RUF Starts Back Up

Friday night we started back up with RUF on our regular Friday Night meetings. We had around 35 students out plus a handful of our SALI staff. Please pray for us as we launch small group studies in the weeks to come. Here are some photos of the first night. Enjoy!

How Well Are You Counseling You?

Paul Tripp has been very infuential in my life and ministry over the years. He has written a book called "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" that I think everyone should read and digest.

He also has a blog which you ought to subscribe to with your Google Reader.

He drops nuggets of wisdom like this one all the time....

No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You're in an unending conversation with yourself. You're talking to yourself all the time, interpreting, organizing, and analyzing what's going on inside you and around you....

What do you regularly tell yourself about yourself, God, and your circumstances? Do your words to you encourage faith, hope, and courage? Or do they stimulate doubt, discouragement, and fear? Do you remind yourself that God is near, or do you reason within yourself, given your circumstances, that he must be distant? Do you encourage yourself to run to God even when you don't understand what he's doing? Or do you give yourself permission to back away from him when you are confused by the seeming distance between what he's promised and what you're experiencing? Are you your own best defense lawyer, laying out arguments for your innocence in places where you're actually guilty? When others talk to you, is your internal conversation so loud that it's hard to concentrate on what they're saying?

Here's the question. How wholesome, faith-driven, and Christ-centered is the conversation that you have with you every day? Do you remind yourself of your need? Do you point you, once again, to the beauty and practicality of his grace? Do you tell yourself to run toward God in those moments when you feel like running from him?
Would you be comfortable with someone playing a public recording of the private conversation you have with you every day?

Read the entire post here.

Assimilating Scripture

Eugene Peterson has a very helpful book, seductively entitled, "Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. You can check it out on Google Books & Amazon. Vintage Peterson, it is chock full of great quotes, like this...

Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son [p. 18]

Do you have a plan to read and assimilate Scripture for the coming year? Whatever plan you have, whether focusing in on a few books and seeking to master them, or reading through the whole, commit yourself to seeking to know the glory of God in the face of Christ and assimilating this book. Check out these plans here and here and here.

Need some extra motivation? My son, Jason (8 years old), read through the NT in 2007 using the 5x5x5 reading plan. This is his advice:

"Make sure that you keep on schedule, and if they are any verses you like you should memorize them."

Last Meeting of 2007

RUF/ SSA finished off the year by celebrating a Christmas dinner together. We ate chicken & rice & panatones, and we capped off the evening with a fun game nominating students for noticeable virtues. A fun time was had by all, and it was a great way to end the year. We took over 170 pics, but here is a little slide show of about 50 of them.



Special thanks to Gerardo & his wife, Isabel, and the leadership team of RUF for making this an enjoyable year.

SALI Graduates

Our San Agustin Language Institute just graduated its first class of five students. These folks have been studying for years to get to this point, and we are very proud of them.

Ana Haro Chalón
Carol Ponte Roncal
Cory Luz Marina Vásquez Valles
Juan Eduardo Quiroz Aldave
Miguel Placencia Velarde

Thanks to all the staff who have poured into this branch of our mission over the years.

This Can't Be What It's All Cracked Up To Be

From the Founder's Ministry Blog:

"Tom Brady, the 3-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the New England Patriots was featured the week in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on CBS. Brady is already a sports legend in one of the citadels of professional sports in America, Boston. His current team is 15-0 and is poised to finish the season undefeated, something that hasn't been done in the NFL in 35 years. He has won the Super Bowl MVP twice and been named to the Pro Bowl 4 times. He also was recently named the Associated Press' "Male Athlete of the Year."

"He has dated actresses and supermodels and makes millions of dollars a year. He has been called America's most eligible bachelor. By most popular standards, he has it all. That is why I was struck by hearing him make the following statement during the interview:

"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."

"When Kroft asked him, "What's the answer?" Brady responded, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find."

Read the article.

Peru Mission Christmas Newsletter

Here is our Peru Mission Christmas Newsletter in jpg.

To click on the links, check out the newsletter here.

