Update on Augustus...

I want to give you an update on Augustus who was on The Way of the Master Radio on May 22 some of you will remember that he was the young man that joined us at church the next night.

You'll be encouraged to know that he emailed me this weekend and said that he has been plugged into a church in San Antonio, TX where he is currently living.

He also shared that when he was with us, both Friday and Saturday after the radio program, he explained to that, "this is the first time that I haven't been drunk or high in years".

Please pray for Augustus. He received a tragic call this weekend. His brother was killed in Iraq (he stepped on a land mine) Augustus is really broken. He called Keith, my father-in-law, and Keith comforted Him with scripture. We also have been able to minister to Augustus through email.

I thought you'd be encouraged by what he recently wrote on his myspace profile:

"i just love to wake up in the morning and feel good and give thanks to the lord for another day that i am alive and for another beautiful day in which i get to live in because you never know what day will be your last. "

Hour 2 with Jerry the Bull Rider

I learned a thing or two yesterday about bull riding and

Jerry learned something new too! He expressed to me that

breaking God's law is serious. He never understood that before.

He followed us out to our car and we gave him a small

Evidence Bible and a bunch of tracts. Pray he trusts in the Savior!

You can listen to the broadcast here: June 26, 2008 - Hour 2

Hour 1 The Way of the Master Radio

Cayenne was on the air yesterday.

Her mom and sister both heard the gospel while Emilio
followed up with them.

You can listen to the broadcast here:
June 26, 2008 - Hour 1

I should blog more often about my weed problem!

Yesterday morning I was in my office working with the blinds closed. I usually have them shut. It stays cooler this way. Then I walked by my front door and noticed that Keith and Miriam, my in-laws, had parked their black Navigator outside my house and I saw a lawn mower in my cul-da-sac. "That's strange...I wonder what they are doing here" I thought. Then I saw this as I peered out my front door (above).

If you haven't already guessed it, Keith and Miriam read my blog the other day about Removing Sin at the Root!

In this blog entry, I talk about tips on weeding and keeping our hearts free from sin. After reading my blog, [they must have felt sorry for me pulling my weeds all by my lonesome self :-) ] Keith and Miriam decided to show up, unannounced, and landscaped our entire front yard and surprised us.

I was so overwhelmed! I skipped to the kitchen and grabbed my camera. "I can't believe them...I can't believe them...they're wonderful!" I said out loud waking Emilio up.

I ran out the door and started snapping shots of them working in my yard. "This is incredible! What are you guys doing?!!!"

"We came to bless you!" They said.

"Thank you so much!!!...thank you--thank you--thank you! You must have read my blog about how I was pulling my weeds the other day!"

"We sure did...and we wanted to surprise you!" Keith said.

I must have thanked them 30 times yesterday and they probably got tired of hearing sound like a broken record.

But here goes one more thanks:

I thank Keith and Miriam for being the most wonderful in-laws any Christian girl could ask for. For years, before I was married, I prayed for the man I was going to marry. And in that prayer I asked the Lord specifically that if it be His will He would find favor on me and bless me with wonderful in-laws one day that would live to serve Him and be a blessing to me and my husband (whoever he was going to be).

From the met and then married Emilio, I was blown away by Keith and Miriam's generosity, hospitality, love for the saints, faithfullness, and most of all their desire to serve Christ above all things. Last year, they picked up their lives in California and moved to Texas to help plant Sovereign Joy Community Church. Though they would never say this about themselves...they serve with the church and others with joy, tirelessly. Keith and Miriam have blessed my soul in ways more than words can express and the Lord has answered my prayers beyond anything I could have asked or thought!

Eph. 3:20-21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Removing Sin at the Root!

I've notice that the sun goes down later here (in Texas) than it does in California. It sets around 9 pm in the summer months. I appreciate this because it makes my days feel a little longer and I'm able to accomplish more.

I wanted to make use of the last couple hours of sunlight. My husband left to attend a church meeting and I grabbed a trash can, headed for the front yard and pulled away at the weeds that were out of hand--I thought I would surprise him when he got back home.

In California the yard work was relatively easy in comparison to Texas and you'd think that after a year and a half of living here my husband and I would have adapted to how quickly the weeds grow--but we haven't.

I have to admit, I'm not crazy about yard work but it turned out to be relaxing evening. The sun was still out but it wasn't intense, my house is in a cul-de-sac so it's quiet and I started pulling up the small weeds first which came up in a snap (actual photo above). But the weeds that were bigger where harder to pull. Weeds slide out best if you pull them when the soil is wet. Getting the root up is crucial. If you find that the weeds are breaking off at the crown as you pull, get a garden tool of some sort under the weed, and pry and twist as you pull it up.

A flexible pair of waterproof gloves will keep your hands free from thorns, and it's good to have a nice sitting pad, too--I didn't have this tonight and I probably will be paying for it tomorrow when I can barely get out of bed because of all the bending I did. :-)

As I was bent down, I began to think about sin and how if we don't deal with sin swiftly it will eventually take over our life and consume us. Just like the weeds took root and quickly were out of hand, sin is a snare! If we desire to be pleasing to our God we must get to the root of the issue and deal with our sin. We must repent. Anyone who has been born of God will hate sin. "A man is not established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous cannot be moved" (Proverbs 12:3). Ladies, we should be rooted and grounded in love and righteousness as we walk uprightly before the Lord (Ephesians 3:17). And don't forget to read your bible daily and allow the Word of God to saturate your heart like water. Soak yourself in the Word of God and like a swift garden tool it will pry any sinful root out of your heart so that you will be useful for the master and ready for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21). John Bunyan writer and preacher who is best known for writing The Pilgrim's Progress said, “Either sin will keep you from the Word, or the Word will keep you from sin.” (actual photo above)

Enter to Win a FREE copy of "Stop Dating The Church" by Joshua Harris

When I first read the title of this book I immediately thought that it would have to do with being single especially since Joshua Harris' first book was called "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". I was wrong. Don't be deceived by the title. This book explains the importance of being committed a local church body. Planting yourself in a local congregation and growing.

