that would multiply the work in Peru.

God Bless,

Miguel Murillo

Matthew 4:19-20 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

The Lord Jesus was calling out His disciples. It is amazing that they immediately obeyed and followed Him. They left their businesses. They left their money. They chose to serve no matter the cost.

Today there are still many who need to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ. They need someone to take the gospel to them. I am convinced that Jesus is still calling men to come after Him.

If He is calling you will you immediately leave everything and follow Him?

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 5

Check out bcwe.org

Matthew 3:14-15 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Jesus comes to John the Baptist. John knows exactly who He, Jesus, is. He knows that he is not worthy to baptize Jesus. But Jesus clears something up for us.

He says baptize me so that I can fill up what’s right. That is the only reason that John was willing to baptize Him.

Jesus was baptized to set an example for us!

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 4

Check out bcwe.org

Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Worship is worthship. Jesus was worth the journey. He was worth the gifts. He was worth the reverence because they recognized Him for who He was, is, and will be.

When we love anything or anyone we invest money and time there. When we love our spouse we will give money and gifts not because we have to but because we want to. It is an expression of our love.

I hope you believe that He is worthy. I hope you are giving of your time, your talents, and your treasure!

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 3

Check out bcwe.org

Matthew 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

All through the Bible and the life of Jesus things happen as the Bible said it would. The Bible is the infallible Word of God. It always comes true. Jesus will live His life and every prophecy about Him will come to pass.

When you read the Bible do you realize what you have in your hands. It is the Word of God and it is true.

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 2

Check out bcwe.org

Planting churches in Colombia

Why should we plant churches in Colombia?

The main reason that I see is that there are not that many Biblical churches in this great country of forty million inhabitants. In Bogotá that has nearly 6,000,000 the presence of Biblical churches is laughable, you can count them on your fingers.

There is a great need for churches that preach the gospel from a Biblical perspective with sound doctrine like those that have given their lives over the years. The last thing Bogotá needs is new and strange doctrines.

Due to violence like the problems between the paramilitary and procommunist factions the country has nearly been off limits for several years by foreign missionaries.

If there were at least 200 good Biblical churches in Bogotá then I could not ask you to help us open another but that is not the case!

Colombia is nearly virgin territory for the gospel.

Here are some advantages as to why we should go to Colombia:

Religious freedom

The people are very receptive to the gospel

The violence has caused people to want to seek another alternative for their lives

Family problems, drug addiction, etc. are causing parents to seek spiritual help

Migration from the rural areas to the cities

An enormous population that doesn’t know about salvation by faith and not by works

A Roman church that has lost much of its influence over the people due to the pedophile scandals

These are the words of Jaime explaining why he is returning to Colombia. Will you please pray about helping him on a monthly basis for at least two years.

You can contact him for more info at

Atentamente: Jaime, Margelis, Ray Andrés y Sara Sofía Benítez Betín.
E-mail. incacaribe@hotmail.com

http://jaimebenitezbenitez.wordpress.com/

Skype. Jaime.benitez2

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Our joy is to be found in the Lord Jesus not in any other thing. Everything fails. Our health, finances, relationships, or what ever you name can fail but not the Lord Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the source of our eternal joy and that started the moment we got saved.

When you think of things that give you joy think of the Lord Jesus. Think of your salvation. Think of His unconditional love. Rest in the fact that you are accepted and loved.

There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less!

Tomorrow’s reading Matthew 1

Check out bcwe.org

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Paul lists many things that he might have used to gain merit in this world or before God but he realized that none of these things were of any value. He weighed what he had and what he had done and counted it as nothing.

The most important thing was his relationship with the Lord Jesus.

I hope that today we will take some time and realize that only Jesus matters.

Tomorrow’s reading Philippians 4

Check out bcwe.org

I just finished reading Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian!

Here are several quotes that made the book well worth reading:

In seminary I had a professor who referred to the New Testament as the Bible’s footnotes. He meant no disrespect; he knew that the New Testament is just as inspired and trustworthy and infallible as the Old. He was simply saying in a different way what Augustine said centuries earlier-that the New Testament is contained in the Old, and the Old Testament is explained in the New.

God is more interested in the worker than he is in the work the worker does. He’s more interested in you than in what you can accomplish. If accomplishing Project Ninevah was all God cared about, he could have discarded Jonah and found a more reliable prophet. He knew Jonah would run; so why did he ask Jonah to go in the first place? It was because Jonah was God’s project. God comes after Jonah not because he needs Jonah, but because Jonah needs God.

But before we go to far in condemning Jonah’s self-righteousness, we need to be aware of another (prehaps more subtle) side to self-righteousness that “younger brother” types need to be careful of. There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plaques the unconventional and the non-religious types. Anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean? Those who are more like the younger brother -more irreligious-can easily take sinful pride in that fact.

Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” It screams out, “That’s right! I know I don’t have it all together, and you think you do; I know I am not good, and you think you are. And that makes me better than you!” See the irony? We become self-righteous against the self-rightesous.

God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels like us and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery so we might become truly free.

We learn about the danger we experience when we run from God’s will, the deliverance we experience when we submit to God’s will, the deliverance others experience when we fulfill God’s will, and the depression we experience when we question God’s will.

Check out bcwe.org

Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Philippians 2 is about the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had every right to be worshipped because of who He is, but He humbled Himself to become a man and then to die the death of the cross. He teaches us by His example how we are to act as we serve together.

We are not to think about ourselves but others. We are to surrender our rights to be honored and respected and to honor and respect others.

Why not consider this today as you go about your service to the Lord Jesus and to other believers.

If we have His attitude there will be a sweet spirit in the church. It is not the responsibility of others or the pastor to insure this but everyone of us!

Tomorrow’s reading Philippians 3

Check out bcwe.org