KEVIN ELWORTH LIVE

Had the opportunity last night to preach at a little church in Jerez, Mexico. Awesome opportunity, I really enjoyed it. I preached on Mark 2 where Jesus healed the paralytic of his physical ailment as well as his more important heart ailment. The main point of the sermon was that we’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. That’s what these guys did. They were willing to tear the roof off of someone else’s house just to get their friend to Jesus! That’s what we’ve got to be willing to do- whatever it takes to get people to Christ.
Couple thoughts about it:

• There’s a world out there that need to see the love of Jesus more than just the words He said or the words we think they need to hear. They need to see what Jesus can do for them and that means we need to get a bit uncomfortable in our approach to reach people
• Jesus is not obligated to heal our ailments as soon as we ask. He’s much more concerned about our greatest need which is the condition of our heart. Check out Mark 2.5. They never asked Jesus to forgive his sins, in their minds it was obvious what they wanted but Jesus looked right past they guys legs and saw his heart.
  Jesus is not obligated to heal our defects!
• There are so many critics that sit around today and judge what churches are doing wrong instead of standing up saying, Hey we might not agree with everything, but God is obviously at work in this and we want to get involved however we can. You can see that in verse 6
• I’m torn up by the thought of being willing to do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus Christ. There’s not much time left in this world and everyday we come in contact with people who need to love, forgiveness and healing power to Jesus offers
• Had a good time with the kids of Casa Betania
• My wife started her own blog, it’s called Your Little Nest. You should check it out, she’s got some fabulous design advice
• My little boy turned 3 this week
• I started taking classes online at Liberty University this week and it’s stretching me a lot! Probably because it’s been 6 years since I was in school.
• I’m more excited than ever to see what God has in store for me and my family

I’ve been talking a lot about what God has for us here in Zacatecas and I know some of you are in suspense about what it is going to be and look like. Don’t worry we are not far from telling you in detail about the vision God has given us and how He is going to do it. I have some ideas about how I am going to tell you so keep your eyes open about it.

In praying for this God has answered some huge prayers about it for two different reasons. 1)To show us that He’s God and is all powerful in providing the needs of this ministry, and 2) to prove to us that He is in fact behind this ministry.

So I want to tell you a few of the things He has done hopefully without giving away what’s in the plan.

1. A high school friend of mine emails me and has an idea about ministry here- she describes exactly what we plan to do
2. Someone we met here does the same thing, describes what she and her church wanted to do to reach people but were unable for various circumstances. Again the same thing God has placed on our hearts
3. The girl from the above statement tells us that someone in her church has been praying for a young couple to come and run this ministry- in the exact way that God has placed on our hearts
4. After praying about this for 7 days, the Lord lays out the plans for this ministry in detail
5. The Lord places an amount of money on our hearts that we need to front to start this ministry- an amount that we could never come up with- two days later I open my once-a-month-mail inside is my 2009 filed tax form. The amount we are being refunded? Only $130 less then the amount He placed on our hearts.

There are several other things that I can’t go into here, but as you can see God has a plan, God wants us to do this, and He is all behind it. I like to refer to these signs from God as my fleeces, like the ones that Gideon used before he was sure God has chosen him to do an amazing work. Rest assured God does still confirm His work in the lives of people  and for many reasons, but I think most of all so that we have confidence in Him and His power. Praise God He’s at work, and I hope this can be a testimony to you that God can provide your needs and bless  you! Look for our announcement soon!

Yesterday was a rough day all around. There is no easy way to deal with death ever. Some may have more experience than others comforting those that hurt, being their as a shoulder to cry on, praying with. The bible talks a lot about death and it’s just never an easy subject to deal with at all, especially when you talking about somebodies child. The son of a family our coworkers have been working with for about a year now was found to have leukemia about nine months ago. Yesterday they buried their 10 year old son. Since our coworkers had to leave town for a while they asked us to be ready for the funeral that was imminent. In the morning we went to the funeral home where they had the viewing and we talked with Mari, the mother for a few minutes. It was wonderful to see her almost melt when she saw us. Mari and her son Cesar who died are the only people in her family who have accepted Christ. So when we walked in she immediately had two advocates on her side that could talk about and understand the peace of God that passes all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ. I read with her 2Cor5:6-9 that talks about us being away from this body and at home with our Lord. I chocked back tears as I envisioned this little 10 year old sitting at Jesus feet at that moment now free from pain and trouble, and in complete peace. Mari had that peace too. It’s sad and difficult that although Christ can give her strength to get through this rough time, she will always have lost a son and nothing will ever be able to take that away. The hardest part of the entire day was watching Cesar’s friends who attended the funeral cling the Mari’s next and shed tears that just couldn’t be held back. The next hardest part was watching all the catholic traditions that go into a funeral. It’s incredibly sad to watch them as they wonder where is this little boy now and will he ever reach heaven. Thankfully we know that he did!

Praise God for the Salvation He freely gives

Two weeks ago I wrote about what’s next for us here in Zacatecas and I asked you all to join with me in prayer as I seek God regarding His direction for this ministry here. God blessed that time and I’m really grateful that I did it. I fasted for part of it, prayed a ton, and read a lot of Bible. If you’ll remember I asked you to pray for several specific things like crystal clear direction about this, provision of the necessary resources, God preparing the lives of the people we’re hear to minister to, ect you can reread the post here if you’d like.

I’d like to follow up and just let you know how God has already answered some of those specific prayer requests. I sort of pulled a Gideon if you know what I mean, by asking Him for perfect direction in this and He gave it to me not only twice as with the example of Gideon but three time He affirmed His direction in this. On three separate occasions three different people came to us and in detail talked about an idea for ministry here that was identical to what we plan to do. Each time I was blown away that God was approving plans for our future ministry here.  The thing that scares me the most about this is that it is way over our heads and I have to keep reminding myself about that when Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 about weakness he was including me and that God delights in using people who are weak.

I can’t begin to describe how excited I am about what we’re up against and how I think God is going to something amazing through it. Why do I believe that? Because that’s what I’m asking Him to do!

I just read an article in the Mexican national newspaper, much like USAtoday, about Narcotraficos forcing evangelical church to pray them monthly to ensure their safety. This is outrageous that the churches would allow themselves to be taken advantage like this and be forced to use God’s cash to pay for something that God is already doing. In reality the narcos aren’t ensuring their safety at all. If the churches don’t pay they have been promised by the narcos that their pastors and their families will be kidnapped and held for ransom and it has happened in several parts of Mexico mostly in the northern states where the war on drugs is more prominent.

I have two points of view on this 1) I can’t fully relate because I’ve never been persecuted like this. I have no idea what goes through these pastors minds and the fear that they have. I greatly feel for them and am deeply concerned about their safety. Mexico is a war zone right now. Sometimes I even wonder what we are doing here. In some instances and locations throughout Mexico it is as dangerous as if you were in Iraq or Afghanistan and that is a reality!

2) “God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control.” Also the Bible says that we must not fear the one who can kill the body but the ONE who can kill the soul. God has incredibly special things in mind for those persecuted in this life. Now I’m not saying that we should stand in the face of imminent persecution if there is a way out, by all means take the way out, but if there’s not is God not greater than these narcos and does He not see the persecution we face, and can He not directly deal with these narcos if He sees fit? I should think so!

All in all, I have to reiterate, if my family were threatened like this, I would leave Mexico because the safety of my family is my first priority. I’m just saying as the church of Jesus Christ, we cannot allow this kind of manipulation. God is greater than that!