In "Stop Dating The Church Fall In Love With The Family of God", Harris explains the beauty of the church, our need for the church, what commitment to a church involves, what to look for in a church, and how to make Sunday the best day of the week. Stop Dating The Church emphasis that church is the place God grows us, and encourages us.

Here is what to do: Leave a comment below with your name and some way for me to contact you if you win (email or blog link is fine). Comments will be opened through next Monday and a winner will be randomly chosen next Tuesday. Open to U.S. residents only.

"You shouldn't be yelling at people!"

I arrived home tonight from an eventful evening of evangelism in Southlake, TX with the evangelism team from my church.

A dear brother, Dietrich (left), open air preached for the very first time! He said he had been praying about it and wanted to. It was wonderful. He gave away a few dollar bills and asked trivia questions. The crowd quickly grew. After the trivia, he asked if anyone thought that they were a good person and one young man boldly said, "I am!"

"What's you name?" Dietrich asked. "Cole." He responded as he stood about five feet in front of Dietrich. "Have you ever told a lie Cole?" "Yes." Cole responded. "What do you call someone who tells lies?" Then the crowd yelled out "A Liar!" I could hear someone from the crowd say, "A big fat liar!" Cole nodded and agreed with the crowd.

"Have you ever used God's name in vain?" "Yep!" He responded. "Now Cole, that's very very serious... the bible says that God will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Dietrich explained with conviction and compassion.

He continued to take Cole through the 10 Commandments so that Cole could judge himself according to God's holy standards of righteousness to see if he truly was a "good person" in God's sight. Sorely Cole failed the good person test. He had broken all the Commandments Dietrich asked him about.

Then Dietrich gave him the wonderful news of how he could escape God's wrath. While the crowd listened, he explained to Cole that Christ lived a holy life and died on the cross so that he could be forgiven for breaking God's holy law and that what he needed to do to be forgiven was to repent (turn from his sins) and trust Christ as his Savior.

Then another brother, Brandon (right), who has been visiting from California, open air preached after Dietrich. Brandon's family of 5 watched as he got on the box and spoke with a young girl who was dressed immodestly. It was another great open air time as all of her friends heard the Gospel as they watched in the background.

While Brandon was on the box Dietrich was talking to Cole over in the corner. The two of them were really connecting. It appeared as if the young man was touched by the Gospel message.

We decided to move locations. Brandon grabbed the box and we moved our group a bit south near a local Starbucks. Not many people were around but Brandon preached on the corner anyway. He was loud enough that some of the young people standing near Starbucks could hear him from across the street where two teenage girls were upset. So Javier (another brother from Sovereign Joy) began talking with the two girls. One girl in particular was extremely mad.

"I'm a Christian and a missionary and you shouldn't be yelling at people!" She said to Javier as while yelling at him and inching closer to his face. "You shouldn't be telling them that they will go to Hell! Jesus would have never done that! You shouldn't be condemning them" She added. "You know what...we've got to love them and show them by our actions that we are Christians...yelling like that isn't going to do anything." She said.

Javier patiently explained what Brandon was doing...but the young girl hardly let him get a word in edgewise. Oddly enough she reminded me of ME before I heard "Hells Best Kept Secret" and before I began deeply studying the Word of God. She had a lot of zeal but without knowledge and couldn't tell us why open air preaching was wrong from a biblical standpoint. "We aren't condemning them...they already stand condemned before a Holy God...Brandon's simply explaining the words of the Bible and how they can be forgiven." Javier explained.

Sadly, today, young men and women like these are the product of their seeker sensitive churches that have diluted the message of the gospel to the point were it's almost unrecognizable. The truth is that Jesus' message was clear, "Repent or you will perish" (Luke 13.3). The worst part of all of this is that should this young lady have met Jesus in the first century, she probably would have disagreed with His style of preaching as well. It is important for us to preach the pure gospel even if it offends--because it will (2 Corinthians 2:16). Think about it like this, Jesus was perfect and they still killed him!

I thank everyone who has come out to evangelize week after week and to those who have joined us for a brief season--thank you! I am grateful for your lives and it brings me great joy to serve the long alongside of you. Thank you for serving Christ in such an honorable way and for representing him well.

Special thanks to The Way of the Master Radio gang and Todd Friel for the wonderful plugs on the air week after week. If it wasn't for the radio program men like Dennis (who helps to oversee Sovereign Joy's evangelism team) Dietrich, and Javier plus many others who aren't named or photographed wouldn't be apart of this evangelism team or Sovereign Joy.

If you have never heard "Hell's Best Kept Secret" please take the a moment to listen to Ray Comfort make the case for using the "Law of God" (The Ten Commandments) as part of Biblical evangelism. Many years ago, this single message changed my life forever and how I share my faith today. Listen Here: Hell's Best Kept Secret, Ray Comfort