December 2007 Newsletter

Prayer Requests

* Praise for the apologetics class I have been teaching in Spanish which will conclude this week (which also explains the scarcity of posts on this blog). It was a good exercise for me, and I trust, very useful for our students. Pray that these students will be effective witnesses and defenders of the faith in Peru.

* Pray for continual acquisition of the language. We are conversant, but not fluent, and I think it is pretty ugly if not torturous! Since language is our primary tool, mine definitely needs sharpening and I need much more skill.

* Pray for personal holiness. This whole journey has been what my wife calls 'fast-track sanctification.' God is growing us in many ways, but we still need to grow in love, patience, trust & joy (and probably a lot of other areas that we don't know about!)

* Finally, pray for our university ministry here. Geraldo (the main campus minister) and I will be working over the Christmas break on our plan of action for the upcoming year. We will be trying to gather students into small groups, develop our philosophy of ministry, and become more effective in outreach. Pray that God would go before us, give us wisdom, and enable us to speak the Gospel in meaningful ways to the students here.

Free Audio Book: Jonathan Edwards

Not a few of you will be interested in this. In addition to having an All Saints weekend sale (which expires tonight, lo siento), the good folks over at Christian Audio.com you can download the audio book of Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections (unabridged). Fortunately, as Edwards might say(!), this offer doesn't expire tonight. During the month of November, you can download this classic work of New England spiritual theology for free. You'll need this code: NOV2007.

"God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in...."

Anonymous The Coward

I hate even saying anything about this, but since "Anonymous" left the comment on my wife's blog, I feel compelled to answer. I normally don't respond to folks who leave comments but don't have the dignity or valor to back up their comments by affixing their names, but I'll make an exception here.

Here is the comment made about the Christian missionaries that was left on my wife's blog [without editing]...

protestant men dressing up as Catholic priests in a culturally Catholic country. Liars all of them. Such dishonesty should not be tolerated by those claiming to be men preachng Chirst. Deceit such as this can only be the work of the Prince of this World.

Think twice before taking on a collar! There is no need to hide you are or even by sight try to decieve the locals.

A couple observations...
1. We know that "anonymous" is a hypocrite because he said, "There is no need to hide [who] you are...." Thanks for your immaculate example.

2. Who is hiding? We are as open as we can be about who we are. Check out the websites. Read our Confession of Faith. Visit our churches. Attend our seminary classes. No one is trying to be Roman priests. Nothing is hidden.

3. Since when, "Anonymous," have you been given insight into our hearts? You charge us with deceit & dishonesty, and call us liars. Wow. Now this, to use your words, "is the work of the Prince of this world." I'm assuming that you call yourself a Christian (unless you've jettisoned that as well). So much for assuming the best about fellow believers! Have you taken the time to ask us why we do this? You may not like it, but don't attribute motives and slander us. THAT is shameful, demonic behavior.

4. Until recently, Christian ministers have always been identified by ministerial clothing, Romanists, Orthodox, & Protestant. Many Protestant ministers outside of Baptist and Pentecostal circles still "take on the collar." And there is good reason to continue this practice. For those who might care to be informed on this, the Rev. Jeff Meyers (presbyterian minister) has two excellent posts of this here and here. Again, "Anonymous," you are spouting your ignorance.

5. If you have bones to pick, leave the comments on my blog and leave my wife alone, especially if you don't have the guts to leave your name.

6. And finally, "Anonymous", you simply need to repent. And I'll be glad to post your apology along with your name and extend grace and forgiveness.

For my other readers, I'm sorry about doing this here. I have mixed feelings about doing so. I hope you understand.

Prayer Requests

* As some of you know, my father is in the middle of a battle with cancer. He is about 20 days into his first round of 26 treatments with radiation and chemotherapy, and he is fairly weakened from it. Please pray for strength, endurance, faith, & healing. It is frustrating for us to be so far away, though I may be able to travel to the US in December when he is supposed to have surgery to remove a tumor.

