The Voice of the Lord

PSLAM 29 - A psalm of David.

³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.

⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶ He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the LORD strikes

with flashes of lightning.

⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;

the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the LORD twists the oaks

and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

¹⁰ The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

¹¹ The LORD gives strength to his people;

the LORD blesses his people with peace.

The voice of the Lord is an immeasurable power that can transform. I remember when I first began to hear the voice of God. It has the power to encourage, to bring light, to break chains and strongholds. His voice breathes life into a person who is spiritually dead. How can we doubt Him when His voice soars over mighty waters. when it breaks cedars, when it strikes like thunder, when it shakes desserts, when it twists the oak, and strips the forest bare!

Wow that is the power of the voice of God, so majestic. This is what it can do in our lives if we listen! "Lord I want to hear your voice. Help me to be silent so that your voice has authority in my life. Help me not to miss out on the privileged of hearing you speak. I want to hear you!"

When God speaks man must harken. Each time God's word is preached we are personally addressed by Him. Then always our small self is directly confronted by His great Divine Self, and every such time is an hour of decision. A decision is made weather we mean to hearken or not, to obey God or ignore Him, to harden ourselves or recognize in practice His claim and redeeming authority over us. Whosoever posses an ability to perceive the things of God in his heart, whosoever posses the spiritual organ to receive God's word in his soul, must hearken. Whosoever, indeed, has "a receiving station" in his spiritual life for the "waves" from eternity, must hearken. When God speaks, man must listen. He must acknowledge that it involves and hour of decision.-Erich Sauer

Revelation 3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks

HALFWAY POINT

Psalm 22:9-10

Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in you

even at my mother's breast.

From birth I was cast upon you;

from my mother's womb you have been my God.

We are halfway through our pregnancy and we're having a girl, Naomi Faith! It has been a sweet time for Josh and I as we enter the world of parenthood. Our lives change everyday as we prepare to bring little Naomi into this world. The Lord is teaching us to pray for our daughter and challenging us to become a family centered around God's word and truth.

HAPPENINGS

ENCOURAGING MARCELA

Marcela will finish her medical degree at the end of this month! We met Marcela a year ago when we arrived in Chile and since then we have been able to establish a close friendship and encourage her through her last year of medical school. Marcela's heart is to demonstrate the love of God in the workplace bringing the name of Jesus to this much needed place. Marcela will move back to Santiago where she is part of a church family.

STUDENT CONFERENCE

Last week we had the opportunity to put on a student conference at her church . It was a wonderful time of sharing the importance of having a contagious faith, as well as the importance of leaving a mark on your campus. Marcela's vision is to help her church establish CONEXION and serve her pastors in reaching university students!

LTC - We are halfway done with our second leadership course. It has been a fruitful time for our 5 students as they learn about the method of Jesus and his teachings on discipleship. We are excited to see their commitment and motivation to see God do something big on their campus. Please continue to pray for them as they trust God to use them in making an impact! To the right is a picture of a beautiful day we had our course on the beach!

In one of the rooms in the university...

One of the most prestigious universities in the area is Universidad Catolica del Norte. This a law, medical, and theological school. The Lord has given us tremendous favor on this university! He has opened many doors for us to be on that campus, but most importantly He has touched the hearts of many students on that campus! Marcela is a 7th year medical student about to graduate at the end of the year. She has been one of our key students and over a month ago she expressed the desire to start a girls small group. She said "I want to make the remainder of my time here count for something!" She invited several of her classmates to meet every Wednesday at 5:30 in one of the rooms of the university. We have now been meeting for nearly two months and the Lord is doing something big at Catolica del Norte. Several girls have arrived to learn about Jesus, the bible and the meaning of a life with Christ. Several girls have also given their life to the Lord and it has been so beautiful to watch Marcela disciple them and love then into the Kingdom of God. The Lord is answering prayer and students are understanding His heart for discipleship and that they can impact eternity right on their capus!

Ministry Update

It will be almost a year since we arrived in Chile and the Lord has exceded far more than what we asked and prayed for. Our heart and prayer was to help the students have a vision for discipleship along with getting small groups established and funcioning. We are gateful for the students the Lord has enabled us to work with and there is testimony after testimony of how the Lord is using each one of them on their campuses and in their small groups. The second semester just began and we currently have 4 solid small groups meeting every week. This September we are also starting our second leadersip course for the students that will lead small groups next school year in March.

Another prayer we had, was the ability to share the vision with the National Church in Chile. We have had several opportunities to present the vision of CONEXION at several pastors meetings and conventions. This work cannot happen without the support of the National Church! Last month we had our very first students conference and 50 students atended from all over Chile. We were able to share the principles of university ministry and most importantly challenge them to leave a mark on their campus. For the remainder of the year we will travel to key cities in Chile sharing the vision of CONEXION and how the pastors can take part in encouraging their students.

Please join us in prayer for the following things:

• Each small group and that lives are being transformed every week.
• The 7 students that will be taking the leadership course.
• MAPS workers, Veronica and Melody who have been a blessing to the work here. Their language comprehension and the 7 months they have left here.
• Our travels as we meet with pastors and train them to work with the university students in their churches.

CHANGES

"First comes LOVE,

then comes MARRIAGE,

then come Josh and Mayra with a BABY CARRIAGE! "

Josh and I are excited to announce we are having a baby! The Lord has given us a wonderful gift of life and we are looking forward to this journey. Little Peanut is 8 weeks along and will be here in March to meet everyone. Please keep us in your prayers as the pregnancy advances and that little Peanut will be as healthy as can be. 

The Supernatural Power of God

We are called to live a supernatural life now, by faith. Eternity will be wonderful, but there is one thing heaven will not contain, and that is the call, the possibility, and the privilidge of living a supernatural life here and now by faith, before we see Jesus face to face. -Schaeffer

Lately, the Lord has been teaching me about His supernatural power and how as Christians we are called upon to be a demonstration that the supernatural, the normally unseen world, does exist.  We currently live in a world where naturalistic ideas are setting in more and more impeding ones comprehension and grasp of a supernatural God. BUT...

The more we get involved in ministry the more we see Gods power moving in the lives of students and transforming their hearts. It is a previldge to be part of this. People who seemed so hardened to the truth of Jesus Christ are being touched by his love day after day. Families are being restored, sadness is being transformed into joy, life after life is finding its purpose, and hearts are being mended.

Lets us open our eyes to the supernatural, it's all around us! Lord, I'm sorry for limiting you to "my world." You created this world, shine through us and use us to make you supernaturally known.