* While not nearly as serious (and I feel a little silly requesting this in light of what my dad is going through), I have had an upper respiratory infection since the middle of September. It bothers me mostly in the morning and at night, though I have coughing fits during the day too. Our friend from Illinois, Dr. Doolittle, examined me about two weeks ago when he was here and said that there is no evidence of pneumonia. At any rate, I have need for strength, endurance, faith, & healing as well.

* In the previous post, I mentioned my seminary in Apologetics that I'm teaching. A lot if not most of the concepts would be challenging to communicate in English, let alone Spanish. Pray for my language acquisition and continued development, and pray for my students as well that God would grant them insight, a love for the Gospel, and greater abilities to engage our culture as they participate in proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ.

Reformed Biblical Seminary

I want to take just a moment to get you all up to speed about our Fall semester with Reformed Biblical Seminary (or, Seminario Biblico Reformado). The semester kicked off on Sept. 30th with a convocation service at our church in Larco. My ol' friend and classmate from Texas A&M, Wes Baker (pictured to the right), preached on Jesus as our model Shepherd.

Right now we have a handful of classes. Wes is teaching Liturgics (Worship), Allen Smith is teaching Hebrew 1, Bill Bradford is teaching Greek & Reformation History, and I am teaching apologetics.

Apologetics is a course on defending the faith against objections. I am enjoying it, though it is eating my lunch! Most of my time every week is spent studying, writing out my notes, translating my notes, reviewing my translation with my conversation partner, and teaching. My Spanish is very ugly, I know, so I've told my students that part of the design of the course is to increase their sanctification, especially in the area of patience.

Speaking of our students, I have anywhere from 5-10 students, depending on the day, week, holidays, etc. Several university students sit in on the class as time permits, including one non-Christian. One of our desires is to see God raise up future ministers and campus ministers, especially from our campus ministry, so please pray accordingly.

Here is a photo from the commencement service....

From left to right: Allen Smith, Bill Bradford, Yours Truly, & Wes Baker.

Heather's post is here.

Screwtape is in NYC?

I've never really wanted to go to NYC, that is, until now. The Screwtape Letters are being performed on stage by the celebrated Max McLean (be sure to click on the video for a sneak preview). McLean is the voice behind various editions of the Listener's Bible, The Valley of Vision, and Classics of the Christian Faith.

The Screwtape Letters is the classic work of CS Lewis, Oxford literary scholar and author of numerous books including Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia. In The Screwtape Letters, a senior demon, Screwtape, gives demonic advice to his newphew, Wormword, about how to keep his patient--who just became a Christian--on the wrong path.

"My dear Wormword, You mentioned in your last letter that the patient has continued to attend one church, and one only, since he was converted, and that he is not wholly pleased with it. May I ask what you are about? Why have I no report on the causes of his fidelity to the parish church? Do you realise that unless it is due to indifference it is a very bad thing? Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that 'suits' him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches."

At any rate, I'm glad that Max McLean has this opportunity to bring this classic to life. Providential blessings! This could be enough to get me to say, "I 'heart' NYC!"

[I do hope this will be available to a broader audience in some format.]

Arequipa, Part 3: What to do with Mary?

While visiting the Monestary of Santa Catalina in Arequipa, I came across a great room of three halls (in the shape of a Cross) lined with art work from over the last several centuries. Some of it was simply breathtaking. (The above photo would be at the foot of these three long hallways).


My pictures didn't come out very well because we were not permitted to use a flash, but you can see here an interesting set of paintings. The one above is a picture of God creating the world, and the one below it is a series of paintings about the Garden of Eden. Now take a closer look at the second painting....


Do you notice anything curious? Or perhaps suspicious? The picture portrays God the Father instructing Adam & Eve regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. But who is that behind the Father? Here is a close up...


That's right. The Blessed Virgin Mary. What is she doing there? in the Garden of Eden at the creation of the world? My Bible doesn't say anything about that.

My (American) Roman Catholic friends will tell me that this is simply a misguided artist and this isn't official Roman Catholic teaching. But I think Rome sends mixed signals. For example, the RCC Catechism 971 says, "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." Then in the next breath it says that the devotion given to Mary is different than the adoration given to the Trinity.

And then there's folks like Scott Hahn, the poster-child for protestant converts to Rome. He is everywhere acknowledged as one of the great communicators and popularizers of Rome's teachings. I have his book, Hail, Holy Queen, and have been reading it. Listen to what he says, "God is a family...God's covenant family is perfect lacking nothing. The Church looks to God as Father, Jesus as Brother...What's missing, then? In truth, nothing. Every family needs a mother. For a family is incomplete without a loving mother." Hence, Mary. [pp. 19, 27; italics added.]

He goes on to speak of her "mystical marriage to God who is at once her Father, her Spouse, and her Son" (p. 38). You'd almost get the notion that she is the third member of the Trinity. But, he didn't say that, did he? He didn't have to. If we worship the Father & the Son, why not worship the Mother? Why not give her divine attributes if she is a part of the divine family? In reality, lots of folks do. They understand perfectly clearly what is being said.

It is not uncommon to talk to folks here in Peru who treat Mary as the third member of the Trinity. Or better yet, as the mediator between humanity and an angry Father and angry Son. BUT, the above picture and endorsed and celebrated Roman teachers are indicative of the omnipresent tendency within Roman Catholicism to exalt Mary.

Or take the example of the influential St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787), bishop and Doctor of the Roman Church. From his book, The Glories of Mary, (which I also have and which can still be bought on Amazon; it has a Five Star rating, BTW!) in which he teaches among other things the omnipotency of Mary (p. 96), he offers this prayer in a section of teaching called, "Mary is an Advocate Who is Able to Save Everybody",

"We are great sinners, but God has enriched you with mercy and power far greater than our iniquities. You are both able and willing to save us; and the more unworthy we are, the more we shall hope in you in order to reach heaven ourselves and to glorify you there...You have only to open your lips and ask your son. He will deny you nothing. Pray, then, O Mary, pray for us!"

Or his prayer from the Catholic Forum:

"I worship thee, great Queen...; most of all do I thank thee for having saved me from hell, which I had so often deserved. I love thee, Lady most worthy of all love, and, by the love which I bear thee, I promise ever in the future to serve thee, and to do what in me lies to win others to thy love. In thee I put all my trust, all my hope of salvation."

[Aside: How is it that Martin Luther was condemned as a heretic and anathematized, and Ligouri is celebrated, canonized (made into a Saint) by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831 and made a Doctor of the RCC in 1871 by Pope Pius IX? Come on, Rome!!!]

Now, for the average Protestant, or for that matter, for any Christian who takes the Scriptures seriously, this is beyond just plain silly. This is pretty much a textbook case of, say, blasphemy. This makes every fiber of our being cringe. When will the Pope B16 come out and quash this nonsense??? Of course, the answer is he can't, at least without losing his power base.

So what do we do? I think most Protestants swing to the other extreme and have nothing to do with Mary, the mother of Jesus. I think this is a mistake. Just like Christians love and honor St. Paul, or St. Peter, or St. Augustine, or St. Anselm, or St. John Calvin, so we can love and honor Santa Maria. Jesus loved her and honored her. And there is no reason we cannot do this. Just because people abuse her (and I do think the above would qualify for this--I think she would be embarrassed!) doesn't mean that we should leave her to their abuse. We need nothing less than a Reformation of true honor and true love for Mary.

If you are interested, I recently read a simple, balanced, & sane approach to the subject of Mary. It is called The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus by Scot McKnight. He says from the start that this is a book about Mary for Protestants, though I'm convinced that it would be a welcome relief for weary and misled Roman Catholics. I enthusiastically recommend it.

"Why write a book for Protestants about Mary? Here's why: Because the story about the real Mary has never been told. The Mary of the Bible has been hijacked by theological controversies whereby she has become a Rorschach inkblot in which theologians find whatever they wish to find. In the midst of this controversy the real Mary has been left behind. It is time to let her story be told again....Because the real Mary always leads us to Jesus."

Mary is indeed blessed among women, she whose soul glorified the Lord and whose spirit rejoiced in God her Savior (the Magnificat, Luke 2). Any serious Christian can and ought to join their voice in calling her blessed.